Theological Commentary: Click Here
Daniel 11
gives us three perspectives of human rebellion.
The first kind of rebellion are those kings who believe in sheer
might. These are the kings at the
beginning of the chapter who line up large armies and beat each other into
submission. While these are the most
physically dangerous kind of leaders, I think that these are also the least
likely to cause long-term trouble. You
can usually see these leaders coming.
More often than not, you can get out of their destructive swath. Nevertheless, one of the characteristics of
rebellion are those who believe in power and might.
Next, we see
pictures of kings who gain their power through diplomatic means. These are people who use their influence to
make friends and alliances. These are
the back room dealers, who typically have everything arranged before the
meeting starts and votes are cast. These
are charismatic leaders, who more often than not are more dangerous than the
first kind of leaders. These leaders
seek their own goals and desire to fulfill their own agenda. There is seldom any true humbleness within
them. These leaders you can usually only
spot coming if you are paying the proper attention to them.
Finally, we
get a glimpse of the worst kind of leader.
The third style of leadership presented in this chapter is the godless
leader. This is the leader who puts
stock in his fortresses instead of God.
The godless seeks to make himself a god of his own life and the lives of
anyone who would have him. This style of
leadership is so dangerous because it is so tempting to mimic. After all, who doesn’t want to be a god of
their own life? Who doesn’t feel the
natural temptation to put more stock in things like bank accounts and
protective walls than God? This type of
leader is dangerous because his example naturally pulls us away from being
humble in the presence of God.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment