Were the people in the
Bible any different to us today
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or ordinary
people like you and me?
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What can we find out from
their lives that would help us?
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Let's find out with Pr. Geoff
Youlden and Rosemary Malkiewycz.
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Here on People Just Like Us.
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Sometimes in life it seems that
coincidences occur. We may just
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happen to be at the right
place at the right time or
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the wrong place
at the wrong time.
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But are all of
these just coincidences or
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can they be part of God's divine
providence? Is God guiding this
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world? And most especially will
He guide us in our lives? Today
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we will listen to some stories
from history that will give us
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more insight into life's
coincidences. So let's listen
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to Pastor Geoff as he
shares these stories with us.
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Welcome Geoff. Thank
you very much, Rosemary.
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Actually Cyrus, and I want to
talk about King Cyrus of Persia.
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Very interesting character.
Probably not known to a lot of
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our viewers except those history
buffs. But a very interesting
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guy because he was the conqueror
of Belshazzar in Babylon and as
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far as kings are concerned
he was a pretty good king. I
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say that on fairly good
authority because even God said
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some good things about him. And
when God says some good things
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we can say that he must
have been a good man. Like many
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of the ancient kings
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there are legends about
his life in history. One story
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had him born in the mountains,
suckled by a dog and educated
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as a shepherd. Another legend
makes his nurse and deliverer a
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shepherd's wife. But when
he emerged onto the stage of
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history his empire stretched,
can you imagine this, from India
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all the way to Asia Minor.
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Where's Asia Minor?
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Asia Minor is the middle Eastern
circle. So you imagine that
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distance. It's a
huge amount of area.
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Actually he had the largest
kingdom or empire up to that
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time. Yes, well
all history presents
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him as a ruler with a singular
mind to accomplish what he
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wanted to do with a spirit of
kindness. Now when he captured
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Sardus, the capital of Lydia
Croesus the king was condemned
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to be burned as was often
the cruel custom of the _.
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And as they were getting
the flames ready and Cyrus over
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heard Croesus speak, he said
that he heard from his lips what
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Spartan, the philosopher, had
said to Colon Count no man happy
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until the end. Cyrus was
impressed by this thought as he
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thought about it and so he
ordered the king to be set free.
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Another story is interesting.
As a child Cyrus was taught not
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to drink. Once on a royal visit
to his royal grandfather in
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Media, Cyrus asked if he could
have a go at being a cup bearer.
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Now he did everything perfectly
In fact, the king praised him
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for the excellent job he did so
well but the king said there was
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one thing Cyrus that you didn't
do. And Cyrus thought he had
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performed pretty well and he
said well what's that? And the
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king said, You failed to taste
the wine which was the job of a
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cupbearer.
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Wasn't that the
most important job?
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Back in those days, for poison
and so forth. And he said you
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should have done it before
handing it to the king. Now
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Cyrus said in answer, the young
Cyrus, remember he's only a boy,
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teenager,
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Cyrus said he had not tasted the
wine because he thought it had
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been poisoned. And the king
said, What do you mean poisoned?
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He answered, Well it was
poisoned the other day at the
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feast you put on for your
birthday. I know this by the
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effects it had on everyone. The
thing that you do not allow us
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boys to drink, he says, you did
yourselves. So the people were
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rude and very noisy and they
couldn't even stand up, so I
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thought the wine
must have been poisoned.
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So he wasn't going to drink it.
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He wasn't... that's right. And
it was Cyrus who captured the
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great city of Babylon. You
may remember the story that goes
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Babylon had ruled the
world for many, many years under
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Nebuchadnezzar who was its most
famous king. And at the time of
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Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar was
now dead, and Belshazzar was the
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current king. And while holding
a lavish feast, a bloodless hand
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wrote on the wall Menne, menne
tekel Upharsin: You are weighed
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in the balances and found
wanting. Now the Babylonians
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were aware the Medes and the
Persians were outside the city.
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They knew that. You're dumb if
you didn't know that, I mean the
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city wall. But they weren't
concerned because when they
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built those walls they built
them impregnably. And there
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wasn't just one wall, there was
a series of walls. In fact they
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used to race the chariots around
the tops of the wall as their
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entertainment. So they knew that
there was no engine in the world
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that could batter the walls down
So they had a feast while the
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Medes and the Persians were
outside the wall. But what they
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they didn't know is that Cyrus
had done something very, very
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cunning. He had diverted the
water from the Euphrates River,
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which flowed right through the
center of the city. He diverted
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the water into an artificial
lake so that as the water level
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dropped, then he marched his
army underneath the walls. But
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even then they would have been
caught like rats in a trap had
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it not been for the fact that
that night they had forgotten to
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lock the gates. Because the
Babylonians realized that it was
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possible that someone could
do that and that they could get
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into the city, but they couldn't
get through the river even if it
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dropped. They had these lead
gates that went right down into
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the bed of the river. Well
unfortunately that night they
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had forgotten to lock the gate.
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You know what that story reminds
me of? It reminds me of a ship
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that was built that they
believed was unthinkable and so
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they didn't build the ship
to the specifications. They made
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short cuts, because, ah, this
ship's not going to sink. And we
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don't need as many life rafts
and we don't need to make the
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steel as thick in certain
places. And so it's not going to
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sink so we don't need the life
rafts and so they didn't prepare
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for what could happen. And
it was the same thing here. I
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wonder how many times they
had left those gates open in the
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past. Yeah, well, history would
suggest that they hadn't left
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them open, but maybe they had.
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They just had a bad habit
of leaving them open because no
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one's going to
get through anyway.
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Well drunk men put up very
little resistance against Cyrus
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and the Medes and the Persians
and that night, of course,
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Babylon fell. And when Cyrus
took over the kingdom the Jews
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had been in captivity now
for 70 years. Because remember
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Nebuchadnezzar went over and
took them captive. One of the
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first things he did when he took
over Babylon was to allow the
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Jews to return to Jerusalem.
He'd allowed them to rebuild
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their temple. He'd also restored
to them the sacred vessels that
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Nebuchadnezzar had taken when
he captured Babylon. In fact,
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this remarkable proclamation is
actually recorded in the book of
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Ezra. And that, once again,
I find very remarkable. Ezra,
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Esther, Nehemiah.
Just before Nehemiah.
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Nehemiah, there's the
little book of Ezra. Not often a
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books that we read. But it's an
interesting book particularly if
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you're interested in history,
because here is the proclamation
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that Cyrus gave, or one of the
proclamations that Cyrus gave
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about freeing the Jews
from Babylonia or from their
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captivity...
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Interesting statement, isn't it?
He recognized the true God...
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Do you know this here he's
saying that all the kingdoms of
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the earth the Lord God of
heaven has given me. So he's
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acknowledging that God gave
them to him. He didn't win them
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himself. He's also saying
that He has commanded me. He's
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acknowledging God as being his
God really because then he said
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in verse 3 he actually states
He is God. And so it makes it
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seem like Cyrus had become a
believer in God through certain
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circumstances.
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Yeah, well, I think it's
remarkable because when you look
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at history you find that that's
not the way kings acted on
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conquered nations. They drove
them into the ground, killed
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them and...
killed them as slaves.
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yes. Here but Cyrus was a
different type of man and a very
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kindly man. But what actually
blows your mind, Rosemary, is
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the fact that 150 years before
Cyrus was born, now just think
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of that, 150 years before he was
born, the Bible actually named
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him to be the one who would set
the Jews free from Babylonian
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captivity. Let me read it
to you Isaiah 44:26. In a Bible
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it is remarkable and here is
a specific statement where it
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says: This is Isaiah
44:26, the second part...
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Now Isaiah is asking
who said that. Verse 27...
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...Now here's the man's name...
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Here 150 years before
Cyrus comes onto the scene, God
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actually foretells that Cyrus
by name. That would be like the
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equivalent of us today naming
the Australian prime minister
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in 150 years, or the American
president, in 150 years' time.
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Who would be game even to
think about it let alone...
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The people were not even born
they weren't even alive yet so
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how did they even know what
their names were going to be.
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Well that's why, Rosemary, I
think it's so remarkable that
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this prophecy is so remarkable
and God named him and...
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But not only that God says that
He's going to open the leafed
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gates. God prophesied
what he was going to do.
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And how he would do it. And I
think probably that Daniel who
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was alive at this time of course
when Cyrus conquered Babylon
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and he became prime minister of
two nations which once again is
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very, very significant. He was
prime minister in Babylon and
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usually when the conquering
nation comes up every one's out.
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If not killed. Correct.
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But here he had such confidence
in Daniel that he was made the
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prime minister of the next
empire, of the Medo-Persian
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empire and no doubt I would be
very, very confident that Daniel
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would have shown
Cyrus these prophecies.
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And obviously Cyrus accepted God
so that when he made his decree
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he could say confidently, God
has given me these countries,
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God has given me
this to do. He is God.
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Let's have a look at this. This
is Isaiah 45:4. It says: For
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Jacob my servant's
sake and Israel my elect...
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So God says, even though
you don't know me Cyrus I named
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you. Now once again I think
that's very interesting because
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that shows that even a person,
like a viewer, may have stumbled
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across our section today on the
television and may not know God
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may not have much interest
in God, but God knows them. And
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sometimes we look at things
and we say well that was a
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coincidence, that was lucky. But
in actual fact, moving behind
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the scenes God is arranging
circumstances and we talk about
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Divine Providence in history.
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God doesn't control us and make
us do everything we do, but He
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can work things around to help
lead us in a certain direction.
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Let me read you, this is another
statement here. This is Acts
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17:26 talking about providence,
Divine providence. It says:
00:14:55.49\00:14:59.83
In other words, here the Bible
is saying God has preappointed
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time. In other words,
these things don't take God by
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surprise. In Diving Providence
God is in the background, in the
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shadows so to speak, moving
things to accomplish His purpose
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and while we've often said
before, it appears to many of us
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that wrong seems to rule, God
is still directing. Over here in
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Daniel, talking about Daniel,
a minute ago, I think here in
00:15:47.51\00:15:50.51
the book of
Daniel the second chapter
00:15:50.55\00:15:52.61
which is one of the most
famous chapters in all the Bible
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on the subject of
prophecy, chapter 2 and verse 21
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it says here, talking of God...
00:15:59.82\00:16:04.49
So the Bible is very clear
that God sets kings up and He
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dethrones them too.
00:16:24.45\00:16:26.25
He gives them a period of
time to work out whether or not
00:16:26.28\00:16:30.59
they're going to be
doing a good job or a bad job.
00:16:30.62\00:16:33.39
That's true. Again in Daniel,
it's interesting this is a
00:16:33.42\00:16:37.16
wonderful little book, the book
of Daniel, Chapter 4:35 where
00:16:37.19\00:16:45.47
it says here:
00:16:45.50\00:16:46.84
In other words, the Bible
was very clear that there are
00:17:00.15\00:17:08.46
instances where God directly
intervenes and changes things so
00:17:08.49\00:17:14.63
that His will can move forward.
You know, there's some amazing
00:17:14.66\00:17:17.33
stories that come out of the two
world wars and they're not that
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far away from our days to
be still aware of some of the
00:17:23.24\00:17:28.11
events. And once again when
you have a look at some of these
00:17:28.14\00:17:30.51
things, you see how
God's providence is in history.
00:17:30.55\00:17:34.88
Germany had the First World War
won many times. And yet, as we
00:17:34.92\00:17:40.49
all know, they lost is in the
end. Because it was about 4 p.m.
00:17:40.52\00:17:44.49
on the afternoon of April 22,
1915 the Germans trained their
00:17:44.53\00:17:48.93
deadly poisonous gas loose
on the allies. It was unexpected
00:17:48.96\00:17:54.20
and the allied armies were
unprepared and unprotected.
00:17:54.24\00:17:57.57
and would certainly have been
killed. So Germany had planned
00:17:57.61\00:18:02.71
it all. All she would need to
do now was to march through and
00:18:02.74\00:18:07.78
take the English channel because
that's what they wanted. They
00:18:07.82\00:18:10.82
needed that English channel. The
question is why didn't she do it
00:18:10.85\00:18:15.19
Well the story goes at the exact
time of the release the gas was
00:18:15.22\00:18:20.03
determined not by the military
but by the meteorological
00:18:20.06\00:18:23.80
society and the authorities.
Dr. Schumach advised the Germans
00:18:23.83\00:18:28.44
that the winds were fixed in the
direction that they were blowing
00:18:28.47\00:18:32.44
for the next 36 hours and would
carry the gas over the Allied
00:18:32.47\00:18:37.98
lines so that they released
their gas but suddenly the wind
00:18:38.01\00:18:42.98
changed and turned around
blowing the deadly gas over the
00:18:43.02\00:18:45.52
deadly gas over the German line.
The army gasped and staggered
00:18:45.55\00:18:50.86
and thousands of the
German soldiers died.
00:18:50.89\00:18:54.46
So they were not prepared.
00:18:54.50\00:18:56.83
Well they knew the wind was
going to go over the Allies but
00:18:56.87\00:19:00.60
they didn't account for the fact
that God intervened and blew it
00:19:00.64\00:19:03.20
back. And they'd
made preparation.
00:19:03.24\00:19:05.74
Yeah. Speaking of the event
in his official report, Dr.
00:19:05.77\00:19:08.61
Schumach said In 40 years of
meteorological records of the
00:19:08.64\00:19:15.18
German government the wind never
acted so acted so peculiarly.
00:19:15.22\00:19:19.69
Doubly strange is the fact that
the wind whirled in only a small
00:19:19.72\00:19:24.59
area and with their gas supplies
Germany should have won the war
00:19:24.63\00:19:29.00
but she failed for God
intervened. Now are we to say
00:19:29.03\00:19:33.10
Rosemary, does this story
illustrate that God is anti
00:19:33.13\00:19:36.74
German. Not at all. He loves
them as much as anybody else but
00:19:36.77\00:19:41.24
two-and-a-half thousand years
ago in the book of Daniel it
00:19:41.28\00:19:45.71
said that Europe shall never
ever again be united under one
00:19:45.75\00:19:50.62
nation and there is no other
more wonderful chapter to study
00:19:50.65\00:19:55.49
in Bible prophecy than the
second chapter of the book of
00:19:55.52\00:19:59.53
Daniel where we see the
providence of God in the course
00:19:59.56\00:20:01.93
of history. And you may remember
that Napoleon tried to unite
00:20:01.96\00:20:06.94
Europe. He got close. Then
Kaiser Wilhelm tried and he got
00:20:06.97\00:20:13.84
close but failed. Then came
Adolph Hitler. But God had said
00:20:13.88\00:20:22.08
very clearly that Europe will
never ever be blended together.
00:20:22.12\00:20:25.72
In fact, the terminology in the
book of Daniel is that iron and
00:20:25.75\00:20:29.66
clay will not unite together.
And it has never been united and
00:20:29.69\00:20:34.30
it's still a long
way from being united.
00:20:34.33\00:20:36.93
But isn't it amazing even though
the Bible actually explicitly
00:20:36.97\00:20:41.17
says that these will never
mingle again, even through birth
00:20:41.20\00:20:46.44
through marriage, they will
not cleave together. Yet today
00:20:46.47\00:20:51.28
people are still trying to
cleave together. The governments
00:20:51.31\00:20:55.08
are still trying to combine.
00:20:55.12\00:20:57.09
Yes and so as we look at this
amazing story, we also remember
00:20:57.12\00:21:04.69
the second world war with
Dunkirk and God send to fog.
00:21:04.73\00:21:10.10
This is very interesting. You
can read the story in history.
00:21:10.13\00:21:13.27
And what a fog it was. It
was the fog that confounded the
00:21:13.30\00:21:16.20
German bombers and like
the cloud over the children of
00:21:16.24\00:21:19.77
Israel it protected the ships in
the English channel because the
00:21:19.81\00:21:23.28
turbulent waters of the Straits
of Dover, you know those Straits
00:21:23.31\00:21:27.85
they're very, very turbulent,
became like a millpond.
00:21:27.88\00:21:31.49
Amazingly, there were no waves.
It was just, as I say, like a
00:21:31.52\00:21:37.19
pond and with their launches the
fishermen towed their rowboats
00:21:37.23\00:21:41.66
out and brought the Allied
soldiers back from France and
00:21:41.70\00:21:49.24
brought them back to safety in
England. And during the last war
00:21:49.27\00:21:52.87
it was obvious again that
Germany was superior in the air
00:21:52.91\00:21:56.31
and yet the world knows that she
was beaten in that realm during
00:21:56.34\00:22:00.78
the last few months of the
conflict. This is what head of
00:22:00.82\00:22:04.02
the German Aerial Service said.
The Allies did not have superior
00:22:04.05\00:22:08.92
air ships nor fighters, but
it was the accursed clouds that
00:22:08.96\00:22:12.79
defeated us. And nearly every
time when we had a company of
00:22:12.83\00:22:18.10
the enemy ships in a pocket
ready to take them out one of
00:22:18.13\00:22:21.64
those accursed clouds would be
hanging by and envelope them as
00:22:21.67\00:22:25.34
a thick blanket and the devil
himself couldn't find them. They
00:22:25.37\00:22:29.91
would escape at leisure. It was
the accursed clouds, he said,
00:22:29.94\00:22:33.72
that did it.
00:22:33.75\00:22:35.08
That's amazing. It is
and the records of course
00:22:35.12\00:22:37.39
if you check the records,
endorse his statement. You know,
00:22:37.42\00:22:41.79
Rosemary, not only is God
interested in the big issues of
00:22:41.82\00:22:47.76
life like we are talking about
nations now and the world, but
00:22:47.80\00:22:51.83
what gives me tremendous
encouragement is the fact that
00:22:51.87\00:22:54.54
God is interested in you
and me too and everybody else as
00:22:54.57\00:22:57.94
individuals. I mean he
uses illustrations in the New
00:22:57.97\00:23:00.54
Testament. He says, He sees the
sparrow fall and he numbers the
00:23:00.58\00:23:08.05
hairs of our head. Now some of
us are losing a bit. And so in
00:23:08.08\00:23:14.79
other words God has to have a
bookkeeping system that's up to
00:23:14.82\00:23:17.23
date on a daily basis
when you comb your hair.
00:23:17.26\00:23:20.00
A moment by moment basis.
00:23:20.03\00:23:21.56
Yes but the Bible says that God
is so intimately interested in
00:23:21.60\00:23:25.70
us that he even sees the
hairs of our heads. He sees the
00:23:25.73\00:23:27.07
hair of our heads. He sees
the sparrow fall. I'm greatly
00:23:27.10\00:23:31.11
encouraged by that.
00:23:31.14\00:23:32.47
That's right. I am too because
I know in my own life God has
00:23:32.51\00:23:38.05
done things in my life that I
can testify about where he has
00:23:38.08\00:23:43.85
manipulated situations,
manipulated in a good way, to
00:23:43.89\00:23:49.56
bring protection. One time I had
a car accident and when I found
00:23:49.59\00:23:55.36
out the different things that
had happened around that car
00:23:55.40\00:23:58.30
accident late at night God
had orchestrated many different
00:23:58.33\00:24:04.31
things to save me and my
children. And I was just amazed
00:24:04.34\00:24:09.68
by what happened and it
just showed that even though God
00:24:09.71\00:24:14.88
didn't stop that car
accident from happening, He made
00:24:14.92\00:24:19.92
preparation even before I
was on the road where I had the
00:24:19.95\00:24:25.56
accident. He spoke to another
person and convinced that person
00:24:25.59\00:24:29.26
to drive on the exact road I
was going to be on when I had my
00:24:29.30\00:24:33.64
accident. And this was in
the middle of the night and that
00:24:33.67\00:24:37.71
person was a Christian and
God redirected their travel that
00:24:37.74\00:24:42.38
night to help me. And I always
remember that as a wonderful
00:24:42.41\00:24:46.72
thing that God did
for me and my children.
00:24:46.75\00:24:48.98
Yes I think that one of the
wonderful things for us all is
00:24:49.02\00:24:53.25
to realize that God is
interested in us as a person.
00:24:53.29\00:24:57.73
As individuals.
00:24:57.76\00:24:59.09
As individuals. He knows the
very house that we live in, the
00:24:59.13\00:25:02.03
street that we live in. He knows
all about our families, he knows
00:25:02.06\00:25:05.87
all about the troubles that many
of us have to contend with on a
00:25:05.90\00:25:11.44
day by day basis. He knows
the sadness that comes to people
00:25:11.47\00:25:15.24
when tragedy strikes. He knows
the difficulties that people
00:25:15.28\00:25:19.21
have in life; perhaps
unemployment, perhaps they've
00:25:19.25\00:25:22.78
lost a job or they're very ill,
yes. God is interested in us
00:25:22.82\00:25:32.66
and I think that that's the
most wonderful discovery when
00:25:32.69\00:25:36.77
we read the Bible that
Christianity is not just a
00:25:36.80\00:25:40.04
theory that we read in a book.
The book is here to tell us how
00:25:40.07\00:25:46.41
personal God is. He's not just
up there somewhere sitting on a
00:25:46.44\00:25:51.98
throne detached
from us. He loves us.
00:25:52.01\00:25:56.12
He's actively involved.
00:25:56.15\00:25:57.72
Actively, very actively.
And those of us who have seen
00:25:57.75\00:26:02.82
answered prayer in our own lives
and I would like to encourage
00:26:02.86\00:26:06.39
our viewers, Rosemary, to pray
to God and if you have problems
00:26:06.43\00:26:12.43
in your life, if you
have difficulties, if you have
00:26:12.47\00:26:15.74
stresses why not go to God and
tell Him all about the way you
00:26:15.77\00:26:23.98
feel, tell Him all about the
stresses that you have and ask
00:26:24.01\00:26:27.42
Him to show you what to do and
the most wonderful thing is that
00:26:27.45\00:26:32.92
when God, when we pray to God
like that, we see the way that
00:26:32.95\00:26:36.29
God answers...
00:26:36.32\00:26:37.66
His providence in bringing
answers. Correct. I'm sure you
00:26:37.69\00:26:41.76
know that... I'm sure that
everybody, if they look back
00:26:41.80\00:26:46.87
in their lives they can see
at least one time where things
00:26:46.90\00:26:51.51
worked out in a way that was
kind of unexpected and they were
00:26:51.54\00:26:57.75
helped in a way that they
wouldn't have been otherwise.
00:26:57.78\00:27:01.75
And that's God's providence.
00:27:01.78\00:27:03.12
It is and sometimes we say
that was the lucky escape or I
00:27:03.15\00:27:07.92
was lucky. That was a
coincidence, Yes. That just
00:27:07.96\00:27:10.76
happened. I'd like to think that
that's not the case, that God
00:27:10.79\00:27:15.10
has His hand in history the same
as was illustrated with Cyrus.
00:27:15.13\00:27:19.43
That God loves us as
individuals and He cares for us
00:27:19.47\00:27:25.04
as individuals. That is the
greatest discovery that we can
00:27:25.07\00:27:28.24
all make, that God knows all
about you and he loves you and
00:27:28.28\00:27:32.58
he wants you to be saved.
00:27:32.61\00:27:34.88
God knew about Cyrus. He knew
about him before he was born.
00:27:34.92\00:27:38.39
And He knows about you and he
knows you before you were born.
00:27:38.42\00:27:42.32
So trust God because
He's interested in you as an
00:27:42.36\00:27:48.86
providence. We're glad that
you've joined us today and we
00:27:48.90\00:27:52.93
look forward to
seeing you next time.
00:27:52.97\00:27:56.71