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!

Go to VIDEO

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^©  

---

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

Howling At the Moon (and accomplishing what?)

Monday, May 15, 2023

The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty.  Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength.  The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.  Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial.  You yourself are from the everlasting past.  The floods have risen up, O Lord.  The floods have roared like thunder; the floods have lifted their pounding waves.  But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore—the Lord above is mightier than these!  Your royal laws cannot be changed.  Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.  Psalm 93:1-5

God’s sovereignty is proclaimed throughout the Lord’s Holy Scripture.  In Heaven there is no doubt Who reigns in the universe.  Not so much on planet earth. 

King Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon, an arch-enemy of Jerusalem, howled at the moon more than once in his life.  A poetic what-goes-around-comes-around is portrayed by the arrogant king’s pursuit of power, riches, and the ultimate humiliation that lust brought.  He fought, won, and destroyed Jerusalem, killing, capturing, and looting, the nation’s treasures and temple, devouring God’s people like a monster[1].  Nebuchadnezzar imagined himself invincible; he never lost.  He even set up a gold statue of himself, 90-feet high, and everyone had to worship the statue, because the king proclaimed himself god! 

But in the end, God removed Nebuchadnezzar from the throne of Babylon, and he roamed the countryside for seven years, like a madman, howling at the moon.[2]

Scripture tells us that the whole panorama of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule and life was orchestrated by God.  Jeremiah had prophesied it long before it began:

This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah.  This is what the Lord said to me:  “Make a yoke, and fasten it on your neck with leather straps.  Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through their ambassadors who have come to see King Zedekiah in Jerusalem.  Give them this message for their masters:  ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:  With my great strength and powerful arm I made the earth and all its people and every animal.  I can give these things of mine to anyone I choose.  Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant.  I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control.  Jeremiah 27:1-6

The great professional boxer, Muhammhed Ali, was known for his brash, self-promotion.  Without blushing he often proclaimed after winning a match against his opponents:  I am the greatest.  At one press interview a reporter asked him if he really meant what he said, or was it just bragging.  Ali looked at the reporter and sneered:  It’s not bragging if you can back it up.

Nebuchadnezzars and professional boxer’s trash-talking may have some teeth, and last for a news cycle, but their (so-called) reign is tied to a leash.  The One who holds the other end of that leash is God…the one (and only) true God.

For You Today 

When it comes to classical narcissism, otherwise known as bragging, aggrandizing, or self-promoting…choose the humility of keeping your mouth closed.  People may think you’re a fool, but opening your mouth often proves them right.

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

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Game Over  and  The Trouble With Theological Heels  and God Sovereign Series:  Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

---

[1] See Jeremiah 51:34

[2] See Daniel 3-5

Forgotten

[1]

Friday, December 29, 2017

Sing for joy, O heavens!  Rejoice, O earth!  Burst into song, O mountains!  For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering.  Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.”  “Never!  Can a mother forget her nursing child?  Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?  But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!” 

Isaiah 49:13-15^(NLT)

When our family gets together there are (by actual count) more than a dozen IPhones on the loose.  And when we’re trying to coordinate four households showing up at a theme park at the same time, in the same sector of a huge parking lot…well, let’s say the texting wars sound like the bell-ringers have arrived!  Someone will do a “fat-finger” goof, so OTW (On-the-way) becomes OTB, and the translation puns start to pile-on:

Ding…OTB – you On-The-Beach?

Ding…OTB – I didn’t know you were into Off-Track-Betting J

Ding…OTB – Where-r- you parked…Omaha-Transportation-Booth?  

It happened again this week, although I’m happy to say there were no death-threats this time.  But when I went to delete the whole thread there were 168 texts; I’m surprised there were no death threats, especially from me!

The whole point of sharing this is, with today’s abundance of communication tools, there’s no place to hide.  And nobody gets left out.  And that’s a good thing for a family, because there are so many ways to feel left out, left behind, or forgotten!

Israel felt that way, collectively-forgotten in a strange land.  The Babylonian captivity was like being forgotten in back of the tool shed for decades.  Every never-ending day drags-on like someone forgot to wind the clock and nobody cares whether you’re alive or dead.  There is no slower time than time-out; just ask a six-year old who has sinned egregiously by kicking his Dad in the shin because he doesn’t like carrots, and he’d rather be outside playing, but has to stay at the table until he at least tastes the hated veggie.

The nation of Israel had sinned a lot worse than that.  They collectively had forgotten their covenant with God and had fallen into idol worship.  When God sent prophets to warn them to either turn back, or prepare to suffer the consequences, the prophets were ignored, or, even worse, the prophets were killed.  The subsequent overwhelming judgment God sent was at the hand of Babylon’s King, Nebuchadnezzar, and lasted for 70 years.  It was easy to feel they had been forgotten by God.

But punishment is never to be confused with being discarded.  God had not forgotten His beloved Israel, the jewel of His covenant.  They were being purified, cleansed, and straightened-out, not discarded. 

It’s called discipline:

Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.  Deuteronomy 8:5^(NLT)

For You Today

If you’ve been through a time when you felt forgotten by God, know that discipline doesn’t last forever; the perfect loving embrace of God awaits those who repent and turn to their father…even if you’ve kicked Him in the shins!

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

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

God Sovereign - Part 5

[i]

Friday, May 26, 2017

Daniel was a Jew serving in the court of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful (and narcissistic) ruler on earth.  The king had a scary dream and Daniel interpreted it as a warning from God that if the king didn’t mend his ways he would have the kingdom ripped out of his hands.  Nebuchadnezzar ignored Daniel’s warning:

“‘King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice.  Stop sinning and do what is right.  Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor.  Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.’  “But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar.  Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon.  As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon!  By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’  “While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you!  You are no longer ruler of this kingdom.  You will be driven from human society.  You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow.  Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’  “That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society.  He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven.  He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.  Daniel 4:27-33^(NLT)

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was – to say the least – full of himself.  He surveyed his kingdom, and imagined (like Michael Jackson perhaps) that he had created Wonderland.  He celebrated his own greatness!  Look what my hands have made, he boasted. 

To humble Nebuchadnezzar, an earthly king, Yahweh, the real God of all creation, messed with everything the earthly king had.  Nebuchadnezzar wound up a madman, drooling on himself and grazing on grass like a wild animal.

After seven years of life as a madman, the Lord allowed the king’s mind to return to normal, and Nebuchadnezzar gave God His due.  I do not believe we twenty-first century people (particularly those who call themselves Christian) have done any better than Nebuchadnezzar! 

Here’s what I mean by that:

This week’s devotions are part of a sermon first preached 16 years ago on a Sunday in August to a congregation that enjoyed a quite peaceful existence.  There was relative prosperity in the land, and a sense of God’s people enjoying the “good life”.  Twenty-nine days later planes slammed into the twin towers in New York and Washington.  And our lives have not been the same since. 

The lone exception is the way people treat God.  For a few months churches were showing signs of revival.  But to a large extent churches are still empty – lives are just as busy with selfish pursuits and we still, like Nebuchadnezzar, survey our little kingdoms.  We enjoy our grasp on all that pleases us and makes our life “happy”. 

We fail to see the big picture…we assume God should be satisfied if we show up at church, drop a few dollars (if that) in the plate, and go about our business of what’s in it for me with the other 167 hours a week…well that should be good enough for any God. 

But…he’s not just ANY God!  And that’s the whole extent of getting the big picture about what to do with your life; God is not interested in being included in your life; He wants full custody, not weekend visits!

For You Today

A simple but arguably biggest question in any human being’s life:

Is He God…Sovereign King of the Universe……or 

the man upstairs?

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

Go to VIDEO

NOTES

---

 ^I Title image: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Living Wisely and Boldly

[1]

Friday, January 8, 2016

Devotion VIDEO here

Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, whom the king had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream.”  

Daniel 2:24^(NLT)

So be careful how you live.  Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.  Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.  Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.  Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.  Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.   

Ephesians 5:15-19 ^(NLT)

Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful man on earth, had a bad dream.  He summoned all his magicians and soothsayers to interpret the dream.  But, to make sure they weren’t faking an interpretation, he demanded they first tell him what the dream was.  Well, they couldn’t do that, so the King was going to have them executed.

Enter Daniel…Hebrew slave, born in captivity to the Babylonian empire.  To make a longish story short, Daniel was minding his own business, and the whole mess got dropped in his lap.  He went to prayer and boldly followed God’s leadership to disclose the king’s dream and what it meant.  Daniel was rewarded with the king’s favor, wealth and position in the kingdom’s hierarchy, along with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. 

End of story…we all lived happily ever after; right?

Not so…Daniel and the three Hebrew boys didn’t have entirely smooth sailing.  It was still an adventure living in Babylon, avoiding the intrigue and sub-plots of palace life in a hostile land that was not their own; especially that fiery furnace event!

In the New Testament Paul understood that kind of messy, vague life, where you’ve got a clear vision to serve God, but there are plenty of temptations and trials to throw you off course.  His advice to us is to live, not as fools, but wisely, keeping sober and on our knees, so we will know what God wants us to do, as the Holy Spirit fills our hearts and lives with purpose, leading us to follow God’s will.

The key to living wisely with boldness is never to do a bold thing without God’s direction, and never hold back from boldness when God has said to do something.  When Jesus turned his disciples loose to go minister he warned them:

Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves.  So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.  Matthew 10:16^(NLT)

Daniel understood that; he didn’t go to the king until he’d spent time on his knees before God.  You need that for developing both shrewdness and harmlessness.

Before he was renamed Paul, he was a persecutor named Saul – more of a zealot to eradicate the church than anyone.  Saul found out just how painful it can be to go against God’s will.

So did I.  I once preached a very bold sermon to a congregation; actually, I only thought it was bold – it was really just a stupid reaction of anger that I hadn’t prayed over, and let God direct me.  I wound up alienating half the church and confusing the rest. 

And I believe that is where the difference is to be located between living wisely and boldly as opposed to living as a fool – anger and selfishness.  If you have a passion to do something for God, and locate any bit of anger or self-righteousness in your own heart over what you’re contemplating – don’t do it…you’re not following God, you’re just being foolish.

For You Today

When you find yourself tempted to do something foolish…take time to pray, sing a song of praise; make some music in your heart to praise the Lord.  Then ask your closest friend, God’s Holy Spirit, what it all means.  He just may give you the words your Nebuchadnezzar needs to hear.

You chew on that out on that Rocky Road today…and have a joy-filled and blessed day!

---

[1] Title image:  By Internet Archive Book Images, via Wikimedia Commons

The Humiliation of a King

[1]   

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

“But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar.  Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon.  As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon!  By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’  “While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you!  You are no longer ruler of this kingdom.  You will be driven from human society.  You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow.  Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’  “That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society.  He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven.  He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.  “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven.  My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever.  His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal.  All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him.  He does as he pleases
among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth.  No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’  “When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom.  My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before.  “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven.  All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”  Daniel 4:28-37 (NLT)

King Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in the world – and he was not ashamed to say so!  That pride drove him crazy. 

God humbled the most powerful king Babylon and the world had ever seen; for seven years the one who was surrounded by his subordinates bowing and scraping to his power now ate grass, walked on all fours and probably howled at the moon.

When his sanity returned he realized the foolishness of believing his own press reports about how he was supreme ruler; he now knew glory belongs to God alone.

At times the pride of Washington D.C. strikes me as something of a Nebuchadnezzar profile.  It’s a nationalistic pride fever; we are the most powerful nation on earth, and we are probably as hated around the globe as the ancient king who threw around the weight of his power.

Why the hatred when we try to do so much good, feeding people, policing the terrorists and the like?  It’s pride; who genuinely loves someone who pats himself on the back?

In a way I think we are howling at the moon these days – Nebuchadnezzar style.  We’ve become brutish and animal-like in this country.  Our sexual displays are worse than that of animals, and our lack of respect for human life is more brutal than the culture that God destroyed in Noah’s day.

We’ve been driven crazy by our pride in the blessings God has showered on this nation; the land that has been a blessing to the world in generations-past has forgotten our responsibility to come humbly before God as servants. 

We are ripe for a harsher judgment than Nebuchadnezzar’s! 

There is a need for prayer intercessors today in our nation, more, perhaps than at any other time in our history. 

Like Mordecai said to his niece, Esther when the nation was threatened with destruction, who knows, maybe you’re where you are for such a time as this.

God always has a remnant of his people who are willing to risk everything to be obedient.  Could it be that this is the time (before it is too late for America) to stop dabbling in prayer – instead start living in prayer for God to destroy our pride and return us to holy worship of holy God?

For You Today

The song “God bless America” made a comeback after 911.  We sing stand beside her, and guide her. 

Will you pray that the Nebuchadnezzars of this land will remember our national pledge is not “beside” God, but one nation UNDER God?

---

[1] Title Image: William Blake [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons