Hello friends and welcome to
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Books of the Book.
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We are studying the
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book of Daniel and we are in
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Daniel Chapter 2.
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My name is James Rafferty and
I am Ty Gibson, James's co-host
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for this series of
programs on the book of Daniel.
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We just love the book of Daniel
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James, because it is not only a
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prophetic book that points
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forward to events that pertain
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to the end of human history
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which ushers in the second
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coming of Jesus and that
glorious period into the future
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that we all long for.
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We love the book of
Daniel because it is a book that
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presents vital principles
for character development, vital
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principles to guide our
lives spiritually and to have a
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relationship with God.
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It is a book that chronicles
a story of Daniel's relationship
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with God and it is a book
that Chronicles the relationship
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of King Nebuchadnezzar
with God, a relationship that
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King Nebuchadnezzar, at first,
never even knew he was having.
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God was pursuing him and finally
got this king's attention and
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Nebuchadnezzar became
a worshiper of the true
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God of heaven.
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It is a book that
shows the heart of God.
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It shows us how to have
this relationship with God.
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We see that especially now as
we move into Daniel Chapter 2.
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We've begun to see a picture
of God right here in Daniel 1.
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As we move to Daniel chapter
2 this picture begins to unfold.
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We looked at in the first
chapter the idea that God was
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going into captivity with
His people, He was afflicted by
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their afflictions and He
was humbling Himself before this
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heathen monarch allowing
Himself to be small in the
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sight of this ruler.
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Now in Daniel chapter 2 with
Nebuchadnezzar, in the 2nd year
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of his reign, it says
in verse 1 of Daniel 2.
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Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and
in this dream he was troubled.
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So much so that he wakes
up, perhaps in a cold sweat,
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he wakes up in the middle of
this dream but he can't remember
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what he dreamed.
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Now here is a picture of it.
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We are going to find
out if this dream is of God.
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We are going to find out that
Nebuchadnezzar was given this
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dream by Divine Revelation.
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We are also going to find
out the reason why he could not
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remember it, is also from God.
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God gives Nebuchadnezzar a
dream then he cannot remember.
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What is the purpose?
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The purpose is God is seeking
to awaken Nebuchadnezzar to his
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need of something more
than just these gods of
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stone and wood.
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There are two
things going on here.
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There is as we said
in the previous program,
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in Daniel chapter 1.
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The whole book of Daniel runs
along two tracks, if you will.
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There is this storyline of
Daniel's experience as a captive
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of Babylon, and a story of
Nebuchadnezzar's conversion.
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Then there are the
prophecies that unfold.
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Well Daniel 2 reveals that
there are 2 things taking place
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here, we tend to see that Daniel
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2 each just revealing
world history in advance.
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And it is, but not
only is world history,
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in advance, coming to
our attention in the prophecy
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of Daniel 2, God is
also, in the process of getting
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Nebuchadnezzar's attention.
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Speaking to him, so He is
working for the conversion
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of king Nebuchadnezzar and
simultaneously He is giving a
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prophecy to the world and all
who will read down to our very
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day, could read this prophecy
and learn these vital truths.
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I think is incredible
that God is pursuing this king
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in this manner.
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Now most people in the
world I won't say most people
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because I don't know most people
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I'm not a judge and I
don't know most people.
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But a lot of people in this
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world have no need of God.
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Nebuchadnezzar has no
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need of God.
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So he thinks!
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He is a ruler with absolute
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power and he has all the
wealth that money can buy.
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He has no need of
God, he has a dream,
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he can't remember the dream,
but it really troubles him.
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Have you ever had a bad dream
you can't, you wake up and are
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just troubled and perhaps
you can't even remember it,
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yet you feel it's significant?
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He has a dream and
can't remember that dream.
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He know is it
significant, he knows it is.
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It troubles him and he calls
for all his wiseman and they all
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come in and he basically tells
them I had a dream in want you
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to tell me what it is.
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They cannot do it.
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Well they have no idea
what his dream was of course.
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So here is a man who is
used to getting his way.
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A man who has everything at
his fingertips that he needs and
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now he has a need for something
that is really troubling him.
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And no one can deliver his need.
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No one in his kingdom
that can take care on his need.
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Or so he thinks, so he calls
all the wiseman before him,
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assuming that in their great
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Babylonian education and wisdom
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and the fact that they are in
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touch with Babylonian gods,
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he assumes that in answer is
forthcoming, but they repeatedly
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tell him king, tell us the dream
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we'll tell you
the interpretation.
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The king says no, you tell
me the dream so I know that the
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interpretation that you
give me is actually true.
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Nobody can help him in the
Babylonian realm of knowledge.
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The Babylonian realm of religion
and spirituality, but then
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there is that captive Daniel,
he is there behind the scenes
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and he is not brought in
at first, he is not one of the
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wisemen that are brought
before the king at this point.
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He is pursuing his education,
his three-year university
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education that Nebuchadnezzar
has plugged him into.
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Absolutely, Nebuchadnezzar was
giving him 3 years, according
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to Daniel 1:5, that he would
be nourished, provided for,
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educated and then he would
come in at the end of that time
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and he would be tested, but
going back to your point Ty,
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and it is a powerful one.
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Nebuchadnezzar is
now feeling his need.
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Nebuchadnezzar is recognizing
just a little bit, that all the
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power in the world, and
all the money in the world,
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and all the education of
the world, cannot satisfy
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our deepest needs.
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This is the message
in Daniel Chapter 2.
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It doesn't matter how powerful
you are, it doesn't matter
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how educated you are, it
doesn't matter how rich you are
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none of that can
satisfy your deepest need.
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God is revealing this to
Nebuchadnezzar, He is showing
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Nebuchadnezzar through a dream.
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Through a dream!
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Nebuchadnezzar he is not getting
it yet of course, he's upset,
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he's mad. Okay,
here's a king who he is
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throwing a temper tantrum.
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Here is someone who is use to
getting his way and he is upset
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and what does he do?
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He sends out a decree to
all the wisemen in Babylon,
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your dead!
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You are going to
be killed by morning.
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So this news comes, of course,
to Daniel and he is 3 friends.
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Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego because those who are
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commissioned to take the
lives of all the wisemen show up
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at their place of living.
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They say to them, we have got
to execute all the wiseman of
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Babylon and you are among them.
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Daniel knows that his God is a
revealer of secrets that His God
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can in fact give not only the
dream, but the interpretation
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of the dream.
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This is incredible!
Daniel presupposes that God is
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able to solve this problem.
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He believes that the Lord can
and will intervene so he calls
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upon God in prayer with
his friends, that God in mercy,
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will intervene.
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You know what is really
interesting, don't you think
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that Daniel probably
thought that God has a purpose
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in sending me to Babylon.
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God has a purpose in everything
that is happening here.
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It looks bad, but
God has a purpose.
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When this decree comes
forth rather than being afraid,
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because he is in this 3 years
of training, not really part of
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the wiseman yet, he is
in this 3 years of training.
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So he says when
this decree comes forth,
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he says could this be it?
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Could this be it? He
is not really so much
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afraid of the decree because
in his heart he knows God has
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a purpose and so rather than
say oh no and getting scared,
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he says, what's
troubling the king?
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What's the king's problem?
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Maybe this is an opportunity
for God to help Nebuchadnezzar.
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With that kind of an
attitude he moves into mode 2.
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Of course they give him the time
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the opportunity, the king
does, he moves into mode 2.
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Let's have a prayer meeting.
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Because Daniel
doesn't know what is going on.
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I love the way that Daniel 2:18
describes the approach of Daniel
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and his 3 friends to the Lord.
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It says that they might seek
mercies from the God of heaven.
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Daniel and his friends have
a view of the character of God
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that it's just beautiful.
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They do not see God the
way the pagan nations see God
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as a vindictive tyrant and
a micro managing control freak
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kind of ruler.
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Daniel thinks of God and says
God is the kind of God who with
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tender mercies we can call upon.
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We can get on our knees before
this God, tell Him of our needs,
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and He will hear our prayers and
be eager to answer our prayers.
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Let's clarify something here, Ty
for viewing audience to make it
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very, very clear, Daniel
and his 3 friends are no better
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than anybody
else, they are no better
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then the wisemen.
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They are humans, but the point
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is that they are humans who see
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God in a different way than the
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others do.
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They reach out to God,
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desiring mercy from God,
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in fact anyone can do that.
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What we found here, what
we find here is that initially
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verse 18, he is seeking mercies
from God that Daniel and his
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fellows should not
perish with the rest of the
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wiseman of Babylon.
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Even in Daniel, and even
in believers, there are these
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selfish aspects of our
nature that are present in our
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approach to God.
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They're perishing but we need
to pray that we do not perish
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with them, but you know
what happens when God's mercy is
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revealed? When God
sheds His light and truth?
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When God gives us more of
an understanding of who He is
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and what He is doing? How
He is orchestrating things?
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Do you know what happens?
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Verse 24, "therefore when
Daniel went in unto Arioch,"
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this is after he gets the
understanding of the dream,
00:11:02.19\00:11:05.59
he praises God and thanks God
it says when he goes into Arioch
00:11:05.63\00:11:09.23
"whom the king had ordained to
destroy the wisemen of Babylon:
00:11:09.26\00:11:12.90
he went and said thus
unto him; Destroy not," who?
00:11:12.93\00:11:18.57
the wisemen of Babylon.
00:11:18.61\00:11:20.11
The wisemen of Babylon! Do
you see how the love of God
00:11:20.14\00:11:23.68
in the mercy of God actually
eradicates every visage of
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selfishness from our heart.
00:11:27.28\00:11:28.62
So even as we are seeking God
and following God and believers
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in God, those aspects of
selfishness that are there, even
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those are
diminished by God's mercy.
00:11:37.63\00:11:39.03
Yet we have to remember
these were Daniel's captors.
00:11:39.06\00:11:42.20
Daniel is a slave in a foreign
00:11:42.23\00:11:44.50
land, Daniel finds himself
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in a very unpleasant situation.
00:11:46.77\00:11:50.17
He could fear it easily
adopt an attitude of antagonism
00:11:50.21\00:11:53.98
against the wisemen of Babylon.
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He has no spiritual agreement
with obviously, and he could
00:11:57.01\00:12:01.35
adopt an attitude of prejudiced
00:12:01.38\00:12:02.75
and arrogance, he could
ask the Lord, hey God I want to
00:12:02.78\00:12:06.29
understand this, just preserve
me and my 3 friends and go
00:12:06.32\00:12:09.79
ahead and
destroy the rest of them.
00:12:09.82\00:12:11.16
Yeah, self preservation.
All those religions are bad
00:12:11.19\00:12:13.43
my religion is
good. Yeah exactly!
00:12:13.46\00:12:14.76
All those denominations are
bad, my denomination is good.
00:12:14.83\00:12:16.70
Who cares about them?
00:12:16.73\00:12:19.27
What's beautiful here James,
that in verse 24, Daniel shifts
00:12:19.30\00:12:23.94
his attention to
preserving, preserving the
00:12:23.97\00:12:27.71
wiseman of Babylon.
00:12:27.74\00:12:29.08
Why? Because of the grace of
God because of the mercy of God.
00:12:29.11\00:12:32.51
This is the key.
00:12:32.55\00:12:34.22
This is not a natural phenomenon
00:12:34.25\00:12:35.98
we cannot be as Daniel was
00:12:36.02\00:12:38.19
naturally, Daniel it seems
00:12:38.22\00:12:39.95
the hint in verse 18,
00:12:40.02\00:12:41.69
is Daniel it seems is not
00:12:41.72\00:12:43.06
necessarily that way.
00:12:43.09\00:12:44.43
But one more of the mercy, and
more of the grace, and more of
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the blessing of God come upon us
then more of the self is lost.
00:12:48.56\00:12:52.80
It's diminished more and
more and it is powerful because
00:12:52.83\00:12:56.50
you see as Daniel continues on
you see he is giving an answer
00:12:56.54\00:13:00.74
to the king, and an answer
to Arioch, and you see as he is
00:13:00.78\00:13:04.18
brought in before the king,
in fact just in the context of
00:13:04.25\00:13:07.42
these verses, first of all
Daniel seeks an answer in his
00:13:07.45\00:13:10.59
prayer meeting and they
all pray and it is revealed
00:13:10.62\00:13:12.89
to Daniel, verse 19, and
then what does Daniel do?
00:13:12.92\00:13:15.12
Verse 20, 21, 22, 23, all of
these verses are directing us
00:13:15.16\00:13:21.40
to what Daniel does
in response of this,
00:13:21.43\00:13:23.60
and what does he do?
00:13:23.63\00:13:24.97
He prays, praises God, he
blesses God, he sings God's
00:13:25.00\00:13:28.34
praises, it is not an
issue even to himself anymore.
00:13:28.37\00:13:32.34
He's lost in this atmosphere
of praise and worship to God.
00:13:32.37\00:13:37.61
It's just amazing that as the
story unfolds, that as Daniel
00:13:37.65\00:13:42.82
comes before the king,
00:13:42.85\00:13:44.25
you would think with his life
00:13:44.29\00:13:46.55
threatened that he is number one
00:13:46.59\00:13:49.22
objective would be to just come
00:13:49.29\00:13:51.86
straight into the king's
presence and immediately give
00:13:51.89\00:13:54.63
the dream and interpretation
and it almost looks like he's on
00:13:54.66\00:13:57.60
shaky ground here because
the first thing that he says,
00:13:57.63\00:14:00.64
he comes before the king and
the King says, are you the one?
00:14:00.67\00:14:05.34
Are you one of these individuals
that can reveal the secret of
00:14:05.37\00:14:09.61
Kings dream and Daniel doesn't
immediately tell the dream and
00:14:09.64\00:14:13.82
interpretation, he
immediately directs the
00:14:13.85\00:14:15.78
attention to the Lord.
00:14:15.82\00:14:17.15
What he does, what he does,
hold that thought right there
00:14:17.19\00:14:20.26
what he does is an incredible
revelation of a human being
00:14:20.29\00:14:23.43
who is infected,
saturated with the grace of God.
00:14:23.49\00:14:28.13
Don't go away we will be
right back to talk about this.
00:14:28.16\00:14:30.43