Thought for April 4, 2024

  • 1789:  First Congress begins session in NYC
  • 1949: NATO Treaty signed 
  • 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis
  • 1973: World Trade Center opens
  • 1974: Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth with homer #714
  • 1975: Microsoft founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen
  • Born: Yamamoto, Anthony Perkins, Heath Ledger, Robert Downey Jr.
  • Died: William Henry Harrison, Karl Benz, Andre Michelin, Adam Clayton Powell
Thought:
Tomorrow I will begin leading a study in the book of Daniel for our men's group. As I prepare, I am reading Daniel 1:1-4. What a brief summary of so significant events. Makes me wonder how the Lord views events that we see as so very important. Take a look with me:
  • Jehoiakim reigned as king of Judah from 609-598 BC, about 11 years. What do we know about him? His name was Eliakim and he was the brother of Joahaz and son of Josiah. Josiah was a good king over Judah. He removed the abominations from the land and restored the Passover (2 Chronicles 34-36). But Josiah went to war with Egypt at Megiddo and was killed. The people made Joahaz king, but he only reigned 3 months. The king of Egypt deposed Joahaz and installed Eliakim as king renaming him Jehoiakim. He was an evil king.
  • In 606 BC, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem after defeating the Egyptians.
  • Now notice what Nebuchadnezzar did as described by Daniel:
    • He took Jehoiakim back to Babylon in chains.
    • He took vessels from the House of God and put them in the house of his god.
    • He took some of the sons of Israel, including sons of the royal family and nobles to Babylon.
  • Why take the king, the vessels and the youth to Babylon? How does a conqueror impose its values on the people--take the leader, take away the religious items [demonstrate the god of Nebuchadnezzar was greater than the God of Israel], and indoctrinate the youth [more on that later]. 
As I think about our country today, I see parallels to Daniel's day. 
  • Where are our noble leaders? I am not being political here, but rather asking where are the kind, gentile, noble leaders who listen to God and follow His leadership? Where are the noble leaders who live lives consistent with God's commands? Have they been carried to a foreign land? Have they refused to lead? Have they been chained by media, politics and party loyalty? Sometimes, the leaders are not taken physically, they are silenced, ignored, found to be too kind or too weak. Maybe the good leaders are being treated like Jesus was. 
  • Who has taken our faith? For the Judeans, the temple had been violated, the vessels removed to Babylon. How has the enemy removed our faith--prayer removed, Bible removed, religious observances ignored or commercialized. 
  • Who is taking our youth? Social media, liberal faculty, parents who want to be buddies with the children, not parents. When we pay college students more to play ball than we pay teachers, policemen, firemen, our military, what values are we teaching our youth?
Nebuchadnezzar had a plan to make the Israelites just like the Babylonians--corrupt the leaders, damage the faith, capture the children. Maybe Satan is using the same game plan today.

Blessings
Larry

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for July 19

History: 1553: Lady Jane Gray deposed after 9 days 1692: 5 people hung during Salem Witch Trials 1848: First women's rights convention -Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Wesleyan Chapel at Seneca Falls NY 1910: Cy Young wins his 500th game 1941: US Army flying school at Tuskegee AL dedicated 1945: USS Cod saves 51 sailors from Dutch sub--only sub-to-sub rescue 1957: Firing of first rocket with nuclear warhead-Nevada 1984: Geraldine Ferraro is first major party female VP candidate 1996: Olympics open in Atlanta 2007: Madmen debuts 2018: Duck Boat sinks in Table Rock Lake killing 17 Born: Samuel Colt, Edgar Degas [painter], Lizzie Borden, Charles Mayo [Mayo Clinic], George McGovern, Al Haig, George Hamilton IV, Vikki Carr, Ilie Nastase, Stuart Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch,  Died: Syngman Rhee [President South Korea], Clyde Beatty [circus animal trainer], Mary Jo Kopechne [passenger with Ted Kennedy], Jack Warden, Frank McCourt [Angela's Ashes], James Garner, Garry Marshall
Read more

Thought for November 23, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving!  1664: Blaise Pascal is converted following a vision. He wrote the date and time of his conversion and said, "Fire. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Not of philosophers and intellectuals. Certitude, certitude, joy, peace. The God of Jesus Christ." Laid the foundation for the law of probabilities; genius in hydrodynamics and hydrostatics developing Pascal's principle of pressure; taught the experience of God through the heart rather than reason; mathematician and philosopher. 1783: Annapolis Maryland becomes U.S. Capitol until June 1784 1863: Patent for making color photographs granted 1889: First jukebox debuts in Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco 1897: Pencil sharpener patented 1904: Summer Olympics in St. Louis close [1st Olymics in U.S.] 1921: President Harding signs an Act prohibiting doctors from prescribing beer or liquor for medicinal purposes 1923: Cecil B. DeMille's first "The Ten Commandments" premiers
Read more

Thought for April 5, 2024

1722: Easter Island discovered 1792: First Presidential veto 1815: Mt. Tambora erupts. Largest eruption ever witnessed. Created year without summer in 1816--frost and snow in North America in June and July. Largest part of eruption on April 10th. Killed 10,000 in initial blast.  1906: Mt. Vesuvius erupts killing 100 1923: Firestone begins producing inflatable tires 1936: Tupelo almost completely destroyed by a tornado--216 die 1972: Baseball strike costs 86 games 2063: On "Star Trek", earth has its first contact with the Vulcan species Born: Thomas Hobbes, Joseph Lister, Booker T Washington, Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Gregory Peck, Arthur Hailey. Gale Storm, Frank Gorshin, Colin Powell, Pharrell Williams Died: Robert Raikes [Sunday School], Douglas MacArthur, Howard Hughes, Abe Fortas, Sam Walton, Allen Ginsberg, Saul Bellow, Charlton Heston, Honor Blackman Thought: Reading Daniel 1:5-7 this morning. Continuing with the thoughts about Nebuchadnezzar's plan. Having brough
Read more