Decrees Revoked

“Make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for He is the living God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall even unto the end.” Daniel 6:26

THE IMMUTABLE GOD

The living God, the Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them will for eternity be a unique God who is a present help to all that are honest and true in all His biddings. He never changes for He is the Alpha and the Omega. Rich tokens of His dealings with the children of men do testify to us His status and might, when the human part is done to open the door for the manifestation of divine accomplishments.

Traces of God’s faithfulness in honouring the claims of His faithful children in a perverse and wicked generation(s) stands as a marked contrast that God is not and will never be a Man who promises and for one reason or the other fails to make true His promise(s). Amid the agony of human woe, God has always stepped in mightily to prove that; “if God be for us, who can be against us?” Rom 3:31(b) “And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers.” Romans 8:13:12 (a).

“Throughout the history of God’s people, great mountains of difficulty, apparently insurmountable, have loomed up before those who were trying to carry out the purposes of Heaven. Such obstacles are permitted by the Lord as a test of faith. When we are hedged about on every side, this is the time above all others to trust in God and in the power of His Spirit. The exercise of a living faith means an increase of spiritual strength and the development of unfaltering trust. It is thus that the soul becomes a conquering power. Before the demand of faith, the obstacles placed by Satan across the pathway of the Christian will disappear; for the power of heaven will come to his aid. ?Nothing shall be impossible into you.’ Matthew 17:20” PK594 – 5

AHASURUS DEATH DECREE

The intervention of God against the plots of Satan in the form of Haman the Agagite to have the Jews slaughtered in the Medo-Persian realm are to remind us of what the Lord can do for His children when He is given full allegiance. “Through Haman the Agagite, an unscrupulous man high in authority in Medo-Persia, Satan worked at this time to counterwork the purposes of God. Haman cherished bitter malice against Mordecai, a Jew. Mordecai had done Haman no harm, but had simply refused to show him worshipful reference. Scorning to ‘lay hands on Mordecai alone,’ Haman plotted ?to destroy all the
Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.’ Esther 3:6

“Misled by the false statements of Haman, Xerxes was induced to issue a decree providing for the massacre of all the Jews ‘scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces’ of the Medo-Persian kingdom (verse 8). A certain day was appointed on which the Jews were to be destroyed and their property confiscated. Little did the king realize the far-reaching results that would have accompanied the complete carrying out of this decree. Satan himself, the hidden instigator of the scheme was trying to rid the earth of those who preserved the knowledge of the true God.” PK 600 – 01

“In every province whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting and weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.” Esther 4:3. “And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him though He bear long with them?” Luke 18: 7. In this time of dire need for help, both Esther and Mordecai realized that unless God should work mightily in their behalf,
their own efforts would be unavailing.

“The events that followed in rapid succession,–the appearance of Esther before the king, the marked favour shown her, the banquets of the king and the queen with Haman as the only guest, the troubled sleep of the king, the public honour shown Mordecai, and the humiliation and fall of Haman upon the discovery of his wicked plot,– all these are parts of a familiar story. God wrought marvelously for His penitent people; and a counter decree issued by the king, allowing them to fight for their lives, was rapidly communicated to every part of the realm by mounted couriers, who were ‘hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment.’ ?And in every province, and in every city whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day.’ Esther 8:14.” PK 602 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

DECREE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR

God is ever ready and waiting to vindicate His wonder–working power on behalf of His faithful children who in calmness wait patiently for His appointed time. When human strength, human wisdom and skill, perplexed to suffer hurt by the hands of the infidels, God watches with untold amusement and joy that His children, called to His salvation stand unmoved from their post of duty. Such a bold stand taken brings into remembrance His pledge to whoever will need His bidding. He says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, Saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11. He is much displeased when we dishonor Him in not taking Him by His word and like the prophet Elijah flee from the sight of the threatening Jezebel.

Daniel and his friends lived to prove God’s pledge work as true amid the fury of an idolatrous king and all his subjects. For our records the king’s command: “That at what time ye hear the sound of the comet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye shall fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the King had set up: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall, the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” Daniel 3:5, 6. In this way, Satan, in the form of a king with authority and power confronts to challenge the authority of the true and living God who in afore time had commanded all the human race saying; ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them for I the Lord thy Lord am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” Exodus 20:3 – 5

Daniel well knew and treasured the command from the true God. Contrary to his treasured knowledge is a foreign injunction that carried the penalty of death should he fail to comply. Having a clear knowledge of the God that he worshiped, Daniel’s resolution remained unmoved, and declared to all that “we ought to obey God rather than men,” Acts 5:29. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and saith to the king: O Nebuchadnezzar, we are ?not careful to answer thee on this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand O King.” Their choice to choose who to obey was not by accident, but a deliberate one thus leaving the consequences with God. Was the choice respected? Never! At the fury and command of the king, the most mighty men were commanded to bind these ‘infidel Hebrews’ and cast them into the furnace that was prepared seven times more than it wont to be heated. Was the purpose of the enemy of saints done? Never was it and never will it be! Daniel and his friends had faithfully done the human part only to wait patiently for the divine part. Before the jubilant congregation, the expectation of all bounced back in reverence to the God of Daniel and his friends. The giver of the command against that of the living God had to retract from His preconceived ideas of what he witnessed. “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste and spake, and said unto his counselors, did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O King. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Daniel 3: 24, 25. Praise God that he was brought to know the form of the Son of God. How impressive it is that all the attention of the people was turned to what God does for His faithful servants in the fiery furnace, than the death of the men who cast them into the fire!

“Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, blessed be the God of Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god; except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.” Daniel 3:29. Amen!

“True success in any line of work is not the result of chance or accident or destiny. It is the outworking of God’s providences, the reward of faith and discretion, of virtue and perseverance Fine mental qualities and a high moral tone are not the result of accident. God gives opportunities; success depends upon the use made of them.”

“While God was working in Daniel and his companions ?to will and to do of His good pleasure,’ they were working out their own salvation. Philippians 2:13. Herein is revealed the outworking of the divine principle of co- operation, without which no true success can be attained. Human effort avails nothing without divine power, and without human endeavor, divine effort is with many of no avail. To make God’s grace our own, we must act our part. His grace is given to work in us to will and to do, but never as a substitute for our effort.” PK 486 – 7. Hence in their being true to principle in the midst of a nation of idolaters they gave witness that God works in them to reveal His character. It is thus only then that even kings in their humanity have to acknowledge that the Lord is God. Have you given God the opportunity to work through your being so that all in your sphere may give honour and glory that is due to Him?

“Study the history of Joseph and of Daniel. The Lord did not prevent plottings of men who sought to do them harm; but he caused all these devices to work for good to His servants, who amid trial and conflict preserved their faith and loyalty.” GW 477. Should we at our time?

DECREE OF THE SUNDAY LAW

The Lord has not kept to Himself what He intends to do in the near future and what His children are to be and expect. He plainly and to the point informs the inhabitants of earth His divine plans that they may take caution of the impending conflict. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing but revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29

To be sure of what to expect, a reflection of the past events and experiences of God’s faithful and peculiar people, is an unerring index of the unfulfilled prophecies as Solomon informs us. “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, see, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us.” Ecclesiastes
1:9, 10

“The trying experiences that came to God’s people in the days of Esther were not peculiar to that age alone. The revelator, looking down to the close of time, has declared, ‘The dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ’ Revelation 12:17. Some who today are living on earth will see these words fulfilled. The same spirit that in ages past led men to persecute the true church, will in the future (now) lead to the pursuance of a similar course toward those who maintain their loyalty to God. Even now preparations are being made for this last great conflict.

“The decree which is to go forth against the remnant people of God will be very similar to that issued by Ahasuerus against the Jews in the time of Esther. Church and state are making preparations for the future conflict. Protestants are working in disguise to bring Sunday to the front, as did the Romanists. Throughout the land The papacy is piling up her lofty and massive structures, in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions are to be repeated. And the way is preparing for the manifestation, on a grand scale, of those lying wonders by which, if it were possible, Satan would deceive even the
elect.” 5T 449-50.

SATAN’S COUNTERFEITS

It has always been and is still the nature of Satan to disguise himself in various forms– serpent, an angel of light, a good conductor of the train of God, etc., with a view of arresting the attention of God’s people. As to Eve and Eden insinuations are directly opposed to that of God’s bidding. When God says “… in the day thou eatest (the tree of knowledge) thereof thou shall surely die,” Satan controverts that saying, “ye shall not surely die.” Genesis 2:17, 2:
4 similarly when God gives a threatening message “…if any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in hand. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the lamb.” Satan on the other hand roars saying, “…no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark of the beast in the right hand, or in their foreheads.” Revelation 4:9,10; 13:17. As with Eve in Eden, and Daniel in Babylon, we are left at the cross-roads to choose who to obey, and God will respect our choice and reward it as it shall require. Dear reader, what will your choice be? For to be sure of not faltering between these opinions, it requires Godly Wisdom which God has pledged to give to all liberally and abraideth not.

When the decree goes forth enforcing a spurious Sabbath, the first day of the week, a common working day, possessing no sanctity whatever, in place of a thus saith the Lord, ‘blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it,’ “God has revealed what is to take place in the last days, that His people may be prepared to stand against the tempest of opposition and wrath. Those (we) who have been warned of the events before them are not to sit in calm expectation of the coming storm, comforting themselves that the Lord will shelter His faithful ones in the day of trouble. We are to be as men waiting for
their Lord, not in idle expectancy, but in earnest work, with unwavering faith. It is no time now to allow our minds to be engrossed with things of minor importance. While men are sleeping, Satan is actively arranging matters so that the Lord’s people may not have mercy or justice. The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness. The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending. Its professions are mild and apparently Christian, but when it shall speak it will reveal the spirit of the dragon. It is our duty to do all in our power to avert the threatened danger. We should endeavor to disarm prejudice by placing ourselves in a proper light before the people. We should bring before them the real question at issue, thus interposing the most effectual protest against measures to restrict liberty of conscience. We should search the scriptures and be able to give the reason for our faith. Says the prophet; ‘The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.’” 5T 452

A SURE HOPE

When the edict goes forth to worship as man (beast) finds it convenient, dare to be a Daniel holding fast the promises of the God of deliverance, and testify before the rulers, kings, counselors and mighty men of earth marshaled to get rid of the minority that gives their total allegiance boldly yet calmly saying, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand. O King.” “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and His commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them: He will not be slack to Him that hated Him, He will repay him to his face.” Deuteronomy 7:9, 10.

As with the amazing deliverance of Daniel from the fiery furnace of fire and from the lion’s den, so shall it be to His faithful children in the last great conflict. “With shouts of triumph, jeering and imprecation, throngs of evil men are about to rush upon their prey. When, lo, a dense blackness, deeper than the darkness of the night, falls upon the earth. Then a rainbow, shining with the glory from the throne of God, spans the heavens and seems to encircle each praying company. The angry multitudes are suddenly arrested. Their mocking cries die away. The objects of their murderous rage forgotten. With fearful forebodings they gaze upon the symbol of God’s covenant and long to be shielded from its overpowering brightness.

By the people of God, a voice clear, and melodious, is heard, saying, ‘Look up’ and lifting their eyes to the heavens, they behold the bow of promise… they hear the request presented before His Father ‘and the holy angels: ‘I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.’ John 17:24. Again a voice, musical and triumphant, is heard saying: ‘They come! they come! holy, harmless, and undefiled. They have kept the word of My patience; they shall walk among the angels;’ and the pale, quivering lips of those who have held fast their faith utter a shout of victory.” GC635-6

Such is the scene given us as to the closing events of this earth’s history. How sweet is the ending! How we admire and yearn to be numbered with the little faithful company! Thanks be to God in Jesus Christ that this wonderful opportunity is open to ALL in whom the will of God will be found. “The enemies of God’s law, from the ministers down to the least among them, have a new conception of truth and duty. Too late they see that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God. Too late they see the true nature of their spurious sabbath and the sandy foundation upon which they have been building. They find that they have been fighting against God. Religious teachers have led souls to perdition while professing to guide them to the gates of Paradise. Not until the day of final accounts will it be known how great the responsibility of men in holy office and how terrible are the results of their unfaithfulness.” GC 640

It takes a critical search of the scriptures personally so as to be wise. “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? Prudent, and he shall know them? For the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.” We have no excuse that God has not clearly specified what to understand so as to be wise; the wisest King on earth will counsel me and you, “hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:6-13

May the Lord graciously help us help know and understand our duty to God while we are called today, in a humble time of peace.
AMEN

John Riang’a Obwocha, Nairobi, Kenya