{"id":4545,"date":"2016-11-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/oyb\/therefore-o-king-let-my-counsel-be-acceptable-to-you-break-off-your-sins-by-practicing-righteousness-and-your-iniquities-by-showing-mercy-to-the-oppressed-that-there-may-perhaps-be-a-len\/"},"modified":"2016-11-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-27T00:00:00","slug":"therefore-o-king-let-my-counsel-be-acceptable-to-you-break-off-your-sins-by-practicing-righteousness-and-your-iniquities-by-showing-mercy-to-the-oppressed-that-there-may-perhaps-be-a-len","status":"publish","type":"oyb","link":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/oyb\/therefore-o-king-let-my-counsel-be-acceptable-to-you-break-off-your-sins-by-practicing-righteousness-and-your-iniquities-by-showing-mercy-to-the-oppressed-that-there-may-perhaps-be-a-len","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.\u201d (Daniel 4:27 ESV)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar&#8217;s second dream, he boldly added advice that the king repent of sin and heed God&#8217;s warning. What a special relationship God had given Daniel with the king, that he could be so bold without the king&#8217;s reprisal! Yet, Nebuchadnezzer didn&#8217;t repent, and after a year went by, his nightmare became a reality. God humbled the prideful king. I wonder why God chose to give this pagan Babylonian king such revelations? And why did God provide not only dreams, but also a faithful interpreter in Daniel? It reminds me of how God gave the Egyptian Pharaoh a dream, and then sent him Joseph to interpret it. What was God&#8217;s overarching purpose in giving such revelations to pagan kings and providing godly men to interpret them? Perhaps it was at least twofold: 1) God revealed Himself to them that they might repent and believe. 2) God provided godly prophets to find favor with the pagan kings, so that God&#8217;s people might prosper even while exiled in a foreign land. How might Daniel&#8217;s relationship with Nebuchadnezzar be applied to how we relate to worldly kings, presidents, governors and employers today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar&#8217;s second dream, he boldly added advice that the king repent of sin and heed God&#8217;s warning. What a special relationship God had given Daniel with the king, that he could be so bold without the king&#8217;s reprisal! Yet, Nebuchadnezzer didn&#8217;t repent, and after a year went by, his nightmare became a reality. God humbled the prideful king. I wonder why God chose to give this pagan Babylonian king such revelations? And why did God provide not only dreams, but also a faithful interpreter in Daniel? It reminds me of how God gave the Egyptian Pharaoh a dream, and then sent him Joseph to interpret it. What was God&#8217;s overarching purpose in giving such revelations to pagan kings and providing godly men to interpret them? Perhaps it was at least twofold: 1) God revealed Himself to them that they might repent and believe. 2) God provided godly prophets to find favor with the pagan kings, so that God&#8217;s people might prosper even while exiled in a foreign land. How might Daniel&#8217;s relationship with Nebuchadnezzar be applied to how we relate to worldly kings, presidents, governors and employers today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"scripture-book":[1294],"scripture-chapter":[1337],"oyb_day":[1858],"location":[],"class_list":["post-4545","oyb","type-oyb","status-publish","hentry","scripture-book-daniel","scripture-chapter-1337","oyb_day-november-27"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oyb\/4545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oyb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/oyb"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4545"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-book?post=4545"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-chapter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-chapter?post=4545"},{"taxonomy":"oyb_day","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oyb_day?post=4545"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=4545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}