Philosophy's Achilles
Heel Answers from Babylon
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Philosophy's Achilles
Heel Answers from Babylon
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Philosophy's Achilles
Heel Answers from Babylon
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Philosophy's Achilles
Heel Answers from Babylon
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Philosophy's Achilles
Heel Answers from Babylon
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Philosophy's Achilles
Heel Answers from Babylon
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Philosophy's Achilles
Heel Answers from Babylon
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Philosophy's Achilles
Heel Answers from Babylon
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>>ANNOUNCER: IT HAS
STOOD THE TEST OF TIME...
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GOD'S BOOK, THE BIBLE.
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STILL RELEVANT IN
TODAY'S COMPLEX WORLD.
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IT IS WRITTEN . . .
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SHARING MESSAGES OF
HOPE AROUND THE WORLD.
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>>Chris: We began the series,
Philosophy's Achilles Heel
asking the question of the
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ages, "Does God Exist?" In our
quest to answer that
all-important question we
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discovered two essential
principles. The first is this.we
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must adopt the attitude of the
inquirer, rather than the
attitude of the skeptic or the
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believer. You see, skeptics and
believers both allow their
assumptions to skew the data
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and their interpretation of the
data. An thus, this leads
skeptics to disbelieve in the
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face of reasonable evidence, and
on the opposite side of things,
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assumptions lead believers to
believe even though big
questions remain However an
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honest inquirer will accept
reasonable evidence even if some
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questions remain. Consequently,
inquirers base their decisions
on the weight of the evidence.
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Now, the second essential
principle we discovered and
talked about is that the most
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objective definition of
certainty is based on
statistical probability.
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Practically speaking, this means
that the lower the probability
the greater the certainty is if
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that thing actually comes to be.
Unfortunately knowledge alone
that is derived through
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reason, sensory perception,
intuition, feelings, experience,
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history and the experts is not
sufficient enough to ground the
question of God's existence. It
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is this second principle of
probability in combination with
that knowledge that
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becomes key. Now, when we
applied these two principles to
the question of God's
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existence, we concluded that
the weight of evidence decidedly
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points to the reality of His
existence. Thus, in spite of
questions that may still remain,
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we conclude that the
difficulties of belief are
great, but the absurdities of
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unbelief are even greater. In
addition to asking the grand
question of God's existence, we
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also noted that the reality of
God's existence doesn't solve
all of the contradictory things
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that are said about Him. Those
contradictory things are said by
philosophers, theologians
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and books and voices of the
world's great religions and
worldviews. It is important
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then for us to apply the
principle of probability theory
to the various claims
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advanced by philosophers,
theologians and the books and
voices of the world's great
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religions and worldviews so that
we can settle the question of
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authority and inspiration. What
we found through the use of
probability theory is that only
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the Old and New Testament
Scriptures of the Bible invite
the inquirer to test those
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writings through what is
called, predictive prophecy.
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In today's program, and in the
weeks to come, we will analyze
the Bible and it's predictive
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prophecy. We will apply the
principles of probability to
study the Bible, most
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particularly the book of Daniel.
In fact, Daniel is so filled
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with predictive prophecy, we
will study each of the chapters.
As we do this, we will draw
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attention to the relevant themes
within this small but powerful
book by connecting them with the
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certainty that we have
discovered through probability.
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The book of Daniel itself begins
with two improbable events of
probability that can be
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tested. The first is the empire
of Babylon rising to power. The
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second is an age old 70 year
prophecy that is connected with
the Babylonian rise to supremacy
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and its subsequent demise. First
let's look at Babylon's rise to
power. Another writer by
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the name of Jeremiah wrote some
amazing things concerning
Babylon. He was a contemporary
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of Daniel and served in
Jerusalem. In approximately the
year 605 BC, the prophet
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Jeremiah in chapter 25:1-11 of
the book that bears his name,
successfully predicted that
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Babylon would come against
Jerusalem and against all the
nations around Jerusalem and
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destroy them. Here's what
Jeremiah records in Jeremiah
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25:8-11 And in amazing turn of
historical events the Bible
records direct fulfillment of
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Jeremiah's prophecy, Daniel
records Babylon's conquest of
Jerusalem in Daniel 1:1-2,
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which took place in 605 BC.
Here is what the Bible says,
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So let's look at this closely,
Jeremiah predicted that Babylon
would not only conquer
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Jerusalem, but that it would
also conquer the surrounding
nations. In order for this to
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take place Babylon would have to
displace two very powerful
nations who were military
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superpowers for centuries. Those
two super powers that I'm
referring to here are
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Assyria and Egypt.
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During the early days of
Jeremiah's ministry the two
great powers of Assyria and
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Egypt were struggling for
supremacy with Babylon emerging
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as a strong contender. The
empire of Assyria had reached
its peak but was now on the
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decline under Ashurbanipal
around 627 BC. However, the fate
of Assyria wasn't sealed until
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the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC to
the Babylonians under the
leadership of Nabopolassar.
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Egypt, meanwhile, under the
leadership of Pharaoh Necho II
wouldn't let Babylon's rise go
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un-challenged. Although Babylon
experienced an almost meteoric
rise in power, Egypt
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would stand in her way. Egypt
had thrown off the Assyrian yoke
and they were endeavoring
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to regain their former glory and
dominance in Near Eastern
affairs. Egypt first
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experienced victory over king
Josiah of Judah, around 609 BC.
Then Egypt came into
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possession of Judea and they
also occupied Syria and parts of
northern Mesopotamia.
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Unlike Assyria, however, which
was definitely on the decline,
Egypt was far from defeated.
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In fact, one might conclude that
they were strengthening. It is,
in fact, the decline of
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Assyria that provided Pharaoh
Nechoand Egypt with the
opportunity to assert their
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independence from Assyria and to
establish the Twenty-sixth
dynasty. The result of this
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amazing twist of events was a
revived sense of national pride
and continued political
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power that had continued for
over a century. And now the
political vacuum left after
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the fall of Nineveh gave Egypt
the opportunity to reestablish
its dominance as an empire in
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Western Asia. On his way through
Palestine toward Haran, Pharaoh
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Necho defeated the troops of
Judah and killed king Josiah in
the battle of Megiddo. This
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event is recorded in 2 Kings
23:29-30 and also 2 Chronicles
35:20-27. After defeating
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Judah, PharoahNecho then went
north to go against the
Babylonians. The battle would
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take place in Syria and
PharoahNecho sought out to
strengthen the empire with his
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headquarters at Carchemish on
the Euphrates river. However, as
we read in Jeremiah
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25:8-11, the prophet Jeremiah
pointed out that it would be
Babylon who would be
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conqueror. And this challenge by
the Egyptians was met by
Nebuchadnezzar, general and
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eventual king of Babylon. There
at Carchemish, the Babylonians
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decisively defeated the
Egyptians at what is called, The
Battle of Carchemish. That
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battle took place in 605 BC. As
crown prince of Babylon,
Nebuchadnezzar was about to
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capitalize on his victory by
going down into Egypt to destroy
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it. However, he received word
that his father Nabopolassar had
died. So, as a result,
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Nebuchadnezzar swiftly took the
desert route, the far more
difficult route, to Babylon.
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There, he secured the
throne and was named king.
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The amazing thing friends is
this, the defeat of Assyria and
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later of Egypt successfully
fulfills Jeremiah's prophecy
that Babylon would not just
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conquer Jerusalem, but that it
would also conquer the two
superpowers on its rise to
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supremacy.God asks that His Word
be tested and this prophecy was
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fulfilled in detail. This
prophecy then forms the
background for the Babylonian
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invasion of Jerusalem in 605
where Daniel and his friends
were taken captive and brought
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back to Babylon. Along with the
rise of Babylonian supremacy,
Jeremiah also predicted
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something that is even more
improbable than Babylonian
supremacy during his and
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Daniel's time. On account of the
sins of Jerusalem, God, speaking
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through Jeremiah foretold that
His people would be captives in
Babylon for seventy years.
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Earlier, we quoted Jeremiah
25:8-12 with such a prediction,
however, this prophecy is also
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recorded in Jeremiah 29:10. It
is very interesting to note,
several years after Jeremiah had
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spoken these words, there were
false prophets in Babylon
declaring that the Jewish
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captives would speedily return
back to their homes in Judah. In
response to this, Jeremiah
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pronounces these words
found in Jeremiah 29:5-9,
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He concludes in
Jeremiah 29:10 with these words,
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So, let's look at the events
that surround this time period.
What we find is that
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they reveal the highly
improbable nature of the things
that are connected with
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this 70 year prophecy.
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The first is the prediction that
Babylon would rise to power
against powerful foes
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like Egypt. Second, Jerusalem
would be defeated leading to the
deportation of many Jews
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including Daniel and his
friends. Third, contrary to the
opinion of many, Jeremiah
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counseled the Jews in Babylon to
build houses and marry because
they would remain in
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captivity for 70 years. Fourth,
the release of the Jews from
their captivity was
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also connected with the
destruction of Babylon. In
addition, notice what Jeremiah
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25:12-13 says,
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Not only does the Lord through
Jeremiah predict the Babylonian
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rise to power, but here God also
predicts the time that Babylon
will fall, which coincides with
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the time that God will bring his
people back home. Think about
this, it's one thing to predict
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the rise of Babylon amidst
unlikely circumstances, yet the
probability of guessing
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its demise 70 years later is
another thing altogether,
especially since many
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considered the city of Babylon
to be impregnable. Much more
could be said about Babylon's
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fall, but we will save
that for a future time.
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The first chapter of Daniel is
but the start of a remarkable
book that is written for the
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mind that is crying out for
certainty. It is written with
the honest inquirer in mind
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who is seeking for something
they can hold onto to in a world
that has lost its very
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foundations. The principles of
this book which outlines true
success in life, have been
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rejected by many nations and
civilizations, including
Babylon. However, we are
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seeing over and over again that
we can trust the principles of
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this book because they have for
a foundation the highly
improbable events foretold by
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God Himself that come true and
demonstrate it's certainty And
this was the foundation that
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Daniel had as he was taken
captive in Babylon. Just imagine
being taken from your
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home, forced to live in a
foreign place, having your name
changed, being sent to a
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foreign school, having your
ability to reproduce and carry
on your name taken away and
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then an attempt to change the
simplicity of what you eat.
There is no need to imagine,
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because this is exactly what
happened to Daniel and his three
friends. They are named
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in Daniel 1:6 as Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
Each of their names
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chosen because of their
faithfulness to God as followers
of God. However, as
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a part of the brainwashing
procedure of Babylon, there
names were changed to
00:21:04.63\00:21:09.83
Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abed-Nego respectively.
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Those names acknowledging the
foreign gods of the Babylonians.
Daniel and his friends however
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were at peace with all these
changes, except for one. Daniel
and his three friends were not
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at peace with a change in diet.
The Bible says in Daniel 1:8,
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Now why would they not want to
change something as simple as
food? I want you to notice
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that word.defile. They did not
want to defile themselves. In
the original language this
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word literally means to pollute
or desecrate or stain You see,
00:22:11.99\00:22:16.87
Daniel and his friends had spent
their lives as inquirers of God.
They had experienced God and now
00:22:16.97\00:22:20.90
they would once again put Him to
the test. Daniel and his three
friends would have had several
00:22:21.00\00:22:26.57
problems with the king's food:
1, the food was likely comprised
of unclean animals,
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forbidden by God to eat, 2, the
animals were likely not humanely
killed as prescribed
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by God, 3, the serving of
alcohol and feasting of the
king's table would not have
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been in line with the principle
of temperance that these young
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gentlemen had been brought up
with. So they asked for a test.
They asked to be prescribed a
00:22:55.17\00:23:03.11
meal plan of only vegetables or
pulse as the Bible puts it and
water. This was no accident as
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Daniel was asking to be returned
to God's original Garden of Eden
diet. The guard didn't know if
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that was a great idea, but
Daniel asked for only ten days
and then a test could be
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administered. And in what the
New England Journal of Medicine
calls the first ever
00:23:26.07\00:23:34.08
clinical trial, Daniel and his
three friends are found to
healthier on their vegetable
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diet. They continued that plan.
Then when final exams came. The
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Bible states in Daniel 1:19-20,
00:23:56.26\00:24:01.34
Let me ask you a question, how
probable is it that four young
Hebrew slaves would rise to
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the top of their class at in
Babylon, at the time,the world's
00:24:36.27\00:24:41.94
most renown university? Is true
success a matter of chance or
are there enduring principles
00:24:42.04\00:24:48.15
that one must understand and put
into practice? Where the do the
principles of success come
00:24:48.25\00:24:53.99
from and what are they based on?
Is it essential for one have all
00:24:54.09\00:24:59.16
of the advantages that wealth
and genius can offer in order to
be truly successful? No, there
00:24:59.26\00:25:06.40
simply must be a willingness to
be obedient to God's plans God's
ways vs. society's ways, God's
00:25:06.50\00:25:17.31
ways vs. the king's ways. Dear
friend, an honest inquirer must
begin to conclude, God
00:25:17.41\00:25:27.42
does exist and
His ways are best.
00:25:27.52\00:25:32.13
Heavenly Father, thank you that
you have given us the evidence
00:25:34.10\00:25:38.80
that we might believe.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.
00:25:38.90\00:25:43.14
>>Bev: He everyone. Today
physiotherapist Andrew Conroy is
here to show us a few ways
00:26:04.33\00:26:08.86
to to keep our bodies limber.
Andrew, welcome. >>Andrew: Hi
Bev. >>Bev: Hi. Often the
00:26:08.96\00:26:14.27
aches and pains that we
experience are because our
muscles are tight, but I've
00:26:14.37\00:26:19.34
read that stretching is a
wonderful way to keep our
muscles and our joints nice
00:26:19.44\00:26:24.31
and flexible. Can you comment a
little bit about that >>Andrew:
00:26:24.41\00:26:29.12
Sure. When we are walking, our
legs are the main generator of
the force - the exercise. So
00:26:29.22\00:26:34.19
after a good walk, when we feel
refreshed and we worked a
little, we need to stretch those
00:26:34.29\00:26:38.06
out to prevent any joint
soreness. >>Bev: OK, can you
show is a few exercises?
00:26:38.16\00:26:42.16
>>Andrew: I certainly can. We
can use something as simple as a
chair to do the exercises and
00:26:42.26\00:26:47.20
stretching. And I'm first
going to show you the quadricep
00:26:47.30\00:26:51.07
stretch. So Bev I just want you
to face forward, put your right
hand on the chair here. And what
00:26:51.17\00:26:55.28
we are going to do Bev, you are
going to lift your left foot,
place it behind and grab the
00:26:55.38\00:26:59.41
ankle with your hand. Before we
do anything else Bev, we are
just going to draw the core in
00:26:59.51\00:27:04.25
gently and we should start to
feel a nice stretch through
here. We are now going to
00:27:04.35\00:27:08.56
begin to pull that knee towards
the back, and as you do so, I
don't want to see any
00:27:08.66\00:27:12.19
movement up here. To common
errors with this are to arch the
back and over-compress the
00:27:12.29\00:27:17.77
spine at the back or to allow
the knee to drift out. We're not
going to allow that to
00:27:17.87\00:27:23.37
happen, instead we're going to
allow a 30 second nice stretch.
And that gives time
00:27:23.47\00:27:27.54
for the tissues to elongate.
Once the 30 seconds is up, we
can gently lower the foot back
00:27:27.64\00:27:32.88
down. >>Bev: Alright, that was a
good stretch. >>Andrew: You felt
that? >>Bev: I did!
00:27:32.98\00:27:35.25
>>Andres: Good, good. The next
stretch we are going to do -
Bev, I'm going to get you into
00:27:35.35\00:27:39.49
this position and we're going to
stretch the left calf - we'll
show you how to do that.
00:27:39.59\00:27:42.96
These are familiar to us but
there are common mistakes we can
make. We want to make sure
00:27:43.06\00:27:48.40
that the foot is nicely pointed
forwards, the other important
00:27:48.50\00:27:53.23
thing here is that the knee
remains fully locked back and
that the heel does not begin to
00:27:53.34\00:27:58.01
ride off the floor. We need that
heel fully down. Once that is
there you should have an nice
00:27:58.11\00:28:02.71
gentle stretch through there -
and again our 20 to 30 second
rule is going to apply with a
00:28:02.81\00:28:07.28
slow gentle release at the end.
The final stretch Bev, is really
for the muscles at the
00:28:07.38\00:28:13.82
back of the thigh and these are
called the hamstring muscles. So
00:28:13.92\00:28:17.76
I'm going to ask you to just
step sideways. Place your left
heel on the chair here. Your
00:28:17.86\00:28:23.03
going to just gently lean
forward at the waist - that's
fine, and you're going to keep
00:28:23.13\00:28:27.37
the foot gently pulled up, until
you feel that stretch coming on
Again our gentle 30 second
00:28:27.47\00:28:33.58
rule applies. Don't be to over
aggressive with this, it should
be that first gentle
00:28:33.68\00:28:38.55
stretch that you feel -- don't
bounce, that's the common
mistake I see - don't bounce.
00:28:38.65\00:28:43.22
Give the tissues time to
elongate. You are going to feel
fine after exercise when
00:28:43.32\00:28:47.62
you run through these gentle
stretches. >>Bev: Fantastic, I
can feel the stretch
00:28:47.72\00:28:51.09
already. Andrew, thank you so
much for showing us those
exercises. And you at home, I
00:28:51.19\00:28:56.77
hope you stay limber, Andrew
says it's important. I'll see
00:28:56.87\00:29:01.84
you next time! >>Chris: Friend,
I would like to offer you a DVD
of today's program "Philosophy's
00:29:09.68\00:29:14.52
achilles - Answers from
Babylon". Here is the
information you need for today's
00:29:14.62\00:29:20.99
offer. >> Chris: Friend thank
you so much for watching. Join
us again next week for the
00:29:45.71\00:29:50.12
continuation of this series.
Until then remember, It Is
Written, man shall not live by
00:29:50.22\00:29:55.99
bread alone, but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of
00:29:56.09\00:30:01.76
God. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$
00:30:03.97\00:30:05.67