Monday: Witnesses (Daniel 2-5)
In Daniel 2, Daniel had an opportunity, born out of necessity, to witness to the power of the true God, as opposed to the false ones of Babylon. After singing a hymn of praise with his Jewish compatriots and thanking God for answering their prayers (Dan. 2:20-23), he interpreted the king’s dream and testified to God’s greatness and dominion over all earthly kingdoms.
Image © Providence Collection from GoodSalt.com
What does the king say that shows he learned something about the true God? see Daniel 2:47.
In Daniel 2, Daniel didn’t have a choice: either give the king what he wanted or face death. In contrast, in Daniel 3 his three friends could have spared themselves the fiery furnace if they simply had obeyed the king’s command. Instead, by their faithful witness, they were able to testify to the power of the true God.
How did Nebuchadnezzar know that the form of the fourth was like the Son of God? He had heard of the Son of God from the Hebrew captives that were in his kingdom. They had brought the knowledge of the living God who ruleth all things.
—Ellen G. White, The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, May 3, 1892.
In Daniel 4, what confession did King Nebuchadnezzar again make regarding the true God, all thanks to the witness of Daniel? see Daniel 4:37.
In Daniel 5, we have Daniel’s last appearance at the Babylonian court, where he is called upon to explain the extraordinary writing upon the wall of Belshazzar’s palace, foretelling the overthrow of the Babylonian Empire at the hands of the Medes and Persians. Though no doubt Belshazzar had been impressed by what Daniel did, it was too late: the king’s fate was all but sealed. The sad thing is that according to the Bible (sx), Belshazzar had had opportunity to learn truth and to be humbled by it. As we know, he didn’t take advantage of those opportunities.
How important that we look at our own lives and ask ourselves: What kind of witness does my life represent to the world? What does your answer tell you?
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What a story! Powerful witnesses. Thank you for the reminder. I pray that I can be a powerful witness for the heavenly kingdom today.
It is observable that the last day church, called Laodicea in scripture (Revelation 3:14) tracks the culture of its host country. The conduct and activities of the church, especially in more developed regions closely mirror those of the society it is set up to serve and convert.
Like some cold-blooded animals whose bodies adapt their internal temperature to match the external/environmental temperature, the lukewarm Christian population keeps pace with the world and reveals little contrast.
In part driven by the notion that the Bible must be interpreted in the light of culture and pleasing to its audience to be relevant to a modern generation, Christians have moved closer to the world and away from Christ. Hence spiritual Babylon is fallen, and the remnant church is shaken (Revelation 14:8).
Levels of nationalism, racism, sexism, materialism and divorce rates among the professed people of faith are little different from the unbelieving community. Worldly social agendas and temporal concerns are readily adopted and advocated by many who were called to be witnesses to something very different. Sadly many decline to stand up and stand out (Ezekiel 9:4; Luke 19:41, 42).
Daniel and his godly companions were not content to adapt to the principles of Babylon. Their witness was to leave an imprint on the wayward society, and not have the mark of Babylon impressed on them. They would suffer alienation, ridicule and persecution if they must, but bow to culture they would not (Daniel 3:17, 18).
The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness pleads with the saints to maintain the spiritual temperature of Heaven’s culture (Revelation 3:20) in hostile territory. Dare to be different, dare to face the fire. The Son of God is never far away (Daniel 3:25).
I think that we need to be careful about what we call culture. I live in an Australian environment and I accept that in Australia there are "associations of ideas" that are part of the Australian culture. That does not mean that I adopt worldly moral behaviour, but that I know enough about how Australians think to be able to talk meaningfully to them. For many years I was an academic doing research in Australian universities and attending conferences and workshops in my research area. I attended many of the social events (and avoided some as well). I found in general I was accepted just as I was. And I was greatly appreciated as the nominated driver on nights when there was a conference dinner!
My daughter likewise attended a secular university because it was the only place where she could train as an optometrist. She attended university parties and made it quite clear that she was a Christian and that sex and drinking were both off the menu. Her openness and her willingness to be helpful, particularly for those who over-imbibed was greatly appreciated and even today 10 years later, she still has friends from her university days that maintain their contact with her.
We do need to understand our culture. And as well we need to understand our own limitations. We do not need to be submerged by our culture but we need the strength to participate with our un-churched friends in such a way that they see that our lives are meaningful and relevant. That is both challenging and scary!
Maurice, you are very right. Paul says" i have become all things to all men that i may win them to Christ" this does not mean that he joined in the ways of sinners for him to be able to win sinners to Christ, otherwise we would have been saying that they converted him! He was so careful not to appear too religious and that allowed him to reach many, who could have considered him a maniac, had he approached them as a holy person that we ought to be. However, you need to be both strong and prayerful, lest you do not end up being attracted to the ways of the people you are trying to win Christ.We should also understand that culture makes part of us and and it is not everything in our cultures that is irrelevant to our faith and hence must be considered trash!they are souls who are so deep in their cultures that you literally have to understand them before you advance a religious idea, or else they consider all your efforts as disrespect!
God has called me/us to witness to all ends of the earth which requires interaction and friendships with others whose belief system is different than mine/yours. Believing differently than me/us is not what is important. Believing and living differently than Christ IS the determining factor.
A relationship that begins with friendship is made of fabric which is strong and enduring. This is only achieved by sharing time, activities, thoughts, etc. If I/we walk as Jesus directs, talk as Jesus directs, relate as Jesus directs, the things of this world will not stain the fabric of my/our friendships with the unchurched, or the churched.
As I/we walk, talk, and relate under the direction of Christ, there WILL be times that it require me/us to do things which are criticized by fellow believers. What is the MOST important thing for me/us to do? To do as Christ directs regardless of the beliefs, directives, and criticisms of others. Being a "church-approved" activity does not equate "Christ-approved." Being a "church-unapproved" activity does not equate "Christ-unapproved."
During the investigative judgment Christ judges me/us based on what He has required of me/us. So a decision must be made by all of us - Am I going to live as Christ directs my personal steps? Or as a fellow sinner directs my personal steps?
Indeed we have to remain true and faithful witnesses of our God no matter how hard the situation may be.Daniel and the three Hebrew boys were not at any chance afraid or ashamed to stand for the truth.let us follow their Steps and be courageous enough to preach the word of our Lord regardless of what we are going through.
Hmmm..its rather unfortunate that some of our chracter drives others away from God. May God help us to be faithful Ambassadors for Him, where ever we find ourselves.
Faithfulness to God is a sure test of love for God and evidence of love for God is seen in willingness to sacrifice comfort and happiness for the joy promised in the Holy Spirit when the work is done. True love brings to light commitment at all costs.Daniel and his experiences show us that we are not only called to glamour and glory but also submission and sacrifice.
we have to be the light in the dark.
My dear brethren let us not leave the life of hypocrite,we need to let the holy spirit direct us in every things we do.anything we do out of the guidance of Him,is by the fresh and the fresh can not please God.
First and foremost I feel we need to stop being deceived by the enemy!! We are not Christians simply because our name is on a church membership roll!!!!! We use the cute saying what would Jesus do never realizing that our aim should be to be like Jesus in every way!!! How can we portray someone we don't emulate? How can we show the world someone we don't allow to live in us? How can we get help when we don't recognize we have a spiritual problem ? We must come to the realization that in comparison to Christ not man we still lack so much and only total surrender will allow Christ to change us into his image and then we can reflect to the world whom we serve!!
Brothers and sisters, we do not live in a vacuum, as christians we are surrounded by non believers even in our families, do we shun them away? NO! we embrace them but not join them in their way of life. Having non christian friends does not mean that you have lost it, but stand by your principles and you will be respected for that. Daniel and his friends did have friends who knew their boundaries and I would like to believe some became converts through these friends' prayerful way of life. The bible says we are in the world but we are not of this world.
Well said Persilyn! We as Christians are not in a vacuum, we live sandwiched in every place with people who do not share same beliefs with us. And this is how God wanted it so that we develop characters worthy of heavenly praise. May the LORD give us strength to live out our Christian values in this world that non believers may be won to Christ.
What i learn is that as much as God give us many chances to witness that He rules evrything,we should never let go of an oportunity to repend give our life to Him because we don't when is the time to sleep.evry second we must use it to glorify Him and luv Him,all of us we have witnessed that we are nothing without Him,then why do we want to harden our hearts and expect Him to perform miracles a milion times before we remove our doubts.we are visitors here guys lets use a limited chance tat we have been borowed