Participants:
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000079A
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00:01 Music...
00:31 James: All right, we are back 00:32 and we are moving into Daniel chapter 2. 00:35 We left a few verses in Daniel chapter 1 00:37 that we're going to connect 00:38 because they do connect really well. 00:40 Daniel chapter 2 is the first prophetic chapter 00:43 in the book of Daniel... 00:44 there are four... well, maybe five... 00:46 including Daniel 9 00:47 so, Daniel 2 is going to lay the foundation 00:49 for a number of other prophetic visions that Daniel sees, 00:53 Daniel 7... Daniel 8... 9... and then Daniel 11 00:56 which is... as we've noted the hardest chapter... 00:59 not only in Daniel 01:00 but perhaps the hardest prophetic chapter 01:02 in the whole Bible, 01:03 so, we're going to need to really lay a solid foundation 01:07 in Daniel chapter 2 01:08 and that's going to be exciting, 01:10 this is one of the most profound 01:11 and yet basic prophecies in Scripture... 01:15 a lot of people... a lot of Christians understand this... 01:19 see this... interpret this in unity 01:22 which is really a cool thing because it lays a foundation 01:25 I think, for understanding the rest of the prophecies 01:28 and from there, we can really get a good springboard 01:31 into what Daniel is saying in the rest of these prophecies. 01:34 So, we need to start with a word of prayer, yeah, 01:37 and then we can jump right in. 01:38 Jason, would you like to pray for us? 01:40 Jason: Sure, yeah, "Dear heavenly Father, 01:42 we thank you for allowing us to study together once again, 01:45 we just ask that as we cover this material, 01:48 that you will help it to stay with us 01:51 as we go through it 01:53 and help us to remember what we're learning 01:55 and to be able to then go out and teach others 01:58 what we're learning as well. 02:00 We ask for your Holy Spirit 02:01 to lead, guide and direct this conversation, 02:03 in Jesus' name we pray, amen. " 02:04 All: Amen. 02:06 James: So, let's begin in Daniel chapter 2 02:08 and let's just start looking at these verses. 02:10 Yvonne, would you like to read for us Daniel 2 verses 1... 02:17 I'm going to say, all the way through to 02:21 verse... let's just read this whole thing, 02:25 all the way through to verse 12. 02:27 Yvonne: Okay... 02:29 "Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, 02:32 Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; 02:33 and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. 02:36 Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, 02:40 the astrologers, the sorcerers, 02:41 and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. 02:44 So they came and stood before the king. 02:46 And the king said to them, 'I have had a dream, 02:49 and my spirit is anxious to know the dream. ' 02:52 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, 02:54 'O king, live forever! 02:56 Tell your servants the dream, 02:58 and we will give the interpretation. ' 03:00 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, 03:02 'My decision is firm: 03:04 if you do not make known the dream to me, 03:06 and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, 03:10 and your houses shall be made an ash heap. 03:12 However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, 03:15 you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. 03:19 Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation. ' 03:22 They answered again and said, 03:24 'Let the king tell his servants the dream, 03:26 and we will give its interpretation. ' 03:28 The king answered and said, 03:30 'I know for certain that you would gain time, 03:33 because you see that my decision is firm: 03:36 if you do not make known the dream to me, 03:39 there is only one decree for you! 03:41 For you have agreed to speak 03:44 lying and corrupt words before me 03:46 till the time has changed. 03:47 Therefore tell me the dream, 03:49 and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation. ' 03:52 The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, 03:55 'There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter; 03:59 therefore no king, lord, or ruler 04:03 has ever asked such things of any magician, 04:05 astrologer, or Chaldean. 04:07 It is a difficult thing that the king requests, 04:10 and there is no other who can tell it to the king 04:13 except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. ' 04:16 For this reason the king was angry and very furious, 04:20 and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 04:23 James: All right. 04:25 Ivor: I just want to say something 04:27 that Yvonne you need to do a whole program 04:30 where you just read the Bible, I think that will be nice 04:33 because you read with such... like... 04:37 Yvonne: Oh, praise the Lord. 04:39 James: It took me back to my childhood. 04:40 Ivor: Yeah, like I was... James: Oh, it's bedtime stories. 04:43 All: Laughter. 04:45 Yvonne: Praise the Lord. 04:47 James: There is something really incredible about this, 04:50 and I hope I can put it into words. 04:53 Daniel is in a situation in Babylon 04:56 where his entire belief system... his God... The God... 05:02 has been completely humbled before the nations. 05:06 Basically, his God is seen as a weak God... 05:08 He has no power... He has no strength... 05:11 He's been conquered by the Babylonians 05:13 all the vessels of His worship... 05:16 His house... had been taken 05:17 and put it in the house of the gods of Babylonians... 05:20 and Daniel is now a Eunuch... 05:21 and he's basically captive with the rest of his people, 05:24 and in that context, God establishes Himself 05:29 as we're going to see... 05:31 He establishes Himself among the Babylonians 05:33 by giving the king a dream. 05:36 Not chariots... not horsemen... 05:38 not ships... a dream... 05:40 in other words, God is going to conquer 05:43 this king and his entire nation with a dream. 05:45 Jason: Hmmm... 05:47 James: We have so... sometimes we just struggle with like, 05:50 "How can God get me out of this situation?" 05:52 "How can God get me out of that situation?" 05:54 "This is just impossible... that's impossible... " 05:56 we look at our might and we look at our power 05:58 and we look at our influence... 05:59 we look at everything we have and we're thinking, 06:00 "Maybe this can do it. " 06:02 God doesn't need all of that... 06:03 He doesn't need any of that. 06:05 So, the point that you get as you read this... 06:08 I hope you guys... it's so beautiful is... 06:10 all the wise men of Babylon are beside themselves, 06:14 they have no clue how how to help... 06:16 they just can't do it 06:17 and then... and so there's so... 06:18 the decree is so intense... they're so afraid... 06:22 they're so uptight about what's happening here... so anxious... 06:25 that they are the ones that actually lay out the fact... 06:29 there's nobody that can do this... there's no... 06:31 only the Gods of heaven could deliver it... there's no one... 06:34 and so, they're just... they're just paving the way... 06:36 they're rolling out the red carpet for Daniel... 06:38 for God to just step in 06:40 and completely overthrow 06:42 all of their wisdom... 06:45 all of their strength... all of their power. 06:46 You see that? It's... it's amazing... 06:48 it's beautiful the way this is all laid out. 06:50 Ivor: I think we shared this earlier... 06:53 I think in the very beginning of the Revelation part, 06:56 we talked about God's challenge to all the other gods. 07:00 Right? "If your god is a God, let him tell the future. " 07:03 Yvonne: Yes. 07:04 Ivor: Such a simple thing. 07:05 "If your god is God, let him tell the future 07:07 that we may know that this is a God... " 07:10 and as you look at what's happening with these wise men, 07:13 you know, they realize, like, telling the future... 07:15 telling... first of all even trying to understand... 07:18 know what he... what he dreamed. 07:20 Yvonne: Exactly... exactly. 07:22 Ivor: And I don't know if you see... 07:23 I mean, when I read this chapter, 07:24 one of the most amazing things about this chapter to me 07:27 is when Daniel comes before Nebuchadnezzar 07:30 and he says, "Okay, king, 07:33 you were lying on your bed... here's what you were thinking, 07:39 before you went to sleep 07:40 so I'm not even going to tell you what you dreamed, 07:42 I'm going to tell you what you were thinking 07:44 before you went to sleep. " 07:46 Yvonne: Wow! yes. James: Wow! Hmmm... hmmm... 07:48 Ivor: And I can imagine, as soon as the king hears 07:49 "Before you went to sleep, 07:51 you were thinking about future things. " 07:53 He's already like, "Whoa! what just happened?" 07:57 Right? I think whatever Daniel said... 08:00 Daniel was going to say from then on... 08:02 he had the king right there. 08:03 James: In his pocket. Yvonne: Yeah. 08:05 Ivor: "This is what you were thinking, 08:06 before you went to sleep... " that's just amazing. 08:09 James: That's beautiful. 08:10 Yvonne: Isn't it interesting how, you know, 08:12 even now, people who go to Psychics 08:14 and Astrologers and stuff 08:16 and say, "Tell me what's going on?" 08:19 And they... the thing that's interesting to me about this is 08:23 is that there is no way that they could fake it. 08:29 They couldn't fake it... 08:31 they could fake it if he had told them the dream 08:34 because then they could give some fake interpretation 08:37 and then, you know, and it sounded good or whatever, 08:40 but you have to start from scratch 08:42 and tell me what the dream was... 08:44 there's no way they can fake that. 08:46 All: Hmmm... hmmm... 08:47 Yvonne: So, all of their, you know, shenanigans 08:50 and stuff like that... they could not fake it 08:52 and it just really made it so much more authentic 08:56 when Daniel came on the scene and said, 08:58 "This is what you were thinking... 09:00 this is what you dreamed... " 09:02 I mean, that's really... 09:04 Ivor: This is what it means. 09:06 Yvonne: Yeah, this is what it means. 09:08 Jason: Yeah. 09:09 Yvonne: Oooh, look at God! He stepped in. 09:11 James: So, the stage is set right here, 09:13 you see how... how powerful this is... 09:16 the stage is set for God to step in 09:18 and I think that the practical application of this is... 09:21 is really significant also. 09:23 We, as individuals have our own "Nebuchadnezzar experience... " 09:28 we're troubled, 09:30 there are thoughts that trouble us... 09:32 there are dreams that trouble us... 09:34 there are experiences that trouble us... 09:36 and we go to a psychiatrists and we go to our doctors 09:38 and we go to people for help and we read books 09:43 and we might be able to get a little bit of direction here 09:46 and a little bit of direction there, 09:47 I'm not saying that there isn't some wisdom in this world, 09:50 a lot of people have great experience and education 09:52 that can really help us in certain areas but ultimately... 09:56 ultimately, the wisdom of this world is going to fail 09:59 when it comes to those things that are beyond their ken... 10:03 beyond what they can actually see. 10:05 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 10:06 James: There are things that are troubling our hearts... 10:08 there are things that are troubling our minds... 10:09 there is a destiny that we've been made for, 10:11 there's an experience that... that we have been created for 10:14 that nothing of this world can help us to figure out. 10:17 Yvonne: That's right. 10:19 James: That help can only come from heaven... 10:20 there is a God in heaven... 10:21 that help can only come from heaven 10:23 and so, all of us are going to go through this 10:25 "Nebuchadnezzar experience" 10:26 and all of us are going to come to the end 10:28 of the things of this earth that can help us. 10:30 We're going to realize they can't help us anymore, 10:32 there's nothing else they can do 10:34 and at that point, we need to make a decision, 10:36 "Are we going to transition now into the heavenly realm?" 10:39 "Are we going to transition into something that is spiritual... 10:42 something that the Word of God leads us to... for help?" 10:46 and that is our Savior Jesus Christ. 10:48 Yvonne: I think that's such a great point Pastor James, 10:52 because, you know, when you think about... 10:54 we have... we have at our disposal 10:59 the Omniscient... Omnipotent God of the universe 11:03 and instead, we go everywhere else... 11:06 instead of asking Him what we should do 11:09 or how we should do various things 11:12 and... and He is the One that can tell us what to do 11:16 but we... we go everywhere else 11:18 because we're not used to going to God and saying, 11:21 "What should we do?" 11:22 We're not used to that but that... 11:24 that to me is a great point and I think... 11:26 I think it would be important for our Viewers to... 11:30 to really take that to heart that we have the Omnipotent, 11:34 Omniscient God and we go everywhere... 11:36 your best friend... anybody else... 11:39 go to God first. 11:41 Jason: I think part of that is the fact that 11:43 people like immediate gratification 11:45 so they want something that they can just... 11:48 they can just go and get an answer right away, 11:51 but, God will provide you with an answer. 11:55 Yvonne: He will. 11:56 Jason: But yeah, I think 11:58 that's the society we live in... it's a "Microwave society... " 12:01 that people want what they want 12:02 and they want it now, 12:03 but, you can go get fast food... get it now... 12:09 James: Heat it up and eat it up. 12:11 Jason: Yeah, that's right, 12:13 or you can go to a fine dining establishment 12:16 and get quality... 12:17 God is "quality out of this world. " 12:20 Yvonne: Leave it to Jay to come up with food. 12:22 All: Laughter. 12:25 James: Here's something else here 12:26 that I think is really significant 12:28 and that is, is that like Nebuchadnezzar 12:30 a lot of people are surrounding themselves 12:32 with the wisdom of everything but God. 12:33 Jason: Hmmm... hmmm... Yvonne: Yes. 12:35 James: And God hasn't proven it to them yet 12:37 you know, Nebuchadnezzar probably didn't have any respect 12:39 for the God of Daniel. 12:40 "He hasn't been proven to be a strong God or helpful God 12:43 but all my wise men, all my astrologers... " 12:45 there are a lot of people in the world 12:47 that really don't know who God is 12:49 or don't know the resource that they have in God... 12:52 the help that they have in God. 12:53 That's the way I was and I was raised in religion. 12:56 Babylon was a religious system, it wasn't non-religious... 12:58 it wasn't Atheistic. 13:00 I was raised in a religious system 13:01 and there was a lot of confusion about that because 13:04 being raised in a religious system that believes in God... 13:07 that advocates God and points you to God 13:10 and yet doesn't really know how to direct you 13:12 to get the help that you need from God. 13:14 I don't think this Babylonian System 13:16 knew how to help Nebuchadnezzar to get the help 13:18 that he needed from God until Daniel came along. 13:20 Yvonne: Hmmm... 13:22 James: And there was a man that came into my life... 13:23 his name happened to be Dan also 13:26 who directed me to get help from God 13:29 even though I was raised in a Christian home... 13:31 I was raised in a Catholic home... 13:33 and I knew to go to church and I knew the Lord's Prayer, 13:37 and I knew "Our Father" the "Hail Mary" 13:40 I knew the Lord's Prayer but I didn't know Jesus 13:42 and I didn't know the help that He was for me 13:44 until Dan who had just become a born-again Christian, 13:48 started witnessing to me 13:50 and I wasn't interested in what he was... 13:52 he was like, talking about Jesus 13:53 and I was like, "You don't do that in public, Dan... " 13:55 you know, it was just like... 13:57 but... but the words... they went in 13:59 and some of them lodged in my heart 14:01 and basically what he told me was really simple. 14:04 He told me there was a God Who cared for me... 14:07 a God Who died for me... 14:08 a God who rescued me 14:11 before I even needed rescuing, 14:13 who had a plan from the foundation of the world 14:15 and I am elaborating... he made it a lot simpler than that, 14:18 I'm elaborating on this a little bit 14:20 but he introduced me to a God who was my friend... 14:23 a God Who would take in my burden... 14:24 that was... 14:27 He was there to remind me 14:29 that He had already placed that burden upon Himself 14:31 on Calvary's tree 14:33 and when I realized that and went to Jesus 14:37 and gave Him those sins... pushed me individually... 14:39 not going to another person... whatever... 14:41 went directly to God, 14:42 I experienced the freedom 14:44 that I had never experienced before in life 14:47 and this is what God wants from Nebuchadnezzar 14:50 and Nebuchadnezzar represents every single person 14:52 in the whole wide world. 14:54 Yvonne: Hmmm... 14:55 Ivor: I think Nebuchadnezzar... the wise men... 14:57 because, I think the one question that everyone has is, 15:01 "What lies ahead?" 15:05 You know, "What is the future about?" 15:07 Right? Why am I here? 15:10 And this chapter... 15:13 this book really helps to answer that question 15:17 because when my "Daniel" came into my life, 15:21 he showed me Daniel... 15:23 and in showing me Daniel... in showing me these prophecies, 15:27 that's what led me to go, 15:29 "Okay, if there is a God that cared enough to show me this, 15:33 then, whoa! this God is looking over me 15:37 and He's basically saying, 15:38 "Look, I want you to trust me with your future. " 15:40 That's the only purpose of prophecy. 15:43 Prophecy is just God saying, 15:45 "Will you trust me with your future?" 15:47 Yvonne: Oh, yeah. 15:48 Ivor: "Because I know the thoughts that I have for you. " 15:51 Right? "Thoughts of peace... 15:52 thoughts to give you an expected end. " 15:54 Yvonne: Yes. 15:55 Ivor: The only purpose of prophecy is 15:56 for you to be convinced that if God knows the future, 16:00 He has your future in His hands 16:02 and you should trust Him with it 16:03 because He wants to spend eternity with us. 16:05 Right, so, I mean... 16:08 it's, I think, we are... are in a sense... 16:12 that Nebuchadnezzar... 16:13 the wise men who have no clue, 16:15 like, "Wait... what? what? 16:16 what is this stuff happening in the world around us 16:18 and we're trying to make sense of it 16:19 and trying to put our spin on it... " 16:21 and God comes in and says, "Look, this is what it is. " 16:24 All: Hmmm... hmmm... 16:26 Ivor: And that, I think, is one of those powerful draws 16:30 when you're like, 16:31 "Okay, I'm going to put my future in Your hands, 16:34 because I trust You... I trust You. " 16:35 All: Hmmm. Yvonne: Yes, it's beautiful. 16:37 James: There's another thing here that I think is significant 16:40 and we're just talking about 16:42 how this dream is really for 16:45 the world... 16:46 I mean, I just want us to emphasize this a little bit more 16:48 God gave this dream to Nebuchadnezzar... 16:51 a heathen king who didn't know Him. 16:53 He didn't give this dream to Daniel 16:55 or one of Daniel's friends, He gave it to Nebuchadnezzar. 16:57 God loves people... 17:00 "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. " 17:02 God loves Muslims... God loves Hindus... 17:05 God loves Atheists... God loves Christians... 17:08 God loves Agnostics... God loves Pagans... 17:11 God loves the world 17:13 and this is the picture that we see in Daniel chapter 2, 17:16 this is the first picture we see in Daniel chapter 2. 17:19 God so loved the world 17:20 that He gave His only begotten Son... 17:22 it is imprinted in Daniel chapter 2, 17:23 and so, what's really interesting here is, 17:26 when you get to verse 4, "Then spake the Chaldeans 17:30 to the king in Syriack... " 17:32 Daniel chapter 2 and verse 4 all the way to Daniel chapter 7, 17:39 the end of Daniel chapter 7, is all written in Aramaic. 17:43 It's not written in Hebrew. 17:44 Yvonne: Oh... 17:46 James: And some people have puzzled over that... 17:48 you know, some of the Theologians... 17:49 "Why... why is this written in Aramaic 17:51 and the rest is written in Hebrew... 17:53 the beginning and...?" 17:54 because this is primarily... 17:56 God is wanting to reach the world... 17:57 the world of Daniel's time and the world of our time. 18:00 He wants to tell people, "I've got a message for you 18:03 and I've written it in your language. " 18:04 Yvonne: Wow! James: "This is for you. " 18:05 When you get to Daniel 8, 18:07 it starts getting a little more complicated, 18:08 like, "Daniel, I want to tell you some details 18:10 about this 70 weeks and your people... 18:11 and your people, and your people 18:13 and your people... " 18:14 but God also has a message for the world. 18:15 Yvonne: Hmmm... 18:17 James: And so, this is a constant reminder... 18:19 the very language in which it is written 18:22 is a constant reminder that God has a care for the world, 18:24 and as Christians, sometimes we think, 18:26 "Okay, we're in... we got it... God's got us... 18:29 the rest of you guys... if you can get your acts together, 18:31 you can join us up here... " you know. 18:33 Now, God is out searching... 18:34 He's the... He's the shepherd looking for the lost sheep, 18:36 right, He knows the sheep's not going to be coming home 18:39 without Him going to find them. 18:40 Yvonne: Right. 18:41 James: And God's sheep are everywhere. 18:43 So, so that's one of the overlying principles 18:47 that we see here now, 18:48 we're going to see this develop just a little bit 18:50 in Daniel's own experiences, 18:51 he goes into this prayer chamber here, 18:53 we're going to... we'll look at that, 18:55 but I want to get back here to the verses we left out 18:59 as we go on, 19:00 unless anyone has some other thoughts 19:02 or questions in these verses, 19:04 I want us to go on now and read a few more verses 19:05 can we do that? 19:07 Yvonne: Oh yeah. 19:08 James: Jason, why don't you start us off here 19:11 in verse 13... oh... do we... yeah, verse 13, 19:14 we left off where the decree went forth... 19:17 he was angry... he was furious... 19:18 and he's going to kill, destroy all the wise men of Babylon, 19:24 so, let's read verses 13 all the way through to verse 18... 19:28 13 to 18... 19:31 Jason: Okay, "So the decree went out, 19:33 and they began killing the wise men; 19:35 and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 19:38 Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, 19:42 the captain of the king's guard, 19:44 who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; 19:47 he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, 19:50 'Why is the decree from the king so urgent?' 19:53 Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. 19:56 So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, 20:00 that he might tell the king the interpretation. 20:03 Then Daniel went to his house, 20:05 and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 20:09 his companions, 20:11 that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven 20:14 concerning this secret, 20:15 so that Daniel and his companions might not perish 20:18 with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. " 20:21 James: All right now, just to get us back now 20:24 to verses that we left out in Daniel chapter 1. 20:27 You'll notice that Daniel doesn't know 20:31 about this decree right away... 20:33 like the decree goes forth to kill the wise men... 20:35 your translation... what translation is that? 20:37 Jason: New King James. James: Is that New King James? 20:38 Your translation is a little different than mine, 20:40 mine says, "The decree went forth 20:41 that the wise men should be slain... " 20:43 so, they hadn't been slain yet, "they should be slain" 20:46 and so, now that the decree has gone forth, 20:49 all of a sudden, we hear about Daniel being involved 20:52 and we know right away that Daniel didn't... 20:54 he wasn't with the wise men yet, 20:57 he wasn't there yet, 20:58 because he would have known about this decree 21:00 but he didn't know anything about it, 21:02 all the wise men knew about it... 21:03 all the wise men were brought in... Daniel was left out, 21:05 now, why is that? 21:06 We go back to verse 1 of Daniel 2... it says, 21:10 "In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, 21:13 Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, 21:15 wherewith his spirit was troubled, 21:16 and his sleep brake from him. " 21:17 Okay, if you compare that with Daniel chapter 1 and verse 5, 21:24 it says that Daniel and his friends 21:27 were going to be trained for three years... 21:30 for three years... 21:32 then you go back to... or go forward now to verse... 21:36 verse 17 of Daniel chapter 1, 21:41 and let's just read verses 17 all the way to 21. 21:44 Yvonne, would you like to read those verses for us? 21:47 Yvonne: Sure, "As for these four young men, 21:49 God gave them knowledge and skill 21:51 in all literature and wisdom; 21:53 and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 21:56 Now at the end of the days, 21:58 when the king had said that they should be brought in, 22:01 the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 22:04 Then the king interviewed them, 22:06 and among them all none was found like Daniel, 22:09 Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; 22:11 therefore they served before the king. 22:14 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding 22:17 about which the king examined them, 22:19 he found them ten times better... " 22:21 that's the ten times... 22:23 "ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers 22:27 who were in all his realm. " 22:28 Keep going? James: Yeah, one more. 22:30 Yvonne: Oh, "Thus Daniel continued 22:32 until the first year of King Cyrus. " 22:34 James: Okay, so, there were three years 22:36 that they were to be educated 22:37 and at the end of those three years, they were brought in, 22:39 when they were brought in, it says here... 22:41 and I just want to read this again in verse 17, 22:43 I don't know if you caught this, 22:44 "As for these four children, God gave them knowledge 22:46 and skill in learning and wisdom: 22:48 and Daniel had understanding in visions and dreams. " 22:51 Wooo... so, this visions-and-dreams thing 22:54 must have happened before the three years were over, 22:56 how did the king know he had understanding 22:57 in visions and dreams? 22:59 Read again verse 1 of chapter 2, 23:00 "In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, 23:03 he had a dream. " 23:04 They're being trained for three years... 23:06 in the second year, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream 23:08 and this dream that he has involves all of the wise men 23:13 but Daniel wasn't brought in 23:14 because he was still in training... 23:16 he's in his second year of training. 23:17 Yvonne: Right. 23:18 James: So then, Daniel hears about this decree 23:20 because even though he was not included with the wise men 23:22 as far as interpreting the king's dream, 23:24 he is included with the wise men as far as being killed. 23:27 All: Hmmm... 23:29 James: So, when the guys go forth to kill Daniel 23:30 because he's being trained to be a wise man, 23:32 Daniel is like, "How come we're dying? 23:35 What's going on?" Right? 23:36 "What's going on?" 23:37 "Oh, well, there's a decree that's gone forth 23:40 because the king has had a dream 23:41 and none of the wise men... " 23:42 "Well, let me try... before you kill me... " 23:44 All: Laughter. 23:46 James: I mean, and so... you see what's taking place here, 23:48 so, because it's in the second year... 23:50 because Daniel... as we know goes through it... 23:52 interprets the dream 23:54 and gives the dream and interpretation, 23:56 that's why when he comes in before the king 23:58 after three years, 24:00 the king says, "This guy has understanding 24:01 of dreams and visions 24:03 and he has ten times the knowledge of everyone else... " 24:05 so, you see how God set that up? 24:07 God is setting all of this up in the meantime 24:10 making sure... 24:11 the dream could have come in the fourth year of Nebuchadnezzar 24:12 or in the fifth year... but it came in the second year 24:14 while Daniel is still in training 24:15 and so, Daniel wasn't part of the wise men 24:18 because you can imagine the wise men might have taken credit 24:20 if Daniel came forth when he was already... 24:23 so he wasn't in there yet, you see... 24:24 Yvonne: Oh yeah... that's good. 24:26 James: It's all set up perfectly. 24:28 The red carpet is just out there... 24:29 everything is going to be put out of the way 24:32 and that's the way it is in our lives. 24:33 Our lives look like they're confusing 24:35 and you know, sometimes we can come in contact with this trial 24:39 and it's like, Daniel has this major trial, 24:41 and Daniel doesn't get upset about the trial. 24:43 He's thinking, "What's God... 24:46 how is God working through this?" 24:47 Sometimes we can get in contact... 24:48 come in contact with this major trial in our life 24:51 when we can be overwhelmed by it... 24:52 "No... don't be overwhelmed Daniel... " 24:55 God has this perfectly figured out, 24:56 you see what I'm saying? Yvonne: Yeah. 24:58 James: We think the trial is going to destroy us... 25:00 it's going to kill us... 25:02 no, God has this perfectly figured out, 25:03 the timing is perfect 25:04 and Daniel didn't get anxious about this, 25:07 what did he do? 25:08 The Bible says in Philippians 4, "Be anxious for nothing; 25:11 but in all things by prayer and supplication 25:14 make your requests be known unto God. " 25:16 So this is what Daniel does 25:18 but he doesn't do it by himself, 25:19 remember we talked yesterday about the relationship... 25:22 relation integrity... we need community... 25:25 Daniel has community. 25:26 All: Hmmm... hmmm... 25:28 Yvonne: He goes and gets his crew. 25:29 James: He goes and gets his crew... 25:31 He goes and gets his crew... 25:32 Jason: That's why it's important to have a good support system. 25:35 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... Hmmm... hmmm... 25:37 James: Where two or three are gathered together... 25:39 any other thoughts there? 25:41 All right, we're going to touch on something here 25:45 in the last couple of minutes 25:46 that I think is... is something we can chew on for a little bit 25:50 and we'll come back to it. 25:51 Jason: Question for you. James: Yes... 25:52 Jason: What was that verse 25:54 where we were comparing Daniel chapter 1? 25:57 James: Yeah, verse 5 with Daniel chapter 2 verse 1 26:01 and that was the three years 26:04 and we were comparing that to Daniel chapter 1 26:06 verses 17 to 21. 26:07 Jason: Okay. 26:09 James: Yeah, so we were showing how 26:10 he was being trained for three years, 26:12 it was the second year when Nebuchadnezzar had the dream 26:15 and so, Daniel was brought in... in addition to the wise men 26:19 in that second year... 26:20 he gave the interpretation... 26:21 after three years, Nebuchadnezzar was like, 26:23 "These guys are smart, these guys are... " 26:24 Jason: I never noticed that. 26:26 Yvonne: Yeah, isn't that great? 26:28 Jason: That is good. Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 26:30 James: So, we want to look at something here 26:32 that's really powerful, our time is running out, 26:35 so, we won't... we won't expand upon it too much 26:38 but in Daniel chapter 2, 26:40 and in the verses we read about Daniel, 26:41 it's interesting that Daniel is in his spirit 26:47 asking Arioch for time 26:49 and immediately going in before God 26:52 with his friends to have prayer 26:53 and I think that is a reminder to us 26:55 that there is nothing too big... 26:57 there's nothing too overwhelming in this life 26:59 but that it is a call to prayer. 27:01 Yvonne: That's right. 27:02 James: We need to rely on God, 27:04 we need to go to God and give Him the burdens that we have 27:06 and give Him those burdens in prayer, 27:08 and as we step into that experience, 27:10 we are going to find that in our weakness, we become strong 27:12 to face the trial... 27:14 but also that prayer is going to transform us. 27:16 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 27:17 There's a transforming power... 27:18 transforming influence that prayer has with Daniel, 27:21 I'm just going to leave you with this thought, 27:22 Daniel goes in and his prayer... 27:25 the reason he's going in is because 27:26 his prayer is that he should not perish 27:29 with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 27:31 I want you to think about that 27:32 because when Daniel comes out of that prayer chamber, 27:36 when he comes out of that prayer, 27:37 his whole mindset is different now, 27:38 the way he thinks is different, 27:40 and even Daniel needs to be changed or transformed 27:43 or grow and mature just like we do. 27:45 Sometimes as Christians 27:47 we can be overwhelmed with who we are, 27:49 but God says, "I'm still in charge... 27:50 I'm still transforming... 27:52 I'm still working upon you... 27:53 I'm going to finish the work that I started in you, 27:54 don't be discouraged. " Amen. 27:56 All: Amen. 27:57 James: We're out of time for this one. 27:58 Jason: Wow! |
Revised 2020-04-08