Have They Lost Their Minds Dan 4:33-34 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The question raised in this sermon is simply, Have they lost their mind? When rulers of countries rule contrary to God they lose their minds and manifest their loss in a variety of ways. We’re going to look at some of these rulers in the Bible to see the evidence of their madness and the underlying cause. The obvious question then is this in regard to some of our government officials, Have they lost their mind?
Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind – Dan 4:33-34 – Nebuchadnezzar suffered from a madness called Lycanthropy – in lycanthropy you think you have turned into an animal – according to v.24-25 God drove the king from men and made him to eat grass as oxen for seven years – why did this happen to him – v.27 says that he needed to break off his sins by righteousness and by shewing mercy to the poor – it’s evident that his sins included pride [v.30, 34-37] and idolatry [Dan 3] – he got so lifted up against God that he lost his mind – when he recovered he said, “mine understanding returned unto me,” [v.34] – when rulers become proud and lift themselves up against God, they go mad.
Pharaoh lost his mind – Ex 10:7 – Pharaoh hardened his heart against the Lord and against the Lord’s people – he was resolved not to let Israel go into the wilderness to worship the Lord – yet his country was destroyed because he was so determined to resist the Lord – Egypt suffered through 10 plagues which devastated the country and left all the men and animals without their firstborn [Ex 11:5] – finally Pharaoh couldn’t take it and let them go [Ex 12:30-32] – but before they could leave the country he changed his mind and pursued them to kill them [Ex 14:5-9] – yet he and all the men with him died in the attempt [Ex 14:27-28] – in his madness Pharaoh was responsible for destroying his country, his army and himself – why – he was an agnostic [Ex 5:2] who was afflicting and killing God’s people [Ex 1:11-12, 15-22] – he lost his mind – the same thing happened to Adolf Hitler for the same reason – when rulers turn against God, God’s people and God’s children, they’re going to lose their minds.
Saul lost his mind – 1 Sam 16:14 – Saul’s madness resulted from an evil spirit – it’s no wonder because he rejected the word of the Lord – he rebelled against the Lord and stubbornly disobeyed his word [1 Sam 15:22-23] – in his madness he tried to kill his own son [1 Sam 20:33-34], he relentlessly tried to kill David, the anointed successor to the throne [1 Sam 18:9-11; 19:10; 23:11; etc] and he killed the eighty-five priests of the Lord [1 Sam 22:16-18] – the man was mad – the maniac in the country of the Gadarenes was a mad man, but when the evil spirits left him he returned to his right mind [Mk 5:15] – when rulers are affected by an evil spirit their minds go – after getting messed up by an evil spirit rulers would have to be saved and not succumb to a spirit of fear in order to have a sound mind [2 Tim 1:7].
Conclusion: Have some of our government officials lost their mind? After looking at these cases in the Bible there is a distinct possibility that some of our government officials have made the godless decisions they have made because they have lost their minds – if they haven’t, they will – agnosticism, killing babies and afflicting the people of God resulted in the madness of Pharaoh – lifting himself up in pride and following another god resulted in the madness of Nebuchadnezzar – disobeying the word of God and going after the man of God resulted in the madness of Saul – unleashing the perversion of same-sex marriage on America without considering the fall of the Weimar Republic and the Roman Empire is sheer madness – so I ask you again, Have they lost their mind?