<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Benton Community Church of Seventh-day Adventists

Alistair Huong

Servants in the Fire

Father in heaven, we're so thankful for your word, the promises and the prophecies found therein.

And we know that you have an interest in our lives, both now and in the hereafter.

And so as we investigate how we can be prepared for the times ahead.

I pray that your spirit will be here to be our teacher and our guide, we pray in Jesus' name.

Let's begin in our scripture reading this morning in Revelation chapter 7.

This is really the theme passage for our discussion today.

Revelation 7 beginning in verse 1, And after these things I saw 4 angels standing on the 4 corners of the earth, holding the 4 winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the 4 angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea saying hurt not the earth neither the sea nor the trees till we have sealed who the servants of our God in their foreheads.

And I heard the number of them which were sealed, and there were sealed 144, 000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

This morning, I want to zoom in on that description of the 144, 000 in which they are identified as the servants of God.

What does that mean, to be servants of God?

If you look in the bulletin, the title listed there, Servants of the Living God, it could also be titled, Servants in the Fire.

This is where we'll be spending most of our time this morning.

I wanna look at Daniel because Daniel and Revelation are companion books.

It's like learning algebra so that you can do calculus.

Daniel is algebra, Revelation is calculus.

If you don't understand Daniel, when you get to Revelation, you're gonna be missing a whole bunch of stuff.

And I believe that when John the Revelator is discussing the servants of God, we need to think back, oh okay, are there instances in Daniel that illuminate this concept of the servants of God?

So I want you to keep that thought in mind as we go through the story of Daniel chapter 3 to see what we can learn.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king, the king of what nation by the way?

The king of Babylon, good, made an image of gold whose height was 3 score cubits and the breadth thereof 6 cubits.

He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

We see in this verse that Daniel chapter 3 begins with Babylon and Babylon raises up an image And this image is constructed with very unique dimensions.

Well, keep that number in your mind, but is there in Revelation any significance with the name Babylon?

Okay, alright, I think we're making some connections here already.

And in the book of Revelation, do we see any story, any prophecy about an image?

And is Babylon and the image related somehow in the book of Revelation?

I think you know where we're headed with this, but let's keep going.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the King had set up.

Then the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up, and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Well, it sure looks like the list of everyone who's anyone.

The Queen of England is in attendance, along with Prince Charles and Prince William and Princess Kate and their baby.

Okay, there are the statesmen, all the governors it says.

So we've got the presidents, we've got the prime ministers, we've got the senators, the representatives, We've got the military leaders, the generals.

We've got the Supreme Court justices there.

We have what they call the counselors or the philosophers, the PhDs at Harvard, the thought leaders that steer academia and our philosophy of the age, the sheriffs, the law enforcement is there, The province rulers or the CEOs and the presidents of the Exxon mobiles and the apples and all of these leaders of every sector in society is in attendance.

This is interesting to me because don't people dedicate statues and sculptures and images all the time?

I mean, at Southern we've got sculptures on campus and then they're dedicated when they're unveiled, when they're finished.

The Statue of Liberty is an image, and it was dedicated at 1 point.

And so I'm looking at this story, and I'm asking myself, what's so special?

Everyone who's anyone is there for a dedication of a sculpture, of another, you know, another image in a pantheon of images that I'm sure Nebuchadnezzar has built.

There's something significant about that.

And it looks as though Nebuchadnezzar is using this as an opportunity to gain solidarity with his kingdom.

It's a time for peace and safety to be proclaimed.

For people to come together to put aside our differences.

To come together and say We're all in this together.

We're all friendly, despite our past differences.

Is there any chance that such words might be spoken today?

But this is 1 last lesson I wanna draw from here, and that is a dedication.

So this occasion on the plane of Dura appears to be a 1 time special event.

I think that gives us a little more significance as to what happens later on in the story.

Verse 4, Then a herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, stop right there.

There is a message that is being proclaimed by the messenger of Babylon, a herald, A messenger.

In Revelation, do we see another messenger?

With a message to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

To every nation, kindred, tongue, and people in this case what is the message?

Verse 5, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

And whoso falleth not down and worshipeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace.

Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sakhba, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

So this was a political rally, it so appeared at first, to stir up the patriotism and the solidarity and the unity of the divided kingdom that has been conquered by Nebuchadnezzar.

But now that everyone's gathered together and they're sort of helpless, Nebuchadnezzar springs the trap, right?

He says, yeah we're gonna be united because if you're disunited you will be burned.

So all disagreeing elements will be gone and will be in unity.

Well that seems to be the case throughout history whenever church and state unite.

Because the church believes that it's important to have unity because that's what the Bible says.

But even in other religions, unity is valued.

And so when the church is able to wield the power of the state, oh how tempting and how logical it really is to coerce unity and compliance through force.

And what greater force is there than the threat of death?

We see religious legislation being decreed in the name of peace, in the name of bringing unity in the nation.

And an interesting point here is that music is involved.

I don't want to divert my attention into music, but perhaps there is a relationship, perhaps, a relationship between music, the type of music we listen to, how worship is conducted, what kind of music is permitted in worship, it may have some relationship with whether or not we will bow at the last day.

And whether or not the, or rather it will be an instrument to be used in creating the culture and the environment for the bowing to take place.

1 final point on these verses before we move on is the term fall down.

Verse 5, it says, when you hear the music, you fall down and worship.

When you worship something, you prostrate yourself, at least that's how it used to be.

Back to Menu

Servants in the Fire

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

Is Fundamentalism a Threat?

56m

Plenary Session

A Family Outpost Changed My Life

51m

Plenary Meetings

Crucified with Christ

42m

Morning Devotionals

The Sabbath

29m

Finding Peace in the Time of Chaos

06 Salvation or Seduction

45m

Morning Devotional

Devotional

31m

Delicious Grape Juice

36m

ASI 2012 Youth Meetings

ASI 2012 Youth Meeting

1h 17m

Be Careful What You Ask For

40m

Breakout Session C

Lost Opportunities

44m

Beginning with Eternity in Mind

53m

Overcoming Addictions (Evening Meetings)

Gaining the Victory

50m

Sound Doctrine