Participants:
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000092S
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00:01 Music...
00:30 James: All right, we're back 00:32 Daniel chapter 6 part 2... 00:35 the first half was phenomenal for me personally 00:39 and I love the practical parts of this story, 00:42 it just... it just makes sense 00:45 but it really brings it home to our own needs today... 00:48 the things that we need 00:49 in our own hearts... in our own experience... 00:51 so, I could just stay in that for the rest of the program 00:54 but we've got to move on... 00:55 we've got to get the rest of this covered 00:57 and, of course, we want to continue on 00:59 into Daniel chapter 7... 01:00 oh, Daniel chapter 7 is going to be amazing, 01:02 so, let's just jump right in, 01:04 we'll start with a word of prayer, 01:05 Yvonne, would you like to pray for us? 01:06 Yvonne: Sure... "Father God, thank You so very much 01:08 for this privilege of opening and studying Your Word 01:11 and just getting these truths that You're sending 01:14 through Your Holy Spirit, 01:15 we thank You and praise You 01:16 and ask You to continue to lead and guide 01:18 and be with us Lord, thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. " 01:21 All: Amen. 01:22 James: All right, Jason, let's read here some of the verses, 01:26 Revelation... excuse me... Daniel chapter 6... 01:29 oooh... too much talking about Revelation 01:31 before this Program, huh, 01:33 all right, Daniel chapter 6 and let's go from verse 12 01:36 and we'll go all the way through to verse 15. 01:39 Jason: Okay... "And they went before the king, 01:43 and spoke concerning the king's decree: 01:45 'Have you not signed a decree 01:47 that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, 01:51 except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?' 01:55 The king answered and said, 'The thing is true, 01:58 according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, 02:01 which does not alter. ' 02:02 So they answered and said before the king, 02:05 'That, Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, 02:09 does not show due regard for you, O king, 02:12 or for the decree that you have signed, 02:15 but makes his petition three times a day. ' 02:18 And the king, when he heard these words, 02:20 was greatly displeased with himself, 02:23 and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; 02:25 and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 02:30 Then these men approached the king, 02:32 and said to the king, 'Know, O king, 02:35 that it is the law of the Medes and Persians 02:37 that no decree or statute 02:39 which the king establishes may be changed. '" 02:42 James: Wow, this is an amazing little section right here 02:45 and there are a few things that really stand out to me 02:48 and I just thought we could touch on a little bit... 02:50 one of the things that really stands out to me here 02:53 is... when it says here in verse 14, 02:55 "And when the king heard these words, 02:58 he was sore displeased with himself... " 03:01 like, the one of the things that I think is really important 03:05 about leadership is that you take responsibility 03:08 and one of the things we don't see in politics today 03:11 is that willingness to take responsibility 03:13 and the king realized... I was duped. 03:16 He doesn't cast blame... he could blame those guys... 03:19 he says, "Man, I messed up here didn't I? 03:23 Wow! they got me... these guys just set me up... " 03:26 and basically... this is the thing he feared, I think, 03:29 from the beginning and basically what they did... 03:32 done is... they've turned this upside down 03:33 they're now the President... 03:35 they're now the King... 03:36 and he is the one who has to obey, you see that? 03:39 Yvonne: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 03:40 James: And he didn't want that, 03:42 that's the reason why he liked Daniel so much 03:43 because he saw something in Daniel 03:45 that wasn't trying to get power... 03:46 trying to take over... 03:48 these guys are trying to take over 03:49 and they've taken him over. 03:51 They've backed him into a corner 03:52 even though he's the king and they've used flattery 03:55 and they've used deception to get him to do things their way 03:59 that he would have never have done it if he had known 04:02 and he's displeased with himself because he's probably... 04:04 he's a ruler... he's a king... he's probably politically astute 04:08 he's probably, you know, maneuvers... 04:09 he knows how to navigate that stuff 04:10 and he just couldn't do it 04:12 and so, he's just been duped. 04:13 and then he starts thinking, 04:14 he says, "I've got to do everything I can... 04:16 because here's the deal that I love about this, 04:17 number one, he takes responsibility... 04:19 number two... his main concern 04:21 is not for himself it's for Daniel... 04:23 Yvonne: Right. 04:24 James: "I messed up and it's going to cost him... 04:26 I need to do everything I can to get Daniel out of this... " 04:29 and this is what I love about this king... 04:30 the principles that he's revealing are Christ-like... 04:33 taking responsibility... 04:35 Christ took responsibility for our sin, right? 04:38 and thinking of others... 04:39 he's thinking of Daniel... he's not thinking of himself. 04:41 "I got to do everything I can to help Daniel get out of this... " 04:44 and the point that I love about this 04:46 and we'll see this a little bit more later is... 04:47 he talks to Daniel about his God 04:49 is that there are good people in the world 04:53 that aren't Christians. 04:54 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 04:56 James: There are good people in other churches 04:57 that aren't Adventists... you know, 04:59 sometimes we think... "We're the only good people. " 05:01 Well, actually, we're far outnumbered I think... 05:03 the majority of good people are out there somewhere... 05:06 they're not necessarily in this Denomination 05:08 and we need to remember that. 05:09 This is what the story is telling us, 05:11 "Yeah, you've got Daniel... he's a good guy... 05:13 you know, 05:15 we can call him an Adventist if we want to, 05:16 he's a good guy, right? 05:17 Right? but then you've got Darius... 05:19 and this guy's got some good principles too. " 05:21 Yvonne: Right. 05:22 James: I mean, this guy really likes Daniel 05:24 and you know when someone likes someone who's devoted to God, 05:27 there's got to be something that God is working in them too 05:29 and we need to give credit where credit is due. 05:31 So, these are two principles that I really love about this. 05:33 Ivor: And I you even look at the persecutions 05:38 during the Dark Ages, 05:39 you know, there were many people who were responsible 05:42 for the death of different martyrs 05:43 who... once they came to a realization like, 05:47 "Wait a minute... what am I doing?" 05:49 You know, some of those very people 05:51 through the death of martyrs were actually converted 05:55 as a result of their willingness to go to the Lions' Den. 05:58 So, I think we're going to find that in the end of time too, 06:02 there's going to be... the Bible says, 06:04 "time is coming where they that kill you... 06:05 will think they're doing God a service... " 06:07 and there are going to be people who are really against... 06:10 you know, the dragon went to make war 06:12 with the remnant of her seed 06:14 which keep the commandments of God... 06:16 he's going to lead people 06:17 to persecute those who keep the commandments of God 06:20 and many of those people are going to come to a realization 06:23 "Wait a minute... 06:25 something is not right about this... " 06:26 James: Yes. Yvonne: Hmmm... 06:27 Ivor: And there's going to be an awakening, if you will, 06:31 many of these people... 06:33 and they'll come to see truth as it is in Jesus 06:36 so, I think Darius is a good picture of this. 06:40 Jason: Amen. 06:41 James: Good point... so he... 06:44 he works till the going down of the sun to deliver Daniel 06:48 because he's been deceived by these guys, 06:50 in fact, another thing they say here that's really interesting 06:52 another lie... verse 13... 06:54 "They answered and they said before the king, 06:57 'That Daniel, which is of the children 06:59 of the captivity of Judah... '" 07:00 which I think is really interesting 07:01 that they refer back to his... 07:03 "Oh, the children of the captives... 07:04 you remember the captives... he's... " 07:05 like, these are the lower end here 07:07 and that happens a number of times through this story. 07:09 Yvonne: Yeah. 07:10 James: And I think it's really important for us because 07:13 in politics... whether it's in the world or in the church 07:16 people refer back to our past and they say, 07:21 "Hey, look where they came from... " 07:23 they did that with Jesus all the time, 07:24 "You're not one of our... 07:26 we know who our dad is... " right? 07:28 and so, they're using everything they can 07:31 and then they go on to say this, they say, 07:33 "He, O king, regards thee not... " 07:37 in other words, "He... 07:39 he doesn't have respect for you... 07:41 he doesn't respect you... " is that true or false? 07:43 Yvonne: False. 07:45 James: That's completely false, you see that... 07:46 but they've... they've so set things up 07:49 with this law that it looks like it's true 07:52 because he's not following your law 07:55 and at this point, Darius is like, 07:57 "You're not fooling me anymore" like, he sees it 08:00 and we've got to realize that 08:02 it's important for us to hold true to God's principles 08:05 because even if there's a consequence 08:07 where we can be misrepresented, 08:09 there'll be honest people who will see through all of that... 08:11 they'll see through it all. 08:12 Look at our political system today and they are people... 08:14 they're just going, "Hhhh... come on... 08:16 come on... this is just so obvious. " 08:19 Ivor: Yeah, we talked in the last program 08:21 about Satan in heaven, right? 08:24 And this being a picture of Satan's... 08:26 Lucifer's jealousy of Christ in heaven. 08:28 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 08:29 Ivor: And... and the angels... one-third of the angels 08:31 that ended up rebelling against Christ 08:33 and you can imagine the kind of pictures they painted 08:37 about Jesus in heaven 08:40 and James and I were talking last night 08:43 just about how Satan has the ability to put... 08:46 to... I'll say it this way... 08:49 "Satan is a master of perception... " 08:51 Yvonne: Hmmm... 08:53 Ivor: He's a master of perception... 08:54 we hear that term usually... "He's a master of deception" 08:57 no, he's also a master of perception 08:59 and he will cause us to perceive things and so, 09:02 you think about the children of Israel in the wilderness, 09:07 and, like, they literally... actually... seriously... 09:11 truly believed that Moses was trying to kill them. 09:15 James: Yeah... 09:17 Ivor: Like Moses... I joke about it... 09:19 "I was walking by Moses' tent while he was... " 09:22 and someone comes by and, 09:23 "Yo, I was walking by Moses' tent 09:26 and yo, I heard him and God talking... 09:28 and they were planning on killing us in the wilderness. " 09:32 Yvonne: Laughing... 09:34 Ivor: And that rumor spreads and now, the whole camp is like, 09:36 "We know what you're up to... you and God... 09:39 you're trying to kill us in the wilderness... 09:42 not just us... and the cattle and our children... 09:45 tell the truth... " 09:46 it's there in the Bible, 09:49 "Moses why have you brought us out here to kill us 09:51 and our children and the cattle... 09:54 why the cattle, Moses? 09:55 Why are you after us... " 09:56 James: And the implication is, 09:59 "What a terrible person you are. " 10:01 Ivor: And the implications, you know, and no matter what... 10:03 there was one time where they swallowed up... 10:05 Korah's rebellion... 10:07 God opened up the earth 10:08 and swallowed up all those in rebellion 10:10 and the people... the next day came back 10:11 and were like, "Why did you kill God's people?" 10:13 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Wow! 10:14 Ivor: So, when Satan has your mind... 10:17 it doesn't matter what a person does or doesn't do, 10:21 you see one thing and one thing only... evil... 10:24 and that's what they saw in Daniel... 10:26 "This guy is evil and the ends justify the means, 10:32 you know, he's just not a good guy 10:34 I mean... imagine that, 10:35 this is exactly what they did with Jesus. 10:37 All: Hmmm... James: Yeah. 10:38 Ivor: It's crazy. Yvonne: It is. 10:41 James: All right, let's keep going... 10:42 good stuff so far... good stuff. 10:45 All right, so, verses 16, 10:48 Yvonne, can you read for us verses 16... 10:52 and let's go all the way to verse 20. 10:55 Yvonne: "So the king gave the command, 10:58 and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. 11:01 But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, 11:03 'Your God, whom you serve continually, 11:06 He will deliver you. ' 11:07 Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, 11:11 and the king sealed it with his own signet ring 11:13 and with the signets of his lords, 11:16 that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed. 11:19 Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; 11:23 and no musicians were brought before him. 11:25 Also, his sleep went from him. 11:27 Then the king arose very early in the morning 11:30 and went in haste to the den of lions. 11:32 And when he came to the den, 11:34 he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. 11:36 The king spoke, saying to Daniel, 11:38 'Daniel, servant of the living God, 11:41 has your God, whom you serve continually, 11:43 been able to deliver you from the lions?" 11:46 James: Okay, there's a word in here that I want us to look at, 11:50 it's so powerful and beautiful, 11:52 Darius... I don't know how long he's known Daniel, 11:55 right, but Darius is like, 11:57 "Daniel, the God you serve continually... 12:02 has the God that you serve continually... " 12:06 that's the word... because we're going to see this word 12:09 in the prophetic picture in Daniel chapter 8... 12:11 we're going to see that Satan wants to take that away... 12:14 he wants to take away this continual worshiping of God... 12:18 this continual dependence on God... 12:19 this continually looking to God... 12:21 Daniel's like, "I'm not going to stop... " 12:23 like, "this is going to continue... " 12:25 windows opened... "I'm sold out for God. " 12:28 Yvonne: Right. 12:29 James: Are we? because what we see here 12:32 is Satan working through the highest authorities 12:36 of this earth that he can... that he can get on on his side 12:38 outside of Darius... 12:39 to pass laws to stop us from worshiping God continually. 12:45 Yvonne: Hmmm... Ivor: Hmmm... hmmm... 12:46 James: And other people who are in the sidelines 12:49 who may be in positions of responsibility are going, 12:51 "Whoa, I didn't see that coming... 12:53 man, I got sideswiped... are you... are you... 12:57 are you... Daniel... is the God you worship continually... 13:00 consistently... without end... 13:02 you're just sold out for Him... 13:04 you will not compromise... 13:06 you'll worship with Him... " 13:07 first four commandments, right? 13:08 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 13:10 James: "Is He able to deliver you?" 13:11 Of course, we haven't answered that question yet, 13:12 because this is the question that we have to answer 13:15 before Daniel answers it. 13:16 Do we believe that God is able to deliver us 13:20 as we trust in Him continually from the lions... 13:23 what does the lion represent in the Bible? 13:26 There's a couple of places where we find... 13:28 or just one place where we find 1st Timothy... or 1st Peter 13:32 where a lion represents Satan seeking to devour us, yes 13:35 and when you think about that, you think, 13:39 "Do we believe that God can deliver us 13:42 as we continually trust in Him from the devourer... from Satan, 13:45 from his deceptions... from his lies... from his posse? 13:47 Ivor: Yeah, hold your place here 13:49 and if one of you could turn to Matthew 27 verse 43... 13:54 Matthew 27 verse 43 13:56 and... and then, I'd like you to read 14:01 verses 60 to 66. 14:04 Jason: Okay, starting in verse 43 of Matthew chapter 27, 14:09 "He trusted in God; 14:10 let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; 14:14 for He said, 'I am the Son of God. '" 14:16 Ivor: Okay. Jason: And you said 60 to 66? 14:17 Ivor: Yes, so just pause for a second. 14:19 Jason: Okay. 14:20 Ivor: So, here we have Jesus on the cross 14:22 and the question is being asked, "You said... " 14:26 you know, "He trusted in God let Him deliver Him. " 14:29 This is a parallel of what's happening in Daniel chapter 6. 14:33 Right? now, if you guys remember, 14:35 we're going to do this real quick, 14:37 one of our re-caps... the following three lines... 14:40 remember the life of Christ, right? 14:41 We saw that in Daniel chapter 1, 14:43 we have the temptation of appetite, 14:44 Daniel crosses the Euphrates and then he... 14:48 his first temptation is appetite... Daniel chapter one, 14:51 Daniel chapter 2... man falls because of pride 14:55 he's destroyed by stone to the foot... 14:57 that is exactly what Satan tries to do with Jesus... 15:00 "Hey, throw Yourself down, 15:01 You will not surely dash Your foot against a stone... " 15:03 that's the second temptation... 15:05 third temptation... "Bow down and worship" 15:08 that's exactly what happened in Daniel chapter 3, 15:12 Daniel chapter 4, you have the dream of the tree 15:15 and the tree whose branches lodge out into the air 15:18 and all the birds... and Jesus Himself quotes... 15:21 not quotes but borrows from that very image 15:24 to describe the true tree which is the tree of Calvary, 15:27 that's Daniel chapter 4. 15:29 Daniel chapter 5, Cyrus goes into the deep 15:32 to open the gates to set the captives free. 15:35 Christ, as the second Cyrus, 15:38 descended into the grave on our behalf 15:40 to open the gates of death to set the captive free 15:43 and now you have Daniel 6 where a stone... 15:47 just go ahead and read verses 60 to 66. 15:50 Jason: And laid it in his new tomb 15:55 which he had hewn out of the rock; 15:59 and he rolled a large stone 16:00 against the door of the tomb, and departed. 16:03 And Mary Magdalene was there, 16:05 and the other Mary, sitting opposite of the tomb. 16:07 On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, 16:11 the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, 16:14 saying, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, 16:17 how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise. ' 16:21 Therefore command that the tomb 16:23 be made secure until the third day, 16:26 lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, 16:28 and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead. ' 16:31 So the last deception will be worse than the first. 16:34 Pilate said to them, 'You have a guard; 16:37 go your way, make it as secure as you know how. ' 16:40 So they went and made the tomb secure, 16:43 sealing the stone and setting the guard. " 16:45 Yvonne: Hmmm... 16:47 Ivor: "Sealing the stone and setting the guard. " 16:49 They put a seal upon the stone... 16:50 you have here the very same thing happening 16:53 in Daniel chapter 6, 16:54 in Daniel chapter 6, Daniel comes up out of the tomb, 16:57 out of the tomb... uninjured... 17:00 unharmed by the lion... by the lions... 17:04 Jesus comes up out of the grave unharmed by that roaring lion 17:11 seeking whom he may devour. 17:13 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 17:14 Ivor: And so, you have this beautiful picture of Christ 17:17 with that very answer... "Is God able to deliver you?" 17:19 Look what happened at the cross. 17:21 Yvonne: Yes. 17:23 Ivor: When we see what happened at the cross, 17:24 we have the answer to that question, 17:27 "Yes, my God is able to deliver me even from death... " 17:30 right? that's hope for all who die in the grave, guess what? 17:35 If your name was written in the book... 17:36 Daniel 12:1... every one that is found written in the Book 17:40 shall be... what? 17:42 delivered... same word. 17:44 Ivor: Delivered. James: Same word. 17:46 Ivor: Same word. Yvonne: Wow! 17:48 James: Praise God. Yvonne: Amen. 17:49 James: I love the picture also of Darius 17:52 because it reminds us... when we go to Calvary... 17:54 of Joseph of... others like Nicodemus 18:00 and some of the other disciples 18:02 who were struggling to believe in Christ, 18:05 but, who through this experience believed... 18:07 and Darius, through this experience... 18:09 we're going to see, sends out a decree... 18:12 he even says even before Daniel's resurrected... 18:16 I mean, Daniel is brought out of the... 18:17 mixing the two stories now... 18:19 he says, "I can't eat right now, 18:22 I don't even want to listen to music right now... " 18:25 like, "I just can't sleep right now" 18:27 and what's really interesting is... 18:29 of all people... I mean, we know Daniel is blameless 18:32 but Darius of all people... 18:34 is in a sense as type of Christ here... a type of God... 18:36 God doesn't slumber or sleep, you know what I mean? 18:40 He's... He's... He's watching over us... 18:43 He's concerned for us... 18:45 He's thinking about us all the time... 18:46 you know what I'm saying? 18:48 Not in the same anxious way that we are 18:50 but in a watchful, careful, loving way... 18:52 and so, Darius in a sense is a type of God right here, 18:56 he's got these Godly principles 18:57 where he's thinking about the other person... 18:58 he can't sleep... he can't eat, he can't listen to music... 19:01 he's just concerned about Daniel 19:02 and I love that picture. 19:04 Ivor: Christ did not consider heaven a place to be desired 19:09 while we were lost. 19:10 All: Hmmm... 19:12 James: And I love this picture that God has people 19:13 who aren't necessarily "Christians" 19:15 right? everywhere... 19:17 and they exude these principles 19:18 and who are we to deny these principles? 19:20 We can't do that... we need to... 19:22 we need to... to water them and to nourish them 19:25 and to say, "Yeah, those are good principles 19:27 you may not be going to my church... 19:29 you may not be going to any church 19:30 but those are great principles. " 19:32 I want to just encourage you to... to... to... 19:35 to develop those principles in your walk in your life. 19:38 Ivor: And those are principles of Christ... 19:40 principles of Christ's character 19:42 and again, this is... 19:45 you'll notice I'm jumping ahead a lot into other chapters 19:48 because I want to set a foundation 19:50 so that when we get there, you're like, "Yeah... " 19:52 but there's a prophecy in the book of Daniel 19:54 that we're going to get to call the 70-Week Prophecy. 19:57 James: Hmmm... hmmm... 19:58 Ivor: And that 70-Week Prophecy basically, in a nutshell, 20:00 points to the time that Christ would come, right, 20:03 beginning specifically with His baptism 20:05 and that prophecy takes us down to His death, 20:08 burial and resurrection. 20:10 That's the 70-Week Prophecy. 20:12 If you were to say, 20:13 "Hey, summarize the 70-Week Prophecy for me... " 20:15 it points to Christ beginning His ministry at the Jordan 20:18 and go... takes us up to His death, burial and resurrection, 20:23 what you have in Daniel chapter 1, 2, 3... 20:26 Daniel crossing the Euphrates... 20:29 first three chapters... the beginning of His ministry... 20:32 right? Three temptations of Christ, 20:36 the last three chapters... death, burial and resurrection 20:39 that is basically the 70-Week Prophecy 20:42 so, in Daniel 1 through 6, you basically have a snapshot 20:46 of the 70-Week Prophecy in living color. 20:51 James: Hmmm... hmmm... Yvonne: Wow! 20:53 Ivor: Right? You're seeing... this is what the prophecy 20:54 was about... the beginning of His ministry, 20:56 his death, burial and resurrection, 20:57 1 through 6 is the 70 weeks 20:59 and then what's so powerful is that 21:01 the very next chapter, Daniel 7, 21:03 is where we're introduced to the 1,260-Year Prophecy. 21:07 The very next chapter, Daniel 8 21:09 is where we're introduced to the 2,300-Day Prophecy... 21:11 so, you literally have from Daniel 1 to 8, 21:14 the very order of the three major time prophecies 21:17 in the book of Daniel... 21:19 the 70 Weeks... chapters 1 through 6... 21:21 the 1,260... chapter 7... 21:23 the 2,300... chapter 8. 21:26 Yvonne: Wow. Jason: Hmmm... 21:27 Ivor: So, that's something you want to keep in mind 21:29 again as we move forward in the Study. 21:31 Yvonne: Yes. 21:33 James: All right, let's get the answer now. 21:34 Yvonne: Yes. 21:36 James: The answer is going to come beginning with verse 21 21:38 and we'll read all the way through the rest. 21:39 Yvonne: "Then Daniel said to the king, 'O king, live forever! 21:47 my God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouth, 21:49 so that they have not hurt me, 21:51 because I was found innocent before Him; 21:54 and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you. ' 21:58 Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, 22:01 and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. 22:04 So Daniel was taken up out of the den, 22:06 and no injury whatever was found on him, 22:09 because he believed in his God. " 22:10 James: Hmmm... 22:12 Yvonne: "And the king gave the command, 22:13 and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, 22:16 and they cast them into the den of lions... 22:18 them, their children, and their wives; 22:20 and the lions overpowered them, 22:22 and broke all their bones in pieces 22:24 before they ever came to the bottom of the den. 22:26 Then King Darius wrote: 22:28 To all peoples, nations, and languages 22:31 that dwell in all the earth: Pease be multiplied to you. 22:35 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom 22:38 men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. 22:41 For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; 22:45 His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, 22:48 and His dominion shall endure to the end. 22:51 He delivers and rescues, and he works signs and wonders 22:54 in heaven and on earth, 22:56 Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. 23:00 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius 23:04 and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. " 23:07 James: Wowee... now Daniel... this is... 23:09 Daniel was... Daniel was a witness... 23:11 you know he was. 23:13 Yvonne: Yes. 23:14 James: Because what Darius is saying here... 23:15 basically he's saying... "Yeah, that image is true... " 23:18 pause... 23:20 Daniel has already told him about this... 23:21 he must have because he says right here... he says... 23:24 "This is the living God... " verse 26... 23:26 "Who is steadfast forever, 23:29 and his kingdom which shall not be destroyed, 23:30 and his dominion shall be even to the end. " 23:33 He's quoting from Daniel 2 the vision... 23:35 you know what I'm saying? Yvonne: Right, right. 23:36 James: He knows this... he knows this. 23:39 Jason: Another things is where it says, 23:41 "Peace be multiplied to you... " 23:44 when you go to Daniel chapter 4 verse 1, 23:47 "Nebuchadnezzar the king, 23:49 to all peoples, nations, and languages 23:51 that dwell on all the earth: peace be multiplied to you... " 23:54 and verse 2, "I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders 23:58 that the Most High god has worked for me. " 24:00 So, like, in each... under each king, 24:03 he was always pointing people to God... 24:06 always pointing people to God. 24:07 Ivor: And what's interesting is that, 24:09 just along that line of thought, 24:11 in each kingdom, 24:12 God was pulling people out of those kingdoms 24:15 that are glorifying Him. 24:17 We find this not only in Babylon... 24:18 not only in Medo-Persia... 24:20 you're going to find it in Greece, 24:21 you'll also find it in Rome. 24:23 Right, think about that Roman soldier... 24:25 "Hhhhh... truly this was the Son of God" 24:27 right, so have these different... 24:30 God is working through His people 24:32 to minister to other people who do not know who He is. 24:35 Another thing that's really beautiful here is verse 23... 24:38 "The king was exceedingly glad for him... " 24:40 and there are a lot of people 24:43 that aren't necessarily believers... 24:45 they're going to be exceedingly glad when truth is vindicated. 24:48 They... they may not know what we know 24:50 but their... they have in their heart 24:53 a desire to see good conquer and evil vanquished 24:56 and they're exceedingly glad when that happens 25:00 and the first thing Daniel says, basically when he's... 25:03 when he's responding here, he says, 25:05 "Unto... and then said, Daniel" verse 21, "unto the king, 25:10 'O king, live forever. '" 25:12 That completely flies in the face of everything 25:15 that the princes and others said about Daniel... 25:18 "O king, live forever... 25:19 he doesn't regard you king... he doesn't... 25:21 he doesn't... O king, live forever... " 25:22 and then, "My God has sent his angel, 25:24 to shut the lions' mouths, because... 25:26 and they have not hurt me: 25:27 forasmuch as in me I was innocent 25:28 and I haven't done any hurt to you, O king... nothing... " 25:32 and so, the whole character of Daniel now... 25:35 is vindicated... by this whole experience 25:37 and the king is just happy about that... 25:38 "Yes, I did trust in you, I had the right... I had... " 25:41 and there are people out there like, 25:43 "It's going to be hard for them to discern between this... " 25:46 a lot of political maneuvering that's going to go on 25:48 with the beast and deception 25:50 but they're going to be able to figure out 25:51 and they're so happy that... "I was right about you... 25:53 I was right about this truth... " 25:55 Ivor: They're just going to be vindicated... 25:56 James: Yes. 25:58 Ivor: I want to do one last thing, 25:59 we have a few minutes left, we've got to do our re-cap. 26:02 The king of the south pushes against the king of the north, 26:05 the king of the north comes back against the king of the south 26:09 with chariots and horses and defeats the king of the south, 26:13 okay, the king of the... 26:14 the king of the north then enforces the wine of Babylon 26:20 that's chapter 1... 26:21 he hears tidings from the east and the north that trouble him, 26:26 he sets up... 26:27 James: An image... 26:29 Ivor: I'm... I'm testing you guys... 26:30 Yvonne: Oh... All: Laughter. 26:32 Ivor: You're looking at me to answer. 26:33 Yvonne: Keep going... keep going. 26:34 Ivor: No, not you... you... just kidding... 26:36 James: Image... an image... 26:38 Ivor: He sets up an image... plants his... 26:41 or glorifies in his palace... 26:43 his sins reach unto heaven 26:46 and then, as a result of all this, 26:48 Cyrus or Michael stands up and Daniel chapter 6... 26:56 there's a death decree... 26:58 there's a time of trouble such as never was... 27:01 but those that are found written in the book 27:04 will be delivered. 27:07 Now, we've just seen Daniel 1 through 6 27:09 literally parallel the events of Daniel 11:40 to 45 27:15 in Daniel 12:1 and 2 27:16 ending with, "They shall be delivered. " 27:19 James: Yeah, that's Revelation chapter 13... 27:22 Ivor: That's right. 27:23 James; Yeah, so we've got perfect parallels here... 27:26 beautiful writing... I mean... inspired writing 27:28 so just all coalesce together... all come together 27:31 and give us the same message over and over again, 27:33 it's beautiful to see how God's Word... 27:35 how God's Word does that. 27:36 What a powerful chapter! 27:38 Yvonne: Yes. 27:39 James: It's personal... it's practical... 27:41 it's present truth for us today... 27:44 and it's history that gives us courage for 27:47 the trials and the... 27:49 the events that we're going to be facing 27:51 in what we're going through right now 27:52 so, I praise God for that. 27:54 Yvonne: Amen. All: Amen. |
Revised 2020-07-15