Daniel 4 - Nebuchadnezzar's Madness

            Dream interpretation.  Giant statues of gold, silver, bronze, & iron. The fiery furnace.  The lions’ den.  Can you think of short stories anywhere as captivating as those in Daniel chapters 1-6?  On websites, on TV, on Twitter and Facebook, there’s so much noise.  There’s partisan division; a lot of shouting without much listening. 

            I wanted us to begin 2018 looking at stories in the Bible.  Stories hold our interest.  If the story is good, we listen, we absorb it.  We don’t need to talk or argue.  We can receive what the storyteller has to share.  If that good story is in the Bible, then we meet God in it.  And my hope is that we can focus less on the noise of angry politics and more on the God we meet in the stories of the Bible – the only true God. 

It doesn’t mean we ignore the world around.  God has something to say and God often speaks through His church who is meeting Him in the Bible and in worship and then speaking from that encounter. Current events are always on the table, but we speak to our day from God’s perspective and a primary source for God’s perspective is the Bible. 

We could have gone to the Gospels or great stories of David or some of the fascinating accounts in the book of Numbers or Judges, but, felt God leading us to Daniel.  Here’s a curious question.  Who was the first worshiping body to hear Daniel as Holy Scripture, stories of God, read in its worship gathering?  How did congregations before ours receive the word of God as we have it in Daniel?

The first group was the gathering of Jews in Jerusalem in the 2^nd century, the 170’s – 150’s BC.  Israel was land God promised to the descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people, but they had not governed that land for a long time.  They were subjugated by the Assyrians in the 8^th century, and then the Babylonians in the late 7^th and early 6^th.  Power passed to the Persians, and then the Greeks under Alexander the great.  It became really bad for the Jews in the second century as Alexander’s empire was divided among his four generals and Israel fell under the cruel hand of Antiochus Epiphanes IV.

He set up a statue right in the second temple, the temple of Haggai and Ezra.  In that space, holy to Jews, dedicated to God, he put up idols and performed abominable acts.  He persecuted and even killed Jews who would not renounce the way of Abraham and Moses.  The persecution under Antiochus was as bad as any the Jews had known.  In that context of humiliating oppression, Daniel was read as Holy Scripture for the first time.

Feeling powerless, worshipers could look to this Jewish hero who defied the might of Babylon and then Media and Persia.  While an exile, with no voice, Daniel and his friends stayed faithful in their worship of God and their refusal to participate in Pagan worship practices. 

In Daniel 1, they refused unclean food and ate only vegetables.  Maintaining proper dietary restraint as their tradition dictated, Daniel and his three friends outperformed all other Jewish conscripts and rose in wisdom and prominence before the Babylonian king.  In chapter 2, when death was the penalty for failure, Daniel successfully recited the king’s dream.  Daniel was praised even though he prophesied the king’s downfall. 

In chapter 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship a statue of the king.  For such a brazen revolt against the king’s edict, the three young Jews were thrown into the furnace, and in an enraged act of overdoing it, the king demanded the heat be raised and it was to the point that some of the guards were consumed by flames; but not Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  Accompanied by an angel, they strolled around unharmed. 

Chapter 3 ended with the self-aggrandizing King, Nebuchadnezzar, declaring that anyone who blasphemed against the God of Israel would be ripped limb from limb.  Ironically, he couldn’t see that his own edict violated itself.  God didn’t need to make such macabre threats and God did not generally rip people limb from limb.  God allowed those who turned against him to fall into the destruction that came as a result of their own bad choices.  He needed no help from Nebuchadnezzar.

Chapter 4, this week’s Daniel story, continues the madness of King Nebuchadnezzar.  It is true that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and in Nebuchadnezzar’s case, absolute power also scrambled his own brain and completely distorted his perspective.

Essentially what happens is the king has another dream.  This time when his own palace wise men and wizards cannot interpret it for him, he does not kill them.  Instead he moves on to Daniel.  Why he didn’t start with Daniel is anyone’s guess considering Daniel’s previous dream interpretation abilities.  In the dream, the king sees a tree – the great tree of the world.  All the world was blessed under the great tree.

However, a holy watcher (v.13) descending from Heaven declared the great tree should be cut down leaving only the stump.  The great tree will be but a stump, unprotected against the elements for seven years.  The voice of the holy watcher declared this would happen so that all the world would see that God most High is sovereign over even the great kingdoms of the world (v.17).  Those who rule kingdoms are no better than the poorest peasants and anyone who has power, has it because God has allowed them to have it. 

Daniel knew this dream was about King Nebuchadnezzar.  He didn’t want to tell the meaning because he knew it was bad news for the king.  However, Nebuchadnezzar encouraged Daniel, so he told him.  “The tree that you saw – it is you, O King” (v.20, 21).  Daniel went on to explain that Nebuchadnezzar had become the greatest king on earth, but by decree of God (v.24), he would be reduced to madness.  Nebuchadnezzar would leave human society and roam the wild fields, sleeping out in the open like an animal.  He would grow his hair and nails long and unkempt.  He would graze on grass like cattle.  He would lose the power of speech and logical thought.  This insanity would last seven years.  That’s how long it would take for King Nebuchadnezzar to see that God and not he was the all-powerful one. 

We aren’t told how the king reacted to Daniel’s interpretation.  The next word from the story teller is that all happened just as Daniel said it would.  Striding in all his royal finery along the roof of the royal palace, the king heard a voice from heaven declare all that had been said in the dream.  He was immediately driven from human society, stripped of his vestments and robes.  He became an inhuman creature, a mindless beast, and he stayed that way for seven years. 

Please note the progression of the story in Daniel 4.  It begins with King Nebuchadnezzar openly praising God.  “The signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me I am pleased to recount.  How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders!  His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his sovereignty is from generation to generation” (4:2-3).  It is self-centered.  Look at what God’s done for me.  But it is praise directed toward God.  Then in the middle of the story, Nebuchadnezzar sings a different tune.  Verse 30, “Is this not magnificent Babylon, which I have built as a royal capital by my mighty power and for my glorious majesty?” 

What a pivot!  The king moves from praising God for his wonders to praising himself for his own might and power.  The story ends with the king once again praising God.  “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are truth and his ways are justice; his able to bring low those who walk in pride” (4:37).  It’s a true statement and of all people, King Nebuchadnezzar would know.

What moves the story from self-serving praise to an unabashedly arrogant boast to humble praise?  There comes an interruption – and we all have these interruptions in our lives.  We don’t know if King Nebuchadnezzar heard the interruption.  We aren’t told.  We know King Antiochus Epiphanes IV did not hear God’s warnings.  He relentlessly terrorized the Jerusalem Jews in the second century BC and is thus forever vilified by the symbolism in Daniel.  He ranks with the worst of villains, Antiochus Epiphanes IV right alongside Hitler and all the malevolent despots of history.  No one is worse. 

Setting aside Antiochus, the interruption we see in Daniel 4 should be an interruption in our lives.  What matters for us today is when God interrupts our stories, to remind us that He is God and we are not, do we listen?  See Daniel’s fearlessness in verse 27.  He says right to Nebuchadnezzar’s face, “Atone for your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed.”  Daniel was in Babylon.  Back in Israel, people were starving to death because their cities had been toppled and left as rubble, and their crops had been burned.  The people were oppressed because of the way Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers acted.  Now Daniel tells him, it is time to atone. 

Have we benefited because others have suffered.  Do we drink coffee made from beans harvested by laborers who are paid slave wages?  Do we wear clothes made in sweatshops were workers don’t get paid enough and have no option of leaving?  “Atone … for your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed.”  That’s the message at the heart of Daniel 4.  Verse 27, to show that you know and honor and bow before God, show mercy to the oppressed. 

Daniel left the wicked king a way out.  He didn’t have to crawl about on all fours like an ox or cow.  He didn’t have to lose his mind.  That’s where self-obsession and power-obsession leads: mania.  Daniel, anointed by God, pointed to another path.  We, readers of the story have that path before us. 

“Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink.  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  And when, O Lord, was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?  And the [King of all kings] will answer, ‘truly I tell you whenever you did it to the least of these my children, you did it to me’” (Matthew 25:37-40).

Do we see the interruption, hear the warning, and take the path opened before us by the word of God?  King Nebuchadnezzar did not.  He ignored the prophet’s word because he thought he was the ultimate one, the one favored by God.  He disregarded the warning, boasted of his own greatness, and ended up insane.  After his boast, he discovered that Daniel, whom he said he trusted, was right.  The prophecy Daniel gave came true. 

The crazy, grazing king returned to sanity when he lifted his eyes to heaven.  He strutted around when he should have bowed in humble worship, and so God, brought him low.  When, having been brought low, he raised his eyes in humble worship, God allowed him to stand once again.  The way we experience life is directly related to how we respond to what we know to be true about God.  

We know God through our knowledge of God’s son, our Savior Jesus Christ.  Note the difference between Jesus and the evil king of Babylon.  Nebuchadnezzar was a man who thought he was on equal footing with God.  Jesus was God who had become a man. 

Philippians 2:5-11:

⁵ Let the same mind be in you that was^[a] in Christ Jesus,

⁶ who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
⁷ but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
⁸     he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death—
    even death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore God also highly exalted him
    and gave him the name
    that is above every name,
¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

           

            In life, when we are up against tremendous challenges, maybe under the heel of our own Nebuchadnezzar or Antiochus Epiphanes, we praise God because we know God is in control and will carry us through our hard times.  In life, when things are going well, and we find ourselves on top, doing the winning, we bow in humble worship and praise God, thanking Him for our successes as we work to be generous in uplifting those around us who wallow in their struggles.  When we’re up, when we’re down and at times in between, we praise God.

            Anne Lamott has write book titled Hallelujah Anyway!  The idea is that even when life is thoroughly crud-filled and painful, was praise because God is there.  Based on the idea that God is there and that we have the Daniel opportunity before us – to take the path of worship and mercy – I proposed a modification on her title.  God is God and we aren’t.  God is here and it is a good thing that God is here because God can and will help us. 

            Maybe on a hard day we say Hallelujah Anyway!  But, knowing God is with us, we say, Hallelujah Always.  God is in Babylon and God is here, and in control.  That’s good news, the very best of news. 

AMEN 

From An Adoptive Father of a Russian Boy

I am completely aware of my own bias.  I am a father of three children whom I love deeply.  I do not play golf because it would mean time away from my kids.  My wife and I have decided not to have cable TV because we want to engage our children, not park them in front of the TV.  Sometimes my little lovelies get on my last nerve.  When my favorite football team is on and I can't see it because we don't have ESPN, I get pretty cranky.  But, we have happily chosen this life because we love, love, love our children.

All our children are adopted.  The oldest, a Russian boy, is now 10 and will be 11 soon.  The middle, a 6-year-old Ethiopian boy and the youngest a 3-year-old Ethiopian girl.  My wife and I are white Americans.  We are a pretty colorful family.  

When we got into adoption, I am sure there was some "savior-complex," if not for my wife, then definitely in me (just a little bit).  We read Matthew 25:40, and we are ready to do for "the least of these."  We're going to "rescue" an orphan and give him a good life.  I am sure those thoughts exist in the mind of many adoptive parents.  But, those thoughts dissipate quickly as it becomes the work of parenting.  Take away the lack of genetic connection, and parenting adopted kids is not different than parenting children that are yours naturally.  And parenting is one of the hardest jobs there is.

What cannot be taken away is the experiences adopted children had before they came into the families that adopt them.  In the case of my son from Russia, something happened that put in him anger - raging anger.  I won't go into details for several reasons.  He's made great strides.  We have had all kinds of professional help and he has overcome a lot.  I'd rather focus on his successes.  More importantly, it is his story to tell.  He is now at an age where he should have the right to determine what others know about him.

One indicator of his progress is that life is now easier with him and two other kids than it was when in the first two years he was with us.  I don't think that is because he's Russian.  I think in Russia there are people who are some of the best parents in the world.  I think that is true in most countries.  I think there are also some people who are awful to their children.  That also is true in most countries.  What I do think happens in situations where poverty is wide spread, like in Russia, is the social systems in place to take care of orphans are overworked.

The reason Russia allows affluent foreigners to come and adopt their children is they have more orphans than they can handle.  In the case of my son, he had 4 workers in the orphanage in his age group.  Those 4 worked in shifts, not all there at the same time.  And there were 16 children.  The workers did not have time to cuddle and coo and hold the babies and take the time needed to teach walking and talking.  What's even sadder is those workers did not have the time to teach the children how to be held.

When we adopted our son at 3 1/2, his body was as ridged as a board when he was picked up.  A child used to being held wraps his arms around you and his legs too.  The position of being held is natural because he's experienced it from birth.  Our boy had to learn that at 42 months of age.  He spent three years learning that when you cry in bed at night, no one comes, and you get punished if you get out of your bed before it is permitted.  He was perfectly comfortable sleeping in urine-soaked sheets.  He was scared to death to leave his bed once placed in it at night.  

This is but a sampling of what was in him: pain, confusion, rage.  And the people who were trying to love him out of this (my wife and me) were strangers who spoke a language he had never heard and took him to a place he did not know.  His case is pretty typical of kids adopted from Russia, Moldova, Romania, and Kazakhstan.  These kids come with a lot of baggage and it adds to the challenge of parenting them.  Again, without going into too much detail, the first two years with our boy were the hardest two years of my life.  And it has not been a cakewalk since then either.     

Please don't misinterpret what I am saying.  I do not condone the awful things that have happened to some of the Russian children who have been adopted.  When I read about that woman a few years ago who put her adopted child on a plane and sent him back to Russia, I was furious.  I am sure life was impossibly hard for her.  It was probably 10 times harder than what we experienced with our son.  But that's parenting.  If she had given birth to a child with a bipolar disorder or a child with schizophrenia, she couldn't send him back!  Parenting is hard and much harder for some parents than others.  When she sent that kid back, I was furious because she made it that much harder for others who want to adopt from Russia.  

Stories like ours don't make the paper.  Our son has graduated out of speech therapy and out of occupational therapy.  He no longer qualifies for an I.E.P. in school.  His reading and math skills are too good to qualify for special help.  He's right in the mainstream.  And that's true on his soccer team.  And it is true in his dance class.  When it comes to art (sketching) and construction (Legos) he is way beyond his peers.  Other kids in the neighborhood call him over when they have Lego emergencies and he gets them through it, finishing the construction for them if need be.  

Recently in Gardendale, Texas, an boy died, a boy adopted from Russia by an American family.  Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian foreign ministry's special representative for human rights said, "I would like to call your attention to another case of inhuman abuse of a Russian child by U.S. adoptive parents" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21503299).  If the investigation proves that this child died because of abuse from his adoptive parents, then they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.  That's murder and they should spend the rest of their lives in prison.  

But please, Mr. Dolgov, if you are going to speak to the press about this and other abuse stories, could you grant this adoptive father a small request.  Could you spend the next 10 years of your life telling the stories of American families who have loved their Russian children?  Would you please come to my house and take a long look at the huge picture of St. Basil's cathedral we have over our son's bed.  Maybe as you visit you could enjoy some Russian tea which my wife occasionally makes.  You and I could sit and discuss Russian authors - Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitsyn are my favorites.  My wife and just tonight began reading Father Sergius together.  Maybe, Mr. Dolgov, you prefer Turgenev or Asimov or Chekov.  While you are here, ask my son how we portray Russia to him.  He will tell you, I hope, that we encourage him to be proud of his heritage.  We want him to love the fact that he is Russian.  

Is that not a good thing, Mr. Dolgov?  Mr. Putin?  The Duma's action in late 2012 of cutting off adoptions of Russian children by American families is pathetically political.  What could be more hideous than using children as fodder in a propaganda war?  Most families I know that have adopted Russian children are like us.  They dearly love their children and they teach their children to love being Russian.  So, if 1000's of families take that approach, then, you have 1000's of young kids growing up in America who have pride about being Russian and love for that country.  

Cut that off as was done and is the current state of things, and what do you have?  First, you, Russia, have an orphan problem that is not getting solved.  Your homeless population will rise once this generation of orphans age out of the system and end up on the streets, addicted to drugs, and victims of the sex-slave industry.  Second, you have a nation, America, which instead of developing a deep love for Russia instead sees the Russian government as petty.  Where there was the potential for deepening of positive relationships, there is now growing distrust and childish rivalries.  O, you criticized us for human rights violations.  We'll show you!  You can't adopt our kids any more.  Are the people elected to the Duma a bunch of 10-year-olds?  Can't they see that the ones being hurt are the children in the orphanages?  

Of course they know that.  They just don't care at all.  If those kids can be used to strike a humiliating blow at America, then they'll be used in that way.  The value of those children is in what they can do for Russian national pride.  The lives of children already forsaken by their birth parents are now devalued even more.  The leaders in the Duma will without conscience use the children to save face.  

You know who does care?  The orphanage workers in Russia care.  Their hearts and backs are broken.  Some of those workers, mostly women, deeply love the children.  I know one did when we brought out boy home.  We showed him the pictures of the ladies we took before we left.  He always looked at one and touched it slowly.  "Vaya."  This was back when he was barely talking at all.  He didn't know many words in English or Russian, but he knew her name.  "Vaya."  It was obvious in how he said and how he looked at her.  Vaya loved my son before I did.  Vaya cares about these children and she knows they need homes.  And she knows her own country just cut off an enormous source of potential parents.

And those American parents who want to adopt, what about them?  They'll be fine.  The ones who can afford it will go to Kazakhstan or Ukraine.  The ones who can take off from work will go to Kenya or Malawi or Uganda.  The ones willing to risk the process will go to Honduras or Guatemala.  The ones willing to wait will go to China.  And the rest, the (now) majority will go to Ethiopia.  If now, there are plenty of children right here in America who need to be adopted.  One of my best friends in the U.S. has three adopted children from America.  My brother is in the process of adopting two from right here.

Of all the political actions I know of, the decision by the Russians to cut off Americans from adopting Russian orphans is the stupidest.  I love Russia.  I love the art.  I love the literature.  I love the pride and strength of that great nation.  I love the food.  The best fish dish I have ever had in my life I had at the hotel in Pskov on our two trips there.  I am sad for a country so great to be ruled by leaders who are so selfish and short-sighted.  

The evil ones are the Americans who adopt and then hurt the children they've adopted.  The victims are the children who will not be adopted.  What comes next?  I don't know.  But I wish I could get Mr. Dolgov and Mr. Putin to meet me at a hotel in Pskov.  I'd arrange for Vaya to be there.  And I would bring my boy.  Maybe the five could hash this out over a meal of the best fish you'll ever eat.