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| Growing in Babylon; No compromise | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 24 2004, 08:59 PM (32 Views) | |
| Stace4Jesus | Apr 24 2004, 08:59 PM Post #1 |
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 I wanted to share a little more of Chip Brogden. His article is saying loads. Here again, from Chip's article at Watchman.net Click *** Here and then look for READ up on the menu... then down the page on the right. ~~~~~ Quote, from Chapter One ... It is at this point in the history of God's dealings with Israel that the Book of Daniel begins. We begin with the carrying away into Babylon of a Remnant of people. It is important to understand the philosophy of Babylon towards the nations it conquered. When we understand their approach we will better appreciate the analogy between Babylon of old and spiritual Babylon today. When you are conquered by Babylon, they begin to turn YOU into what THEY are. The Medo-Persians, who followed after Babylon, took a different approach. They calculated that a happy people are a content people and are less likely to rebel, and so they allowed you to keep your religion and your customs more or less intact. That is why Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to their land and rebuild the Temple. But not so the Babylonians. If they worship a certain idol, then you will be expected to worship it too. If they eat a certain way, then you will have to eat the way they do. Since they speak Aramaic, you will have to learn Aramaic. In other words, there is no room in Babylon for anything other than Babylon. You cannot retain your individuality, your own unique perception of things. You will be assimilated into their culture, or you will die. Now we see at once the basis for a conflict here. A Jew cannot just "be" like every other nation and still be Jewish. Granted, most of Israel had lost their distinctiveness, otherwise they would not have been in this situation to begin with. But we know that if God is going to see His Purpose fulfilled then He is going to have to save for Himself a Remnant. This Remnant will be sorely tested, because where they are heading, it will not be easy for them to maintain any kind of a Testimony. The hope is that somehow, someway, they will remain faithful to the Lord in the midst of universal compromise, and they will successfully come through the seventy years of captivity, return to Jerusalem, and allow God's Purpose to continue pressing forward towards the revealing of Christ. All the hopes and dreams of heaven are bound up with this handful of exiles! So much is riding upon this group. Will they be faithful? Will they persevere? Or will they breakdown completely under the pressure of a foreign nation, a pagan society? To be sure, satan and all the spirits of antichrist are closely watching these developments. Israel as a whole may have been destroyed, but as long as these Jews remain there is the chance - albeit a slim chance - that God will be able to see His Plan through to completion. We must understand that all the forces of darkness are going to focus themselves against this Remnant in an attempt to shut up the Testimony once and for all. This, truly, is a momentous and critical period. More than Israel is at stake: the very fulfillment of God's Purpose and Plan for redemption, the actual coming of the Messiah to establish His Kingdom, hangs in the balance. Now who would ever believe that with this much at stake the first battle to be fought will be over a thing so insignificant as what to eat? Who would ever guess that the very fate of mankind rested on something as simple as food. But I tell you that most of the people failed in this very first test, this very small test, and immediately disqualified themselves. I pray the Lord will open our eyes to see the principle here! We have no way of knowing exactly how many were taken away into Babylon. We do know that of this group some younger men were selected for intense indoctrination into the lifestyle and customs of the Babylonians. They were selected to undergo a rigorous program in which they would be educated in the arts, sciences, and religion of a pagan nation. They were to learn a new language and new customs. Even their names were changed, for each one was now named after an idol. Babylon is quickly swallowing them up into its system. So from the beginning satan attempted to destroy this Remnant. We know that out of all these young men, only four of them raised any kind of objection to the changes that were demanded of them. Only four! Do we mean to say that out of all these young men, everything is resting on four? Yes, that is what we find out from the Scripture. The majority were probably thinking, "I have seen my people killed, my home destroyed, and the Temple burned. We have been brought to this land and we will never see our country again. God has forsaken us. We might as well get used to Babylon. We're lucky to still have our lives after all that has happened. Maybe if we cooperate we will have a better time of it." These boys were appointed a daily provision of the king's meat and the king's wine as part of their indoctrination into the Babylonian lifestyle. Most of them quietly accepted the daily provision as part of the program. In fact, what a blessing it is to have food and drink at all! After all, they thought, why should we worry about whether we eat meat or drink wine, or keep the Sabbath, or any other Jewish law for that matter? That way of life is dead and gone. We can't be Jews here. The Temple is gone, the priests are probably all dead, so it makes no difference. So they took the king's meat and the king's wine. This is only symbolic of their final capitulation to Babylon. That sealed it. From that point on they were pretty much lost to the Babylonian system. If they were Jews, it was in name only, because they had compromised themselves. But there was one young man who would not quietly accept all that was being offered to him. He watched the others sitting at the table around him, and smelled the king's meat as it was served to each of them in turn, and listened to the gurgle of the king's wine as it splashed into their goblets. Then and there a decision was made: "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank (Daniel 1:8a)." Is Daniel merely jealous for the Law of Moses here, or is there a greater motivation? The point here is really not the meat or the drink, but the purposing in Daniel's heart not to defile himself. That there is one who would even make such a purpose is astounding, considering the circumstances. The easiest thing to do is to just go along with things, accept them as they are, and not make any trouble. But thank God for that decision! Daniel purposed in his heart - a flame was kindled, and the longer he thought about it, the hotter the fire burned. While the others were eating and drinking, Daniel motioned to his three friends, and whispered, "Eat mine if you will have it - but I will not sin against the Lord in this thing!" And the three brothers, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, agreed that they would not eat the meat or drink the wine either. Hallelujah! This is what the Lord is after - a small company of two or three, gathered together under a covenant that they will stand for the Testimony of the Lord, for something Heavenly, regardless of the cost! But why do you maintain your integrity, Daniel? Do you think you are better than everyone else? What do you hope to gain? What is the point? Daniel and his friends represent the Overcomers. Daniel purposed in his heart that he would forever and always maintain a certain amount of hostility and resistance to the world system there in Babylon. Not a loud, demonstrative, attention-getting resistance, but a quiet, purposeful, principle-based way of living that would only allow him to go along with things up to a certain point, but then no further. Yes, he might be forced into the Kingdom of Babylon physically, but he refused to be forced into it spiritually! His God and his religion were not bound to a Temple in Jerusalem, to a priesthood or a system of worship. Daniel is saying, "It is true that the Temple is destroyed, Jerusalem is burned, and God has allowed us to be conquered. That does not change the fact that He is the Most High God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. I am not changing my witness just because of my circumstances. I will maintain the Testimony of the Lord, even if it means death. I would rather die than defile myself and be disqualified from God's Kingdom. Someone, somewhere on this earth must represent the Kingdom of God, and though I may be IN Babylon, I am not OF Babylon!" That, in essence, was his reasoning. ~~~~~ End of quote When I started out into the wilderness, the adversary was wild and vicious. He was in my face with many 'black and white' issues. It was war, but he was easy to discern. Then the Lord said... "Babylon." I never really understood what He meant until it clicked for me while reading Chip's article. There is was, right on the page. Babylon.. the world. Since the Lord placed me in the job I have, secular, worldly, administrative details and discussions, I have noticed that the adversary does not come at me face on. He slips in through compromise and opportunities without my even knowing he is around, pushing his worldly ways. Chip goes on to say that if the adversary can't get you to quit or compromise, then he sets out to destroy you. (Such as we see with those four boys (neat way to avoid having to spell their names lol ) There are steps that I have recognized that I have to take in order to stay free from his devices. Since I am ignorant in much of the business world.. I have to seek the will of the Lord on an issue. Once I find that out, ( and that is not easy.. I have no idea about some of these things, but He does confirm it) I have to make a hard decision to stand on it, no matter what I see. Usually, I see that all kinds of good things happen in areas where I and standing (standing privately.. not out loud unless He gives me a place to speak) against something. For a long time, I thought I was wrong, had heard wrong, and was just messing up. But now, I see that I am called to stand on the decision. Next, Pray His will be done. It it is.. oh good good good. But it if is not done, I have to watch the consequences. I have to see the differences between the world's way and the Lord's way. I have no doubt that we are all in some sort of Babylon ... a place where we have to fight subtle compromise. Are the battles of black and white behind us and the land of Babylon where we find ourselves now? Shalom stacie |
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| TheLioness | Oct 27 2007, 03:48 PM Post #2 |
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This is a very powerful and TRUE message! Amen |
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10:23 PM Nov 27
