Hello and welcome to another edition of The Teaching Lady – Monday Musings. Last week we looked at the new attraction coming to America – The Giant. Just when you thought our nation couldn’t get any stranger, news of a The Giant has emerged.
Picture an academy awards trophy on steroids times a hundred, and you might come close to The Giant.
I shared an article a friend of mine wrote that was published on the ifapray.org (Intercessors For America) website on July 1, 2021. If you are unfamiliar with this organization, you need to check them out.
Last week I shared excerpts of the article that describe The Giant. This week, we’ll look at The Giant from a biblical perspective. Why? Because we want to be careful that we don’t fall into a trap. We don’t want The Giant to become an idol in our life or anyone else’s, and I can see this monstrosity becoming exactly that. Other things have already become idols like money, fame, false teachers, and other people, to name a few, so it’s not a stretch to think this could too.
Ready? Let’s go!
Let’s review some details of The Giant from last week’s post.
A moveable statue standing over ten stories high that speaks, sings, transforms, and offers “words of wisdom.” Sporting a patented skin with a matrix of millions of programmable LED pixels, this statue takes the form of any person, from Steve Jobs to Michael Jordan. With a moveable head and arms, it comes to life before your very eyes. The versatile canvas of its body can become a work of art or change into a giant advertising platform. Does this sound like science fiction or the scene from a futuristic movie?
The Giant comes complete with a roof garden, restaurants, and stores. An exhibition space will feature state-of-the-art technologies such as robotics, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, all of which are designed to be engaging and educational. Visitors will take “a hero’s journey” as they encounter tasks and questions that encompass mythology and legends. They will learn about the “heroes” of their world and the icons of the city where the Giant is located.
The unique skin (coating) of the Giant can take on any image, and it’s what gives the statue the ability to transform into historical figures, sports stars, celebrities, and works of art. The Giant website features images of Beyonce, Rihanna, John Lennon, George Harrison, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Captain America, Cat Woman, Spiderman, and more. The millions of programmable LED pixels light up with vivid colors and images, allowing the Giant to metamorphose every hour.
Every visitor can be scanned while touring the exhibition space. Next, their image is uploaded and displayed on the statue. The website calls this “the ultimate selfie.” Paddy Dunning believes these selfies will draw more attention than the other images. He says, “You can look up, and you will become the Giant.”
Visitors to the Giant will receive a certificate and become part of the “Giant Movement.” Mr. Dunning states, “The world has to change, and the Giant wants to be part of this change and inspire people to reach their full potential and help save this planet.”
Now from a biblical perspective.
Allow me to share some Scripture with you regarding The Giant. Let’s begin with a look at a famous statue in the Bible, a golden statue very similar to The Giant.
Daniel – Chapter 3 is our focus text for today.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Golden Image
3 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits[a] and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
3 Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages,
5 that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 6 And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.” 7 Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”
Let’s back up.
Let’s back up and bit and talk about what happened in Daniel, Chapter 2. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. He summoned his people to interpret the dream, and they failed miserably. Shortly thereafter, and after a lot of drama, Daniel was summoned to interpret the dream. God, through Daniel, told King Neb what the dream meant.
In the dream, King Neb saw a very tall statue made of different metals. The head was made of gold, representing The Neo-Babylonian Empire. The chest and arms were made of silver and represented the Medo-Persian Empire. The bronze belly and thighs were made of bronze and represented the Greek Empire. Lastly, the legs were made of iron, and its’ feet were made of clay and iron. They represented the Roman Empire.
Daniel told the king the statue was struck at the feet, and the whole thing came crumbling down.
What does the dream mean?
The dream foretold of the coming of God’s kingdom that will not be divided. God had given King Nebuchadnezzar dominion and power and might and glory; in his hands, he placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky. God had made him ruler over them all.
After Nebuchadnezzar would come other kingdoms that would fall, but God would set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
What does the King do after hearing the interpretation?
In the next chapter, we read that the King builds a statue of gold over 90′ feet high. A decree went out into the whole land that when the herald sounded, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: You must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the fiery furnace.
Nebuchadnezzar set up an idol of gold and required that everyone worship it; worship him. He dismissed Daniel’s interpretation of the dream where Daniel told Neb that God had shown him great favor. Instead he took the dream statue and created a statue of himself out of gold.
Why?
Maybe he thought he could prevent the kingdom from falling if he made the statue of gold. Not including other metals in the dream would guarantee he would reign forever.
He got a big head, a big gold head, and the dream and power went to his head. And if you didn’t fall down and worship this golden statue, you were burned up in the fire.
Sound familiar? It should. A day is coming when people who refuse to take the mark of the beast will be cut off from society and they will not be able to buy or sell.
Revelation 13
11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,[c] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of[d] the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,[e] to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.[f]
Threats
People are threatened with punishment and death if they don’t comply. If you don’t worship the golden statue, you will die by fire. If you don’t take the mark, you will be denied goods and services to support yourself and your family.
Can you see a pattern? Threaten people; do it or die.
But this was the reality back in Daniel’s day. It is a reality now among Christians worldwide and will be a reality for many in the tribulation period.
Let’s look at some other verses.
Deuteronomy 5:8, “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God,”
Idols have no real existence. In Corinthians 8:4, the Apostle Paul says, “ Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”
A statue cannot save you. Psalm 115:4-8, “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.”
A statue can also be a stumbling block and what do we know about stumbling blocks?
Romans 14:13, “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.”
2 Timothy 3:2,4 declares that in the last days: “men will be lovers of themselves…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
The Bible tells us, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” James 4:6.“
This begs the question–do we really need a giant image of ourselves or anyone else plastered on a 100- foot image? The world tells us to magnify and glorify ourselves rather than Jesus. Yet, we know only Jesus is worthy of honor, glory, and worship.
If you aren’t paying attention to what is happening in our world today, you might want to start. Many will say, “Oh, you are making more of this than you should. It’s nothing. In fact, it’s cool.”
Be careful you do not stumble.
As I mentioned last week, there are so many things coming at us in rapid succession. So much of it is in the flavor of instant gratification, self-love, and evil. Deception is at an all-time high where up is down and down is up. Truth is false, and false is true. Right is wrong, and wrong is right.
The best thing we can do is stay close to the Lord, get into our Bible, and pray. God sees what’s coming. The Giant is no surprise. It, too, will come down one day.
You can read the complete article at A Giant May Be Coming To A City Near You
Angela Rodriguez is a fantastic writer, author, blogger, and homeschooling Mom who studies the historical and biblical connections between Israel and the United States. She just released her new book, Psalm 91, available most anywhere books are sold. Grab your copy today! You can visit her blogs at 67owls.com and 100trumpets.com.
Blessings!
The Teaching Lady
Angela Rodriguez’s Website – 67 Owls
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Verse Of The Day – Don’t Worship Idols
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