Creating the New Earth Together

Posts tagged ‘Daniel the Prophet’

At the Crossover: A White Stone . . . and a New Name

“We as individuals carry power and are part of a larger pattern in which power moves through earth and tides, seasons and thoughts and words.” —Rose Meeker 

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I HAD A DREAM A FEW NIGHTS AGO about the number 8.  There was a large poster in front of what appeared to be a holistic healing center that read “DEEP EIGHT” and a large number 8 below the caption.  The message I heard was that the vibrational essences in the top half of the 8 have descended and deeply penetrated the lower half energizing and renewing it.  The implication was that we had reached the place in our spiritual movement and transformation between the New Heaven above the New Earth below where all power in Heaven and on Earth are given to us as a collective body of Man to bring forth the New Earth deeply into our planet. Not only bring it into planet Earth but to bring forth a new order into our Solar Entity.  We have come fully into the crossover point between Heaven and Earth, the Fourth Dimension where I AM known.  

The Human Race is at a crossroads: either we move up in consciousness to the “Fourth Dimension” or we perish in third-density existence.  We are seven-dimensional entities . . . more than bodies with minds and hearts.  We are Human Beings: spiritual beings who incarnated from out of the immaterial, invisible realms of Light and into the material, visible realm of physical matter — spirits in flesh bodies with minds and hearts that let us live and serve on the material plane of being.  That’s four densities, or dimensions: Spirit, heart, mind, body —  through which moves a mighty river of Love, of Truth and of Life. That makes seven dimensions . . . which comprise a whole new entity which may be described as God in action on Earth.  At the fourth dimension, the crossover point, I AM present as a Human Being, spirit incarnate, at the crossover point between Heaven and Earth. 

(The graphic below portrays several cycles and configurations, which I will not detail in this post; perhaps in a future post.  What I wish to portray with this graphic is the “larger pattern through which power moves” and of which we are a part —  in the Creative Process that brings forth Man and the entire world of form.  What I sensed in my dream was that the cycles moving in the “INNER PLANE” of the New Heaven above had moved down into the “OUTER PLANE” below where Man lives — where we live and have our being and co-create the New Earth. 

Note that in the outer plane the cycle moves down on the left and up on the right, bringing down the patterns in the New Heaven for the New Earth into human consciousness, while disintegrating the old heaven in human consciousness and the old earth maintained by the disintegrating old heaven in consciousness, and on the right simultaneously integrating the elements that give form to the New Earth.  Our role is one of stewarding this creative cycle, which has been moving long before the Awakening in human consciousness.  We who have awakened to this cycle bear the greater responsibility for stewarding it.)

Since our fall out of the Garden state, we have functioned, in consciousness and in behavior, as third-density creatures on a third-density planet, not much more intelligent than our apian friends, though sadly more destructive.  Our planet has begun its movement vibrationally to the Fourth Density where it will no longer be able to support third-density entities.  So, we find ourselves as planetary inhabitants squeezed out of our comfort zone in third-density and being pressured to let go and move on up with the planet to a higher vibrational state: the Fourth Dimension.  A critical number have already moved up and cleared the path for all to follow.  “The Earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein.”

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I POSTED THIS THREE YEARS AGO and feel it is time to repost it.  Each time when I return to this inspired writing, I am summoned once again to a place of remembrance of my mission and purpose.  As I explore in my book SACRED ANATOMY– where spirit and flesh dance in the fires of creation, we have in our physical anatomy and endocrine physiology the equipment to transform and transmute our flesh bodies to higher vibrational frequencies.  I write about this endocrine physiology of hormonal function, with its potential alchemy for transmutation of flesh, in my book.   It feels timely now to revisit the chapter “The Spiritual Significance of the Pineal Gland.”  For context, you would benefit by reading the post previous to this one: “The Pineal Gland, Crystal Portal for Incarnation.

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To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” (Rev 2:17) 

A STONE CUT OUT WITHOUT HANDS  

Uranda’s reference in my previous post to the “white stone” as being the “renewed Pineal Gland” reminds me of another place in the Old Testament of the Bible where a small stone is mentioned that plays a pivotal role in the history of the Middle East. This reference is in the second chapter of The Book of Daniel. It is such a wonderful and pertinent story that I would like to consider it in all of its dramatic and significant details.

DANIEL AND KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR

It seems that Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, having just besieged Jerusalem—something that occurred quite frequently in those days—had a dream which he summoned his soothsayers to not only interpret for him but to tell him the very dream itself, for he had forgotten it.  All he could remember of it was that it troubled his spirit so much that it woke him from his sleep. Yet he could not remember the dream, so he summoned all the wise men of Babylon to remember it for him and interpret it.  When they could do neither, he was so furious that he commanded that they all be destroyed, along with Daniel and his fellows, Shadrach, Mishach and Abednego — formerly known by the names,  Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, respectively.  To Daniel was given the name “Belteshazzar.”

Of course Daniel, who had not as yet had his chance at the dream, came to the king and did indeed tell him his dream as well as its interpretation.  This pleased the king, who then acknowledged that Daniel’s God was truly “a God of  gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets,” so he showered Daniel with many gifts and made him ruler over all the governors of Babylon.  He also placed Daniel’s fellows over the affairs of the province of Babylon,  with its hanging gardens, one of the “seven wonders of the world.” (Near present-day Baghdad)

THE DREAM

The dream itself was of a great image that was fashioned of various ores.  His head was made of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron and his feet, interestingly enough, were made with a mixture of iron and clay.  What likely troubled king Nebuchadnezzar so was what happened in his dream to this image when a stone, “cut out without hands,” smote the image upon its feet.  The feet mixed with iron and clay crumbled and the whole image came tumbling down and all that the image was made of—the gold, the silver, the brass and the iron mixed with clay—was blown away by the wind so that nothing was left of it anywhere.  But the stone became a great mountain which filled the whole earth.

Daniel interpreted the dream as a prophetical outworking that would see the rise and fall of several empires, including Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian empire, which Daniel said was represented by the head of gold.  There would be other empires to come after the Babylonian empire, such as the Persian, the Grecian and Roman empires.  All would rise and fall.  The stone represented the kingdom of Daniel’s “God of heaven” which would be established during the reign of these kings and would remain to fill the whole earth after these other kingdoms had passed away.  

King Nebuchadnezzar, for whatever reason, was not content to simply heed the message of his dream.  He had a ninety by nine foot statue, or “image of gold,” erected “in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon” (Daniel 3:1).  Now Babylon [today’s Iraq] was a province, or state—a collective, in other words, of many cities.  In the Bible, whenever a city or state is mentioned, it may be seen as a metaphor for consciousness, so that Babylon could be seen here as relating to the collective consciousness of humanity in which the human mind plays a focal role as a lens to refocus the light of truth.  The mind is historically thought to be anchored within the brain.  So I think it’s interesting, if not significant, that this “image of gold” was erected in the “plain of Dura” somewhere in Babylon. The word “Dura,” as we saw above, is also used to identify the outer protective membrane of the brain and spinal chord.

In other words, this image could be seen as representing an image of gold held in the human intellect, gold representing love, but also what gold brings, namely power, as well as abundance and wealth. To Nebuchadnezzar this image of gold represented his many gods and the gifts of wealth and plenty these gods had bestowed upon him and his empire. Having erected this gigantic idol, he commanded that, upon hearing the sound of the “musick,” everyone, under penalty of death in the fiery furnace, should fall down and worship the golden image.

ONE “LIKE UNTO THE SON OF GOD” IN THE FIERY FURNACE

As the story goes, it was reported to the king that Daniel’s three companions were not obeying his command, so the king had Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego bound and thrown into the fiery furnace to honor his decree.  So furious was he that these three friends of Daniel would not worship his gods that he had the furnace heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated. As we recall, the three men, who went into the fiery furnace singing songs of praise and thanksgiving to their God, were not burned by the fire but only their bonds,  along with the men who had thrown them into the furnace, were destroyed, setting them free.

The king was suddenly “astonied”  because of what he saw in the furnace:

“Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire ?” he asked of his counselors.  “True, king” they answered him.  “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)  

Here is that vision again of the One standing in the midst of fire that is like unto the Son of God.  There was a presence, in other words, that was of another dimension.

Daniel himself was favored by all the kings who reigned during his lifetime because “an excellent spirit was in him,” and because of his strong faith in his God.   The Median King Darius later on would have to throw Daniel into the lion’s den to appease the Medes and Persians, who are known for their unalterable laws, only to spend a sleepless night fasting and in deep repentance hoping that Daniel’s God would surely deliver him.  He arose early in the morning and went with haste to the lion’s den crying out remorsefully but hopefully for Daniel, whom he found quite whole and unharmed.   He was “exceeding glad” and therefore commanded that those who had made the accusation against Daniel themselves be fed to the lions, along with their wives and their families.   Further he wrote to all the peoples of the entire earth that had peace among them and decreed that “in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.”

It is noteworthy here that throughout this story of Daniel he is placed first over other princes and governors because of his spirit, which was the spirit of the Lord God whom Daniel worshiped and sought to represent to the rulers and people of this great empire.  It is also noteworthy that this king, along with others after him in the story, were constantly torn between their many gods—the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and stone—and this One God of Heaven that Daniel worshiped and obeyed.  Whereas they could not deny the awesome power Daniel’s God bestowed upon him, particularly over secrets and dreams (it seems the kings of that era had a lot of disturbing dreams), they would resort to their traditions of placating the gods of their religions so as to assure their kingship, as well as the people’s homage, respect and obedience, as rulers of the world at that time.

It was always the accusations of the other governors against Daniel and his companions that caused the king to enforce his own decrees, only to hope in his heart that Daniel’s God would surely deliver them.  This dynamic makes the story all the more interesting and relevant to human nature antics, which have not changed much.  For even to this day do we worship the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and especially stone which we grind up to construct our buildings and highways.  So do we also make laws that cannot be broken without paying either with money or our lives — the same laws to be used in bringing down those in high places of government, our leaders and elected officials whom we blame for our troubles, while praying to God for deliverance from them.

This was the empire where Daniel began to prosper and his God of Heaven was acknowledged as being the “God of the living” to be feared and worshiped by all peoples everywhere.  The one just prior to this one, ruled over by Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, was the one represented in the dream by the feet made of iron mixed with clay.  It had fallen, bringing all the empires of that era down into the dust of obliteration.  But Daniel’s God and his heavenly kingdom, once a little stone, had grown into a great mountain which filled the whole earth.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story and its prophetic significance in my next post. Until then, 

Be love. Be loved

Anthony

Credits: The artwork at the top is by the author of the quotation beneath it, taken from her book MAGIC AT OUR HAND — Releasing Our Lives into Order and Beauty.

For information about my books, send me an email: tpal70@gmail.com

 

The Stone That Scientists Rejected

“I have thrown fire on the world. Look! I watch it until it blazes….Whoever is near to me is near the fire. Whoever is far from me is far from the Kingdom.” (Jesus, The Gospel of Thomas: 10 & 82)

Continuing in this series, I come to the gift of my meditation on the Spiritual Significance of the Pineal Gland: the realization of its strategic position in the center of the brain from which it speaks Love’s commands to all the cells in the body temple via the network of nerve fibers and the six hormonal glands located in strategic places in the body.  Like the Great Commandment of Love upon which all other laws and the prophets hinge, the entire endocrine system of our sacred anatomy is oriented in the Pineal Gland at the seventh and highest level of union with the Divine Presence in the temple of the living God on Earth.

Significance of the Cornerstone

One of the key elements of the presence of this One who dwells in the midst lies with the secrets inherent in this “little stone.”  The Pineal is “a stone cut out without hands,” rejected by men of science for many decades as being insignificant and irrelevant to any important or vital processes in the body.   This “stone which the builders rejected . . . has become the cornerstone of the temple.”  In truth, it has been so from the beginning. What comes to focus by virtue of this tiny gland, the Spirit of Love at the physical plane of being, is even now bringing about a transformation of the body of Humanity. 

It is, without doubt, by divine design that the Pineal gland is situated between the two hemispheres of the brain, where all the structures of beliefs, concepts, busy and ambitious thought processes and images of gold used in building and maintaining this empire and civilization are held sacred. Here this little stone, with its radiant field of love, is in the most strategic position to strike the great image of this mind-made empire on its feet — made of a mixture of truth and deception.

The feet symbolize the capacity of understanding.  The image’s feet were made of a mixture of iron and clay, substances which do not bond together. They also represent the foundation upon which this mind-made world stands and the mental under-standing as to how it works and is maintained.  As that foundation crumbles, as it is doing today, all hell breaks loose, literally, as disorientation creates havoc. The foundations of human civilization are synthetic, composed of constructs produced by science, politics and religion.  It is held together, not by the power of Love and design of Truth which govern the natural world, but by the concepts and beliefs of those who rule the masses, and by the masses who worship these beliefs and concepts.     

Those concepts declare, for example, that if someone has something that you need or want, you have the right to go to war with him and take it from him if you can, and that the lives of young men and women are dispensable to that cause and end. The whole world supports this belief.  The whole world is thus deceived.  The world’s concepts also declare that if someone hates you and seeks to do you harm, you have the right to hate him back and seek to destroy him first – an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.     

Man’s civilization is governed by the laws of the Medes and Persians, with one exception. The laws of the Medes and Persians could not be altered.  The laws of this civilization can be changed and are changed when they no longer serve the needs and purposes of those who make them.  Fortunately for us the God of Heaven does not rule his Kingdom on the same arbitrary basis, nor out of convenience. The ordinances of Heaven that govern the kingdoms of this world are absolute and immutable. They hinge on the One Law of Love . . . and Love never fails.  Love radiates forth and substance responds, leaping to obey its irresistible commands. Community happens, bringing blessings to the whole and to all the parts that make up this Whole Holy World.

In other words, man’s civilization is founded upon an understanding of how hate, fear and greed can get us, as individuals and as nations and peoples, just about anything we covet.  The only price we pay is that we must, upon acquiring it, treasure it with our hearts and guard it with our lives or else someone will come along and try to take it from us.  For where one’s treasure is, there one’s heart is as well. 

This is the basis upon which we have established life in this world and have learned to survive in it.  It is not the truth of how life is meant to be lived, and deep down inside our heart of hearts we know this.  At deeper levels, we desire companionship, trust, meaning and a genuine sense of purpose. There would likely be no coveting were these desires met in us individually and collectively.

Upon the very altar of our hearts we continue to worship the gods of gold, silver, brass, wood, stone —  and now oil, plutonium and the silica of the computer microchip — along with money and all the stuff money can buy. In return these gods give us fleeting power and control over our worlds and over others. We may praise the God of Heaven on Sundays — and at times when He comes through for us as in the story of Daniel — but we turn right around and resort to worshiping these other gods and appeasing them so that they will continue to deliver the material goods we so earnestly believe will bring us life, liberty, security and happiness.  In so doing we compromise our hearts and therein defile our temples.

This paradigm of understanding is being dismantled by the Spirit of Love now intensifying its radiance through the point of focus this little stone provides in the body temple. Those who find themselves drawing near to Love and leaving the world to its own devices are experiencing a transformation the likes of which has never before occurred in the recorded history of this planet.  Responding to the Spirit of Love, we find ourselves drawn toward love and toward others so responding. 

As the radiation of Love increases and permeates the cells of the brain, it cleanses the atoms which comprise it.  The Pineal becomes a powerful magnetic center which draws all the atoms in the human brain into a pattern of service in the temple.  Its bio-magnetic force field, much like a computer’s default restoration program, erases useless programs in the memory cells of the brain.  Thought patterns that were once held sacred for the security they promised are become as iron mixed with clay as they no longer hold together. Beliefs that were once held sacred are suddenly seen as shams and levers for manipulation by commercial advertising and evangelists.  Belief in “the truth” gives way to the actual experience of Truth and the resultant freedom from these limitations.

These thought patterns and beliefs have been established by isolated and competing human egos. As these old concepts and viewpoints of how the world of man works crumble, giving way to new thought patterns born out of love for Truth, our world does not make sense any longer.  Nothing is certain anymore, as though it ever was.  We just believed it was because of the structures, the golden images in our brains. 

As we no longer function out of fear, hate and greed, but begin to function out of love for Truth, the feet of this great image continues to crumble, for we the people are the feet of this great civilization, the “grass roots” as we are called in the political system.  When we change the way we see things and the way we behave toward God, toward ourselves and one another, and toward the natural world, then will the empires of gold, silver, brass, iron, stone and oil come tumbling down to be blown away by the wind of spirit in expression through us so that there will not remain even a memory of it.

The Spirit of Love is even now melting the feet of this golden image in the heart and soul of humanity through this little stone.  Speaking to us vibrationally through the Pineal, it is compelling us all to listen to its voice and heed its command:  

Love one another as I have loved you. Do good unto those that hate you.  Love your enemies. . . . Do unto others that which you would they should do unto you.

The Golden Rule is returning to human consciousness, and its power is destroying the “laws of the Medes and Persians,” all by virtue of the radiant presence of Love focused in and shining through this tiny gland.  The changes are occurring in everyone at the same time even as I write because of one thing and one thing only: God loves each and every one of us the same and His Spirit of Love, even the Lord of Love who incarnated 2000 years ago, is with us and has been all these two thousand years.  What He set in motion then has now come full cycle. The victory is His and well at hand for those who believe in what He brought and do what He commanded.  Such are the friends of God who make up the Body of God on earth.

What He brought was unconditional love, the One Law upon which all other laws hinge.  He sounded the Tone of unconditional love and has filled the Seven Levels of Being with the substance of love.  He has opened the Seven Seals that are even now pouring out radiant currents of love into the hearts of human beings everywhere, bringing peace to hearts that are open and turbulence to hearts that are closed. Purification is underway in the temple of the living God. (Sacred Anatomy)

Kingdom of Fire

The quote at the top of this post is taken from the book The Gospel of Thomas, edited by Andrew Harvey and annotated by Stevan Davies. Stevan’s annotation on this passage sheds insightful light on its implied meaning:

The implicit identification of “fire” and “Kingdom” [in saying 82] is interesting. Something of the same idea is present in saying 10 as well….  Saying 10 implies a radical near-future change coming in the form of a cosmic conflagration sparked by Jesus himself. In accordance with saying 10, where Jesus has control of the fire that will soon blaze, saying 82 almost identifies that fire with Jesus and certainly identifies that fire with the Kingdom. One might therefore re-read saying 10 as “I have thrown the Kingdom on the world.”

The Kingdom of Heaven is said to be within us and all around us. It governs through our hearts where the fire of love empowers our creativity, and through the subtle energy that grows and manages the world of Nature. Even as the climate of the natural world heats up, so is the furnace of the heart of humankind being heated seven times hotter than it is want to be heated so that the bonds that bind us to the material world can be burned away, leaving us standing in the midst of the fire bound only to the One I AM standing in the midst.  Those who draw near to Love draw near to the fire of purification. This is great cause for rejoicing. 

I will bring this series to completion with my next two posts. Until then,

Be love. Be loved.

Anthony

To order my book, email: tpal70@gmail.com

Picture credit: Mysteries of the Pineal Gland by Dr. Linda Gadbois  http://drlindagadbois.com/the-mysteries-of-the-pineal-gland-and-the-true-nature-of-the-imagination/ 

“A White Stone…. The Renewed Pineal Gland”

       

Continuing now with excerpts from SACRED ANATOMY — where spirit and flesh dance in the fires of creation. Our topic is the spiritual significance of the pineal gland. 

A STONE CUT OUT WITHOUT HANDS  

Uranda’s reference in my previous post to the “white stone” as being the “renewed Pineal Gland” reminds me of another place in the Old Testament of the Bible where a small stone is mentioned that plays a pivotal role in the history of the Middle East. This reference is in the second chapter of The Book of Daniel. It is such a wonderful and pertinent story that I would like to consider it in all of its dramatic and significant details.

DANIEL AND KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR

It seems that Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, having just besieged Jerusalem—something that occurred quite frequently in those days—had a dream which he summoned his soothsayers to not only interpret for him but to tell him the very dream itself, for he had forgotten it.  All he could remember of it was that it troubled his spirit so much that it woke him from his sleep. Yet he could not remember the dream, so he summoned all the wise men of Babylon to remember it for him and interpret it.  When they could do neither, he was so furious that he commanded that they all be destroyed, along with Daniel and his fellows, Shadrach, Mishach and Abednego — formerly known by the names,  Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, respectively.  To Daniel was given the name “Belteshazzar.”

Of course Daniel, who had not as yet had his chance at the dream, came to the king and did indeed tell him his dream as well as its interpretation.  This pleased the king, who then acknowledged that Daniel’s God was truly “a God of  gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets,” so he showered Daniel with many gifts and made him ruler over all the governors of Babylon.  He also placed Daniel’s fellows over the affairs of the province of Babylon,  with its hanging gardens, one of the “seven wonders of the world.” (Near present-day Baghdad)

THE DREAM

The dream itself was of a great image that was fashioned of various ores.  His head was made of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron and his feet, interestingly enough, were made with a mixture of iron and clay.  What likely troubled king Nebuchadnezzar so was what happened in his dream to this image when a stone, “cut out without hands,” smote the image upon its feet.  The feet mixed with iron and clay crumbled and the whole image came tumbling down and all that the image was made of—the gold, the silver, the brass and the iron mixed with clay—was blown away by the wind so that nothing was left of it anywhere.  But the stone became a great mountain which filled the whole earth.

Daniel interpreted the dream as a prophetical outworking that would see the rise and fall of several empires, including Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian empire, which Daniel said was represented by the head of gold.  There would be other empires to come after the Babylonian empire, such as the Persian, the Grecian and Roman empires.  All would rise and fall.  The stone represented the kingdom of Daniel’s “God of heaven” which would be established during the reign of these kings and would remain to fill the whole earth after these other kingdoms had passed away.  

King Nebuchadnezzar, for whatever reason, was not content to simply heed the message of his dream.  He had a ninety by nine foot statue, or “image of gold,” erected “in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon” (Daniel 3:1).  Now Babylon [today’s Iraq] was a province, or state—a collective, in other words, of many cities.  In the Bible, whenever a city or state is mentioned, it may be seen as a metaphor for consciousness, so that Babylon could be seen here as relating to the collective consciousness of humanity in which the human mind plays a focal role as a lens to refocus the light of truth.  The mind is historically thought to be anchored within the brain.  So I think it’s interesting, if not significant, that this “image of gold” was erected in the “plain of Dura” somewhere in Babylon. The word “Dura,” as we saw above, is also used to identify the outer protective membrane of the brain and spinal chord.

In other words, this image could be seen as representing an image of gold held in the human intellect, gold representing love, but also what gold brings, namely power, as well as abundance and wealth. To Nebuchadnezzar this image of gold represented his many gods and the gifts of wealth and plenty these gods had bestowed upon him and his empire. Having erected this gigantic idol, he commanded that, upon hearing the sound of the “musick,” everyone, under penalty of death in the fiery furnace, should fall down and worship the golden image.

ONE “LIKE UNTO THE SON OF GOD” IN THE FIERY FURNACE

As the story goes, it was reported to the king that Daniel’s three companions were not obeying his command, so the king had Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego bound and thrown into the fiery furnace to honor his decree.  So furious was he that these three friends of Daniel would not worship his gods that he had the furnace heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated. As we recall, the three men, who went into the fiery furnace singing songs of praise and thanksgiving to their God, were not burned by the fire but only their bonds,  along with the men who had thrown them into the furnace, were destroyed, setting them free.

The king was suddenly “astonied”  because of what he saw in the furnace:

“Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire ?” he asked of his counselors.  “True, king” they answered him.  “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)  

Here is that vision again of the One standing in the midst of fire that is like unto the Son of God.  There was a presence, in other words, that was of another dimension.

Daniel himself was favored by all the kings who reigned during his lifetime because “an excellent spirit was in him,” and because of his strong faith in his God.   The Median King Darius later on would have to throw Daniel into the lion’s den to appease the Medes and Persians, who are known for their unalterable laws, only to spend a sleepless night fasting and in deep repentance hoping that Daniel’s God would surely deliver him.  He arose early in the morning and went with haste to the lion’s den crying out remorsefully but hopefully for Daniel, whom he found quite whole and unharmed.   He was “exceeding glad” and therefore commanded that those who had made the accusation against Daniel themselves be fed to the lions, along with their wives and their families.   Further he wrote to all the peoples of the entire earth that had peace among them and decreed that “in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.”

It is noteworthy here that throughout this story of Daniel he is placed first over other princes and governors because of his spirit, which was the spirit of the Lord God whom Daniel worshiped and sought to represent to the rulers and people of this great empire.  It is also noteworthy that this king, along with others after him in the story, were constantly torn between their many gods—the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and stone—and this One God of Heaven that Daniel worshiped and obeyed.  Whereas they could not deny the awesome power Daniel’s God bestowed upon him, particularly over secrets and dreams (it seems the kings of that era had a lot of disturbing dreams), they would resort to their traditions of placating the gods of their religions so as to assure their kingship, as well as the people’s homage, respect and obedience, as rulers of the world at that time.

It was always the accusations of the other governors against Daniel and his companions that caused the king to enforce his own decrees, only to hope in his heart that Daniel’s God would surely deliver them.  This dynamic makes the story all the more interesting and relevant to human nature antics, which have not changed much.  For even to this day do we worship the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and especially stone which we grind up to construct our buildings and highways.  So do we also make laws that cannot be broken without paying either with money or our lives — the same laws to be used in bringing down those in high places of government, our leaders and elected officials whom we blame for our troubles, while praying to God for deliverance from them.

This was the empire where Daniel began to prosper and his God of Heaven was acknowledged as being the “God of the living” to be feared and worshiped by all peoples everywhere.  The one just prior to this one, ruled over by Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, was the one represented in the dream by the feet made of iron mixed with clay.  It had fallen, bringing all the empires of that era down into the dust of obliteration.  But Daniel’s God and his heavenly kingdom, once a little stone, had grown into a great mountain which filled the whole earth.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story and its prophetic significance in my next post. Until then, 

Be love. Be loved

Anthony

For information about my books, send an inquiry by email: tpal70@gmail.com

 

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