The Charge for Authority
Daniel 4:1-37
“You will do what I say, as long as you live under my roof.” These words have been uttered by almost every father to almost every child in almost every home throughout recent history. Often they are uttered because the child seeks to assert some authority regarding some presumed right to do something that the father finds unacceptable. So, the father asserts his authority so that the child will presumably follow the household rules.
If we are all honest, there are times when we do not like acquiescing to the authorities in our lives. We think we know better than the authority or we just do not want to acknowledge the authority because we believe ourselves to be the authority. Ultimately, that is the issue at hand in Daniel 4. God challenges Nebuchadnezzar through a dream to acknowledge God as the ultimate authority. God desires Nebuchadnezzar to realize that he has been placed as head of the Babylonian Empire through God’s will and action. The court of Nebuchadnezzar comes into conflict with the court of God as God seeks to prove to Nebuchadnezzar that God has blessed him with the gifts and wisdom and resources to rule.
So, Nebuchadnezzar has another dream. Unlike in the case of the previous dream, he freely shares the dreams with his wise men, fully knowing that Daniel can interpret the dream as he has done in the past. Do notice that Nebuchadnezzar does not give credit to the true God, but to all of the holy gods. Nebuchadnezzar, at this point, still sees all the gods as equal.
In the dream, there is a great tree of enormous height, with its branches touching the sky. The branches are beautiful, producing abundant fruit, from which every creature is fed. In the Ancient Near East, trees were symbols of growth and prosperity. They symbolized a life giver. The tree symbolized the divine world order. Sometimes a king took the role of the tree in iconography, showing that the king represented the true image of a god, the Perfect Man. So when Daniel asserts that Nebuchadnezzar is the tree in his interpretation, Daniel declares that Nebuchadnezzar sees himself as the keeper of the cosmos, the true image of the gods.[1]
So when the holy one, the messenger from heaven comes, declaring, “Cut down the tree, and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit,” he announces God’s challenge to Nebuchadnezzar. In this dream, God declares that Nebuchadnezzar will be brought down. As Daniel makes this future reality clear to the king, Daniel also announces why this must happen. It must happen because King Nebuchadnezzar does not submit to God, acknowledging the blessings God has bestowed upon him as king of the mighty Babylonian Empire.
Eventually the dream is fulfilled. As Nebuchadnezzar walked on his roof, a common activity in the Ancient Near East as the roof was part of the living space, he looks out and sees great Babylon. At this moment, he sings his own praises, announcing his own greatness. Then the dream comes true. He, for a time, is driven away from his people. At the end of this time he finally acknowledges God and experiences restoration.
There are some lessons in this story for those who hold positions of authority. First, all who hold authority must humbly admit that God is sovereign. Verse 17 loudly declares this through the voice of the messenger from God. Those in authority should use their position to help the rest of the people realize that God is sovereign over the kingdoms of the earth. God’s design is to set the lowliest of people over the kingdoms of the earth. God desires people in places of authority to act humbly, praising God for placing them in authority.
This humble submission manifests in two attitudes of the authority figure according to verse 27. First, they must do what is right. Doing what is right or living righteously is short hand for living as God intends, for living in reflection of the true God. The righteous person lives to honor God through pointing others toward God in their actions, attitudes, and words. Second, the person in authority must be kind to the oppressed. They should notice the needy in their society and then care for them. They should use their position to provide, nourish, and nurture those in their care. People in authority should find ways to bring justice for all people so that all people might live in the peace that God desires.
In this regard, we should pray for those in authority. We should pray that they humbly realize and admit that God has placed them in their position. We should pray that they live righteously, that they make morally proper choices in honor of God. We should pray that they seek out justice for all those in their care, visiting God’s love and peace upon them.
We should also consider where we have authority. Those who are blessed to be parents have authority in their households. Those who are blessed as business owners and executive officers have authority at their places of work. Those who are blessed as pastors and elders have authority over their congregations. Those who are blessed as educators have authority in their classroom. Each person in authority should thank God for placing them in their position and then live according to God’s design, seeking to live right and treat the oppressed with kindness.
Prayer: Sovereign God, you truly are King of kings and Lord of lords! You are God of our lives and of our world. We thank you for creating us and guiding us! Thank you for giving us positions in life so that we might share your love and grace with those you place in our care. Bless our leaders, guiding them to submit to your authority, following you in righteous living and in caring for the needy. Bless us all that we might submit to you, following you in righteous living and in caring for the needy. We pray these things in the name of your servant Jesus Christ, Amen!
[1]
Tremper Longman III, The NIV Application Commentary: Daniel. (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 119.
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