Today the sole topic of prayer for my prayer room team is the increasingly oppressed and impoverished nation of Zimbabwe. Jeff Eggers, the leader of the team, read to us the latest of an ever increasingly long list of tragic, heartbreaking reports of the situation in Zimbabwe. The letters come from a western reporter living in the country who has been sending out weekly updates about the political, economic, and social conditions that are rapidly disintegrating.
Just a couple of facts to give you an idea of the situation:
-The government has seized the many of the farms in the country and they now lie barren.
-Inflation is around 1,700% and rising by an average of 4% per day.
-The average cost of school (k-12) has risen from $500 per year to over $2000.
-Power outages are frequent and the president is building a palace that, when completed will drain 1/3 of the country’s power.
I will leave it at that since the heart of this post is not the current state of Zimbabwe or a motivation to pray, although I hope prayer is a side affect. Perhaps I will have to dedicate a later post to this topic but for now let me get on with it.
My point is that all the trouble in Zimbabwe stems from the corrupt government, specifically the president, Robert Mugabe. He has single-handedly turned his country from the “bread basket of Africa” to the desolate, ruined land it is now through a process of terrible decision after terrible decision. The clincher, though, is that he blames western countries for everything and has decided to remain in power three years beyond his set term.
Now, to tie the title into the context, is Robert Mugabe a Nebuchadnezzar or a Belshazzar (from the book of Daniel)? Look at these two historical figures and note how Daniel (one of the top 5 wisest people ever) treats them differently. For example, when Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that means judgment from the Lord, Daniel wishes with all his heart that it would fall upon someone else even after Nebuchadnezzar builds an altar, demands worship, and tries to kill Daniel’s friends when the refuse to comply (Daniel 4:19).
On the other hand, when Belshazzar has an evil feast on the eve of his destruction and the writing on the wall appears to pronounce his time is up, Daniel takes a different tone with him. Daniel seems to write him off as lost and gives him over to the judgment.
What’s the difference? What was it that Daniel saw in Nebuchadnezzar that wasn’t in Belshazzar or vice versa? Is Mugabe a Nebuchadnezzar or a Belshazzar? How can we tell one type of leader from another and how do we pray for them?
I’ll attempt to resolve some of these questions in part 2 but I want to hear your thoughts first. Bonus Blog points if you can guess where I’m going with this.
