GONE!

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone.  He threw it into the ocean and shouted, “Just like this, the great city Babylon will be thrown down with violence and will never be found again.  The sound of harps, singers, flutes, and trumpets will never be heard in you again.  No craftsmen and no trades will ever be found in you again.  The sound of the mill will never be heard in you again.  The light of a lamp will never shine in you again.  The happy voices of brides and grooms will never be heard in you again.  For your merchants were the greatest in the world, and you deceived the nations with your sorceries.  In your streets flowed the blood of the prophets and of God’s holy people and the blood of people slaughtered all over the world.”  Revelation 18:21-24

“Babylon” is more than a once-great city, dynasty, or nation.  Rather its’ legacy is that of what happens to any self-aggrandizing person or group that opposes God.  Ancient Babylon (located near Baghdad in modern Iraq) as a cultural center four thousand years ago, lasted about 30 centuries.  In Daniel and Second Kings we find Nebuchadnezzar, a ruthless, wicked man, who conquered Jerusalem more than once, and who destroyed Solomon’s temple.  He presented himself as the true divine, above every human or their gods.  Daniel, a humble Jew, taken from his homeland to serve Nebuchadnezzar as a slave, interpreted dreams for the king.  Daniel told him the one, true God of all would humble the king, and it happened immediately.  Nebuchadnezzar wandered the hills and surrounding areas of Babylon for 7 years as a wild beast, eating grass.  When he finally came to his senses (because God restored him), he gave honor and glory to Daniel’s God.[1] 

Today’s passage is one of many in Revelation that is used to describe the End Times, when God’s judgment will be poured-out on earth.  Babylon is an accurate symbol (of sorts) for all who opposed God in this life.  In a single name the aged Apostle John records the undoing of humankind’s evil of all time, and the recreating of God’s paradise.  When the judgment comes, portrayed as a huge boulder thrown-down from Heaven, Babylon, the mighty conqueror of all men, is simply….dismissed, no more…GONE!

While there is a great deal of mystery and wonder around Biblical prophecy, there is also a much greater value in the warning which it offers.  Jesus, in detailing for his disciples some of the circumstances which mark the time when God’s judgment would be imminent, tells us it is fruitless to spend our time trying to create a timeline, or set a date for when this will happen.  Jesus said it WILL HAPPEN, and our best response to that is to be ready WHENEVER IT HAPPENS! 

Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.  “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.  Only the Father knows.  And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard!  Stay alert!  Mark 13:31-33

For You Today 

It would be simple to look around, particularly at the events happening in Jerusalem and Gaza these weary, war-torn days.  There’s more than enough evidence of what Jesus warned would precede His next advent.  But Scripture doesn’t change…we don’t know it’s now…but we don’t know it isn’t.

So…today, whatever happens, don’t wander-around like Nebuchadnezzar eating grass.  Start your day feasting on God’s Word, and give Him all the glory.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image Pixabay.com  Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] For a lengthy article on this background see Wikipedia on Babylon

Serving God in a Hostile World

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Thursday, April 5, 2018

During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.  The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God.  So Nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land of Babylonia and placed them in the treasure-house of his god.  Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives.  “Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men,” he said.  “Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace.  Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.”  The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchens.  They were to be trained for three years, and then they would enter the royal service.  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah.  The chief of staff renamed them with these Babylonian names:  Daniel was called Belteshazzar.  Hananiah was called Shadrach.  Mishael was called Meshach.  Azariah was called Abednego.  But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king.  He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.  Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel.  But he responded, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has ordered that you eat this food and wine.  If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded.”  Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said.  “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s food.  Then make your decision in light of what you see.”  The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten days.  At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king.  So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food and wine provided for the others.  God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom.  And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.  When the training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief of staff brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar.  The king talked with them, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  So they entered the royal service.  Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.  Daniel remained in the royal service until the first year of the reign of King Cyrus.  Daniel 1:1-21^(NLT)

In the cultural atmosphere which reigns in our day it seems more hostile to serious followers of Christ than at any other point in my lifetime.  Now, my age is not enough to cover the first century (no matter what my grandkids and great-grandkids say!).  Life in America is hardly as toxic as the persecutions of Nero and other Roman emperors.  But there is a reigning cultural mindset that pushes Godliness aside in favor of tolerance.  The net result is evil. 

So the question becomes:  How shall we live…and how shall we face the culture?

It seems we need the example of Daniel, who, even though he was a captive in a hostile environment, and one wrong word might have gotten him beaten, bloodied or even beheaded, decided to honor God first, and let the chips fall where they would.

There are those who would point to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who resisted Hitler in WW2.  He did what Daniel did, standing firm in the face of oppression.  It got him hanged.

The whole point is not the outcome as history might record it; the whole issue is faithfulness to your God, no matter what a history book might say.

For You Today

The time to fix a roof is before the rains begin.  The clouds of hostility towards the church and faith in Christ are already dark and thunderous; have you made a Daniel decision yet?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Lenten Walk - Part 17

[1]

Friday, March 9, 2018

Then I, Daniel, looked and saw two others standing on opposite banks of the river.  One of them asked the man dressed in linen, who was now standing above the river, “How long will it be until these shocking events are over?”  The man dressed in linen, who was standing above the river, raised both his hands toward heaven and took a solemn oath by the One who lives forever, saying, “It will go on for a time, times, and half a time.  When the shattering of the holy people has finally come to an end, all these things will have happened.”  I heard what he said, but I did not understand what he meant.  So I asked, “How will all this finally end, my lord?”  But he said, “Go now, Daniel, for what I have said is kept secret and sealed until the time of the end.  Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials.  But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand.  Only those who are wise will know what it means.  

Daniel 12:5-10^(NLT)

God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan.  And this is the plan:  At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.  Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.  Ephesians 1:9-11^(NLT)

Much of what Daniel recorded is apocalyptic, casting a vision for (what was for him) the future conclusion of God’s plan for all humankind.  It didn’t make much sense to him, but the LORD explained to Daniel it was going to be like our government’s secrets – sealed and out of sight until a later date.

Fast forward six centuries and God’s prophecy to Daniel is beginning to be unveiled through the Apostle Paul.  That plan is to bring all of God’s mysterious, free grace to bear on all creation.  Like an incredibly wealthy father gathering his children, grands, and all the cousins by the dozens for a final blessing and distribution of the wealth, God, at the time of His choosing, will conclude history with the grandest possible blessing.  God will draw His children to Himself – God’s very presence is the ultimate and utmost blessing; there is nothing greater possible. 

This is the somewhat veiled theme of the Lenten Season – that we have little to fear as we walk, even through the valley of the shadow of death, for God has an immutable plan that will result in endless fellowship between Himself and all who love Him.

The fact is, you need that on the Lenten pathway that leads through Golgotha a few weeks from now.  You need that when your job is at risk, or the doctor uses the “C” word.  You need that when you get served divorce papers out of the blue.  You need that when you get a call from the hospital and the first words are:  your daughter.  You need God’s plan to which you can cling when life comes undone.

And life does come undone!  Have you notitced these past 3 weeks the picture on this devotion?  It’s a path through the dense woods; woods that surround the path, and hang-over the path, casting shadows over everything.  At the end of the path, almost out of sight, there is a man…walking.  This is a metaphor for walking through life in all of its’ uncertainty. 

Stephen King would love this path.  America’s premier author of suspense and horror sees a path like this, and his creative juices give birth to fear.  Some of his quotes belong on this path:

Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.[2]

Life’s pathway can be bright at times…sometimes the dark, scary patches seem to win!                                                  

For You Today

Lent is a time to declare God’s light, no matter how many shadows try to say otherwise!

You chew on ^that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] StephenKing.com