Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001322
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00:07 Ancr:It has stood the test of time.
00:12 God's book, the Bible. 00:17 Still relevant in today's complex world. 00:21 It Is Written. 00:25 Sharing hope around the globe. 00:36 Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. 00:39 I'm John Bradshaw. 00:40 I'm glad to have you with me. 00:42 The Bible is full of great stories. 00:44 We can think of the story of the Exodus, when Moses led 00:46 Israel out of Egyptian slavery, through the Red Sea 00:49 that was miraculously opened up by God, then through the 00:52 wilderness for forty years while God fed them with bread 00:54 from heaven. 00:56 A great, great story. 00:58 In the Bible there's the story of Joseph. 01:01 Betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt, 01:04 Joseph made an incredible rise from languishing in a 01:06 prison cell to being second person only to Pharaoh in the 01:08 Egyptian government. 01:11 He was reunited with his family and was responsible 01:14 for getting God's people AND Egypt through a devastating 01:17 famine. 01:18 High drama, and a magnificent story. 01:22 We could add to that list and mention Nehemiah restoring 01:24 Jerusalem and building the wall of the city while his 01:27 enemies were trying to ruin his work. 01:30 There's the story of Esther, who rose from difficulty to 01:32 become the Queen of the Medo-Persian Empire, married 01:35 to the most powerful man on the planet - and used by God 01:38 to bring deliverance to her people. 01:43 Now these stories don't just exist merely to be good 01:45 stories. 01:47 They're not in the Bible just to entertain us or as bedtime 01:49 stories for our children. 01:51 The great Bible stories were carefully preserved and then 01:56 included in the Bible to teach important lessons - 01:58 lessons about God and about faith and about prophecy and 02:01 about salvation and forgiveness and redemption. 02:04 Those stories are in the Bible to give us hope and 02:07 understanding and insight. 02:10 There's a well-known Bible story we're going to look at 02:12 today. 02:13 It comes to us from the times of the prophet Daniel. 02:16 And at the end of our program today I'm going to tell you 02:19 how you can get a copy of an important book I've written 02:22 on the subject of the Book of Revelation, explaining some 02:24 of Revelation's great prophecies and showing what 02:27 the book of Revelation, what End-Time Prophecy is REALLY 02:30 all about. 02:31 So make sure you get that information at the end of the 02:33 program today so we can get today's free book to you. 02:37 [Music] The book of Daniel is an enormously important book 02:43 of the Bible, especially relating to last-day Bible 02:46 prophecy. 02:47 Jesus quoted from the book of Daniel. 02:50 John borrowed a lot of imagery from the book of 02:52 Daniel when he was writing Revelation. 02:55 Daniel was raised in the city of Jerusalem, but of the 363 02:59 verses in the book of Daniel, Daniel himself is in Babylon 03:04 or the kingdom of Babylon for 362 of them. 03:08 And that's significant. 03:11 [Music] In the opening verse of the book of Daniel God's 03:15 people are attacked - in fact conquered - by the ruling 03:18 heathen power in the world. 03:19 Stop an think about that. 03:20 That is shocking. 03:22 God's people were intended to be the recipients of the 03:25 blessings of God, especially favored by God, kept by the 03:29 providence of God. 03:30 But instead they experienced 70 years of captivity in 03:34 Babylon. 03:36 The prophet Jeremiah prophesied this would happen, 03:39 and he tells us why in Jeremiah chapter 25, we'll 03:43 start in verse 4: 04:04 Now notice this. 04:06 Here's what God says next, 04:25 Judah had disobeyed God. 04:27 Instead of being faithful to God they even went so far as 04:30 to serve and worship other gods. 04:33 And that's something God just couldn't tolerate - when His 04:36 people rejecting Him and serving other gods, living 04:38 lives of disobedience. 04:39 So, here's what God said. 05:25 Judah went into captivity because of their unfaithfulness 05:28 to God - and because they rejected the true God and 05:34 served and worshiped false gods. 05:36 I think it's important that we notice something here. 05:38 Here's what God did. 05:39 Instead of just cutting them off forever, God had a plan 05:42 to work with Judah and to bring His people to the place 05:46 where they would turn back to Him. 05:48 Even though going into captivity was tough medicine, 05:51 it was God's mercy on display. 05:54 God had chosen His people to be a light to the world - in 05:57 fact, Paul said in Acts 13 that the children of Israel 06:00 had been chosen by God to be a light to the Gentiles, 06:06 meaning, essentially, that God wanted to use Israel to 06:08 share the knowledge of His goodness with the whole world 06:12 - including, ultimately, to you and me. 06:14 If Israel was failing miserably in staying close to 06:17 God's will, God could hardly use them as His witnesses to 06:20 the world. 06:22 God didn't give up on His people easily. 06:25 Speaking of the northern kingdom of Israel, God said 06:30 in Hosea 11:8, 06:44 Now when we say Judah was sliding into sin 06:48 and apostasy, we're not talking small-time stuff. 06:50 Jeremiah writes that there was murder going on, and 06:52 oppression, and Sabbath-breaking, Baal 06:56 worship - and that was some seriously bad stuff involving 06:58 terrible immorality and even child sacrifice. 07:03 God felt he had to resort to drastic measures to get the 07:06 attention of His people. 07:08 God said, 07:24 So Israel, acting like they were doing 07:26 nothing wrong, went into captivity, with God's 07:29 intention being that when they came out of captivity 07:32 they would have experience or would have experienced a 07:36 change of heart. 07:38 [Music] And it was while they 07:40 were in Babylon that God communicated some of the most 07:42 remarkable prophecies in the Bible to and through a young 07:47 man named Daniel. 07:49 We are going to look at one of those remarkable 07:51 prophecies - one with immense significance for earth's 07:56 final days - in just a moment. 07:59 [Music] 08:16 Its time for today's Bible question. 08:19 If God is supposed to be all about love, why did my Dad 08:22 die of cancer last year? 08:26 I prayed for him to live. 08:28 I've been struggling with the idea that maybe God doesn't 08:32 love me. 08:33 That's a serious concern. 08:35 The one thing you can know for sure is that God is love. 08:38 The Bible says those very words in 1 John 4. 08:42 John 3:16 - For God so LOVED the world... 08:47 The situation you've referred to is very serious - it's 08:50 tragic. 08:51 I'm very sorry. 08:52 In the Bible there were numerous sad situations. 08:56 John the Baptist lost his life. 08:59 Peter was imprisoned and was freed by God, but James was 09:03 imprisoned and lost his life. 09:05 Now does that mean God didn't love or care about those 09:08 people? 09:10 Of course not. 09:11 The sad fact is that we live in a world of sin. 09:14 When Adam and Eve chose to come out from under God's 09:18 dominion, sin was introduced into the world. 09:21 Satan worked in the human family and introduced all 09:24 kinds of sin. 09:25 Disease is a result of the sin problem. 09:31 God could have stopped sin and sickness from happening, 09:34 but only as He took away people's freedom of choice. 09:36 And what kind of world would it be if we didn't have 09:38 freedom of choice? 09:39 When humans sinned, God decided that He would let sin 09:42 run its course - even knowing that there would be terrible 09:45 consequences. 09:47 However, in the middle of all of that He has given us the 09:49 opportunity to choose to follow Him and to be 09:52 ultimately restored. 09:54 Now keep this in mind. 09:55 God knows what you're going through. 09:58 He lost a Son because of sin in the world. 10:02 You can be sure God is familiar with your pain - 10:05 by experience. 10:07 Sin even cost Jesus His life. 10:09 Now, the great news is that Jesus is coming again. 10:13 There'll be a resurrection on that day. 10:16 The Bible says the dead in Christ shall rise. 10:20 And you can look forward to seeing your father again, and 10:23 knowing that we'll live together in a world where 10:26 there will be no more sin, no more death, no more sadness. 10:30 God is going to make it all okay. 10:33 You can trust Him. 10:34 He DOES love you. 10:37 You can submit your Bible questions to us here at It Is 10:40 Written by going to our website: itiswritten.com. 10:43 Hit the QUESTIONS tab and in a future program -- all going 10:47 well, hopefully -- I'll be able to answer your Bible 10:52 question. 10:55 [Music] 11:02 Planning for your financial future is a vital aspect 11:04 of Christian stewardship. 11:06 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased 11:08 to offer free planned giving and estate services. 11:10 For information on how we can help you, 11:13 please call 1.800.992.2219. 11:17 Call today or visit our special website, www.hislegacy.com. 11:30 I'm John Bradshaw - Thanks for joining me today 11:32 on It Is Written. 11:34 And please be sure to stay by at the end of this program 11:36 and get today's free gift book, Revelation Today, which will 11:40 help you get a whole lot more out of Bible prophecy 11:41 and will help you understand what the book of Revelation 11:44 is really all about. 11:45 There's a lot more to it than beasts and horns and images 11:47 and symbols. 11:48 And Revelation Today will help you see that. 11:50 [Music] When King 11:54 Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked the city of 11:56 Jerusalem, many Jews were taken captive and marched 11:59 across the hot Middle Eastern desert to Babylon - situated 12:04 in what we would call today Iraq. 12:06 Daniel was most likely just a teenager at the time, a young 12:08 man - you could get away with calling him a boy. 12:12 And he was separated from his family and taken to a foreign 12:14 land and immersed in paganism. 12:18 His denomination didn't have any churches in Babylon, so 12:20 Daniel was really separated from his upbringing and his 12:23 religious customs. 12:24 And he couldn't worship God in the manner in which he was 12:28 accustomed. 12:30 As soon as Daniel arrived in Babylon the challenges came 12:33 at him thick and fast. 12:35 Daniel was challenged on the basis of his faith in God. 12:39 [Music] So what would he do 12:42 when he was tested on the principles in which he 12:43 believed? 12:44 No sooner had Daniel arrived in Babylon than he was faced 12:48 with a dilemma. 12:48 The King had ordered that some of the outstanding youth 12:51 that head been brought to Babylon should be fed with 12:53 food from the royal household - really a great privilege. 12:55 But to eat the kings food would have been almost 12:59 certainly for Daniel to eat unclean food, and he knew God 13:02 didn't want him eating unclean food. 13:06 On the other hand, to refuse to eat the food would have 13:07 been to incur the wrath of the king. 13:09 So Daniel could either eat the food and dishonor God, or 13:12 not eat the food and dishonor the king - and maybe, in 13:19 fact, probably definitely - be severely punished. 13:22 In choosing to honor God, God honored Daniel and worked it 13:24 out that Daniel could eat a simple vegetarian diet, and 13:27 as a result Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach and 13:30 Abednego were blessed by God with good health and with the 13:32 favor of the Babylonian officers. 13:36 Daniel learned early in Babylon that it was better to 13:40 put God first, no matter what the cost might be. 13:44 [Music] 13:48 Then in Daniel chapter two, King Nebuchadnezzar 13:50 had a remarkable dream where he saw a great image. 13:53 The image had a head made out of gold, its chest and arms 13:55 were of silver, its mid-section was bronze, its 13:58 legs were made of iron and its feet were made out of 14:00 iron and clay. 14:02 Ultimately, in answer to the prayers of Daniel and his 14:13 three friends, God gave Daniel the interpretation of 14:17 the dream and Daniel explained it to the king. 14:20 Daniel explained to the king that the dream was about the 14:27 rising and falling of kingdoms, and that the 14:31 kingdom of Babylon would one day be conquered by another 14:33 kingdom. 14:35 Shocking news to the king. 14:37 Daniel told of the time that a great Rock would come and 14:43 sweep away the kingdoms of the world. 14:45 In other words, Jesus would return to the earth and set 14:47 up a kingdom that would last forever. 14:52 And then in Daniel 3, we see an important theme develop 14:57 that actually has prophetic ramifications. 14:59 While Daniel 3 contains one of the great Bible stories, 15:04 there's an important lesson in that story that helps us 15:06 to understand the great spiritual crisis soon to come 15:08 to the world. 15:09 Keep this in mind. 15:10 God's people were in captivity in large part 15:13 because they had stopped worshiping God. 15:17 And Daniel 3 deals with this question of worship. 15:20 Daniel himself doesn't appear in Daniel 3 - we're not told 15:26 where he is but we can presume he was out of Babylon 15:27 on business for the king. 15:29 By now he has been promoted by Nebuchadnezzar to a 15:31 position of great authority, and Daniel isn't mentioned at 15:35 all in chapter 3, at least not in this story. 15:37 King Nebuchadnezzar had a statue built like the one he 15:38 saw in his dream, except unlike the image in his dream 15:42 this image was made entirely of gold. 15:49 That was Nebuchadnezzar's way of saying, My kingdom isn't 15:53 passing away not matter what Daniel's God says!' 15:55 Imagine this! 15:57 The statue was 90 feet high and made of solid gold. 16:03 Nebuchadnezzar called everyone who was anyone to 16:05 assemble on the plain of Dura to inaugurate the image. 16:08 They would bow down to it - and worship it. 16:12 And Nebuchadnezzar made clear that anyone who refused to 16:15 worship this image would be thrown into a fiery furnace. 16:18 Nebuchadnezzar had a lot of building done while he was 16:20 king - there were kilns all over Babylon, for building 16:23 bricks, and in Iraq as it was then there was no shortage of 16:30 fuel to get a fire burning white hot. 16:34 But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego wouldn't bow down to 16:37 the image. 16:38 Even though their lives were on the line, they wouldn't 16:41 violate their conscience and they wouldn't dishonor God, 16:45 even though they were miles from home and even though 16:47 what they were being asked to do was culturally and 16:50 religiously acceptable where they were. 16:54 They wouldn't do it. 16:55 To them, worshiping God was sacred. 16:58 It was important enough that they would lose their lives 17:02 over it if they had to. 17:03 They wouldn't give their worship to anyone 17:07 but God. 17:11 And something incredible happened. 17:14 When they went into that fiery furnace, Jesus stood 17:17 with them in the flames and they weren't hurt. 17:21 Their hair wasn't even singed and they and when they came 17:25 out of the furnace, they didn't even smell of smoke. 17:27 Nebuchadnezzar said this in Daniel 3:24 and 25, 17:51 The pre-incarnate Christ stood with them. 17:54 The Son of God came from heaven to honor these 17:56 faithful young men who chose to worship God rather than 17:59 compromise and bow down before an idol - even though 18:02 they might pay for that with their lives. 18:06 That's courage, isn't it? 18:07 That's faithfulness. 18:09 In the Ten Commandments God says in the first 18:11 commandment, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 18:14 Exodus 20:3, KJV And God says 18:16 in the second commandment, speaking of idols and images, 18:20 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve 18:22 them. 18:24 Exodus 20:5 KJV These young 18:26 men understood that. 18:28 Worship was important to them. 18:30 Worshiping God God's way was important to them. 18:34 There's a great prophetic connection between what 18:37 happened out there on the Plain of Dura that day and 18:39 what s going to take place in the world just before Jesus 18:44 returns. 18:45 We'll look at that next. 18:49 In Matthew 4:4 the Word of God says It is written 'Man 18:53 shall not live by bread alone but by every word that 18:57 proceeds out of the mouth of God'.'Every Word is a one 19:00 minute Bible-based daily devotional presented by 19:03 Pastor John Bradshaw and designed especially for busy 19:06 people like you. 19:09 Look for Every Word on selected networks or watch it 19:12 on-line everyday on our website itiswritten.com. 19:16 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 19:19 Watch Every Word. 19:20 You ll be glad you did. 19:21 Here is a sample: 19:30 In a courtroom, a witness is often 19:32 called upon to testify as to what he or she has seen. 19:35 Typically, if several witnesses testify in the same 19:38 way - agreeing on certain facts - one side or the other 19:41 feels like they've got a pretty good case. 19:44 Listen to what John wrote in 1 John 1:1: 19:53 'For John, Jesus was REAL. He had seen 19:58 Him, touched Him. 20:00 What we read in the Bible is not a myth. When it comes to 20:03 Jesus, we're reading about someone others saw, knew, & 20:06 touched... If John appeared in court, he'd be a pretty 20:09 convincing witness. You can be convinced today - the 20:12 Christ of the Bible is real, true, and you can have 20:15 confidence in Him today. 20:17 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written. Let's live today by 20:21 Every Word. 20:24 On It Is Written today we're looking at the prophetic 20:26 connection between the experience of the three 20:29 young men in the fiery furnace, and the prophecies of the Book 20:32 of Revelation - end-time prophecies that will very 20:34 likely affect most people watching this program. 20:37 Let's look at the book of Revelation. 20:40 In Revelation 13, a beast rises up out of the sea. 20:43 We've mentioned before on It Is Written that in prophecy 20:45 a beast represents a kingdom. 20:48 If you want Biblical evidence for that you look in Daniel 20:50 7, where in verse 23 it says, The fourth beast shall be the 20:54 fourth kingdom on earth. 20:55 Daniel 7:23 KJV That's clear. 20:57 In Revelation, beasts rising up out of the sea represent 21:01 nations rising up out of populated parts of the earth. 21:04 So if you want to make a parallel, in Revelation 13 21:07 you have a kingdom or a nation, just as you have in 21:10 Daniel 3. 21:12 What does the nation in Revelation 13 do? 21:15 We read this, Revelation 13:4, it says, 21:26 Here's a kingdom receiving worship - 21:29 worship that only God should receive. 21:32 Now that's what was going on in Daniel 3. 21:34 Now there's more on that. 21:36 Revelation 13:8 says, And all that dwell upon the earth 21:43 shall worship him. 21:44 Revelation 13:8 KJV And yet it goes further. 21:46 Remember, in Daniel 3 the king enforced false worship, 21:51 and anyone who wouldn't cooperate would be sentenced 21:53 to death. 21:55 Now, do we see that happening in earth's last days? 21:58 Revelation 13:15, 22:15 Now let me ask you - who should people worship? 22:18 Of course - God. 22:20 Getting away from worshipping God was what led Israel into 22:23 apostasy in the first place. 22:25 But what's going to happen in the final days of earth's 22:27 history? 22:28 An IMAGE will be set up - that's what happened in 22:31 Daniel Chapter 3. 22:32 An image will be set up, and all will be commanded 22:36 to worship the image. 22:38 Those who don't will be forced to pay a high price for that. 22:42 Those who do worship the image will receive what the 22:45 Bible calls the Mark of the Beast and they'll be lost. 22:48 That's an even higher price to pay. 22:51 In Daniel three, you have the conflict of the last days 22:54 playing out in microcosm: a pagan leader establishes 22:57 an image and commands false worship contrary 22:59 to the will of God. 23:01 In Revelation 13 you have the same thing, but on a global 23:04 scale: in contradiction to the word of God, an image is 23:09 set up and false worship is commanded. 23:12 And what we see in Daniel is very telling: very few 23:16 opposed the false worship. 23:17 In Revelation 13:8 we read this, And all that dwell upon 23:25 the earth shall worship him. 23:28 That's Revelation 13:8 KJV Now here's something to keep 23:32 in mind. 23:33 In John 4:24 Jesus said, God is a Spirit: and they that 23:37 worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 23:41 John 24:4, KJV Worshiping God God's way. 23:45 If we'll make the Bible the basis for our lives we won't 23:49 have to worry about being on the wrong side of this 23:50 crisis. 23:51 If we've decided to do what is in harmony with the word 23:53 of God - if God's will is the basis for everything in our 23:56 lives, if Jesus is living His life in us - we're going to 24:00 be okay. 24:02 See, the good news is that God's people triumph in the 24:04 end. 24:07 There's a massive spiritual battle going on in the world 24:08 today, and there's an enemy that wants no one to be 24:09 saved. 24:10 But God's people who have chosen to be faithful to Him 24:17 receive the Seal of God, and can know that just like Jesus 24:21 stood in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and 24:24 Abednego, He'll do it again and stand with His people in 24:29 their time of trial. 24:31 The same Jesus who stood with those three, faithful young 24:34 men says to us today, I will never leave you or forsake 24:37 you. 24:38 Hebrews 13:5, NKJV Lo, I am with you always, even unto 24:40 the end of the world. 24:42 Matthew 28:20 KJV But he that shall endure unto the end, 24:44 the same shall be saved. 24:45 Matthew 24:13 KJV I hope you'll get the book I'm 24:50 offering you this week. 24:51 It's called Revelation Today, and it adds a lot of the 24:54 details to the end-time scenario presented in the 24:56 book of Revelation. 24:58 This little book is going to help you understand what the 25:00 book of Revelation is really all about, and untangles the 25:03 end-time prophetic scenario to let you see how the battle 25:05 between good and evil ultimately plays out. 25:07 It's good news - God's people ultimately triumph. 25:11 Jesus stands with His people, and He'll stand with you. 25:15 Just call or write and I'll send you Revelation Today . 25:21 There's no cost, no obligation. 25:23 It's absolutely free. 25:25 All you need to do is call 1-800-253-3000, and ask for 25:28 Revelation Today. 25:29 You can call 24 hours a da If the line's busy, please 25:32 just keep on trying. 25:33 You can also request your free copy of Revelation 25:36 Today' by writing to: It Is Written, Box O, Thousand 25:38 Oaks, CA 91359, and we will mail a copy to your address 25:44 in North America. 25:45 Please note. 25:46 This free book is limited to the supply on hand. 25:51 To get it right away you can download a FREE electronic 25:52 version of the book Revelation Today from our 25:54 website: itiswritten.com It Is Written is a faith-based 25:58 ministry made possible by viewers like you. 26:01 Thank you, for your kind support. 26:04 Your help makes it possible for us to share God's good 26:07 news with the world. 26:07 Your tax-deductible gift can be sent to the address on 26:09 your screen, or you can support us online at 26:11 itiswritten.com. 26:13 Thank you for your continued support. 26:16 Our toll-free number is: 1-800-253-3000. 26:19 And our web address is: itiswritten.com 26:25 There's a great spiritual crisis coming. 26:30 God stood with those three young men, Shadrach, Meshach 26:33 and Abednego when they stood for him. 26:34 Let's pray together now that we will follow God, God's way 26:36 and stand for Him today and tomorrow, knowing that Jesus 26:39 will stand with us. 26:41 Let's pray. 26:43 Our Father in heaven, we thank you that we can know 26:45 you through faith in your son Jesus, who died for us to 26:48 take care of our sin debt, who died for us so that we in 26:53 turn could have faith in him and receive new hearts and be 26:55 cleaned up of all of our mess. 26:58 We read in the Bible there are challenging times ahead. 27:01 I know we don't have to lose sleep about that. 27:04 But I also know that we need to be making decisions now, 27:07 Lord, that our hearts are given to you so that as 27:11 Christ lives his life in us, we can stand for you no 27:12 matter what. 27:13 Thank you that Jesus stands with us. 27:17 Keep us and bless us, please. 27:19 We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. 27:29 [Music] 27:43 Thank you for joining me today. 27:44 I look forward to seeing you again next time. 27:47 Until then, please remember: It is written: Man shall not 27:50 live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from 27:55 the mouth of God. 27:58 [Music] |
Revised 2015-02-05