Value of Trial
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birds of the air built their nests in its branches. Thus were represented
Nebuchadnezzar’s greatness and prosperity. Nations were gathered
under his sovereignty. His kingdom was firmly established in the
hearts of his loyal subjects.
The king saw his prosperity, and because of it he was lifted up.
Notwithstanding the warnings that God had given him, he did the very
things which the Lord had told him not to do. He looked upon his
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kingdom with pride and exclaimed: “Is not this great Babylon, that
I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power,
and for the honor of my majesty?”
Daniel 4:30
. The instant that the
words were uttered, the sentence of judgment was pronounced. The
king’s reason was taken away. The judgment that he had thought so
perfect, the wisdom that he had prided himself on possessing, were
removed. The jewel of the mind, that which elevates man above the
beasts, he no longer retained.
The scepter is no longer held in the hand of a proud and powerful
monarch. The mighty ruler is a maniac. He now herds with the cattle
to eat as they eat. He is a companion of the beasts of the field. The
brow that once wore a coronet is disfigured by the absence of reason
and intellect. The mandate has gone forth: “Hew down the tree, and
cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit.”
Verse
14
.
So the Lord magnifies Himself as the true and living God. Well
might David exclaim: “I have seen the wicked in great power, and
spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo,
he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.”
Psalm
37:35, 36
. Let men become lifted up in pride, and the Lord will
not sustain them and keep them from falling. Let a church become
proud and boastful, not depending on God, not exalting His power,
and that church will surely be left by the Lord, to be brought down to
the ground. Let a people glory in wealth, intellect, knowledge, or in
anything but Christ, and they will soon be brought to confusion.
Our Burden Bearer
My brother, remember that this earth is not heaven. Christ has
declared: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.” Blessed are they which are persecuted