This was not the armchair you might picture. There was a bright light overhead and a drill to the side. It was either a torture chair or a dentist’s chair. It was a later, and I was getting my teeth cleaned. It feels so good afterwards but I’m famous for feeling nauseous after the event. My mouth was wide open and I could not talk/answer but I could listen. She began with the first three books of Daniel in the Old Testament. The first chapter gives the account of Daniel and three friends, all sons of Israel, having been captured by Babylon and put into a three-year university of the Chaldeans. They ate vegetables, excelled in all wisdom, and entered the king’s service. In chapter two King Nebuchadnezzar commands the sorcerers to tell him what her dreamed and give an interpretation. None could. Daniel asked the king for time to answer the dream after the king asked he and his friends to kill all of the wise men of Babylon. Verses 27-28 reads, “Daniel answered before the king and said, ‘As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed'”. Daniel tells the dream then says, “…now we shall tell its interpretation…”. Daniel was not alone. Daniel was promoted when the king was grateful so he asked if Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego could also administer the province of Babylon. Just like in real life, just when you think all is going well, the forgetful king builds a statue then commands all worship it or pay a steep price. (I did not remember they had bagpipes in that day) The three men (where was Daniel) would not worship the idol but only the one true God who gives meaning to each life and even dreams. There is no explanation for where Daniel was at the time. The punishment, even after all these Jewish men had done for the king, was to be thrown into a blazing fire. They told the king that his God was able to deliver them from the kings hand but, whether He did or not, they would not honor the kings idol. They didn’t burn and there was a visible fourth man in the fire with them. God is in charge of miracles – unexplainable occurrences or impossible circumstances. Most interpret that Jesus was that fourth man who looked like a god to Nebuchadnezzar. The account ends with the three men prospering in the province of Babylon without conforming to the worldly command of the king.
My teeth are getting cleaner and it’s difficult to dialogue. I know many believers in other protestant denominations. I was raised in a undenominational church and my theology fits there the best. I have many friends who honor the Pope. As a child, my mother adopted the Seventh Day Adventist ways to the chagrin of my father. That did not last long. My dental hygenist moved on to Revelation 14. Verse six reads, “And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;”. Next another angel reports that Babylon the great is fallen, who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality. This is referencing sin and describes hellish scenes but – the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus is mentioned and then Jesus returns on a cloud.
I am not a Seventh Day Adventist but this woman loves the Lord, loves the Bible, and loved a stranger, like me, enough to share her faith. I’m not sure why she framed the gospel this was but the salvation message rand clear as a bell. The time flew and I am reassured of what I believe. Maybe my fear of dentistry will be subdued in future?
