Category: POW Lectures

The Prophets Speak Lesson 26 Website

I want to begin by congratulating Lin on a great job covering chapters 7-9. I’m not just saying this because she chose to needle me over my comments to her about the significance of this section of Scripture, but the reality is there is no way to do real justice to last week’s reading and this week’s reading in two 30 minute lectures. I would suspect many of you are feeling a little overwhelmed in today’s reading as there is A LOT going on – a glimpse into the spiritual realm with angels and demons, fulfilled and unfulfilled prophecies, and how these prophecies line up with the Book of Revelation. Given there’s so much to cover, I’m going to jump right into Chapter 10.

The time is about 536 B.C., and the Medo-Persian Empire has overthrown the Babylonian Empire. Daniel is believed to be approximately 85 years old. Today’s reading – chapters 10-12 – speaks of one vision – Daniel’s last recorded vision given to him by God. Right at the beginning of today’s reading, we are given some additional insight into this great man of faith. He is likely retired from his public office, but what is he doing? He’s mourning, fasting, and praying for three weeks – likely for the people of Israel. For those of you who think your time of usefulness declines as you get older and retire, please use Daniel as an example that until you breathe your final breath, you have great value and can offer great things to the Kingdom of God. Moreover, God can and will present more of Himself to you – if you want.

We don’t know for sure what he is mourning for, but Cyrus had given the clearance for the Jews to return to their homeland, but only an estimated 49,000 chose to return. The rest of the people have apparently become comfortable in the Babylonian ways and this has almost certainly saddened Daniel.  As for his fasting, it is interesting to note that instead of what we traditionally think of fasting as not eating anything, his fasting consists of denying certain foods and drink. Jesus spoke of fasting many times, and fasting is something we should do periodically. However, it is not meant to kill or starve us – the core purpose of fasting is to deny the flesh and maintain a consistent focus on seeking the Lord.

At the end of the three weeks, Daniel is standing on the banks of the Tigris River, and he sees a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude. Compare this description to what the Apostle John recorded in Revelation 1:13-15, “someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.” The similarities are close enough to safely say Daniel is confronted with the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ.

We then get a glimpse into the quality of Daniel’s friends – they fled because of the terror that overwhelmed them at this sight. Sadly, this is more often than not the case for those who choose to walk closely with the Lord – those in our lives who aren’t following Christ get uncomfortable with our passion and devotion to Him – not really because of us but more likely because they know they’ll be found out for who they really are. This is why when people become born again, there is often a certain amount of changing out of friends.

Even a godly man like Daniel literally loses his strength, goes pale, becomes helpless, and faints at the sight of the Lord. A true encounter with God will do this – we come face to face with His majesty, His holiness, His goodness, His power, and His righteousness, and when we see our sinful and weak selves in contrast to His presence, we can’t help but to collapse before Him. Philippians 2:10-11 confirms this, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” I get a chuckle when I hear what people say in all their arrogance and pride what they’re going to do when they see God. I know what they’re going to do – what we’re all going to do – we’re going to drop to our knees and immediately confess Jesus is the Lord. It will be impossible to deny this.

This may sound terrifying, but – just as God doesn’t leave us in our sinful and unforgiven ways when we confess Jesus as Lord – He begins the process of restoring our strength in Him. You can see this as Daniel is touched and spoken to with words of encouragement, love, and assurance – by who is believed by many Bible scholars to be a second being – likely an angel – some suspect it may be Gabriel. He helps Daniel stand up, tells him not to be afraid, and that he is highly esteemed. Don’t we all want to hear that from God or an angel? We do have that – remember what Jesus said about us to His Father in John 17:22-23? “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” We, as believers in Jesus Christ, are loved by God the Father in the same manner as God loves His Son, Jesus. We need to remind ourselves of this regularly as the enemy of our souls is relentlessly lying to us that this isn’t true.

The messenger tells Daniel that his prayers were heard the moment he started, but the answer was delayed. Here we get a sneak peak of the truth of the spiritual world. Apparently, the angelic world – both good and evil – is one of order and rank. On the evil side, some angels – now demons – are given assignments over entire nations. Here we learn of a prince of the Persian kingdom successfully resisted this messenger, and it wasn’t until the archangel Michael stepped in and allowed the messenger to get this message to Daniel. The fact that Michael was involved emphasizes that this vision is for the Nation of Israel. It is clear that one of Michael’s chief assignments is to oversee the Jews.

Heading into Chapter 11, even though this is all one vision, I think it will be helpful to divide it into two sections: 1) prophecies fulfilled – verses 1-35, and 2) prophecies unfulfilled verses 36-40 and into Chapter 12. The majority of the prophecies that are fulfilled deal with the time known as the “intertestamental period” or the time between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. Included in your homework was this diagram, which provides a lot of great detail of the key rulers during the period that Chapter 11 covers. Because our time is limited, I’m going to focus on just a few of these people to give you a general feel of the flow of what is going on.

The specifics of the prophecies outlined in Chapter 11 are so extraordinary – especially since they were perfectly fulfilled – that it has led many Bible critics to claim the actual writing of Daniel was done after the events occurred because it was impossible that the prophecies could be so accurate. They’re right – with man it was not possible. However, with God all things are possible – including predicting with perfect accuracy future events and players. God is eternal, and He knows everything that is in the future because there is no time with God – everything in the past and everything in the future is visible to Him at the same time. We should draw comfort in this when we’re freaking out about what’s going to happen in our lives, our children’s lives, or anything else in the future. God already knows what’s going to happen, He is in control, and He has our best interests in mind because He loves us.

We begin by learning of four more kings arising in Persia with the 4^th who will be far richer than the others. These rulers turned out to be:

• Cambyses II – 530-522 B.C.
• Pseudo-Smerdis – 522-521 B.C.
• Darius Hystaspis – 521-486 B.C.
• Xerxes – 486-465 B.C.

Xerxes used his wealth to mount up an army of 2.5 million and would lead a charge against Greece in 480 B.C. Although he was victorious, the death toll on his army was so great, he could not sustain a continued conquering. Verse 3 speaks of a mighty king who will arise, will rule with great power, and do as he pleases. This mighty king is Alexander the Great who rose to power over the Graeco-Macedonian Empire – he would conquer the Medo-Persian Empire in 333 B.C. Alexander the Great didn’t last long as he died, but, as verse 4 incredibly points out, his descendants won’t be given the empire, but it will be parceled out to what would be four of his generals.

Again, for the purpose of moving through this in a timely manner, I’m only going to focus on two of the rulers as their kingdoms were the ones that bordered Israel. There were the Kings of the South (Egypt) – the Ptolemys and there were the Kings of the North (Syria) – known as the Seleucids. Beginning in verse 5 and going through verse 19 we go through a series of drama, conflict, and betrayal that would be the envy of any soap opera writer these days. In fact, for those of you who have been listening to me over the years know that I have been able to occasionally find never-seen before photos of certain people from the Bible. Well, I’ve outdone myself this time as, after great painstaking effort, I have discovered the very first slide show of these soap opera-like verses. The show back then was called “As the Ancient World Turns”.

Our story begins with Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (the king of the South), being offered to Antiochus II Theos in an effort to form an alliance between the two kingdoms. There was one hitch – Ptolemy insisted that Antiochus divorce his wife, Laodice – who has a stunning resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor, in order to marry his daughter Berenice. Ptolemy and Berenice have a son, but after two years, Ptolemy died. So Antiochus takes back his former wife, Laodice. Laodice doesn’t forget what Antiochus did to her so, , she poisons Antiochus and kills Berenice. She doesn’t stop there because when Ptolemy and Berenice had a son, it removed the children Laodice had with Antiochus from the line of his rule. So, Laodice kills the son of Antiochus and Berenice, so her son, Seleucus II Callinicus, can return to the line of the throne of Antiochus.

The story doesn’t stop there! The new king of Egypt, Ptolemy III Euergetes was the brother of Berenice, and he was intent on defending his sister’s honor and avenging her death. He attacked the northern power, won the victory, and accumulated a great amount of wealth. And that concludes our story of what happened in verses 5-7 in our story from “As the Ancient World Turns.”

Through the next several verses we see the battle going on back and forth between the north and the south with poor Israel stuck in the middle getting badly beaten with literally thousands getting killed in the conflicts. In verse 17, we’re at about 198-195 B.C., and we learn of another attempt to build an alliance through arranging a marriage between the two kingdoms – like the first time worked out so well! Antiochus the Great makes a treaty with Egypt and gave his daughter, Cleopatra to Ptolemy V Epiphanes in marriage. Now this was pretty creepy because at the time Cleopatra is offered to Ptolemy V Epiphanes, he is 7 years old!

Antiochus the Great’s motivations for this alliance, in reality, weren’t very pure as his hope was Cleopatra would be able to undermine Epiphanes and give favor to her father, so he could take over. Well, just as the last attempted alliance through marriage failed, so would this one as Cleopatra would come to love Ptolemy Epiphanes and did not support her father. At verse 18, her father then turned his attention to the Greek isles to vent his frustrations, but he would be defeated by the emerging Roman army.

We arrive at verse 21 and are introduced to a terrible character known as Antiochus Ephiphanes – this is about 175 B.C. Lin covered this character very well last week, so I won’t spend a lot of time on his exploits. Verse 21 tells us he did not inherit his kingdom – he got his by treachery. In the next couple of verses we learn of his mastery over Egypt partly by force and partly by cunning deceit. Ptolemy IV, the son of Cleopatra was defeated by his subjects in verse 26. In verse 27, Antiochus and Ptolemy vied with each other in treachery. Returning from Egypt, Antiochus attacked Jerusalem, killed 80,000, took 40,000, and sold 40,000 into slavery. In verse 29, Antiochus again invaded Egypt, but the Roman army compelled him to withdraw. In verses 30-31, he vented his anger over his failure on Jerusalem and desecrated the temple.

One of the key points we learn about this “contemptible person” Antiochus Epiphanes is that he is a foreshadowing of the antichrist. We read in verse 31 “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.” What this meant was Antiochus went to the temple, killed a pig on the altar, smeared the blood on the walls of the temple, and demanded the remainder be drunk by the Jewish priests. He then erected a statue – some say of Zeus and some say of himself – and demanded that it be worshipped.

This account is almost identical to what Daniel describes in verse 27 of chapter 9, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. As you may remember from last week, Daniel spoke of the 70 sevens – which accounted for 490 years which would mark the prophetic timeline for the Nation of Israel to finish their transgression – to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, and to bring an everlasting righteousness. Verse 25 of chapter 9 tells us the start of the 490 years was to begin with the order to rebuild Jerusalem. This was order was decreed by Artaxerxes in Nehemiah.

The seven sevens and sixty-two sevens amounted to 483 years and, when you do the math in the number of days based on the Jewish calendar, which is based on 360 days, the end of that 483 years was on April 2, 32 B.C. Now what happened on that day? Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem – receiving for the first time in His public ministry worship as the Messiah – the Anointed One. This is one of the most extraordinary fulfilled prophecies in all of Scripture. Jesus Himself confirmed the truth that the Scriptures foretold the exact date of His arrival in Luke 19:42 “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

Daniel, though, tells us that the Anointed One will be put to death and have nothing. This marks a pause in the 490 years. Daniel 9:26b-27 then reveals the details of the final 7 years, “The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” The antichrist – exactly as Antiochus Ephiphanes, will midway into the Tribulation enter the rebuilt temple and demand to be worshipped. This is the event that will kick off the final 3 ½ years known as the Great Tribulation – it will be literally hell on Earth.

Getting back to Chapter 11, verses 2 through 34 chronicles roughly 470 consecutive years of Jewish history – to the tee. When we get to verse 35, we jump to the final seven of Daniel’s 70 sevens. We then get some descriptions of the antichrist, and we can quickly understand the “anti” before the “christ” when comparing descriptions of him vs. descriptions of the real Christ – the Lord Jesus.

Daniel 11:36a: “The king will do as he pleases.” Just like Lucifer who said, “I will be like God,” which caused him to be cast from heaven and become Satan in Isaiah 14:14, antichrist, who is filled with Satan does according to his own will. Compare this to what Jesus says in Luke 22:42, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Moving onto Daniel 11:36b, “He will exalt and magnify himself above every god”. Compare this to Jesus as described by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:7,8, “rather He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself”. You can see the stark contrast, can’t you? What an amazing Savior we have!

Verse 37 provides some more insight to this person – the antichrist, “He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all.” The first segment of this verse has led many Bible scholars to believe the antichrist will have a Jewish heritage. The next segment indicates one of two things – “the one desired by women” could be referencing the antichrist’s disdain for the Messiah as it was the desire of most Jewish women in those days to be the mother of the Messiah. An alternative interpretation to this segment is that the antichrist may be a homosexual.

Regarding the last segment of verse 37, which says “nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all”, I love what Jon Courson says about this trait of the antichrist, “Antichrist will be his own god. Like antichrist, people who are atheists worship the dumbest god of them all: themselves. ‘I will worship only that I can understand and comprehend,’ they say. And in so saying, they worship their own intellects.”

Verse 40 tells us that the Egyptians will begin to wage war against the antichrist in the middle of the Tribulation period. Now the king of the North is no longer referring to all the Syrian Seleucid leaders but, in the Tribulation, the king of the North is alluding to Russia. Verse 41 speaks of a Beautiful Land – the same as described in Daniel 8:9 – this is Israel. For those of you who have not yet been to Israel, if you can, please go – it is an incredibly beautiful place and the people are largely a beautiful people. It is interesting that Edom, Moab, and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from the Russian invasion – this area is today believed to be Jordan. The reason this is interesting is that the remaining Jews in Revelation are ordered to run to the desert – to the rock city known as Petra, which is in Jordan – for protection from the Battle of Armageddon.

Verses 44-45 provide us a glimpse who will be there for the Battle of Armageddon. Antichrist will be troubled because he will hear of impending attacks from the east – this is from the Orient – quite possibly China. Revelation 9:16 tells us 200 million men will be coming. The antichrist will set out to defeat Russia and China in the Battle of Armageddon, but our glorious King and Conqueror, Jesus Christ, will put an end to all of this in His second coming.

Chapter 12 continues the story of the Great Tribulation with the archangel, Michael, will come on the scene to protect the people of Israel – one of his primary assignments. Michael stands up, and Revelation 12 gives us some insight as to what happens next. “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”

So what Michael the archangel stood up for was to cast Satan out of heaven. Now this may seem strange as most of us think Satan lives in hell. Unfortunately, this is not yet the case. From Job 1, we know that Satan has access to heaven, and he is relentlessly accusing us. Fortunately, we have an Advocate – Jesus Christ – who stands before us before the Father and tells His Father that we are not guilty because we are covered by His righteous blood.

A little further into Revelation 12 beginning at verse 12 we read, “Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.” The woman noted here is the Nation of Israel, and the male child is Jesus Christ.

We then jump to verse 17 of Revelation 12 and learn, “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.” When Michael kicks Satan out of heaven, he will come to earth and take out his anger on Israel and the Tribulation believers. For those of us who know people who are not yet saved because they aren’t ready, they need to know that it’s going to be a whole lot easier to receive Christ today than it will be at this time in the future – it’s going to be hell on earth. That’s why Daniel describes this time in the second half of verse 1 of Chapter 12 as being “a time of distress such has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.”

Verse 2 tells us, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” Again, jumping back to Revelation – this time in chapter 20 – we learn of two resurrections. The first is for those who don’t take the mark of the beast but received the Lord and submitted to His Word – these are those who are saved during the Tribulation period. Their testimonies will be costly, though, as they will be beheaded. However, at the end of the Tribulation period – right before the 1,000 years of peace, those killed in the Tribulation will be resurrected – this is the first resurrection.

At the end of the 1,000 years of peace – known as the Millennium – there will be a second resurrection where the unrighteous will be resurrected. They will be brought to the great white throne judgment, and their entire lives will be up for review – everything they’ve done, not done, and said will be revealed and judged. I don’t know about you, but I praise the Lord this will not be the case for me. For every believer in Jesus, we will participate in a different kind of judgment – at the Bema seat where we will be rewarded for our works and faith.

Daniel then sees the Lord once again above the river and an angel asks the Lord how long it will be before these astonishing things are fulfilled. The Lord says it will be for a time, times, and half a time. A time is equal to one year; times is equal to two years; and half a time is equal to 6 months. Therefore, from the time the antichrist performs his abomination of desolation, it will be 3 ½ years left until Jesus returns in His second coming.

As I said earlier, the Jewish calendar is based on 30 days/month, so 3 ½ years, or 42 months equals 1,260 days. Now verse 11 tells us there will be 1,290 days, so is this a contradiction to what the Lord says? I don’t believe so – it could be that it will take another 30 days after Jesus’ second coming for all the people to gather from the places they were scattered to under antichrist’s persecution. Then verse 12 mentions that those who wait for and reach the end of 1,335 days will be blessed. What is the next 45 days for? It’s unclear, but it could be the time necessary for the Lord to clean and restore the temple, all the judgments are through, the image of the beast is gone, and Christ’s kingdom is established. Those who make it to this point will be blessed.

Daniel is informed that the words are to be sealed up until the time of the end. Daniel had no clue of what he was writing, so he’s told not to worry about it as, in time, there will be knowledge and understanding of what this all means. And that’s a question many of you are asking now, “Why do we need to know all this?” You’ve heard me mention this before – fulfilled prophecy is one of the greatest testimonies to the inerrancy of God’s Word. No other religion’s book dares to make so many predictions of future events as the Bible – and have the perfect accuracy the Bible has. It proves God is true to His Word.

For those of you who have children, grandchildren, or even beloved pets, would you let just anyone watch over them? Would you put an ad in Craig’s List and simply entrust your loved one’s safety to someone you’ve never met before? Of course not. What do you do? You get to know these people enough to the point that you can be comfortable that they will take good care of your loved ones. This takes time, asking questions, and seeing if they are worthy to be trusted.

Why do we need to study prophecy? It helps us come to believe that God is trustworthy – that we can believe He means what He says and does what He says He’s going to do. This study should be helping us to come to know God, and in these perilous times, this is the most important thing any person can do. We learned in today’s reading there is a spirit world, and a portion of it is relentlessly feeding us lies. If we’re not careful, we’ll begin to believe the lies – the Bible speaks of a falling away of the saints in the last days – this will almost certainly be due to weaker and less informed people being duped into lies about God and His Word. WE MUST KNOW THE TRUTH!

Daniel 11:32b sums up my point “but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.” If we know God, we know the Truth. If we know the Truth, we’ll come to recognize the lies and be able to resist them with the Truth – with the Word of God. That is why we need to be doing this study.

One final point. While this reference paper has helpful information for our study, it’s complex and pretty hard to follow. As I get older and come to understand more about God, the more convinced I am that I make things too complicated – too difficult. Maybe it’s my gender – men like to keep things simple, right ladies? After all this reading, all this studying, all this effort, everything can be summed up in one image. The Cross of Christ presents us the greatest example of Who God is to every human being. It acknowledges the seriousness of sin and the need for judgment in the eyes of God. At the same time, though, it proves God’s compassion on His creation – you and me – that while we were sinners, His only begotten Son died for our sins. His Word said this would happen, and it did happen. He’s alive, and His Word said He would rise again. And He did. When we read of unfulfilled prophecy, we can rely on the fulfilled prophecy – God’s Word – that it will happen just as assuredly as the fulfilled prophecy happened.

Today’s reading is both exciting and terrifying. We need to praise God for His provision for us that we will not have to go through these terrible times, but we also need to honor God and give Him glory by telling those whom we know that don’t yet know Him that time is rapidly drawing to a close where receiving Him is going to be a whole lot more difficult once the Tribulation period begins. Tell people about the love of God, but, more importantly, show people the love of God by forgiving people for every offense – just as Christ forgave us for all of our offenses – all of our sins. We are to be the Light of Christ in an ever-darkening world. Let’s join together in prayer for God to give us the strength and the love to love others as He loves us.

The Prophets Speak Lesson 23

The book of Daniel offers both great examples of living a life of faith as well as many prophecies – some of them are the most important prophecies regarding the timing of the arrival of the Messiah – both the first and second time. It also unlocks and provides answers to things brought up in Revelation. Daniel wrote this book around 600 B.C., and the majority of his prophecies have been fulfilled. Fulfilled Bible prophecies is one of the most important demonstrations of the inerrancy of the Word of God, so for Bible naysayers, the only possible attacks available to these fulfilled truths is that it was really written in 50 A.D. – after the timing of the fulfilled prophecies – which would make Daniel’s prophecies a fraud.

The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, was written in 285 B.C., and the book of Daniel was in it then, so how was it not written until 50 A.D.? There are other examples to prove the truth of the timing of Daniel writing this, but let’s go straight the horse’s, or should I say lion’s, mouth – Jesus. In His Olivet discourse about the end times in Matthew 24 and Luke 21, the Lord quoted often from Daniel. If Jesus is certain that Daniel’s writings are authentic, then that is good enough for me.

As I just said, fulfilled prophecies from Scripture demonstrate the inerrancy of the Word of God. What should that mean to us? It should fortify, or build up, our faith. Let’s face it, God isn’t physically visible – His creation is, His love is, His grace is, His mercy is, His power is, and I could go on and on – but because we’re weak and fickle, not being able to see God or that He doesn’t rescue us from every single pain or difficulty, being absolutely certain that there is a God can be a challenge at times. I’m from Missouri, which is known as the “Show Me” state, so imagine the challenges I go through every day!!! I want God to prove Himself all the time!! Here’s the glorious answer – He does! That’s why fulfilled prophecy is such a key component to building up the foundations of our faith.

Have you ever thought of or have been asked who do you want to see when you get to heaven? I would hope the first person that comes to mind is Jesus, but I would guess also high on the list will be family members and friends who have gone before you. For me, Daniel is high on my list. This was an extraordinary man of faith. Ezekiel was a contemporary, and he mentions Daniel in the same sentence with Job and Noah as examples of great men of faith. Additionally, Daniel is one of the few key figures in the Old Testament where there is no mention of sinful conduct. This does not mean he did not sin – he was a human, and the Bible tells us that there is no one righteous, no not one. What this does mean is he walked the walk. He lived for what, or I should say Who, he loved. He purposed His life for Whom he praised.

So the book starts mentioning Daniel’s writing this in the third year of the reign of one of Judah’s bad kings, Jehoiakim, so we’re at about 605 B.C. This is the dude who, when receiving a scroll of prophecy from Jeremiah, chopped it up and threw it in the fire.  This is also the time where King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem and took Jehoiakim and the people into Babylonian captivity.

I think it is noteworthy to point out a key phrase Daniel inserts into verse 1:2(a) “And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his (meaning Nebuchadnezzar’s) hand.” Whether it is politicians, prominent people from the entertainment world, titans of business, or even any of us, whenever success comes our way, if we attempt to take credit or grab the glory for the success, this verse should be the reminder that EVERYTHING that happens in our lives is coming through the fingertips of the Lord. You know how you pick up soft sand in your hand and then as you slowly separate your fingers the sand starts to filter out – who is controlling the stream of sand falling from your hand? You are. So it goes with the Lord and His control of the blessings and our circumstances in our lives.

I don’t know about you, but I’m amazed at how much time I spend each day doing things under the assumption I have control over what is going on in my life. The only thing I can truly control is my actions – and that is ONLY with the power of the Holy Spirit. Without the strength of the Spirit overwhelming my fleshly responses to things, I would be anything but in control – I would likely be out of control. The idea that we’re not in control is something most of us don’t want to hear. Why do we want to be in control? I would propose the core answer is a lack of trust and faith in God’s willingness and ability to appropriately manage our lives. The fruit of that lack of faith and trust is fear. Please don’t think I’m trying to lay a condemning trip on any of you – you can put me in this category.

One of my favorite names of God is Jehovah Jireh – the Lord provides. What does this name of God imply? That He will provide EVERYTHING we need – no exceptions. That’s not easy for us to believe is it? Why? When we surrender our wills to our flesh, which is diametrically opposed to the things of the Spirit – we are at war within ourselves as our flesh is the enemy to the Spirit that dwells in each believer of Jesus. Our flesh wants what it wants and wants it now! I can remember when Vickie was pregnant – we became such regular visitors to Dairy Queen we were on a first name basis with the people working there! I could blame it on Vickie’s cravings because she was pregnant, but I’ll be honest and say I was picking up the keys to the car just as much, if not more, than when she was wanting a big soft-serve chocolate cone. For me it was the Heath Bar Blizzard or a Peanut Buster Parfait!

It isn’t just the food cravings of our flesh that we war against – it is also the fear of pain. Anyone here like pain? What do we want the most when we’re in pain? For it to go away, right? Pain comes in many types such as grief, sadness, depression, and loneliness and from many places including poor health, the loss of a loved one, the breaking up of a relationship, the loss of a job, etc. Regardless of how many types of pain there are or how many different ways we can experience it, they all have one thing in common – they hurt, and we want to make the pain go away. If we seek God to take it away, and He does, then we’re happy and praising Him; however, if He doesn’t take away the pain, then we wonder if He’s really there or if He cares about what we’re going through.

I’m going to wrap up this lecture with more on this topic, but verse 2 clearly states that Nebuchadnezzar did not take Jehoiakim – the Lord delivered him into his hands. God is in control all the time.

So, in addition to taking Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar takes some of the temple treasures and the picks of the litters of young Jewish men, keeps them celibate, and preps them for service to himself. Among these men were Daniel, Hananiah (aka Shadrach), Mishael (aka Meshach), and Azariah (aka Abed-nego). Daniel is presented with his first test of obedience to what he believes – he’s offered a portion of the king’s meat and wine but fearing it might be sacrificed to idols, he goes vegan. The prince of the eunuchs doesn’t like this vegan thing and fears Daniel’s determination to not eat the king’s meat will make him weak and less effective, and that will make the prince look bad and put him in danger.

Daniel challenges the prince for 10 days to let he and his three buddies eat their sticks and twigs and then compare their appearances to those who are feasting on Whoppers (you know, Burger King’s meat?). At the end of ten days, Daniel and his buddies looked great, but the rest of the eunuchs looked like anyone who ate Whoppers for 10 days. The prince agrees to no longer push the king’s meat and wine on Daniel.

The Lord honored and blessed Daniel and his buddies for their faithfulness by giving them knowledge and understanding in all kinds of literature and learning. Daniel is also given understanding of dreams of all kinds. The four musketeers are then presented to the King, and he finds them 10 times better than all the magicians and enchanters in the kingdom.

We need to be clear about scenarios like this where we see or hear people who stand up for their faith getting rewarded by God. God does not owe us anything when we demonstrate our faith in a tangible way. That would imply God’s love is conditional, and, therefore, we need to perform to earn God’s blessing. That is NOT how it works with God.

Anyone here ever been to Niagara Falls? Here is a picture. They are awesome – the amount of water that pours out constantly is truly amazing. Now, imagine  this water is God’s blessings. The waters don’t stop and start based on God’s opinions of our behavior – they’re always pouring out – remember, God doesn’t change. It’s only when we choose to stand for our faith and draw closer to God that we get to experience the power of these ever flowing blessings. It’s not God turning on and off – it is our decisions to draw close to and obey Him that we see the greater blessings. See the boat in the picture? When it is at its dock, the impact of the awesomeness of the falls isn’t nearly as great as when it draws closer to them.

So Daniel and his buddies are taking a stand for godliness – in essence, drawing closer to God out of faith, they experienced the blessings of knowledge and understanding that were always there for the taking from God. I was taught from an early age that I needed to perform to earn the favor of my parents – if I got good grades or did well in sports, they were clearly more willing to offer love and encouragement. However, when I didn’t perform – even though I would try my hardest – they would discipline me for my lack of performance. I’m just now starting to realize that is not how God works, and I can tell you it is a liberating sensation to know God loves me for who I am right now – He can’t love me any more now than He did the day I came into His thoughts to be created. The waterfalls of His love for you and for me never stop – we just need to choose how much we want to get closer to Him.

Matthew 7:11 sums up this point well, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” We want to give things to those we love – our family members and friends, but God wants to give so much more. He took the first step proving it to us with sending His Son to die on a cross on our behalf because of our sin. He won’t stop there. Praise the LORD!

Bible scholars estimate that Daniel and his friends were about 15 at this point in the story. I don’t know about you, but when I see young people demonstrating their faith, I am simply in awe of them. I think about how different my life might have been had I come to know the Lord at such an early age. I can think of no greater ministry each of us can have but to offer the wisdom and love God has poured out on us to young people we know – our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or to kids in Sunday school. There is no greater way for us to fight back the evil tide of turning generation after generation away from their faiths than for us to instill in young people the deepest truths of Who God is and exhibiting agape, or unconditional, love to give them a glimpse of a Christ-centered and Christ-like relationship.

Chapter 2 is considered to be the backbone of Bible prophecy as it unlocks the rest of the prophecies in this book and then unlocks the prophecies in the Book of Revelation. The chapter begins with the whole story of King Nebuchadnezzar having nightmares, and he wants his platoon of Whopper eaters and astrologers to not just tell him what the dreams mean but to tell him their content. They try to get him to tell them the content of the dream, but when they realize he won’t they finally tell the truth in verse 11, “What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.”

When we confess our faith in Jesus, we are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, and one of the things that are unveiled to us is the truth that there is another realm in this world – the spirit world. It is unknown to those who don’t believe, and, for most of us, it is a mysterious world to those of us who believe. Personally, I don’t like spending much time on the demonic parts of the spirit world as I choose to focus on what the Bible says and rely on God’s power to guide me through it. However, we need to understand that there is a spirit world, and it is partly occupied by evil spirits. More importantly, we must understand that they are limited and no match for the godly-based spirits.

Astrologers, palm readers, fortune-tellers and the such are drawing their powers from the evil spirit realm. However, these powers are limited, and the astrologers are acknowledging this truth in verse 11. This is not the case with those of us who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” This is an important verse for us to remember as we establish the foundation of our faith in Jesus. The impossible situations in our lives are indeed impossible if we’re to rely on our own understanding and wisdom to resolve them. The same is the case for evil spirits – they love to create scenarios in our lives to cause us to lose faith in God’s character and His power to heal these scenarios. The evil spirits’ hope is to target our weaknesses and cause doubt, fear, depression, anger, and anything else that draws us farther and farther away from those never-ending powerful waterfalls of blessings that are rooted in goodness for us. With God, ALL things are possible.

So Nebuchadnezzar is none too happy with his team’s inability to tell him his dream and what it means, and orders all of them – including Daniel and his buddies – to be killed. Daniel steps in and asks for a little time and then to be allowed to approach the king. He goes back to his house and tells his buddies about the challenge before them. No doubt, these four young men had one serious prayer meeting that night as they were praying for their lives. Jon Courson said it well, “Nebuchadnezzar took his problems to bed, Daniel took his to God – and what a difference that makes.” Again, God all the time had the answer to Nebuchadnezzar – it wasn’t until Daniel and his gang drew closer to the Lord that they received what they needed.

Daniel’s response to this dream and its meaning being revealed is an important one and worth reading out loud. Beginning in verse 20, “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. ²¹ He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. ²² He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. ²³ I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

What was his response to God’s blessing? Praise and thanksgiving. This should come naturally but, sadly, it doesn’t. Remember the story of the ten men who had leprosy asking the Lord to have pity on them? He healed them all, but how many of them gave Him thanks for what He did? Just one. Vickie and I have been talking a lot lately about the importance of praising and thanking God ALL the time. Ephesians 5:20 exhorts us to be, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Apostle Paul doesn’t say to thank God ‘sometimes’ or only when we get our way. Praise is not an acronym that means, Please Respond Specifically As I Expected. What are the words Paul uses that tell us how often and when we’re to thank God? We’re to thank Him always and for everything.

That’s not easy is it? You’re not yet healed. You don’t have that new job. Your relationship still is the pits. Your kids are still far from the Lord. How are we expected to praise and thank God when things aren’t better? Let’s take another look at Daniel’s expressions of praise and thanksgiving. What do we see him doing here? Is he specifically praising God for what He has done? Not completely – what he’s doing here for the most part is praising God for Who He is – not so much for what He has done. Since God doesn’t change, then all of His goodness, all of His mercy, all of His compassion, all of His love are worthy to be praised – regardless of our circumstances. God isn’t changing – remember the waterfalls? It is us who change in our opinion of Who God is when our circumstances get painful. Some of you may have heard the saying  “If you’re not feeling close to God, who moved?”

Daniel does give thanks to God for revealing the dream and its meaning, and he is given an audience with Nebuchadnezzar. You have to love and admire the boldness of this young man. He could have puffed out his chest and proclaimed to the king, “I figured it out!” and taken credit for what God had revealed to him. No, Daniel humbles himself takes a step back and then gives God the glory in verse 28, “but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” Jon Courson again nails it when he says, “the fastest way to see the work of God through your life stopped is to begin to think it’s because you’re special.”

Upon acknowledging God is the one who revealed to him the content of the dream, Daniel proceeds to describe an enormous dazzling statue with a head made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. He then speaks of a rock – not made by human hands – smashing the feet made of iron and clay, which would ultimately cause the entire statue to crumble. Then the rock that struck the statue would become a huge mountain and fill the whole earth. No wonder Nebuchadnezzar was terrified – this was a pretty freaky dream!

Beginning in verse 36, Daniel begins to interpret the dream. What he is about to unravel is a prophecy of the major kingdoms that will come into existence for the remainder of human history. Starting with the head of gold, this represented the Babylonian empire. Notice the declining quality of the metals in this statue. The head was made of gold, and the Babylonian empire is considered to have had a greater effect on the known world than any other empire.

Next, Daniel speaks of an inferior empire, and this is to mean the kingdom of the Medes and Persians. This empire would overthrow the Babylonians in 530 B.C. The two arms of silver acknowledged this kingdom would be a constitutional monarchy as opposed to the Babylonian empire, which was an absolute monarchy.

The Kingdom of Ancient Greece would overthrow the Medo-Persian Empire in 330 B.C. This part of the statue was brass or bronze, and brass is a lesser metal than gold or silver – this lesser metal signified that the Greek kingdom was an oligarchy.

The Roman Empire is the legs of iron, and it took over the Greek kingdom in 168 B.C. The Roman Empire was a limited democracy, so it was even a weaker kingdom – despite its efforts to crush everything in its path into bloody submission.

We need to remember that prophecy has to do with the Nation of Israel, so in A.D. 70 when the Romans annihilated Israel, the prophetic clock was put on hold. That clock didn’t start ticking again until 1948 when Israel once again became a nation and was put back in its land. Now, we can assess the final kingdom as symbolized as the feet of iron and clay – this will be the last world power.

As Daniel describes this final power, it will be a tenuous alliance – it will be a divided power. Many Bible scholars believe this final power will be a version of a restored Roman Empire. It will be this empire that will face the crushing rock, the rock of our Salvation, the chief cornerstone – it will be Jesus, and He will crush this final empire and usher in the Millennium and rule and reign.

Nebuchadnezzar is blown away at the accuracy and awesomeness of Daniel’s interpretation, and utters these important words, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” Notice Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t accept God as his God when he tells Daniel it is your God that is the God of gods. We need to make our relationship with God personal in order to receive the fullness of what Jesus purchased for us with His blood at the cross. He is not just the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or the God of the Bible – He’s not some mysterious, unknowable God who is aloof and uninterested in us. He is my God. He is your God – He wants our relationships with Him to be deeply personal – for us to share with Him everything we’re thinking and feeling – so He can heal what has been harmed and restore what has been lost. That’s what close friends should be – someone we can trust and someone who cares more about us than his/her self. That is Who God is.

Nebuchadnezzar promotes Daniel to a position of leadership over the entire province of Babylon and in charge of all the wise men. Daniel gets Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to become administers over the providence of Babylon. Life is good – for now.

Twenty years later, Nebuchadnezzar’s humble utterance of Daniel’s God is a mere memory, and he is feeling his oats. He erects a 90’ high statue of gold – notice the entire statue is gold – not just the head like the one in his dream. This is his way of saying his kingdom would last forever. He then calls in all the key people in his kingdom to come to the dedication of this statue and, when the music plays, they are to bow down and worship the image. Those who don’t will be put into a fiery furnace.

The Chaldeans, which in modern English means “tattle-tails”, snitch on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and tell Nebuchadnezzar they were not complying with his order to bow down and worship the statue. The king flips his lid and orders them to be brought before him. He restates the directive to them and confirms their punishment should they not obey it. And then he waves this line at them at the end of verse 15, and can’t you hear these words coming out of Satan’s mouth himself, “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

Because of their faith, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego are being persecuted. Jesus said in Matthew 10:22a, “You will be hated by everyone because of me”. He doesn’t say ‘you may be hated’ or ‘you might be hated’ – He says you will be hated because of Him – because of our placing our faith, trust, and identity in Him. That is what is going on here, and these three guys don’t even know Jesus – yet. The next two verses are ones to which we must pay close attention as they are statements of faith that everyone in this room – every Christian in this world – should aspire.

In verse 17 they respond to Nebuchadnezzar’s threat by proclaiming “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.” Wow – what courage – what faith. Put yourself in their shoes, could you make such a statement of confidence in God – much less to a man of such great power and influence as Nebuchadnezzar? I’ll be you could – with the help of the Holy Spirit.

What was the centerpiece of this statement of faith in God? God is able. There are two critical decisions we must make when we consider putting our faith and trust in God. First, is He willing to be our God? Does He truly care about our current and future wellbeing? Hopefully, we can look at the cross and the “willing” question is answered. Jesus didn’t have to go to the cross – He did it willingly to rescue us from our sin, offer us the opportunity of an abundant life here on Earth, and then secured our eternal destination with the promise of hope for living with God in peace for eternity.

Secondly, is God able to be our God? Does He have the power to overcome our foes and challenges? Does He have the wisdom to help us respond to the difficulties of life? The answer to this question is answered in today’s reading. He is able to provide Daniel the content and interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and we are about to learn He indeed has the power to deliver them from the fiery furnace. These three young men trusted their lives to the truth of God’s character that He is both willing and able to be their God.

Then, in verse 18, they demonstrate an even higher faith. “But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” This is huge – how many of us tie the quality of our relationship with God to the amount of times we get what we want? When things are going well, we think we’re in a good place with God. How about when things aren’t going well in our lives? God isn’t giving us what we want. Are we still extending our praise and thanksgiving then? Are we allowing our circumstances to dictate how we feel about where we are with God?

Recently, Vickie and I took a flight up to Seattle to attend one of her friend’s son’s weddings. It was an early morning flight, and there was a heavy marine layer – it was really gray and pretty depressing. As the plane hurtled down the runway, and we began to lift off the ground, it was only a few seconds later that we flew through the overcast and the sun was shining brightly and it was a clear blue sky. Vickie than utters this profound statement, “Isn’t that like life, we’re down in the gray and overcast, but God is up here just doing His thing like He always is.”

That’s so true, isn’t it? We get caught up in the daily grind of life and our respective trials, but God doesn’t change. Remember the waterfalls? Colossians 3:2 doesn’t just remind, but exhorts us to set our mind on things above, not on earthly things. This is where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were focused to be able to take the stand they did against the king.

Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t respond well to these statements of faith, and he has the furnace turned up 7 times the normal temperature. He gets some of his people to throw the three amigos into the furnace. It was so hot, that the guys who threw them into the furnace were burned to death.

What happens next is a demonstration of the second half of Matthew 10:22. Remember what the first half promised? “You will be hated by everyone because of me.” That alone doesn’t sound like such a great deal when we’re considering surrendering our lives to Christ.  You can imagine someone saying, ‘Let me get this straight, you want me to change my ways and follow a God that will ensure I’m going to be hated? What kind of promise is that?’ The answer is that it is not the entire promise. The rest of this promise is found in the second half of Matthew 10:22, “but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Nebuchadnezzar stands amazed as he sees not three, but four men walking around unbound and unharmed in the furnace, and he says the fourth is like the Son of God. I need to be clear about the second half of this promise. Is it possible that God can step into our own fiery furnaces of terminal illness, shattered relationships, financial ruin and deliver us? Absolutely – remember, with God all things are possible. However, God may not deliver you from your terminal illness until you die – then He gives the believer the ultimate healing and takes us home. Notice the words “to the end” in this verse. Whether it is at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of our trials and tribulations, God will save us because He is willing and able.

In seeing this scene unfold and then realizing after their getting out of the furnace that not only were they not burned they didn’t even smell like they had been around such intense heat, Nebuchadnezzar proclaims this fresh revelation of the God of these young men, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” May we each hope that one day people can say this statement about us as we face the fiery furnace trials of our lives.

Prophetically, chapter 3 speaks of the time of the Jews, represented by these three young men, will go through the fiery furnace of the Great Tribulation. According to Revelation 17 and 18 in the end times, there will be a unified religious system and a unified economic system both called Babylon. Where are the Jews in Chapter 3? Babylon.

Initially, Nebuchadnezzar treated Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego well. In the first half of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will be a man of peace and negotiate a peace with the Jews and their enemies. Nebuchadnezzar then set up this idol representing his Babylonian kingdom to be worshipped – the Antichrist will  demand to be worshipped in the new temple known as the abomination of desolation.

Revelation 13 tells us that the number assigned to the beast is 666. Nebuchadnezzar’s statute was 60 cubits high (or 90’), 6 cubits wide (or 9’), and there were 6 kinds of instruments played that called the people to worship.

Finally, in Revelation 19, we see the Lord throwing the beast and those that worshipped him into the lake of fire. The Jews that would stand firm during the Tribulation would be saved just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were saved by the Lord. This stuff is so cool, isn’t it?

The title of this lesson was “Three Tests”. The tests were:

1. Denying the temptations to eat the king’s meat
2. Figuring out the content and meanings of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams
3. Refusing to worship the statue

In each of these tests, lives were on the line should they not pass the tests. Thank God our faith isn’t tested like this all the time. An important question we should be asking ourselves about these great men of faith is ‘how can I develop such a faith?’ It doesn’t happen overnight, it takes a persistent effort, and the primary effort we must make is defined for us in Romans 10:17, which tells us that “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

For those of you getting fatigued with this study, please know that your patience and persistence in studying God’s Word is – brick by brick – building your faith. Our faith in Christ is everything, folks. Nothing else in life is as important for us as each of us will face fiery furnace times in our lives and see, as believers in Jesus, these difficult times are not punishments from God but opportunities for us to draw closer to those waterfalls.

Hebrews 11:1 speaks of faith as being the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is always associated with hope, so the greater the faith, the greater the hope. What is that hope? It is the hope of developing and growing a close and personal eternal relationship with the Creator of those waterfalls of blessings. Hebrews 11:6 tells us our faith pleases God, it produces hope, and that hope promises rewards. Our flesh tells us what we want. The Spirit gives us what we need. What do we need in our fiery trials? Hope. We learned today Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego bet their lives on the hope that comes with their faith. God is willing, and He is able. He keeps His promises. We just need to keep the faith in Him. Amen? Let’s pray.