Pelajaran 10 _ Isnin 29 Ogos_

Monday
August 29
Worshiping the Image
As we have touched on all throughout this quarter, the final test in the last days deals with the question of worship (Rev. 14:1–12). All humanity will be split into two camps: those who worship the Creator, the One who made the heavens and the earth, and those who worship the beast and his image. Even though this sequence in the prophetic picture has yet to unfold, one could argue that, even now, all the world is divided into two camps: those who are faithful to the Lord and those who are not. There is no middle ground: we are on one side or the other.
With this in mind, the story of the three Hebrew boys in the book of Daniel becomes quite relevant. It is not just a dramatic story of a supernatural rescue of those faithful followers of YHWH. It becomes, instead, a symbol, a type, for the test of worship that will come upon the world just before the second coming of Christ.
Read Daniel 3. Compare the worship of the image here with the worship of the image in Revelation 14. What can we learn from this story that can help us to understand the issue regarding the mark of the beast?
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The second commandment, the one forbidding idolatry (Exod. 20:4–6), was at issue here; the fourth commandment (Exod. 20:8–11), the Sabbath commandment, will be the outward issue in the last days. How interesting that these both are commandments that were changed and tampered with by the beast power itself (see Dan. 7:25). Both commandments are tied in directly with worship; the second forbids the worship of idols, while the fourth shows why one should not worship idols, and that is because the Lord of nature, not nature itself, is the One who created and redeemed all of humanity (see also Deut. 5:12–15).
In both cases, too, there is an earthly political/religious entity that wants the worship and fealty owed only to the Lord, and in both cases this power is willing to resort to violence in order to get that “worship.”
Think through what it means to worship something. Is it always wrong to worship anything other than the Lord? If not, why not? Might there be some things that we can worship without sinning, without violating God’s law? If so, what? If not, how can we make sure we are not worshiping anything other than our Lord?

Tiga sahabat Daniel dipaksa untuk menyembah patung yang didirikan oleh raja Nebukadnezzar.
Dalam hal yang sama akan berlaku bila tiba masanya penguatkuasaan penyembahan 'patung binatang itu'. Kita akan dipaksa atau terpaksa.

Tiga sahabat Daniel itu yakin Tuhan akan melepaskan mereka. Tetapi terselit dalam keyakinan itu ada juga perkataan "sekiranya atau sekalipun"
Sekalipun Tuhan tidak melepaskan mereka pada saat yang kritikal (biarpun nyawa terancam), namun mereka tetap tidak menyembah patung yg didirikan raja Nebukadnezzar.
Adakah kita teguh seperti tiga sahabat itu? Atau sebaliknya berlaku, Sebelum penguatkuasaan 'Sunday Law', kita sudah dengan sendirinya violate Sabbath disebabkan kelalaian kita sendiri?..