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00:14 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends, and welcome again to 00:38 "Sabbath School Study Hour," here at the Granite Bay 00:40 Seventh Day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:43 I'd like to welcome those who are joining us, across 00:45 the country and around the world. 00:46 I know we have a number of online members that tune in 00:48 every week to study our lesson with us. 00:51 I'd also like to welcome our regular Sabbath School members 00:54 that are here. 00:55 And I know we have some visitors that are joining us. 00:57 A very warm welcome to all of you. 00:59 Thank you for coming and studying our lesson. 01:01 We have a very important study this morning. 01:03 Over the past few weeks, we've been looking at 01:05 the Old Testament book, the Old prophetic Testament 01:08 book of the book of Daniel. 01:11 I was going to say David but there's no book with David. 01:14 But it's the other "D," it's Daniel. 01:16 And today we find ourselves in Daniel chapter 5 and it's lesson 01:19 number six if you're following along in your lesson quarterly. 01:22 It's lesson number six, "From Arrogance to Destruction," is 01:25 what we'll be looking at, a king by the name of Belshazzar. 01:28 But before we get to all of that, just like to remind our 01:31 friends about our free offer for today. 01:33 It's one of the "Amazing Facts" Study Guides and it's entitled 01:36 "No Turning Back," and we'll be happy to send this to you. 01:38 All you'll need to do is just text the code "SH137" to the 01:44 number 40544 and we'll send you a link as to where you can 01:49 download and study this Study Guide or, if you'd like to get a 01:53 hard copy of it, the number to call is 866-788-3966 and you can 01:59 just ask for Study Guide Number 146 and we'll be happy to send 02:03 that to anyone who calls and asks. 02:06 Well, before we get to our study, as we always do, we like 02:08 to begin by lifting our voices in song and I'd like to invite 02:12 our young ladies to come forward and they're going to be leading 02:14 us in our Sabbath School hymn this morning. 02:16 ♪♪♪ 02:25 ♪ Standing on the promises of Christ my King, ♪ 02:29 ♪ through eternal ages let His praises ring. ♪ 02:33 ♪ Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing. ♪ 02:37 ♪ Standing on the promises of God. ♪ 02:41 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 02:46 ♪ standing on the promises of God my Savior. ♪ 02:50 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 02:55 ♪ I'm standing on the promises of God. ♪ 02:59 ♪ Standing on the promises that cannot fail, ♪ 03:03 ♪ when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, ♪ 03:07 ♪ by the living Word of God I shall prevail, ♪ 03:11 ♪ standing on the promises of God. ♪ 03:16 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 03:20 ♪ standing on the promises of God my Savior. ♪ 03:24 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 03:29 ♪ I'm standing on the promises of God. ♪ 03:33 ♪ Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, ♪ 03:38 ♪ bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord, ♪ 03:42 ♪ overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword, ♪ 03:46 ♪ standing on the promises of God. ♪ 03:50 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 03:54 ♪ standing on the promises of God my Savior. ♪ 03:58 ♪ Standing, standing, ♪ 04:03 ♪ I'm standing on the promises of God. ♪♪ 04:10 female: Thank you for singing. 04:14 Jean: Let's bow our heads for prayer. 04:16 Dear Father in heaven, we thank You that we're able to gather 04:18 together and open up Your Word and study a very important 04:20 passage of Scripture, one that has historical significance and 04:24 context but also has important truths and prophetic insights 04:28 for our time. 04:30 So we just pray in a special way that Your Spirit would come and 04:33 guide our hearts and our minds and lead us into clearer and 04:35 full understanding of those things that we need to 04:38 understand and know for we can see that the time is at hand. 04:42 So bless our time together, in Jesus's name, amen. 04:45 This morning, as mentioned, we're going to be studying 04:47 Daniel, a very important passage of Scripture and Daniel and 04:51 Revelation, one of my favorite books. 04:53 I know it's Pastor Doug's favorite books as well, studying 04:56 those two prophetic books, and so we decided to do this in 04:58 tandem. 05:00 So we're going to be teaching Daniel 5. 05:02 If you have your Bibles, you can open up to that passage or our 05:05 lesson study, and we'll study through this passage. 05:08 Doug Batchelor: Brian said I'm supposed to stand here. 05:10 Jean: Okay, I'll move my stuff over here. 05:12 Doug: I'm following orders. 05:13 Morning, everybody. 05:15 You know, sometimes we do a little team teaching. 05:17 That way, you get the lesson in stereo and so get a little 05:23 better perspective. 05:25 This is a lesson that actually touches on both Daniel and 05:29 Revelation. 05:30 It's talking about the fall of Babylon, which you find in both 05:33 of those great prophetic books. 05:36 And I want to welcome our friends who are watching online. 05:39 We're going to be doing lesson six and it's called, 05:43 "From Arrogance to Destruction." 05:45 "From Arrogance to Destruction." 05:47 And we have a memory verse. 05:49 And the memory verse is from Daniel 2:21. 05:52 I--we'll appreciate if you want to say it with us. 05:54 If you're in your lesson, it's from the New King James Version, 05:56 Daniel 2:21. 05:58 Are you ready? 06:00 "And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings 06:05 and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge 06:10 to those who have understanding." 06:13 What does that say? 06:15 Quote from Daniel chapter 2 but it talks about what's going to 06:17 happen in Daniel chapter 5. 06:19 Now, Daniel 5 is--it's a great passage. 06:26 Matter of fact, I was just sharing with Pastor Ross and we 06:29 haven't really rehearsed what we're going to say, so we're 06:32 praying for the Spirit's leading but Daniel 5 is--it is one of 06:36 the pivotal chapters in the Bible because it is a transition 06:40 between empires. 06:42 Daniel 5 is one of the most prophesied events in 06:46 the Old Testament. 06:48 It's talking about the fall of Babylon and we'll get into it in 06:52 more detail later but it's prophesied many, many times and 06:58 many details of the fall of Babylon are foretold in 07:02 the Old Testament by prophets such as Daniel, 07:05 Isaiah, Jeremiah, and they foretold what was going to 07:10 happen, incredible detail. It's an event in history. 07:14 Some of the things in history you find 07:16 them in the Bible, you don't find them anywhere else. 07:18 Or there might be one or two other historians but multiple 07:24 historians comment on this event, even ancient historians. 07:26 And so we've got a pretty good picture of what happened here. 07:29 Maybe we'll start by going to Daniel chapter 5 and if you want 07:32 to read the first few verses here, Pastor Ross. 07:35 Jean: If you have your Bibles, Daniel chapter 5, and 07:38 we're going to start reading here in verse 1. 07:41 It says: "Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a 07:44 thousand of his lords, and he drank wine in the presence of 07:47 the thousand. 07:48 While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to 07:51 bring the gold and the silver vessels which his father 07:54 Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in 07:56 Jerusalem, that the king, his lords, his wives, his concubines 08:00 might drink from them. 08:03 Then they brought the golden vessels that had been taken from 08:05 the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and 08:08 the kings and his--the king and his lords, and his wives, and 08:12 his concubines drank from them. 08:14 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, 08:18 iron, wood and stone." 08:21 Doug: All right, well, first of all, let's get a little 08:23 historical background of what's happening here. 08:26 It talks about Belshazzar as the king. 08:28 Technically, he is a co-king with his father, Nabonidus. 08:34 And what happened, there's quite a bit of intrigue when 08:38 Nebuchadnezzar died. 08:40 Nebuchadnezzar reigned about 40 years and the last time we saw 08:43 him, he had turned to the God of heaven, he praised the God of 08:47 heaven, he made several decrees about the God of heaven, and 08:50 there was a little bit of rivalry going on. 08:53 The Babylonians were loyal to Tammuz and their other gods. 08:56 They had kind of been threatened by the Jews in the empire that 09:00 were spreading their religion. 09:02 You know, we're having that problem right now in China with 09:04 Christianity. 09:06 A little threatened by that. 09:08 We're having that problem now with some of our missionaries in 09:11 India that's technically a Hindu country and there's been a lot 09:15 of restrictions and some of the Hindu priests are threatened 09:18 that Christianity is spreading. 09:21 Interestingly, Pastor Ross and I were together in Hyderabad, 09:25 India, a couple of years ago. 09:27 Where would you think the biggest Christian church would 09:29 be in the world? 09:31 Think it'd be in a Christian country. 09:33 It's in India. 09:34 It's in a Hindu country. 09:36 So you can see why they're a little threatened there by the 09:37 growth of it. 09:39 And they didn't like the way the religion of the Jews 09:41 was taking root. 09:43 When Nebuchadnezzar died there was a little bit of intrigue 09:45 that took place and his immediate son was assassinated 09:49 soon after and then there was a temporary king that was 09:54 overthrowed that was sort of a false pretender to the throne. 09:58 And when the dust settled after all the palace intrigue, the 10:02 son-in-law--he had married Nebuchadnezzar's daughter, 10:06 Nabonidus, he became king. 10:09 And after a few years and he had fought a few battles, he retired 10:16 and he went--he was real big on promoting the moon god 10:19 called Sin. 10:21 That's how you spell it, S-I-N. 10:22 But it's the moon god. 10:23 And the people in the kingdom didn't like that he wasn't 10:27 exalting Tammuz and Marduk and their other local gods. 10:32 And he went to other empires and began to excavate and Nabonidus 10:35 is believed to be one of the oldest archeologists in history. 10:39 He was excavating and trying to date the history of ancient 10:42 temples to Sin, the moon god, and trying to restore them. 10:46 And finally, he had no real interest in managing the 10:50 kingdom. 10:51 He left the kingdom to his 15-year-old son, Belshazzar, 10:56 while he was off fighting other battles and doing his 10:58 excavations and going down to Arabia. 11:01 And you know, Pastor Ross, I think it's just interesting, the 11:07 amazing difference between two 15-year-olds in Babylon. 11:12 One 15-year-old came 70 years earlier, named Daniel, and he 11:17 was poor in the kingdom but he decided to put God first. 11:22 When tempted with all of the Babylonian delicacies, he 11:26 exercised self-control and showed restraint. 11:30 He had control over what he ate and drank. 11:33 Here, when Babylon falls, you've got someone else who came to the 11:36 throne at 15 and had no control and lived for--he lived a 11:42 totally hedonistic life and it's just such opposite pictures. 11:49 One is full of the devil and one's full of God. 11:52 Jean: Absolutely, well, it's interesting, Pastor, that you 11:54 mention the parallel between Belshazzar and Daniel when he 11:58 first came. 11:59 Also interesting to note that Daniel received a Babylonian 12:01 name, Belteshazzar, when he first came to the kingdom. 12:05 So you've got Belteshazzar which we know is Daniel, you've got 12:08 Belshazzar. 12:09 Both of them come to this place or come to a position of 12:12 prominence when they are very young. 12:14 Both end up in a rulership position, 'cause you read later 12:18 on in the chapter, for just a short period of time when 12:21 Babylon falls to Cyrus and the Medo-Persians that technically 12:25 it talks about Daniel being third ruler in the kingdom. 12:29 So both come to a position of rulership and yet the contrast 12:32 is so clear. 12:33 Daniel is a worshiper of the true God. 12:35 You can see his faith, his devotion, his trust in God, and 12:38 you see the worship of the false god through Belshazzar and what 12:42 he does. 12:44 And we find a parallel even at the end of time, a contrast 12:47 between true worship and false worship right up 'til the end of 12:50 time between those symbolically representing those of Babylon 12:54 and then those who are true to God. 12:57 Doug: Yeah, you've got, like, the contrast of new Jerusalem 13:00 and Babylon that you find in Revelation. 13:02 Now, as we talk about the fall of Babylon, keep in mind, aren't 13:06 there a couple of passages in Revelation that discuss this? 13:09 Jean: Yeah, matter of fact, it's part of the three angels' 13:11 messages that we talk about in Revelation chapter 14. 13:14 The second angel says, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen." 13:17 And in chapter 16 of Revelation, maybe we'll look at that verse a 13:20 little later, it talks about the drying up of the River Euphrates 13:23 and it's a reference to one of the plagues that come. 13:26 So there's great significance to this historical event, the 13:29 downfall of Babylon, and then its symbolic representation that 13:32 we find in the New Testament and the drying up of the River 13:35 Euphrates in a symbolic form has not yet occurred. 13:39 It's part of these plagues that come just before Jesus comes. 13:43 But we learn something about that from the historical 13:45 application. 13:46 Doug: Now, just to tell you what's going on, when Belshazzar 13:49 has his feast, he already knows that the Persians working 13:55 with--in cooperation with the Medians, there is a Median king 14:00 named Darius, Darius. 14:03 His son-in-law is Cyrus. 14:04 He is a Persian but he married Darius's daughter and the 14:09 Persians actually are a stronger kingdom but they joined together 14:13 to overthrow Babylon. 14:15 They've made their intentions very clear and Belshazzar is 14:20 saying, "I don't really care. 14:22 I'm not afraid. 14:23 You're never getting through these walls." 14:24 And the historians say the walls of Babylon were formidable. 14:28 Let me just give a moment to how warfare worked in Bible times. 14:34 You really had to conquer the capital. 14:37 You know, if you want to kill a snake, you've got to cut off its 14:39 head. 14:40 And Babylon was the capital. 14:42 The way they did it back then, they didn't send in aerial 14:45 bombing, other than catapults and arrows. 14:47 They couldn't fly planes and drop drones, drone-bombs. 14:51 You had to camp outside the city and you would besiege it. 14:54 You'd try to starve them into surrender by surrounding it. 14:57 Several examples of Bible sieges in the Scripture. 15:00 Nebuchadnezzar had a siege on Jerusalem and you can read where 15:04 the Assyrians besieged Samaria. 15:06 The Romans besieged Masada. 15:08 It's not in the Bible but it's in history. 15:10 They'd surround them and the idea would be they can't get any 15:14 food in, they can't get any help out, and it's very expensive to 15:19 feed an army every day. 15:20 You ever try that? 15:22 And so it was a waiting game. 15:25 And Babylon, because the river ran under the walls and they had 15:28 silos full of food and the city was so big they actually had 15:32 some gardens in growth in the city, they said, "We can 15:35 withstand a siege of 20 years. 15:36 You can't afford to besiege us. 15:38 You'll never get over the walls. 15:39 You'll never get through the gates." 15:40 They had double walls, they had guard posts everywhere. 15:44 To show that he wasn't afraid, the feast of Tammuz comes along, 15:48 so the night that this all takes place is October 11, 1539, and 15:54 during the feast of Tammuz he says, "We're going to have this 15:56 big party," that is described in the first few verses. 16:00 After the king begins to taste the wine, he's under the 16:03 influence of the wine and he begins to do something the king 16:07 should not do. 16:08 Now, does the Bible talk about kings drinking? 16:12 It's not very advised. 16:13 You want to read, Pastor Ross, Proverbs 31 there in the--under 16:16 Belshazzar's feast, Proverbs 31 and 4 and 5? 16:19 Jean: It tells us there, "It is not for kings, O Lemuel," it 16:22 is the name of the one that it's referring to. 16:24 "It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes 16:27 intoxicating drink; lest they drink and forget the law, and 16:31 pervert justice of all those who are afflicted." 16:36 Then you find in Ecclesiastes chapter 10, it says: "Woe to 16:38 you, O land, when your king is a child or your princes feast in 16:42 the morning. 16:43 Blessed are you, O land, when your kings are the sons of 16:45 nobles and your princes feast at the proper time for strength and 16:49 not drunkenness." 16:51 Doug: Yeah, some people live to eat and others eat to live. 16:54 And you want a king who's going to eat at the right time for 16:57 strength and not for gluttony or drunkenness. 17:00 And so Belshazzar is a young king who is a glutton. 17:06 The historians tell us that he was so--he was just a really 17:10 brutal king. 17:12 Xenophon, one of the ancient historians, says that out on a 17:16 hunting expedition with his best friend, his friend caught up 17:21 with the prey before the king did and shot it. 17:23 The king was so upset, he killed his friend. 17:25 He wanted to shoot the prey. 17:26 And I can cite some other things to you that he was just a really 17:29 abominable person. 17:33 Jean: You know, it's also again, a key characteristic is 17:36 you've got this king, Belshazzar, who seems to have no 17:39 self-control whereas you have Daniel, the contrast, both of 17:42 them young when they come to prominence in the kingdom, who 17:46 first of all, right at the very beginning of the book of Daniel, 17:48 Daniel chapter 1, it talks about Daniel's commitment, he and his 17:51 three friends, not to defile themself with the king's food 17:54 and with his drink. 17:55 So, again, a contrast is set up between those who are worshipers 17:58 of the true God that recognize their body as the temple of the 18:00 Holy Spirit, whereas those who worship the false gods, they 18:03 don't recognize any importance of self-control, especially in 18:08 the area of eating and drinking. 18:11 Doug: Yeah, and if you're surrounded by an enemy army that 18:14 wants to attack, should you be fasting or feasting? 18:18 When they should have been praying, they're partying. 18:22 And he's--really, it's high-handed rebellion against 18:25 God. 18:26 The other thing is, he's showing he's not afraid. 18:29 We mentioned before, there were multiple Hebrew prophecies that 18:32 talked about the fall of Babylon. 18:35 Belshazzar was acquainted with those and he was acquainted with 18:40 Daniel interpreting his father's dream of the image, that there 18:42 would arise another kingdom. 18:44 He didn't want that. 18:45 He's saying, "I'm not afraid. 18:46 Babylon's going to continue forever." 18:48 And then, he doesn't go take the vessels from one of the many 18:52 other kingdoms they conquered. 18:54 He specifically takes the vessels from the Jewish temple 18:57 'cause he knows about the Jewish God, the Jewish prophecies. 18:59 He knows his grandfather turned to Jehovah, and he's mocking the 19:03 God of Israel by praising not Jehovah with the temples 19:08 from--with the vessels from the temple; he fills the vessels 19:11 with Babylonian wine. 19:13 What's in the cup of the woman in Revelation 17? 19:16 Jean: Intoxicating wine. 19:18 Doug: Yeah, and he praises the idols with the vessels made 19:22 to worship God. 19:24 And, by the way, if you're going to go into battle, don't drink. 19:32 The Bible talks about Ben-Hadad, 1 Kings 20, verse 16. 19:36 Ben-Hadad and his 32 kings were getting drunk at the command 19:39 post and, because they were drunk, Ahab who had a little 19:43 bitty army, Ahab goes out and he fights with the Assyrians and he 19:49 trounces them 'cause they were drunk and the king gave a really 19:51 ridiculous order. 19:53 He said, "If they came up for peace, take them alive. 19:55 If they've come out for war, take them alive." 19:57 Well, it's really hard if you're fighting against soldiers that 20:00 want to kill you, if you try and take them alive. 20:02 And, anyway, it's 'cause he was drunk and he gave a really dumb 20:06 order. 20:07 So what does the Bible have to say about drinking? 20:11 Why don't you read a little more of what it says here, or just a 20:14 couple more verses in chapter 5. 20:17 Jean: So now we're on chapter 5, verse 5, is where we're going 20:19 to pick it up from. 20:21 Maybe, Pastor Doug, you want to say something about verse 4 just 20:23 before we do that. 20:24 It says: "They drank wine," you spoke about that, "and praised 20:26 the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone." 20:31 Doug: Yeah, good point. 20:32 Jean: Yeah, early in the study you might be saying, "Wait 20:34 a minute, these--we've come across these metals before," and 20:38 you find, of course, in Daniel chapter 2 where you have the 20:40 great statue, the head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly 20:43 and thighs of brass, legs of iron, feet of iron and clay, it 20:47 doesn't say anything here about clay but it does say wood, and 20:50 then you have a stone that strikes the image. 20:52 Doug: Yeah, the number for calculating with the 20:54 Babylonians, you might not be surprised to learn, is six. 20:59 We live on the decimal system where we calculate in the 21:02 western world with the tens. 21:03 Babylonians have the decimal system of six. 21:07 And do you know a roulette wheel has how many--a trick question, 21:12 ha, ha, ha. 21:13 How many slots does a roulette wheel have? 21:16 Thirty-six. 21:17 How many degrees in a circle? 21:19 Three hundred and sixty. 21:21 Do you know that if you take a roulette wheel--there's reasons 21:24 for that, for 360 degrees. 21:25 It all goes back to this Babylonian. 21:27 How many days in a Jewish year? 21:30 Three-sixty. 21:31 And so there's actually good mathematical readings--reasons 21:33 but do you know if you take a roulette wheel and you add the 21:36 first number plus the second number, 1 plus 2 is 3, plus the 21:39 third number, plus the fourth number, when you get to 36, it 21:42 adds up to 666? 21:44 So Babylon is--a lot of their math ended up coming to their 21:49 magical number of 666. 21:51 So they got six metals here for worshiping the false gods. 21:55 Jean: And, of course, our time system today is built on 60 21:58 seconds and 60 minutes in an hour, so we've got that 22:00 connection dating all the way back to Babylon and, again, 22:05 Revelation, the number 666 appears, a counterfeit of the 22:08 true Trinity, a manmade substitute, three sixes, and 22:12 that's a whole 'nother study on its own. 22:14 Doug: It's manmade worship. 22:15 Man is made on what day of the week? 22:18 Sixth day of the week. 22:19 Something else here that you might find interesting, he takes 22:24 what from the temple of the Lord? 22:26 The vessels. 22:27 Let me just read a few verses about the vessels. 22:30 Daniel 5: "They brought in the golden vessels that they had 22:34 taken from the temple," and then you look in 2 Chronicles 36: "In 22:39 the spring of the year, Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought 22:42 to him, to Babylon with him, the precious vessels from the house 22:45 of the Lord." 22:46 Keep in mind Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem more than once: 22:49 first time when he carried off Daniel, he didn't destroy 22:51 everything. 22:52 He put in sort of a puppet king, one of the sons of Josiah. 22:56 He took Daniel and a number of captives and wise people back to 22:59 the kingdom. He took the holy vessels. 23:01 He didn't burn the temple. 23:02 When they rebelled later, 11 years later, then he came, 23:05 he destroyed the temple. 23:06 But he already had the sacred vessel. 23:08 Some of these vessels go all the way back to the wilderness. 23:13 They were built by Moses and they were in the tabernacle. 23:17 This was later greatly expanded by Solomon added to those 23:22 vessels, but they still had some of the original vessels where 23:26 the Shekinah glory had lit over these vessels in the wilderness. 23:30 These are sacred vessels of God, meant for the worship of God, as 23:34 holy as any article could be, and he begins to mock God. 23:39 Now, what does the Bible say a vessel represents? 23:44 Let's read a couple of verses here. 23:45 1 Thessalonians 4:4: "That each of you should know how to 23:49 possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in 23:54 passion like the Gentiles who do not know God." 23:57 God is the potter, we are the clay. 23:58 We are vessels. 24:00 And He wants the vessels full of His Spirit. 24:02 The Bible says: "Do not be drunk with wine which is dissipation, 24:06 but be filled with the Spirit." 24:08 So these vessels, instead of being filled with the holy 24:11 things of God, are filled with Babylonian wine. 24:14 This is the point, I think, where Belshazzar actually 24:16 crosses the line and commits the unpardonable sin; Spirit of 24:19 prophecy says so. 24:20 When that hand comes, that bloodless hand, and it actually 24:25 says, "fingers." 24:27 Jean: And that we find in verse 5, 24:28 it says: "In the same hour the fingers of 24:31 a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the 24:33 plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw 24:37 the part of the hand that wrote. 24:39 The king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him," 24:42 sort of a understatement there because you're going to see what 24:44 happens here. 24:45 "So that the joints of his hips were loosed and his knees 24:48 knocked against each other." 24:50 So he was filled with fear when this hand appeared and began 24:53 writing on the wall. 24:54 Doug: Yeah, and I won't take it too far but when it says, 24:58 "The loins of his hips were loosed and his knees knocked 25:02 together," some commentators, more than one, say, 25:06 "He lost control of his loins," and basically wet himself. 25:12 Jean: Now, it's interesting to note, you can't miss this 25:14 point. 25:15 You have a hand writing on the wall. 25:17 We know who that hand is. 25:18 It's God that is writing and it's words of judgment. 25:21 How many times do we have recorded in the Bible that God 25:24 writes? 25:26 Now, something occurred earlier to this on Mount Sinai where God 25:29 wrote, and God wrote with his finger. 25:32 What did he write? 25:34 Ten Commandments. 25:35 And here you find a king who has set aside the commandments of 25:39 God and, as a result, the hand writes on the wall and what does 25:42 the hand write on the wall? Judgment. 25:45 The next time you find God writing, it's in the person of 25:48 Christ and you read about it in the Gospels where Jesus knelt 25:52 down and wrote on the ground, the dust, in the dust there on 25:54 the temple floor, when they brought the woman who was caught 25:57 committing adultery. 25:59 And here we find Jesus giving mercy. 26:00 So you find the law; you break the law, there is judgment; but 26:06 in Christ you find mercy and forgiveness. 26:09 And there is one more time, Pastor Doug, where you find 26:11 writing and that's in Revelation where it says: "God will write a 26:15 new name on those who are saved." 26:18 Doug: That's right. 26:19 Jean: So you find writing is rather important, it's 26:21 significant. 26:22 The law; you break the law, you've got judgment; but God 26:25 offers mercy through Christ. 26:28 Those who receive that mercy, they have the promise of heaven, 26:31 a new name written upon them. 26:33 Doug: You know, it probably is worth mentioning that just 26:36 before the fall of Babylon, which you know is going to 26:38 transpire momentarily, you see that there is a disregard for 26:43 holy things. 26:46 The things that preceded the fall of Babylon are some of the 26:49 same things that preceded the fall of Rome and, unfortunately, 26:52 will be the same things that precede the fall of any great 26:55 nation. 26:56 Let me just read to you something from Edward Gibbon's 26:59 classic called "The Rise--The Decline and Fall of the Roman 27:02 Empire." 27:04 He lists five reasons that he believe that Rome fell. 27:08 "The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home. 27:12 Increasing taxes and spending of public money 27:15 for bread and circuses. 27:18 The mad craze for pleasure with sports becoming more exciting 27:21 and more brutal. 27:24 The building of gigantic armaments where the real enemy 27:27 is the decadence of the people. 27:29 And the decay of religion with faith fading into mere form." 27:35 Philip Myer in his book, "Rome: Its Rise and Fall," made this 27:38 observation of the Romans: "Almost from the beginning, the 27:41 Roman state was gross and immorality was one of the main 27:44 agencies to which must be attributed the undermining of 27:49 the originally sound moral life during the days of Octavia and 27:52 Augustus Caesar, of Roman society. 27:55 So absorbed did the people become in the indecent 27:58 representations of the stage, they lost all thought and care 28:02 for the affairs of life." 28:03 The people who were supposed to be ruling the country were 28:05 partying and the country of Rome was run by secretaries. 28:08 The reason--this is something else from history. 28:10 The reason I mention the fall of Rome is it was the same kind of 28:14 issues that you see in Babylon, is that people were living for 28:18 pleasure, they were being irresponsible with spending, and 28:22 you also see that marriage was falling apart. 28:26 Typically, the men started out drinking alone in Babylon. 28:30 You notice that the feasts in the book of Esther, the king got 28:34 drunk and he said, "Let's bring in Vashti for all the men to 28:37 drool at." 28:39 And here, when the drinking progressed in Babylon, it says: 28:44 "And he invited the wives," you read on later, it says: "and 28:48 concubines." 28:50 This was not much short of an orgy that was going on here and 28:54 they're praising the gods, which is what happened to Rome. 28:56 And there's other countries I won't mention that are faced 29:01 with some of the same issues. 29:03 Losing respect for that which is holy, respect for marriage and 29:07 for order, self-control, that's when the kingdom falls. 29:12 Jean: And, of course, a characteristic that we have is 29:14 they were lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God. 29:16 That is a reference that we find even to our time, and just think 29:20 about how much time and money is spent on entertainment in our 29:24 society versus how much time and money is spent upon seeking 29:28 truth or coming to know God or even protecting marriage 29:33 and the family. It's quite amazing. 29:35 If you look at the parallels of these empires and their collapse 29:39 and what's happening in our world today. 29:42 Indeed, we can see signs that that kingdom represented by that 29:47 stone cut out without hands is soon to come and that, of 29:51 course, is a reference to Christ and the Second Coming. 29:53 Doug: Now, looking at the clock, I'm going to hasten along 29:56 here. 29:57 So this--these fingers appear. 30:00 Notice it was finger that wrote the Ten Commandments and it 30:01 says, "Jesus with his finger wrote in the dust of 30:03 the temple floor"? 30:05 This finger appears and begins to write. 30:08 It's over against the candlestick, where it's 30:10 positioned, and history seems to say it was a prominent place 30:13 across from the throne that he had seated where he was drinking 30:18 in front of everybody. 30:19 And he's astonished. 30:22 You notice it's Nebuchadnezzar who looks in the furnace. 30:24 He's the first one to notice the Son of God. 30:27 And here, Belshazzar's the first one to see the words of 30:30 judgment, and he is--he just goes to pieces. 30:34 He is shaking, his knees knocked there. 30:36 He was so bold and defiant and mocking God a minute ago, and 30:39 now--do you know what the word "Daniel" means? 30:42 My God is judge. 30:44 "El" means Elohim. 30:45 God Dan judge, one of the names of the sons of Israel. 30:50 And so Daniel's called in and judgment is called in, into the 30:56 halls of Babylon. 30:59 So they see this writing and after they recover from total 31:03 shock, everyone is frozen in place, all their faces, drain 31:06 from blood and they're terrified. 31:09 All the partying stops, and eventually the king says, "Bring 31:14 someone in to read the writing." 31:15 Maybe you want to read that real quick. 31:16 Jean: So you'll pick up the story here in verse, let's see, 31:20 verse 7. 31:21 It says: "Then the king cried aloud to bring in the 31:23 astrologers, the Chaldeans, the soothsayers. 31:25 The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, 'Whoever 31:28 reads the writing, and tells the interpretation, shall be clothed 31:31 with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and shall 31:34 be the third ruler in the kingdom--' Now all the king's 31:37 wise men came, but they could not read the writing, or make 31:40 known the king's interpretation. 31:42 Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, and his countenance 31:46 was changed, and his lords were astonished." 31:49 Doug: These are the thousand lords he had boldly invited in, 31:53 probably leaders in the war against Persia, and--to party 31:55 and celebrate and to mock that they were not afraid. 32:00 This is the third time in the book of Daniel that the king has 32:04 brought in his local wise men, the Babylonian wise men, and 32:09 they don't have the answer. 32:12 And it's going to be the third time that the Hebrew 32:15 has the answer. 32:17 You know, Jesus, when he was talking to the Samaritan woman, 32:21 she wanted to engage him in an argument. 32:23 She said, "What mountain should we worship on, our mountain, 32:27 Mount Gerizim, or Mount Jerusalem?" 32:28 And Jesus said something shocking. 32:30 He said, "Salvation is of the Jews." 32:34 Now, there's a lot of talk these days about anti-Semitism. 32:37 Technically, do you know that every Arab is a Semite? 32:40 So anti-Semitism is not technically just being 32:44 anti-Jewish. 32:45 Anyone who was from the descendants of Shem was 32:49 a Semite. 32:50 That's where the word comes from. 32:52 But the Bible tells us God chose the Jewish nation and delivered 32:56 truth to them. 32:58 Paul says, "To Israel were given the oracles of God." 33:01 So that's why you see several times when these pagans are 33:03 saying, "What is truth?" 33:04 God points them back to the Jewish book. 33:07 Now Jews are not saved any more than anyone else. 33:09 If they don't believe, they're not children of Abraham. 33:11 But Paul says, "To the Jew first," because the gospel, the 33:15 truth, was given to them first, "then to the Gentile." 33:18 So if he wanted to understand what the truth was, it came from 33:22 this book. 33:23 Doesn't come from the Bhagavad Gita or the Qur'an, but it's 33:26 this book, from the people that he chose. 33:28 Does that make sense? 33:30 So he has to bring in Daniel to explain what does it mean? 33:35 But how does he find out about Daniel? 33:37 Jean: You'll find over here in verse 10, it says: "Then the 33:40 queen came in," so, of course, the wise men and the astrologer, 33:42 they couldn't give the meaning of the words. 33:44 Verse 10 says: "And the queen came in before, because of the 33:47 words of the king and his lords, and came to the banquet hall. 33:51 The queen spoke and said, 'O king, live forever! 33:53 Do not let the thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance be 33:56 changed. 33:57 There is a man in your kingdom in whom the Spirit--in whom is 34:01 the Spirit of the Holy God. 34:03 In the days of your father, light and understanding and 34:05 wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and 34:09 King Nebuchadnezzar your father--your father the 34:12 king--made him chief of the magicians, the astrologers, the 34:14 Chaldeans, the soothsayers. 34:16 Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding, 34:19 interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas 34:24 were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now 34:28 let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.'" 34:32 Doug: Yeah, it's interesting that they had exhausted all of 34:36 the local opportunities. 34:37 By the way, the queen mother, according to historians, was 34:43 Nitocris. 34:44 She's the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. 34:45 It was for her mother that Nebuchadnezzar built the hanging 34:50 gardens of Babylon which were still in full bloom during the 34:54 time that this was all going on. 34:56 Daniel's got a reputation. 34:58 You hear this mentioned twice in Daniel 5 and Daniel 6, one in 35:03 whom is an excellent spirit. 35:06 Now if somebody told you, "I think you're spirit possessed," 35:09 how would you feel? 35:11 I mean, if I hadn't said this first. 35:12 If someone accused you of being spirit possessed, you'd probably 35:15 take it as an insult. 35:16 But don't you want to be spirit possessed? 35:19 Depends, doesn't it? 35:21 You've got to qualify that. 35:23 The Bible says everyone who knew Daniel knew he was spirit 35:25 possessed. 35:27 He had an excellent spirit in him. 35:30 And says this in chapter 6, in Daniel chapter 6, verse 3: 35:34 "Because an excellent spirit was in him." 35:36 Then Pastor Ross just read this in verse 12: "An excellent 35:41 spirit of knowledge, understanding, interpreting 35:44 dreams, solving riddles, explaining enigmas, was found in 35:47 this Daniel." 35:49 Now this is the one time it says, "Who the king named 35:51 Belshazzar--or Belteshazzar," but all the other times now, in 35:55 this chapter, he's not being called by his Babylonian name. 35:57 He's not even pretending. 35:59 He's going--Nebuchadnezzar's dead. 36:01 He's not going by that name. 36:02 He's called Daniel everywhere else. 36:04 He's gone back to his name in this section. 36:10 And so the king's--calls Daniel. 36:11 Do you want to read verse 13 and up to 15? 36:16 Jean: Yeah, it says, verse 13: "Then Daniel was brought in 36:18 before the king. 36:19 The king spoke, and said to Daniel, 'Are you that Daniel in 36:22 whom is one of the captives from Judah, whom my father the king 36:26 brought out of Judah? 36:27 I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and 36:30 that light and understanding and an excellent wisdom are found in 36:33 you. 36:34 Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought 36:36 in before me, and they should read the writing and make known 36:39 to me the interpretation, but they could not give the 36:41 interpretation of the thing. 36:43 And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and 36:46 explain enigmas. 36:48 Now if you can read the writing and make known to me the 36:51 interpretation, you shall be clothed in purple and have a 36:54 chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the third ruler in 36:57 the kingdom.'" 36:59 Doug: All right, now, when the king says 37:00 this, make sure that you have in your mind's eye his voice is 37:03 quivering with fear. 37:05 The burning letters are still blazing on the wall. 37:08 Nobody knows what it means. 37:09 You all know it says, "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin," or 37:13 "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin." 37:15 No one's exactly sure the pronunciation because we're not 37:18 even exactly sure if it's some form of Aramaic but the king is 37:24 paralyzed with fear, his voice is shaking. 37:27 I also like where the queen says, "There is a man." 37:31 So here, you've got the king is petrified. 37:34 Daniel is fearless. 37:37 Daniel knows what the prophecies say. 37:40 He knows what's going to happen. 37:41 Daniel knows that Babylon's going to fall that night. 37:44 Typically, when a foreign power comes in, they slaughter all of 37:47 the administrators that were true to the former government. 37:50 Daniel's not afraid. 37:52 And he knew that God was going to watch over him. 37:54 So here you've got Daniel is possessed, fearless, he is the 38:01 old man and he's standing up against this wise young king who 38:06 says, "Look, I'm going to give you a gold and I'm going to give 38:08 you a purple robe and you're going to be third ruler in the 38:15 kingdom," and he--Daniel could care less. 38:17 He says, "You won't have anything to give in a few 38:19 hours." 38:21 He says, "Your titles are going to be meaningless." 38:23 Now, keep this in mind. 38:25 When the devil is offering you the pleasures of sin for a 38:27 season to sacrifice your life for eternity, you need to say to 38:31 the devil what Jesus said to Daniel--I'm sorry, what Daniel 38:37 said to Belshazzar: "Keep your gifts. 38:41 Let your gifts be for yourself." 38:43 It's like when Simon there in Acts offered Peter money for the 38:47 Holy Spirit, Peter said, "You can perish with your money," and 38:52 the devil's often trying to offer people earthly gain. 38:57 One thing that also stands out is just where the queen, she 39:00 says, "There is a man." 39:03 She evidently has great respect for Daniel and the God of 39:05 Daniel. 39:06 Jean: Remember the context of this. 39:07 You've got the queen. 39:08 This is not Nebuchadnezzar or rather, this is not Belshazzar's 39:11 wife. 39:12 Rather, this would be the queen mother, the daughter of 39:15 Nebuchadnezzar and, of course, she was the one that married 39:18 Nabonidus who was the ruler. 39:21 Belshazzar was the second ruler. 39:24 And that's why he says, "If you can answer this, I'll make you 39:27 the third ruler." 39:29 The reason why he could make him the third ruler was because he 39:31 is only the second ruler. 39:33 Now, his father wasn't there. 39:34 Probably out at some oasis in the desert, not interested in 39:39 ruling from Babylon. 39:40 So you have the queen mother coming in, the daughter of 39:43 Nebuchadnezzar, and she recounts the story of Daniel. 39:47 Now, it might seem in your first reading that Belshazzar's 39:50 ignorant concerning Daniel and the things that had happened to 39:53 his father. 39:55 But you remember, one of the things that happened to 39:56 Nebuchadnezzar, at least his grandfather, was that for a 39:58 period of time he went insane, thought he was an animal and for 40:02 seven years was outside eating grass like the oxen. 40:06 This was not something that was hidden to the people of Babylon, 40:10 nor to the royal seed. 40:12 Belshazzar knew about this. 40:13 He had heard about this. 40:14 He knew about the interpretation given by Daniel, yet he chose to 40:19 ignore it. 40:20 Doug: I think it mentions this in--you start in verse 17, 40:23 says: "Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, 'Let your 40:26 gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another.'" 40:29 Usually, you don't tell a king, "Keep your gifts," yeah. 40:31 "Yet I'll read the writing to the king," and normally, if you 40:39 said to a king, "Keep your gifts," they'd chop off your 40:43 head at the--on the spot. 40:45 But he wants to know what the writing means. 40:48 "I'll read the writing to the king and make known to him the 40:50 interpretation. 40:51 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father," 40:55 they used to use that word interchangeably. 40:57 They didn't say "grandfather." 40:59 "A kingdom, majesty, glory, honor, and because of the 41:01 majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages 41:04 trembled and feared before him. 41:06 Whoever he wished, he executed; whoever he wished, he kept 41:09 alive; whoever he wished, he set up; whoever he wished, he put 41:12 down." 41:13 He'd rule with absolute power. 41:15 "But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened 41:19 in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took 41:23 away his glory from him. 41:24 He was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like 41:27 beasts', and his dwelling was with wild donkeys." 41:30 That's something new you don't read earlier. 41:32 "And they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet 41:35 with the dew of heaven, until he knew the Most High," that's 41:40 Jehovah, "God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints 41:44 over it whoever He chooses. 41:45 But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, 41:50 though you knew this." 41:51 So did Belshazzar know? 41:52 He said, "You knew about the true God and you've lifted up 41:56 your--you've lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. 42:00 Against the Lord of heavens you've brought the vessels of 42:04 His house before you, and you and your lords, and your wives 42:06 and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. 42:09 And you've praised the gods of silver and gold, and bronze and 42:12 iron, and wood and stone, that do not see or hear or know..." 42:19 You know, you better hope the Persians are coming to rescue 42:21 Daniel because Daniel has just told the king, "Keep your gifts, 42:24 and the gods you're praising are dumb. 42:27 They don't know anything." 42:29 Here, they'd been drinking and toasting the health of this god 42:32 and the health of that god, and Daniel says, "Your gods are 42:34 dead. They're not gods." 42:36 How do you get away with that unless you know? 42:38 I don't think it was very long after Daniel said this before 42:42 they heard the shouts of the Persians coming through the 42:45 gates. 42:46 He wouldn't have lived very long, I don't think. 42:49 "He appoints over it whoever He chooses." 42:51 And he said, "Your praise your gods. 42:54 But the God who holds your breath in His hand, who owns all 42:58 of your ways, you have not glorified. 43:01 Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this 43:05 writing was written. 43:06 And the inscription was written." 43:08 Pastor Ross, do you want to tell us what it means? 43:10 Jean: You've got those four words there: "Mene, mene, tekel, 43:14 upharsin." 43:15 And scholars believe that that's probably Aramaic. 43:19 You remember the first part of the book of Daniel is written in 43:22 Aramaic, the rest is in Hebrew, starting in chapter 8 I believe. 43:26 The rest of the Old Testament is Hebrew, the New Testament's in 43:28 Greek. 43:29 But we have a few chapters here in the book of Daniel that's 43:31 actually written in Aramaic. 43:32 So the words do have a meaning in Aramaic. 43:34 "Mene" means counted. 43:36 So if it's just a direct translation, you could say, 43:40 "Counted, counted." 43:41 "Tekel," weighed, and "Upharsin," divided. 43:46 So if you were to just look at the words, it would be "Counted, 43:49 counted, weighed, divided." 43:51 So it's possible that maybe the wise men could read these words 43:55 but they couldn't understand its meaning or its significance. 43:58 They understood its significance because, remember when something 44:01 is repeated in the Bible, it stresses that it's important so 44:04 it says, "Counted, counted, weighed, divided." 44:08 Doug: Babylon's fallen, fallen. 44:09 Jean: Yup, absolutely. 44:11 Doug: Two times. 44:12 Jean: And Revelation talks about Babylon being fallen, 44:14 being fallen, so here you have Daniel coming in. 44:17 He gives the meaning but he also builds a little on it and 44:19 explains its significance and you find that in verse 26. 44:22 Maybe I'll just read through 26 to the end of that section. 44:26 It says then, "This is the interpretation of each word. 44:30 MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: 44:34 You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 44:36 PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes 44:39 and the Persians." 44:41 Then it says: "Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed 44:44 Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, 44:47 and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be 44:50 the third ruler in the kingdom." 44:52 Now, what I find interesting here is here, actually, Daniel 44:56 allows them to put on this robe of purple and this chain of gold 45:01 representing his position. 45:02 He's the third ruler in the empire. 45:04 Now Jesus made a promise to the righteous and he said, "The meek 45:08 shall inherit the earth." 45:10 Daniel is the third ruler, he's definitely meek. 45:15 When Jesus comes again, you have the Father who is the supreme 45:19 ruler, Christ who rules, and then his people will rule as 45:23 well. 45:24 The Bible speaks about us, the redeemed, being seated on 45:27 thrones. 45:29 So here you have Daniel representing in a type or a 45:32 sense God's people at the end that shall rule. 45:36 And here, Daniel does rule when Babylon falls. 45:40 When do the righteous rule and inherit the earth? 45:43 When spiritual Babylon falls. 45:45 So you can see a number of the parallels here that we find in 45:48 this passage. 45:49 Doug: Yeah, absolutely. 45:50 So let me tell you what happened historically and this plays into 45:54 Revelation also. 45:55 While this party is going on, Cyrus the Persian and his army 45:59 had diverted the course, the regular course, of the Euphrates 46:02 River. 46:03 I mean, he had a whole army digging a ditch into a dry lake 46:07 bed, huge, massive dry lake bed that had dried up in the summer. 46:11 They then, at the appropriate time, they broke the damn. 46:14 They waited 'til the last minute to break a damn that would 46:16 breach it so the river would run out of its natural course and 46:19 spill off into this lakebed which is downstream several 46:22 miles and, you know, Belshazzar knew they were doing some big 46:26 excavation on the river upstream. 46:28 He had spies that were watching. 46:30 And all of a sudden, the river level where it ran under the 46:33 walls of Babylon, went down. 46:35 The Persians had bribed two Babylonians inside the palace 46:39 who agreed to defect. 46:41 They helped unlock some of the gates and their names are 46:45 actually given by, it's either Heroditus or Xenophen, and they 46:52 came in under the walls in the midst of the party that was 46:55 going on. 46:57 They started shouting, people were shouting for being 46:59 overcome. 47:00 The soldiers began to shout like it was a party and they couldn't 47:02 tell whether it was a war or a party. 47:04 Now doesn't that sound like what happened at the golden calf 47:06 story? 47:08 And by the time they figured out what was going on, the soldiers 47:14 were drunk, they had been partying along with the king. 47:17 The inner gates had been left open and they swarmed into the 47:22 city with hardly--the only loss of life was the king and his 47:26 cabinet immediately around him. 47:29 And he was able--Cyrus was able to come in. 47:31 Cyrus himself did not come in for a month. 47:33 But his leaders came in, took the city that night through the 47:37 drying up of the Euphrates. 47:40 Now, do we find the drying up of the Euphrates mentioned 47:42 somewhere else? 47:43 Jean: Matter of fact, you find it right here. 47:45 Let me read it, Pastor Doug, seeing as you bring it up. 47:47 It's chapter 16 in Revelation, verse 12. 47:49 It says: "And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great 47:52 River Euphrates and its water was dried up so that the way of 47:56 the kings of the east might be prepared." 47:58 Now, of course, we're not talking about literal River 48:00 Euphrates today, but water in Bible prophecy represents 48:04 multitudes and nations and kindreds and tongues. 48:06 What brought about the downfall of historical Babylon was the 48:09 drying up of the River Euphrates. 48:10 What brings about the downfall of symbolic Babylon in the last 48:13 days, the multitudes of people that have given their support to 48:18 this power, this apostate religious power, Babylon, they 48:22 realize finally that they have been deceived and they withdraw 48:25 their support. 48:26 It says it makes way for the kings of the east. 48:29 Kings of the east would represent Christ and his angels 48:32 coming to bring deliverance to God's people and that's when 48:35 Babylon falls and the meek inherit the earth. 48:38 Doug: Now there are several prophecies. 48:40 We'll see how many we can get through here. 48:42 There are more prophecies about the fall of Babylon than any 48:44 other Old Testament event, other than the Coming of the Messiah. 48:50 It says in Isaiah 44, verse 27: "Who says to the deep, 'Be dry 48:55 and I will dry up your rivers.'" Keep in mind, Isaiah writes 48:58 this, what, 500 years earlier or many years earlier, maybe not 49:01 500 years earlier. 49:03 Isaiah 45:1: "Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus." 49:07 Only two times, or no, a little more than two times. 49:10 Only a few times in the Bible does God foretell the name of a 49:14 king years before he's born. 49:15 You have king Josiah was named long before he was born and 49:20 Cyrus. 49:21 Now, of course, the angel said Jesus's name but He was born 49:24 shortly after that, and John. 49:25 But it said: "To subdue nations before him, to loose the armor 49:30 of kings, to open before him the double doors, so the gates will 49:34 not be shut: 'I will go before you, make the crooked places 49:37 straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze,'" that 49:42 means they had great iron and bronze bars. 49:44 They said they'll never get into Babylon. 49:46 "'I'll give you the treasures of darkness,'" all the treasures of 49:49 Babylon came to him. 49:51 Jeremiah said, "'A sword is against the Chaldeans,' says the 49:55 Lord, 'against the inhabitants of Babylon, against her princes 49:58 and her wise men. 49:59 A sword against the soothsayers and the fools.'" 50:02 They couldn't answer it. 50:04 "'A sword against the mighty men--'" It says the mighty men 50:05 would not be able to fight, they'd be drunk, they would be 50:08 overcome with fear like women. 50:10 All these things were foretold. 50:12 Jeremiah 50, verse 38: "A drought is against her waters. 50:15 They will be dried up for the land of carved images and they 50:19 are insane with their idols." 50:22 And one more prophecy that's interesting: Jeremiah even 50:25 foretold that it would happen to the third son of Nebuchadnezzar, 50:29 that there would be only three Babylonian kings. 50:32 You read in Jeremiah 27, verse 6: "And I now have given all 50:37 these lands to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of 50:39 Babylon, my servant, and the beasts of the field I've given 50:42 to him to serve him. 50:44 So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son's son 50:50 until the time of his land comes," the judgment, in other 50:53 words. 50:54 And that's exactly what happened. 50:55 It was the three that--three generations from Nebuchadnezzar 51:00 including Nebuchadnezzar that ruled and then Babylon fell. 51:04 And the same way that there was a bloodless hand that went to 51:08 the temple when Jesus died on the cross and ripped the veil 51:11 from top to bottom, here there was another bloodless hand and 51:14 that was the end of an age, an epic, you could say. 51:18 When the veil was rent here, there was an end to an age when 51:22 that hand wrote in--on the walls of Babylon that judgment. 51:25 Jean: It's also interesting to note that just before Babylon 51:27 falls, there is a special type of judgment that occurs. 51:30 Before Jesus comes, there is a judgment that takes place and we 51:35 read about that in the book of Revelation. 51:37 Well, we want to thank those who joined us online. 51:39 I know, Pastor Doug, we're out of time but we want to remind 51:42 our friends who are joining us about our free offer for today. 51:45 It is one of our "Amazing Facts" Study Guides. 51:47 It's entitled, "No Turning Back." 51:49 If you'd like to receive a free copy of this, the number to call 51:51 is 866-788-3966. 51:54 Just ask for offer number 146. 51:56 We'll be happy to send that to anyone who calls and asks or you 52:00 can text the code, "SH137" to the number 40544 and you'll be 52:07 able to receive a download and read it online or on your phone 52:11 or whatever device, computer, and you can learn more about 52:14 this. 52:15 It actually talks here about the unpardonable sin and kind of 52:18 what happened when judgment came to Belshazzar and Babylon. 52:22 So, great study. 52:24 Doug: Well, thank you, friends, for joining us. 52:26 God willing, we'll study His Word together again next week. 52:31 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 52:34 free resource. 52:36 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 52:38 download a digital copy straight to your computer 52:40 or mobile device. 52:41 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 52:45 the key word on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 52:50 shown on your screen, and be sure to select 52:53 the digital download option on the request page. 52:55 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 52:58 "Amazing Facts," wherever and whenever you want and most 53:01 important, to share it with others. 53:08 announcer: "Amazing Facts" Changed Lives. 53:16 Roy: I grew up here in New York City, I guess dealing 53:20 with all the temptations that you would have in a big city. 53:23 Everything that you could imagine that you could run into, 53:26 drugs, crime, was always here. 53:30 When I was at a young age, I actually got into trouble with 53:33 the law and my only out was to join the military at the time in 53:38 order to not do time. 53:40 So I left New York and traveled the world a little bit while I 53:44 was in the military. 53:45 Eventually, I came back. 53:49 Having grown up as a hip hop kid I eventually found myself 53:52 working in the music business, actually. 53:55 I worked at a couple of major radio stations, hip hop, reggae. 53:58 I was at all the big reggae shows, working them. 54:01 No matter what I did to try and satisfy myself, nothing really 54:05 worked. 54:07 I remember I used to play at this one club in Manhattan. 54:09 Used to play there every Friday night. 54:12 So I came home one Saturday morning after leaving the club 54:15 and I turned on the video channel like I usually do. 54:19 So, there was this guy in the video channel talking and he was 54:23 definitely out of place but the things that he was saying just 54:27 totally amazed me. 54:28 I had never heard anyone speak about the Bible like this before 54:32 so I started coming home early on Saturday mornings just to 54:36 catch this show. 54:37 I found the things that he was saying absolutely amazing to the 54:41 point where it literally made me stop and start to think about 54:47 how I was living my life. 54:48 So I found that all of these things that I had been doing to 54:50 try and find happiness were actually not making my happy at 54:55 all, but were really just leaving me empty inside. 54:58 When I started reading the Bible and it started to make sense, I 55:02 started to make changes. 55:04 I even tried to keep the Sabbath which I failed at miserably. 55:08 So I was actually invited by "Amazing Facts" to go to see a 55:13 live series at one of the local churches but after going the 55:17 first night I ended up going another night and another night. 55:20 I stayed for the entire series. 55:22 That was the day I made a decision that changed the rest 55:25 of my life forever. 55:26 I gave my life to Christ and everything was different after 55:29 that. 55:30 I made a decision to give up the music business, stop hanging out 55:33 at all of the clubs. 55:34 I made a decision that was eternal for me and for my 55:37 family. 55:38 I started going to church. 55:43 I got a position in church where I was actually in charge of the 55:45 personal ministries department. 55:48 And the same "Amazing Facts" studies that changed my life, I 55:52 actually got to share them with people and sit down with them 55:55 and tell them about Jesus. 56:00 ♪♪♪ 56:06 ♪♪♪ 56:17 Doug: On several occasions, scientists have demonstrated 56:19 that people and even creatures can struggle with depression 56:23 when exposed to continual darkness. 56:25 This can be seen every year in the winter months in the Arctic 56:28 regions. 56:29 The beautiful village of Rjukan, Norway, is situated in a deep 56:34 valley where mountains block the sun's rays for about six months 56:37 every year. 56:39 This, of course, keeps the 3400 residents in a state of shade 56:42 and sometimes depressing darkness throughout the winter. 56:46 Then the town leaders got a bright idea to help illuminate 56:49 their village during the murky months. 56:52 In October 2013, Rjukan installed an array of three 56:57 gigantic 550 square foot mirrors on a nearby mountain 57:02 1000 feet above the town. 57:03 The computer-controlled and solar-powered mirrors track the 57:07 sun through the winter months and reflect a giant beam of 57:11 sunshine down to the town square, brightening their lives. 57:15 If you visit Rjukan in the winter months today you can 57:18 often see the people gathered or sitting on benches around the 57:22 town square, bathing in the reflected sunshine. 57:26 Like those mirrors on the mountain, the Bible says that 57:29 Christians are to reflect the light of Jesus who is the light 57:32 of the world into this dark planet. 57:34 Matthew 5:14 says: "You are the light of the world. 57:37 A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 57:40 Nor do we light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a 57:44 lampstand, and it illuminates everybody in the house. 57:47 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good 57:51 works and glorify your Father in heaven." 57:54 So, friends, use today to brighten the life of someone 57:57 else by reflecting Jesus. 58:00 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-02-03