May the mumbling commence!
Find yourself in a tight spot? Take it to the Lord in prayer with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. God’s hotline is always available, and you never get an answering machine or an automated response system – even when your unfaithfulness has sent you into exile. Both of the kingdoms, Israel and Judah, were sent into exile in the Babylonian empire.
It seems that history repeated itself. Jacob/Israel found himself fleeing for his life from the Promised Land into exile two significant times. The first time, Jacob was fleeing from his twin brother Esau’s wrath, and Jacob fled with nothing but a stone for a pillow. But God was with Jacob, just as He promised; and Jacob returned to the Promised Land with a large family and a huge herd of animals (translate that great wealth).
The second time, Israel/Jacob fled the Promised Land in the midst of a great drought – fled into exile in the land of Egypt. And the family, over the course of hundreds of years, had become a nation by the time it walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.
Well, because of their unfaithfulness, both Israel and Judah were sent into captivity and exile throughout the Babylonian empire. The people of Israel were given a promise, much like the one that their forefather Jacob was given at Bethel when he was fleeing the wrath of Esau. Read it below from Jeremiah 46:27-28 –
"Do not fear, O Jacob my servant;
do not be dismayed, O Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid.
Do not fear, O Jacob my servant,
for I am with you," declares the Lord.
"Though I completely destroy all the nations
among which I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only with justice;
I will not let you go entirely unpunished."
“Do not fear,” God says. “The Great I Am is with you.” The Great I Am will surely save you and grant you peace and security once again – but salvation and peace will only come after justice has been served through redemptive punishment. Sore trials were to be ahead for the people of Israel – like the trial that Daniel faced in discerning and interpreting the dream of the king. Read about it below from Daniel 2:8-19, 23 –
Then the king answered, "I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me."
The astrologers answered the king, "There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men."
This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.
When Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. He asked the king's officer, "Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?" Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.
Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven… “I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king."
Tell the king his dream and interpret it – or die trying. A tall order! The men of his court complained only a god could do that – and gods do not live among men. Indeed, gods do not live. But Daniel knew of a living God, who had promised to be with him. In this pressure-cooker-type situation, Daniel called on his friends to gather in prayer. And the living Lord answered, so Daniel praised Him.
Yes, dare to be a Daniel – remember the living Lord who is with you, gather together with friends to pray for help, and praise God when he answers.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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