Daniel 7:4: “The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.”
October 18th, 2021 by Pastor Ed in devotionalThe lion in this vision given to Daniel by God, has long been considered to represent Babylon. Interestingly, archaeologists have since uncovered ancient, stone-carved winged lions that stood guard at the gates of the royal palaces of Babylon. This vision of the cropping of the lion’s wings points to the 7 years of insanity that God put King Nebuchadnezzar through to humble him (Daniel 4). The human heart given to the lion after it is made to stand on two feet like a man represents Nebuchadnezzar after God humbled him and he become humble, humane, and benevolent, like his God.
The prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon, said, “The higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own estimation. Not because he is comparing himself with people, but because he is comparing himself with the Lord God.” Human pride has kept many from becoming everything God wanted them to be and accomplishing everything He purposed for them, but humility has allowed God to use believers to change whole generations.
In 1853, J. Hudson Taylor arrived in Shanghai as a young 21-year-old missionary. Twelve years later, he founded the China Inland Mission and became the first Protestant missionary to go into inland China. Taylor led the China Inland Mission for the next 40 years, and at the time of his death, in 1905, the mission had 205 stations, 849 missionaries, and had seen 125,000 Chinese become believers. Taylor also translated the New Testament into a local dialect. Near the end of his life, 2 ladies in Shanghai wondered if he had ever been tempted to be proud. One of the ladies went and asked Mrs. Taylor, who then went and asked her husband. Surprised by the question, he asked, “Proud about what?” “Why, about the things you have done,” his wife answered. Hudson immediately replied with a true and beautiful answer, “I haven’t done anything.” And he was right. Hudson Taylor had never done anything, because it was God who had worked in and through him. Pride will stop any and every believer from becoming great in God’s eyes, but if we humble ourselves, God will use us to change our generation.
“LORD, use us today to bring light and life to others, as we choose to humble ourselves under Your mighty hand.”