DAILY BIBLE LESSON.
THE PRIDE OF POWER.
Please, share this study with your family, friends co-workers, and all who you can, for the expansion of the Kingdom of GOD.
Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire” (Ezekiel 28:14). The Bible spends a lot of time on kings who were overcome with pride in their own power, which gives the one who wields it incredible attention and adoration, feeding selfishness to no end.
Nebuchadnezzar struggled with this particular pride problem. At the zenith of his power, the great Babylonian king had a dream about a tree from which the whole world was fed and where every bird found a place to roost in its branches. Later he watches the tree being cut down, and the worried king seeks an interpretation. The prophet Daniel informs Nebuchadnezzar that the monarch is the tree who will be cut down. Daniel advises him to turn from his sinful ways, live righteously, and show mercy on the poor.
Convicted by the prophet, Nebuchadnezzar manages to humble himself — for a while. As Babylon continued to grow in prosperity, as his armies continued to win battles, as all his building projects came to fruition, one day the king walked out onto one his palatial balconies to take in the glorious vista of his kingdom. He proclaimed, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30).
Sounds like the devil, doesn’t it? He took irresponsible credit for everything over which he was given reign. God took this precise moment in time to send a striking judgment on the prideful king. “While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee” (v. 31).
"What follows is quite amazing. For seven years, God took away the king’s wisdom, intelligence, and power. Nebuchadnezzar became like a brute animal, going around on his hands and knees. His advisers didn’t know what to do with him. Fearing this might destabilize the kingdom, they refused to declare the situation to the kingdom’s citizens and released him to pasture in the royal gardens where he went around eating grass like an ox.
After seven years, God had mercy and restored Nebuchadnezzar’s wits. But the lesson is as clear as the story of the devil in Ezekiel: God is the one who deserves our praise, no matter how much power we possess in this world. When God gives us the ability to influence others, we shouldn’t treat it as if we did it all on our own. We should use that power with deep humility. Because of his pride, Nebuchadnezzar lost everything. Pride can also bring Christians to a place where we lose our access to the kingdom of God, just as it did with the devil.
To learn more about our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and the Sabbath, please visit your local Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Or please visit us at Rossville Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at 1737 Mission Ridge Road, Rossville Georgia 30741
Pastor; Greg Hudson
Services start at 11am on Saturday (Sabbath) morning.
THE PRIDE OF POWER.
Please, share this study with your family, friends co-workers, and all who you can, for the expansion of the Kingdom of GOD.
Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire” (Ezekiel 28:14). The Bible spends a lot of time on kings who were overcome with pride in their own power, which gives the one who wields it incredible attention and adoration, feeding selfishness to no end.
Nebuchadnezzar struggled with this particular pride problem. At the zenith of his power, the great Babylonian king had a dream about a tree from which the whole world was fed and where every bird found a place to roost in its branches. Later he watches the tree being cut down, and the worried king seeks an interpretation. The prophet Daniel informs Nebuchadnezzar that the monarch is the tree who will be cut down. Daniel advises him to turn from his sinful ways, live righteously, and show mercy on the poor.
Convicted by the prophet, Nebuchadnezzar manages to humble himself — for a while. As Babylon continued to grow in prosperity, as his armies continued to win battles, as all his building projects came to fruition, one day the king walked out onto one his palatial balconies to take in the glorious vista of his kingdom. He proclaimed, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30).
Sounds like the devil, doesn’t it? He took irresponsible credit for everything over which he was given reign. God took this precise moment in time to send a striking judgment on the prideful king. “While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee” (v. 31).
"What follows is quite amazing. For seven years, God took away the king’s wisdom, intelligence, and power. Nebuchadnezzar became like a brute animal, going around on his hands and knees. His advisers didn’t know what to do with him. Fearing this might destabilize the kingdom, they refused to declare the situation to the kingdom’s citizens and released him to pasture in the royal gardens where he went around eating grass like an ox.
After seven years, God had mercy and restored Nebuchadnezzar’s wits. But the lesson is as clear as the story of the devil in Ezekiel: God is the one who deserves our praise, no matter how much power we possess in this world. When God gives us the ability to influence others, we shouldn’t treat it as if we did it all on our own. We should use that power with deep humility. Because of his pride, Nebuchadnezzar lost everything. Pride can also bring Christians to a place where we lose our access to the kingdom of God, just as it did with the devil.
To learn more about our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and the Sabbath, please visit your local Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Or please visit us at Rossville Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at 1737 Mission Ridge Road, Rossville Georgia 30741
Pastor; Greg Hudson
Services start at 11am on Saturday (Sabbath) morning.
DAILY BIBLE LESSON.
THE PRIDE OF POWER.
Please, share this study with your family, friends co-workers, and all who you can, for the expansion of the Kingdom of GOD.
Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire” (Ezekiel 28:14). The Bible spends a lot of time on kings who were overcome with pride in their own power, which gives the one who wields it incredible attention and adoration, feeding selfishness to no end.
Nebuchadnezzar struggled with this particular pride problem. At the zenith of his power, the great Babylonian king had a dream about a tree from which the whole world was fed and where every bird found a place to roost in its branches. Later he watches the tree being cut down, and the worried king seeks an interpretation. The prophet Daniel informs Nebuchadnezzar that the monarch is the tree who will be cut down. Daniel advises him to turn from his sinful ways, live righteously, and show mercy on the poor.
Convicted by the prophet, Nebuchadnezzar manages to humble himself — for a while. As Babylon continued to grow in prosperity, as his armies continued to win battles, as all his building projects came to fruition, one day the king walked out onto one his palatial balconies to take in the glorious vista of his kingdom. He proclaimed, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30).
Sounds like the devil, doesn’t it? He took irresponsible credit for everything over which he was given reign. God took this precise moment in time to send a striking judgment on the prideful king. “While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee” (v. 31).
"What follows is quite amazing. For seven years, God took away the king’s wisdom, intelligence, and power. Nebuchadnezzar became like a brute animal, going around on his hands and knees. His advisers didn’t know what to do with him. Fearing this might destabilize the kingdom, they refused to declare the situation to the kingdom’s citizens and released him to pasture in the royal gardens where he went around eating grass like an ox.
After seven years, God had mercy and restored Nebuchadnezzar’s wits. But the lesson is as clear as the story of the devil in Ezekiel: God is the one who deserves our praise, no matter how much power we possess in this world. When God gives us the ability to influence others, we shouldn’t treat it as if we did it all on our own. We should use that power with deep humility. Because of his pride, Nebuchadnezzar lost everything. Pride can also bring Christians to a place where we lose our access to the kingdom of God, just as it did with the devil.
To learn more about our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and the Sabbath, please visit your local Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Or please visit us at Rossville Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at 1737 Mission Ridge Road, Rossville Georgia 30741
Pastor; Greg Hudson
Services start at 11am on Saturday (Sabbath) morning.
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