Book: Daniel

Visions from God

Answers Bible Curriculum Year 2 Quarter 4 Lesson 7

For this week of Sunday school, we are doing a special lesson back in the book of Daniel as we consider the visions given to Daniel by God regarding the future. What did God reveal to Daniel? Why did God reveal it? Have Daniel’s prophetic visions come to pass? How should we use or view Daniel’s visions today? We’ll consider these questions and more.

Our main texts for consideration in this lesson will be Daniel 2:1-45 and 7:1-28.

Auto Transcript

Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

The Humble will be exalted and the proud will be cast down those who mourn now will laugh or those who laugh now will mourn and those who give up their lives for Christ and for the gospel they will save their lives while those who cling to their lives in this world will both lose their lives in this world and lose them in eternity so we see that concept throughout the scriptures the events of Esther take place after the Reigns of Cyrus and Darius but for today’s lesson we’re going back in time stepping back chronologically to the Reigns of Nebuchadnezzar and Bel shazar this time in Daniel we’re focusing on the Visions given to Daniel by God what were these Visions why did God give them to Daniel have the prophetic elements of these Visions been fulfilled today and why are these Visions to Daniel important for us we’re going to consider these questions as we focus on three well kind of like two and a half Visions in D Daniel here’s our outline we focus on the Visions in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 we we’ll mention a little bit about the vision in Daniel 8 and then we’ll consider application for ourselves this is a lot of material to cover and we’re not even dealing with the Visions in Daniel 9 and Daniel 11 unfortunately don’t have time for those chapters today but I trust that you’ve been hearing some about those passages especially Daniel 9 from Pastor Bobby’s recent preaching on the end times but we’re going to focus on Daniel 2 and 7 and a little bit of eight today let’s pray before we continue pray with me Lord God you are the great God all knowledge and wisdom is is with you and yet you in your great sovereignty have decided to share some of that knowledge with your people via the Prophet Daniel L I pray that we’ be built up by it that we be equipped that we would apply it Lord your spirit would accomplish that in Jesus name amen let’s look at Daniel’s First Vision in Daniel 2 please open your Bibles to Daniel 2 Daniel 2 we’re going to read verses 19 to 49 this is Page 882 in the Pew Bible Daniel’s book appears in the Old Testament after Isaiah Jeremiah and Ezekiel let’s reestablish the context of our passage at the beginning of Daniel 2 Nebuchadnezzar is in the second year of his Reign remember he’s the king of Babylon he has a troubling dream he demands for his wise men to interpret the dream for him but as many of you know what does Nebuchadnezzar refuse to tell any of the wise men he refuses to tell him what the dream was seeking proof of the wise men’s abilities he wants the wise men to tell the king both the dream what was the dream and the interpretation of the dream but the wisan insists to the king that this is an impossible task no one has ever done this no one can do this only the gods who do not dwell on Earth could do such a thing for the king convinced by this answer of the wise men’s deception Nebuchadnezzar orders all of the wise men and counselors of Babylon to be killed now Daniel and his friends are considered to be wise men or wise men in training and so when the execution has come to Daniel he learns of the situation and asks for a little time to answer the King’s request he’s granted this time and Daniel asks his friends hananiah Azariah and mishel whom we’ve met before to all pray to God for compassion and for the revelation of this mystery that the King has requested let’s pick up the narrative in verse 19 of Daniel 2 and we’ll read to the end of the chapter Daniel 2: 19 then the mystery was revealed to to Daniel in a night vision then Daniel blessed the god of Heaven Daniel said let the name of God be blessed forever and ever for wisdom and power belong to him it is he who changes the times and the epics he removes Kings and establishes Kings he gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to Men of understanding it is he who reveals the proud profound and hidden things he knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him to you oh god of my fathers I give thanks and praise for you have given me wisdom and power even now you have made known to me what we requested of you for you have made known to us the king’s matter therefore Daniel went into arok whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon he went and spoke to him as follows do not destroy the wise men of Babylon take me into the king’s presence and I will declare the interpretation to the king then arok hurly brought Daniel into the king’s presence and spoke to him as follows I have found a man among the Exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to The King The King said to Daniel whose name was belshazzar are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation Daniel answered before the king and said as for the mystery about which the King has inquired neither wise men conjurers magicians nor divers 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 as for you oh King while on your bed your thoughts turn to what would take place in the future and he who reveals Mysteries has made known to you what will take place but as for me this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind you King were looking and behold there was a single great statue that statue which was large and of extraordinary Splendor was standing in front of you and its appearance was awesome the head of that statue was made of fine gold its breast and its arms of silver its belly and its thighs of bronze its legs of iron its feet partly of iron and partly of clay you continued looking until a stone was was cut out without hands and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them then the iron the clay the bronze the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth this was the dream now we will tell its interpretation before the king you you oh King are the King of Kings to whom the god of Heaven has given the kingdom the power the strength and the glory and whever the sons of men dwell or the beasts of the field or the birds of the sky he has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all you are the head of gold after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you then another third Kingdom of bronze which will rule over all the Earth then there will be a fourth Kingdom as strong as iron and as much as iron crushes and shatters all things so like iron that breaks in pieces it will crush and break all these in pieces and that you saw the feet and Toes partly of Potter’s clay and partly of iron it will be a divided Kingdom but it it will have in it the toughness of iron in as much as you saw the iron mixed with common clay as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery so some of the Kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle and in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay they will combine with one another in the seed of men but they will not adhere to one another even as iron does not combined with Pottery in the days of those kings the god of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed and that Kingdom will not be left for another people it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms but it will itself endure forever as much as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron the bronze the clay the sil and the gold the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy then King Nebuchadnezzar fell in his face and did homage to Daniel and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense the king answered Daniel and said surely your God is a god of gods and a lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries since you have been able to reveal this mystery then then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon and Daniel made requests to the king and he appointed Shadrach mhach and Abednego over the administration of the province of Babylon while Daniel was at the king’s court okay pardon me just a second all right let’s observe this section kind of a long section notice Daniel’s immediate response to learning the King’s dream gives praise and thanks to God but what two qualities of God does Daniel highlight in his praise what’s one of the qualities is wisdom the Lord’s wisdom and not only that the Lord is wise but that he gives gives wisdom he is the revealer of mysteries what else his power right his power and his wisdom those are the two things that Daniel highlights God is the one who gives or takes away kingdoms and he’s the one who gives wisdom and reveals secret things when Nebuchadnezzar asks if Daniel can make known the dream in its interpretation notice Daniel’s response Daniel confesses no man on Earth could give the king what he wanted but the is a God who can and he is a God who reveals Mysteries Daniel uses that phrase twice Daniel then confesses that the only reason Daniel knows the answer is because God chose to reveal to Nebuchadnezzar via Daniel the mystery of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream so Daniel wants to make sure that Nebuchadnezzar understands this Revelation did not come due to any innate wisdom in Daniel Daniel then recapitulates Nebuchadnezzar’s dream for Nebuchadnezzar the king King saw a great and awesome statue with a head of gold chest and arms of silver belly and thighs of bronze legs of iron and feet partly of iron and parly of clay by the way basic question here but feet normally have how many toes 10 toes yes normally and toes are mentioned in verse 42 of this chapter that might be important later on then a stone cut without hands struck the feet destroying them and crushing the rest of the statue so completely so completely that not a trace of the statue remains after the wind blows and Carries away the debris then the uncut Stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth Daniel interprets the king for Nebuchadnezzar interprets the dream for Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar is the king of kings exercising dominion over all he is the head of gold though what does Daniel emphasize to Nebuchadnezzar about Nebuchadnezzar’s Kingdom says you are the king of kings you have the Dominion but where come from well it does say that eventually another kingdom will arise but even when talking about Nebuchadnezzar’s Kingdom he says something about it that’s right God has given it to you God gave you this Kingdom so he’s emphasizing that to Nebuchadnezzar right away you are the head of gold but remember God gave you this Kingdom but then as Rob said there’s another kingdom that comes the silver and bronze sections of the statue are kingdoms that will come after Nebuchadnezzar being inferior though also ruling over the whole earth the iron legs are a fourth Kingdom strong as iron crushing the other kingdoms and breaking them in pieces the feat and and toes are divided Kingdom it’s not entirely clear whether they’re another kingdom after the iron one or if it’s a a kind of a continuation of the iron Kingdom they’re partly strong like iron partly brittle like clay it says the seed of men will have this iron clay combination within them but they will not really adhere to one another then there’s a final Kingdom set up by God that will never be destroyed and it crushes and puts an end to the other kingdoms but that Kingdom itself will last forever Daniel concludes the Revelation by reasserting the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future the dream is true and its interpretation trustworthy now notice how Nebuchadnezzar reacts he does Homage to Daniel he actually presents an offering and incense to Daniel must have been a little weird he promotes Daniel gives Daniel gifts and he makes Daniel ruler the province of Babylon and at Daniel’s request he puts Daniel’s friends into positions in Babylon under Daniel but notice also what does the king declare about God he says your God is God of gods Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries now having made these observations we come to the interpretation step but a lot of our interpretation has already been done for us because God via Daniel has interpreted the dream for us we don’t have to figure out oh what does this dream mean it’s a good thing too because I don’t think we would come up with the answer God has already provided it still we can ask a few questions interpretation wise why does Daniel tell us about how all the wise men could not fulfill the King’s request why mention that yes I see that in yeah that’s right it’s a definitely contrast between the Divine ability and the human ability none of the wise men on Earth are able to even Venture an interpretation or a claim for about the dream none of the wise men of Babylon and Daniel when he’s asked whether he can make known the dream he says it’s not in me it’s not as if I by my manly power or wisdom can give you the interpretation or tell you the dream but God can there is a God who can so he mentions all that to help us see the contrast between the power and wisdom of God and the power and wisdom of man consider the phrase most repeated in this section about God and Nebuchadnezzar’s confession at the end of the chapter what clearly does Daniel want his audience those who are reading or hearing this book what does he want them to understand about God he is the one true God he’s unique among those that are claimed to be Gods but what particularly is highlighted about Yahweh What’s the phrase that kept getting repeated multiple times God is said to be the revealer of mysteries now his tow is emphasized too that he’s The Giver of Kingdoms and he gave the kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar but three or four times in this passage says that God reveals the secret things or he’s a revealer of mysteries Daniel wants his anas to understand God is the one with all power and knowledge and yet he has chosen to reveal some of that knowledge to men via his Prophet VI his Prophet Daniel and certainly the other prophets in the past God is the revealer of mysteries now aside from the head of gold the precise identities of the other Kingdoms in this Vision are not revealed however the last kingdom is said to be Eternal and set up by God consider the prophecies that we’ve already seen from Isaiah Jeremiah and others people who came before Daniel what would the Jews of Daniel’s time have understood this Kingdom to be whose kingdom say that again which king okay I think they would have definitely connected it with an Earthly King we know that is it is divine there’s that detail about it being an uncut Stone not it hasn’t been fashioned by human hands it has a divine origin it’s it’s said to be the kingdom of God and yet we’ve already seen from Jeremiah and Isaiah and Micah and uh Hosea that there’s going to be a ruler from Israel that’s going to come there’s going to be a ruler that’s going to actually restore the Kingdom of Israel what Isaiah calls the servant and calls um other terms but this is what we would call or people in the Old Testament would call the Messiah the anointed one they would be connecting this with messiah’s Kingdom and I think it’s right to do so this final kingdom is connected with Messiah now this is not the only Vision in the Book of Daniel but as you’ll see it’s an important foundation for what we see in the rest of Daniel a lot of Daniel is all about the power of God being able to protect his own or to Humble Kings but also in God revealing Mysteries and we see a number of other Mysteries revealed a number of other Visions revealed in Daniel and we’re going to go look at the second one now turn over to Daniel 7 actually I’ll keep the slide hidden for just a second Daniel 7 we’re going to read through the entire chapter this is many years later this is still under a ruler of Babylon but this is Bel shazar who was co-ruler of Babylon with nabonidus in the years before babylon’s fall so Daniel 7 we’re going to read the whole chapter starting verse one in the first year of Bel shazar King of Babylon Daniel saw a dream and Visions in his mind as he lay on his bed then he wrote The Dream down and related the following summary of it Daniel said I was looking in my vision by night and behold the Four Winds of Heaven were stirring up the great sea and four great beasts were were coming up from the sea different from one another the first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle kept looking until its wings were plucked and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man a human mind also was given to it and behold another Beast a second one resembling a bear and it was raised up on one side and had three ribs and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth and thus they said to it arise devour much meat after this I kept looking and behold another one like a leopard which had on its back four wings of a bird the Beast also had four heads and Dominion was given to it after this I kept looking in the night visions and behold a fourth Beast Dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong and it had large iron teeth it devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet and it was different from all the beasts that were before it and it had 10 horns well I was was contemplating the horns behold another horn a little one came up among them and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it and behold this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts I kept looking until Thrones were set up and the Ancient of Days took his seat his vesture was like white snow and the hair of his head like pure wool his throne was a blaze with flames its Wheels were a burning fire a River of fire was flowing and coming out from before him thousands upon thousands were attending him and myriads upon myriads were standing before him the court sat and the books were opened then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful Words which the horn was speaking I kept looking until the Beast was slain and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire as for the rest of the beasts their Dominion was taken away but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period period of time kept looking in the night visions and behold with the Clouds Of Heaven one like a son of man was coming and he came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him and to him was given Dominion glory and a kingdom that all the peoples Nations and Men of every language might serve him his Dominion is Everlasting Dominion which will not pass away and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed as for me Daniel my spirit was distressed with in me and the Visions in my mind kept alarming me I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this so he told me and made know to me the interpretation of these things these great beasts which are four in number are Four Kings will arise from the Earth but the Saints of the highest one will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever for all ages to come then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth Beast which was different from all the others exceedingly Dreadful with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze and which devoured crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet and the meaning of the T horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell namely that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts which was larger in appearance than its associates I kept looking and that horn was Waging War with the Saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the Saints of the highest one and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the Kingdom thus he said the fourth Beast will be a fourth Kingdom on the earth which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it as for the 10 horns out of this Kingdom 10 Kings will arise and another will arise after them and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings he will speak out against the most high and wear down down the Saints of the highest one and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law and they will be given into a and his Dominion will be taken away annihilated and destroyed forever then the sovereignty the Dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the Saints of the highest one his kingdom will be an everlasting Kingdom and all the dominions will serve and Obey him at this point the Revelation Ended as for me Daniel my thoughts were greatly alarmed arming me and my face grew pale but I kept the matter to myself all right let’s observe this section in this night vision Daniel sees four beasts coming up out of the water the first is a winged lion whose wings are plucked off and who then stands on his hind legs and thinks like a man the second resembles a bear though it is raised up on one side and has three ribs in its teeth the three ribs tell the bear-like creature to devour much meat the third Beast appeared like a leopard with four wings on its back and four heads Dominion was given to this Beast the fourth Beast is not described in the likeness of any Earthly creature but notice what we do he about this Beast it is Dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong notice the repeated emphasis in those terms it has large iron teeth verse 19 tells us it has claws of bronze it devour s and crushes and tramples the remainder with its feet it’s different than all the other beasts and it has 10 horns Daniel also notices that another horn comes up between the 10 on this beast and uproots three of them becoming great in size this horn has the eyes of a man and the and a mouth uttering great boasts verse 21 says that the horn was Waging War with the Saints and overpowering them Daniel then sees the Glorious ancient of d days that’s a title for God taking his seat on a blazing throne with burning Wheels a river of fire comes forth from this Throne while myriads attend the Ancient of Days there’s also mention of a court and open books meanwhile the horn continues to boast until the terrifying Beast is slain its body is destroyed and given to the burning fire and verse 22 says the Ancient of Days comes and passes judgment in favor of the Saints of the highest one delivering them from the horn and giving the Saints possession of the Kingdom the rest of the beasts lose their Dominion but are granted life for an appointed period of time then Daniel sees one like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven and presenting himself before the Ancient of Days to this son of man is given Kingdom Glory and dominion over all peoples the kingdom is Everlasting and will never be destroyed Daniel then hears the interpretation the four beasts represent Four Kings arising or four Kings arising from the Earth but he also hears that an eternal Kingdom that the Eternal kingdom is the one that belongs to the Saints of the highest one Desiring to know more about the fourth Beast Daniel learns that the fourth Beast is a fourth Kingdom devouring the whole earth the 10 horns are 10 Kings the little horn is another king who comes later and subdues three kings this horn speaks against the most High Alters time and law wears down the Saints and who are the Saints are given into his hand for time times and half a time we could add this up to three and a half times a court will sit and will take away the Horn’s Dominion annihilate it and destroy it forever and then we hear again dominion and greatness will be given to the Saints of the highest one and their Kingdom will have complete dominion and will last forever and then notice the effects of all this on Daniel he’s greatly alarmed and his face grows pale all right we’ve made these observations trying to interpret you should notice a rough parallel between the vision in this chapter and the vision in Chapter 2 the head of gold that was Babylon is equivalent to the winged lion the silver torso and arms to the bear raised up on one side the bronze belly and thighs to the winged Leopard with four heads the iron legs to the last destructive Beast with the iron teeth the iron and Clay feet having 10 toes roughly correspond also to the last Beast with its 10 horns and its later little horn and just as the stone strikes the statue and fills the Earth in Chapter 2 so the burning Ancient of Days destroys the little horn destroys the Beast and gives Dominion to the Saints now if the winged lion is Babylon what is this about plucked Wings in the mind of a man now before we answer that question let’s note that something involving the mind of the king of Babylon takes place in Daniel 4 what happened to the king of Babylon yes right so in Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar he’s first warned but doesn’t heed the warning he becomes very prideful he boasts in his own ability to have generated the kingdom and all glory and then God says I’m going to drive you out from men make your mind like a beast and you’ll be in the the Wilderness for seven times or seven years and it’s only after that time that God gives him his mind back and he acknowledges all kingship comes from God God is the king of kings and he bestows the Kingdom on whomever he will and then Nebuchadnezzar is reinstalled as king and he receives Glory again so this would be in the background of Daniel 7 so the audience if you’re thinking okay this is Babylon what’s this whole thing about a mind being given to it probably refers back to Daniel 4 and what happened to Nebuchadnezzar now what do the three ribs represent the three ribs of the second beast that call out for Conquest maybe a little bit more difficult question we don’t have many Clues to help us interpret except that they call out for conquest and they’re in the of the bear so probably they represent Three Kings or three kingdoms that are destroyed by the bear so we can’t say too much about that Rob did you want to say something yeah uh we’ll get to what kingdom their bear represents but yeah what’s your question is that the only question okay yeah I I see we’re going to talk about Persia a little bit later on but just so that we have the understanding that Daniel’s audience would have understood from this passage and from Daniel 2 we couldn’t say the identity of this Kingdom we just know that it’s going to come after Babylon well I guess actually a little bit earlier in Daniel we do know that Persia comes next so it would make sense to say that this is Persia but we’ll get to the precise end of these kingdoms a little bit later anyways we have these ribs they probably represent conquered Kings or kingdoms we also learn extra information about the fourth fourth and maybe fifth Kingdom from Daniel from Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 a boastful ruler comes from this Kingdom who will blaspheme God and make war against the Saints or literally against the holy or the holy ones but this blasphemy and War are put to an end by God who gives complete and eternal Dominion to the son of man now in Old Testament terms who is the son of man well yes we know this to be the Messiah that’s what Christ means right this is the Messiah this is the coming king of Israel certainly they’d be connecting this term with that person and he’s given the kingdom and it’s never to end so we have these two different visions and in them God reveals there will be a succession of Earthly kingdoms culminating with their destruction and the removal of all dominions of men and the replacement of those dominions with the kingdom of God ruled by God’s Messiah and filled with God’s Saints now why would this message matter to the people to whom Daniel writes Exiles who have just returned or are just about to return to Israel why would this message matter to them what would they understand about themselves right God has not abandoned Israel he’s not done with Israel and this is something that we’ve emphasized in this quarter these different prophets are all making that theme known God’s not done with Israel you’ve been taken into Exile but God’s not done in fact everything is proceeding on schedule as it were everything’s unfolding according to plan there’s this Kingdom in that’s ruling now but then this other Kingdom will come then this other Kingdom will come but ultimately it’s God’s kingdom that will come it will subdue all the other kingdoms and God’s kingdom connected with Israel’s Kingdom will be on the earth and it will last forever this would be encouraging this would be um what’s the word this would be motivating to say ah I need to keep following after God I need to keep obeying him because his kingdom will come we haven’t lost the kingdom we’re still God’s people and the kingdom will come God is still going to Reign on the earth and he’s going to give the kingdom to the Saints to the holy ones and so if I continue to fall after the Lord I can be part of that Kingdom so this would encourage the people to to remain faithful to the Lord and to not feel like God had abandoned them God’s plan for Israel and for the world was proceeding on schedule now we alluded to this before but we should we could ask did Daniel know the precise identity of the coming kingdoms before the end well some of them he did he would have known that the second kingdom was Persia because he was alive when the Persians took over B Babylon as some of the earlier chapters of Daniel Tell Us Bel shazar he’s deposed and Darius comes in some people think Darius is another name for Cyrus there so he would have seen that in his lifetime but it’s not just from that Daniel 8 actually gives us more information I’ll just tell you a little bit about it Daniel 8 describes the next two kingdoms to succeed Babylon one kingdom is represented by a ram that has one horn bigger than the other and then the next Kingdom is represented by a goat that has one prominent horn which breaks and then is replaced by four horns what are these two kingdoms well God tells Daniel what you saw with the two horns represents the kings of midia and Persia the Shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king the broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his Nation although not with his power now this is a pretty clear and specific prophecy the next Kingdom to gain extensive Dominion after Babylon is the kingdom of media and Persia and then after them will be the Greeks but their Kingdom will be split into four so we can combine these three visions together we have Daniel 2 Daniel 7 and Daniel 8 the golden head is the winged lion which is Babylon the silver arms and chest is the lopsided bear which is the lopsided Ram which is media and Persia the bronze belly and thighs is the four-winged and four-headed leopard which is the goat which has one and then four horns which is Greece so these Visions build on one another they provide more specific information as the Visions go along so it’s like God established foundation in Daniel 2 but then revealed more to Daniel as time went on so how did all this play out historically did media and Persia really come next did Greece really come next did it really split into four kingdoms Daniel’s three visions were given approximately 604 to 550 BC so from Nebuchadnezzar’s Reign to belshazzar’s Reign then the MEO Persians under Cyrus conquered the Babylonians around 538 BC so they were indeed the next Kingdom and then the Greeks under Alexander conquered the MEO Persian Empire around 330 BC so this was the one prominent horn but Alexander soon died in 323 BC and his kingdom was split apart under his generals and governors who soon wared with each other for control now the specific breakdown of Alexander’s kingdom is debated in fact historically the political boundaries kept changing and certain Kings r or certain leaders Rose and fell or Allied or broke the alliances some people claimed that there were more than four primary successors to Alexander but the most common breakdown among biblical commentators is that there were four main kingdoms I’ll show you a map Macedonia pergamum Salia and P toic Egypt so Macedonia would be over here in this light green pergamum pergamum and th would be this orange section here here’s Salia this is kind of the big one emerges as the most powerful one the yellow over here on the right and then to make Egypt the blue down here those would be the the four kingdoms the four heads and the four horns referred to by D Daniel historians call these the dooki or the successor States that’s the Greek term comes from the Greek term for successors now who conquered the Greek kingdoms well from Daniel we wouldn’t know the identity of the kingdom it just says that another kingdom will come and it will be terrifying but historically the kingdom was Rome the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire was like nothing before it Rome completely shattered every Kingdom and Empire that bordered the Mediterranean Sea all the Greek kingdoms and many others were conquered and absorbed by the Romans by 30 BC and the Roman Empire lasted a long time if we consider that even when the city of Rome fell to barbarians that the Eastern Roman Empire continued to exist then the Empire the Roman Empire lasted until 1453 a so 1500 years after they had almost complete Dominion of the Mediterranean it was the Muslim ottoman Turks who officially ended the Roman Empire in 1453 when they took over Constantinople which was renamed isul so we do see historically how this is played out but what about the feet of iron mixed with Clay the 10 horns and the kingdom of the Blasphemous little horn have we seen this part fulfilled historically well there are a lot of opinions on this certainly we’ve seen something like it someone who fulfills other parts of Daniel 8 which we didn’t look at but which sounds similar to what we read in Daniel 7 one of the latter saluca Kings and tius I fourth epiphanies did exalt himself to Divine status he forbid sacrificing Israel he confiscated and burned all copies of Israel’s law that he could find and he defiled the temple he basically tried to force Greek culture and Greek religion on the Jews an tius provoked to revolt by doing this the maban Revolt of 167 BC which was successful and established a new Jewish State Jewish state in Israel in BC this Jewish State continued to expand until it was beset by Civil Wars and made a client Kingdom of Rome in 63 BC so that’s why when the Jews talk about the New Testament we we’re independent we’ve never been under subjection to anybody and in a way they’re true they were a kingdom under Rome they were a client Kingdom so we have intus the 4th epiphanies and we also have various Roman emperors later who exalted themselves to be Godlike or Divine and they too persecuted Jews and Christians and even sought to take away their scriptures but have we seen the total fulfillment of this Vision that the the toes the iron and Clay Toes or the the horn that exalted itself it was destroyed by God and replaced with the Messianic Kingdom well certainly we’ve never seen that we’ve never seen the final Blasphemous King removed and then the Everlasting Dominion set up in its place so therefore we must conclude that part of Daniel’s Visions have not yet been fulfilled perhaps similar sounding section in Daniel 8 or Daniel 11 have been fulfilled by Antiochus or maybe Roman Emperor I don’t think we’ve seen everything and yet this should not be that surprising to us because as we’ve gone along today you probably notice that a lot of the language that we read in Daniel is connected with or appears again in the final book of the Bible the Apostle John’s Revelation so we don’t really have time to explore those points but that’s something for us to keep in the back of our minds now again what is the point of all these Visions to Daniel and through him to the Jewish Exiles all it is to reiterate to God’s people that God is in control and that his plans are being worked out among the Nations and that the future establishment of Messiah the future establishment of messiah’s perfectly powerful and just Kingdom on the earth will come to pass the other kingdoms came as God foretold so will christs so will the Messiahs so will the one belonging to the Saints and in that day God’s persecuted holy ones will be Vindicated while Those who commit evil will be judged and destroyed questions or comments about what we’ve heard today yeah Rob that’s a really good question Rob is one of the kings of the ten horns alive today or has that played out historically can we identify 10 Kings I’m sure there’s a lot of debate about that I don’t know if there’s a clear answer to that question I know that certainly there’s Connection in Revelation you may remember the beast in Revelation is also said to have 10 horns and I think an extra horn so it is connected with the end it is connected with the last Kingdom on the earth I doubt whether then we’ve seen or are seeing those 10 horns right now but certainly they are connected with the with the end of the the end of the Earthly kingdoms that’s a good question any other questions yes okay thanks for mentioning that bill so you mentioned that at the end of the Roman Empire Matthew Henry says that it broke down into 10 different kingdoms and that these kingdoms were iron and Clay because there was intermarriage and the kingdom became weaker through that intermarriage even though it was trying to become stronger it is interesting that there does I was thinking a little bit about the the end of the Western Roman Empire anyways where there is an increasing sometimes called barbarization or germanization of the Roman Empire where people outside the Empire are being brought in giving positions of prominence or being allowed to settle into the Empire but did the Roman Empire really break down into 10 kingdoms and we’re only talking about the Western Roman Empire I mean the Eastern Roman Empire which called itself the Roman Empire and in a sense was the Roman Empire even though they eventually started speaking Greek and not Latin it lasted until 1453 so so I don’t know if 476 and the fall of the Western Roman Empire really fits into the into the mold given to us by Daniel now there are plenty of people who will say okay we have a near fulfillment and we have a far fulfillment that’s that’s something that we see with the number of Old Testament passages that’s a way that people will interpret just like we saw with Isaiah 7 when it comes to the prophecy of the Virgin birth they say was this about um Isaiah’s son in the days of that king of Israel or was it about the Messiah many years later well many people would say it’s about both there’s the near fulfillment and there’s the far fulfillment my personal view is that I’m very hesitant to call something a near fulfillment unless it perfectly fulfills whatever the prophecy said this is actually something emphasized to me in one of my Seminary classes I’m actually taking one on the second half of the Old Testament right now and my professor has made the point of saying a specific fulfillment needs to be totally fulfilled if it’s actually fulfilled there is a concept of foreshadowing what we might call typology types where God Appears to fulfill something like the prophecy or it seems to allow something like the prophecy to happen or where I think what we have in Isaiah where in Isaiah 7 and 8 where you have the one prophecy given about the Messiah and then in isaah Isaiah 8 you have a similar sounding prophecy that is not given about the Messiah but it’s given for Isaiah’s own day I think we do have that where that similar sounding prophecy is totally fulfilled but the original is not I would stop short of saying there’s a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment I would say there is something that looks that foreshadows the far fulfillment the actual fulfillment of the prophecy um but that that prophecy isn’t actually fulfilled until everything that it says everything that the the prophecy is given and the details of that prophecy are fulfilled by by one who is to come now I recognize there’s a lot of debate about that but that’s that’s my view other questions yes in the back H far back yeah Steve right um I think that’s okay just repeat your comment so if there’s a near fulfillment and a fulfillment that might be confusing to the people today because if they see the near one then they won’t be expecting another one right uh I I think that’s what you’re getting at and I I I I agree I think that’s why I don’t want to use the term fulfillment I think we want to pay close attention to the specifics of the prophecies and if one prophecy says certain things and those are fulfilled then yes that’s fulfilled that’s a near fulfillment but if there’s another prophecy that sounds like it and that’s not totally f fulfilled then time would have prevented confusion as to what was fulfilled and what wasn’t fulfilled because certainly that would be that would raise some questions about the communication abilities of God if he said on the one hand all right there’s this prophecy that’s going to happen and it’s totally fulfilled but then later on he’s like no no no no it wasn’t totally fulfilled even though you you thought it was all fulfilled and you saw all the specifics of that it wasn’t totally fulfilled I think that would be confusing so that’s why I’m trying to make the distinction between what is actually fulfilled and what just foreshadows or looks like the actual fulfillment but that’s a good point you ra Steve there was another hand yes yeah let me let me try and say something uh you’re asking about what about the toes and what exactly they mean eschatologically what what can we discern about this final Kingdom and is it a Federation of 10 states or there’s a lot we don’t know about this certainly I the reason I pointed out that there are 10 toes is because I think it connects with the 10 horns of Daniel 7 and that connects with the 10 horns we see of the final beast in Revelation and even in Revelation it talks about it being I believe 10 Kings and they give their power to the Beast now what precisely is the nature of their Federation why is it that they’re said to adhere and yet not adhere to one another I don’t know if we can really say I do know that we should really be cautious against what’s sometimes called newspaper ex aesus where we’re looking at present historical events and being like aha here it is this is here’s the T Toes or the European Union is the T Toes or um you know the Muslims they’re they’re the final Kingdom that’s going to be D or you know um not the Muslims but Islamic State or some sort of Arabic Empire or Muslim empire is the is the one that’s going to be destroyed by the uncut Stone there have been plenty of people who’ tried to do that in the past and they’ve been wrong we I don’t know if we have enough evidence to really say could the tent toes and the iron mixed with Clay represent a revived Roman Empire of some kind I think there’s some possibility of that because there’s not that much distinction between the fourth Kingdom the iron Kingdom which appears to be historically Rome and the fifth Kingdom or maybe a continuation of the the fourth Kingdom the iron mixed with Clay I think it’s significant that Daniel 7 doesn’t give five beasts it gives four beasts and the fourth one has a little horn that comes out of it and and it’s connected with it seems to be connected with whatever the previous Empire was represented by that fourth Beast so all that to say I don’t know if we can say with great certainty the nature of this last Kingdom except that it will be it will have great Dominion it will have terrifying power and it will have a Blasphemous ruler and we can fill in some of those details with what we see in Revelation one thing that you may have noticed and I do think this is interesting is that the description of the four beasts in Daniel 7 they are all part of the beast in Revelation 13 so whenever John sees the Beast coming up out of the sea he notices that it has the body of a leopard the feet of a bear I can’t remember if it was the head or the tail of a lion or something like that and then I think it has various horns and those are the three animals that are used in Daniel to describe the success of Kingdoms what is the significance of that not entirely sure but it does sound like the final Kingdom represented by the beast in Revelation either has the uh the strengths of all the previous kingdoms or is like the culmination of every Earthly Kingdom whatever great Earthly kingdom was there on the earth which Daniel has told us about the final kingdom is going to be the culmination of that so certainly lots lots here that we could look more into other questions yeah yeah yeah that is interesting though we should note that the revived Jewish state after the mban Revolt did have a decent amount of power they started from their small little nucleus around Jerusalem and they they conquered most of what was traditionally their land they conquered the northern region Samaria they conquered Edom to the South that’s how the adians or the kind of got brought into to Israel and they conquer a little bit to the uh I guess from your view conquered a little bit to the east they did reestablish a kingdom that was the What’s called the hasoni dynasty but even that did not last it comes under the uh the Dominion of Rome and eventually Rome has to take it away and the biblical writers have stressed or definitely stressed the the greatness of Solomon’s kingdom Solomon’s time and a little bit also David’s time and those sound a little bit like the Fulfillment of the promises that God had previously given to Israel about there being blessed and being a um being a light to the Nations and and drawing people from Over the Earth from all over the Earth we did see that to a limit a limited extent but it didn’t last and we didn’t see it to the full extent which I think ties back into our discussion about near and far fulfillment or foreshadowing and actual fulfillment because we do see something like what God promised Israel in the reign of Solomon and yet it wasn’t it it’s just a a step towards or a foreshadowing of the final Kingdom that is described in Daniel that is described in Isaiah that is described in Jeremiah and Micah the kingdom of Messiah that will come and that will have total Dominion of the earth that will put the knowledge and the law of God everywhere but more importantly and strikingly will result in the Forgiveness of sins so that was foreshadowed but the ultimate fulfillment has not yet come all right any maybe one more question or comment okay if you think of anything else you can always email me I know that when you talk about Daniel you can always definitely generate a lot of questions but God gave us to us to understand he gave it to us to reveal Mysteries I I feel pain in my heart when people say oh you know prophecies about the future you can’t really understand them they’re all they’re all confusing well I recognize there’s there’s some difficulties with understanding prophecies about the future and yet Daniel 2 has made known to us that God is the revealer of mysteries he’s made known the secret things he’s giving wisdom so that would be silly for God to say actually Isaiah says something similar God is the one who makes the matter makes the future known before it happens that’s what makes him so amazing but that’d be kind of silly if we said all that about God and then be like oh you can’t understand it it’s incomprehensible no God gave it to us to to benefit us and so that we can understand it can be difficult to understand but it’s given for us to understand so we have some hope there as we consider some application for today here are just some questions to get you started these this is not exhausted but certain things for you to think about number one when you consider your life or the world circumstances especially with new president things happening in the world do you take comfort in God’s control I heard someone say recently things are never truly falling apart they are actually falling into place and that’s true when you consider God’s sovereignty so do you meditate on the sure coming of messiah’s kingdom does that give you comfort does that motivate you to your obedience each day it was meant to motivate Israel is meant to give them hope do you take the same hope for yourself number two are you one of the most highest holy Ones Will you indeed receive the kingdom or will you be cast out of it and judged with the kingdoms of the Earth because only those who have recognized their own sinfulness who have repented have believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior have citizenship in messiah’s Kingdom so have you have those you know made peace with the Messiah number three God emphasizes in Daniel again and again that God is The Giver of wisdom and the revealer of mysteries are you thankful that God has revealed his Mysteries to you through his word we could not discover this on our owns there’s no innate wisdom in us our wisdom is received by God just as it was by Daniel do you take advantage of this do you diligently study and apply the word or do you take God’s revelation lightly preferring your own wisdom and the wisdom of the the world or do you even slander God’s word by calling it or treating it as unnecessary incomprehensible or downright deceptive may we like Daniel bless the Lord for revealing his wisdom to us and apply it into our lives that’s it for today next week we’re back in the book of Ezra and we’ll see just what happened in the years after zerubabel and the first holy generation let’s close in prayer God we thank you for this word you have amazingly made known to us the future as you made it known to Daniel as you made it known to the people of Israel going back into the land God we know what’s going to happen and you’ve made it even clearer not just from the succeeding revelations in Daniel but in what your son declared while he was on the earth and in what the apostles declared and especially what John declared we know what’s going to happen we don’t have to be ignorant we don’t have to be fearful we know that though Injustice and evil increases it will be put to an end Lord Jesus you will come you will establish Your Kingdom on the earth and your Saints will be brought into it and they will rule and reign with you thank you Lord Jesus for giving us such an inheritance for drawing us into your kingdom for delivering Us From Slavery to sin and from wrath Lord God I pray that you would cause us to persevere for the sake of your kingdom and light of your kingdom thinking about it and looking to be faithful to you until you come in Jesus name amen

February 12, 2017
God Protects

Answers Bible Curriculum Year 2 Quarter 4 Lesson 4

This week in Sunday school, we’re back in the book of Daniel and examining the accounts of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace and Daniel and the lion’s den. Why did Daniel record these happenings? Why did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego admit that God might not choose to save them? What lessons were the Jews at that time and we today to learn?

Our texts for this lesson will be Daniel 3:1-30 and Daniel 6:1-28.

Auto Transcript

Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

Clarence’s Bible curriculum and we’re in the Book of Daniel today we’re in Lesson four of our quarters theme gone protects and restores and today’s lesson you all if you just speak loudly without a special Mike being passed around which is great because it means we can talk a little bit more we can interact a little bit more so before we talk about today’s lesson let’s talk about what we discussed last week last week we looked at Jeremiah 31 and God’s proclamation of a future new covenant we saw last week that unlike the Old Covenant given given to Israel through the law at Mount Sinai the New Covenant would be unconditional God unilaterally would restore Israel’s prosperity would change the hearts of his people and forgiveness people for their sins as you will do nothing to merit these promises and could do nothing to lose them we explore some of the implications of that covenant as well as our place as Christians and as even for many of us as Gentiles in the new car but there’s one thing we didn’t get to talk about last week and I didn’t want to mention it this morning before we move on we actually had this question when we were talking about the New Covenant and the Old Covenant if the Old Covenant was always meant to point people to their need for the new covenant then how have people saved under the Old Covenant well if we mean who was saved through the Old Covenant well the answer is nobody because the Old Covenant Mosaic Covenant can’t do that all I can do is point out sin it can give knowledge of sin that’s its purpose it can’t provide salvation so no one was ever saved through the Old Covenant but if we mean who was saved during the time of the Old Covenant oh then plenty of people Moses David Joshua Rey half of IJ neba name in the Syrian many others they were saved in the time of the Old Covenant well how are these people saved if it wasn’t through the Old Covenant well they were saved not not by the law but by the same means that you and I are saved salvation by faith in God and faith in God’s provision for sin because think about it whenever the New Testament talks about or no let me say it this way in the New Testament we have a number of writers Paul the writer of Hebrews and James they all point to the Old Testament for the example of salvation by faith and to whom do they point as the father of all those who believe by faith Abraham that’s right and was Abraham ever under the Mosaic Covenant now it was before Mosaic Covenant yet Abraham was clearly saved and counted righteous and this is what Genesis says Genesis 15 five and six and God took Abram outside and said now look toward the heavens and count the stars and count the stars if you were able to count them and he said to him social your descendants be then he that’s abraham believed in the Lord believed in the hallway and he reckoned it to him as righteousness he believed and was counted wrenches now did abraham believed on his own or did God cause abraham to believe that’s right God is the one who gave him the fate now doesn’t say that explicitly there but we know are in Genesis but we know that from the other scriptures so Abraham was saved just as those in the new continent were safe and as as were and are all the Saints before and after Abraham their salvation was unconditionally fulfilled as God gave them new hearts to believe in him to love his law and to trust him that God would do what was necessary to take care of sin so they didn’t have all the specifics of how God was going to take care of soon but they knew that God was going to make atonement and provide forgiveness and that was in the details of that were includes to increasingly revealed in the Old Testament and we have the full revelation as New Testament believers for Old Testament Saints that the Mosaic Covenant was also meant to show them their sin and inability to meet God standard so that they might cry out to God for mercy and believe in him to provide so the law function for them the same way that it functions for us in terms of salvation it was to point them to their need for God’s mercy apart from anything that they can do we actually see this um receive this vividly played out in one of the songs in Psalm 19 you may remember Psalm 19 that’s the one is um all right now I think talked about in the past Psalm 19 begins with David acknowledging that God reveals his glory in creation and then how God reveals his goodness is holiness and his wisdom in the law and remember the Old Covenant stipulations are contained in the law the law of Moses he talks about how wonderful God’s law is what is able to do for a person but what does David’s reaction all of that looking at creation looking at the law does he say I look there your law so great don’t worry I’m gonna keep the whole thing I’ll perfectly keep the law no worries God is that what Davis reaction is now that’s not this is what David says Psalm 19 verses 12 to 14 right after looking at the law and talking about how great God is for the law and how great the law is he says who can discern his errors acquit me of hidden faults also keep back your servant from presumptuous sins let them not rule over me then I will be blameless and I shall be acquitted of great transgression let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight the Lord my rock and my Redeemer so David was telling god I know I cannot and do not perfectly keep your law I am sins I don’t even know about so please have mercy on me I need you to UM I need you to be my Redeemer I need you to make me acceptable in your sight and you can look at other songs to where David is asking god I need you to cleanse me and if you cleanse me I know I’ll be clean so David and the rest you Old Testament Saints they didn’t know exactly how God would accomplish acquittal their sins but they knew that he would and they had this the picture of that in the Old Testament sacrificial system therefore the Old Testament Saints were confident that when they died they would be with God and we also hear testimony of that from Joe Jobe 19 verses 25 to 26 joke says asks for me I know that my redeemer lives and at the last he will take a stand on the earth even after my skin is destroyed yet from my flesh I shall see God so in summary salvation has always been given by grace through faith so that those who believed in the Lord or accounted righteous and had assurance of eternal life it was this way in the Old Testament before Moses in the Old Testament after Moses and it still is today now another question may rise on top of that discussion if salvation has always been accomplished in a way that’s similar or part of the new covenant then how is the new covenant new how’s the new covenant new and Jeremiah whoa there are at least two ways one is its new because the means of salvation in the New Covenant had never been or means of salvation before the New Covenant had never been revealed but it is fully revealed one the one who inaugurates the new covenant who actually mediates the new covenant arrives that’s Jesus right Jesus Christ and we see his work in the New Covenant his blood being shed his sacrifice being made on the cross the revelation of Jesus and his work was never in the Old Covenant or in the Old Testament it was going to be something new that would come so even though people works were benefiting from the effects of the New Covenant before it arrived the one who actually brings the New Covenant validates New Covenant mediates new continent that was yet to come and so in essence that would be very new but there’s something else that’s also very new about the new covenant and that is that it’s a salvation covenant made with all Israel God made a covenant with all Israel before the Old Covenant the mosaic coming those not of coming into salvation I was a covenant that says if you obey me I’ll bless you and you disobey me al kursi there was no guarantee of salvation for everybody in that cup but in the New Covenant God tells Israel and Judah I’m going to change all of your hearts and the hearts of your descendants this is something that never happened before with Israel and other people would be part of that that promise but specifically the newness of the Covenant is that would be a new experience for all Israel those are at least two of the ways questions about what I’ve just shared or about what we talked about last week all right here a question yeah I think I heard mostly what you said um is that steep who is that wait who wasn’t it okay I thought I thought that was your voice but I couldn’t see the form yeah I totally agree the gospel will certainly declared in the Old Testament and that’s why we can say that our that’s one of the reasons what we can say salvation has always been by fate and I think you’re right the point now Steve that one of the New Testament verses you can sense that the gospel was preached to a ram so yeah definitely any other questions about last week’s lesson okay well as we transition from what we learned last week to what we’re going to learn about today I want you dad think about some questions the Guinness ready for today’s lesson the questions are these think of the last time that you were tested by trials persecution or the prospect of future hardship how did you respond in that time did you trust God and proceed in obedience or did you yield to sin were you happy and confident worry anger minds in the moment of testing did you flee from the opportunity to make God’s worth known or did your obedience chime as a light to the world I ask these questions because what we’re going to look at today in our Sunday School class are two other examples of God sovereignly providing for and as you know from the email or other sources what we’re going to be talking about today these are well-known accounts these are well-known account to the Bible yet I fear my concern is that we have not really learned what we ought to from that you know that the scriptures are designed to change us we are responsible to here to meditate on and to implement God’s truth in our lives and so even for the well-known stories accounts that needs to be true and may God make that true this morning what precisely are we looking at today here’s our outline we’re going to hear what God did when Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a furnace to die rossman hear what God did when Daniel was thrown into a Lions pit to be killed and then we’re going to come back and consider application for ourselves let’s pray before we go on Great God Yahweh hello and I pray that you would help me to be able to explain your word this morning help us give it understand it lord I pray that you would provide for this whole Sunday School lesson with his technical aspects but also just fee for the explanation and understanding of your word okay low that we would be changed we’d be encouraged that we’d be emboldened that we would say with the psalmist we will not fear because you are with us do your work this morning o spirit and I pray that if we need to repent of sin that you would accomplish that but also we need to be encouraged we need to put habits of righteousness into our lives that you’d be doing that also in jesus name amen okay please open your Bibles to Daniel three Daniel three is where we start today we’re going to read this entire chapter four do let’s remind ourselves in the historical situation at this point I remember we’re back idanian we’ve been in Daniel before at this point at least part of Judah is an exile not sure how much time has gone gone gone I sense Daniel one but at least part of Israel’s in exile Judah rather Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah they’re the ones we met in Daniel already they came with the first wave of captives around 60 70 605 BC they lived as faithful Jews despite the pressures to compromise and God bless these for Judy and young men with wisdom and success so that they were placed into positions of power and prominence and Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom now Daniel to which we didn’t talk about but just I’m going to summarize God gave Daniel understanding of one of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams let me commit Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a segmented statue was made of different pieces of metal and this statue was crushed by an uncut stone Daniel explained that the different segments of this statute represented a succession of world kingdoms culminating with the kingdom of God now if you know for this statue the head was of gold what did the head of gold represent it’s right it was the the kingdom or the Empire of Babylon the head of gold was Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar being the ruler of Babylon now I’m never kid about it Nebuchadnezzar was amazed and pleased with Daniel’s explanation and he was so pleased that he promoted Daniel and honored Daniel’s God and the event at Daniel’s request promoted Daniel’s companions Hananiah Mishael and Azariah two positions there are two high positions with an ax so that’s in the backdrop of chapter 3 let’s not read chapter 3 this is page 884 if you’re using the few Bible so Daniel 3 we’re going to read the whole chapter please follow along as I read Nebuchadnezzar the King made an image of gold the height of which was 60 cubits and it’s with six cubits he set it up on the plane of Dora in the province of Babylon then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent word to assemble the SAT traps the prefix and the governor’s the counselors the treasurer’s the judges the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the King had set up then the sad traps the prefex and the governor’s the counselors the treasurer’s the judges the magistrates and all the rulers of the provinces were assembled for the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the King has set up and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar has that hot then the herald loudly proclaimed to you the command is given o peoples nations and men of every language that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn flute liar trigons sultry bagpipe and all kinds of music you want to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the King has set up but whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire therefore at the time when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn flute liar trying and sultry bagpipe and all kinds of music all the peoples nations and men of every language fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the King had set up for this reason at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews they responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the King Oh King live forever you O king I’ve made a decree that every man who hears the sound of the horns Newt lata try and sultry and bagpipe in all kinds of music is to fall down and worship the golden image but whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast in the midst of a furnace of blazing fire there are certain Jews who you have appointed over the administration in the province of Babylon namely Shadrach Meshach and Abednego is that the other names given to the man we mentioned earlier these men OU qing have disregarded you they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up and Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach Meshach and Abednego then these men were brought before the King Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them is it true Shadrach Meshach and Abednego that you do not serve my god or oh my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up now if you are ready at the moment you hear the sound of the horn flute liar trigons sultry and bagpipe and all kinds of music to fall down a worship the image that I had made very well but if you do not worship you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire and what God is there who can deliver you out of my hands Shadrach Meshach and Abednego replied to the king oh never can either we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter it could be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and he will deliver us out of your hand ok but even if he does not let it be mailed to you O king that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath and his facial expression was altered towards Shadrach Meshach and Abednego he answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated he commanded certain guyot warriors who were in the army to tie up Shadrach Meshach and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire and these men were tied up in their trousers their coats their caps and their other clothes and they were cast into the midst of furnace of blazing fire for this reason because the commands king’s command was urgent and the furnace has had been made extremely hot the flame of the fire slew those men who carried out Shadrach Meshach and Abednego but these three men Shadrach Meshach and Abednego fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste he said to his high officials was it not three men we cast into the midst of the fire it replied to the king certainly O king he said look I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods the nemah cleanser came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire he responded and said Shadrach Meshach and Abednego come out you servants of the Most High God and come here then Shadrach Meshach and Abednego came out of the midst of the fire the sand traps the prefex the governors and the Kings high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their heads singed Lord were their trousers damaged new had the smell of fire even come upon him Nebuchadnezzar responded and said blessed be the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who put their trust in him violating the king’s command and yielding up their body so as not to serve a worship any God except their own God therefore I make a decree then any people nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb and their house is reduced to a rubbish heap and as much as there is no other God who was able to deliver in this way and then the king called Shadrach Meshach and Abednego to prosper in the province of Babylon alright just an amazing account let’s observe and start our analysis the text with observations back at the beginning notice that Nebuchadnezzar built a great statue of gold this statue is 60 by six cubits remember qubit is about 18 inches long there’s some variations of that measurement but we’re looking roughly at a 90 foot tall and a 9 foot wide statue that’s about depending on what you consider a story six to nine stories high this is a huge statute work even though the description of that statue subject or appearance we don’t know what it depicted we don’t know how exactly it looked we know it was dig and we know it was old notice who Nebuchadnezzar summons to the statute all his governors his rulers and administrators that’s what the term sand traps and prefix means there are different types of governors and administrators and notice why he invites them they are attending the dedication tending the dedication of the statue and they are too when the music plays bow down and worship the statue I just say later on that he refers to all peoples and tongues and they’re all to bow down so there may have been some other people who weren’t the officials and governors but specifically it was the administrators who were invited and they were the ones who were commanded are and then they were the ones that are specifically commanded to do certain things now notice all the instruments mentioned actually I think a little bit funny that it’s mentioned four times every every single specific instrument well it’s quite the worship band in case you’re not from there the liar the try again and the psaltery they’re different types of stringed instruments they’re similar to hearts so all these instruments are going to play and they’re going to make music and everyone’s posted back and there’s the penalty for failing to bow and worship the golden image I’m burning in a fiery furnace you’re going to be casting me thrown into this fiery furnace by the way bowing down on worshipping the statute we would have violated which of the Ten Commandments I think I heard something certainly the first and the second hi you have no other gods before me and you shall not make a graven image to bow down to it so this would certainly be a violation of the law has given by God for Annie Jew or any really any person to do this now notice how Nebuchadnezzar learned that the three Judeans did not mount they’re not bowing certain Chaldeans accused them before the King notice the King’s response he’s enraged though he gives the three second chance to explain themselves and bow down like he ordered he warns the trio that failure will result in their deaths by fire even adding what God is there that is able to deliver you from my hand and notice the point in response of the three Jewish men Shadrach Meshach and Abednego first they say we need not give you an answer that is we don’t need to defend our actions make excuses or reconsider our position second they say our God is able to deliver us you say no God is able to rescue us we know that our God can third they say God will deliver us from your head and I just have to fill up the sliding in God will deliver us from your hand but then they say fourthly even if God doesn’t we will not serve your gods or bow to your attention mr. Kings response here even greater fury Daniel tells us that the Kings face was altered because rage was very visible no more mr. nice guy now you’re going to get the face of wrath they not only disobeyed the king’s command in front of everyone which was enough to enrage in Ebenezer but they also balked at the Kings gracious opportunity to reconsider so he was enraged and he orders the furnace to be made seven times hotter and he picks valiant warriors from his army to tie up a tie up to three in their coats caps and clothing and then throw them into the furnace everything is happening so fast and the fire is so hot that the warriors that are throwing in Shadrach Meshach and Abednego are killed by the fire the heat and flames kill these warriors and meanwhile Shadrach Meshach and Abednego are thrown in with the bindings still on them but then notice what astounds Nebuchadnezzar though three were cast in he sees four inside the furnace and they’re walking around and they’re unharmed and the fourth one looks like a son of the gods now some translations say the son of God but probably the better sense is a son of the gods never kinesiology is probably not monotheistic Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar commands the three to come out to him but notice how he tells them to come out he says come out you servants of the Most High God all the governors and officials gather around to see these men come out and notice what they observe the fires had no effect on the men’s bodies their hair or their clothing they don’t even smell like fire the only thing that burned when they were casting were the bindings that were put on apparently cuz they no longer happen and then notice Nebuchadnezzar’s further reaction he blesses their God and He commands their behavior how they yielded up their bodies to be were to be burned rather than worship any God except their own they know just that they trusted in their god they entrusted themselves to Yahweh Nebuchadnezzar then decrees that anyone speaking against this God will be torn apart and have his house destroyed and notice the new declaration that King gives about this guy he says there is no other God who is able to deliver in this way alright now that we’ve made these observations let’s interpret why didn’t Emma can either build a golden statue and somebody answered nice and loudly you say that again it probably has to do with a dream now again we can’t say for sure because the text doesn’t tell us explicitly but we do know that the context of this passage is chapter 2 where Nebuchadnezzar was told you are the head of gold your kingdom is the head of gold o gold I mean he’s had this dream of a statue and I god I’m thinking I’d like to make a golden statue of myself that’s probably why but we can’t say for sure what did the statue probably depict of what was the statue representing probably Nebuchadnezzar himself again were not told well make we can make this inference I think because of the dream and because that was a that was a human-looking statue before and the head of gold represented Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar so probably a statue of himself based on this passage before we see God’s deliverance how would we describe Nebuchadnezzar to view of themselves I’m considered again oh very inflated view yes he he sees himself on the level of the gods who is able to oppose me what God is able to deliver you out of my hands you need the worship the statue that I’ve set up because I’m so great he has a very high view of himself he believes himself to be supreme in power and worthy of worship or at least worthy of being obeyed now why actually i’m going to skip that question and never condenser wanted to show himself and his gods to be great he want to do that before his officials and maybe some of the regular people who were there but what is the unexpected results of this dedication service you you that’s certainly true he sees that there is some resistance to his plan to exalt himself and exalts his gods but think about how all of this ends does the end up exalting his gods no he doesn’t exalt his gods but he exalts Yahweh he himself is giving testimony I mean God gives testimony based on what God does but then Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges it he says is Scott there is no one like this guy no one is able to rescue like this guy so this dedication service turns out to do the total opposite of what Nebuchadnezzar intended but that’s gone giving himself the glory now why did certain Chaldeans report the Jews for not bowing we’re not told specifically but considering the rapid rise of these three Judeans considering the fact that they believe in a totally different religious system and come from a different culture this is probably motivated by envy this is probably people once to see these three lose their position get in trouble and maybe ingratiate themselves more than to kinetic get we’re not told specifically but that certainly makes sense and we know that’s what’s going to happen later on with Daniel regarding his position now thinking about the trio’s response to the Kings rebuke the three said that they believe God would deliver that but even if God didn’t they still wouldn’t bow down now by saying these two things did the three demonstrate true faith in God or does there if not reveal that they actually were doubting God at least somewhat I would say the same thing yes they did show true faith because we have a commendation given to them in the New Testament if you’re familiar with Hebrews 11 that is a section of Hebrews that just details how different people manifested faith in the Old Testament showing that salvation has always been by faith righteousness has always been obtained by faith and what does it say regarding Shadrach Meshach and Abednego let me be part of it to you Hebrews 11 32 to 34 and what more shall I say but time will fail me if I tell of Gideon barracks Tamsin Jeptha of David and Samuel Samuel and the prophets who by faith conquered kingdoms performed acts of righteousness obtained promises shut the mouths of lions talk about that a little bit later quench the power of fire escape the edge of the sword from weakness were made strong became my name war put foreign armies to flight so it kind of said only quickly there but the New Testament affirms that these men were acting by faith it was a Dem demonstrable worthy of being imitated fake well I just one second okay so if it means hasn’t affirms that they were strong and faith if their faith was worthy being imitated then how should we view their admission that God might not choose to sink that yes they they did have faith that God was going to do good that God was going to accomplish whatever he wanted they were acknowledging that God is sovereign and then they couldn’t they didn’t know what God and His sovereignty was going to do they knew that God was going to somehow take care of them but they didn’t know if it was going to be by protecting their lives or just by resurrecting men after they die by bringing them into his presence because remember we were talking before about how even though they didn’t know everything about or they don’t necessarily have all the details about having that the New Testament believers did they certainly knew that they were going to be with God after they died so they knew that if they followed Gaga was going to preserve them reward them even for method they were going to die and they did not know they knew God could deliver them that he could miraculously save them but they didn’t know if he was going to so with Ivan faith an admission of not knowing god’s sovereign will those things they still go together one way or the other they knew God would keep his promises to them to them and they were made themselves ready for either outcome they made themselves ready for whatever God’s going to you I think there’s a valuable principle for us here in what Shadrach Meshach and Abednego do we sometimes I think get hung up when the new testament sorts us to when we pray believe that we will receive what we have asked and if we are asking according to God’s promises then we ought to do that God always keeps his promises so if we’re praying on the basis of a promise then we there should be no doubt we should believe that God will give us what he has pledged if you ask God to provide for you believe that he will because he’s promised to do that there’s no you can’t say to yourself well I don’t really know what god I’m going to do no God has already promised to provide for you so you can’t believe that there’s no reason to doubt would be wicked for you to doubt or if you um if you ask God to save you cleanse you from your sins if you actually repense you can believe that God actually does that because God’s promise to do that right he says on all those who come to me I will not cast out he says that he does not refuse the broken and contrite heart so if we are coming to God on the basis of his promise then we ought to believe him without doubting those are specific promises given to us by God but what about when we ask for things that were not specifically promised by God maybe some of the details of how God is going to provide we do pray these types of things God please heal this cancer God please save this family member God please give me this job I really need it now there’s no guarantee that God will give us those things we need to be like a Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and let God hath his way those are worthy things to pray for they’re not wrong things to pray for and we know that whatever God’s answer is it’s going to be in accordance with his promises so sometimes it is to give us exactly what we asked but we must let God have his way we are to come to God in prayer and to act in our lives in a way that shows we believe God’s promises but we are not to presume on God this is not the name it claim it sort of faith that some articulate if you just pray and believe that God will do something then he’s obligated to do that no it’s not really the way it works I think Shadrach Meshach and Abednego are an example of that but like them like the history Jews when we act or pray according to our belief in God we are acknowledging God and we know you are able to do this now we’re not doubting that but if this is what you don’t choose to do we’re going to remain obedience we’re going to remain obedient whether you choose to do this or not because if you’re not going to do what what we pray for if you’re not going to do according to what we believe you would do or believe you could do we know that you’ve got something else another question why does why do we get all these details about the fires temperature the Warriors being killed who cast them in the fact that the trio emerged unbound and the complete lack of effect of the fire on the bodies and clothing of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego why do we get those details say that again please yeah the is a supernatural Display of power here and a power that was obviously greater than even Nebuchadnezzar zone I mean what it what a very specific control of the fire on the one hand that people throwing them in our kill because it’s so hot so it’s not like this fire was not not burning or something like that also their bindings are burned in the fire so the fire does burn and yet they are not harmed or affected in their clothing and body at all it’s like an extremely selective in detail control over what this fire does even seven times heated which was a manifestation of Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath I’m not going to make you burn I’m gonna make you burn but God says no you’re not because I have the control not you and God preserves them so this is a definite demonstration of God’s power over any human power and even over the natural world now who is the one who would look like a son of the gods now some translations like I said say the son of god is this the son of God cannot say for sure certainly as a Nebuchadnezzar says this is some one from God he says an angel from Yahweh came and protected these men and it could be the angel of the Lord remember we’ve talked about in previous lessons the angel of the Lord is the son of god it’s the pre Incarnate Christ is Jesus a lot of people i think favor in the interpretation that this is actually the son of god with him in the fire we can’t say that for sure but even if it’s just an angel this was still a personal act of power and care from God he’s not only going to save these three men but he’s going to testify that I my personal presence is with them I’m sending my angel to directly comfort and protect and care for them and he didn’t that you didn’t just want to show that 10m but he showed that to everybody who was observing she led to Nebuchadnezzar to show that to his officials so what is the point of all this why does Daniel give us this account why do we hear about God saving these three Jewish this Jewish young man I believe it’s the same as the whole point of the Book of Daniel that’s if you read the book of Daniel and you keep going through it’s all about how God is the true king and he’s the one who has sovereign control Kings officials and nations are in the Lord’s hinge remember back in chapter one where you had these Jews coming into a new land and yet they were granted favored by various officials because God gave from that favor they were granted ability because God granted them that ability they were granted ability to UM to not defile themselves with a king’s food God provided for that God provided so that they would be just as healthy and an even better and being even better health with their diet then with the Kings best food it was God who’s providing all those things it was God who provided Daniel the dream in chapter 2 and it was God who even in that dream is showing I have control over all of history I’m bringing all these things about and then here Daniel 3 we see the same thing God says I am the one who is totally in control I’m a controlled the the fire I’m the one who was able to confound the Kings plans I’m the one who’s able to protect and save my people and how should men react based on God’s continual display of power and his desire to protect his own by trusting in the Lord trusting the Lord and obeying him isn’t that what Nebuchadnezzar says these three entrusted themselves to their God and God saved them that’s the point that’s the point of all Daniel if God is really the one who is it who is God is the king and is the sovereign then we can have trust ourselves to him we must entrust ourselves to him and obey Him and that’s what Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did we had to fear God to believe in him and trust him that he is able to take care of us that trust is going to manifest itself in obedience know what God had done wrong to let these three Jews died as martyrs would that have been wrong no that wouldn’t have been wrong God couldn’t let that happen God didn’t say that I’m gonna totally save my people from death every time today oh baby we certainly know number of the prophet in the Old Testament they were not seeing when they were um when they were being injured or when they were being killed but God chose to save these three and I believe it’s because he wanted to give testimony you want to give an example if I’m able to do this for these three men so obviously in supernaturally then I’m able to save protect and preserve you when you are obedient that’s what God is showing us he can save our lives you can get into a situation in your life you say there’s no way out there’s no way out of this without me being injured or killed but you know that your God based on this account you know that your God actually is able to save he’s able to prevent you from being injured at all he’s also be able to prevent you from being killed but even if not as these men declared you know that if God is able to save them in physically he’s also able to save them spiritually he’s able to say them after they are killed he’s able to preserve you and bring you safely to his heavenly kingdom that’s why this that’s why God gave us this he said I want them to see that I am the saving God it was able to rescue no matter the situation even when my servants are killed so these shoes are these truths are for our instruction now they’re further emphasized by the other account I want to look at today so let’s move from Daniel 3 over to Daniel 6 turn there with me please at this one this account we’re not going to look at as closely we’re just going to read it make some quick observations and then we’ll consider application so Daniel chapter 6 here we have another situation where we have another situation that’s going to play out very similarly to the one that we just read this is jane 06 12 28 we’re going to read the whole chapter this is many years later under a different ruler which is no longer Babylon or Nebuchadnezzar this is the Persians under Darius the Mede number two the number of years ago by this point Daniel is probably in his 70s or 80s let’s read what happens to Daniel Daniel chapter 6 it seemed good to do Darius to appoint 120 SAT traps over the kingdom that they would be in charge of the whole kingdom and over them three commissioners of whom Daniel was one that these sad traps might be accountable to that now that the King might not suffer loss then this Daniel began to distinguishing or began distinguishing himself among the commissioners in San trust because he possessed an extraordinary spirit and the King planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom then the commissioners and sand traps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs they could find no ground of accusation up or evidence of corruption and as much as he was faithful and no negligence where corruption was to be found in him then these men said we will not find any grounds of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regards the law is God then these commissioners and sat drops came by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows King Darius lived forever oh the commissioners of the kingdom the prefex in the sash half the high officials and the governors have consulted together that the king should establish her stature didn’t enforce an injunction that anyone who makes a petition any God or man besides you okay for 30 days shall be cast into the Lions Den now O king established and junk sign the document so that it may not be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians which may not be revoked therefore King Darius signed the document that is the injunction now on Daniel knew that this stock that the document was signed he entered his house now his in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day praying and giving thanks before his God as he had been doing previously then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God and then they approached and smoked before the king about the Kings injunction did you not sign an injunction than any man who makes a petition any goddamn man besides you O king for 30 days this be cast into the Lions Den the King applied the statement is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians which may not be revoked then they answered in spoke before the King Daniel was one of the exiles from Judah pays no attention to you O king what’s the injunction which you sign that keeps making his petition three times a day and as soon as the King heard the statement he was deeply distressed and set his mind on delivering Daniel and even had some son said he kept exerting himself to rescue him then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king recognize o king that it is a lot of the Medes and Persians and no injunction or statue which the King establishes may be changed and they then the king gave orders and Danny was brought in and cast into the Lions Den the King spoke and said to Daniel your God whom you constantly served will himself deliver you a stone with brawn laid over the mouth of the Dead and the Kings sealed it with his own signet ring and when the Signet rings of his nobles is that nothing would be changed in regard to Daniel then the king went off to his palace and spent the night fasting and no entertainment was brought before him and is simply fat from collecting him then the King arose at dawn at the break of day well once in haste to the Lions Den mean it come here to dent Daniel he cried out with a troubled voice the King spoke and said to Daniel Daniel sermon of the Living God has your God whom you constantly sir been able to deliver you from the Lions then Daniel spoke to the king Oh King live forever my god sent his angel and shut the Lions mouths and they’ve not hardly and as much as I was found innocent before him and I also and also towards you boo King I have committed no crime then the king was very pleased and gave us Renae no to be taken up out of the den so Daniel was taken up out of it then and no injury whatever was found on him because he had trusted in his God the king then gave a witters and they brought to his men who emotionally accused Daniel and they cashed them their children and their wives into the Lions Den and they not reached the bottom of the den before the Lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones mend areas the King wrote to all the peoples nations and men of every language who were living in all the land may your peace abound I make a decree that in all the Dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel for he is the Living God and enduring forever and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed and his Dominion will be forever he delivers and rescues and perform signs and wonders in heaven and on earth who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the Lions so this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius in the reign of Cyrus the Persian just another astounding account yet this really happened did you notice how similar or did you notice the similarities in the account that we just read to what came earlier we have God sovereignly from bringing Daniel into a high position in the kingdom then which generated Envy among the Kings other officials these officials contrived a way to place a it’s placed Daniel in mortal danger and they’ve made a lot of the new Daniel wouldn’t keep because he trusted and gone I’m not late at all Daniel and Daniel remained faithful even boldly faithful to god it’s not like Daniel L said I’m gonna pray but I make sure that nobody sees me you just did what he always did Daniel believed that God would provide for Daniel through Daniels of meetings Darius when he heard about all this they’ll be but sad was compelled to put Danny on the Lions Den a laws of the Medes and Persians can’t be changed look like there was no way to save Daniel even though Darius tried so Daniel what’s thrown in the lion’s den and left there all night but in the morning what does Darius fine only that Daniel is alive and he testifies that he’s unharmed because God sent an angel to close the Lions mouths not to mention restrain the lion’s claws because remember Lions can hurt you more than just their mouth the text says explicitly Daniel was taken out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him because he trusted in his God like Nebuchadnezzar Darius then gives glory away it commands all the people to fear the God of Israel but unlike Nebuchadnezzar Darius commands those who conspired against Daniel along with their families to be fed to the Lions and did you catch that striking detail in verse 24 says they had not reached the bottoms of the den before lines overpowered them and crushed all their bones so it wasn’t a problem with the Lions in fact considering the ferocity and the power of the lines for it those being thrown into then after Daniel I’m I don’t think that’s normal I mean certainly the Lions are kept hungry so that they’ll be ferocious but they hadn’t even hit the ground that seems like there’s a little bit of supernatural work there so what is the point of this account I submit that it’s the same as before the show that God knows how to protect and rescue those who wait for him and persevere in obedience and we can ask the same question and we get the same answer about Daniel it’s a good with Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did God hath the same Daniel by preserving his life no he didn’t and after suffering him waters death Daniel would then have been rescued in a different way he would been brought by God’s angels safely into God’s kingdom but God chose to save Daniels life physically preserve Daniel physically because he wanted us to see the example he wanted the Jewish exiles in us today the scene example one is to behold the power of God the heart of God the saving nature of God said we would not be afraid there’s new situation not financial not social not mortal from which God cannot rescue you nothing is too difficult for God and if he doesn’t rescue in one way it’s because he’s already in Sherman that he’s gonna rescue in another way he’s gonna preserve you in another way even if that way is to bring you to heaven now should we expect to face life or death situations like Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah well right now that seems unlikely in America the things can change fast regardless of probability we know what it means to be a Christian if you’re gonna be a faithful Christian then you will be God testifies you will be hated it will be insulted you will be persecuted by the people of the world not necessarily every person but some of them but Jesus already told us about that he says they hated me first therefore they’re going to hate you but he also says be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life so we can put our confidence in Jesus you can put our confidence in Yahweh no matter the danger were suffering we can say like Paul for this reason I also suffer these things but I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and I’m convinced that he is able to guard what I’ve entrusted to him until that day that’s second Timothy 112 none of us can say for sure hmm none of us can say for sure how we’ll respond to a life-or-death situation like these men one obedience will cost us our lives or could cost us our lives but we can’t get some idea of how we respond by how we respond with our current trials he was faithful a little thing as saiful and much how do we respond to the little persecutions the little trials did we trust the Lord God gave us an account in Daniel so that like these four Jewish exiles we might not be afraid to entrust everything we have to him because he is powerful to protect to rescue and provide pretty much brings us to the end of our lesson today any questions about what you’ve heard if you have a question just go ahead and speak up I can’t really see the hands okay if you think of other question oh i think there’s a question there’s someone someone have question go ahead okay okay I think I’m hearing my own voice coming back to me not like someone’s talking all right if you have any questions feel free to email me I would love to go over anything that that you still would like to ask about but you’re just some other application questions to think about Anthony and today’s class this is just a spark your meditation this is not going to be the exhaustion of how we can apply this passage but these are some things to think about the new testament promises that the godly will be persecuted but also ones that Christians are not to suffer for doing evil so ask yourself do you experience persecution if so if you do why is it truly for godly reasons but if not why not because God says that that will be the experience of a faithful person another question where lately have you failed to trust God when faced with a daunting trial or costly active obedience how does Daniel show you you want to change and what steps will you take to secure this change and then one more question the Lord cares deeply about the sufferings of his Saints and he promises to be with them do you draw comfort from Christ’s presence with you his promised presence do you really believe that he is with you and does that give you comfort do you rest in his power and his promises for you and you love him for his saving heart there really is no one like the Lord with like Nebuchadnezzar said no other God is able to save in this way not only because he has the power because he had the heart my god is by nature a saving God there is no other Savior besides the Lord do you love the Lord for saving heart that’s it for this week next week we leave Daniel and we go to the book of Esther let me pray and then I’ll sign off hello God we thank you for this word what a beautiful testimony of your ability and your heart to save well you gave us this word you save these men as examples for us that we might not be afraid would let us not be afraid forgive us God for we’ve where we have been ashamed but we have not trusted you when we come into trials the big and the small trials well that is not a manifestation of our true faith in you as another manifestation of our actually belong to you what if we know you we’ve become known or we’ve been known by you and we will trust you so let that reality give true in our lives okay that you’d use this word to emboldened us and encouraged us in Jesus name Amen all right Calvary I’ll see you next week all right bye

January 22, 2017
Daniel Obeys God

Answers Bible Curriculum, Year 2 Quarter 4 Lesson 1

This week in our Answers Bible Curriculum Sunday school, we begin a new quarter and new theme: God Protects and Restores. Our first lesson is on how Daniel and his companions reacted to the food in Babylon and what God did in response. Our text is Daniel 1:1-21.

Auto Transcript

Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

we kick off our fourth quarter of the second year with the answer is I will preach on rom Answers in Genesis I think for this quarter is God protects and restores there it is what are we going to be talking about this next quarter you can see the syllabus on the back of the Student Handbook if you pick the one up pick up one of those I think there’s more in the back and then have those on you’ll see that 13 lessons were going through but just to sum up this point we’re going from Judah’s exile to the end of the Old Testament and the looking forward to the Messiah yes leave it or not we are already nearing the end of the Old Testament or not that many lessons to go we’ve done our chronological look for most the Old Testament up to this point at this quarter will hear about Daniel Ezekiel Esther Ezra Nehemiah and Malachi will also examine a number of visions and prophecies of the glory of the Lord and what God was going and is going to do in the world in the future just a programming note you heard from Pastor two Sundays ago that even though I’m going to California I will continue to teach sunday schools live sunday mornings from California so just when you thought you were getting rid of me I’m still here the setup has worked so far and testing and Lord willing it will continue to do so wait it’s going to work at that via the screens I think probably use a use this one too but also the televisions you’ll be able to see me you’ll be able to see what’s on my computer which we usually do the powerpoint and via that camera or maybe a different one I’ll be able to see you and I’ll be able to hear from you whenever somebody speaks into a microphone so in some ways sunny school will continue on as it has but in other ways I’m going to have to make some changes I have to change the format am i teaching a little bit you know normally what I do is I ask you a lot of questions and I and I have you answer the questions about the text as we go through but since I won’t be able to do that as easily long distance I’m going to be asking more rhetorical questions or answering the questions myself so sunday school going forward not today but after today it’s going to be a little bit more me talking actually substantial bit more of you going but I’m still going to pause in the various lessons to ask for comments and questions and you can pretty easily pack the micro and I think so I can hear you and then I can respond but what are we looking at today well we begin this quarter by looking at the record of the prophet Daniel specifically we’re looking at how Daniel and the three Judean captives with him responded to a situation with air being asked to compromise obediency Yahweh in order to please at ironical King title today’s lesson is Daniel obeys God and here’s our outline we’re going to first just recap a little bit of Old Testament history especially paying attention to the chronology then we’ll examine Daniel one the entire chapter see what happens there and then we’ll consider some application for ourselves today that’s great before we go on other God we thank you that we have the privilege of setting your word because we know we need to know your will we need to have this life-giving word we need to be nourished on this spiritual food so God I pray that you would help me to be able to explain it and help the people in the history of redemption well just go up to this point but backed the beginning God supernaturally created the world and man in six literal days around 4,000 BC and then man rebelled in the garden and was cursed but God foretold even then one day one would come from the seed of the woman to defeat and crush Man’s enemy the Serpent and then multiply but continued to rebel against God until ends wickedness was too much for God to enjoy any longer God then sent a worldwide flood to destroy the earth and destroy me in kind every living creature on the earth saved those who are with Noah and the Ark about what year did this take place I know we’re reaching back a little bit what year bc is a good estimate for the flood 2350 2350 BC remember we get that date by using the Genesis 5 and 11 chronologies our genealogies chronological genealogies I’m a 2350 BC the flood came and it’s universal flood and though God gave man a new start and promise never to destroy the earth again with water and quickly again rebelled against God at Babel this is about 110 years later 20 to 40 PC but rather than destroying mankind this time God mercifully just first mankind by confusing his language people there for Noah’s descendants scattered across the world and started to become the different cultures and ethnicities we know today about 200 to 300 years later God called out one man Abraham became his God swore to make him into a great nation and to give him the land of Canaan and to and to give that land to his descendants and even to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham’s seed told Abraham to leave his land and to go to a different land abraham believed and obeyed God and through Abraham Isaac Jacob and Jacob’s twelve sons God did indeed bring forth a great nation from Abraham a nation called Israel but Israel was enslaved by crafty Egyptian pharaoh until God raised up Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt around when did this leaving a Egypt this Exodus take place yeah close to 1500 BC their estimates between 1500 and 1450 I prefer more than 1450 date but yes around 1500 to 1400 BC is our best estimate for the Exodus the Israelites left Egypt through great plagues and gracious sustaining muriels miracles God brought Israel out of Egypt Sinai where God gave Israel a special cover to bless them if they would obey Him and curse them if they were going to disobey and even when he gave this love God foretold that is your would disobey they would turn away from God just as Israel had started to do while they were already in the wilderness but God also promised that though they would turn away one day God would turn Israel back to him and restore Israel even by changing Israel’s heart once and for all under joshua around 14 10 BC God brought its Joe into Canaan and conquered the land for them but soon after being settled is you’ll began to drift away from following God throughout the judges period the people visual did what was right in their own eyes and God true to his covenant sent chasing judgments to Israel what was the sad pattern that we saw from judges Joe well that’s definitely true a little bit later on and there’s some parallel between that and the judges period who are the kings even Kane Joe you mentioned that even in the Kings period people kept turning away from God but in the judges fear there was a pattern of things that was happening similar a little bit different yes they have judgment on them and they would and then God would feel bad sorry you know sorry for them and send them a judge and then they would turn back and then as soon as the judge jaw died yeah that’s exactly that’s exactly right judgment are the people turn away from God to send an idols God sends an oppressor Scott sends a nation to judge them here just put this decking is this like a little thing that can move me to the next slide okay one moment okay just a moment oh yeah I think maybe the input has to be reselected get our pokémon back up there but what we’re saying is correct that we have an oppressor sent because usual turn away from God the people cry out to God God raises up a judge the judge delivers them from the knee or from the oppression the people fall after God and then the judge dies and the people turn away from God again over and over and over for 350 years in the judges period the same thing keeps on happening finally in another act of rebellion the people live Israel here we go there we go okay finally in another act of rebellion the people of Israel ask God for a king you don’t want God simply to rule us we want a king like the other nations so around 1100 to 1050 DC somewhere in that range people give a slightly different dates their God gave solved as the first king the first human king over Israel but Saul to rebelled against God the soul was replaced by God with David a former Shepherd David reigned as king he believed in and obeyed God and God promised to throw individual protect perpetually to David’s descendants even that David’s Eve would rule forever David’s son Solomon was established an ultimate prosperity by God but Solomon to drifted away from serving the Lord wholeheartedly therefore the kingdom was divided under Solomon’s son Solomon’s son Rehoboam probably around nine thirty vc10 and a half tribes in the North became the Kingdom of Israel and that one and a half tribes in the South became the kingdom of Judah kings of Israel Northern Kingdom or idolatrous wicked and they led the people into idolatry God sent prophets is shield rebuke the people and turn them back to God warning of God’s judgment if the people did not repent but Israel did not repent it did not listen to the prophets and it was finally conquered slaughtered and led into exile by the Assyrians when did these soon finally conquer Samaria around what date them yes around seven twenty-two or 721 bc the good date for you to remember in your mind this is the end of the Northern Kingdom they lasted for about two hundred years after the divided Kingdom perhap to the kingdom divided but Israel was led into exile Jude on the other hand who at times had kings who love the Lord and follow God ultimately did the same as her sister is fuel the Northern Kingdom ignoring God’s prophets persisting in wickedness and idolatry God therefore devastated Judah as well this time by Babylon first conquered Judah six or seven bc around six or seven bc but finally obliterated the kingdom of judah around 588 DC destroying Jerusalem destroying the temple Judah survivors were taken into captivity into Babylon yet as we’ve seen the last couple lessons during this exile and even before God promised to keep his covenant to restore Israel and Judah back in their land to send a messiah to redeem and rule them to turn the hearts of the people back to himself and to forgive Israel for her sins so this is the assort backdrop to what we’re going to see this quarter what we’re going to see today with Daniel and his companions questions or comments about the history we’ve looked at up to this point okay what happened next what did God do with Israel and Judah once they were taken in the Exile well we get part of the answer today in Daniel one so open your Bibles please to Daniel if you’re using the Pew Bible be page 881 we’re gonna be looking at the entire chapter today in this chapter we don’t hear about what God did with everyone in exile but we do get a record of what God did with a few particular exiles for Judy and captives so we’re going to use the inductive study method as we do the observed interpret and apply method to analyze this chapter of Daniel Daniel 1 vs. 1 2 21 so let’s first read the chapter and then we’ll look for observations will make observations Daniel 1 vs. 1 2 21 follow along with me here we go in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it the Lord gave joy achim king of Judah into his hand along with some of the vessels of the house of God and he brought them silane mashina to the house of his God and he brought the vessels into the Treasury of his God then the king ordered Ashton as chief of his officials to bring in some of the sons of Israel including some of the royal family and of the nobles use in whom was no defect who were good-looking showing intelligence every great wisdom and down with understanding discerning knowledge and who had ability for serving in the case for and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans the King appointed for them a daily ration from the Kings choice and from the wine which he drank and appointed that they should be educated three years at the end of which they were to enter the King’s personal service now among them from the sons of Judah where Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah then the commander of the officials assigned a new names to that and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar into Hananiah Shadrach and tamesha el meshack and Azariah Abednego but Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself the King’s choice food over the wine with which he drank so we sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself now God granted Daniel favor and compassion and aside the commander of the officials and the committee the official said to Daniel I am afraid of my lord the king was appointed your food and your drink for watching t see your face is looking more Haggard than the use who are your own age then you would make me forfeit my head to the king but Daniel sets the overseer whom the community officials had appointed over Daniel and Aniyah fish IL and Azariah please test your servants for 10 days and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink then let our parents be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the Kings choice moved and deal with your servants according to what you see so we listen to them of this matter and tested them for 10 days at the end of 10 days their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the EU’s who had been eating the Kings choice food so the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink and kept giving them vegetables as for these for use God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch literature and wisdom Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams then at the end of the days what’s the King had specified before presenting them the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar the King talked with them and out on the mall not one was found like Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah so they entered the King’s personal service as for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the King consulted them he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and conjurer’s who were in all his realm and then it was continued until the first year Cyrus ticking ok let’s make some basic observations see what’s actually in the text notice verses 14 show us which phase of Gruesomes destruction has just taken place which phase is it it is the first it would be right after six or seven bc because we see here only some of the sons of the nobles and royal houses have been captain and this takes place under King Joey camp and he’s the one in the first phase of destruction it’s the first time that Judah has been defeated and conquer notice how the text says Joe hiya can’t art notice how the text says Joachim came to be conquered verse 2 says the Lord gave him over into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar at the point of phrase which is the term Chaldeans in verse 4 chaldean is a term that basically synonymous with Babylonian technically the Chaldeans were one of the Babylonian tribes of the people who at this time lived south of Babylon as a Syrian power began to wane around six-thirty bc it was the Chaldeans who took control of the throne of Babylon and began to create the neo-babylonian empire Nebuchadnezzar the second the Nebuchadnezzar we know from the Bible he was a Babylonian from the kalbi and try so he brings his culture all throughout the new Babylonian realm so that’s why I Babylonian is essentially the same as chaldean Chaldeans were also known for their wise men and soothsayers so sometimes chaldean can refer to a special class of Babylonian mrs. but here understand Chaldeans just need Babylonian notice also used from Judah were selected or notice how the Jews from Judah were selected to be taken captive number of criteria are presented here in the text they have to be of noble birth from the world line or the great families of Judah they couldn’t have any physical defects they had to be good-looking only handsome young men allowed had to be skilled learners in all subjects and they had to be knowledgeable they also had to show ability to potentially serve the king of Babylon probably as administrators advisors or governors notice that it says use here meaning we’re probably talking about males from 14 to 17 years old so just older teens what is to be done with these use was the text set danielle that was the goal to get them into the King’s personal service would that could happen what did it what were they going to do with you use yes Joe teaching the language and the literature essentially the culture of Babylon get them get them a fully immerse in Babylonian chaldean culture let them learn the language let them be trained for how long three years and then after that it’ll be assessed and brought into the King’s service what does it be the source of the sustenance for these use during their three years of training right the King’s Own table the King’s food supply the Kings choice food and wine that’s to be given to these use as their being Kenny and of course the King has the best food this is quite privileged notice verse 6 it says now among them who are the them very good among the captives among the captives taken from Judea or among the sons of Israel we have to look for our antecedent a little bit further back in the passage but it basically goes back to the beginning we are talking about the captive use of Israel among them we have a certain set for of note Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah now you recognize the name Daniel but the other three names probably aren’t as familiar to you that’s because the text tells us their names were changed change by the commander of the officials now renaming somebody you remember is a sign of what authority naming or renaming somebody is a sign of authority or ownership so they’ve been renamed but the meaning of these change names is also significant Daniel which means God is my judge is changed to built a chance off which means they’ll protect the king Bell the chief god of the Chaldeans and Aniyah which means God is gracious is changed to Shadrach which means inspired of a coup or command of a coup a coup was the Babylonian moon god Michelle which means who was like God is changed to me shank which means who is like a coup and Azariah which means God has helped it’s changed to Abednego which means servant of neighbor neighbor was a Babylonia god of wisdom why does Daniel reject the King’s food well we’ll get to that a little bit later but specifically the text says he made up his mind he would not defile himself that probably has in mind the Old Testament law regarding food say more about that a little bit later but he says I’ve not wanted to file myself and therefore he was sustained in the King’s food dinner ghosts the commander of the officials and notice of verse 9 says God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the commander’s sight the commander though when he hears Daniel say i would like to not eat the King’s food the commander’s head and notice the reason he fears that if the end undoes need to King’s food Daniel and the participants with him i’m going to start to stick out because they’re going to start to look less healthy they’re going to look Haggard and the king is eventually going to notice the unhealthy look of these certain views he’s gonna find out who’s in charge and when he finds out he’s going to say you’ve been doing a poor job commander you are going to be removed in fact you may have your head removed from you the commander is therefore afraid Daniel proposes a test now it says that Daniel speaks to the overseer rather than the commander of the officials so I don’t know if he is just trying to talk to the commander through this overseer or he’s actually proposing a test to a different person because you the commander ultimately couldn’t grant Daniels request but animal speaks this overseer whom the commander had appointed and he says give me my three companions ten days with just water and vegetables and afterwards assess how we look compares to the rest to use and act accordingly notice the surprising results after 10 days they look better than the rest of use and they were fatter of course we’re not talking about obesity here but a healthy fatness full flesh very good the Hebrew adjective here strut defined by Strong’s Concordance is padded or plump fed firm plenteous or rank so definitely got the idea of fat there more than this notice what else God does for them in verse 17 God gives them abundant knowledge and intelligence and whatever they said II Daniel is even able to understand visions and dreams now we see the phrase end of days in verse 18 what is the end of the days at the end of the appointed time after the three years of training very good at the end of the three years all the young men are presented to Nebuchadnezzar and notice the result the King found these four too far excel any the other young man consultant these four even ten times better than the King’s Own magicians and conjurer’s than his mistakes or Wiseman now we should not understand the phrase ten times better literally as if they all took a test in Daniel and his friends got hundreds and everyone else got tens no this is an idiomatic phrase just means that they dramatically surpass and outdid even the wisest man in Babel like saying I like this ten times better than the like just be dramatically more dramatically better consequently the four Judeans enter nebuchadnezzar service and verse 21 says Daniel continues even until the end of the Babylonian Empire itself he’s there until the first year of Cyrus king of the purchase now Daniel’s going to continue to serve actually under the Persians oh that will come late we’ll talk about that in the leader alright so we’ve made these observations let’s ask an answer some interpretation questions think about the names given to the for use besides making a statement about authority what other statement was Nebuchadnezzar and as commander making by giving these names yes yeah denying God and asserting what instead Babylonians right it’s a statement of superiority of the Babylonian gods they take away all the names honoring Yahweh and instead give all these names honoring or showing that these youths are going to be serving the gods of Babylon another question by taking use not adults by educating these use in Chaldean culture for three years by renaming the use with names honoring Babylonian gods and Babylonian king by providing the use the Kings best and most delicious food what was Nebuchadnezzar hoping to accomplish yeah we could say indoctrinate a different commentary sometimes using term brainwash I think maybe there’s a little too strong a word but basically he’s trying to secure them as loyal servants to him and to the Babylonian gods ice trying to win their loyalty persuade the Israelite and Judean used to buy in to the Babylonian way buy into the Babylonian culture into the Babylonian king and kinga trying to create loyal servants for himself and for battle so all these little things he’s doing they’re just ways to try and get the youth on his side certainly there were more youths taken into captivity than these for judias remember the phrase was among them yeah we only hear about these for the four who determined not to defile themselves with the King’s food what does this imply about the other captive use from Israel and Judah they got what yeah they seem to have not done what Daniel and Canaanite has ryan Michale did they exceed I’ve gone along with the Babylonian way they seem to have eaten of the King’s food and perhaps they fully laden we don’t hear about them never what it seems base that they’re not mentioned with Daniel in his group they were not fatal they or maybe they rationalize they say well we’re in a horn land there’s no way we can do anything else i need the King’s food so we just got to do it yeah but it’s hard to make an argument silence okay let me respond to that you say it’s hard to make an argument for Sonic yes it was always the way of making ten week I’ve even caution in this class about one narrative when you look at narrative if something if you don’t get full details you don’t want to make it judge so that’s true I want to honor what you’re saying though the fact that something is not mentioned does not mean that that’s insignificant if these for use were highlighted then that says that the fact that there weren’t more with you can say we don’t know the whole story that’s true but I think there is something we can say on the fact that it’s only these for that would that we’re told about didn’t eat the King’s food so keep both of those things in your mind though we’re not told specifically what would have been to filing about the King’s food yeah okay very possible was offered to other gods now i’m not aware any particular command in the Old Testament says it was offered to another guide or not not heated though if you just think about in general the way God spoke about idols and idol worship to Israel he said stay far away from it don’t even get involved because if you do if you start serving other gods you should be put to death because it’s that heinous so perhaps they were saying this was honored for the gods we don’t even want to go in here that cookie reasons what else I skills unclean according to the law of Moses yes probably this is true and to some level that these foods do not meet the dietary restrictions given by God in his law in the Old Testament that could be because they’re from unclean animals it could be that they’re prepared in a way that did not fully remove the blood or that was unclean in some other way but whatever the reason this food does not meet the standard that God put in the Old Testament and therefore would be defiled and general determined i’m not going to defile myself with this food now this is important for us to realize because this is about cleanness and uncleanness this is not about fattiness or unhealthiness because unhealthy food is not necessarily defiling through after Daniels 10-day test he miss companions look healthier and fatter did this happen naturally or supernaturally they think Jeff okay both okay if you say both on I guess it means that its own that the majority of the answer has to be the second I think probably supernatural and here’s why I don’t know if any of you are vegetarian or I’ve ever been temporarily vegetarian but it is difficult to get full nutrition without eating meat it can be done but it’s challenging a vegetarian diet must be well planned or else a new vegetarian will soon suffer from various vitamin and mineral deficiencies and probably a severe drop in morale at least I do to scientific advance we have some knowledge say about which foods will help compensate for a meatless diet I highly doubt Daniel and his friends had such knowledge especially since there’s no indication that they were vegetarians before going about not like they had a practice at this moreover while a vegetarian diet when done right Lee may make one healthier than an omnivorous diet will no one would claim that vegetarianism will help you gain weight yet this is precisely what happened to Daniel and with him after eating only vegetables and water perhaps breadfruit nuts they were healthier looking and more fully flesh than any of the other young men therefore I believe we should conclude God supernaturally provided for these men as they sought to honor God their diet produce this result huh naturally but supernaturally now let’s think about why Daniel wrote this it is remarkable that Daniel and his young friends sought to honor God in this instance and reject and circumvent the Kings plan for them but is this elect but is the lesson of this section that we ought to simply there to be a daniel where is it something else yes think about God in this passage what does God show about himself hey you honors obedience he provides for his people I mean look at the emphasis that daniel has given in this first chapter on what God does verse 2 the Lord gave the king of Judah in Sahana Babylon verse 9 God granted Daniel favor and compassion with the commander verse 15 well as we examine God appears ship supernaturally caused their appearance to become healthier fatter after eating vegetables and verse 17 God gave Daniel and his fans knowledge and intelligence God is actually the one were to focus on not about Daniel’s courage Daniel illness while that is something to imitate it’s really about God here God shows himself to be in total control and he shows that he will take care of his people when they are obedient in even while in exile God reminds his people through this chapter of Daniel I haven’t stopped taking care of you even though I’ve removed you from the land for all those who look to me I will still provide it less I do not forget my covenant but I will move heaven and and the hearts of men if need be to keep my promises to you when you look to me I will provide for you now understand Daniel is not telling us that whenever you are obedient to God everything will go well for you you’ll be healthy God will do miracles you’ll become really smart and you’ll get a great job how can we know just from the Old Testament that this is not the lesson that we were to draw from this passage that God will just make everything great yes yeah that’s a great example Danielle think about Joseph actually Daniel and Joseph have a ton of parallels but just have suffered a ton of in justices and hardships though all part of the sovereign provision of God not just for Joseph but also for his relatives for issue as a whole God was working everything out perfectly and providing for Daniel gave him success for everything Joseph he gave him success for every went and nonetheless he suffered many trials what else can we look to show that no God’s not guaranteeing that everything will go well maybe we can consider how these how these use got to where they are Judah was destroyed they were taken captive they’re no longer with their families anymore here in a foreign land that’s a big hard and yet gums going to provide through that also you know what happens to Daniel and his friends later they go through some pretty difficult tests their lives are put in danger they’re about to be killed for following God but the Lord provides for them so it is with so many other Saints in the Old Testament Joe Moses Jeremiah David isaiah elijah the looper i did reach but many of them suffered great hardship or persecuted summer you can kill so uniting these two I these two truths God does always bless obedience and provide for his people but not always with material blessings he provides well God does but sometimes it revision includes suffering and death but as we’ve discussed God will provide through suffering and God will provide even through death to safely bring us into his glory so we need not fear or question God when it comes to those things now God will provide even through those things for the good of his people and for his own glory and yet we can’t ignore the example of what God did for these four GG in use they went out on a limb of faith for the Lord safe and god provided for that amazingly he provided above and beyond whatever they could have expected it you if he was able to provide so fantastically for them certainly you can provide for us when we probe union when we trust the Lord God has all the power Nebuchadnezzar and his officials may praise the Babylonian gods but it’s God who really works out everything he’s the one in total control even the selection of exultation of Judy and captives was all God’s doing how comforting that this would have been to Daniel’s readers those people in exile or those just about to return to Israel God has some pleat power over the world its people and its rulers Daniel shows them so trust in the Lord obey Him and he will provide any questions or comments yes oh god yes yeah Phil you mentioned if we’re looking for another example that God’s blessing goes beyond simply material prosperity though Abraham was blessed in many ways God did require bury him that he would give up his son that he would you can sacrifice his son as an offering to God course God intervened at the last moment but that was a high cost and that was a severe test but abraham believed he knew that God’s provision was great even if it meant giving up his son any other comments or yeah with respect to the names sort of sticks out there that jumps off the page that there was no objection by Daniel and his friends name changes hmmm that strikes me in this before I want to get to repeat on this strikes me as something external it’s in the sense that it was something that was imposed upon them and I’m thinking along the lines of that as long as they did not in their minds think yes I’m now identifying with those gods that God perhaps did not object to that because God was looking at their other actions of obedience that’s a really great question question way they’re given these names then no longer honor Yahweh and they they honor the Babylonian gods but we don’t hear and as it is racing Steve we don’t hear anything in the text about their objecting to that or they’re resisting that so they accept that was that a compromise or if they didn’t compromise and how is that okay how did they how they deal with that well certainly I’m sure whether whether they use these names for themselves or not they’re their attitude was not to put stop in the meaning of these names there’s a the activity in the student guide actually has that something that explores names and blasphemy and what’s considered blasphemy and what’s not but I’m not sure I’m not sure how much they or we should look into their name just like oh this is my name so therefore this is what I have to be it is interesting though that the text whatever refers to them at least in this chapter it doesn’t refer to them by their new names like what their names are given I think three times in attacks and it gives their Hebrew names so it’s possible that maybe they didn’t use their new names maybe other people use them for for him but perhaps they whenever they spoke to one another were never they thought of themselves they thought of their original name oh yeah see I know that later in the text like a lion’s den the King calls out his name Daniel okay thanks for that Steve so later on when Daniels thrown in the lion’s den the King calls him Daniel not Belteshazzar other questions or comments okay well we’ve already seen one great application for us this account this record is an encouragement that was sent to the Judean exiles but it’s also for us that when you obey the Lord when you refuse to compromise the Lord will yet provide you it may yet include hardship you may be persecuted you may even be killed for it but the Lord will provide for you and he will bless you for your obedience that’s one of the most fundamental screws about God module tests these lessons and provides that people who are already but let’s ask one other application question because we have to should we looked at Daniel’s 10-day test for specific guidance or encouragement when it comes to losing weight or gaining healthier answer is no why not give me one reason yes that’s one reason I think the best understanding is that this was supernaturally provided the thing that happened to them based on their based on their diet we should not be expecting the same thing yes Rob and like just because someone in the Old Testament experience a certain thing expect to experience the same thing okay good so we’re talking about a fundamental error in an interpreting biblical narrative we’ll come back that just a second just because something happened to someone else in the Bible in the Old Testament even a righteous person does not mean then it should happen to you why else exactly yes Daniel did not pursue this site because he’s like I would really like to lose weight right would really like to be healthy it’s about the fileman he did not want to defile himself for the Kings food did not want to become unclean so yeah let me review just some of the reasons the author in context is clearly not trying to give us some counsel regarding weight loss or healthy living second of all Daniels motivation as bill said was to not defile himself according to God’s commands the Old Testament not to achieve some weight loss goal third of all day no actually gained weight from his diet he didn’t lose it fourth of all Daniels results were supernaturally obtained so truly looking to Daniel for a diet a wellness plan is a textbook example of I said Jesus reading meaning into the text that is not there and it’s also an example as Rob pointed out of an error and interpreting difficult areted assuming that whatever godly person did or a had happen to him is automatically prescriptive for all fish for all Christians we have to remember as I began to explain that in biblical narrative God may be doing something special with a particular person or a particular time it’s not necessarily for an example for us to it’s not necessarily a specific example for us to imitate nor is it a situation for us to expect the right way to handle narrative is to consider what exactly the original author was intending to communicate by reporting the experience of a certain person and compare whatever that person’s experience was with what God actually commanded elsewhere through his prophets and apostles just for another example speaking of Joseph that we were talking about earlier we sometimes think about Joseph as providing the pattern as as to what to do when faced with sexual temptation because Rogers wife kept tempting him and he was denying her and then when she sees him he left his cloak what was that the intention of the author in that passage to give you instruction as to how to deal with sexual immorality no I mean certainly that is an example of how one ought to deal with sexual immorality that wasn’t the main intention there’s no God’s sovereignty how God was going to bring that are bring Joseph into a position in Egypt where he could save and provide for his people rather than saying all right Daniel shows us what we heard Joseph shows us what we need to do you look the rest of the scriptures and you say what does God command regarding sexual temptation ok this is what we need to follow and one application is given by Joseph in Genesis same thing with him don’t don’t necessarily say well heavens Daniel must must be for us consider what was the author’s intention and reporting this experience of Daniel and then consider what the rest the scriptures say regarding the situation Daniel face and so what does the Bible say to us when it comes to eating food well it’s a little different than what it was for Daniel Daniel situation was unique for us we we know that the right way for a Christian to handle food or diet is to exercise self-control give thanks for whatever he has and don’t eat something if it causes you or another person to violate his conscience because of someone else’s stuff yes well the Bible is giving us specifically prescribed for us when it goes to diets so we should not be looking to daniel has the example as to what to do when it comes to eating now why do I say all this because many Christians have many Christians have looked to Daniel as the basis for a Christian diet for weight loss man one example I’ll get your questions just a second one example is Rick Warren’s Daniel plan you can look it up online if you’re curious here’s some words from his website explaining the Daniel plan the Daniel plan is a groundbreaking healthy lifestyle program founded on Biblical principles and focus on the essentials faith food fitness focus and friends program offers an innovative approach to achieving a healthy lifestyle where people get better together by optimizing their health in each of these life areas here’s another piece of the website King Nebuchadnezzar instituted a three-year training program and while they were being trained young captives were to be fed the same food found on the Royal table but Daniel knew this wouldn’t be a healthy diet so we asked that he and his three friends the allowed to eat healthier at the end of ten days they look better and were more robust than those who ate the king’s man okay we’ve analyzed the text ourselves and we know that’s not true that’s a twisting of the text now I’m sure that if we investigated this Daniel plan it probably would give some good ideas when it comes to weight loss and healthy living then maybe some of them are even based on biblical principles but the foundation this is all based on Daniel Israel now Daniel’s not our model for weight loss or healthy living rather Daniel is the Prophet reminding us of what Jesus says later in the Gospels when you seek the Lord first he will provide for you God has complete power and compassion for his own therefore don’t worry don’t worry about what you leave don’t worry about what you will wear the Gentiles legally seek after these things don’t worry about tomorrow but seek first it came about God you can’t serve two masters be fully committed to the Lord seek the treasure in heaven and he’ll provide for you perfectly while you’re on the earth you can say something about so definitely want to make that clarification any other comments or questions before we end Roy just a very minor point that is if you look at that he would work vegetables too it doesn’t necessary for vegetable purists out there just think it just means like a carrot or fruit or something Hebrew word to me anything that is grown Brent grains anything so I mean you’re trying to lose weight by stuff yourself with British mmm okay thanks for that in my account yeah thanks to that point boy that the word for vegetables there in the Hebrew is it refers to literally anything that is grown so it could include more than vegetables but certainly did not include meet other questions or comments yes d just bounce off it doesn’t say exactly what they write so we have no idea and you would think that if something like again I’d oughta make an order silence but you would think that if this worked for Daniel then became or the Kings overseer would say whoa I got to push this on everyone you know cuz why why not make the whole group healthy yeah yeah yes you so you’re mentioning that we don’t know specifically what their diet was or what it was about and if it was so obvious what was making it work and certainly the Kings overseer or cheap official would have pushed it or probably pushing on the other use other questions thoughts comments go large ever yeah so Yuri during a point Joe that we do need to be reminded that we will suffer as Christians as those who are faithful and you compromised through that sorry the there’s a shadow and a sting to that and yet the shadow is dissipated and the sting is removed and so Paul can even say as I brought up to two weeks ago or a couple weeks ago in Sunday school that though he’s about to die the Lord is going to deliver me from every evil attack and help bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom suffering and death is is not unusual provision it is actually a good provision because God only gives his own good things and it’s also how we show the Lord to be great I mean isn’t that what Daniels and his friends attention were ultimately it’s not about who I gotta protect myself from God’s wrath by not defining myself with food it’s about the glory that the Lord is due we’re going to see that even more obviously I think when it comes to how Hannah and I as Ryan Michelle are tested and run into the furnace they knew that they were probably going to die or that they could die but they say it’s not about us Oh God anything else all right well thank you that’s it for this week next two weeks Christmas in New Year’s we will not have sunday school will resume Sunday School January 81 I lord willing see you on the other side that’s slow the trick what God we thank you for this time thank you for your word we thank you that your word is clear and that when we approach it the way did you met for us to approach it by being fair to the text and letting its peak and protect us from error and adding our own ideas we thank you for the example of Daniel what he recorded that we can trust you that we need not fear when we’re faced with a sudden trial or something we didn’t expect or a hardship or a testing towards our testing to compromise would we know that if we just obey you if we just believe in you yes we may suffer but you’ll provide and you’ll take care of us and you are able to move heaven and earth Lord to keep your people protected and provided so Lord we thank you thank you to that instruction and we pray that to the rest of today’s service now worship the fellowship the preaching of your word will continue to build us up in your truth in Jesus name Amen

December 18, 2016
Examining End Time Teaching (Part 10)

December 13, 2009
Daniel’s Final Instructions (Part 3): Instructions Concerning the End

November 30, 2003
Daniel’s Final Instructions (Part 2): Concerning the Times

November 16, 2003
Daniel’s Final Instructions (Part 1)

November 9, 2003
Daniel’s Final Vision: Final Victory and Reward

November 2, 2003
Daniel’s Final Vision: The Last Future Evil Dictator

September 14, 2003
Daniel’s Final Vision: Key Historical Events Leading Up to the End (Part 3)

September 7, 2003