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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Finishing Their Story

Micheal Goetz

The Three Worthies

We're on a little journey on our campus, in our congregation, on understanding the Sabbath.

I, last week, came to picture, and I told 1 of my friends, so this is a game changer for me.

Some, I, last week in my studies on the Sabbath came to realize its depth and its layout like I had never seen it before.

Exodus chapter 20 verse 8 through 11 outlines the Sabbath.

That's the first declaration of the law, at least as it is recorded in its entirety.

Then, the book of Deuteronomy records the second from all 10 of the commandments as referred to them.

Deuteronomy, which is of course, that's what it means, the second, deuter, and the neuronomy, the second repeating or the second telling of the law.

The 2 commandments are slightly different in Exodus and in Deuteronomy.

And you would figure, if Moses had the tablets that were inscribed with the very...

You would have thought he probably would have got like...

But in both instances he uses a different word to at least introduce it.

Remember, the the rabbis will tell us is a very positive, like celebrate it.

Observe is a challenge to guard against and the traditional thinking, at least the Jewish rabbinical thinking is that it took both words to actually communicate what God was trying to say.

Both by, there's some things you need to celebrate with study and with good food, but then there's also in order to celebrate it, there's things you have to guard against.

And so it's this kind of push-pull that puts us in the center of what the Sabbath was supposed to be.

Another difference between Exodus and Deuteronomy was that Exodus cites the creative event or creation as the reason, kind of the foundation for why the Sabbath should be celebrated and Deuteronomy notes it as their freedom from Egypt, their salvation as why.

And so the Sabbath becomes this perfect picture between creation and recreation, this salvation and creation experience.

But there is 1 singular similarity between Exodus and Deuteronomy that is very significant.

And this is something that I had never, I guess I'd always kind of hung it in the back of my mind, but I never thought that the Bible was so incredibly cogent about this, and this is it.

That the 6 days, now we quote it all the time, 6 days, shout out labor and do all they work, but the seventh.

And the form of that is because the 6 days were supposed to support the seventh day.

In other words, The 6 days were to build up, as it were, the planning and the event and the experience so that the seventh is a celebration.

Now, Sabbatarians, let me just challenge you on this.

I'll tell you how I've often treated it and how those in my community have often referred to it as lines like this, whoo, I'm sure glad it's Sabbath, I can rest.

I can just, And Abraham Heschel, Joshua Abraham Heschel, the renowned Jewish scholar, says, we have treated Sabbath like an interlude, as if it were to prepare us like beasts of burden to get ready for the new week of work.

We treat it as if it's there so that we can survive and go into another 6 days.

We are using the Sabbath to honor 6 days.

We as Sabbatarians have taken the Sabbath from being this beautiful climax of living to saying, I am now a beast of burden.

That 1 day now provides the other 6 instead of 6 days forward to the seventh day.

I was just hearing the happy Sabbath and I was thinking, wow, I've just been, my whole life, 6 days.

We've heard this before, you know, Friday, preparation day, but actually the Sabbath, it's not so concerned about the preparation day as it is this whole 6 days leading up to the celebration of the seventh and Sabbath day.

And in our home, we said, well, what can we do?

What if we divide the Sabbath into 7 parts?

What are 7 things that have to be done in order to get to the Sabbath experience?

And what if we do 1 of them every day so that starting from Sunday, we are already building this experience to the Sabbath.

Saying, man, we've got 6 days, we're there to support the Sabbath.

It's actually the day we're supposed to, we've been living for 6 days.

Father, bless us 1 more time as we open your word.

Thank you that you have spent 6 days preparing for this special moment with us.

And now, as we open your word, have your way with our hearts and our minds.

It's almost as if it's, we've all fought it, but we've never really talked about it.

Maybe you have, but many have not talked about it.

And even in the pastoral circles and preachers that I've spent time with, it's not often recognized or at least titled.

But that is the idea that within the narratives of Scripture, a narrative, a story, there is theology.

Okay, we've all kind of, we can see, okay, so there's stories in the Bible, they're not there for our entertainment, Certainly they're there to kind of guide us through the historical events.

But it's more than just stories for the sake of recording history.

It's a term that's actually called narrative theology.

That is, you read a story and there is a theological truth that is in that story, much like a plain, thus saith the Lord.

Except it's embedded in a narrative, in a story.

There's also what is understood as narrative prophecy.

And that is this idea that through a story is birthed this prophetic statement, apocalyptic or otherwise.

Often there were individuals that were given a prophetic role even by their name.

So, that's, that's, it's not new, this is not new, but it's something that we haven't always put our thumb on to say, oh that's what this is.

1 of the most, 1 of the worst offenders In this narrative prophecy are the narratives or the stories found in the book of Daniel.

So we're going to take 3 narratives of the book of Daniel, the primary 3.

Daniel chapter 1 is a story of Daniel and his 3 friends making the decision on diet.

It's really a bigger picture, but we'll get there tomorrow morning.

Then there's Daniel chapter 3, which is the story of the 3 worthies, right?

But apart from those 3 stories and a few pictures, Nebuchadnezzar's journey and his fall and then restoration, Apart from these narratives, what is the book of Daniel largely comprised of?

Purposed

If you live or if you're residing in this area and you're just wondering if there's anyone in this valley that's still seeking, I think it's about the first time it's ever happened to me.

Got off the plane yesterday, walked off, saw the mountains and was overwhelmed with emotion.

Now I'm from Colorado, so it's not the mountains that move me.

It's my great aunt, my grandmother's sister who I grew up with as if she was my grandmother, lived in this valley a little bit to the east.

And so I grew up flying into Ontario or Palm Springs and having to drive, or even LA, having to drive in and spend time with her.

And for most of my life, she was indifferent to anything having to do with my journey with Jesus.

She cheered me on in my education, but that was because it was education and not because it was theology or religious.

Somebody reached out to her and invited her to be part of their church community.

And my Aunt Peggy died in this valley having this very dynamic and exciting relationship with Jesus.

My mother's side grew up in Los Angeles and eastward here.

But that was the last kind of family member we had here.

And I just want to put a plug out for what I believe are thousands of people within our reach that would be touched if we just don't give up on them.

So Father, as we open your word this morning, would it be that you don't give up on us?

We know you don't because you've invited us here.

But Father, while on others thou art calling, do not pass us by.

Meet with us, change our hearts and our minds today.

Father, you have a word for me, you have a word for us.

So let it be that you speak cogently in the name of Jesus.

Last night for Vespers a group of us began this conversation of what do the narratives of Daniel have to do with us.

Now, understanding, most of us would be very quick to recognize what the book of Daniel primarily is.

And that would be a book of prophecies outlining in several different ways and from several different perspectives the time from Daniel's time to the very end of time, First history and the second coming.

But what we find in the book of Daniel is sprinkled several narratives.

Some of the best stories of scripture are in Daniel.

You've got the 3 worthies and the fiery furnace.

Daniel chapter 1 is this narrative of this capture and his journey of interacting with the culture and the expectations of King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon.

So these narratives, these narratives, and we've kind of always just left them there like, ooh, there's Daniel chapter 2, that Image.

And what we introduced last night is this conversation about it is understood that within Scripture, there is narrative theology.

Stories with a theological, a truth about God.

An actual theological teaching buried within the stories of Scripture.

They're not just there for historical accountability or for our entertainment.

They're there for a theological truth about who the person of God is.

We understand that stories are there for something.

Could it be that within the stories of Scripture, there are narrative prophecies?

You say, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not, wait a minute.

In the book of Psalms, the songs, there were prophetic songs.

Psalm 22, the very Psalm that Jesus quoted on the cross was a prophetic song about a Messiah and not just to the Messiah, but that that Messiah would 1 day gain ultimate victory.

It goes right through the Messiah and declares that that Messiah will 1 day establish victory.

The idea that heaven, and that's where the angels would sing, lift up your heads OU gates.

Is it then possible that there is also prophetic narratives or stories that serve a prophetic, even an apocalyptic purpose?

That the narratives within the book of Daniel are not just randomly sprinkled stories, but they're actually narratives with a prophetic message.

And we went there last night looking at the 3 Hebrew worthies.

That their story was actually a prophecy of what the people at the end of that Daniel chapter 2 statue would look like.

We're not going to revisit that, but I do want to take you to another narrative in the book of Daniel.

Now Let me begin by just throwing up Hans Lorendale's words on the screen.

This is from his classic, How to Understand End Time Prophecy.

The thrust of each prophetic series is the triumph of God's rulership over evil.

We need to realize therefore that the aim of biblical apocalyptic is not to predict specific events or secular world history as such.

In other words, God is not just trying to tell us what's coming next.

Biblical apocalyptic is not an exhibitionism of God's foreknowledge.

Right, this whole, I can tell you what's coming next.

Rather, it's concern is to inspire hope among the oppressed people of God.

That's the purpose of apocalyptic prophecy is to inspire hope, give courage to the people of God.

It seems very fitting then that God would embed within narratives these prophetic words to inspire hope in his people.

Daniel chapter 1 begins obviously the book of Daniel.

In the third year, I'm reading from the NIV, whatever translation version you have is great.

In the third year, the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

Coincidentally, how many sides are in the great controversy?

As some of us sometimes conclude, we just assume that there's God's side, the devil's side, and then my side.

Kind of I'm in the middle and I'm a, kind of a triangle approach.

There is no, you either serve 1 of 2 masters, right?

The Law

The journey of study that we have been exploring is a bit of a reflection on some of what many of us would maybe say are our favorite Bible stories.

But specifically in the book of Daniel, there are narratives that are more than just stories.

Not that they're not stories, and that there can be some multiple takeaways, but the strategic place and time in which they're recorded have led some, and I would be joining their ranks, to say these are unique and specific for maybe even an end-time apocalyptic meaning.

So maybe you were part of the worship time and study time this morning looking at how in the narratives of scripture there is theology and they call it narrative theology where where you read a story and out of that there is a theological truth, a teaching of God, of who God is in that story.

And what we have been discovering is that in the book of Daniel, the narratives are actually prophetic.

And that's not completely rare or strange to scripture.

There are prophetic songs in Scripture, there's prophetic names in Scripture, individuals given names for purposes and experiences, there are certainly prophecies in Scripture, there are symbol, prophetic symbols in Scripture, but we've, as a community, as an Adventist community, more specifically my faith community, we've been very interested in prophecy, but have not spent much time thinking of the narrative prophecy, or the prophecies that are embedded in the narratives.

Now this afternoon, we've talked about the 3 worthies, the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, which is just full.

It's a story pregnant with prophetic connections in that they were thrown into a fiery furnace and the end of the great controversy ends or concludes with Satan and his host being thrown into a fiery furnace.

This afternoon we are going to probably the foremost story in the book of Daniel narrative which would be Daniel and the lion's den.

It is, it is, I would, I want to use words like most.

It is the most intense and has probably the most to unpack.

And so we would do well to just begin our study with it.

I wonder if we could just tease it a bit and then we'll leave it for this afternoon.

Time won't avail us, our attention spans won't avail us, but we can begin this.

So bear with me and if it leaves without being completely unpacked, know that that's probably maybe even better to leave it there.

I was reflecting this afternoon on a story C.D.

Brooks liked to tell about a fire that took place in the Middle East.

A home was caught fire and the resident, a man, had escaped outside and then forced his way back through those who were helping to extinguish the fire, back into the house because he wanted to save his valuables and he never came out.

They found him in the ashes, dead, clutching his ivory idols.

He says the headlines in the paper read, man dies trying to save his God.

And The exact opposite is our story with our God.

That becomes a platform in which I want to build where we go next.

This platform that our journey with God is 1 where he was willing to die to empty himself.

That's that was that was completely at odds with all religions of antiquity and modernity.

There's no other religion that comes where God empties himself out for us, for the followers.

So let that be the platform and we'll circle back.

You'll recognize it when we come full circle.

Daniel chapter 6 is the passage chapter where Daniel and the lion's den.

Again, a story strategically placed in the book of Daniel.

If you were just writing and you were gonna write stories for the sake of telling stories, you might be more inclined to write maybe the first 3 or 4 chapters in stories and then the rest of the chapters in prophecy.

But that's not how the Book of Daniel is.

It sprinkles the stories through the chapters.

So you have the capture in Daniel chapter 1.

Daniel chapter 3, then is another narrative.

What we have to understand is that Bible writers had to give incredible focus to how things were written because that's how they communicated importance and intent and meaning.

So Daniel chapter 6 is not haphazard in how it proceeds, immediately proceeds Daniel chapter 7.

Darius has set up his kingdom and established all of his leaders, and Daniel distinguishes himself.

Now Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps by his exceptional qualities and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

At this, hearing that there would be this promotion, The administrators tried to find conduct of government affairs, but they were unable.

This becomes then a setup for probably the most operative verse in this story.

We haven't even got to the lion's den, but this becomes the operative verse.

Then verse 5, finally these men said, we will never find any basis for charges against this man, Daniel, unless it has something to do with the law of his God.

And that becomes, that becomes the platform for the next 2 chapters.

Daniel is faithfully serving, except for when it contradicts the covenant he has with God.

And the rest of these guys from all over the world say, we're not going to be able to...

We won't catch him, except it has to do with the law, concerns the law of his God.

They set up a law that is, requires something that he can't do.

Daniel chapter 6 and verse 10, when Daniel learned, this is operative, When Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room, where the windows opened toward Jerusalem.

When Daniel learned that the law had been enforced and put in place, he knew it.

It sets it up so that it's not just that he's ignorant of it.

So it's setting the stage for not willful disobedience, but intentional obedience.

You see, not willful disobedience to the laws of the land, but intentional obedience To the law of God.

When Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home.

So when they went to the king, they found him praying, they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree.

Did you not publish the decree that during the next 30 days, did you not publish this decree?

He says, yep, the king answered, the decree stands in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be altered.

Catch, just in the context of the Great Controversy, in the context of what we know Revelation will unpack later.

Read this story, listening for these key words.

Here we can't find any fault in him except for the law of his God." Daniel knew that the decree had been published when he then continues his stand.

And then the king says, yeah, there's this law and it cannot be altered.

You don't have to answer that, because We're going to go there in just a minute.

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Finishing Their Story

The Three Worthies

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