At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”
At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble. (Daniel 4:34-37)
In Exodus 8:7 we read that Pharaoh was warned by one of his courtiers that Egypt was being ruined. God told Moses that He raised Pharaoh up that His name would be proclaimed in all the earth. (Exodus 9:16) Pharaoh persisted in his stubborn rebellion against God, and in Exodus 12:29-30 we read that there was someone dead in every household in Egypt on the night of the Passover.
It is a fact of eternal reality that God will ultimately be glorified. We know that Daniel prayed for Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:18, 4:19). We suspect that Joseph prayed for an earlier Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:33-36) Did Moses not pray for the Pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites and refused to release them? Or was there a character of such pride and rebellion in that Pharaoh that even Moses’ prayers could not bring his voluntary submission to God’s glory?
Modern Rulers face the same challenges.
Will President Biden openly acknowledge his Catholic faith as Nebuchadnezzar did, and if so, will that require a life-crisis? Will he govern as God’s regent, or choose a path that leads to disaster for the people he governs? What are his core values - that he is in charge, or that he is responsible to God as an under-shepherd or steward? Irregardless, we are commanded to pray for him. (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
President Putin shows every evidence of going the path that Pharaoh chose. The disaster in Ukraine continues. He has some terminal disease. God will be glorified even as Russia is ruined. There are many believers in Russia, doubtless some are praying for him, but from external indications, to no avail. Is his soul lost beyond any hope of redemption? Is the core of his being so utterly against love and holiness that God can only judge and not redeem? Must God’s glory be displayed by ruin, open physical defeat, at a national level?
What of Donald Trump? We never heard anything like I Chronicles 29:10-13 from him while in office. With an ego that will not accept the reality of defeat in election, is that an indicator of a Pharaoh mindset? He is not currently in charge of anything beyond his business empire, but what of a return to office? Or is he so convinced of the virtue of his ethos that he will attempt to use extra-legal methods (force) to impose his will on the nation? (Perhaps this makes him more like Absalom or Adonijah, although neither of them exercised power in any significant way.) Or will he fade into history as a might-have-been?
Ultimately, God is sovereign and will be glorified.
- Chastening like that of boanthropy or insania zoanthropia might humble the proud, and God may choose it. Or perhaps, like Lucifer, some will still choose to defy God knowing the final outcome. But our role is clear - we are to pray for them, as rulers are charged by God to be a minister for good (Romans 13:4).
- There was a second role that both Joseph and Daniel played - exhorting those in authority, pleading with them to respond to God and His actions in humankind and in their lives. In this role, we should note that neither of them initiated this interaction, but responded to God’s direct dealing with that ruler (in the form of prophetic dreams) to explain to them His ways and His calling. This is not carte blanche to confront or attack a ruler. In our age, it is more appropriate to present the gospel, and make a call to repent before God and submit to Him.
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