Miracles and Amount of Faith

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn't, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up." (Daniel 3:16-18 NLT)

It is the object of faith, not the amount of faith, that matter.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego seemed to have great faith that God would rescue them from the burning furnace. But they still included a clause that even if God did not rescue them, they would still refuse to worship king Nebuchadnezzar's gods or gold statue.

But God does not always perform miracles to save saints from the fire. Polycarp was burnt at the stake without being miraculously rescued.

When Lies Are Decreed As Truth

One day, an absolute dictator king decided that 1 + 1 = 3.

King: I decree that from today onwards, 1 + 1 = 3. But to make life simple for you plebians, the rest of the mathematical rules will not change.

Is life as simple as what the absolute dictator king thought? Let see what happened after the decree.

Minister: Your majesty, what about 1 + 2? Is it still 3?

King: Didn't you hear what I decree? The rest of the mathematical rules will not change. So 1 + 2 is still 3.

Minister: What about the algebraic equation x + 1 = 3. What is the answer for x? Is it 1 or 2?

King: Well, maybe there are two answers to this equation, just like quadratic equations.

Minister: Okay, what about 1 + 1 + 1 + 1? Is it 4, 5 or 6?

King: What? You still cannot understand my decree? Only 1 + 1 = 3. The rest of the mathematical rules will not change. So, the answer is 4.

Minister: But if 1 + 1 is 3 and followed by 3 + 1 is 4 then 4 + 1, then isn't answer 5? Or if we do it as (1 + 1) + (1 + 1), then shouldn't it be 3 + 3 = 6?

King: Well, I suppose there will be 3 answers, like a cubic equation.

Minister: But this is not an equation.

King: Well, then get the mathematicians to work out new rules! Stop bothering me with these details!

So, the minister went to the mathematicians to work out a new mathematics to cater for 1 + 1 = 3. Very soon, the children started to get confused. Simple arithmetic become university subjects. Accountancy and science started to fail. Rockets cannot go to the moon with the new mathematics. New computers and software made to cater for this new mathematics could not work. The whole economy fell apart. Life became primitive again. The people became hunters and gatherers. Then the neighbouring countries came to attack with advanced weapons and conquered the kingdom. The king was captured and executed. Before his execution, the king said, "I cannot understand what had gone wrong. I had decreed that only 1 + 1 = 3. The rest of the mathematical rules will not change. It is all the mathematicians' fault. They made the new mathematics so complex."

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. (2 Corinthians 13:8 BSB ESV NIV)

Two Perspectives on the Promised Land

Ephraim's envy will cease; Judah's harassing will end. Ephraim will no longer be envious of Judah, and Judah will not harass Ephraim. But they will swoop down on the Philistine flank to the west. Together they will plunder the people of the east. They will extend their power over Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be their subjects. (Isaiah 11:13-14 CSB)

The British made many promises in the Middle East but in the end, they left. There was no Palestinian state from the beginning. It was the Ottomans who ruled the land before the British took it. Here is the full list of Gentile invaders from the beginning - Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greek, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Ottoman, British.

Palestinian's Israel problem will not be solved in their favour because God had promised the land to Israel.

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:2 KJV)

The Beginning of the Times of Gentiles

Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. (Daniel 9:24 BSB)

They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:24 BSB)

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. (Romans 11:25 BSB)

Many philosophies and religions (Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Confucianism, Taoism, Platonism) come to birth around the year 500 BC. Socrates, Buddha and Confucius all lived at around that time. Has anyone wondered why is the period around 600 BC to 500 BC the age for sprouting philosophies and religions?

On 14th August 586 B.C. king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon razed and burned the Temple of God in Jerusalem. The Glory of God had departed from the Temple some time before that happened (Ezekiel 10). Historians will not tell you this, but from that day onward, Jerusalem was trampled under the feet of the Gentiles and the times of Gentiles began.

According to some historians, this is the beginning of the second wave civilisations which lasted from 600/500 BC to 500/600 AD. The Islamic calendar began in 622 AD.

There were four civilisations at the beginning of this period, the Greek, Persian, Indian and Chinese civilisations. These four civilisations will persist in various forms until about seven years before the end of the times of the Gentiles. Then the ten toes kingdom from the Roman empire will conquer the other three civilisation to start a world government under the anti-Christ.

As for the Gentile powers ruling Jerusalem while the Jews are living there are represented by the statue in king Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2:31-45) and also the four beasts (Daniel 7:1-28) in Daniel's dream. These would be Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. The Gentile powers that ruled Jerusalem when the Jew were not staying there were not listed in the dreams. They are the Arabs, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Ottoman and finally the British. Here is the full list of Gentile invaders from the beginning - Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greek, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Ottoman, British.

Four Civilizations - 2

In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever. (Daniel 2:44 BSB)

According to Arnold Toynbee in "A Study of History", there are 21 civilizations. They are: Egyptian, Andean, Sumerian, Babylonic, Hittite, Minoan, Indic, Hindu, Syriac, Hellenic, Western, Orthodox Christian (having two branches: the main or Byzantine body and the Russian branch), Far Eastern (having two branches: the main or Chinese-Korean body and the Japanese branch), Islamic (having two branches which later merged: Arabic and Iranic), Mayan, Mexican and Yucatec, which can be tabulated as follow:

1st Generation	2nd Generation	Universal Church	3rd Generation
Minoan	Hellenic (Greek and Roman)	Christian	Western; Orthodox-Russian; Orthodox-Byzantine
	Syriac Society (Ancient Israel, Phoenicia etc.)	Islam	Islamic (at early stages divided into Iranian and Arabic, civilizations, which later were unified)
Shang	Sinic (see also Han Dynasty)	Mahayana (Buddhism)	Chinese; Japanese-Korean ("Far Eastern")
Indus	Indic	Hinduism	Hindu
Egyptiac		-	-
Sumeric	Hittite; Babylonian	-	-
Andean; Mayan; Yucatec; Mexican		-	-

While I may not totally agree with Arnold Toynbee's classification, I do agree with him that in the end, four civilizations survived, the humanist Chinese, the polytheistic Indians, the two monotheistic civilizations based on Bible and Koran. The three civilizations which are not Bible-based remain at more or less the same level, making not much progress between the second and third generation. Only the Bible-based European civilisation grew to dominate the world with science and technology. The Bible has always insisted on objective verification in key doctrines and objective verification is what science is all about.

There is some parallel between China in the east and Europe in the west. The second generation Han China and Roman empire fell to barbarians and foreign religions (Buddhism and Christianity respectively) roughly at the same time. The Chinese synthesized Confucianism and Buddhism and revived. The Romans died and the European barbarians took over and built a Bible-based civilization on top of the Greek and Roman foundations.

Arnold Toynbee saw the parallel but could not understand why the Chinese civilisation revived but the Roman civilization died and was replaced by the Europeans. He did not know that God wanted to use the foolish European barbarians to conquer the wise of the world. Furthermore, God has to punish the Romans for their crucifixion of Christ, destruction of Israel and persecution of Christians.

Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world - what is viewed as nothing - to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence. (1 Corinthians 1:27-29 CSB)

Resolutions For 2023 After Two Thirds of the Year is Passed

I will continue the resolutions I made in 2019, three of which was based on Rev Stephen Schaefer's advice and the fourth was added in the middle of 2019 and renewed in September 2019 and renewed again in January 2020.

1. Every day I will pray that what ever I do, I will do it to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
2. I will pray to be filled with the Spirit so that I have no room for other things (Ephesians 5:18).
3. I will pray that I may walk in the Spirit, so as not to fulfil the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
4. I will also pray to speak gracious words of comfort like a priest (Colossians 4:6).

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV)
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, (Ephesians 5:18 ESV)
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16 KJV)
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:6 ESV)

Additionally, I would also like to bring to my remembrance the three requests I made in 1979, for the perseverance of Jacob, the heart of David and the power of Elijah.

And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. (Genesis 32:28 KJV)
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. (Acts 13:22 KJV)
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. (James 5:17 KJV)