Oct 07, 2009

In the time when the Babylonian Empire dominated much of the Middle East, the king of Babylon became full of pride over his accomplishments and successes. But God gave him a prophetic dream to warn him of the consequences of his pride in Daniel 4:5. He called for Daniel to interpret it, but soon forgot the warning. So a year later (vs. 29) the dream came to pass, and the king was stricken with some sort of insanity and driven from the throne for about seven years (vs. 33).

The divine purpose was not to kill Nebuchadnezzar, but to make him recognize God as the King of Kings. It worked. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged the Creator as being above all kings, including himself.

Daniel 4 was written by Nebuchadnezzar himself. It is his public testimony giving the reasons for the decree at the end of the chapter, beginning in verse 34,

(34) But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. (35) And all of the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing [in compared to Him], but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, "What doest Thou?" . . . (37) Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

This morning, as I was driving to work, I was listening to a discussion on Minnesota Public Radio about a case before the Supreme Court. A state had erected a cross on public property and was forced to remove it by the courts. So they gave that portion of land to the VFW and mandated that it be elevated to the status of a National Park. The opposing side cried foul and appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

The basic issue is whether or not a government, state or federal, may promote Christianity or Christian symbols on public property. The real issue is whether we legally recognize the authority of the God of heaven. The issue is really the same as with Nebuchadnezzar, whose pride had caused him to think that he was the highest authority in his kingdom.

The founding fathers had no intention of setting up a secular nation. In fact, one of their first acts was to fund the printing of Bibles to distribute among the people. Establishing no "religion" was intended to mean that the federal government would not favor one denomination over another. Each state had its own religion. Massachusetts was Congregational, Pennsylvania was Quaker, Virginia was Episcopal, Rhode Island was Adventist, etc. The federal government was not to interfere in the religious practices of any state, nor were they to establish or prefer one Christian denomination over another.

It was only later that non-Christian lawyers interpreted the word "religion" to include all non-Christian religions in the world, including Atheism, Humanism, and Satanism.

So our present system has taken upon itself the same pride that afflicted Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. And we are also being brought down low for the same reason. I believe that this will end in the same way as well. God will continue to bring us down until we acknowledge Him as having the right to rule that which He created. He is doing this by the laws of tribulation found in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.

Having said that, let me add that I do NOT advocate setting up a Christian Nation without overcomers to rule it. If we were to set up a Christian Nation prior to the manifestation of the sons of God, it would be no better than the Christian Nations of the past, which were Christian in name only. The popes and monarchs violated the laws of God regularly and used religion to keep people in subjection to the laws of men. Great injustices were perpetrated upon men everywhere, and this, in fact, was why many in Europe escaped to America.

The current movement to re-establish a Christian Nation would only serve to put America under a new set of despots that would govern hypocritically in the name of Christ while establishing the traditions of men. It would probably start out somewhat better than the present system, because it would abolish the "right" to murder the unborn, but it would quickly move toward a highly oppressive system similar to that of the Middle Ages.

I advocate the Kingdom of God, not a Christian Nation. It is going to require a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit to turn the hearts of the American people back to Him. It would not be workable to have Christian laws imposed upon an unrighteous people who think that sin is a good thing. The discontent would make such a system unsustainable. Furthermore, without the sons of God to provide leadership, we would soon get leaders trained to speak Christianese but who were in reality just ambitious men seeking money and power.

In other words, a Christian Nation is one ruled by Saul; the Kingdom of God is one ruled by David. Remember what Saul did to David? Not only did he persecute witches (1 Sam. 28:3), but he also persecuted David. Remember what the religious leaders of Jerusalem did to the prophets? They stoned the prophets right along with genuine criminals. The leaders of a Christian Nation would stop the abortionists, but would also persecute the overcomers with just as much zeal as in the days of yore.

We do not need a revival of Saul's government. We need something new. We do not need more of Pentecost; we need Tabernacles. So let us not be nostalgic about re-establishing the government of Saul. Let us have the vision of what comes afterward. Saul's kingdom has had its day, and it proved to be a failure in its ability to establish righteous government in the earth. Saul has had his day. We are now entering a new day, and we need to raise our sights and see a new government of God coming, which will rule by the laws of God but with the compassion of Jesus Christ.