TRUTH AND POWER
TRUTH AND POWER
“It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground” (Dan. 8:12)
Daniel had a “dream”. It is recorded in Daniel chapter 7. Daniel had a “vision”. It is recorded in Daniel chapter 8. Both the dream and the vision feature a “little horn” but they apparently are not the same. Conventional wisdom is that the “horn that started small” in Dan. 8:9 refers to the government of Antiochus Epiphanes. He conquered Jerusalem, raided the temple, stole it’s treasures, set up an alter to Zeus, and even offered a swine upon the temple altar. He ruled the Jews from 175 to 164 B.C.. He had the “power” to take away the daily sacrifices, make the sanctuary of God low, and throw truth to the ground.
The thrust of this brief article will deal with the relationship of truth and power. While power may throw truth to the ground, the victory is only temporary. Truth will ultimately triumph.
Kim Jung Un became the dictator of North Korea in 2011. He inherited power from his father Kim Jong-il. The new dictator immediately executed or replaced the top advisors of his father. Among those executed was his 67 year old uncle Jang Song Thaek. Jang was stripped naked and fed to 120 hungry dogs as officials were forced to watch. In such a repressive regime truth is thrown to the ground with such violence that those with opposing views are silenced.
Someone has observed that since power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Unfortunately this seems to be true of all human governments. In the days of Daniel those who dared to disagree were thrown into a fiery furnace or a den of lions. In the days of the apostles believers were forced to worship the emperor or die in the arena. On October 6, 1536 William Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake for translating the Bible into the English language.
Jonathan Van Maren notes that Christians are being persecuted all over the world, and also in the United States. He points out:
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In 2012 Jack Phillips, a baker in Denver, Co., as sued for not baking a wedding cake for a
same sex couple. Two courts ruled that he was required to do so.
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The same year Elain and Jonathan Huguenin were fined $6,600 for refusing to photograph
a lesbian “commitment ceremony”.
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Crystal Dickson was fired in 2008 for writing an op ed piece for the Toledo Free Press
arguing that gay rights were not the same as racial rights.
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In 2013 Aaron and Melissa Klein were fined $144,000 for refusing to bake a wedding cake
for a lesbian wedding.
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In 2011 the Wildflower Inn in Vermont was fined $10,000 and forced to put double that
amount in a charitable trust for refusing to host a lesbian wedding reception.
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In New York in 2012 Robert and Cynthia Gifford were fined $10,000 with an additional
$3,000 in damages for refusing to host a lesbian wedding ceremony.
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In 2015 Baronelle Stutzman was fined over $1,000 for refusing to provide floral
arrangements for a same-sex wedding.
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In 2015 Richard and Betty Odgaard were fined $5,000 and forced out of business for refusing to host a same-sex wedding.
- Memories Pizzaria in Walkerton, Ind. was forced out of business by homosexual bullies.
- Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc.
A decade ago the homosexual community only asked to be left alone. Today they have the enough power to throw truth to the ground. Just think what America will be like if they ever have as much power as Kim Jung Un.