Modern World, Decaying Morals

O. T. #1975  "Modern World, Decaying Morals"

July 5, 2021

Daniel 2-Part 5

LET IT GLOW

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. (Ps. 100: 1-3)

I memorized this chapter many moons ago. Can't recall when, just know that I know it. Isn't that all that matters? That we hide God's Word in our hearts so we do not sin against Him.

Look at what Life Application Study Bible says:

David tells us to acknowledge that Yahweh is God! How can we do that? We acknowledge Him when we shout our praises, appreciate His status as our Creator, accept His authority in every detail of life, enthusiastically agree with the guidance He gives us, and express our thanks for His unfailing love. God is our Creator: we did not create ourselves. Many people live as though they are the creator and center of their own little world. This mind-set leads to pride, greed, idolatry, and if everything should be taken away, a loss of hope itself. But when we realize that God created us and gives us all we have, we will want to give to others as God gave to us. (2 Cor. 9:8) Then, even if all is lost, we still have God and all He gives us.

 That puts everything in perspective, doesn't it? Who is the center of our life? Is it God or self?

LET IT GROW

We were sitting in a medical facility awaiting my tests to be done when my attention was brought to a show on television in the room. I had seen a show where houses are remodeled, but this time it was shocking. The couple was lesbians. Sickening it was, as they planned to remodel a house they were purchasing somewhere. What a decay of morals our nation is experiencing now. We can't go anywhere that sinners are not pushing their immorality on us Christians. So we turned our attention to my phone, watching a preacher of Jesus Christ sharing the gospel for the next hour.

If you missed the dream that Daniel recalled for King Neb, it was focused in our last post. God had given Daniel wisdom as to what it was and its meaning.

Wiersbe furnishes some good points concerning the 4 Gentile kingdoms and the final reigning kingdom of Jesus Christ:

1. Babylonian kingdom-God is in control of history and the future because He plans them. The good and wicked accomplish His purposes. It was God who allowed Neb to defeat his enemies and expand his empire. He was given kingdom, power, strength, and glory by the God of heaven. (verse 37)
2. The Medo-Persian kingdom-the atomic weight of gold is 10 times that of clay, and silver is 5 times heavier than clay. Although kingdoms and nations appear strong and durable, they are always in danger of falling over and crashing. Neb's statue was top heavy.
3. The Grecian kingdom-It will be difficult for things to hold together at the end of the age. Although those kingdoms were strong, they still crumble. (The Greeks and Romans worshiped idols and false gods, instead of the One, True, Living God.)
4. The Roman Empire-It was strong as iron, yet weak and prone to crumble as clay. Man at his best is clay, for God made him out of the dust of the earth. Although all people are made in the image of God, sin has robbed us of the dominion He gave us. (Gen.1:26)
5. The Stone, Jesus Christ's kingdom-When He returns to rule, He will destroy His enemies and establish His kingdom. The stone is a frequent image of God in scripture and especially of Messiah, Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Our hope is not in laws, political alliances, or moral crusades. Our hope is in the Lord. People's hearts need to be changed by the grace of God. Then we will be witnesses to the ends of the earth. The only kingdom that will stand forever is Christ's kingdom. (Daniel 2:44)

With a message like Daniel's, the king should have been humbled and humbled himself before Almighty God, but he did not. We will read about how God brought him down to do just that in chapter 4. Next time we will see how Daniel and his friends were promoted in the Babylonian kingdom, since they remained faithful to their God.

Even though our modern world that can contact and travel quickly around the world, though we have powerful medicines, electronic devices that boggle our minds, good houses, cars, and planes, we have new problems to solve. It is easier to make a living, but harder to make a life; more difficult to remain faithful to our God in these times. Do we realize that we are but clay? Are we acknowledging that God is supreme and not us?

LET IT GO

Keep us close to You, Father.

Fight for us, keep us humbled, and surrendered to Your will, not ours.

Direct us, use us to share hope in Jesus.

Bless us and be in charge of our life today.