This Sunday we waded back into Daniel after taking two weeks to celebrate Palm Sunday and Easter. Daniel 4:34-37 served as a springboard for us to consider the theme of Nebuchadnezzar encountering the Living God. In these first four chapters, we get ring-side seats to witness the most powerful king on the earth encountering the King of Heaven. Through a process, we see God revealing himself, little by little, to Nebuchadnezzar. In his own words, Nebuchadnezzar first describes a God who who is a “revealer.” His definition expands to “able to rescue,” and then finally to “King of heaven.”

In this, we see an important theme through the Old Testament. When we, in our church, think about the good news, we tend to think about substitutionary atonement: the death of Jesus to pay the price for our sins. In the days when Daniel and Isaiah lived, God’s people tended to think of the good news in terms of “our God reigns.” For people who tend to think of Jesus as savior, it may be strange to also think of Jesus as king. However, Jesus’ rule is a key theme through the New Testament.

Read Daniel 4:34-37

Do you tend to think more about Jesus as savior or Jesus as king?

How do you see God’s grace in revealing himself to Nebuchadnezzar?

How do you think about God’s reign in the world today?

What area(s) of your faith need to be strengthened with the words “God’s got this!”?

Pray for each other to be strengthened with the knowledge of God, our sovereign king.