KFLCC Kingdom Economics

F INANCIAL S ECURITY IN THE L AST D AYS

when He died, these friends received His body. M AKING F RIENDS W ITH P EOPLE IN THE W ORLD S YSTEM We are part of the world system. We go to school and college in the world system, and we work with people who are unrighteous and unbelievers. This cannot be avoided. We must work the system without allowing the system to corrupt us. We are in this world, but we are not of this world. It is both possible and necessary that we work with wolves without joining the pack. The Bible gives us two excellent examples—Joseph and Daniel. Joseph lived and worked in the world system and in seventeen years, he was promoted from prison to second in charge. He started out as a servant and used his gift of interpreting dreams, which exalted him from a prisoner to second in charge over the treasure houses of Pharaoh. Joseph was given an Egyptian name, Zaphnath Paaneah (Gen. 41:45), but his Hebrew name is always used in the biblical narrative. Daniel was in the world system after being brought into Babylon as a Jewish captive at age seventeen. He and three of his companions seized the attention of the king, and all were trained as leader’s in the king’s court. Daniel remained there from age seventeen to age ninety, and he served in a high position while in Babylon. After Daniel and his companions were chosen to be trained, the chief official renamed them. Their original names honored the God of Israel, but their new names were chosen to honor the false gods of Babylon. Daniel was renamed Belteshazzar, which honors the idol named Bel. Hananiah was renamed Shadrach and Mishel was renamed Meshach, both in honor of the idol god Akku. Azariah was given the name Abednego, which means servant of Nebo. A key point is that Daniel, even though he was renamed Belteshazzar, never compromised and never identified himself with the Babylonian system. Seven times in the book of Daniel, he identified himself as, “I Daniel.” Both Joseph and Daniel were righteous and God-fearing men who worked closely with people and leaders in idolatrous nations. Yet they were able to influence those around them with their faith and with the supernatural abilities of their God. We might say that they worked in the world, but did not become corrupted by the world (John 17:17-18). Christians—especially those who came from a traditional holiness

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