Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000306A
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00:23 Welcome to the Liberty Insider.
00:26 This is the program bringing you news, views, 00:28 discussion, up to date information, 00:29 analysis, all of religious liberty. 00:33 My name is Lincoln Steed, editor of Liberty magazine, 00:37 and my guest on the program is Dr. Ganoune Diop. 00:40 Welcome, Ganoune. Thank you, Thank you. 00:43 You're Director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty 00:46 for the Seventh Day Adventist Church? 00:47 Correct. 00:49 And also a, a close workmate of mine 00:52 because we're just across the hall from each other 00:53 at our world headquarters. 00:57 I want to talk a little bit about Seventh-day Adventism 01:00 and religious liberty. 01:02 The two things are joined at the hip. 01:07 For me when I think of religious liberty in my church, 01:11 I think of prophecy, or prophetic awareness. 01:14 That's true, our religious liberty concern 01:16 has a sociological historic connection as well. 01:19 But what we read, as a people from Revelation and Daniel, 01:25 I think gives compulsion 01:29 to the religious liberty proclamation. 01:33 I know Daniel is every important here. 01:36 How would you link Daniel 01:37 to what we say on religious liberty? 01:39 Well, before may be the name itself, Seventh-day Adventist-- 01:45 I was, as I was speaking I thought of the comment-- 01:47 You thought about that-- 01:49 That their name is a sermon in itself, isn't it? 01:51 Yes, well, yes. 01:53 Actually, every name of-- 01:54 even of every denomination is meaningful, 01:56 is connected to something, 01:58 but I think exploring the name Seventh-day Adventist, 02:02 we have two components here, the first one, seventh day, 02:05 of course, referring to the seventh, 02:08 I mean, the seventh day Sabbath of creation. 02:11 Which the Pope Francis acknowledged this 02:15 in his encyclical on the environment. 02:18 He tries to confine it just to the Jews, remember, 02:20 but it's a very Biblical concept. 02:22 But, yeah, so the name Seventh-day Adventist, 02:25 the first part is connected to creation, 02:29 and when I think about creation, 02:32 and this is one aspect 02:33 that people usually don't think about but, 02:37 the reason why Adventists value creation 02:41 is because it affirms several key principles 02:44 about human being, human nature. 02:48 You know, first of all, creation in God's image, 02:50 that human beings are not just the result of a chance, 02:54 that we are willed by God who loves us-- 02:58 Created for a purpose. Absolutely. 03:00 And I think that is important to-- 03:02 Intentional. 03:03 So, Adventists value life precisely, 03:06 and the sanctity of life and of conscience, 03:09 in that sense, as we were talking 03:11 because our very name says something about that. 03:15 Okay, so creation, 03:17 and also the names Seventh-Day referring to creation, 03:24 it's also a commemoration of other things. 03:27 It is interesting to mention this right away, 03:32 Adventists take the seventh day as important 03:37 because it was not just the commemoration of creation, 03:40 when you read Exodus 20, The Ten Commandments, 03:44 the God says that-- 03:47 Deliverance, the Celebration of deliverance. 03:49 Exactly, that He gave Israel, in Deuteronomy 5, for example, 03:53 He gave Israel the Sabbath 03:55 because it was commemoration of liberation. 03:58 So, these two components of the first aspect 04:01 of the Seventh-day Adventist name 04:03 I think is very important-- 04:05 But it's worth remembering, that in Genesis when it says 04:09 God sanctified the day and made it holy. 04:11 That predated any Jewish or-- Jewish nation. 04:14 Yeah, but in the context of the teaching 04:17 of the whole Bible though, 04:18 very clearly it is connected to creation and to liberation. 04:22 So, that is the first part of the name. 04:24 And the second part of the name Adventist is, 04:27 is a word of hope 04:29 because Adventists are actively waiting 04:32 for the coming of Jesus Christ. 04:34 The Second Advent because He came once before. 04:36 Yes. 04:38 But, this coming is decisive 04:40 because He's coming to bring justice, harmony, 04:45 peace, and complete freedom, 04:48 and including freedom from death 04:50 which is part of our hope. 04:53 So the name itself actually is a statement creation, 04:58 redemption, and completion of the history of Salvation. 05:00 It does pretty much, 05:03 it's been said by ourselves before. 05:04 It sums up pretty much everything that we hold. 05:06 It is good news, it is good news 05:08 that, Lincoln, you are important to God. 05:11 It is good news that God has set up a plan to liberate you. 05:15 It is good news that God is going to come to liberate 05:18 not only you but the whole universe. 05:20 This is why creation, the nature is awaiting 05:24 for this second coming of Jesus Christ, to come, 05:28 to bring finally what the world is looking for. 05:31 Remember earlier, I mentioned, 05:33 I mean, in another program 05:35 I mentioned what the world wants. 05:38 The UN, you know, they want peace and security, 05:40 while Jesus is going to bring peace and security. 05:42 Yeah, and what it says in Revelation, 05:44 when they say peace and security, 05:45 sudden destruction, so if it's on man's own, 05:48 if it's alone, it's destined to fail. 05:49 Yeah, but God wants not the destruction of people, 05:52 He wants their salvation. 05:55 Well, it says "He's not willing that any should perish." 05:57 "Perish, but that all should have access to salvation." 06:01 You know because, sometimes some people 06:04 may tend to think about God as a sadistic person, 06:08 just waiting to punish everybody, 06:10 whereas He died himself on the Cross 06:14 in order to tell people that He would rather have them leave 06:18 you know, this is, I mean, absolute love also, 06:21 and that is part of God's nature. 06:23 Now when we come, so this is about the name, 06:26 you know, talking about creation, 06:28 liberation, and consummation, 06:31 redemption, complete atonement, complete reconciliation. 06:35 Bring Daniel in. It's beautiful. 06:37 When you come to Book of Daniel, 06:39 like, actually any Biblical book, 06:41 we could take here any, especially the prophetic books. 06:45 They are gospels in prophecy, meaning, okay, 06:50 the Book of Daniel has about, 06:52 well, has actually specifically 12 chapters. 06:55 But every, what is called prophetic chapters, 06:59 is actually aspect of the good news. 07:01 Now imagine, imagine this, 07:06 we are talking about 605 B.C. 07:10 the prophet Daniel was exiled Babylon, 07:15 and while he was there, 586, the temple destroyed. 07:21 Israel has lost several things. 07:22 Really was the end of the true integrated Jewish State 07:29 or beyond then. 07:31 Well, it was a follow on story really. 07:34 It's the dispersion. 07:36 True, but you had a first dispersion earlier, 07:41 there are two tragic dates in the history of Israel, 07:44 722 B.C. and then 586 B.C. 07:49 And in a way there's a third 07:50 when Titus destroyed Jerusalem irrevocably for-- 07:53 Absolutely. 07:55 But, I am talking about now, the kingship dynasty. 07:59 The Samaria was taken by the Assyrians in 722. 08:03 That was the end of the northern kingdom, 08:05 the ten tribes, 08:08 and then you have the southern kingdom, 586, 08:11 the temple destroyed. 08:12 But here is my point though, 08:14 the Book of Daniel is a magnificent display 08:17 of the good news, how so? 08:21 Israel has lost several things. 08:23 One, they have lost their kingdom. 08:26 They have lost their king actually, you know, 08:28 and if you read the second book of Chronicles, 08:32 it, you know, Chapter 36, the last verses explains 08:37 that God sent several prophets time and again, 08:40 but Israel did not listen. 08:42 So they lost their kingdom, they lost their king, 08:45 they lost their temple, destroyed 08:47 and if the temple is destroyed 08:49 that means that the priests cannot function, 08:52 the priest cannot function, sacrifice has to stop. 08:55 Really religious life had seized. 08:57 Absolutely. Or an entity. 08:58 So what is the Book of Daniel simply stated? 09:01 The Book of Daniel is God's response. 09:03 In fact, that Psalm, isn't it? 09:06 "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and we wept." 09:09 Correct. But-- 09:10 There was a desolation that had come up on them. 09:11 Yes, absolutely, and this is, 09:14 as I mentioned a multi faceted desolation. 09:17 However, what could be interesting 09:21 for our viewers here is to realize 09:24 that they had local problems, they had temporal problems. 09:31 One, the temple, I mentioned the kingdom lost, 09:37 the king exiled, the temple destroyed, 09:41 sacrifice, no longer, 09:43 the priest cannot function therefore. 09:45 Okay, the Book of Daniel. 09:47 So imagine Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego asking God, 09:50 God, restore our kingdom. 09:54 And this is where the prophecies 09:55 of the Book of Daniel come into the picture. 09:59 God, so to speak, telling these Hebrew young men, 10:06 I am not interested in a local, in a temporal kingdom. 10:10 Daniel 2, there's an everlasting kingdom. 10:13 Yeah, it's true. 10:14 Universal and everlasting that is coming, 10:16 that is God's answer, good news of the kingdom. 10:19 By the way in the New Testament, 10:21 Jesus preached the kingdom of God, 10:24 that kingdom prophesied in Daniel. 10:26 Second, the next prophetic chapter, 10:29 beside Chapter 2 then is Chapter 7. 10:32 What is in Daniel 7? 10:35 Daniel 7, you have the son of man coming, being enthroned, 10:39 and we are told all people will worship Him. 10:43 So that is the everlasting-- 10:44 On a cosmic level, it's not a nation or regional-- 10:47 Absolutely, not just national problems. 10:50 Now God's responses are on a cosmic and eternal. 10:54 Okay, then the temple destroyed. 10:58 So what about the temple? 10:59 God said, "I have a temple in heaven." 11:02 Okay. And then how about the priest? 11:05 Again, a priest in heaven this is where? 11:08 And that is Chapter 8, interestingly. 11:11 Okay, so imagine, Shadrach, Meshach, 11:13 Abednego again asking God, 11:14 but what about, what about the sacrifices? 11:19 Daniel 9, come and say that 11:21 He will cause sacrifices to seize, 11:24 one sacrifice, once ends for all. 11:28 So we have- 11:30 It's interesting way of looking at it, 11:31 and in an accurate way, yeah. 11:34 And simple way, you know. And then-- 11:37 And of course, this is all against the historic background 11:39 of events through several kingdoms. 11:41 But this is the core Gospel. 11:43 Actually I would even say a comprehensive gospel, 11:46 in a sense that we are told that the Messiah, 11:50 this is the 70 weeks' prophecy. 11:52 The Messiah, you know, at the end of the last week 11:56 will cause the sacrifice to seize, 11:58 and He will bring everlasting righteousness again. 12:01 But then, Chapter 10 to 12, 12:07 the Archangel is sent to tell Daniel 12:12 about is going to happen to his people. 12:14 It's when Daniel was struck. 12:16 And that's wonderful because Chapter 12 begins 12:20 with the Michael standing. 12:23 Why standing? 12:25 The priest standing for God's people to defend them 12:29 the priest protection, and then finally, 12:32 God told Daniel, Daniel, you will sleep. 12:34 Notice, there is no immortality of the soul here. 12:37 You will sleep, there will be a resurrection. 12:39 The book begins with a, I mean, tragedy, you know, 12:45 as you were mentioning earlier, desolation, exile, 12:50 and it ends with life, and resurrection. 12:53 It's a wonderful, wonderful book, 12:54 and of course, Daniel on Revelation 12:56 are essential to an Adventist understanding. 12:58 We'll be back after a short break. 13:00 Stay with us. 13:01 Interesting discussion from the Book of Daniel 13:04 and I think Revelation too, right? |
Revised 2015-10-15