Welcome back friends!
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We are in Daniel Chapter 5.
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We are picking up as Daniel
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is brought in before Belshazzar
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right here in verse 13.
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"Then was Daniel
brought in before the king. "
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"And the king spake and
said unto Daniel, are you
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"Daniel, which are at the
children of the captivity of"
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"Judah, whom the king, my
father brought out Jewry?"
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"I have heard of thee, that
the spirit of the gods is in"
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"thee, and that light and
understanding and an excellent"
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"wisdom is found
in thee. " Verse 14.
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"And now the wise men, the
astrologers, had been brought"
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"in before me, that they
should read this writing,"
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"and make known unto me
the interpretation there of:"
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"but they could not show the
interpretation of the thing;"
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Here is Belshazzar acknowledging
that his own wise men
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cannot read or interpret
this writing that has been
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written by this bodiless hand.
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He is recognizing that
his wise men are insufficient,
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in a sense it seems like
he is disconnected from his
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own wise men.
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He is in this party
atmosphere, if you will.
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He is disconnected
from the Queen Mother,
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she is not there with him,
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excuse me from his Queen,
she is not there with him.
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He's disconnected
from his wise men.
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He seems like he
doesn't really care.
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He hasn't threaten the
wise men, nor said anything.
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He is bringing up to say,
hey Daniel, my wise men can't
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figure it out, maybe
you can figure it out.
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If you can figure
that out it would be great.
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It is a scary thing to me
and I really just want to get
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back to my party and
not have to deal with these
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scary images that are
showing up on my wall.
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I think it is important
to recognize also the context
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here, the history
that is taking place here.
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There is a strange security
that he has because at this very
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time, as this party is going
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forward, Babylon is surrounded
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by the Media Persian armies.
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But the security that Belshazzar
feels at this time makes him
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rather casual even though he is
terrified by what he is seeing.
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He is rather casual about
it and he feels secure because
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the fact is Babylon
is this great kingdom.
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The greatest
kingdom in the world.
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The river Euphrates
runs through the city.
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There are food supplies
to keep them going for years.
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So he is just interested
in continuing on with his
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lifestyle of
opulence and partying.
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He just wants to know,
Hey, what does this mean?
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Well, he doesn't really
want to know what this means.
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When we see the interpretation
unfold, his fear is
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going to turn to terror.
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At this point though, he
is in the party atmosphere,
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like you say, he
feels like he's secure.
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He has a false security
and in that context it is
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interesting because it
plays out here in this verse 16.
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"And I have heard of
thee, that thou canst make"
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"interpretations, and dissolve
doubts: now at thou canst"
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"read the writing and make
known to me the interpretation"
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"thereof, that I shall
be clothed with scarlet,"
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"and have a chain of gold
about thy neck, and shall be"
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"the third ruler
in the kingdom. "
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This is a confirmation
of his false security.
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Basically he is
offering Daniel a reward.
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He is saying you
can have a scarlet robe,
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which was royalty.
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You can have chains
of gold around your neck.
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You will be third ruler
in the kingdom, he is the
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second ruler because
Nabonidus, his father is out on
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a campaign, probably in
hiding from the Media Persian
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Army somewhere, and that
was the son of Nebuchadnezzar,
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or the ruler second
down from Nebuchadnezzar.
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So he was probably just
made ruler in Babylon and that
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is why they are
having this celebration.
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Daniel would be third after
Nabonidus, himself, and yet in
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a sense, we know in context
of the story, that it is a
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a completely false security.
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It is obvious that he is
not connected with reality here.
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Not only does he offer rewards
that are monetary rewards
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to Daniel, but he tells
him that you will be third
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ruler in the kingdom.
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He obviously expects that
Babylon is going to continue
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on as the
prominent power and he has
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no expectations of ruin.
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Exactly so verse 17 it is
interesting how Daniel answers.
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Daniel answers, "then Daniel
answered and said before the"
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"king, Let thy gifts be to
thyself, and give thy rewards"
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"to another; yet I will
read the writing unto the king,"
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"and I will make known
to him the interpretation. "
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What I really like about
this is Daniel understands the
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difference between temporal
rewards and false security,
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and the heavenly
assurance that God has given us.
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The assurance that we
have of streets of gold.
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Why would I want a necklace
of gold when I am going to
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be walking on streets of gold?
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Why would I want to be
third ruler in the kingdom,
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when God has promised
that I can sit on a throne with
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Him and rule as a
king and a priest?
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Why would I want to wear a
robe of scarlet, when I have
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been promised a
robe of righteousness?
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Of purity, the Bible
says, "though your sins be as"
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"scarlet, they
shall be white as snow. "
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So Belshazzar is basically
saying, Daniel you can have
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a life of sinfulness, and
you can be royalty, and to be
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treated as royalty.
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Daniel says, no thanks, I
don't want the pleasure of
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sin for a season.
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I want the white robe of
Christ's righteousness and live
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with Him
throughout all eternity.
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No thanks, I don't want a
chain of gold, I want to walk
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on the streets of gold.
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No thanks, I don't want to
be third ruler in this kingdom
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that is about to fall, I
want to be ruler with Christ
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for all eternity.
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There is another study
in contrast here James.
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That is that the illusion,
the appearance here is that
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Belshazzar is the one in
the adventitious position.
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Daniel's a mere slave, Daniel
is a Eunuch, Daniel is a captive
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in a foreign land and
yet Daniel rises head and
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shoulders above
every one in this kingdom.
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His integrity, his faithfulness
to God is what gives him
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an excellent spirit, the
Holy Spirit of God is upon him.
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And within him and
Daniel is the one who is
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really secure here.
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Daniel is the one who
has no reason to fear.
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Daniel knows that great
political upheaval is underway.
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There is to be a monumental
shift of power from Babylon
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to Media Persia and Daniel
is sailing through this entire
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process with absolute
peace because he knows that
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the kingdom that
he has allegiance to,
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is not a kingdom of this world.
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So he recounts to Belshazzar the
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history of Nebuchadnezzar, his
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grandfather he says in verse 18
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"... the most high God gave
Nebuchadnezzar thy father a"
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"kingdom, and
majesty, and glory, and honor:"
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"and for the majesty that he
gave him, included all people,"
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"nations, and
languages, trembling before him,
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and fearing before him"
"whom he would he slew. "
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We talked about that, that
dictatorship, that aspect of
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Nebuchadnezzar's
character that wasn't so great.
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"And whom he would he kept
alive; and whom he would he"
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"set up; and whom
he would he put down. "
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"But when his heart was
lifted up," verse 20, "and his"
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"mind hardened in
pride, he was taken from his
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"throne, and his glory
was taken from him: he was"
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"driven from the sons of
men; and his heart was made"
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"like the beast," verse
21, "and his dwelling was with"
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"the wild asses; they fed
him with grass like oxen,"
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"and his body was wet with
the dew of heaven; till he"
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"knew that the most high God
ruled in the kingdom of men,"
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"and he appointed over
it whomsoever he will. "
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Now, as he summarizes the
history of his grandfather,
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Nebuchadnezzar, he then
goes on to say, and you,
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Belshazzar, verse 22, "you
have not humbled your heart,"
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"even though
you knew all this. "
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Here is where we see
the influence of alcohol.
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Here's where we see the
influence of drugs, he knew
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that history, he knew it.
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He probably sat on
his grandfather's knee and
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Nebuchadnezzar
recounted it to him because
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Nebuchadnezzar
recounted it to all the nation.
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Nebuchadnezzar was interested
in being a witness for God.
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His heart had been converted
and changed and transformed
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by the Spirit of God.
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You knew all this, verse
23, "you lifted up thyself"
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"against the Lord of
heaven, and they brought the"
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"vessels of his house
before thee, and thou, and thy
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lords, thy wives, and thy
concubines, have drunk wine"
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"in them; and thou hast
praised the gods a silver, and"
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"gold, of brass, iron,
wood, and stone, which see not,"
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"nor hear, nor know: and the
God in whose hand thy breath"
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"is, and whose are all thy
ways, has thou not glorified:"
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That is a
powerful statement there.
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This is the influence of self
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exaltation, the influence of
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of arrogance upon Belshazzar's
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mind and heart has blinded
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him to his need.
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And to the reality of the fact
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in God we move and have our
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being, I mean think about that
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in the context of the gospel.
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It is amazing that every
one of us, not just Belshazzar.
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Every single human being;
man, woman, and child utterly
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dependent on God for
every breath that we take.
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He is the One,
according to the apostle Paul,
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who by His mighty power
sustains and holds together
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all things and everything
by His power consists.
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If God were to back up
from us, from us as individuals,
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from our world, we
would cease to exist.
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There is a strong deception
upon Belshazzar's mind.
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He has no sense of reality,
he is self-assured and he's
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absolutely settled
into a false security.
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He is about to be awakened
here as the words appear on
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the wall you are
judged, you are weighed,
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you are found wanting, your
kingdom is now taken from you
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is the pronouncement.
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Here's a type of a final
judgment that all human beings
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will be faced with.
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It is so different,
isn't it from what Paul says in
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Acts 17 to the Greeks and
all of the philosophers who in
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ignorance don't realize that
in God they have their life,
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and move and have their being.
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Daniel is bringing out the
same truth here to Belshazzar.
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In God we live and
move and have our being.
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When Paul speaks to
these unbelievers in Athens,
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he is speaking to
people who are ignorantly were
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worshiping God and
they did know who He was.
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Who are ignorant of the
fact that God was sustaining
00:10:03.91\00:10:06.54
their very life.
00:10:06.58\00:10:07.70
But Belshazzar on the
other hand, should not have been
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ignorant of this, he knew this.
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He knew better, you
know the history and these
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people didn't know.
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In Acts 17 the
outcome is different,
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God winks at your ignorance.
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In Daniel Chapter 5, the
outcome is different because
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he knows better than to
be worshiping gold, silver,
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and all of these different
idols, he knows better than
00:10:25.44\00:10:28.73
to be turning away
from the God, Who has been
00:10:28.76\00:10:30.77
sustaining his life.
00:10:30.81\00:10:32.08
In Chapter 5 of Daniel
James, it is a sad Chapter and
00:10:32.11\00:10:35.82
closes on a sad note.
00:10:35.86\00:10:37.17
The gospel has been
proclaimed up to this point.
00:10:37.20\00:10:41.58
Nebuchadnezzar has sent out
00:10:41.61\00:10:43.32
a letter to all the nations
00:10:43.36\00:10:44.77
and kingdoms of the world
00:10:44.80\00:10:46.19
giving his testimony of God's
00:10:46.22\00:10:47.85
grace and power and how God
00:10:47.88\00:10:49.28
has transformed his life.
00:10:49.32\00:10:50.65
His grandson, on the
other hand, has hardened himself
00:10:50.69\00:10:53.56
against the Lord and
against the knowledge of God's
00:10:53.60\00:10:56.44
grace and the
history of his grandfather.
00:10:56.47\00:10:58.07
The Chapter closes with
a sad note that Belshazzar,
00:10:58.11\00:11:02.01
the king of the Chaldeans
was slain and the kingdom
00:11:02.05\00:11:06.00
was given over to the
Medes, Darius becomes the king.
00:11:06.04\00:11:09.96
The kingdom of Babylon falls.
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That is a sad history, but
it is a powerful commentary
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for each one of us Ty.
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We need to recognize that
it is important for us not
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to pursue or follow the
choices that Belshazzar made.
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It is our prayer and our
hope that you would choose
00:11:25.28\00:11:28.48
to acknowledge
God's work in your life.
00:11:28.51\00:11:30.56
His sustaining grace and
His favor towards you and
00:11:30.60\00:11:34.21
His desire to see
you in the kingdom.
00:11:34.25\00:11:36.34
If you'll look at the
history of how He has led you,
00:11:36.37\00:11:38.88
and you would not turn away
from Him to gods of gold and
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silver and to drugs but
that you would turn your heart
00:11:41.51\00:11:44.29
over to Him and be saved
eternally in His kingdom.
00:11:44.33\00:11:47.08