July 23, 2025 • 60 mins
Nebuchadnezzar
1 Timothy 2:1 & 2, “First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”
One cause of shame in the lives of believers is acting against our conscience out of a sense of self-preservation
One of the most powerful examples I know of praying for authority is Sadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel praying for King Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel Chapters 1- 4.
Basically, he was one of the most powerful individuals who ever lived. Whatever he wanted, he got. Whatever he said was the law, regardless of how unreasonable or reasonable it was. His hair trigger temper was infamous. The very fact that he built the statue to bow down to and he wanted to burn whoever didn’t in the furnace, the man was insane.
His salvation process and the way God did what He needed to do to get through to him is proof that they persisted in prayer and the fact that God did things to get him saved that had not been recorded before shows they did not lean to their own understanding. They did not tell God how to get this man converted. When they prayed for him, they just prayed for the end result.
I’m so impressed by their purity of heart that they just wanted him to have what they had, which was a relationship with God. They didn't pray for the short term. They prayed with the end result in mind.
1 Timothy 2:1 & 2, “First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”
One cause of shame in the lives of believers is acting against our conscience out of a sense of self-preservation
One of the most powerful examples I know of praying for authority is Sadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel praying for King Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel Chapters 1- 4.
Basically, he was one of the most powerful individuals who ever lived. Whatever he wanted, he got. Whatever he said was the law, regardless of how unreasonable or reasonable it was. His hair trigger temper was infamous. The very fact that he built the statue to bow down to and he wanted to burn whoever didn’t in the furnace, the man was insane.
His salvation process and the way God did what He needed to do to get through to him is proof that they persisted in prayer and the fact that God did things to get him saved that had not been recorded before shows they did not lean to their own understanding. They did not tell God how to get this man converted. When they prayed for him, they just prayed for the end result.
I’m so impressed by their purity of heart that they just wanted him to have what they had, which was a relationship with God. They didn't pray for the short term. They prayed with the end result in mind.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Come everybody, time to get started. Heavenly Father, thank you
for your word. I pray for your spirit to bring
us revelation. Lord, I pray for you to minister to
every person who listens to this recording. I pray Father
that your spirit brings us wisdom and revelation and the
(00:26):
knowledge of you. I thank you that your words are
spirit and life to us in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay,
welcome code name. So glad that you are here. Excellent. Okay,
(00:51):
let me get back to my main screen. Okay, wonderful.
This is this Bible character study is on Nebazar, who,
in my view, is one of the most interesting characters
in the Bible. And he's a real person. I don't
mean character as in like imaginary or anything like that.
(01:13):
I mean character as in a person with a personality.
He had a very massive personality. So, okay, let's get started.
I'm going to be reading out of the Book of Daniel.
I'll start with probably Daniel chapter one. I think i'll
start verse three. Then the king, so we're referring to
(01:36):
King Nebknezzar. Then the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of
his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel,
including some of the royal family and of the nobles,
youths in whom there was no impairment, who were good looking,
suitable for instruction in every expertise, endowed with understand and
(02:00):
discerning knowledge, and who had the ability to serve in
the King's court and to teach them the literature and
language of the Chaldeans. The king also allotted for them
a daily ration from the king's choice food and from
the wine which he drank, and ordered that they be
educated for three years, at the end of which they
(02:22):
were to enter the King's personal service. Now among them
from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishaiel, and Azariah.
Then the commander of the officials assigned names to them,
and to Daniel, he assigned Belshazzar Belta Shazar, to Hananiah Shadraq,
(02:45):
to Michel Mishak, and to Azariah Abendigo. But Daniel made
up his mind that he would not defile himself with
the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank.
So he sought permission from the commander of the officials
that he might not defile himself. Now God granted Daniel
(03:07):
favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of
the officials. The commander of the officials said to Daniel,
I am afraid of my lord, the king, who has
allotted your food and your drink, For why should he
see your faces looking gaunt in comparison to the youths
who are your own age. Then you would make me
(03:28):
forfeit my head to the king. So we see some
signs in some rumblings already of what the delio is
with King Nebuk Kmezzar. Right, okay, this is one of
his main problem solvers in his life. Okay, moving on
verse eleven. But Daniel said to the overseer, whom the
(03:50):
commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hanna and Ayah,
Michael and Azariah, please put your servants to the test
for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables
to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance
be examined in your presence and the appearance of the
youths who are eating the King's choice food, and deal
(04:11):
with your servants according to what you see. That was
so wise, okay, Moving on verse fourteen. So he listened
to them in this matter, and put them to the
test for ten days. At the end of ten days,
their appearance seemed better, and they were fatter than all
the youths who had been eating the king's choice food.
(04:32):
So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and
the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.
And as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge
and intelligence in every kind of literature and expertise. Daniel
even understood all kinds of visions and dreams lovely verse eighteen. Then,
(04:57):
at the end of the days which the king had
specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented
them before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king talked with them, and
out of all of them, not one was found like Daniel, Hananaiyah, Michael,
and Azariah. So they entered the king's personal service. As
(05:20):
for every matter of expertise and understanding about which the
King consulted them, he found them ten times better than
all the soothsayer, priests and conjurors who were in all
his realm. And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus.
The king, well, that's a beautiful story by itself, but
(05:43):
it certainly gets more interesting. Okay. Chapter two. Now, in
the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had
dreams and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.
Then the king gave orders to call in the so
sayer priests, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to
(06:06):
tell the king his dreams. There's a little clue there.
I'm not sure if you're spotting it just off of listening,
but there is a little clue there as to how
this is going to go. And you know what, I'm
also going to mention. I observe that basically there's this
(06:28):
term in HVAC, like air conditioning and that sort of
thing like interior temperature control, there's this term called comfort,
which means you can't discern any change as you move
from one place in the interior to another, and like
(06:51):
one room to another, that kind of thing. And I
find it so interesting that even back then there was
such a pursuit of comfort. You know, right now, we
like to enjoy different luxuries time savers. We like that
(07:12):
no disruptions kind of experience. And I'm noticing that even
back then. This is like six hundred BC, a long
time ago, and back then also, this king is in
pursuit of no disruption comfort. He wants to, like pretty much,
(07:37):
activity stops until this is a result for him. I
find that interesting. Okay, let's go back to the actual
text though. Okay, so they came in. This would be
the soothsayer, priest, the conjurors, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans. Okay,
So they came in and stood before the king. The
(07:58):
king said to them, had a dream, and my spirit
is anxious to understand the dream. Lol, you guys. Verse four.
Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic. Oh, King,
live forever. Tell the dream to your servants, and we
will declare the interpretation. I wonder if their choice of
(08:20):
language had anything to do with Daniel having shown them
up so many times in so many ways in the
past year. Anyway, Verse five, the king replied to the Chaldeans,
the command from me is firm. If you do not
make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you
(08:42):
will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will
be turned into a rubbish heap. Can you even this
is his personality. Okay verse and yeah, I say this
is his personality, and I am getting a bit of
a kick out of him. But of course these were
(09:05):
very real outcomes for people having to deal with him
in the moment. Okay, verse six. But if you declare
the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me
gifts and a reward and great honor. Therefore, declare to
me the dream and its interpretation. He is not even
(09:29):
not even kidding Verse seven. They answered a second time
and said, let the king tell the dream to his servants,
and we will declare the interpretation. The king replied, I
know for certain that you are trying to buy time,
because you have perceived that the command from me is firm.
(09:51):
That if you do not make known the dream to me,
there is only one decree for you, for you have
agreed to get other to speak lying and corrupt words
before me until the situation is changed. Therefore, tell me
the dream so that I may know that you can
(10:11):
declare to me its interpretation. WHOA did he have politics figured?
Or what? Oh? That is like a description today about
how people around power behave anyway, That's like a whole
(10:36):
other track. But I am noticing that he is identifying
the agreeing together, the uh, waiting until the buying time,
till the situation is changed, and wanting. And I see
that from Nevia Canezzar's perspective, he wants to know the
(11:01):
meaning of the dream to a sufficient degree that in
his view, from his perspective, this is very reasonable to
require that they tell him the dream so that he
can know that they can in fact give him the
proper interpretation. But this is not inside the paradigm of
(11:25):
the agreed upon rules. So to speak. There's rules in
a particular culture, including a king's court, politics, places of power.
There are agreed upon rules that people abide by in
their various respective roles. And he is not staying inside
(11:49):
of his you know, of the rules for his role,
you know, in that context of we all agree how
this will play out in advance ants. And that is
fascinating because I see that what he's trying to do
(12:10):
is he's trying to by rejecting the counterfeit, he's trying
to pursue he's trying to discover the authentic. And the
authentic does exist. He's right, it does exist. But if
it wasn't for well, I'll keep reading and you'll hear
(12:31):
what happens. But anyway, I find this entire proceeding quite
quite interesting, and I think that there are times when
people who are in a position where their entire life
is their function in the lives of others, get to
(12:54):
a place where they are willing to do what they
need to do to connect with the Lord, even if
they wouldn't necessarily use the same terminology that you or
I would, or even go about it maybe in the
best of ways. Okay, here we go. Verse ten. The
(13:18):
Chaldeans answered the king and said, there is no person
on earth who could declare the matter to the king,
because no great do you see how they are? People
do this in other people groups as well, where they
try to pretend there is no such thing simply because
they're not that way, or they don't have access to that,
(13:40):
or they don't have that ability. You ever encounter those
kind of people who talk like it's impossible simply because
they don't know how to do it themselves. That's big, big, big,
big in the medical industry. Okay. Verse ten, the Chaldeans
answered the king and said, there is no person on
earth who could declare the matter to the king, because
(14:00):
no great king, a ruler has ever asked anything like
this of any soothsayer, priests, sorcer or Chaldean. Moreover, the
thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is
no one else who could declare it to the king.
Accept gods whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh. Whoa, yep,
(14:23):
they're fighting for their lives right there, I think. Okay.
So where they said there's no one else who could
declare it to the king, that was of course proved
to be false, and they were hoping that he would
(14:46):
accept their version of events, but he did not Verse twelve.
Because of this, the king became angry and extremely furious.
There we go, there's Nebkan mezzar king, Neviican mezzer that
we know. Oh, because of this, the king became angry
and extremely furious, and he gave orders to kill all
(15:06):
the wise men of Babylon. So the decree was issued
that the wise men be killed, and they looked for
Daniel and his friends to kill them. This is such
a great verse. Rate here verse fourteen. Then Daniel replied
with discretion and discernment to Ariac, the captain of the
(15:28):
king's bodyguard who had gone out to kill the wise
men of Babylon. He said to Ariac, the king's officer,
for what reason is the decree from the king so harsh?
Other translations say so urgent, like everyone has to die now.
(15:49):
Then Ariac informed Daniel of the matter. It's so it's
really noticeable to me. I'm really pondering that in these
tense moments, it's important. It's kind of like soul winning.
(16:10):
It's important to find the correct route for the individual.
And it really is exactly what the Bible said. It
was discretion and discernment to pick up on what would
be the angle to approach this man, who obviously doesn't
want to spend his day going around and killing people
(16:32):
desperately pleading for their life, who don't even know why
they're being executed, to approach him from that angle. And
it was successful, and he told him, he told him
what had happened. And that's something that in a very harsh, authoritarian,
(16:56):
tyrannical and oppressive scenarios, information is there's kind of like
a lockdown, like put on information. It's treated as a commodity,
kind of like a route or a method of obtaining power.
Sort of like a knowledge is power quote unquote that
(17:19):
kind of thing. Okay, let me get back to the text, though.
It says so Daniel went in and requested of the
king that he would give him a grace period, so
that he might declare the interpretation to the king. Isn't
that beautiful? Then Daniel went to his house and informed
(17:39):
his friends Hanna and Ayah, Micheelle and Azariah about the matter,
so that they might request compassion from the God of
Heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his friends
would not be killed with the rest of the wise
men of Babylon. This is likely a juncture at which
(18:03):
the rest of the wise men of Babylon were already dead.
And I'm going to observe something that might be a
little difficult to hear for some, but I'm seeing the adversity,
the conduit for adversity, persecution, and maybe threat or something
(18:33):
along those lines. That the soothsayers Chaldeans conjured sorcerers that
were envious of Daniel and probably his friends as well,
likely angry at them, likely to conspire against them, likely
to attempt to bring danger to them, to their lives
(18:56):
are now wiped out of the situation. I don't want
to go too much into that beyond that point, but
let me get back to the text. Okay, So verse nineteen.
Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.
(19:17):
Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel said, may
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 periods. He removes kings and
appoints kings. He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge
(19:39):
to people of understanding. It is he who reveals the
profound and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him, you, God of my fathers,
to you, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and power. Even now
(20:01):
you have made known to me what were requested of you.
For you have made known to us the king's matter.
Isn't that beautiful? Not rushing off straight to the king,
but rather honoring the Lord, giving him thanks, giving him praise,
(20:22):
and such a beautiful prayer. That is so many promises there.
God changes the times and the periods. God reveals profound
hidden things, God knows what is in the darkness. Light
dwells with him so many beautiful things, okay verse twenty four.
(20:42):
And this is really powerful because this shows that Daniel
really understood how to operate and how to function within
the system into which he had been abducted and kidnapped,
basically trafficked into verse twenty four. Thereupon Daniel went to Arioc,
whom the king had appointed to kill the wise men
(21:04):
of Babylon. He went and said this to him, do
not kill the wise men of Babylon. Take me into
the King's presence, and I will declare the interpretation to
the king. Don't you know He won a friend for
maybe the rest of his life, okay, verse twenty five.
Then Ariok hurriedly brought Daniel into the king's presence and
(21:28):
spoke to him as follows, I have found a man
among the exiles of Judah who can make the interpretation
known to the King that there is politics, ladies and
gentlemen right there. Verse twenty six. The king said to Daniel,
whose name was Belta Shazar, are you able to make
(21:48):
known to me the dream which I have seen and
its interpretation? Daniel answered, before the king had said as
for the secret about which the king has inquired, Neither
why men sorcerer, soothsayer, priests, nor diviners are able to
declare it to the king. However, there is a god
in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known
(22:10):
to King Nebu Canezzar what will take place in the
latter days. Witnessing right to that king, and keep this
in mind, that he is mentioning the Lord here already.
But the king, it's like he wasn't even well, i'llah,
I'll get to that verse twenty eight. However, there is
(22:32):
a god in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has
made known to King Nebuk Canezar 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,
o King, while on your bed, your thoughts turned to
what would take place in the future. And he who
(22:53):
reveals secrets has made known to you what will take place.
But as for me, this secret has not been revealed
to me for any wisdom residing in me more than
in any other living person. But for the purpose of
making the interpretation known to the king, and that you
may understand the thoughts of your mind. Wow, that is
(23:18):
so profound. Daniel is showing he can function correctly not
only with this within this human royal court, but within
Heaven's royal court. That's really powerful. Where he says, this
(23:39):
secret has not been revealed to me for any wisdom
residing in me more than in any other living person.
That's an important statement to make out loud. And same
thing with bringing up the Lord and giving him all
the credit that he's the one who revealed it, and
(24:02):
this little detail for the purpose of making the interpretation
known to the king, that you may understand the thoughts
of your mind. This is in sight and submission to
the heart of God that he loved King Nebu Cadnezzar
and treated King Nebuchadnezzar despite all his flaws, faults and failings.
(24:27):
He treated him as worthy of investment, worthy of time
and attention and relationship. Okay, here we go, so verse
thirty one, You, o King, were watching, and behold there
was a single great statue. That statue, which was large
and of extraordinary radiance, was standing in front of you,
(24:50):
and its appearance was awesome. The head of that statue
was made of fine gold, Its chest, and its arms
of silver, its belly and its thighs, of its legs
of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly
of clay. You continued watching until a stone was broken
off without hands, and it struck the statue on its
(25:12):
feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron,
the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were
crushed to pieces, all at the same time, and they
were like chaff from the summer threshing floors. And the
wind carried them away so that not a trace of
them was found. Like forget these excavations. You know there's
(25:37):
coming a time when all this will be gone. But
the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain
and filled the entire earth. This was the dream, and
now we will tell its interpretation. Before the King. You,
o King, are the king of kings to whom the
(25:58):
God of Heaven has given kingdom, the power, the strength,
and the honor. And wherever the sons of mankind live,
or the animals of the field, or the birds of
the sky, he has handed them over to you and
has made you ruler over them all. You are the
head of gold, and after you another kingdom will arise
(26:22):
inferior to you, and then a third kingdom of bronze,
which will rule over all the earth. Then there will
be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron. Just as
iron smashes and crushes everything, so like iron that crushes,
it will smash and crush all these things. And in
(26:45):
that you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's
clay and partly of iron. It will be a divided kingdom,
but it will have within it some of the toughness
of iron, since you saw the iron mixed with common clay,
And just as the toes of the feet were partly
of iron and partly of pottery. So some of the
(27:07):
kingdom will be strong, and part of it will be fragile.
And that you saw the iron mix with common clay.
They will combine with one another in their descendants, but
they will not adhere to one another, just as iron
does not combine with pottery. And in the days of
(27:28):
those kings, the God of Heaven will set up a
kingdom which will never be destroyed. 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. Just as you saw that a stone was
broken off from the mountain without hands, and that it
crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and
(27:51):
the gold. The great God has made known to the
king what will take place in the future. So the
dream is certain and its interpretation is trustworthy. Then King
Nebi Cadnezar fell on his face. This is such a
dramatic man. Can you even imagine trying to deal with
this person day after day in your life? Who Verse
(28:17):
forty six. Then King Nebu Canezar fell on his face
and paid humble respect to Daniel and gave orders to
present him to him, and offering him incense. The king
responded to Daniel and said, your God truly is a
god of God's and a lord of kings, and a
revealer of secrets. Since you have been able to reveal
(28:40):
this secret, so he gave God some praise. There no
kidding Verse forty eight. Then the king promoted Daniel and
gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler
over the entire province of Babylon and chief prefect over
(29:01):
all the wise men of Babylon. So maybe they didn't
kill them all there must have been some left. He
was the boss of them. And okay, verse forty nine.
And Daniel made a request of the King, and he
appointed Shadrick Miishek and Abnigo over the administration of the
province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king's court. Okay,
(29:26):
here we go, Daniel. Chapter three. Nebukan As are the
King made us. So this is like a new event.
An amount of time has passed that is undisclosed in
this account. Okay, chapter three. Nebukan As the King made
a statue of gold, the height of which was sixty
(29:46):
cubits and it's with six cubits, and he set it
up on the plane of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Nebukan As the King also sent word to assemble the satraps,
the prefects and the governors, the councilors, the chief treasurers,
the judges, the magistrates, and all the administrators of the
(30:07):
provinces to come to the dedication of the statue that
Nebukanesser the King had set up. Yeah. Then the sat traps,
the prefects, the governors, the councilors, the chief treasurers, the judges,
the magistrates, and all the administrators of the provinces were
assembled for the dedication of the statue that Nebukanezer the
(30:29):
King had set up. And they stood before the statue
that Nebucannezzar had set up. Then the herald loudly proclaimed
to you, the command is given you, peoples, nations, populations
of all languages, that at the moment you hear the
sound of the horn, flute, lyre tign, saltry bagpipe, and
(30:51):
all kinds of musical instruments, you are to fall down
and worship the golden statue that Nebukanezer the King has
set up. But whoever does not fall down and worship
shall immediately be thrown into the middle of a furnace
of blazing fire. This guy what in the world? Verse seven. Therefore,
(31:14):
as soon as the peoples heard the sound, you can
kind of tell he knew this was wrong by the
very fact that he felt he must threaten people with
death if they didn't do it. Okay, moving on verse seven, Therefore,
as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of
the horn, flute, lyar tign, saltry bagpipe, and all kinds
(31:36):
of musical instruments. All the people's nations and populations of
all languages fell down and worshiped the golden statue that
Nebukenezer the King had set up. Yep, sure did for
this reason. At that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and
(31:56):
brought charges against the Jews. They began to speak and
said to Nebukanezer the King, O King, live forever. You,
O King, have made a decree that every person who
hears the sound of the horn, flute, liar, tigun, saltry bagpipe,
and all kinds of musical instruments, is to fall down
and worship the golden statue. But whoever does not fall
(32:18):
down and worship shall be thrown into the midst of
a furnace of blazing fire. But there are certain Jews
whom you've appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon,
namely Shadreck Mishek and Abednigo. These men, O King, have
disregarded you. They do not serve your gods, nor do
they worship the golden statue which you have set up.
(32:43):
You know, my observation right here is that I do
not think that Daniel, as a relatively newly acquired slave
to the king had been sent on any business trip
or vacation Verse thirteen. Then Nebukan rage and anger gave
orders to bring shad Reg Mishek and abd Nogo. Then
(33:05):
these men were brought before the king. Nebuknezer began speaking
and said to them, is it true, shad Rek, Mishek
and abed Nogo, that you do not serve my gods
nor worship the golden statue that I have set up. Now,
if you are ready at the moment you hear the
sound of the horn, fler, horn, flute, lyre, tig on, staltree, bagpipe,
(33:28):
and all kinds of musical instruments, to fall down and
worship the statue that I have made very well is
the implication. But if you do not worship, you will
immediately be thrown into the midst of a furnace of
blazing fire. And what God is there who can rescue
you from my hands? Again getting into worship. I think
(33:48):
they were already starting to pray for him by then,
because he keeps, he keeps orienting to God and worship
and that type of thing. Okay, back to the text,
Verse sixteen, Shadreck me shack and Abednego replied to the king,
nebe Ca Nezar, we are not in need of an
(34:09):
answer to give you concerning this matter. Dang, pardon my French,
pardon my language. Okay, let me let me read that
without that, shadreck me Shack and Abednego replied to the
king nebe Canezar, we are not in need of an
answer to give you regarding this matter. If it be
our God whom we serve, is able to rescue us
(34:31):
from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue
us from your hand, o king. But if not, so
if it be or if or but if not, meaning
if you do or if you don't throw us in.
Because they already said they don't have a need to
(34:53):
give him an answer regarding this matter. It's not worded
in such a way. The translators sometimes add in words
or present it as if this is like even if
God doesn't but deliver us. But that's not what they're saying.
If you look at the text, they said, we don't
even need to give you an answer regarding this matter.
(35:17):
If it be God is able to rescue us, if
but if not, let it be known to you, okay,
that we're not going to serve your gods nor worship
the golden statue that you have set up, meaning whether
he does throw them into the furnace or whether he
does not, because that was the part that they saw
(35:41):
as still up for possible to be changed, but they
did not see their decision not to bow down as
something able to be changed. I'm not sure how good
of a job I'm doing of explaining this. If you
look at like translations that offer the italicized words of
(36:04):
what the translators put in, hopefully that will come together
pretty easily for you. Okay, let me get back to
the text. Verse nineteen. Then Nebuchadnezzer was filled with wrath
and his facial expression was changed towards Shadrack, Nishek and Abednego.
He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven
(36:26):
times more than it was usually heated. So so, in
other words, this is again reinforcing that his actions was
his answer. What was their question, whether or not he
would throw them into the furnace, That was their question.
If it be so, If it be that he throws
(36:46):
them into the furnace, God is able to rescue and
he will rescue, if not throwing them into the furnace,
they're not going to serve his gods or worship the
golden statue he's set up, so hopefully that is. I
don't know how good of a job I'm doing of
explaining this. Let me go back to the text verse twenty,
(37:07):
and he ordered certain valiant warriors who were in his
army to tie up Shadrack, Meshak and abedn Goo in
order to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.
Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats,
their caps, and other clothes, and they were thrown into
the middle of the furnace of blazing fire. For this reason,
(37:28):
because the king's command was harsh and the furnace had
been made extremely hot. The flame of the fire killed
those men who took up Shadrack, Meshak and Abednego. There
we see King Nebe Canezer among those who cut off
their nose to spite their face, as we say, But
(37:48):
these three men, Shadrack, Meshak and Abed Nogou, fell into
the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, still tied up.
Then Nebu Canezer. The king was astounded and stood up quickly.
He said to his counselors, was it not three men
that we threw bound into the middle of the fire?
They replied to the king absolutely, O King. He responded, see,
(38:11):
he's already looking. Their prayers are already stirring him up
to be looking for the lord, because he is perceiving
this right away. His counselors don't even see the fourth man. Yet.
He's the one who's astounded, standing up quickly noticing that
(38:34):
it's not just the three, noticing there's a fourth man.
Glory to God okay verse twenty four. Then Nebukanezar the
king was astounded and stood up quickly. He said to
his counselors, was it not three men that we threw
bound into the middle of the fire? They replied to
the king, absolutely, O King. He responded, Look, I see
(38:55):
four men untied and walking about in the middle of
the fire, unhauted. And the appearance of the fourth is
like the son of the gods, a son of the gods. Yep,
he was looking, and he was looking because they were praying.
He was not looking because of his virtue or his
(39:16):
philosophical personality. Okay, here we go verse twenty six. Well, actually,
let's read verse twenty five again as really good. He responded, Look,
I see four men untied and walking about in the
middle of the fire, unharmed, and the appearance of the
fourth is like a son of the gods. Then Nebukanezer
(39:38):
came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire.
He said, Shadrek Meshek and Abdi Goo, come out, you
servants of the Most High God, and come here. Well,
he was in authority over them, and they obeyed him.
Then Shadrak Mishek and Abednego came out of the middle
of the fire. The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and
(39:59):
the king counselors gathered together and saw that the fire
had no effect on the bodies of these men, nor
was the hair of their head singed, nor their trousers damaged,
nor had even the smell of fire touched them. Oh,
praise God so much, there so much there. But this
(40:20):
is not a recording about Shadrick, Mshek and Abendigo. This
is about King nebican As. Nebican As responded and said,
blessed be the God of Shadrack Mishek and Abendigo, who
has sent his angel and rescued his servants who put
their trust in him, violating the king's command and surrendered
(40:41):
their bodies rather than to serve or worship any god
except their own. You can really see that he's getting
ministered to by their example. He's receiving revelation and understanding.
That's a consequence, that's an outcome of their prayers, and
that's not simply because this miracle happened of their deliverance.
(41:07):
That yeah, okay, verse twenty nine. Oh, he is so funny.
He's still got this personality and a half. Therefore, I
make a decree that any people, nation or population of
any language that speaks anything offensive against the god of
Shadrek Nishak and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb
(41:29):
yep and their houses made a rubbish sheep, because there
is no other god who is able to save in
this way. Then the king made Shadrek Nishak and Abendigo
prosperous in the province of Babylon. Wow. So rules for
everyone else, but not yet for Nebukinnezzer Okay, Chapter four Nebukdnezzar,
(41:56):
the King to all the peoples, nations and populations of
all all languages who live in all the earth. May
your peace be great. I am pleased to declare the
signs and miracles that the Most High God has done
for me. Ah, this is the outcome of prayers. They
kept praying, kept praying, kept praying. How great are his signs,
(42:19):
How mighty are his miracles. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and his dominion is from generation to generation. You guys,
he's prophesying. That's the Holy Spirit working in Nebukanezzer right there, okay.
I Nebukanezzar was at ease in my house and happy
(42:41):
in my palace. I saw a dream and it startled me.
And these appearances as I lay on my bed and
the visions in my mind kept alarming me. So I
gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise
men of Babylon so that they might make known to
me the interpretation of the dream. Then the soothsayers, priests,
(43:05):
the sorcerers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners came in, and
I related the dream to them, But they could not
make its interpretation known to me. But finally Daniel came
in before me, whose name is Beltishazar, according to the
name of my God, in whom is a spirit of
the Holy Gods. And I related the dream to him, saying, Beltashazar,
(43:29):
chief of the soothsayer priests, Since I know that a
spirit of the Holy Gods is in you, and no
secret baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream
which I have seen, along with its interpretation. Now these
were the visions in my mind as I lay on
my bed, I was looking, and behold there was a
(43:50):
tree in the middle of the earth, and its height
was great. M I notice that now that the king
has confidence that he can trust this advisor. Now he's
not trying to withhold information that might be helpful. He
(44:11):
was not actually trying to be mean as horrible as
what he did, decreed and did against those quote unquote
wise men. Was. He was trying to get at authenticity,
the authenticity only God can provide. Verse ten. Now these
(44:32):
were the visions in my mind as I lay on
my bed, I was looking, and behold there was a
tree in the middle of the earth, and its height
was great. The tree grew large and became strong, and
its height reached to the sky, and it was visible
to the end of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful,
and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for
(44:53):
all The animals of the field found shade under it,
and the birds of the sky lived in its branches,
and all living creatures fed from it. I was looking
in the visions in my mind as I lay on
my bed, and behold an angelic watcher, a holy one
descended from heaven. He shouted out and spoke as follows.
(45:17):
Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, shake
off its foliage, and scatter its fruit. Let the animals
flee from under it, and the birds from its branches.
Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground,
but with a band of iron and bronze around it,
in the new grass of the field. And let him
(45:39):
be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him
share with the animals in the grass of the earth.
Let his mind change from that of a human, and
let an animal's mind be given to him, And let
seven periods of time pass over him. This sentence is
(46:02):
by the decree of the angelic watchers, and the decision
is a command of the Holy Ones in order that
the living may know that the Most High is ruler
over the realm of mankind, and he grants it to
whomever he wishes and sets it over the lowliest of people.
(46:23):
I see that as the answer for Shadwick Mishak of
Bendigoa and Daniel's prayers for King Nebknezar was decided upon
in heaven. The target was more than what they themselves
(46:47):
were praying for. This was also to be achieved that
the living would know that the Most High is ruler
over the realm of mankind, he grants answer to whomever
he wishes, sets it over the lowliest of people. That
was determined to be important to be covered by whatever answer.
(47:16):
What answer was determined to be implemented in response to
their prayers, It was decided it must include that. Okay,
verse eighteen, This is the dream that I, King Nebukinnezzar,
have seen. Now you, Belta Shazar, tell me it's interpretation.
Since none of the wise men of my kingdom is
(47:38):
able to make known to me the interpretation. But you
are able, because the spirit of the Holy Gods is
in you. I wonder if on some level, King Nebu
Cadnezzar kind of knew that this was not good news
for his flesh. This was not something that he was
(47:59):
going to feel about in the moment verse nineteen. Then Daniel,
whose name is Belta Shazar, was appalled for a while
as his thoughts alarmed him. The King responded and said,
Belta Shazar, do not let the dreamer its interpretation alarm you.
(48:19):
Belta Shazar replied, see, they had a relationship. He knew
he could trust him. That's so beautiful, okay, Beltishazzar replied,
my Lord, if only the dream applied to those who
hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries, this is
so true. I'm going to actually stop for a second
(48:39):
and make a comment that in my time as an intercessor,
there have been occasions in which I really did not
yet understand the beauty, the majesty, the perfection, the holiness
of the truth God was revealing to me, and what
(49:03):
he showed me would take place of what he revealed
that he would do. And I wanted in my humanity good,
what I thought would be good. What I imagined, based
on indoctrination, programming to the system of this world for people,
(49:28):
I had developed my idea of love, for that I
hadn't necessarily kept it as in context of loving God,
of course, Jesus Christ coming to have first place in
all things, and loving God with all my heart, soul,
mind and strength. And it took time I understand what
(49:57):
he experienced here when he said, when he wished that
the Lord was talking about King Nebuknezzar's enemies, and he
wasn't yet on board with what God was saying, would
the answer to his prayers and shadwick mishek and a
(50:18):
bed and those prayers would be okay. Let me get
back to the actual text Verse twenty. The tree that
you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height
reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth,
and whose foliage was beautiful, and its fruit abundant, and
in which was food for all, under which the animals
(50:39):
of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds
of the sky settled. It is you, o King, for
you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty
has become great and reached to the sky, and your
dominion to the end of the earth. And in that
the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one descending
from Heaven, and saying, chop down the tree and destroy it.
(51:02):
Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground,
but with a band of iron and bronze around it
in the new grass of the field. Let him be
drenched with the dew of heaven. Let him share with
the animals of the field, until seven periods of time
pass over him. This is the interpretation, O King, And
this is the decree of the Most High, which has
(51:23):
come upon my Lord, the King, that you be driven
away from mankind in your dwelling place, be with the
animals of the field, and you be given grass to
eat like cattle, and drenched with the dew of heaven.
And seven periods of time will pass over you until
you recognize that the most Highest ruler over the realm
of mankind and bestows it on whomever he wishes. And
(51:46):
in that it was commanded to leave the stump with
the roots of the tree. Your kingdom will remain as
yours after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules. Therefore,
O King, may my advice be pleasing to you. Wipe
away weigh your sin by doing righteousness. Daniel knew what
was up. He knew some things about his king. Therefore, O, King,
(52:08):
may my advice be pleasing to you, wipe away your
sin by doing righteousness, and your wrongdoings by showing mercy
to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging
of your prosperity. Boy Daniel really understood not just the King,
but the ways of the Lord showing mercy to the poor. Okay,
(52:33):
verse twenty eight. All of this happened to Nebekinzer the
King twelve months later. I wonder if he did take
Daniel's advice. But God was after his heart. The Lord
was going to answer those men's prayers, and he was
going to answer, and he was going to respond with
(52:53):
what had then decided upon to what was it caught
that the living may know the most highest ruler over
the realm of mankind, and he grants it to whom
ever he wishes, and sets it over the lowliest of people. Okay.
Twelve months later, he was walking on the roof of
(53:13):
the royal Palace of Babylon. The King began speaking and
was saying, is this not Babylon the Great, which I
myself have built as a royal residence by the might
of my power and for the honor of my majesty
tell me that most people wouldn't think that speaking positively
(53:39):
over your own great accomplishment and achievement wouldn't be considered
appropriate and reasonable by most people. But the truth is,
apart from the Lord, we can do nothing. The breath
of life in our bodies is borrowed, not the source
(54:00):
of the breath of life inside us. Okay, verse thirty one.
While the word was still in the king's mouth, a
voice came from heaven, saying, King Nebukdezar to you, it
is declared sovereignty has been removed from you, and you
will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place
(54:22):
will be with the animals of the field. You will
be given grass to eat like cattle. In seven periods
of time will pass over you until you recognize that
the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind
and bestows it on whomever he wishes. Immediately, the word
concerning Nebuicindezzer was fulfilled, and he was driven away from
(54:43):
mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body
was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair
had grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws.
But at the end of that period, I Nebuicineszzar, raised
my eyes toward he Heaven, and my reason returned to me,
and I blessed the most High, and praised and honored
(55:06):
him who lives forever, for his dominion as an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the
inhabitants of the earth are of no account. But he
does according to his will among the army of Heaven
and among the inhabitants of earth, and no one can
fend off his hand or say to him, what have
(55:28):
you done? That is a changed man. At that time
my reason returned to me, and my majesty and splendor
were restored to me. For the honor of my kingdom,
and my state counselors and my nobles began seeking me out.
So I was re established in my sovereignty, and surpassing
(55:51):
greatness was added to me. Now, I nebu Canazzar, praise, exalt,
and honor the King of Heaven, for all his works
are true and his ways just, and he is able
to humble those who walk in pride. Wow, Tell me,
(56:53):
is he not an amazing man, and what a miracle.
I have thought a number of times about his story
and reflected that I do not know of any person
who was in political governmental power in the way that
he was and then got that back after it was
(57:15):
removed like a miracle. Actually, pretty much the only person
I could think of that was kind of like that
was President Trump. But wasn't that same situation just unusual
(57:37):
to have power and authority given back to a person
after a period of not being in that place. Although,
to be perfectly frank, I do think that President Trump
was elected in twenty twenty and that his authority was
recognized spiritually speaking in a way that prevented the Kingdom
(58:00):
of Darkness from achieving during that period all that they
desire to do. But that's perhaps another story for another time.
Let me get to my notes just quickly. Basically, King
Nebuknezzar was one of the most powerful individuals who ever lived.
(58:20):
Whatever he wanted, he got, whatever he said was the law,
regardless of how reasonable or unreasonable it was. His hair
trigger temper was infamous. The very fact that he built
the statue to bow down to, and he wanted to
burn whoever didn't bow down to it in the furnace.
I mean, the man was in the grip of what
(58:42):
I would call insanity. The process of his salvation, the
way God did what he needed to get through to
him is proof that his intercessors persisted in prayer and
God did things to get him saved that hadn't been
courted before. And it shows that these intercessors didn't lean
(59:04):
to their own understanding. They didn't tell God how to
get him converted when they prayed for him. They prayed
for the end result. And I'm really impressed by the
purity of heart that they wanted King Nebican Neser to
have what they had, which was a relationship with God.
They didn't pray for the short term, but with the
end result in mind. Of course, the sort of benefits
(59:31):
of sanity and justice and mercy and sort of softened
personality and different different things like that came to pass
through that end result, but that's not what they were
praying for. They were praying for the end result, and
(59:52):
then they got those other things as well. So that's
just my observations and thoughts on King nebican Aser. I
hope that you enjoyed this recording. I will be back
again soon.
Come everybody, time to get started. Heavenly Father, thank you
for your word. I pray for your spirit to bring
us revelation. Lord, I pray for you to minister to
every person who listens to this recording. I pray Father
that your spirit brings us wisdom and revelation and the
(00:26):
knowledge of you. I thank you that your words are
spirit and life to us in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay,
welcome code name. So glad that you are here. Excellent. Okay,
(00:51):
let me get back to my main screen. Okay, wonderful.
This is this Bible character study is on Nebazar, who,
in my view, is one of the most interesting characters
in the Bible. And he's a real person. I don't
mean character as in like imaginary or anything like that.
(01:13):
I mean character as in a person with a personality.
He had a very massive personality. So, okay, let's get started.
I'm going to be reading out of the Book of Daniel.
I'll start with probably Daniel chapter one. I think i'll
start verse three. Then the king, so we're referring to
(01:36):
King Nebknezzar. Then the king told Ashpenaz, the chief of
his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel,
including some of the royal family and of the nobles,
youths in whom there was no impairment, who were good looking,
suitable for instruction in every expertise, endowed with understand and
(02:00):
discerning knowledge, and who had the ability to serve in
the King's court and to teach them the literature and
language of the Chaldeans. The king also allotted for them
a daily ration from the king's choice food and from
the wine which he drank, and ordered that they be
educated for three years, at the end of which they
(02:22):
were to enter the King's personal service. Now among them
from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishaiel, and Azariah.
Then the commander of the officials assigned names to them,
and to Daniel, he assigned Belshazzar Belta Shazar, to Hananiah Shadraq,
(02:45):
to Michel Mishak, and to Azariah Abendigo. But Daniel made
up his mind that he would not defile himself with
the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank.
So he sought permission from the commander of the officials
that he might not defile himself. Now God granted Daniel
(03:07):
favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of
the officials. The commander of the officials said to Daniel,
I am afraid of my lord, the king, who has
allotted your food and your drink, For why should he
see your faces looking gaunt in comparison to the youths
who are your own age. Then you would make me
(03:28):
forfeit my head to the king. So we see some
signs in some rumblings already of what the delio is
with King Nebuk Kmezzar. Right, okay, this is one of
his main problem solvers in his life. Okay, moving on
verse eleven. But Daniel said to the overseer, whom the
(03:50):
commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hanna and Ayah,
Michael and Azariah, please put your servants to the test
for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables
to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance
be examined in your presence and the appearance of the
youths who are eating the King's choice food, and deal
(04:11):
with your servants according to what you see. That was
so wise, okay, Moving on verse fourteen. So he listened
to them in this matter, and put them to the
test for ten days. At the end of ten days,
their appearance seemed better, and they were fatter than all
the youths who had been eating the king's choice food.
(04:32):
So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and
the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.
And as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge
and intelligence in every kind of literature and expertise. Daniel
even understood all kinds of visions and dreams lovely verse eighteen. Then,
(04:57):
at the end of the days which the king had
specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented
them before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king talked with them, and
out of all of them, not one was found like Daniel, Hananaiyah, Michael,
and Azariah. So they entered the king's personal service. As
(05:20):
for every matter of expertise and understanding about which the
King consulted them, he found them ten times better than
all the soothsayer, priests and conjurors who were in all
his realm. And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus.
The king, well, that's a beautiful story by itself, but
(05:43):
it certainly gets more interesting. Okay. Chapter two. Now, in
the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had
dreams and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.
Then the king gave orders to call in the so
sayer priests, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to
(06:06):
tell the king his dreams. There's a little clue there.
I'm not sure if you're spotting it just off of listening,
but there is a little clue there as to how
this is going to go. And you know what, I'm
also going to mention. I observe that basically there's this
(06:28):
term in HVAC, like air conditioning and that sort of
thing like interior temperature control, there's this term called comfort,
which means you can't discern any change as you move
from one place in the interior to another, and like
(06:51):
one room to another, that kind of thing. And I
find it so interesting that even back then there was
such a pursuit of comfort. You know, right now, we
like to enjoy different luxuries time savers. We like that
(07:12):
no disruptions kind of experience. And I'm noticing that even
back then. This is like six hundred BC, a long
time ago, and back then also, this king is in
pursuit of no disruption comfort. He wants to, like pretty much,
(07:37):
activity stops until this is a result for him. I
find that interesting. Okay, let's go back to the actual
text though. Okay, so they came in. This would be
the soothsayer, priest, the conjurors, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans. Okay,
So they came in and stood before the king. The
(07:58):
king said to them, had a dream, and my spirit
is anxious to understand the dream. Lol, you guys. Verse four.
Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic. Oh, King,
live forever. Tell the dream to your servants, and we
will declare the interpretation. I wonder if their choice of
(08:20):
language had anything to do with Daniel having shown them
up so many times in so many ways in the
past year. Anyway, Verse five, the king replied to the Chaldeans,
the command from me is firm. If you do not
make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you
(08:42):
will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will
be turned into a rubbish heap. Can you even this
is his personality. Okay verse and yeah, I say this
is his personality, and I am getting a bit of
a kick out of him. But of course these were
(09:05):
very real outcomes for people having to deal with him
in the moment. Okay, verse six. But if you declare
the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me
gifts and a reward and great honor. Therefore, declare to
me the dream and its interpretation. He is not even
(09:29):
not even kidding Verse seven. They answered a second time
and said, let the king tell the dream to his servants,
and we will declare the interpretation. The king replied, I
know for certain that you are trying to buy time,
because you have perceived that the command from me is firm.
(09:51):
That if you do not make known the dream to me,
there is only one decree for you, for you have
agreed to get other to speak lying and corrupt words
before me until the situation is changed. Therefore, tell me
the dream so that I may know that you can
(10:11):
declare to me its interpretation. WHOA did he have politics figured?
Or what? Oh? That is like a description today about
how people around power behave anyway, That's like a whole
(10:36):
other track. But I am noticing that he is identifying
the agreeing together, the uh, waiting until the buying time,
till the situation is changed, and wanting. And I see
that from Nevia Canezzar's perspective, he wants to know the
(11:01):
meaning of the dream to a sufficient degree that in
his view, from his perspective, this is very reasonable to
require that they tell him the dream so that he
can know that they can in fact give him the
proper interpretation. But this is not inside the paradigm of
(11:25):
the agreed upon rules. So to speak. There's rules in
a particular culture, including a king's court, politics, places of power.
There are agreed upon rules that people abide by in
their various respective roles. And he is not staying inside
(11:49):
of his you know, of the rules for his role,
you know, in that context of we all agree how
this will play out in advance ants. And that is
fascinating because I see that what he's trying to do
(12:10):
is he's trying to by rejecting the counterfeit, he's trying
to pursue he's trying to discover the authentic. And the
authentic does exist. He's right, it does exist. But if
it wasn't for well, I'll keep reading and you'll hear
(12:31):
what happens. But anyway, I find this entire proceeding quite
quite interesting, and I think that there are times when
people who are in a position where their entire life
is their function in the lives of others, get to
(12:54):
a place where they are willing to do what they
need to do to connect with the Lord, even if
they wouldn't necessarily use the same terminology that you or
I would, or even go about it maybe in the
best of ways. Okay, here we go. Verse ten. The
(13:18):
Chaldeans answered the king and said, there is no person
on earth who could declare the matter to the king,
because no great do you see how they are? People
do this in other people groups as well, where they
try to pretend there is no such thing simply because
they're not that way, or they don't have access to that,
(13:40):
or they don't have that ability. You ever encounter those
kind of people who talk like it's impossible simply because
they don't know how to do it themselves. That's big, big, big,
big in the medical industry. Okay. Verse ten, the Chaldeans
answered the king and said, there is no person on
earth who could declare the matter to the king, because
(14:00):
no great king, a ruler has ever asked anything like
this of any soothsayer, priests, sorcer or Chaldean. Moreover, the
thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is
no one else who could declare it to the king.
Accept gods whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh. Whoa, yep,
(14:23):
they're fighting for their lives right there, I think. Okay.
So where they said there's no one else who could
declare it to the king, that was of course proved
to be false, and they were hoping that he would
(14:46):
accept their version of events, but he did not Verse twelve.
Because of this, the king became angry and extremely furious.
There we go, there's Nebkan mezzar king, Neviican mezzer that
we know. Oh, because of this, the king became angry
and extremely furious, and he gave orders to kill all
(15:06):
the wise men of Babylon. So the decree was issued
that the wise men be killed, and they looked for
Daniel and his friends to kill them. This is such
a great verse. Rate here verse fourteen. Then Daniel replied
with discretion and discernment to Ariac, the captain of the
(15:28):
king's bodyguard who had gone out to kill the wise
men of Babylon. He said to Ariac, the king's officer,
for what reason is the decree from the king so harsh?
Other translations say so urgent, like everyone has to die now.
(15:49):
Then Ariac informed Daniel of the matter. It's so it's
really noticeable to me. I'm really pondering that in these
tense moments, it's important. It's kind of like soul winning.
(16:10):
It's important to find the correct route for the individual.
And it really is exactly what the Bible said. It
was discretion and discernment to pick up on what would
be the angle to approach this man, who obviously doesn't
want to spend his day going around and killing people
(16:32):
desperately pleading for their life, who don't even know why
they're being executed, to approach him from that angle. And
it was successful, and he told him, he told him
what had happened. And that's something that in a very harsh, authoritarian,
(16:56):
tyrannical and oppressive scenarios, information is there's kind of like
a lockdown, like put on information. It's treated as a commodity,
kind of like a route or a method of obtaining power.
Sort of like a knowledge is power quote unquote that
(17:19):
kind of thing. Okay, let me get back to the text, though.
It says so Daniel went in and requested of the
king that he would give him a grace period, so
that he might declare the interpretation to the king. Isn't
that beautiful? Then Daniel went to his house and informed
(17:39):
his friends Hanna and Ayah, Micheelle and Azariah about the matter,
so that they might request compassion from the God of
Heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his friends
would not be killed with the rest of the wise
men of Babylon. This is likely a juncture at which
(18:03):
the rest of the wise men of Babylon were already dead.
And I'm going to observe something that might be a
little difficult to hear for some, but I'm seeing the adversity,
the conduit for adversity, persecution, and maybe threat or something
(18:33):
along those lines. That the soothsayers Chaldeans conjured sorcerers that
were envious of Daniel and probably his friends as well,
likely angry at them, likely to conspire against them, likely
to attempt to bring danger to them, to their lives
(18:56):
are now wiped out of the situation. I don't want
to go too much into that beyond that point, but
let me get back to the text. Okay, So verse nineteen.
Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.
(19:17):
Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel said, may
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 periods. He removes kings and
appoints kings. He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge
(19:39):
to people of understanding. It is he who reveals the
profound and hidden things. He knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him, you, God of my fathers,
to you, God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and power. Even now
(20:01):
you have made known to me what were requested of you.
For you have made known to us the king's matter.
Isn't that beautiful? Not rushing off straight to the king,
but rather honoring the Lord, giving him thanks, giving him praise,
(20:22):
and such a beautiful prayer. That is so many promises there.
God changes the times and the periods. God reveals profound
hidden things, God knows what is in the darkness. Light
dwells with him so many beautiful things, okay verse twenty four.
(20:42):
And this is really powerful because this shows that Daniel
really understood how to operate and how to function within
the system into which he had been abducted and kidnapped,
basically trafficked into verse twenty four. Thereupon Daniel went to Arioc,
whom the king had appointed to kill the wise men
(21:04):
of Babylon. He went and said this to him, do
not kill the wise men of Babylon. Take me into
the King's presence, and I will declare the interpretation to
the king. Don't you know He won a friend for
maybe the rest of his life, okay, verse twenty five.
Then Ariok hurriedly brought Daniel into the king's presence and
(21:28):
spoke to him as follows, I have found a man
among the exiles of Judah who can make the interpretation
known to the King that there is politics, ladies and
gentlemen right there. Verse twenty six. The king said to Daniel,
whose name was Belta Shazar, are you able to make
(21:48):
known to me the dream which I have seen and
its interpretation? Daniel answered, before the king had said as
for the secret about which the king has inquired, Neither
why men sorcerer, soothsayer, priests, nor diviners are able to
declare it to the king. However, there is a god
in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known
(22:10):
to King Nebu Canezzar what will take place in the
latter days. Witnessing right to that king, and keep this
in mind, that he is mentioning the Lord here already.
But the king, it's like he wasn't even well, i'llah,
I'll get to that verse twenty eight. However, there is
(22:32):
a god in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has
made known to King Nebuk Canezar 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,
o King, while on your bed, your thoughts turned to
what would take place in the future. And he who
(22:53):
reveals secrets has made known to you what will take place.
But as for me, this secret has not been revealed
to me for any wisdom residing in me more than
in any other living person. But for the purpose of
making the interpretation known to the king, and that you
may understand the thoughts of your mind. Wow, that is
(23:18):
so profound. Daniel is showing he can function correctly not
only with this within this human royal court, but within
Heaven's royal court. That's really powerful. Where he says, this
(23:39):
secret has not been revealed to me for any wisdom
residing in me more than in any other living person.
That's an important statement to make out loud. And same
thing with bringing up the Lord and giving him all
the credit that he's the one who revealed it, and
(24:02):
this little detail for the purpose of making the interpretation
known to the king, that you may understand the thoughts
of your mind. This is in sight and submission to
the heart of God that he loved King Nebu Cadnezzar
and treated King Nebuchadnezzar despite all his flaws, faults and failings.
(24:27):
He treated him as worthy of investment, worthy of time
and attention and relationship. Okay, here we go, so verse
thirty one, You, o King, were watching, and behold there
was a single great statue. That statue, which was large
and of extraordinary radiance, was standing in front of you,
(24:50):
and its appearance was awesome. The head of that statue
was made of fine gold, Its chest, and its arms
of silver, its belly and its thighs, of its legs
of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly
of clay. You continued watching until a stone was broken
off without hands, and it struck the statue on its
(25:12):
feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron,
the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were
crushed to pieces, all at the same time, and they
were like chaff from the summer threshing floors. And the
wind carried them away so that not a trace of
them was found. Like forget these excavations. You know there's
(25:37):
coming a time when all this will be gone. But
the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain
and filled the entire earth. This was the dream, and
now we will tell its interpretation. Before the King. You,
o King, are the king of kings to whom the
(25:58):
God of Heaven has given kingdom, the power, the strength,
and the honor. And wherever the sons of mankind live,
or the animals of the field, or the birds of
the sky, he has handed them over to you and
has made you ruler over them all. You are the
head of gold, and after you another kingdom will arise
(26:22):
inferior to you, and then a third kingdom of bronze,
which will rule over all the earth. Then there will
be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron. Just as
iron smashes and crushes everything, so like iron that crushes,
it will smash and crush all these things. And in
(26:45):
that you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's
clay and partly of iron. It will be a divided kingdom,
but it will have within it some of the toughness
of iron, since you saw the iron mixed with common clay,
And just as the toes of the feet were partly
of iron and partly of pottery. So some of the
(27:07):
kingdom will be strong, and part of it will be fragile.
And that you saw the iron mix with common clay.
They will combine with one another in their descendants, but
they will not adhere to one another, just as iron
does not combine with pottery. And in the days of
(27:28):
those kings, the God of Heaven will set up a
kingdom which will never be destroyed. 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. Just as you saw that a stone was
broken off from the mountain without hands, and that it
crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and
(27:51):
the gold. The great God has made known to the
king what will take place in the future. So the
dream is certain and its interpretation is trustworthy. Then King
Nebi Cadnezar fell on his face. This is such a
dramatic man. Can you even imagine trying to deal with
this person day after day in your life? Who Verse
(28:17):
forty six. Then King Nebu Canezar fell on his face
and paid humble respect to Daniel and gave orders to
present him to him, and offering him incense. The king
responded to Daniel and said, your God truly is a
god of God's and a lord of kings, and a
revealer of secrets. Since you have been able to reveal
(28:40):
this secret, so he gave God some praise. There no
kidding Verse forty eight. Then the king promoted Daniel and
gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler
over the entire province of Babylon and chief prefect over
(29:01):
all the wise men of Babylon. So maybe they didn't
kill them all there must have been some left. He
was the boss of them. And okay, verse forty nine.
And Daniel made a request of the King, and he
appointed Shadrick Miishek and Abnigo over the administration of the
province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king's court. Okay,
(29:26):
here we go, Daniel. Chapter three. Nebukan As are the
King made us. So this is like a new event.
An amount of time has passed that is undisclosed in
this account. Okay, chapter three. Nebukan As the King made
a statue of gold, the height of which was sixty
(29:46):
cubits and it's with six cubits, and he set it
up on the plane of Dura in the province of Babylon.
Nebukan As the King also sent word to assemble the satraps,
the prefects and the governors, the councilors, the chief treasurers,
the judges, the magistrates, and all the administrators of the
(30:07):
provinces to come to the dedication of the statue that
Nebukanesser the King had set up. Yeah. Then the sat traps,
the prefects, the governors, the councilors, the chief treasurers, the judges,
the magistrates, and all the administrators of the provinces were
assembled for the dedication of the statue that Nebukanezer the
(30:29):
King had set up. And they stood before the statue
that Nebucannezzar had set up. Then the herald loudly proclaimed
to you, the command is given you, peoples, nations, populations
of all languages, that at the moment you hear the
sound of the horn, flute, lyre tign, saltry bagpipe, and
(30:51):
all kinds of musical instruments, you are to fall down
and worship the golden statue that Nebukanezer the King has
set up. But whoever does not fall down and worship
shall immediately be thrown into the middle of a furnace
of blazing fire. This guy what in the world? Verse seven. Therefore,
(31:14):
as soon as the peoples heard the sound, you can
kind of tell he knew this was wrong by the
very fact that he felt he must threaten people with
death if they didn't do it. Okay, moving on verse seven, Therefore,
as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of
the horn, flute, lyar tign, saltry bagpipe, and all kinds
(31:36):
of musical instruments. All the people's nations and populations of
all languages fell down and worshiped the golden statue that
Nebukenezer the King had set up. Yep, sure did for
this reason. At that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and
(31:56):
brought charges against the Jews. They began to speak and
said to Nebukanezer the King, O King, live forever. You,
O King, have made a decree that every person who
hears the sound of the horn, flute, liar, tigun, saltry bagpipe,
and all kinds of musical instruments, is to fall down
and worship the golden statue. But whoever does not fall
(32:18):
down and worship shall be thrown into the midst of
a furnace of blazing fire. But there are certain Jews
whom you've appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon,
namely Shadreck Mishek and Abednigo. These men, O King, have
disregarded you. They do not serve your gods, nor do
they worship the golden statue which you have set up.
(32:43):
You know, my observation right here is that I do
not think that Daniel, as a relatively newly acquired slave
to the king had been sent on any business trip
or vacation Verse thirteen. Then Nebukan rage and anger gave
orders to bring shad Reg Mishek and abd Nogo. Then
(33:05):
these men were brought before the king. Nebuknezer began speaking
and said to them, is it true, shad Rek, Mishek
and abed Nogo, that you do not serve my gods
nor worship the golden statue that I have set up. Now,
if you are ready at the moment you hear the
sound of the horn, fler, horn, flute, lyre, tig on, staltree, bagpipe,
(33:28):
and all kinds of musical instruments, to fall down and
worship the statue that I have made very well is
the implication. But if you do not worship, you will
immediately be thrown into the midst of a furnace of
blazing fire. And what God is there who can rescue
you from my hands? Again getting into worship. I think
(33:48):
they were already starting to pray for him by then,
because he keeps, he keeps orienting to God and worship
and that type of thing. Okay, back to the text,
Verse sixteen, Shadreck me shack and Abednego replied to the king,
nebe Ca Nezar, we are not in need of an
(34:09):
answer to give you concerning this matter. Dang, pardon my French,
pardon my language. Okay, let me let me read that
without that, shadreck me Shack and Abednego replied to the
king nebe Canezar, we are not in need of an
answer to give you regarding this matter. If it be
our God whom we serve, is able to rescue us
(34:31):
from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue
us from your hand, o king. But if not, so
if it be or if or but if not, meaning
if you do or if you don't throw us in.
Because they already said they don't have a need to
(34:53):
give him an answer regarding this matter. It's not worded
in such a way. The translators sometimes add in words
or present it as if this is like even if
God doesn't but deliver us. But that's not what they're saying.
If you look at the text, they said, we don't
even need to give you an answer regarding this matter.
(35:17):
If it be God is able to rescue us, if
but if not, let it be known to you, okay,
that we're not going to serve your gods nor worship
the golden statue that you have set up, meaning whether
he does throw them into the furnace or whether he
does not, because that was the part that they saw
(35:41):
as still up for possible to be changed, but they
did not see their decision not to bow down as
something able to be changed. I'm not sure how good
of a job I'm doing of explaining this. If you
look at like translations that offer the italicized words of
(36:04):
what the translators put in, hopefully that will come together
pretty easily for you. Okay, let me get back to
the text. Verse nineteen. Then Nebuchadnezzer was filled with wrath
and his facial expression was changed towards Shadrack, Nishek and Abednego.
He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven
(36:26):
times more than it was usually heated. So so, in
other words, this is again reinforcing that his actions was
his answer. What was their question, whether or not he
would throw them into the furnace, That was their question.
If it be so, If it be that he throws
(36:46):
them into the furnace, God is able to rescue and
he will rescue, if not throwing them into the furnace,
they're not going to serve his gods or worship the
golden statue he's set up, so hopefully that is. I
don't know how good of a job I'm doing of
explaining this. Let me go back to the text verse twenty,
(37:07):
and he ordered certain valiant warriors who were in his
army to tie up Shadrack, Meshak and abedn Goo in
order to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.
Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats,
their caps, and other clothes, and they were thrown into
the middle of the furnace of blazing fire. For this reason,
(37:28):
because the king's command was harsh and the furnace had
been made extremely hot. The flame of the fire killed
those men who took up Shadrack, Meshak and Abednego. There
we see King Nebe Canezer among those who cut off
their nose to spite their face, as we say, But
(37:48):
these three men, Shadrack, Meshak and Abed Nogou, fell into
the midst of the furnace of blazing fire, still tied up.
Then Nebu Canezer. The king was astounded and stood up quickly.
He said to his counselors, was it not three men
that we threw bound into the middle of the fire?
They replied to the king absolutely, O King. He responded, see,
(38:11):
he's already looking. Their prayers are already stirring him up
to be looking for the lord, because he is perceiving
this right away. His counselors don't even see the fourth man. Yet.
He's the one who's astounded, standing up quickly noticing that
(38:34):
it's not just the three, noticing there's a fourth man.
Glory to God okay verse twenty four. Then Nebukanezar the
king was astounded and stood up quickly. He said to
his counselors, was it not three men that we threw
bound into the middle of the fire? They replied to
the king, absolutely, O King. He responded, Look, I see
(38:55):
four men untied and walking about in the middle of
the fire, unhauted. And the appearance of the fourth is
like the son of the gods, a son of the gods. Yep,
he was looking, and he was looking because they were praying.
He was not looking because of his virtue or his
(39:16):
philosophical personality. Okay, here we go verse twenty six. Well, actually,
let's read verse twenty five again as really good. He responded, Look,
I see four men untied and walking about in the
middle of the fire, unharmed, and the appearance of the
fourth is like a son of the gods. Then Nebukanezer
(39:38):
came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire.
He said, Shadrek Meshek and Abdi Goo, come out, you
servants of the Most High God, and come here. Well,
he was in authority over them, and they obeyed him.
Then Shadrak Mishek and Abednego came out of the middle
of the fire. The satraps, the prefects, the governors, and
(39:59):
the king counselors gathered together and saw that the fire
had no effect on the bodies of these men, nor
was the hair of their head singed, nor their trousers damaged,
nor had even the smell of fire touched them. Oh,
praise God so much, there so much there. But this
(40:20):
is not a recording about Shadrick, Mshek and Abendigo. This
is about King nebican As. Nebican As responded and said,
blessed be the God of Shadrack Mishek and Abendigo, who
has sent his angel and rescued his servants who put
their trust in him, violating the king's command and surrendered
(40:41):
their bodies rather than to serve or worship any god
except their own. You can really see that he's getting
ministered to by their example. He's receiving revelation and understanding.
That's a consequence, that's an outcome of their prayers, and
that's not simply because this miracle happened of their deliverance.
(41:07):
That yeah, okay, verse twenty nine. Oh, he is so funny.
He's still got this personality and a half. Therefore, I
make a decree that any people, nation or population of
any language that speaks anything offensive against the god of
Shadrek Nishak and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb
(41:29):
yep and their houses made a rubbish sheep, because there
is no other god who is able to save in
this way. Then the king made Shadrek Nishak and Abendigo
prosperous in the province of Babylon. Wow. So rules for
everyone else, but not yet for Nebukinnezzer Okay, Chapter four Nebukdnezzar,
(41:56):
the King to all the peoples, nations and populations of
all all languages who live in all the earth. May
your peace be great. I am pleased to declare the
signs and miracles that the Most High God has done
for me. Ah, this is the outcome of prayers. They
kept praying, kept praying, kept praying. How great are his signs,
(42:19):
How mighty are his miracles. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and his dominion is from generation to generation. You guys,
he's prophesying. That's the Holy Spirit working in Nebukanezzer right there, okay.
I Nebukanezzar was at ease in my house and happy
(42:41):
in my palace. I saw a dream and it startled me.
And these appearances as I lay on my bed and
the visions in my mind kept alarming me. So I
gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise
men of Babylon so that they might make known to
me the interpretation of the dream. Then the soothsayers, priests,
(43:05):
the sorcerers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners came in, and
I related the dream to them, But they could not
make its interpretation known to me. But finally Daniel came
in before me, whose name is Beltishazar, according to the
name of my God, in whom is a spirit of
the Holy Gods. And I related the dream to him, saying, Beltashazar,
(43:29):
chief of the soothsayer priests, Since I know that a
spirit of the Holy Gods is in you, and no
secret baffles you, tell me the visions of my dream
which I have seen, along with its interpretation. Now these
were the visions in my mind as I lay on
my bed, I was looking, and behold there was a
(43:50):
tree in the middle of the earth, and its height
was great. M I notice that now that the king
has confidence that he can trust this advisor. Now he's
not trying to withhold information that might be helpful. He
(44:11):
was not actually trying to be mean as horrible as
what he did, decreed and did against those quote unquote
wise men. Was. He was trying to get at authenticity,
the authenticity only God can provide. Verse ten. Now these
(44:32):
were the visions in my mind as I lay on
my bed, I was looking, and behold there was a
tree in the middle of the earth, and its height
was great. The tree grew large and became strong, and
its height reached to the sky, and it was visible
to the end of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful,
and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for
(44:53):
all The animals of the field found shade under it,
and the birds of the sky lived in its branches,
and all living creatures fed from it. I was looking
in the visions in my mind as I lay on
my bed, and behold an angelic watcher, a holy one
descended from heaven. He shouted out and spoke as follows.
(45:17):
Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, shake
off its foliage, and scatter its fruit. Let the animals
flee from under it, and the birds from its branches.
Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground,
but with a band of iron and bronze around it,
in the new grass of the field. And let him
(45:39):
be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him
share with the animals in the grass of the earth.
Let his mind change from that of a human, and
let an animal's mind be given to him, And let
seven periods of time pass over him. This sentence is
(46:02):
by the decree of the angelic watchers, and the decision
is a command of the Holy Ones in order that
the living may know that the Most High is ruler
over the realm of mankind, and he grants it to
whomever he wishes and sets it over the lowliest of people.
(46:23):
I see that as the answer for Shadwick Mishak of
Bendigoa and Daniel's prayers for King Nebknezar was decided upon
in heaven. The target was more than what they themselves
(46:47):
were praying for. This was also to be achieved that
the living would know that the Most High is ruler
over the realm of mankind, he grants answer to whomever
he wishes, sets it over the lowliest of people. That
was determined to be important to be covered by whatever answer.
(47:16):
What answer was determined to be implemented in response to
their prayers, It was decided it must include that. Okay,
verse eighteen, This is the dream that I, King Nebukinnezzar,
have seen. Now you, Belta Shazar, tell me it's interpretation.
Since none of the wise men of my kingdom is
(47:38):
able to make known to me the interpretation. But you
are able, because the spirit of the Holy Gods is
in you. I wonder if on some level, King Nebu
Cadnezzar kind of knew that this was not good news
for his flesh. This was not something that he was
(47:59):
going to feel about in the moment verse nineteen. Then Daniel,
whose name is Belta Shazar, was appalled for a while
as his thoughts alarmed him. The King responded and said,
Belta Shazar, do not let the dreamer its interpretation alarm you.
(48:19):
Belta Shazar replied, see, they had a relationship. He knew
he could trust him. That's so beautiful, okay, Beltishazzar replied,
my Lord, if only the dream applied to those who
hate you and its interpretation to your adversaries, this is
so true. I'm going to actually stop for a second
(48:39):
and make a comment that in my time as an intercessor,
there have been occasions in which I really did not
yet understand the beauty, the majesty, the perfection, the holiness
of the truth God was revealing to me, and what
(49:03):
he showed me would take place of what he revealed
that he would do. And I wanted in my humanity good,
what I thought would be good. What I imagined, based
on indoctrination, programming to the system of this world for people,
(49:28):
I had developed my idea of love, for that I
hadn't necessarily kept it as in context of loving God,
of course, Jesus Christ coming to have first place in
all things, and loving God with all my heart, soul,
mind and strength. And it took time I understand what
(49:57):
he experienced here when he said, when he wished that
the Lord was talking about King Nebuknezzar's enemies, and he
wasn't yet on board with what God was saying, would
the answer to his prayers and shadwick mishek and a
(50:18):
bed and those prayers would be okay. Let me get
back to the actual text Verse twenty. The tree that
you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height
reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth,
and whose foliage was beautiful, and its fruit abundant, and
in which was food for all, under which the animals
(50:39):
of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds
of the sky settled. It is you, o King, for
you have become great and grown strong, and your majesty
has become great and reached to the sky, and your
dominion to the end of the earth. And in that
the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one descending
from Heaven, and saying, chop down the tree and destroy it.
(51:02):
Yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground,
but with a band of iron and bronze around it
in the new grass of the field. Let him be
drenched with the dew of heaven. Let him share with
the animals of the field, until seven periods of time
pass over him. This is the interpretation, O King, And
this is the decree of the Most High, which has
(51:23):
come upon my Lord, the King, that you be driven
away from mankind in your dwelling place, be with the
animals of the field, and you be given grass to
eat like cattle, and drenched with the dew of heaven.
And seven periods of time will pass over you until
you recognize that the most Highest ruler over the realm
of mankind and bestows it on whomever he wishes. And
(51:46):
in that it was commanded to leave the stump with
the roots of the tree. Your kingdom will remain as
yours after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules. Therefore,
O King, may my advice be pleasing to you. Wipe
away weigh your sin by doing righteousness. Daniel knew what
was up. He knew some things about his king. Therefore, O, King,
(52:08):
may my advice be pleasing to you, wipe away your
sin by doing righteousness, and your wrongdoings by showing mercy
to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging
of your prosperity. Boy Daniel really understood not just the King,
but the ways of the Lord showing mercy to the poor. Okay,
(52:33):
verse twenty eight. All of this happened to Nebekinzer the
King twelve months later. I wonder if he did take
Daniel's advice. But God was after his heart. The Lord
was going to answer those men's prayers, and he was
going to answer, and he was going to respond with
(52:53):
what had then decided upon to what was it caught
that the living may know the most highest ruler over
the realm of mankind, and he grants it to whom
ever he wishes, and sets it over the lowliest of people. Okay.
Twelve months later, he was walking on the roof of
(53:13):
the royal Palace of Babylon. The King began speaking and
was saying, is this not Babylon the Great, which I
myself have built as a royal residence by the might
of my power and for the honor of my majesty
tell me that most people wouldn't think that speaking positively
(53:39):
over your own great accomplishment and achievement wouldn't be considered
appropriate and reasonable by most people. But the truth is,
apart from the Lord, we can do nothing. The breath
of life in our bodies is borrowed, not the source
(54:00):
of the breath of life inside us. Okay, verse thirty one.
While the word was still in the king's mouth, a
voice came from heaven, saying, King Nebukdezar to you, it
is declared sovereignty has been removed from you, and you
will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place
(54:22):
will be with the animals of the field. You will
be given grass to eat like cattle. In seven periods
of time will pass over you until you recognize that
the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind
and bestows it on whomever he wishes. Immediately, the word
concerning Nebuicindezzer was fulfilled, and he was driven away from
(54:43):
mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body
was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair
had grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws.
But at the end of that period, I Nebuicineszzar, raised
my eyes toward he Heaven, and my reason returned to me,
and I blessed the most High, and praised and honored
(55:06):
him who lives forever, for his dominion as an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the
inhabitants of the earth are of no account. But he
does according to his will among the army of Heaven
and among the inhabitants of earth, and no one can
fend off his hand or say to him, what have
(55:28):
you done? That is a changed man. At that time
my reason returned to me, and my majesty and splendor
were restored to me. For the honor of my kingdom,
and my state counselors and my nobles began seeking me out.
So I was re established in my sovereignty, and surpassing
(55:51):
greatness was added to me. Now, I nebu Canazzar, praise, exalt,
and honor the King of Heaven, for all his works
are true and his ways just, and he is able
to humble those who walk in pride. Wow, Tell me,
(56:53):
is he not an amazing man, and what a miracle.
I have thought a number of times about his story
and reflected that I do not know of any person
who was in political governmental power in the way that
he was and then got that back after it was
(57:15):
removed like a miracle. Actually, pretty much the only person
I could think of that was kind of like that
was President Trump. But wasn't that same situation just unusual
(57:37):
to have power and authority given back to a person
after a period of not being in that place. Although,
to be perfectly frank, I do think that President Trump
was elected in twenty twenty and that his authority was
recognized spiritually speaking in a way that prevented the Kingdom
(58:00):
of Darkness from achieving during that period all that they
desire to do. But that's perhaps another story for another time.
Let me get to my notes just quickly. Basically, King
Nebuknezzar was one of the most powerful individuals who ever lived.
(58:20):
Whatever he wanted, he got, whatever he said was the law,
regardless of how reasonable or unreasonable it was. His hair
trigger temper was infamous. The very fact that he built
the statue to bow down to, and he wanted to
burn whoever didn't bow down to it in the furnace.
I mean, the man was in the grip of what
(58:42):
I would call insanity. The process of his salvation, the
way God did what he needed to get through to
him is proof that his intercessors persisted in prayer and
God did things to get him saved that hadn't been
courted before. And it shows that these intercessors didn't lean
(59:04):
to their own understanding. They didn't tell God how to
get him converted when they prayed for him. They prayed
for the end result. And I'm really impressed by the
purity of heart that they wanted King Nebican Neser to
have what they had, which was a relationship with God.
They didn't pray for the short term, but with the
end result in mind. Of course, the sort of benefits
(59:31):
of sanity and justice and mercy and sort of softened
personality and different different things like that came to pass
through that end result, but that's not what they were
praying for. They were praying for the end result, and
(59:52):
then they got those other things as well. So that's
just my observations and thoughts on King nebican Aser. I
hope that you enjoyed this recording. I will be back
again soon.
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com