Of Thermometer and Thermostat Believers’
In every sweltering summer the temperatures soar. With mercury on the rise, oh how our tongues crave for that cool “elixir of life” (read pot or fridge water)! By the same token in chilly winter, the warm clothing shunned in summer now appears oh-so-inviting. Also how we wish controlling the temperature is well within our realm! That brings me to the topic about two “heat related” instruments…thermometer and thermostat. For the uninitiated, if the former merely “registers” the temperature, the latter “regulates” it. To further substantiate…while the thermometer reading changes depending on the temperature around it, thermostat rather than being influenced by the temperature around it (in hot summer or cool winter), changes the same for good.
Coming to the spiritual realm, there are only two types of believers’. If “thermometer” Christians are influenced by outward circumstances and pressures they bring in their wake to conform, the “thermostat “ believers rather than going with the ungodly majority, stand-up and change the world around them for good. Not for them conformity with the corrupt World around them (Rom 12:2).
Continuing with the “heat” subject, in this message Yours Truly is inspired to bring to the fore three Biblical incidents where one would see the godly “regulating” the “temperature” around them rather than merely “registering” it.
Calefactor (read Furnace)...
Hip, hip hooray (an anti-Semitic phrase meaning Jerusalem is fallen) shouted the enemies (especially the neighbours of Jews...Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites) in sadistic glee when the Jewish capital Jerusalem walls were razed to the ground and the majestic temple therein was burnt in 586 BC by the Babylonian army headed by King Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews were getting their Divine comeuppance alright for their continual, stubborn disobedience of worshipping idols despite so many warnings of the disastrous consequences heralded by the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah.
Oh how God hated to bring about that calamity for it would conversely and adversely affect His own Holy Name (that He could not protect His people- Ezekiel 36:17-21) but there was no other way to bring about a change in the hearts of His covenanted people other than taking them through the chastising and cleansing fire of temporary exile! The previous two exiles of “Royal” class in 606 BC (Daniel 1:1-4) and the “Economy” class of people in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:16 ought to have to served as a warning to the hard-hearted Jews remaining in Jerusalem under the reign of idolatrous King Zedekiah that a bigger punishment would come their way, if they do not mend their ways (God’s punishments increase in severity always with passage of time...remember the Egyptian woes. Ditto with the imminent 7 year Tribulation period- Exo 7-12/ Rev 6-19). However, they paid deaf ear to the pleadings of Jeremiah the Prophet and finally the day of total Jerusalem destruction arrived much to the glee of their traditional enemies, who had no qualms in shouting (as I mentioned before) “Hip Hip Hooray”.
Would the Holy Name of the Almighty God remain tarnished in the eyes of the Gentiles for long? No way! Enter Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3 who were in Babylon from 606 BC as a part of the “first batch of exiles” along with their leader Daniel!!!
Within a year of total exile of the Jews from the “Land of milk and honey” in 585 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar perhaps inspired by the dream of majestic statue in 604 BC (Daniel 2....years of the incidents have been sourced fromhttp://biblehub.com/timeline/daniel/1.htm) himself constructed a huge statue and ordered all* in his realm to worship it (*at least those in and around the Babylon...for it would be impossible for everyone in the vast Babylonian empire stretching from the Persian Gulf on one side to River Nile on the other to come to the plains of Dura -where this idol stood- for obeisance). Any resistance to this Royal decree would lead one straight to the fiery furnace. Daniel at this time as one of the chief officials would have been away in a distant place on an official duty surmise the Biblical scholars. But his friends who were by his side right from the moment they said “no” to “Babylonian biryani” (Dan 1:1-16) in line with the statutes of Leviticus Chapter 11 were not so fortunate to skip away on some “foreign tour”. It was a “Do or die situation” for them both literally and figuratively speaking. That they did not bend to Royal pressure to worship a pagan idol, even as the grim prospect of being thrown alive into the fiery furnace loomed in front of their eyes is now part of chronicled World and Biblical history!!! What was the result of their holy defiance and their eventual miraculous deliverance from the searing furnace (Dan 3:8-25)? The “villain” in the whole story -King Nebuchadnezzar- is transformed for good, so much so He passes a royal edict that that true, living God of the Jews has to be revered all through out his vast empire (Daniel 3:28-29). His vast empire (all of 5 lakh square kilometres) meaning including the land of Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites who had shouted “Hip, Hip Hooray” just a year back? Yes Sir!!!
So the essence of this story is…despite being in fiery furnace, these men were NOT “thermometers” but “thermostats” bringing about a beneficial “temperature change” in the lives of King Nebuchadnezzar and many in His realm. Pray tell me dear reader, are you a “thermometer” Christian or a “thermostat” one?
Cave...(read Den)
Fast forward by another 46 years (539 BC) and what do we see in Daniel Chapter 6? Yet another Royal decree going out throughout the Medo-Persian Empire (only it was much bigger-5.5 million square kms vis-a-vis 5 lakh square kms of the Babylonian Empire- Esther 1:1) proclaiming thus: “Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”
Now what was reason for this Royal Decree being issued? Now it was on account of Daniel who in the midst of “fiery trying circumstances” preferring to play a “thermostat” rather than a “thermometer”. Rather than being cowed down by the King’s orders (at the behest of Daniel’s enemies) to petition only the King for a month lest he be cast into the lion’s den, Daniel as was his wont preferred to petition the “King of Kings” daily 3 times a day. The eventual result of it all was not only God’s saving power got demonstrated amply but also His Name which had been tarnished courtesy the Jewish exile in 586 BC was magnified the World over once again. And Daniel’s enemies? Poor guys, they who had hoped that Daniel would serve as a sumptuous dinner to the famished lions ended up instead as a delicious breakfast to them! A lesson within a lesson here for us folks! Never fiddle with God’s people (read fellow Christians especially the anointed ones’- Zech 2:8)!
Hmmmm...where were Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego at this time of Daniel’s “fiery trial”. Jewish Biblical Scholars speculate that they could have used their influence over the erstwhile King Nebuchadnezzar during the Babylonian’s reign itself and got their “postings” in the Land of Israel before 539 BC, as such they were not in the “radar” of Chapter 6 of the Book of Daniel.
Cell...
Let’s nosedive into the Scriptures straightaway...
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.- Phil 1:12-14
Hey Apostle Paul far from being discouraged confined as he was to a restrictive Roman “cell” (actually house arrest) like a true “thermostat” was “regulating” the temperature (read boldness in preaching the Gospel) of fellow Christians outside of it besides introducing the heart-warming Gospel to Roman Soldiers who were guarding him (Acts 28:16).
Speaking of Roman soldiers (on duty on shift basis) who were always on the vicinity of that great Apostle it is often asked “who was a prisoner to whom”. Apostle Paul to the Roman soldier or vice-versa! The ever present bubbling infectious joy (the words “joy” and “rejoice” are used not less than 11 times in the Epistle to Philippians) in the Apostle besides the power of the Gospel in his words were having their needed impact on the Roman soldiers as the above-captioned Scripture portion testifies. Say Reader are you sharing the Gospel with your fellow plane, train or bus “prisoners” opps sorry I mean passengers seated beside you (for a few hours, they cannot “escape” from you) with contagious joy after establishing a common point of contact (says Sports or Politics- 1 Cor 9:20-23)?
Did Apostle Paul’s “thermostat” role in the “heat of his fiery trials” remain confined to only fellow Roman Christians outside his jail and the Roman soldiers inside it? Boy, it spanned hundreds of miles. From Rome, courtesy his imprisonment (Rom 8:28) he would dictate Epistles (to amanuensis like Tertius- Rom 16:22) which “regulated” the spiritual temperature for good of Churches at Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae and an individual named Philemon. Thanks to his imprisonment we have access now to the “rich spiritual treasures” contained in these 4 Epistles.
In conclusion what I would like to say is the God-honoring lives of His Saints like that of the awesome threesome, devout Daniel and pious Paul would play “thermostat” transcending even time and space. Boy, I for one had the cockles of my heart “warmed-up” writing about them...thousands of years after their inspirational acts. Say Hallelujah, if reading about them produced a similar effect in you!!!
Suresh Manoharan
An Unworthy Servant
Ps… All those whose heart the Lord is touching say this Prayer right where you are…”Father, I confess I am a Sinner. Cloth me with Your Priceless Robes of Righteousness which Your Son Jesus Christ has purchased for me in the Cross. Fill my heart with the joy of Your Spirit. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
