But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
The rich are made low and pass away like the flower in the grass. The rich should rejoice when brought low, because wealth and status are temporary and the rich person will pass away like a grass flower. Wealth, status, and worldly riches and glory, including mere outward and worldly glory, are temporary and worthless because they pass away like grass flowers.
Worldly, ambitious statesmen are like grass that grows up and its flower that fades, and they shall pass away, so their status and power do not last. Worldly ambition, projects, plans, and purposes fade, while what is bound to eternal truth endures, so worldly success should not be treated as lasting.
History illustrates this transience, for Babylon with all its power and magnificence, the like of which the world has never since seen and which seemed stable and enduring, has completely passed away, as have the Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman kingdoms, and so perishes all that has not God for its foundation. Only what rests on God, is bound to eternal truth and bound up with His purpose, and reflects and expresses His character endures, for His principles are the only steadfast things the world knows.
A businessman need not be a sharp, policy man of that fading kind, but can be instructed by God at every step to please God rather than his own inclination, weaving the principles of truth into all his transactions, as shown by Daniel's example as a business leader. Old and young need to learn this truth in order to estimate things seen and things unseen at their true value, to learn the true aim of life, and, viewing the things of time in the light of eternity, to put them to their truest and noblest use in learning the principles of His kingdom and becoming its subjects and citizens prepared to enter with Him into its possession at His coming. The first chapter calls students to understand their individual responsibility and to move steadily forward in overcoming evil under God's discipline.
The rich are made low and pass away like the flower in the grass. The rich should rejoice when brought low, because wealth and status are temporary and the rich person will pass away like a grass flower. Wealth, status, and worldly riches and glory, including mere outward and worldly glory, are temporary and worthless because they pass away like grass flowers.
Worldly, ambitious statesmen are like grass that grows up and its flower that fades, and they shall pass away, so their status and power do not last. Worldly ambition, projects, plans, and purposes fade, while what is bound to eternal truth endures, so worldly success should not be treated as lasting.
History illustrates this transience, for Babylon with all its power and magnificence, the like of which the world has never since seen and which seemed stable and enduring, has completely passed away, as have the Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman kingdoms, and so perishes all that has not God for its foundation. Only what rests on God, is bound to eternal truth and bound up with His purpose, and reflects and expresses His character endures, for His principles are the only steadfast things the world knows.
A businessman need not be a sharp, policy man of that fading kind, but can be instructed by God at every step to please God rather than his own inclination, weaving the principles of truth into all his transactions, as shown by Daniel's example as a business leader. Old and young need to learn this truth in order to estimate things seen and things unseen at their true value, to learn the true aim of life, and, viewing the things of time in the light of eternity, to put them to their truest and noblest use in learning the principles of His kingdom and becoming its subjects and citizens prepared to enter with Him into its possession at His coming. The first chapter calls students to understand their individual responsibility and to move steadily forward in overcoming evil under God's discipline.