The Divine Conductor of History's Symphony

There is something about hearing the Word of God read publicly that is humbling and sobering. This is the closest we come to hearing the audible voice of God. The Scripture is the Word of God, and we simply put a human voice into the mix so that those words are heard and not just read. Many times we see truths or emphases in the Scripture that did not stand out before when we read it on our own.

As I read Daniel, I was struck with the emphasis that God is very clearly teaching us as His people. He is showing us His glory very clearly in these chapters. Yahweh is wholly unique. He is the living God, the universal God, the absolutely sovereign God. He is the God of heaven and earth. He is the God who saves like none other. He is the God who appoints kings and disposes of kings as He so wills. He is the God who controls the fates of all nations, all peoples, all rulers, all individuals. He is the one true God.

In chapter one, God gives grace and favor to Daniel and his three friends so that they rise to prominence and power within the pagan empire, even though they are slaves and captives. In chapter two, God reveals a dream to the highest king in the world at that time, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, indicating that his kingdom, his sovereignty, has all been a gift from this God who will in turn give it to another after Nebuchadnezzar and then another and then another. Ultimately, all human kingdoms, empowered and disposed by God, will be crushed to oblivion in the arrival of the eternal kingdom of God that will never be replaced. The point is that God is the conductor of history’s symphony.

Chapter three is a battle between the high king Nebuchadnezzar and Yahweh, the God of heaven. Nebuchadnezzar’s sovereignty is challenged and easily overcome by Yahweh’s sovereignty in front of all the rulers and officials of the empire. Nebuchadnezzar says to the defiant Israelites who refuse to bow to his idol, “What god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?” (Dan 3:15). When God refuses to allow these men to be harmed even in the slightest by the raging fires of Nebuchadnezzar, he speaks in humiliated awe, “There is no other god who is able to deliver in this way” (Dan 3:29). Chapter four is the final subjection of Nebuchadnezzar to the true God of heaven when he is made like a beast for seven periods of time before God allows him to return to his throne. This decree about Nebuchadnezzar is for a purpose: “This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers, and the decision is a command of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes, and sets over it the lowliest of men” (Dan 4:17). Yahweh is the ruler of all mankind and bestows the privilege of leadership and kingship over those human kingdoms to whomever He wishes.

After his humiliation, Nebuchadnezzar says, “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. And 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 earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What hast Thou done?’” (Dan 4:34-35). Yahweh does what He wants, and no one can stop Him or question Him as to why He has done what He has done. This means He is absolutely sovereign. It means that the rise and fall of nations and rulers is according to the will and purpose of God. It means that all of our human scheming is actually fulfilling God’s plan. His hand cannot be held back. His will cannot be thwarted. Those who rule, those who conquer, those who fall are all being controlled by the will of a sovereign God.

Belshazzar is an arrogant king who did not learn from his father Nebuchadnezzar that Yahweh sets the kingdom over whomever He wishes and, as a result, was disposed of his throne in one night. The kingdom was then given to the Medes and Persians. Following these events in chapter five, we read chapter six, which displays another king exercising his sovereignty in a way that puts him in a contest with Yahweh. Yahweh delivers Daniel miraculously, to which Darius responds to every person under his dominion, “I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and His dominion will be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions” (Dan 6:26-27).

What is the point of all of this? God has not changed. The same God who sovereignly orchestrated the history of the past is the same God who controls the nations today. Nations rise and fall, leaders come and go, and they are all following the plan and purpose of a God who does whatever He pleases. As you follow the news about crises around the world about countires that will come and go, remember that Yahweh is on His throne. He reigns and rules over an everlasting kingdom inaugurated at the coming of Christ. This is the mountain that crushes all human kingdoms to dust and endures forever. That kingdom is enduring and growing, and the human kingdoms will rage against it with a vengeance, but He who sits in heaven merely laughs at them and their scheming. “Why are the nations in an uproar, and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed: ‘Let us tear their fetters apart, and cast away their cords from us!’ He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury: but as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Thou shalt shatter them like earthenware.’ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence, and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” (Psalm 2). Do not tremble in fear before the rise and fall of nations. Rejoice with trembling that your God is maker of heaven and earth, that He alone rules over the nations! Take refuge in the sovereign God as did Daniel and countless other believers through all seasons of history. God is Lord and Ruler over all peoples regardless of race or religion. Their future is in His hands, and they can do nothing to His people that He does not allow. We need not fear man, for what can man do to us? In the midst of worldwide turmoil, what should we do? Worship the LORD with reverence and turn unbelievers to the Lord, for truly they are blessed who take refuge in Him.