180. Raising Kids Who Stand Firm: Lessons From Daniel in the Lions’ Den | Daniel 4–6

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This is A Dwelling Place

from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox.

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As we study the familiar passages

of Daniel four through six, God's

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pursuit of every tribe, nation, and

people comes through their rulers.

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He will use Daniel's unwavering,

steadfast faith to be an effective

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witness over entire empires.

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I'm tweaking our plan just a little bit

because I want to cover Daniel in four

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days instead of three, but we'll still be

completely on track by the end of the week

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In chapter four, Daniel hands over his

pen figuratively to Nebuchadnezzar.

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King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples,

nations, and languages that dwell in all

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the earth, peace be multiplied to you.

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It has seemed good to me to show

the signs and wonders that the

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Most High God has done for me.

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How great are His signs,

how mighty His wonders.

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His kingdom is an everlasting

kingdom, and His dominion endures

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from generation to generation.

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Let's meditate for just a moment upon what

Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges about God.

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First, how mighty his acts

are, and secondly, his kingdom

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is an everlasting kingdom.

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Most kings, especially in ancient

times, lived with constant paranoia

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that their thrones and empires would be

taken from them at a moment's notice.

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That's why you'll notice all over

the Bible the phrase, "Long live the

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king," or, "May the king live forever."

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They desperately wanted

to maintain their reign.

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But Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges

that God reigns over all,

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and His kingdom is forever.

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He's seated on the throne

now, and He always will be.

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But if we rewind, he didn't always

realize this He thought he was a

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pretty big deal, and you know what?

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Historically, he really was.

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He was one of the most astounding

architects in the ancient world.

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Sir Henry Rawlinson excavated over

100 different towns in this region,

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and every town in which he went

to, the bricks had the seal that

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they were built by Nebuchadnezzar.

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He never found a trace of another builder

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There is a little bit of debate,

and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon

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could actually have been in Nineveh,

but there was certainly something

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like it that Nebuchadnezzar built

for his wife, who was missing the

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flora and fauna of her homeland.

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He empathetically built her an

architectural marvel that's layers were

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irrigated Babylon itself was started

by Nimrod Remember the Tower of Babel?

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But it didn't thrive until

Nebuchadnezzar came along Herodotus,

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an ancient Greek historian, says that

Babylon covered 196 square miles.

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He describes an outer wall that was, get

this, 311 feet high and 87 feet thick.

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Chariot races would even occur at the

top there were 100 bronze gateways

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that protected them from outside

influences And the Euphrates River

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flowed through the city and was

lined on either side with bricks.

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It included an impressive bridge

over three thousand feet long

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that led to the royal palace.

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And Nebuchadnezzar built the famous

Ishtar Gate, which was covered in

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blue and had lions engraved in it.

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I've gotten to see a couple of these very

lions in Chicago, and I was amazed to

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realize that Daniel and the exiles may

have walked past those very carnivores

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as they entered the city of Babylon.

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So while Nebuchadnezzar was prospering

and at ease, God sent him another

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dream that robbed him of his peace.

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It's of a tree that gets chopped

down, daniel's truly troubled.

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He wishes this foreboding dream

wasn't for Nebuchadnezzar.

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This reveals Daniel wasn't

really rooting for his demise.

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Daniel explains, "You are the

tree that's going to be cut down.

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Seven periods of time will pass, and

you'll dwell with the beasts of the field,

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eating grass like an ox until you know

that the Most High rules the kingdom

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of men and gives it to whom He will."

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Daniel's still hopeful that

Nebuchadnezzar can repent O king,

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let my counsel be acceptable to you.

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Break off your sins by practicing

righteousness and your iniquities

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by showing mercy to the oppressed,

that there may perhaps be a

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lengthening of your prosperity."

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Unfortunately, Nebuchadnezzar doesn't

heed Daniel's humbling advice.

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A year later, he's walking on

the roof of his royal palace.

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He looks at his 300-foot walls, his

marvelous Ishtar Gate And says, Is not

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this great Babylon, which I have built

by my mighty power as a royal residence

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and for the glory of my majesty?

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While the words were still in the king's

mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, O

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King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken,

the kingdom has departed from you, and

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you shall be driven from among men, and

your dwelling shall be with the beasts

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of the field, And you shall be made to

eat grass like an ox, and seven periods

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of time shall pass over you until you

know that the Most High rules the kingdom

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of men and gives it to whom He will

Immediately, this prophecy is fulfilled.

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For seven years, Nebuchadnezzar

is given over to a form of mental

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illness known as boanthropy, He

believes he's a cow, his hair becomes

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as matted as an eagle's feathers,

and his nails as thick as talons.

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We have modern-day examples

of this same occurrence.

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Historians argue that there wouldn't

have been enough time in Nebuchadnezzar's

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reign to have seven years of insanity.

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But the Armstrong Institute for Biblical

Archaeology notes there is a gap between

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582 BC, There's another gap between 572

and 562 that is conspicuously silent

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It also notes the Bible is unique for

describing the faults of its heroes.

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But Hebrew Bible scholar and archeologist

Siegfried Horn wrote, "It should

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not surprise us then if we find no

corroboration of Nebuchadnezzar's

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mental illness in Babylonian records.

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When we consider the humbling nature of

the affliction, the likelihood of the

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royal archives preserving documentation

of the event seems most unlikely."

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however, there are a few artifacts

that point to this very possibility

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one is a Babylonian tablet

discovered in Iraq in the: 1880

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and it certainly seems to point

to Nebuchadnezzar's mental illness

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We also have a tablet

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of a Babylonian king giving praise

to the Most High God acknowledging

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a seven-year period of insanity

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But what I love about the

Lord is even though He humbled

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Nebuchadnezzar, He still gave him

enough reason to be able to repent.

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The climax of the story comes in 4:34.

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" At the end of the days, I,

Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to

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heaven, and my reason returned to me.

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And I blessed the Most High, and praised

and honored Him who lives forever."

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He again acknowledges God's dominion

is everlasting and His kingdom

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enduring, at that same moment, his

reason returns The God of the Bible

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is ever available to grant forgiveness

to those who humble themselves.

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He was ready and waiting.

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And Nebuchadnezzar's biography concludes

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and

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extol and honor the King of Heaven,

for all His works are right and all

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His ways are just, and those who

walk in pride, He is able to humble

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nebuchadnezzar lived for a couple

more years after this, but it

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seems he acknowledged Yahweh as

his Lord, unfortunately, after him,

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there wasn't a worthy successor.

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Several rose up and were killed

off by those around them.

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then a man named Nabonidus comes.

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He's not of the royal line, and he's much

more peaceful than rulers of that day.

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He'd rather read and study

architecture than lead the kingdom.

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And he actually leaves for 10 years

going to the region of Arabia.

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Some believe this was a

religious retreat of sorts

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And others claim his

enemies had driven him out.

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But during these ten years,

the people were not happy.

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His absence affected the feasts they were

allowed to have to worship their gods.

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It impacted their trading

and their morale was poor.

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Nabonidus had placed his son Belshazzar

to rule Babylon while he was away.

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He is every bit the rebellious

fool that Proverbs describes.

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One night he holds a feast with about

one thousand people, and in his drunken

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stupor, decides to bring out the

gold and silver vessels from Judah's

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temple, from the desecrated temple in

Jerusalem that Nebuchadnezzar had taken.

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The people begin drinking out of these

goblets as they praise their pagan gods.

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Yahweh immediately interrupts

their blasphemous arrogance.

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In verse five, immediately the fingers

of a human hand appeared and wrote

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on the plaster of the wall of the

king's palace opposite the lampstand.

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And the king saw the hand as it wrote.

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Then the king's color changed

and his thoughts alarmed him.

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His limbs gave way and his

knees knocked together.

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The king cried out to bring his wise

men to provide an interpretation

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he promises the correct interpreter

will be made third in the kingdom

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But of course, no one can interpret it.

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He's there literally shaking in his

boots, and a queen comes forward.

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She's probably the queen mother that

remembers the days of Nebuchadnezzar when

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Daniel was able to interpret dreams She

relays, " There is a man in your kingdom

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in whom is the spirit of the holy gods.

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In the days of your father, light

and understanding and wisdom like the

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wisdom of the gods were found in him.

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Because an excellent spirit,

knowledge and understanding to

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interpret dreams, explain riddles,

and solve problems were found in him.

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Now let Daniel be called, and he

will show the interpretation."

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She classifies Nebuchadnezzar as his

father, but that term can also mean

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ancestors or those who went before you.

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Daniel comes in, and I can't help but

giggle because if he was 15 at the exile

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when he was brought to Babylon, he'd

be about 81 years old at this time.

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I am picturing an older man being

woken up, coming into this banquet

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of a thousand drunken people.

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I'm sure they gave him time to change

out of his pajamas, but I still

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think it's a funny picture because

most times when we study the Book

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of Daniel, we picture a much younger

version Daniel says, " I don't need

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your gold chain or your purple robe."

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He probably realizes that

whoever gets them is not going

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to keep them for very long.

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He doesn't say, "O king, live forever,"

when he provides the interpretation, and

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this shows us Daniel probably doesn't

have a lot of respect for Belshazzar

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He rebukes him.

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" You were able to watch the Most

High God humble Nebuchadnezzar,

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but you have not humbled your

heart, though you knew all of this.

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You have lifted up yourself

against the Lord of Heaven."

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And praised the gods of silver

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Next, he reads the inscription,

"Mene, mene, tekel, parsin.

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Mene, God has numbered the days of

your kingdom and brought it to an end.

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Tekel, you have been weighed in

the balances and found wanting.

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Parson, your kingdom is divided and

given to the Medes and Persians.

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Belshazzar still gives Daniel the

purple robe and the gold chain, but

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that very night Belshazzar is killed.

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It's fascinating how the downfall

of this great city Babylon occurred.

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As Nabonidus was neglecting the kingdom,

there was a nearby ruler that was paying

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attention to everything that was going on.

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His name was Cyrus the Great.

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Isaiah wrote prophecies of astounding

detail 150 years before he lived

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Cyrus was radically set apart from

the ruthless kings of his day.

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and it's this very night that

God ordained the Persian army

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would come and defeat Babylon.

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Their military strategy is brilliant.

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Because the Euphrates River flowed

through Babylon, they diverted part of

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the water until the river was low enough

that it only reached the warriors' knees.

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They marched into the city and

were able to go under the walls

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where the river formerly was.

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However, if they would have

stopped there, they would have

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been incredibly vulnerable.

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to the Babylonians' defenses.

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But when they reached the inner gates,

they found that all of the guards were

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missing and at Belshazzar's party, and

the inner gates themselves were open.

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This is astounding, miraculous, and

inexplicable apart from the sovereignty

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of God some believe Belshazzar's

own people betrayed him But whatever

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the reason, the prophecies Isaiah

said were precisely fulfilled.

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Listen to some of these writings from

Isaiah 45: " Thus saith the Lord to

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his anointed, to Cyrus, whose hand

I have holden, to subdue nations

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before him, and to loose the loins of

kings, to open the doors before him,

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and that the gates may not be shut.

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I will go before thee, and make

the crooked places straight.

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I will break in pieces the doors of

brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron.

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Babylon's gates were made of brass

and iron, and Cyrus was able to

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walk through because of the Lord In

chapter four, we looked at a prideful

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king willing to humble himself

and recognize the God of heaven.

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In chapter five, a foolish

ruler perishing in his pride.

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And in chapter six, we're introduced

to a new ruler, Darius the Mede.

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There is definitely some controversy

over him because we don't have a clear

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record of who Darius the Mede is.

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There are two options.

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Darius the Mede could be another

name for Cyrus the Great.

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Cyrus was actually half Mede, half

Persian, And it's quite possible Darius

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was actually a title rather than a name,

we see that in other historical records.

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The other option is that Cyrus's

kingdom was so great that he set Darius

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the Mede over this area to rule for

a couple years while he continued

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his military exploits elsewhere.

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In any case, this was the most

peaceful takeover of a city.

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Unlike the Assyrians who tortured all

their captives or the Babylonians who

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brought them into captivity, the city

of Babylon did not skip a beat when

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it switched over to Persian rule.

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No temple services were missed

because Cyrus had incredible respect

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for other religions and cultures.

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In fact, he's known as the

first great humanitarian.

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We have the Cyrus Cylinder

today that describes his

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peaceful entrance into the city.

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A short time after the night Belshazzar

was killed, Cyrus entered and communicated

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to the people that he was not just

coming as king, he was coming to

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free them and provide a better life.

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We'll study him more in the next

portion because he does something else

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incredible that God foretold continuing

in chapter six with Darius the Mede.

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In classic Cyrus style, he

takes some of the current

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leaders and allows them to rule.

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He selects Daniel to be one of his

three highest rulers because an

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excellent spirit was found in him.

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Darius was strategizing to set

him over the whole kingdom, but

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Daniel's enemies became jealous.

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They sought a way to bring

him down, But his reputation

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and his tracks were spotless.

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They finally realized the only

accusation we can bring against him is

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if we attack his loyalty to his God.

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they conspire and say to King Darius,

"Let's make a decree that if anyone

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worships someone other than you,

they'll be cast into the den of lions."

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Darius signs this, not

realizing their trickery.

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Unfortunately, when a Median or a Persian

king signed an edict, it was irrevocable

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So I am thrilled with Daniel's response.

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In verse 10, when Daniel knew that the

document had been signed, he went to

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his house where he had windows in his

upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.

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He got down on his knees three times a

day and prayed and gave thanks before

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his God as he had done previously.

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He's probably about 82 years old at

this point, and I can picture him

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thinking, " Oh brother, you guys.

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I've seen God do so many

things at this point.

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There's nothing you can do to stop

me from worshiping Him the evil

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conspirators report back to King Darius,

" Remember that law you just signed?

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Unfortunately, guess who broke it?

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Daniel."

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Darius is distraught, he determines

to find a way to deliver Daniel.

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Scripture says he labored till

the sun went down to rescue him.

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It's amazing to me that a king is working

all night to rescue an 82-year-old man.

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How incredible must Daniel have been that

Darius was so determined to protect him?

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Sadly, Darius is held to his edict.

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as Daniel is lowered into the pit

housing these ravenous lions, he cries

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out to him, " May your God, whom

you serve continually, deliver you."

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The stone closes the pit, and the

king spends the night fasting.

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He doesn't sleep, and no

one's allowed to interrupt.

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But when sun breaks, he sprints to the

den and cries out in anguish, " Oh,

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Daniel, servant of the living God, has

your God, whom you serve continually,

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been able to deliver you from the lions?"

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Daniel responds, " O king, live forever.

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My God sent his angel and shut the

lions' mouths, and they have not

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harmed me because I was found blameless

before Him and also before you, O king.

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I have done no harm."

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Do you recall that Daniel's

name means God is my judge?

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The Lord recognized Daniel's

righteousness and spared him.

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and this might be a radical take

on this, but I don't know that God

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spared Daniel for Daniel's sake.

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He's eighty-two years at this point And of

course, a death by lions would be painful.

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But I think God spared Daniel most

so he could be a pivotal witness

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to yet another empire revealing

the power of the one true God.

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rejoices and lifts Daniel out of the

den, and it's confirmed, he doesn't

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have a scratch on him Those who set

up the conspiracy have proven they

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aren't trustworthy, and they're

thrown into the pit, being devoured

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before they even reach the ground.

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Proving the lions both

had teeth and were hungry.

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Darius isn't just personally impacted

by this miraculous testimony He

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writes to all peoples, nations, and

languages, " Peace be multiplied to you.

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I make a decree that in all my royal

dominion, people are to tremble

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and fear before the God of Daniel.

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For He is the living

God, enduring forever.

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His kingdom shall never be destroyed,

and His dominion shall be to the end.

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He delivers and rescues.

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He works signs and wonders in heaven

and on earth, He who has saved

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Daniel from the power of the lions."

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There are many other believers throughout

history that were not spared from the jaws

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of lions, but rather saved to eternity.

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God could have also done that for

Daniel, but instead He ordained

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for him to be a powerful evangelist

to an entire empire and to another

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: 00:16:10

reigning king There were many blessings

Daniel didn't experience in his life.

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: 00:16:14

He was never married, never had children,

and never got to return to his homeland.

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: 00:16:18

But God gave him incredible influence

and long life, and he used every

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moment of it for God's glory

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as I think about the world you and

I are raising our children in, I am

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incredibly encouraged by Daniel's

resilient and faithful example.

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It didn't matter what was going on around

him He did not compromise his integrity.

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: 00:16:35

And through it all, he remained

winsome in his witness.

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: 00:16:38

So wherever your children are battling

worldly influences, we can point them,

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to the servant of the King of Kings

who came thousands of years before us

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: 00:16:47

Heavenly Father, we thank you that

your kingdom is eternal and you

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: 00:16:51

reign from generation to generation.

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: 00:16:53

Regardless of what the circumstances

on earth look like, we know you are

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on your throne and you have a plan

to work all of this for your glory.

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Help us to be steadfast, faithful

servants just like Daniel was.

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: 00:17:04

may our families also be found

blameless, and may others recognize that

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a different spirit is present in us.

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: 00:17:11

when we or our children face persecution,

help us to be salt and light to a world

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: 00:17:16

that is so far from understanding the

goodness of your rules and your ways.

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: 00:17:20

Jesus, we thank you that you yourself

pray that we would hold fast to you

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even in our times of persecution.

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we thank you that we can trust you

to strengthen us through your Spirit.

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It's in your name we pray.

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Steph: amen