Suffering and Safety

Friday 8 August

Vaughan Roberts concluded the morning Bible teaching by looking at the final chapters of the book of Daniel.  Here’s a summary of his message.

Daniel 10 – 12

There is a higher throne… a glorious future in which every tear will be wiped away! We don’t see it yet, but it will come.

The Bible challenges both optimism and excessive pessimism: It warns us, “Get real, don’t be naïve, there is very real evil in the world…” However, although there are great terrors and evil, there is a higher throne and, ultimately, all will be well.

Chapter 10:5 Describes a vision of God Himself. As Daniel begins to engage with these visions of the future, he first engages with the glory of the Living God. It is as if God says, “Before I show you the horrors that are to come, you need to get this into your mind. Before you see the future, you must see me.” Only once you are crystal clear that there is a God, can you face the reality of what is to come.

The only way we will cope will all that will happen to us is to have a clear vision of the Living God. There are three great themes in these passages: suffering, safety and service.

God’s people will suffer

Chapter 11 focuses on the great kings of the north and south and we have a summary of the next 400 years. This is history with a difference – history told in advance.

• Alexander the Great is mentioned in just one verse.
• The Greek kingdom is divided into four and two emerge as the most prominent:
  • Seleucus in Syria (kings of the north)
  • Ptolemy in Egypt (kings of the south)
• Antiochus Epiphanes – (175 – 163BC) This relatively minor figure in world history is of great significance to the people of God. Antiochus placed a figure of Zeus in the temple of God (the abomination that causes desolation).

While the prophecy is fulfilled in Antiochus, Jesus also refers to the “abomination that causes desolation” and Jesus says it is going to happen in the future. Jesus knew about Antiochus but a prophecy is only fulfilled when it is fulfilled fully. It is possible to have multiple fulfilment of prophecy. There is another fulfilment in AD 70 when the Romans come and overrun the temple. But there is an even further fulfilment at the end of time with the coming of the anti-Christ.

John explains, “Many anti-Christs have come and the anti-Christ is coming.”  The anti-Christ is marked by violent opposition to the people of God and also achieves great success. God’s people will not be immune from his destructive power.

These things can happen to the faithful people of God. Don’t assume that whenever the people of God enter the fiery furnace or the lion’s den that they will be plucked out alive. In Romans 8, Paul mentions famine, danger, nakedness and sword but reminds us that terrible suffering cannot separate us from the love of God.

Although there is a wonderful future in heaven, the reality on earth is that terrible things can happen and it doesn’t always get better. God graciously warns us in advance.

God’s people are safe

The recurring message is that despite appearances, God is in control.  We might not see Him but God is with us. We are surrounded by His angels. He is protecting us. We are safe. God has set limits and boundaries on the suffering His people endure at the hands of the anti-Christ.

You might feel that no one understands, no one cares but God does. Maybe you are crying out, “How long, oh Lord?” But there is a glorious future.

In Apocalyptic literature we get into terrible trouble when we try to read numbers literally. What we learn from these numbers is that suffering is for a set period and God has limited the time span.

God’s people will serve

People who are not Christians often cannot understand what we are doing with our lives when we make choices to serve God, even at personal cost. The world lives for possessions, popularity, power and pleasure.  But the wise person will serve the unseen Living God whose kingdom shall outlast the years.

Relationship and Resistance: Often we can resist out and out attack but flattery can get under our defences. The key to resistance is relationship – those who know their God will stand firm.  The more I love the Lord Jesus, the less I am interested in the flattery of the world.

Trusting and Telling: Fundamentally, what matters is whether your name is written in the book of life? We trust in Jesus’ work on the cross! Those who are wise will instruct many. Those who lead many to righteous will shine like stars. Daniel got involved in Babylon serving the kings but he also pointed to a higher city, a greater throne and the king of kings.

His presence in our pain

Thursday 7 August

With harrowing reports from Iraq ringing in our ears, Malcolm Duncan spoke from John 11 on the issue of suffering.  Here is a taste of his moving message:

On 5 September 2002, at 7.30am I left the house I was staying in Fortwilliam park in Belfast and I put on a clerical collar and a suit and I got into my car and I drove to the Shore Road and I parked the car and I walked into a funeral parlour. I went into a small room and I knelt beside the coffin of my father and screamed at God, “Why?”

My father had dropped dead on the Saturday before. The only thing I had prayed for all my Christian life was that my father would come to faith. I dreamed of being able to serve him communion. But it never happened. I was angry and confused.

We got home and I said to God, “Please don’t let me have to take a funeral for at least a month.” And two days later, I had to take another funeral! For six months, I kept saying, “Why?” Eventually, I wrote in my journal, “One day, God will give me the answer to every question I have ever asked. Until then… I trust Him.”

Have you ever cried out to God, “Why?” How can we not be moved when we hear the stories of Christians around the world that are suffering such horrific persecution. At some point in their life, every Christian will go something that causes them to ask, “Why?” Mary and Martha went through that experience when Lazarus died.

The sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one who you love is sick.” Never think that sickness or death or suffering or unanswered prayer are an indication that God does not love you.  There is a cruel theology in the church that says if you are facing illness or sickness it is because you don’t have enough faith – that is NOT the case.  Suffering does not mean that God is punishing you.

Where is God in the suffering of His people? He is right beside them. The absence of His voice is never an indication of the absence of His presence. He promised, “Never will I leave you and never will I forsake you.”

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say
Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

When Jesus finally reached Bethany, Martha said to Jesus, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.”  Her faith is hanging by a thread as she struggles to believe.

Do we believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? Lazarus did die but the tomb was not the end of the story.

Mary says the same thing to Jesus as Martha had, “If you had been here my brother would not have died.” Mary knelt at Jesus feet. She could not bring her praise to Him so instead she brought her pain.

When He saw the suffering around Him, Jesus wept. It is in the darkest moments of our lives that we grow even when our prayers are tears and sighs and groans.

Why did He cry? Jesus saw the destruction and horror of death and He entered into that suffering. He walks with you through the pain. He says, “I am here and I am weeping with you. I feel and identify with your pain. I am right beside.” He gives us permission to break our heart.

As Jesus says, “Lazarus come forth,” He demonstrates His power over death.  Death was not the final word.  I don’t think that God causes our suffering but He demonstrates His glory, His power and His grace through it.

Lazarus resurrection shows me that those of us who trust in Him will live even if we die. Death is not the last word for the believer.  He holds our hand!

God is faithful and present. With every fibre of my being, I know that every single child of God whose life has been taken in the Middle East or Iraq or elsewhere, has passed from death to life. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

With tears in my eyes and questions in my heart, I stand tonight and say, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

God says, “Don’t think I don’t love you. Don’t think I don’t understand. Don’t think I have abandoned you. Instead, let me comfort you.”