Recognizing That Heaven Rules

"And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules" (Daniel 4:26)

IT IS HEAVEN THAT RULES! Now there is a statement that is the most far-reaching and life-impacting in all of the Word of God, beloved! When Daniel spoke those words to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, as he interpreted one of the king's dreams for him, he was speaking on behalf of the Creator of the universe. Nebuchadnezzar was having one of his "I am the greatest!" fits and God had determined that it was time for him to learn at long last who truly "rules" in heaven and on earth. And, true to His word, when the king continued to bask in the glory of his own grandeur, God spoke the word that sent him into the pastures to eat grass with the royal cattle. And there he stayed until at last he could stand on his two feet again as a man and declare to all the world:

"Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, exalt, praise, 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" (4:37)

IT IS HEAVEN THAT RULES! If ever a divine truth needed to be echoed again and again across the length and breadth of Planet Earth, beloved, this is that truth. We have become inundated with the teaching that man stands at the center of the universe, that man is the focal point of all that is life, that there is no Creator, that this world exists solely by chance and for man. No wonder that so many people live their lives today, then, by the same philosophy that ruled the life of the king of Babylon!

IT IS HEAVEN THAT RULES! No one said it any better than the king himself, beloved, once he had learned just who the one true God truly is. His declaration put it all into the right perspective for us today:

"All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, 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 have You done?'" (4:35)

IT IS HEAVEN THAT RULES! Whether man today wants to acknowledge this divine truth or not, beloved, it stands just the same. We each stand before Creator God in full accountability to Him, the One who rules and reigns over all that is, has ever been, or ever will be. If the king of Babylon, the most powerful man on earth in his day, could be driven to eat grass with the cattle for seven years, what do you think will be the result of our foolishness and pride today?

IT IS HEAVEN THAT RULES! I find in that reality the single greatest source of comfort and security that is imaginable, beloved. God holds my life and your life in the hollow of His omniscient hand. He moves us here and there at His good pleasure and for His personal glory. It is our destiny in this life and our great privilege to serve and honor the One who made us and whose own possessions we are by grace. Unless we begin to live in a manner that will "exalt, praise, and honor the King of heaven" (v.37), we will find out to our utter dismay how completely "He is able to humble those who walk in pride"!

Ron