CONFESSIONS FROM AN ANCIENT KING: HIS PRIVATE KEY TO PUBLIC SPLENDOUR

I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace.
Daniel 4:4.

1. When Ancient Kings Speak…

People should listen when great kings speak, especially successful ancient kings who made their contributions to the wonders of their time.  Before us is the profound confession of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, famed in history also for his contribution of hanging gardens to the wonders of the ancient world.  Babylon was opulence beyond compare.

2. The Two States and Two Settings

In the passage above, the king describes two states in two settings or contexts: rest in own house, and flourishment in the palace, but rest before flourishment; or rest that leads to flourishment.  The first is an emotional state of rest.  Where?  “…in mine house.”  The next is a consequent physical and public state of prosperity – “in my palace.”  The first is a private state in a private space; the other is a public state in a public space, evident to every observer, described metaphorically as “flourishing,” like a tree along the street, handsomely laden with leaves and fruits, generously giving shelter and food to everyone; a tree so well nourished (secretly, privately, restfully) that it also can give nourishment to others (publicly).

Rest is a ‘received’ state; flourishment is a ‘giving’ state.  That is, someone receives rest (from whomever or whatever), which enables the receiver to blossom so well as to become a flourishing colossal prophetic global and international tree that in turn is able to give food and shelter to all; a massive tree under whose branches all the birds of the earth find rest (Daniel 4:10-12).  A physical context created the emotional state of rest which nourished the physical state of flourishment.  Not everybody was in the house to appraise the rest, but everybody far and near saw and felt the wholesome public effects of the private rest received.  The tranquility was a private experience “in mine house,” yet it was powerful in determining outcomes in the opulent public place “in my palace.”   In other words, a small private space can determine many mighty public things, positively and negatively. The size of a setting does not often determine the extent of its influence.  It is foolish boys who measure the power of a nuclear bomb by its physical size.

3. From Rest to Flourishment

According to this great king, to flourish in the palace – in his official public space, he had rest (or had to have rest) in the house – in his private space.  In other words, if his house had been the place of tests rather than rest, it might have been hard to flourish in the public, though planted in a palace of gold as he was.  If he had been wrestling rather than resting, story might have been sadly different.  His public prosperity in the palace had something to do with the private peace he enjoyed in the house, his own house.  The rest was a consequence of the atmosphere created “in mine house” – whoever and whatever were the makers of that atmosphere.  Sociologists have long stressed the power of context over content; the influence that environment has on character and performance.  The Bible speaks no less (Proverbs 22:24-25; 13:20).

No matter how coated in gold a palace might be, with hanging gardens decked in rare roses, the king who finds no rest in his own house will find little prosperity in that palace.  In other words, sometimes the barrenness of some good men in some plush palaces might have nothing to do with a lack in their palace but everything to do with a lack in their own house.  Their poor public performance might point not to a lack of skill but to a lack of rest.  They have been unable to flourish out there because there has been no peace in there.  They will prosper little even in a palace whose houses are wrestling rings rather than resting rooms.  If you doubt me, ask His Excellency, King Nebuchadnezzar of Great Babylon, or in Proverbs 21:9 and 19, read the repeated recommendations of another wise king with practical experience from handling his harem of a thousand hens.

It is the thought of many that much prosperity can buy rest in the house, but Nebuchadnezzar confesses otherwise.  For that ancient king, it was not flourishment that bought rest, it was rest before prosperity. That might explain the case of miserable monarchs in mansions of gold.  Every palace has a throne and a room.  A passage connects them (Esther 5:1-3; 6:1-6).

4. The Radical Precautions of an Ancient King

It might take great wars to gain a palace, but keeping the palace is a different war.  That is a story for another day.  Another ancient king, in the early chapters of his palace history, seemed to have learned the lesson quickly at the sudden detection of stressors in his house.  His wise men, probably of the ancient School of King Nebuchadnezzar, advised him quickly on a process of stress-elimination if he expected lasting flourishment in his palace (Esther 1:10-22).  Years later, as that history shows, he seemed to have been the better for listening to them.  Like then, and as Jesus Himself explained to His disciples, sometimes the process of stress elimination can be radical and drastic (Mark 9:43-50).

5. A Gap in Leadership Lessons

Often, leaders and development ‘experts’ have focused great attention on polishing the palace, with little thought to the ‘house’ from which the ruler comes who sits or should sit in the palace.  Nebuchadnezzar moved from rest in his own house (not another’s house) to flourishment in his palace.  Of course, the king must have reciprocated the fruits of his flourishment to the house that gave him the rest that was the fertilizer for his bloom.  Such reciprocity would have garnished the house better to give more rest for the tree to flourish much more.

It is possible to be planted in a plush palace and yet not prosper if the house of horrors from which one comes pre-sets one to embarrassing errors.  The remote buttons for some glaring palace failures might sometimes be found back in their private house.  Try this: “… at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace,” in the reverse, could well read, “at war in mine house, and withered in my palace…”

6. A Prayer

By the mercies of God, may you be able soon to say of your kingdom, like King Solomon, “the Lord my God has given ISRAEL peace ON EVERY SIDE; I have no FOREIGN enemies or INTERNAL rebellions” (1 Kings 5:4, The Living Bible).  May you be able to boast in the Lord personally, like King David, “But now the Lord my God has given ME rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil confronting me” (1 Kings 5:4, AMP).  May it be unto you according to Psalm 71:21, that the Lord “increase [your] greatness” and comfort you “on every side,” after enemies to flourishment in the public palace shall have been removed from your private rooms.  Amen.

 From The Preacher’s diary,
July 30, 2022.