When the altar is defiled, disaster befalls the land and the people. These are the words of the Prophet of the Lord (paraphrased).
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine,[Daniel1]
Daniel, though a young man, must have known the severity of the consequences of defilement. He must have known that it was defilement that caused Israel to end up in captivity in Babylon. Israel decided to defile the Sabbaths of the Lord.
The Lord had warned Israel many times. He said:
19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.[Romans 8: 19 - 21]
Creation is subjected to a bondage to decay because sin defiled creation. Therefore, it waits in eager expectation! What an understatement. On that Day, freedom will come to all creation. The Redeemer will finally manifest in His full glory and power. His way of truth will lead to life; brand new life devoid of the contamination of sin.
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine,[Daniel1]
Daniel, though a young man, must have known the severity of the consequences of defilement. He must have known that it was defilement that caused Israel to end up in captivity in Babylon. Israel decided to defile the Sabbaths of the Lord.
The Lord had warned Israel many times. He said:
33 ‘“Do not pollute
the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made
for the land on which blood has been shed, except
by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell,
for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.”’ [
Sin defiles the land and the earth. Indeed, sin defiles the entire universe. It defiles creation. Adam sinned and the consequence was death because the wages of sin is death [Romans 6:23]. God cursed the earth and Man saying: By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food. Indeed it was painful to toil and till the land. It was not until Noah offered an acceptable sacrifice before the Lord did He remove this curse.
Cain shed the blood of Abel. The Lord had to put a mark on Cain so that those who meet him would not kill him. By the law of Moses, the blood of innocent can only be atoned for by the blood of those who shed it. It was tit for tat: A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye.
In the days of Noah, an entire generation was wiped out because of unrighteousness. Even angels married and had children with women causing the Lord to ask: For how long must I contend with man? Only Noah, a righteous man who walked with God, was saved together with his wife and sons and their wives: Eight people in all.
19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.[Romans 8: 19 - 21]
Creation is subjected to a bondage to decay because sin defiled creation. Therefore, it waits in eager expectation! What an understatement. On that Day, freedom will come to all creation. The Redeemer will finally manifest in His full glory and power. His way of truth will lead to life; brand new life devoid of the contamination of sin.
All these scenarios point to the enormity of sin and its pervasive corruption; the insolence of the human heart; the ultimate destination of that which is contaminated with sin. We begin to understand the genesis of God's wrath that will never be quenched by the fires of hell: He rejects sin, therefore, it must be destroyed. All this time, He has endured the filth of sin. But a day will come when He will demand payment for sin. Only the blood of the holy Lamb of God will save us.
We now begin to appreciate the patience of the Lord;He gave us time to retrace out steps and find the Way of Life, that Highway of Holiness that is Christ, the Anointed One.
Be afraid because death has always been close by; watching, waiting, bidding his time to harvest his portion. Men are submerged by the mists of intellectual pursuits; mistakenly believing that intellectual attainment places them above God. It is the same error that Lucifer made. It booked him a place in the eternal fire.
Those who follow the path that Lucifer took will end in the same destination. It is a most horrendous conclusion. It is a most unthinkable destiny. But each has a choice: Your pride or your life. You can't have it both ways.
The Highway of Holiness is for the humble, the meek, the contrite, the repentant, the lowly, the pure in heart. It is for those who know submission and surrender. Those who know the Lord is God and Master. The creator of heaven and earth. The origin of all origins. The beginning of all beginnings. He who has no beginning and no end. He whose abode no one knows. One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Daniel understood that defilement was the stairway to the hell fire. He knew that destruction was coming to that which is impure. The Lord of Glory must destroy the earth and the heavens and create a brand new earth and brand new heavens where His glory is the light and the Lamb is its lamp.
Meditate on those simple words that the Lord taught:
Blessed are the pure, for they shall see God.
Blessed are you who hear the call of the Lord and run to meet with Him. Your abode awaits you. He is eager to receive those who are His just as He is ready to punish those who reject Him.
May the Almighty God, Jehovah-Mekaddishkem, the One who Sanctifies and makes whole, bless you.
We now begin to appreciate the patience of the Lord;He gave us time to retrace out steps and find the Way of Life, that Highway of Holiness that is Christ, the Anointed One.
Be afraid because death has always been close by; watching, waiting, bidding his time to harvest his portion. Men are submerged by the mists of intellectual pursuits; mistakenly believing that intellectual attainment places them above God. It is the same error that Lucifer made. It booked him a place in the eternal fire.
Those who follow the path that Lucifer took will end in the same destination. It is a most horrendous conclusion. It is a most unthinkable destiny. But each has a choice: Your pride or your life. You can't have it both ways.
The Highway of Holiness is for the humble, the meek, the contrite, the repentant, the lowly, the pure in heart. It is for those who know submission and surrender. Those who know the Lord is God and Master. The creator of heaven and earth. The origin of all origins. The beginning of all beginnings. He who has no beginning and no end. He whose abode no one knows. One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Daniel understood that defilement was the stairway to the hell fire. He knew that destruction was coming to that which is impure. The Lord of Glory must destroy the earth and the heavens and create a brand new earth and brand new heavens where His glory is the light and the Lamb is its lamp.
Meditate on those simple words that the Lord taught:
Blessed are the pure, for they shall see God.
Blessed are you who hear the call of the Lord and run to meet with Him. Your abode awaits you. He is eager to receive those who are His just as He is ready to punish those who reject Him.
May the Almighty God, Jehovah-Mekaddishkem, the One who Sanctifies and makes whole, bless you.
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