The False Adoration 10 December 2018

THE FALSE ADORATION

 Read Matthew 4: 8 and 9. What was the third temptation of Jesus in the desert?

 Matthew 4: 8 and 9

 8 Again the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory,

 9 And he said to him, All this I will give you, if you prostrate you will worship me.

 With pride and arrogance, Satan proclaimed himself the legitimate ruler of the world, master of all his riches and glory, and claimed the honor and respect of all who live in him, as if he had created the world. What an insult to the Creator! Satan revealed that he knows exactly what worship is about: it is honoring and respecting the rightful owner of the universe.

 Compare the experience of the three Hebrew friends of Daniel 3 (especially verses 8-18) with the power of the end time of Revelation 13: 4 and 14: 9 to 11. What is at stake in the end time? What is the essential problem in both stories?

 Daniel 3

 1 King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits, and its width six cubits; He raised it in the field of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

 2 And Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to assemble the satraps, the magistrates and captains, hearers, treasurers, counselors, judges, and all the governors of the provinces, that they should come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

 3 So the satraps, magistrates, captains, hearers, treasurers, counselors, judges, and all the governors of the provinces gathered together at the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up; and they were standing in front of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

 4 And the preacher announced with a loud voice, "Command yourselves, O peoples, nations, and languages,

 5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the tambourine, the harp, the psaltery, the zampoña and every instrument of music, you fall down and adore the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has erected;

 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship, he will immediately be cast into a fiery furnace of fire.

 7 Wherefore, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, the flute, the tambourine, the harp, the psaltery, the zampoña and every instrument of music, all peoples, nations and languages ​​prostrated themselves and worshiped the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected.

 8 Therefore at that time some Chaldean men came and maliciously accused the Jews.

 9 They spoke and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, "King, live forever."

 10 You, O king, have given a law that every man, when he hears the sound of the horn, the flute, the tambourine, the harp, the psaltery, the zampoña and all musical instruments, will desert and adore the golden statue;

1 and he who does not fall down and worship, be thrown into a fiery furnace of fire.

 12 There are some Jewish men, whom you set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not respected you; they do not worship your gods, nor do they worship the golden statue that you have set up.

 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar said with wrath and anger that they should bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Instantly these men were brought before the king.

 14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not worship my god, nor worship the golden image that I have set up?

 15 Now, then, are you ready so that when you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the tambourine, the harp, the psaltery, the zampoña and every instrument of music, you fall down and adore the statue that I made? ? Because if you do not worship her, in the same hour you will be thrown into the middle of a blazing furnace of fire; And what god will be the one who will free you from my hands?

 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, saying, "It is not necessary that we answer you on this matter."

 17 Behold, our God whom we serve can deliver us from the fiery furnace of fire; and from your hand, O king, will deliver us.

 18 And if not, know, O king, that we will not serve your gods, neither will we worship the image that you have set up.

 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and the appearance of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and he ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual.

 20 And he commanded the mighty men that he had in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the furnace of burning fire.

 21 Then these men were bound with their robes, their breeches, their turbans and their garments, and were thrown into the furnace of burning fire.

 22 And as the king's command was urgent, and they had warmed him very much, the flame of the fire slew those who had taken up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the fiery furnace of fire.

 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was frightened, and he got up hurriedly and said to his council, Did not they throw three men bound into the fire? They answered the king: It is true, oh king.

 25 And he said, Behold, I see four men loose, who walk in the midst of the fire without suffering any harm; and the appearance of the room is similar to the son of the gods.

 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near the door of the burning fiery furnace and said, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come. Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire.

 27 And the satraps, the governors, the captains, and the counselors of the king assembled to look upon these men, how the fire had no power over their bodies, and not even the hair of their heads was burned; Their clothes were intact, and they did not even smell of fire.

 28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, Blessed be their God, of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and who did not fulfill the king's edict, and delivered their bodies before serve and worship another god than his God.

 29 Therefore, I decree that every people, nation or language that speaks blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, shall be dismembered, and his house turned into a dunghill; because there is no god that can deliver like this.

 30 Then the king exalted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

Revelation 13: 4

 4 And they worshiped the dragon that had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?

 Revelation 14: 9

 9 And the third angel followed them, and said with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives the mark on his forehead or on his hand,

 From Cain and Abel, through the three Hebrew boys in Babylon, to the final events around "the mark of the beast" (Revelation 16: 2), Satan seeks to establish a system of false worship that sets apart the people of the True God and, in a subtle way, direct the adoration towards his person. After all, even before the fall, he wanted to be like God (Isa 14:14). It is no accident that, just as the three young men endured the threat of death unless they worshiped an "image," in the last days God's faithful will face the threat of death unless they also worship an "image." Why should we worship any "image" when we are called to worship the true God?

 "Important are the lessons we must learn from what was experienced by the Hebrew youth in the plain of Dura. [. . .]

 "The time of anguish that awaits the people of God will require unshakeable faith. His children must make it clear that he is the only object of their adoration, and that by no consideration, not even of life itself, can they be induced to make the slightest concession to a false cult. For the loyal heart, the commandments of sinful and finite men are insignificant in the face of the Word of the eternal God. They will obey the truth even if the result is imprisonment, exile or death "(PR 376).

 What are the different forms, even today, in which we may be tempted to worship another who is not the only Being worthy of our worship? False worship, in what sense could it be a more subtle threat than we think?

 What are some of the things that we may now be tempted to worship?