Jeremiah 27:6: “And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him.”

October 26th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

How strange to our ears, and to those who heard this prophecy for the first time, that an unbelieving, Gentile king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, was somehow God’s servant. Surely those who heard this were thinking, “How could Nebuchadnezzar, who plundered and sacked God’s temple and made slaves of God’s people, be God’s servant?” (Can God use non-believers in our lives to move us in the direction He wants us to go?) Of course this pagan, foreign king did not see himself as a servant of anyone. He thought he could go wherever he wanted, do whatever pleased him, and that no one could stop him. He was totally unaware of God’s claim on his life, or that God had empowered him to discipline His children, making them serve their enemies, because they had refused to serve God. The lesson for God’s people is simple, only a fool rebels against God.

The word rebel means “resisting or rising up against authority,” and it is used 62 times in the Old Testament to describe both the attitudes and actions of people. Someone said that rebellion is reserving for oneself the right to make final decisions. At the heart of all rebellion is the heart. The good news in Nebuchadnezzar’s story was that it didn’t end there. In the book of Daniel we find that this king finally become a true servant of God after God humbled him by causing him to go insane for 7 years, during which time he lived in the wilderness. After that, his sanity was restored, and he acknowledged God. We believe that at that point Nebuchadnezzar became a willing servant of the Lord because he received the servant heart of God. His words are recorded in Daniel 4:37: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and his ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.”

“LORD, we want to again turn from our rebellious thoughts and be faithful to serve You this day.”