Dr. Hannah has enjoyed a distinguished career for more than forty years at DTS. He is a frequent and popular church and conference speaker both at home and abroad. His teaching interests include the general history of the Christian church, with particular interest in the works of Jonathan Edwards and John Owen. Among his published works are a history of DTS and a general history of the Christian Church. He remains active in church ministries and serves on the boards of several organizations.
That if God is pleased to do so, the people of God will be delivered from the caprices of predators and dreadful circumstances, of those who prioritize obedience to the rules of God more than the rules of men when they conflict. When coupled with the story of the three Hebrews consigned to a fiery death (chapter 3), all who live in “exile,” in an unfriendly and aversive culture, should be encouraged that we are secure from the jealousy and evil plotting of those who would prevent us from the worship of the true God.
This chapter, and the previous, at an applicational level deals with the terrible devastation that pride and arrogance brings though with contrastive outcomes. Chapter 4 tells us that a repentant heart brings with it restoration while in this chapter an unrepentant heart brings death and destruction. From the perspective of suffering exiles, the chapters comfort them with the knowledge that the fortunes of powerful monarch are in the hands of the God of Israel. To one monarch He extended grace through physical disablement to allow him to see the evil of arrogance and the wonder of forgiveness. To the other, he crushed without granting the grace of repentance. God controls the hearts of mankind and does as He please.
Pride and arrogance are destructive for all of us from the teacher to a king. We must remind ourselves of the lyrics of an of hymn: “Naught have begotten but what I received grace has bestowed it since I have believed. Boasting excluded, pride I abase; I’m only a sinner saved by grace.” Position is a privilege; it is not evidence of superiority or worth.
Arrogance coupled with delusions of grandeur and hunger for power should not paralyze God’s children who fear God more than temporal authorities because God will protect them regardless of the immediate consequence of their devotion and loyalty. Jesus told us, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt.10:28).”
Though kingdoms emerge displaying great power, they have a limited duration because only God’s kingdom is eternal. We who live as exiles in a distant land should be encouraged that one day our exile will end, that God controls the ebb and flow of time. We are clearly in the end of times!!
Even in unusual circumstances God protects us when we seek to do what is honoring to Him in our walk of faith and trust. Living in obedience requires a knowledgeable commitment to the Holy Scriptures, confident trust, and the divine creation of favorable circumstances.
The pages of 2023 have been turned into the realm of memories and we are poised on the edge of a new year, a year that surely will bring to each of us anticipated joys and the unexpected pleasures. Though all will not be what we planned, or even hoped, it will offer numerous occasions to exercise wisdom, as well as fortitude.
