Welcome friends
to Books of the Book!
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We are so glad you joined us
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for study of the book of Daniel.
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I'm Ty Gibson and with me is my
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co-host James Rafferty.
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It is good to be here Ty and
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we are in Daniel Chapter 5.
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We are dealing here with another
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Chapter in the experience and
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the life of a Babylonian ruler.
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This time it is Belshazzar.
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This chapter is really
interesting because it dwells on
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a different aspect
of God's character.
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God is a God of love and
His love, that loving aspect
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of God's character, the
foundation of who He is, of His
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Government is manifested
in two different ways.
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In mercy and in Justice.
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Mercy and justice seemed
to be opposites, but they come
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together to form
that character of love.
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The foundational principle
of love that is the essence
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of who God is.
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Daniel Chapter 5 James, I
think is a study in contrast
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in that sense.
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We see in Chapter 4, the
previous chapters of the book
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of Daniel, the gradual,
but finally radical conversion
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of King Nebuchadnezzar as
he comes under the influence
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of God's mercy and grace.
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Then we come to Chapter 5
and we have this contrast with
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his son, or actually his
grandson Belshazzar, who is
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himself a witness to
God's mercy, to God's grace.
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He saw, knows the history of
his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar.
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He knows God's
influence, His mercy, His grace.
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He knows it intellectually
as a witness to it.
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Yet Belshazzar does not
respond to God's mercy, as did
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Nebuchadnezzar, but in
fact responds in such a way that
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ultimately works his ruined.
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Yes, and one of the reason
of this is found right here
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in the opening
verses, Daniel 5:1.
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"Belshazzar the king made
a great feast to a thousand"
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"of his lords, and drank
wine before the thousand. "
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And it says in verse 2,
"Belshazzar, while he tasted"
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"the wine, commanded to bring
the Golden and Silver vessels"
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"which his father
Nebuchadnezzar had taken out"
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"of the temple which was
in Jerusalem; that the king,"
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"and his princes, he is
wives, and his concubines,"
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"might drink therein. "
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It's no secret James,
everybody knows that alcohol
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impairs judgment.
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The language here is,
"while he tasted the wine. "
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That is that Belshazzar,
while under the influence of
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alcohol, while under the
influence of this massive party
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he is holding with just
drunkenness at every turn.
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He is under the influence
of alcohol and his judgment
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is severely impaired and
he begins to make decisions
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that are in a sense, not
even in a sense, directly
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defining the God of
heaven that he has witness as an
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influence in
Nebuchadnezzar's life.
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He defines the God of
heaven and enters into a state
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of mind and a series of
actions that are disrespectful
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and irreverent and takes
the vessels of the House of God,
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the temple of God in Jerusalem,
and he makes them a part
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of his drunken feast.
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Absolutely and what is
interesting Ty, is the principal
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we find in the Bible.
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In the book of Proverbs we are
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warned against partaking of
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alcoholic drinks,
alcoholic beverages.
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Not even to look upon wine
when it ferments, or changes,
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because the influence that
it has upon us tends in the
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wrong direction and I am
sure a lot of people out there
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listening, myself
included, who can point to the
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influence of alcohol, the
influence of drugs and say
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I made decisions in my
life, I took actions in my life
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that were detrimental.
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I possibly never recovered
from, but they have taken my
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life in a direction that
I never wanted or intended.
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If I wouldn't been under
the influence of those drugs or
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alcohol, I would have
gone in a completely different
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direction, it's ruined
my life, it's impaired me.
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I want to say to all
those people right now that it
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doesn't mean that God
cannot recover you from that.
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That is why it is so
important for us to recognize,
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that yes there is a place
where we could make decisions
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that bring us to a
destiny that is not in harmony
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with God's will a destiny of
being lost which is what we are
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going to find
here with Belshazzar.
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There is also a place
for God can recover us.
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God longs to recover us
from the decisions we made while
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under the
influence of these drugs.
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So we have here in Daniel
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Chapter 5 a studying contrast
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between the conversion of
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Nebuchadnezzar and now
the very clear rebellion,
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and irreverence of Belshazzar.
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And we have here a clear
indication or contrast between
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the affect of God's mercy
and now the necessity of God
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responding in justice.
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So as Belshazzar is engaged
in this drunken feast, as he
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enters in to these irreverent
actions shaking as it were,
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his fist at the God of
heaven, suddenly something
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astounding takes place.
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In verse 5, "in the same
hour the finger of a man's hand"
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"appeared and wrote
opposite the lamp stand, on the"
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"plaster of a wall of the
king's palace; and the king"
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"saw the part of the
man's hand that wrote. "
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Amazing, just out of
nowhere, no doubt under the
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influence of alcohol, he
is doing a double take and
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wondering is this
real what I am witnessing?
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But obviously he is not the
only person who has seen it.
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There are a thousand of
his guests here at this feast.
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They are all witnessing
this blood curdling, haunting
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thing that is taking place.
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Imagine what you would
feel, what I would feel, if all
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of a sudden out of nowhere
a hand, a bodiless hand begins
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writing across the wall?
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And he is filled with
fear, and one of the reasons why
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he is so filled with
fear is because he does not
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understand what
the writing means.
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So here comes this bodiless
hand and it is writing these
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words ME'- NE, ME'-
NE, TE'- KEL, U-PHAR'- SIN
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and he is trying to understand.
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He has no understanding of
what these words actually mean.
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He knows that it is significant.
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This is a supernatural
event that is taking place.
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Probably his conscious is
awakened at that moment and
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he is brought to
sobriety in a second.
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He is wondering what
does this mean, it can't be
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a positive thing, it must
be fearful foreboding of the
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future, but What
does it all mean?
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There's nothing as
scary, nothing is fearful as not
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understanding
what the future holds.
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He is so terrified in
fact, that verse 6 of Daniel
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Chapter 5 says, "... the joints
of his hips were loosened. "
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Another version says
that his loins were loosened.
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Some commentators say that
maybe he became incontinent
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at this point
because he was so afraid.
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So it says they are in verse 6,
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"and his knees
knocked against each other. "
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I mean this guy was terrified.
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Sin has that affect on us.
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When the consciences
heavy laden with guilt and
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condemnation, somewhere
in our hearts we know that we
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are wrong and are walking
contrary to the will of God.
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That weight of guilt upon
our conscience, it has the
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potential to produce
terror and fear in us when we
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finally come face
to face with the truth.
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As you say that his
conscious, to some degree,
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is awakened right now
and he knows he's in trouble.
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He knows in his heart
that something is taking place
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there that is not in his favor.
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It is really interesting
because at this point,
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Belshazzar wants to
understand what the writing is.
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There are probably many
times in our lives, and many
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times in the lives of
our viewers, when we are not
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interested in knowing what
God has to say about our future.
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We are not interested in
understanding the prophecy.
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Or understand this mysterious
writing that comes from
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heaven as we understand
now, in the context of this
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prophecy of this book,
that this writing is from God.
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It is a warning from God.
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We are not interested and
that is why it is so important
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for us to recognize.
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You see a lot of people think
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that the prophecy in the
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Bible is all doom and gloom.
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It is written to make us afraid.
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The truth of the matter is
it is uncertainty about the
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future, it is lacking in
knowledge, and lacking the
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understanding we
need to be afraid of.
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Belshazzar story
is bringing this out.
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God has not given us
prophecy to scare us.
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God has revealed prophecy to
prepare us for what is ahead.
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You look at our situation
in the world today at any time
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and you think we don't
know what is going to happen.
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We do not know what the
economic future of this country,
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of the world is
and that is scary.
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To be able to see what the
future holds even if it isn't
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the best, it gives a little
bit of peace because it gives
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us a sense of what we
need to do in order to prepare.
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Even if it is the worst,
we can do something to prepare
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for it, not knowing
it all is even scarier.
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That is why when the king
seeks for the interpretation and
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can't find one, it says verse
9, "then was king Belshazzar"
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"greatly troubled, and his
countenance was changed in him,"
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"and his lords
were astonished. "
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In other words, as fearful
and afraid as he was the first
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time, he was even more afraid
when nobody could be found
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to interpret this writing.
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Just like his grandfather
before him, Nebuchadnezzar,
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he calls in the wise men,
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the astrologers and they cannot
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give the interpretation and
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somehow he had to know the
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history, he had to know the
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history, but somehow he
doesn't even think of Daniel.
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His queen comes to him and
says there is a man, verse 11
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"there is a man in your
kingdom, in whom is the Spirit"
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"of the holy God;"
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then the queen calls
his attention to Daniel.
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Immediately Daniel, of
course, is called upon and
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brought in before the king.
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The king begins pleading with
Daniel for an interpretation
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of the dream, and as the
interpretation comes to the
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king it is not
what he wants to hear.
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Obviously, it says in
verse 10, that the queen was
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not in the banquet.
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"Now the queen by reason
of the words in the king and"
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"his lords come
into the banquet house. "
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So it appears that she
was not under the influence of
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these drugs of alcohol
and the party atmosphere.
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She was not a part of that
so she can still recollect,
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she's still can remember, she
can pinpoint to the king this
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man named Daniel, when
the king is out of his senses,
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he has lost his senses.
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He knows about Daniel, he
knows the history but he has
00:11:03.69\00:11:06.16
forgotten, and this
is the influence drugs
00:11:06.19\00:11:07.86
can have upon us.
00:11:07.86\00:11:09.20
He has forgotten about
everything that God has wrought.
00:11:09.23\00:11:10.93
He is forgot
everything that God has done.
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He should know,
but he doesn't know.
00:11:12.37\00:11:14.10
I love the way
she identifies Daniel.
00:11:14.14\00:11:15.94
He has identified by the
same terminology repeatedly
00:11:15.97\00:11:19.24
throughout the
story with Nebuchadnezzar
00:11:19.27\00:11:21.54
and now with Belshazzar.
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This is the one in whom is
the Spirit of the holy God.
00:11:23.14\00:11:28.02
Wouldn't that be a incredible
if in our daily lives and
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our interactions with
people who don't know and
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necessarily believe in
the Lord, wouldn't it be great
00:11:36.46\00:11:39.86
if we were living in
such a way, with integrity,
00:11:39.89\00:11:43.97
as Daniel did,
purposing in our hearts not to
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defile ourselves, as
Daniel purposed in his heart,
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but walking in integrity.
00:11:50.54\00:11:52.07
Not just walk in integrity
in any haughty religious,
00:11:52.11\00:11:56.51
spiritually superior
sense because we have seen in
00:11:56.54\00:12:00.92
previous studies James,
Daniel is a humble man who is
00:12:00.95\00:12:04.52
not filled with resentment
and bitterness for the fact
00:12:04.55\00:12:08.06
that he has been taken
as a slave into Babylon.
00:12:08.09\00:12:11.33
Then he was made a
Eunuch, made to serve the king.
00:12:11.36\00:12:15.13
Daniel, in the first
time we encounter his response
00:12:15.16\00:12:18.80
to his enemies, is Lord
don't destroy the wise men.
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King Nebuchadnezzar
don't destroy the wise men.
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Then again later on he is
concerned that Nebuchadnezzar
00:12:25.27\00:12:29.21
see the truth but at the
same time he is reluctant to
00:12:29.24\00:12:32.35
tell him the whole truth
because he knows it is not
00:12:32.38\00:12:35.42
what
Nebuchadnezzar wants to hear.
00:12:35.45\00:12:37.65
Here Daniel has
built a reputation.
00:12:37.69\00:12:39.82
His reputation is,
this is the one in whom,
00:12:39.85\00:12:42.59
this is a man in whom is
the Spirit of the holy God.
00:12:42.62\00:12:45.49
Verse 12, "for as much
as an excellent spirit. "
00:12:45.53\00:12:47.83
An excellent spirit,
What is an excellent spirit?
00:12:47.86\00:12:50.07
Each just far surpasses
the spirit of a normal person.
00:12:50.10\00:12:53.64
"And knowledge, and
understanding, interpreting"
00:12:53.67\00:12:55.80
"of dreams, and showing of
hard sentences, and dissolving "
00:12:55.84\00:12:59.01
"of doubts, were found in
the same Daniel, whom the king"
00:12:59.04\00:13:02.24
"named Belshazzar:
now let Daniel be called,"
00:13:02.28\00:13:05.21
"and he will show
the interpretation. "
00:13:05.28\00:13:07.42
I love that, this woman
is speaking as someone who is
00:13:07.45\00:13:10.65
convicted, someone who believes
00:13:10.69\00:13:12.49
in Daniel, believes in Daniel's
00:13:12.52\00:13:14.42
God and perhaps that is why she
00:13:14.49\00:13:16.12
was not part of this banquet.
00:13:16.16\00:13:17.76
Part of this party, part
of coming under the influence
00:13:17.79\00:13:21.26
of these lords and these rulers
who were under the influence
00:13:21.33\00:13:24.80
of alcohol and worshiping
the gods of gold and silver
00:13:24.83\00:13:27.27
and brass and iron
and wood and stone.
00:13:27.30\00:13:29.10
They cannot see, they
cannot hear, and of course we do
00:13:29.14\00:13:33.07
the same today, we worship gold
and idols, and worship silver.
00:13:33.11\00:13:36.24
We worship metal, we
worship our cars, we worship our
00:13:36.31\00:13:39.21
Oscars and worship our trophies,
all the things of this world.
00:13:39.25\00:13:43.05
The sports and the celebrities
and technology and in
00:13:43.08\00:13:47.42
a sense we are just out of
our senses as was Belshazzar
00:13:47.49\00:13:51.79
and his lords and his princes.
00:13:51.83\00:13:53.60
But this woman is within reason.
00:13:53.63\00:13:55.26
She has got her senses about her
00:13:55.30\00:13:56.90
She is intelligent and she is
thinking, she is seeing Spirit,
00:13:56.93\00:14:00.44
she is seeing what is
in Daniel and the true
00:14:00.47\00:14:03.44
understanding and knowledge
and so she is separated
00:14:03.47\00:14:05.97
from the banquet and she is now
trying to bring Belshazzar to
00:14:06.01\00:14:09.04
understand and to seek
for this man named Daniel.
00:14:09.08\00:14:11.95
There is another lesson
here James, that all of us need
00:14:12.01\00:14:14.32
to consider and that is
if we conduct ourselves in
00:14:14.38\00:14:18.79
integrity and in mercy,
even though we are believers,
00:14:18.82\00:14:23.22
all of us are
surrounded with people who don't
00:14:23.26\00:14:25.83
necessarily believe.
00:14:25.86\00:14:27.20
Wouldn't it be great, if when
they come to a time of need,
00:14:27.23\00:14:31.03
when they realize
their need for the Lord,
00:14:31.07\00:14:33.74
that they would immediately
think to call upon that
00:14:33.77\00:14:37.64
individual, that
person, this individual,
00:14:37.67\00:14:40.78
because there is an
excellent spirit in them and we
00:14:40.81\00:14:43.51
have witnessed in them
something that attracts us.
00:14:43.55\00:14:46.48
We know they may have
the answer and may be able to
00:14:46.51\00:14:49.45
direct us to the right source of
00:14:49.48\00:14:51.69
understanding and knowledge.
00:14:51.72\00:14:53.89
That is what we need
friends, we need to conduct
00:14:53.92\00:14:56.89
ourselves in such
a way, as believers,
00:14:56.93\00:14:59.76
that people know that they
can turn to us in their times
00:14:59.79\00:15:03.16
of need and struggle and
pain and don't need to be
00:15:03.23\00:15:06.50
afraid to turn to us
for fear of condemnation.
00:15:06.53\00:15:10.04
As Chapter 5 of
Daniel continues to unfold,
00:15:10.07\00:15:13.48
we are going to see that
Belshazzar does not respond
00:15:13.51\00:15:17.28
in an appropriate way to
the vision that God gives
00:15:17.31\00:15:21.02
to the hand writing on the wall.
00:15:21.08\00:15:22.52
We are going to see
here also that God is good,
00:15:22.55\00:15:26.02
God is merciful and He
continues to have a plan that
00:15:26.05\00:15:29.86
we want ourselves to play into.
00:15:29.89\00:15:31.79
So stay with us and
we will be right back
00:15:31.86\00:15:33.56
in just a moment.
00:15:33.60\00:15:34.93