Sunday 15 April 2018

Nebuchadnezzar's Testimonies (BD12)

             'Book of Daniel'

Dan 4:1-3 Nebuchadnezzar the king, To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me. How great are His signs, And how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And His dominion is from generation to generation.
    In the old days, all kings were treated and worshipped as gods by the heathens. In fact, King Nebuchadnezzar once forced his people to worship his golden image. Failing to kill the 3 Jews for not bowing down to worship his image, he then declared Yahweh the God of the Jews, the Lord God Almighty. Having seen those signs and wonders of Yahweh, he rejoiced witnessing them. Then being filled with faith, he willingly and joyfully, set out to testify of His greatness to all his subjects and also to the rest of the world. Below were some of the signs and wonders:-

1. Jewish youths 10 times better in wisdom and understanding,
Dan 1:19-20 Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.

2. Daniel revealed the King's dream,
Dan 2:31-35 "You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay..."

3. Daniel also interpreted his dream,
Dan 2:36-38 "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory..."

4. God's deliverance of the three Jews.
Dan  3:26, 29 Then Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, saying, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here. " Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came from the midst of the fire... "Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this."

This is an example of how you too can testify and declare God's work in your life:-
1. He introduced himself (king),
2. His greeting of peace to all,
3. He testified God's signs and wonders in his life,
4. He declared the greatness of His eternal Kingdom.

Warning - Unfortunately, many testimonies instead of giving all glories to the Lord God Almighty, also claim some self glories (self righteousness, own wisdom, abilities, etc.) which destroy their supposedly good testimonies.

Brethren, when you start to testify His faithfulness and greatness in your life, your have publicly humbled yourself as His servant by declaring Him as your Lord and King. God will continue to use you as His servant. No wonder God declared King Nebuchadnezzar, His servant, who constantly testified of His greatness.
Jer 27:6 "And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him."