[Nebuchadnezzar] said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” – Daniel 4:30
According to Herodotus (a fourth-century Greek historian), Babylon was by far the most impressive city of the ancient world. The outer walls of the city alone measured 56 miles long, 80 feet wide, and 320 feet high. King Nebuchadnezzar was a great builder and expanded the city six square miles. Within the city there were 53 temples erected for various gods, many containing massive golden statues. And on the northwest corner of the king’s palace sat one of the Seven Wonders of the World – the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
As King Nebuchadnezzar stood on the rooftop of his palace, he looked out over his vast empire. Just a year earlier, his trusted servant, Daniel, had prophesied that God’s judgment was coming against him and encouraged the king to repent and turn to God. And yet a year had passed and nothing had changed. He was still a mighty king, and everything his eye could see was still in his possession. In that moment, his pride and self-adulation overcame him. “Is this not the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
Daniel goes on to tell us that no sooner than the king had uttered those words from his palace rooftop, God’s judgment came upon him. He was immediately stricken with extreme mental illness and would spend the next 7 years of his life living in isolation in the wilderness. (Dan. 4:31-37)
Nebuchadnezzar’s prideful demise appeals to the warning that Paul gives in 1st Corinthians 4:7: “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”
Everything we have – our talents, our wealth and resources, our opportunities – are gifts from God. There is nothing we possess or accomplish that is purely the result of our own effort. The moment we start to revel in our own glory, as Nebuchadnezzar did, we forget that it is God who enables our success.
Pride blinds us to the truth that we are completely dependent on God for everything, leading us to take credit for what only God can do. When we elevate ourselves and refuse to acknowledge God’s role in our lives, we put ourselves at serious risk of being humbled, and sometimes in the most painful ways.
Paul’s words push us to adopt a heart of gratitude and humility. Instead of boasting about what we have done, we should give credit to the One who equips us. Every success, every victory, and every blessing should point us back to God, the ultimate source of all good things.
Former Blackout Artist 