Skip to main content

Daniel 3:8 You are commanded... Day 291

Good afternoon fellow pilgrims,

There is a lot in prophetic books about the future that is hard to understand.  But stories like this of things that actually happened can also be a challenge.  So here are a couple of thoughts that I hope you find helpful.  God has certainly challenged me as I wrote these things.

Blessings,

Jeff 

Just pondering what 6th petition means in light of persecution and coercion.  I would like it to mean that those inspired by evil (either sin or the devil) would be restrained from issuing such decrees.  That way, I would not be tempted to publicly save my skin by bowing down.  But I am convicted by just writing those words.  For I see that I am tempted and have already yielded to the temptation to save my skin privately numerous times.  These are much subtler circumstances like not wanting to offend people by a "2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 4:2"  Specifically thinking about Critical Race Theory is Marxist at the root and that Marxism is not compatible with constitutional republic.

The other point to ponder is how does the fiery furnace relate to the fulfillment of the Genesis 3:15 promise.  None of the characters here are directly related to the messianic line.  But both Mary and Joseph's ancestor lived through these events.  We are not told where they were, but since Daniel is part of the scripture, these ancestors would have known the story and wondered about the meaning.  I like to think about what such passage mean to me, as if they were written for my personal application.  Yet these events are recorded for the original audience.  The Jews were in exile because they had yielded to idolatry.  Here were 3 young men of Judah that refused to follow the path of their fathers to compromise. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leviticus 18:21 - Partial restoration of creation order

Dear Friends, Some times we forget that Moses wrote Genesis.  Obviously, he did not have first hand knowledge of the events of creation.  But God did and revealed them to Moses.  The "story arc" is clear to Moses despite the millenia of history between Genesis and Leviticus.  The plan for ultimate restoration is hazy, but God is at work repairing some of the damage. Blessings, Jeff What is the prohibition on child sacrifice doing in the list of prohibited sexual relations? Be fruitful and multiply - First commandment in Genesis.  God made the world to be inhabited.   Having children is how this  was to happen.  So child sacrifice was a direct violation of this first command to Adam and Eve. Marriage is one man and one woman is the creation order. Seems simple enough.  I can imagine men thinking, Yeah but God didn't say which woman.  I will do the one woman thing if she is my sister, or aunt or …..  So God gives all these examples of unlawful unions.  To this day, man stil
Post a Comment
Read more

1 Chronicles 24:1-6 How about those Levites! Day 332

Good morning friends, Good foundations are important.  Our author turns to the religious life of the returning exiles. Blessings, Jeff We have seen the emphasis on the Davidic line in the  political life of Israel.  The other area of emphasis is the Aaronic priesthood and Levitical workers. In this passage we have a quick review of the somewhat sanitized picture of the start of Aaron's line.  The returning exiles would have known that Nadab and Abihu did not just "die before their father without children".  They rebelled against God by offering unauthorized fire and were themselves consumed by fire from the Lord. Leviticus 10.  The case of Abiathar  son of Ahitub son of Ahimelech, who was faithful to David, but later rebelled with Adonijah is also not mentioned. But the passage points to the importance of the Aaronic line to the rebuilding of the temple by the exiles.  The history of the northern kingdom which was without the Levites from the beginning could not be repeat
Post a Comment
Read more

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" becomes "no mere man since the fall
Post a Comment
Read more