Danielनमुना

4 times in Daniel chapters 4-5 it states …
'the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes' Daniel 4:17, 25, 32, and 5:21.

Daniel 2, 3, and 4 tell the story of how the emperor Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by God step-by-step.

In Daniel 1 the emperor’s armies overrun Jerusalem, and he carries off the treasures from the temple along with some of the most gifted young nobility.
==> Nebuchadnezzar seems invincible. He’s ‘clearly’ more powerful than the God of the Israelites!

Daniel 2 narrates how Daniel was the only one who could tell Nebuchadnezzar the details of his dream and what it meant.
==> Nebuchadnezzar promotes Daniel.

Daniel 3 tells how God vindicates Daniel’s three friends when they are thrown into a furnace because they refuse to worship an image of the emperor.
==> Nebuchadnezzar praises God and prevents anyone from speaking against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

But in Daniel 4 it is the emperor Nebuchadnezzar himself who was humbled and ate grass like an ox until he finally ‘praised the Most High … and honored and glorified him who lives forever’.
==> God humbles Nebuchadnezzar, then restores him after he has repented.

And in Daniel 5, Nebuchadnezzar’s son Belshazzar lost his kingdom and his life. Although he knew all that had happened to his father, he not only refused to honor God but chose to dishonor him by using the articles from the Jerusalem temple for pagan worship.

Psalm 75 expresses this perfectly …

‘I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge with equity.
When the earth and all its pillars quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.
To the arrogant I say, “Boast no more”, and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horns.
Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak so defiantly.”
No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt themselves.
It is God who judges: he brings one down, he exalts another up’ Psalm 75:2-7

(It is not that one government is evil and the other is righteous. No, the point is that 'the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes’.)

So, whatever our different political views, let us join together thanking God for raising up our new leaders and praying that godly and righteous men and women will be appointed to positions of authority in our nation, (and in all nations), ‘that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness’, (1 Timothy 2:2).