July 4: OH, TO BE SET UPON THE RIGHT PATH! (part 2)

“PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and the Persians.” (v.28)

There is a history of divisions of people from God and from each other ever since Eve and Adam sinned. Some divisions can be described as a falling away from the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:3). When Cain offered fruit to God instead of the lamb which was specified to point forward to the Lord Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice—the Lamb of God (John 1:29,36)—Cain’s resistance to correction brought division between himself and God as well as obedient Abel, whom he killed. Our first parents, faced with grief over the death of Able, faced another kind of grief in the banishment of Cain. As far as we know, they never saw him again (Genesis 4:3-16). But though he had strayed from God’s instructions—even to the point of murder—his parents still loved him.

In the sordid story of Judah and Tamar, we find the name Perez given to one of the twins that she bore (Genesis 38:29). Its meaning, Breach or Breakthrough, alludes to division. Perez is listed in the lineage of Jesus (Matthew 1:3; Luke 3:33).

Today, Christians are divided regarding the Sabbath Commandment. Some honor it on the seventh day of the week, (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11), while others believe the Sabbath was changed to the first day. Such divisions harm the body of Christ. It is a topic that is hotly debated by some and totally ignored by others. The Holy Spirit spoke through Isaiah, calling every follower of God to travel the path of an active role of restoration of God’s truth among His people. And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach (Isaiah 58:12).

Abram was called by God to remove himself from the society of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:31-12:1; Acts 7:2-4). Fully entrenched in paganism, Chaldean philosophy had so affected the minds of Abram and Sarai that the terrible idea she introduced (Genesis 16:2) did not even appear as a sin in either of their minds. God’s call to separate from the pagans had been promptly obeyed—Abram took his family and left—but it took much longer (and several generations) to restore the truth of God’s plan for marriage. And we know that Satan’s attack on marriage continues its rampage.

Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. (Daniel 5:29) Even with the terrible denunciation from the lips of Daniel, Belshazzar did not forget his promise (v.16). But Daniel had no interest whatsoever in these things (v.17) and they did not motivate him. His loyalty lay with the Most High God (v.18).

Now, at the end of the prophesied 70-year captivity of God’s people in Babylon (Jeremiah 25:1,11,12; 29:10), the kingdom is to go to the Medes and the Persians. This is a partial fulfillment of Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream. The head of gold, representing Babylon, gives way to the chest and arms of silver (2:32). Though the kingdom of Medo-Persia is inferior to Babylon (v.39), as silver is less valued than gold, much of Babylonian philosophy makes its way directly into the next empire.

That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. Daniel 5:30-31