Monday: The Call to Worship
Read Daniel 3:8-15 and Revelation 13:11-18. What parallels can we see between what happens in Daniel’s time and what will happen in the future?
The image of gold standing on the plain of Dura, whose name in Akkadian means “walled place”, gives the impression of a vast sanctuary. As if it were not enough, the furnace nearby can well evoke an altar.
Image © Jeff Preston from GoodSalt.com
Babylonian music is to be part of the liturgy. Seven types of musical instruments are listed, as if to convey the completeness and effectiveness of the adoration protocol.
Today, we are bombarded from every side by calls to adopt new lifestyles, new ideologies, and to abandon our commitment to the authority of God as expressed in His Word and to surrender our allegiance to contemporary successors of the Babylonian empire. The allure of the world at times seems overwhelming, but we should remind ourselves that our ultimate allegiance belongs to the Creator God.
According to the prophetic calendar, we are living in the last days of earth’s history. Revelation 13 announces that the inhabitants of the earth will be called to worship the image of the beast. That entity will cause “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads” (Rev. 13:16, NKJV).
Six categories of people are said to give allegiance to the image of the beast: “small and great, rich and poor, free and slave”. The number of the beast, which is 666, also emphasizes six. This shows that the image erected by Nebuchadnezzar is just an illustration of what the eschatological Babylon will do in the last days (see Dan. 3:1 for the imagery of six and sixty). Therefore, we do well to pay close attention to what transpires in this narrative and how God sovereignly directs the affairs of the world.
| Worship isn’t just bowing down before something or someone and openly professing ultimate allegiance. What are other ways, much more subtle ways, that we can end up worshiping something other than our Lord? |
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The narrative of Daniel 3 is somewhat intriguing because the Babylonians were fairly tolerant of other religions. The fact that Daniel and his Hebrew companions were court officials in their captors land testifies to that. And further history reveals that Babylon and Mesopotamia became the de facto home for many Jews, allowing them to set up rabbinical schools, during the time of the Greek and Roman Empires where religious intolerance was more of an issue.
It could well be that it was part of the personality cult encouraged by Nebuchadnezzar. The court was full of intrigue and there were always undercurrents of power and rebellion to contend with. The family of Nebuchadnezzar had not achieved rulership by democratic process or popular acclaim.
One scenario that could be a possibility is that Nebuchadnezzar had siezed the opportunity to enhance his rule by appealing to the culture of Babylon. That would explain his creation of the golden image of Marduk on the plain of Dura. It was indeed a test for the Hebrews and they quite rightly chose to stand firm to principle and not bow down.
And that raises a question for us about what is worth being persecuted for now. Spoiler Alert: Just because you are being persecuted, does not mean that you are on the Lord's side. Sometimes "persecution" simply means that you are a pain in the neck. There was a man in our area who believed in healthy living to the extent that he set up stalls to sell "health food" on busy thoroughfares around the district. The police moved him on because he was a public nuisance and eventually the health authorities stepped in and stopped him from selling his food because it breached the state health standards. Of course he claimed that he was being persecuted because he was a Seventh-day Adventist. In fact it had nothing to do with his religious beliefs and the police and health authorities would have moved him on even if he was an atheist selling sub-standard food on the side of a busy highway.
Persecution is not an end in itself. Standing firm to principle is something you do whether you are persecuted or praised. The issue for us today is sorting out what is principle as opposed to what is just a good idea. And that may be a lot harder than most of us are willing to admit.
Some day we will be told to worship the beast. Again if we are faithful to Christ, they that demand, will have their eyes opened and see Angels of light walking around us with flaming swords drawn, falling back due to the bright light. We will then phase God, and testify of His goodness, mercy, and love, even teach the message of the Lamb of God. Or maybe we will refuse to go to...
I have been a seventh day Adventist all my life, what I have seen in my short life time ,when there call to worship some of us not all of us are doing all kind "of good things" around the church,
how did Nebuchadnezzar got the people to be at call to worship?
As a noun, the word 'worship' means "the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity."
As a verb, it means "show reverence and adoration for (a deity); honor with religious rites."
Thus, the word worship is connected to the word deity (God).
Rephrasing the question above, we could have then "what are the things that we do that can separate us from truly worshiping our God?"
Bringing more personal yet "who am I worshiping when I do what I do?"
In Revelation "The Image" is given power and authority which indicates to me that it is an entity apart from the land beast and the sea beast - so there are 3 powers Rev 13:15
People are forced to worship "The Image"!!!
And in Rev 16:13 there are 3 unclean spirits coming from the beast (sea beast), the false prophet (land beast?) and the dragon (Satan).
It appears that "The Image" is parallel to the dragon?
Does Nebuchadnezzer's image represent dragon worship - pagan - devil worship?
The Lord has sent us these messages for such a time as this to prepare us for the hard times and persecution that lie ahead.
Even in our present time there are already a number of things enticing happening around us, some pressing us to trade our allegiance of faithfulness to God because of the pressures, to that of the world which in most cases are more convenient. We must however be determined to press on with God to the end.
I am sure we have all read the back of the book and we know exactly how the story ends.
I thank brother Ashton Maurice he so blessed,he blesses me every Sabbath, am glad to be here.
A question that troubles me fellow brethrens, not to cause confusion, but where was Daniel when the 3 boys did not bow and were thrown into the fiery furnace.
The Bible is silent on the matter so we simply do not know.