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00:13 ♪♪♪ 00:23 ♪♪♪ 00:30 CC BY ABERDEEN CAPTIONING 1-800-688-6621 WWW.ABERCAP.COM 00:35 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends, and welcome again to 00:37 "Sabbath School Study Hour" here at the Granite Bay Seventh Day 00:40 Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:43 We'd like to welcome our online members and those who are 00:45 joining us across the country and around the world, 00:48 part of our a standard Sabbath school class. 00:51 And we'd also like to welcome our regular Sabbath School 00:53 members and those who are visiting with us today. 00:56 We're just delighted that you have chosen to be with us 00:58 in our study time. 01:00 Now, for if you've been coming for the last few weeks, you know 01:03 that our lesson quarterly has been dealing with the two 01:05 Old Testament books, Ezra and Nehemiah. 01:09 And today we're going to continue our study with that. 01:12 We're on lesson number nine, if you following along 01:14 with your quarterlies, lesson number nine, 01:16 and it's got an interesting title. 01:18 It's Trials, Tribulations, and Lists. 01:22 So, that's what we're going to be looking at today, 01:24 Trials, Tribulations, and Lists. 01:26 For those of you who are joining us that might not have a copy of 01:28 our lesson, you can just simply download today's lesson 01:31 at lesson.aftv.org. 01:35 Again, that's lesson.aftv.org. 01:38 Download lesson number nine and you can study along with us. 01:42 We also have a free offer we'd like to let 01:44 our friends know about. 01:46 It's a book entitled, The Armor Of God," and this is free for 01:49 anyone who'd call and ask. 01:51 The number to call is... 01:55 and ask for Offer Number 173. 01:57 We'll be happy to send that out to anyone in North America. 02:00 Or if you'd like, you can get a digital copy of our free offer 02:04 by simply texting the code SH101 to the number 40544. 02:12 You'll get a link and you'll be able to download the book and 02:14 read it, "The Armor Of God," and I encourage you 02:17 to take a look at that. 02:19 Well, before we get to our study today, 02:21 we're in for a wonderful blessing. 02:23 We've got the Pine Hills Adventist Academy Choraliers 02:26 that are with us this morning, and they're going to be bringing 02:29 us a special musical item at this time. 02:33 ♪ Even before we call on Your name ♪ 02:44 ♪ To ask You, O God ♪ 02:53 ♪ When we seek for the words to glorify You ♪ 03:06 ♪ You hear our prayer ♪ 03:15 ♪ Unceasing love ♪ 03:20 ♪ O unceasing love ♪ 03:24 ♪ Surpassing all we know ♪ 03:37 ♪ Glory to the Father ♪ 03:45 ♪ And to the Son ♪ 03:52 ♪ And to the Holy Spirit ♪ 04:08 ♪ Even with darkness sealing us in ♪ 04:18 ♪ We breathe Your name ♪ 04:28 ♪ And through all the days that follow so fast ♪ 04:39 ♪ We trust in You ♪ 04:48 ♪ Endless Your grace ♪ 04:53 ♪ O endless Your grace ♪ 04:57 ♪ Beyond all mortal dream ♪ 05:10 ♪ Both now and forever ♪ 05:18 ♪ And unto ages ♪ 05:25 ♪ And ages ♪ 05:32 ♪ Amen ♪ 05:45 Jean: I invite you to bow your heads as we have 05:46 a Word of prayer. 05:48 Dear Father, once again we are grateful for this beautiful day 05:50 that You've given us for the opportunity to gather in peace 05:53 and open up Your Word in study. 05:55 And so, today we invite You, Holy Spirit, to be with us. 05:57 We know that the Bible is Your book and in order for us to 06:00 correctly understand it, we need the Holy Spirit to guard our 06:03 hearts and our minds. 06:05 So, bless us today, for we ask this in Jesus's name, amen. 06:09 Our lesson today is going to be brought to us by our family life 06:12 pastor here at Granite Bay, Pastor Shawn Brummund. 06:17 Pastor Shawn Brummund: Oh, good morning to everyone. 06:19 It's nice to see you. 06:21 Thank you for that introduction, Pastor Ross. 06:22 And thank you so much for the Pine Hills Academy for sharing 06:26 their hard work and their talents. 06:28 And as I was closing my eyes, I was envisioning myself not here 06:33 in the sanctuary, but in a much holier place which is before 06:37 the throne of God in heaven. 06:40 And I started to picture the angels as they were singing. 06:44 And so, thank you so much for that. 06:46 And I know that all of us look forward to the time when we can 06:49 see the angelic choir as well and be inspired by them. 06:53 It's always good to be here in Granite Bay Seventh Day 06:56 Adventist Church studying the Word of God as we continue to 06:59 look at two important figures in books as they were both leaders. 07:04 Of course, Ezra was a priest, a minister of the gospel. 07:08 And of course, they were also prophets, Bible writers as well. 07:12 And so, we're going to be looking at some very intriguing 07:15 and faith-inspiring truths as we go through 07:19 this particular lesson. 07:21 Lesson number nine, which is Trials, Tribulations, and Lists. 07:24 Now, I hope that you brought your Bibles because we're going 07:27 to have our Bibles open several times throughout this lesson. 07:29 If you're at home and you're watching this, or wherever you 07:31 might be watching online or on television, I want to encourage 07:34 you to grab your Bible if you haven't grabbed it all ready, 07:36 and let's make this an interactive study as we continue 07:39 to get our nose in this most important book and continue 07:42 to grow in our own personal knowledge. 07:45 And so, that's always important. 07:48 Today, I'm going to do something a little bit different because 07:50 as I went through this particular lesson study, 07:52 I started to realize very quickly that it goes 07:55 in a number of different directions. 07:57 Every day, in fact, it goes in a different direction, and we just 08:00 don't even have near the time to be able to kind of unpack all of 08:04 those different directions. 08:06 And so, Sunday's lesson and topic is going to be the core of 08:09 our particular study here today, and that is the God of History, 08:14 as it's entitled on that particular day. 08:16 And so, I want to start, first off, by returning to how the 08:20 Israelites got into Babylon in the first place because over 08:24 the last couple of months now as we're wrapping up this 08:27 particular quarter, we've discovered that, indeed, 08:31 God had brought the Israelites out of Israel, 08:34 the land of promise, the land that was flowing 08:36 with milk and honey, the land that God had 08:39 intended to be the headquarters of the light of the gospel 08:43 to the rest of the world. 08:46 And we find that sadly, the Israelites had failed on that, 08:50 even to the point where God had to come in and find them being 08:56 removed from that land, that Promised Land, and put into 09:01 a faraway land, an empire, by the name of Babylon. 09:06 So, come with me to Daniel chapter 1, and verses 1 and 2 09:09 as the lesson study points as to and let's read that together. 09:13 So, we're opening to the Book of Daniel and we're going 09:16 to the very first chapter in the first couple of verses there. 09:19 So, let's go to the introduction to that book. 09:22 Going to Daniel chapter 2-- and sorry, Daniel chapter 1, 09:27 and we're going to look at the first couple of verses there. 09:31 Daniel chapter 1, and verses 1 and 2. 09:35 It says, "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of 09:39 Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem 09:42 and besieged it. 09:45 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with 09:49 some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried 09:52 into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought 09:56 the articles into the treasure house of his god." 10:00 And so, we find here something very important. 10:02 Not only did God allow the king of Babylon and his army to be 10:05 able to come in and successfully conquer the capital of Israel, 10:09 Jerusalem, and capture the king, and, of course, became the ruler 10:16 of that particular land and then brought many of its captives 10:19 over as captive slaves into his land, but it also tells us that 10:23 not only did he bring people, but he also brought several of 10:27 the articles or items that were found in the holy temple of God 10:31 in Jerusalem as well. 10:33 And this was not an unusual practice. 10:36 In fact, we have discovered, or scholars, and historians, 10:41 archaeologists, have discovered that it was not an unusual 10:44 practice to be able to do that. 10:46 And so, this was not the first time that a king did this. 10:49 In fact, it was standard for a king if they came into a foreign 10:52 country and they were successful in conquering it, why they would 10:56 go into the temple, they would remove, more often than not, 10:59 they would remove the idol, or idols that represented in that 11:04 particular land and people in which they worshiped and some 11:07 of the sacred articles and so on in their different temples. 11:11 And then they would bring it to their temple, and this was kind 11:15 of a symbolic way of saying that our god is stronger than your 11:19 god, and he has given us victory over you as a people, 11:25 and therefore your god must be weaker. 11:28 And so, this is exactly what Nebuchadnezzar did as, again, 11:31 was a standard back in those days. 11:34 Now, of course, the big difference here is that these 11:36 items didn't belong to idols. 11:39 The articles that he brought out of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem 11:42 didn't belong to false gods, as Nebuchadnezzar had done 11:46 with other idols and articles and gods in other lands that he 11:50 conquered, but rather these particular items belonged to the 11:53 genuine God of heaven and earth. 11:58 And so, now he's dealing with the authentic God, now he's 12:01 dealing with the true creator of heaven and earth. 12:06 And so, yes, it is true that God had allowed the Babylonians to 12:11 conquer the Israelites, but we have to remember that God did 12:15 not allow the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar to conquer God. 12:20 And as it turns out, those temple items belonged, 12:24 not only to the Israelites, but they belonged to God. 12:27 And we're going to soon find out that God had made sure that he 12:31 watched over those articles, and that they were going 12:34 to return to the temple as well. 12:39 In the meantime, I want to look at a very important truth that 12:41 this unpacks for us on this particular day of study and that 12:46 is that God is the judge of all nations and all countries. 12:52 He is the creator of all people. 12:55 The Bible makes it very clear that there is no other source of 12:58 life, that God is the one that gives the breath of life, 13:01 not only to the Israelites, not only to the Moabites, 13:04 and to the Ammonites, and to the Egyptians in that part 13:08 of the world, but also to the Europeans, and to the Asians, 13:11 and to the Africans, and to North Americans. 13:14 God is the creator of all people, amen? 13:17 And so, it's very important for us to understand the Bible makes 13:21 this very clear as you go through many of its different 13:23 prophets and writings, that God is an international God. 13:27 And it's important for us to understand that. 13:31 This is also reflected in the New Testament. 13:34 This is why when Jesus, after His resurrected--resurrection, 13:38 just before He sent it to His Father in heaven, He had given 13:41 very specific instructions to his apostles. 13:44 And He said, "Go therefore and make disciples 13:46 of the entire Middle East." 13:49 Is that what He said? 13:52 No, He said, "Go make disciples of all nations, all nations, 13:55 baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 13:59 and of the Holy Spirit," why? 14:03 Because Jesus didn't die on the cross just for the Israelites. 14:06 He didn't just die on the cross for those in that part of the 14:08 world, but rather He died for the sins of the entire world, of 14:14 all humanity and all nations. 14:17 And sometimes we can lose sight of that when we're reading the 14:19 Bible if we're not looking for it and allowing that truth 14:23 to come out to us because there's so much focus on the 14:27 Middle East, there's so much focus on the core of the Middle 14:29 East, which is the nation of Israel, God's special nation 14:33 and had a special mission. 14:36 By the way, when we look at the three angels' messages of 14:39 Revelation 14, again, we find an international God with an 14:42 international message for the whole world. 14:46 Okay, "And therefore I saw another angel flying in the 14:48 midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach 14:50 to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people." 14:56 And so, again, we have this comprehensive international 15:00 message from an international God, and we don't want 15:06 to lose sight of that. 15:08 You know, one of the things that makes each succeeding 15:11 GC session, and when I say GC I'm kind of speaking in house. 15:14 If you're not a Seventh Day Adventist, GC is an acronym 15:17 we use for General Conference, which is kind of the, 15:21 how can I say? 15:23 It's the business meeting or board meeting 15:24 for the entire world church 15:27 and organization of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. 15:29 And so, there's delegates and representatives from 15:32 all the different nations in which we have a presence, 15:36 a church school, a church, and so on, that come together 15:39 every five years. 15:42 And during that time, we kind of make world decisions and 15:45 policies in regards to the world church. 15:48 And not only that, but we also give world reports, mission 15:51 reports, how has the Lord led in the last five years in regards 15:55 to the three angels' message and gospel commission 15:59 that God has given to us? 16:02 And what makes each GC session more and more exciting is that 16:05 we see more and more nations represented each time we get 16:09 together at the end of each five years. 16:12 And so, I don't hear a lot of amens out there, but we should 16:15 be excited about that because that is something that we should 16:19 be paying attention to because that's the greatest sign 16:23 and the only sign of the times that we are involved in. 16:27 You know, Jesus had said in Matthew chapter 24, 16:29 and verse 14, and I hope you know that one because 16:33 that's the most important sign. 16:35 "And this gospel will be preached in all the world 16:37 as a witness to all nations," how many nations? 16:40 "All nations and then the end will come." 16:43 And so, the more we see nations represented at the GC each 16:47 session, the more closer we are to the coming of Jesus Christ. 16:52 And I don't know about you, but I can't wait until Jesus comes. 16:56 That's another thing we have to be careful 16:58 that we don't lose sight of. 17:00 You can get so wrapped up in this world and things of this 17:01 world, we forget that Jesus is coming, and we start 17:05 to lose that hope and anticipation. 17:09 God has called us to be Seventh Day Adventists, people that are 17:12 excited about the return of Jesus. 17:15 You know, one of the favorite parts, by far, for me whenever 17:18 I have the privilege of attending a GC session 17:21 is the Parade of Nations. 17:24 And so, some of you have been there. 17:26 How many have been to the Parade of Nations? 17:28 Raise your hands if you've been there, I see a few hands 17:30 that are risen. 17:32 If you haven't been there, boy, if you can be at the closing 17:34 weekend of a GC session, that's when you have 17:36 the highest attendance. 17:38 We have some huge stadium with 40,000, 50,000 people 17:40 worshiping on Sabbath morning at the same time. 17:44 And that, alone, is just an amazing, awesome experience. 17:49 But then to be able to have the Parade of Nations, which kind of 17:52 is the climax of the GC session where you have all these nations 17:56 parading in their different cultural garb, wear, clothes, 18:03 their flags, and so on, as they parade across 18:07 the platform and so on. 18:09 It's just a marvelous experience. 18:12 So, I know if you've been there, you know what that's like. 18:14 If you haven't, try to be there, or at least watch it on TV 18:17 or online as we have it streamed and so on nowadays. 18:22 So, even though Israel was his key nation, the key nation of 18:25 God in Old Testament times, indeed, God had created 18:28 that nation for a very specific important purpose. 18:33 God has always been involved in the workings of all nations. 18:36 And so, just because the focus has been more on the Middle East 18:39 doesn't mean that God hasn't been paying attention to China 18:42 or to Japan or to Nigeria or to Tasmania. 18:45 You know, He's looking at all these nations and always has. 18:49 You know, God is the God of all nations. 18:53 And so, it's important for us to understand that. 18:56 Now, in extension of that, the Bible also makes it very clear 18:59 that because God is the creator, and He is the maker of all 19:04 things, He's the one that is really in charge 19:07 of the universe. 19:09 He's also the one that needs to be able to draw, as we might 19:12 say, a metaphorical line in the sand for each and every nation. 19:17 So, in other words, as each nation rises up, and certainly 19:19 history tells us that different nations have risen up in 19:23 different times replacing previous nations and such, that 19:27 each nation, God draws a line in the sand, if we could say, 19:31 and He says, "You know, if you start to move towards rebellion, 19:35 and wickedness and evil and so on, once you come to that line 19:40 and you cross that line, you put Me in a very difficult situation 19:46 because then I have to have to execute judgment. 19:50 I have to bring some kind of punishment upon that nation 19:55 for that sin and for that wickedness." 19:59 And so, it's important for us to understand, 20:01 God is longsuffering. 20:03 He said that more than once through 20:05 His first Bible writer, Moses. 20:07 Moses understood it in God, he saw it in God certainly, 20:09 as Moses was losing it more often with the Israelites 20:13 than God did. 20:15 As the Israelites were rebellious and complaining and 20:17 murmuring and causing problems and so on, we find that God 20:20 was very longsuffering, and God is still longsuffering. 20:24 And I hope you can say amen to that as well, 20:27 because He's still working on you and me, isn't He? 20:29 And so, even the sincerest of us need a longsuffering God 20:32 because, you know, that grace and mercy as we grow in the 20:35 grace and sanctification of God is important to be able to have. 20:41 But longsuffering is not endless suffering. 20:44 In other words, God has a check on all evil in all nations. 20:49 And so, once you cross that line in the sand, then we find there 20:55 that God's longsuffering comes to an end, judgment 21:00 and punishment then follows. 21:02 Now, we can see this played out and living color as we study the 21:06 Bible, in particular, in regards to the lesson study and Ezra's 21:09 day and Nehemiah's day and even previous to that, 21:12 as we're backing up a little bit, when we study 21:14 the Bible record about Israel and the old empire of Babylon 21:18 that was existing back then. 21:20 Now, we've already studied and learned in the past lessons that 21:23 God had declared a 70-year period in which the Israelites 21:28 would find themselves exiles, removed from the Promised Land. 21:33 And this is what we could call an imprisonment. 21:36 This is their punishment term. 21:39 You know, God came up with a verdict, and He said, "Okay, 21:41 because of your wickedness, because you have come, not only 21:43 to that line, but you've crossed that line into deep wickedness, 21:48 deep apostasy, there's no other choice." 21:51 And so, God then exile them over into Babylon. 21:56 And He said, "Now your term is going to be 70 years of 22:00 imprisonment as slaves and captives in this foreign land." 22:06 But at the same time, I think it's also understand, important 22:09 understand as we look at the big picture starting with Genesis, 22:12 and we'll be looking at that momentarily, God reveals that 22:16 He understands, not only that when we cross that line 22:19 as a nation that God has to bring some kind of punishment 22:22 and judgment upon us, but He also understands that when 22:26 that is going to come even before it comes. 22:30 God knows the beginning from the end. 22:32 And so, not only that was that 70-year period and imprisonment 22:36 and punishment period for the Israelites, but it was also what 22:39 we could call a probationary period for the empire 22:43 of Babylon. 22:46 Now, God is not only the God of Israel, but He's also the God 22:49 of Babylon, isn't He? 22:52 Okay, He's the God of all nations. 22:53 And so, He's not only interested in the workings of Israel, 22:56 He's also interested in the workings of Babylon. 22:59 And by the way, when you look at prophets, particularly Isaiah 23:04 and Jeremiah, you'll find that there'll be all kinds of 23:07 different prophecies and declarations that God gives, 23:11 not to Israel, but to Moab and to Ammon and to Edom 23:15 and to all kinds, Egypt, many of the different 23:18 international nations 23:20 that the Bible writers were aware of in their world and time 23:24 that God was proclaiming different proclamations, sadly, 23:27 many of them, judgments on them as well. 23:32 And so, God knew that this was a probationary period for Babylon. 23:36 And we can find that for both of these in one of the most 23:39 fascinating passages, and we're going to back up from Daniel now 23:42 and go to the Prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 25. 23:46 And so, again, open your Bibles and come with me, Jeremiah 23:49 chapter 25, and we're going to start with verse 7. 23:54 Jeremiah chapter 25, and we're going to start with verse 7. 24:03 Jeremiah chapter 5-- or 25, I should say, 24:06 and verse 7 it says, and this is God. 24:09 It says, "Yet you have not listened to Me, says the Lord." 24:13 Now, this is God speaking to Israel. 24:15 "Yet you have not listened to Me, says the Lord, that you 24:17 might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands 24:21 to your own hurt." 24:23 You see that, friends? 24:25 God always has our best interest in mind, doesn't He? 24:28 You know, sometimes we don't feel that way because we want 24:31 to go this way and God is saying going that way. 24:34 And we say, "Yeah, but I want to go this way." 24:37 You know, and then God, you know, doesn't bless us 24:40 and things don't go well in life and such. 24:42 But God always says, "Listen, if you're going this way, 24:46 He says this way, He's not saying this way 24:48 because He wants to be a stick in the mud. 24:51 He's saying go this way because this is the best way for you, 24:55 not for God but ultimately, for you. 24:58 And sometimes we have a hard time of being convinced of that. 25:03 The Israelites certainly did. 25:05 He said anger with the works of your hand to your own hurt. 25:08 God had their best interest in mind. 25:10 Verse 8, "Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: 25:12 'Because you have not heard My words, 9 behold, 25:15 I will send and take all the families of the north,' 25:18 says the Lord, 'and Nebuchadnezzar the king 25:20 of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this 25:25 land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all 25:28 around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them 25:32 an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations." 25:36 So, this is the judgment and declaration upon 25:39 verdict upon Israel. 25:41 "Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice 25:43 of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice 25:45 of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light 25:48 of the lamp. 25:50 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, 25:52 and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon," 25:55 for how long? 25:57 Seventy years, there it is. 25:59 Okay, many of us have read Daniel chapter 9 where Daniel 26:01 claims that verse, you know, as the 70 years were coming 26:05 to its conclusion. 26:07 And God kind of threw a curveball at him in the vision 26:09 that he gave him in the previous chapter, in chapter 8 and 26:14 sounded like maybe it's going to be decades, maybe centuries 26:17 before the sanctuary will be we rebuilt and cleansed on the Day 26:22 of Atonement, and so on and so, Daniel claims that 70 years. 26:27 Verse 12 it says, "Then it will come to pass, when seventy years 26:30 are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and 26:36 that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,' 26:39 says the Lord; 'and I will make it a perpetual desolation." 26:46 And see, you see that double judgment, friends? 26:49 We see that God is not only watching the workings and 26:52 keeping track of what's going on in Israel, but He's also doing 26:55 so in the nation of Babylon because He's also the God 26:57 of Babylon and of all nations. 27:00 He's interested in all peoples at all times, in all places. 27:05 And so, God says, "Listen, not only am I declaring judgment 27:09 and a verdict on Israel, but also on Babylon." 27:14 And so, God is basically saying, "Listen, even before the 27:16 70 years come to its pass, to its conclusion, I understand 27:21 that that's when Babylon is going to cross that line 27:23 in the sand, and I'm going to need to be able to punish them 27:27 for their iniquity, for their evil in sin, as well." 27:32 Now, we don't want to get confused when it says here that 27:35 Nebuchadnezzar was God's servant as we read in verse 9. 27:38 And it's because we can walk away from that and say, "Well, 27:40 wow, Nebuchadnezzar must have been a devout man 27:42 of the true God of heaven." 27:44 Well, no. 27:47 What this is really revealing is that Nebuchadnezzar really 27:48 wasn't walking or knew God in any way, as the evidence reveals 27:52 in the Bible, especially in the Book of Daniel, but rather 27:56 instead, God is calling him His servant because Nebuchadnezzar, 28:00 despite his own understandings, because Nebuchadnezzar, right up 28:04 to his conversion, we'll talk about that in a moment, 28:06 understood that he was in control of his life and that he 28:10 was doing everything under his own power and his own might 28:13 and his own abilities and such. 28:15 And so, he didn't know it, but God was actually using him 28:18 for his purposes. 28:20 And so, he was a servant, even though he didn't know it. 28:23 And this reveals another very important theological truth 28:26 of the Bible and that is that God is sovereign. 28:30 God is sovereign over all things at all times 28:33 in all the universe, including here on earth. 28:37 And so, even though he refers to the evil one is the prince of 28:39 this world, the prince of the world really is just, you know, 28:42 he's still subject to God. 28:47 And God is always ten steps ahead of the devil. 28:50 Never think that the devil as ahead of God. 28:52 You know, sometimes we give the devil too much credit 28:55 and say, "Well, the devil is really winning in this case." 28:57 No, he's not. 28:59 The devil never wins. 29:00 He's never winning, God is always ten steps ahead of him. 29:04 So, never, never give the devil more credit 29:06 than he really deserves. 29:09 God is the one that's sovereign, not the devil. 29:11 Never is the devil sovereign. 29:13 And so, it's important for us to understand. 29:16 And so, when He calls him His servant, God is declaring 29:18 His sovereignty. 29:21 He's the one that reigns upon this earth 29:23 and upon the universe. 29:26 Now, the fascinating thing about Nebuchadnezzar is that 29:28 eventually he does become God's servant, not just because God 29:32 is sovereign in spite of Nebuchadnezzar's rebellion 29:35 and sin, but Nebuchadnezzar actually finds God 29:38 in his heart eventually. 29:40 And so, one of the most fascinating chapters that you 29:42 can read in all of the Scriptures is found in Daniel 29:44 chapter 4 because in Daniel chapter 4, we find a new man. 29:48 We find a different person altogether, and that's the king 29:53 of this particular ancient nation. 29:56 And so, Nebuchadnezzar does eventually find a conversion 29:59 experience, and you can only imagine the influence that that 30:04 had on the nation of Babylon. 30:06 Would it be an influence for good or would it be 30:08 an influence for evil? 30:11 This is an easy question. 30:14 An the influence for--I mean for good, wouldn't it, okay? 30:18 It would be an influence for good. 30:21 So, here we have the most powerful man and the superpower 30:24 of the world. 30:26 He's the king of Babylon, and he goes through seven years, 30:30 through a very humbling experience when he's 30:32 reestablished on the throne, he is real established 30:35 as a brand-new person. 30:38 And so, how he handled--I guess, he really believed in religious 30:41 liberty because I always wondering, how did he handle 30:43 that Marduk, and all the other gods and idols and, you know, 30:46 all the false religion that was so rampant throughout 30:49 his capital and everything. 30:51 And so, I suppose that he understood that, you know, 30:54 the religious liberty, like here in the United States. 30:57 You know, you can--you have the liberty and the right to be 31:02 wrong in regards to your religion. 31:06 And so, you know, you can follow any religion that you want. 31:10 And so, Nebuchadnezzar still said, "But as for me and my 31:14 house, we will serve the Lord." 31:18 And so, you can only imagine the what influence that had for good 31:22 and what check that head on evil for a time, at least during 31:25 his lifetime, of the remainders of his lifetime. 31:29 And so, that extended it. 31:31 But even in spite of that influence, God still knew, even 31:33 before Nebuchadnezzar was converted, that indeed Babylon 31:37 eventually after Nebuchadnezzar's death 31:39 and his ancestors, Belshazzar, in particular, his grandson, 31:44 would take the throne and he would move into 31:47 a direction of rebellion and evil to the point where 31:50 he crosses that line in the sand at the conclusion 31:53 of the 70-year period. 31:55 And so, it's fascinating. 31:57 God knows all history before it ever takes place, and God is 31:58 sovereign over all things. 32:02 And so, that's important for us to be able to pick up. 32:07 Now, the Bible's revelation is that God is sovereign 32:10 and uses that to bring a check on evil. 32:12 And I don't know about you, but that brings great hope to me 32:15 because I don't know if you've noticed, but evil has a way of 32:19 rising up in different places, in different nations 32:23 on a regular basis. 32:25 You know, I don't know about you, but every time I watch the 32:28 news, it just keeps revealing that there's more and more evil, 32:30 you know, we just snuff out ISIS, and, you know, Al Qaeda, 32:33 and then ISIS rises up. 32:35 And then we're going to stuff out ISIS, and some other-- 32:37 you know, there's always evil that continues to rise up in 32:41 different measures, in different forms, in different nations 32:44 at different times, you know, and so on. 32:48 Well, God is keeping track of all those things as well, and 32:51 He's bringing a check to them. 32:53 And so, that's important for us to understand, especially 32:58 if we're involved and victims of that evil. 33:02 You know, if you find yourself in World War II in Germany, some 33:07 of these other nations that were conquered by the Nazi regime and 33:10 such, you know, there was great atrocities and evil that took 33:16 place during that time. 33:18 And most of that evil wasn't discovered by the rest of us 33:21 nations, including Americans, until the World War was 33:25 complete, until the Nazi regime and Hitler was defeated. 33:29 And so, to the American soldiers and other European soldiers that 33:33 came in, they were horrified to find these gas chambers that 33:37 were designed for mass extermination of millions of 33:41 Jews, pastors, Christians, homosexuals, you know, 33:46 just this massive massacre of precious human beings. 33:53 And so, but God knew. 33:56 God understood that, and even though He lets evil extend 33:59 for a time, He always has that line 34:01 and He brings a check to it. 34:04 And so, that's important for us to understand. 34:08 In Daniel chapter 2 and verse 21, it tells us that He changes 34:11 times and He changes season. 34:13 He removes kings, and He also lifts up kings as well. 34:19 And so, God is really in charge of all things. 34:22 He is sovereign. 34:24 It also tells us the sovereignty of God, the Most High rules in 34:27 the kingdom of man and gives it to whoever He chooses. 34:32 And so, you know, sometimes we think we're in charge, you know. 34:38 You know, it's important to vote in a democracy, but even in 34:40 democracy, God is still sovereign, you know, 34:43 because there's no perfect democracy. 34:45 Have you noticed that in the United States here? 34:48 You know, there's no perfect democracy. 34:50 You know, we don't even know how many people are voting, 34:52 and who's voting, who's legitimate, who's not legit. 34:54 I mean, there's all kinds of holes even in democracy, 34:57 isn't it? 34:59 You know, as powerful and beautiful as that principle 35:01 and practice is, and we need to be able to preserve 35:03 and protect that. 35:05 It's not perfect, is it? 35:07 And then we got all kinds of smears and lies, and we don't 35:10 know what's the truth, what's fake on news and TV and every, 35:15 you know, all this information's coming at us and we're trying 35:18 to make the best decision when we vote. 35:20 And God is looking upon all that, and He's still placing the 35:23 person that He has in store. 35:28 He's sovereign over all of us, and it's important for us to be 35:33 able to understand that. 35:35 It is Him that lifts up kings and brings down kings. 35:38 It is Him who removes and gives kingdoms to men according 35:43 to who He chooses. 35:47 Genesis chapter 15, I want to invite you to come to one of my 35:51 favorite passages there because it just, on this subject anyway, 35:55 and it's just probably the first revelation of God's sovereignty 36:01 and His judgmentship, if I could use that word. 36:08 Genesis chapter 15 and verse 13 onwards. 36:16 Genesis chapter 15 and verse 13. 36:21 So, we're going to read it right through to verse 16. 36:24 Okay, so Genesis chapter 15, and this is back in Abraham's time. 36:28 His name is Abram at this point, but it's Abraham later. 36:31 "Then He said to Abram: 'Know certainly that your descendants 36:34 will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve 36:39 them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.'" 36:41 Now, what nation was that? 36:44 That was Egypt, wasn't it? 36:46 Okay, doesn't name it here, but, of course, later on the 36:50 Scriptures and history tells us it was Egypt. 36:53 "They will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, 36:56 and will serve them, and they will afflict them 400 years. 36:59 And also the nation whom they serve," I will? 37:03 I will judge. 37:05 So, there's God the judge, not only of Israel, 37:07 but also of Egypt. 37:08 "Afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 37:11 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; 37:13 you shall be buried at a good old age. 37:16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here," 37:20 that's the Promised Land where Abraham is presently, 37:25 for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." 37:30 Now, isn't that fascinating? 37:33 This is no small verse, this is no small passage, this is a huge 37:37 passage in regards to the sovereignty and the judgeship of 37:42 God, and God is looking upon all the nations, and He is keeping 37:47 track of the workings of every single nation of human beings. 37:52 And it tells us there that the iniquity of the Amorites 37:56 was not yet complete. 37:58 Now, the fascinating thing is that If you go back just a 38:01 couple of chapters, or even just one chapter of Genesis chapter 38:04 14, verse 13, we find there the context is Lot, the nephew of 38:09 Abraham, as well as the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah 38:12 were taken captive by some kings in the north and taken away. 38:16 And so, Abraham decides that he's going to take his militia 38:20 in his own camp with 318 trained men and servants of his camp, 38:25 and rescue them. 38:27 But he doesn't go alone. 38:29 He actually brings with him another army, 38:31 another military ally that he has. 38:34 And as it turns out, they are Amorites. 38:37 They're three brothers, and they're all Amorites. 38:40 And so, he joins and hence, the only other military and people 38:44 that he's politically and militarily aligned with is the 38:48 Amorites, why? 38:51 Because the Amorites were the most righteous in the land. 38:55 They had not yet filled their iniquity or their cup of 38:58 iniquity, if we might say. 39:00 And so, that's why we find that Abraham is in alliance with them 39:04 and, of course, they successfully rescued Lot in 39:06 Sodom and Gomorrah. 39:08 And so, the Lord tarried for 400 years because the probation 39:13 of the Amorites had not yet been complete. 39:16 They had not come to that line and crossed 39:18 that line of wickedness yet. 39:21 And so, there's three key reasons why God allowed 39:25 the Israelites to slug it out as long as they did, 39:29 400 years in the land of Egypt. 39:32 Well, number one, this is a sideline, they needed to grow 39:35 large enough to be able to see the nation. 39:37 You know, right now, they only was about 70 year, or not even, 39:40 in Abraham's day was. 39:42 And so, you know, with his camp, there was, you know, several 39:45 hundred, but the family itself, you know, was just a few dozen. 39:50 So, it wasn't nearly enough to seed a nation, and so they 39:52 needed to grow into the millions, which they did, 39:55 to seed a nation. 39:57 Number two, the Amorites did cross that line in the sand yet, 39:59 and so God had to wait. 40:01 And then also, the Egyptians had not also completed their 40:04 iniquity because when God came in and He set the captives free, 40:10 He set the Israelites free, He also brought judgment upon 40:14 the nation of Egypt, and He uses that language. 40:17 And so, probation for the Amorites and the Egyptians 40:20 had not yet been complete. 40:22 God's longsuffering was still being applied. 40:26 And so, that's the fascinating thing about this sovereignty of 40:29 God and His--and how He judges nations. 40:32 Now, this is paralleled again at the conclusion of the 70 years 40:34 of the Israelites who were captive slaves 40:37 in the land of Babylon. 40:39 And when they come to the conclusion of that probationary 40:42 period, it's the time to release the Israelites but also bring 40:46 judgment upon Babylon, we find that Daniel chapter 5 40:50 is the key chapter. 40:53 And I think we have just enough time to read through that, 40:55 so come with me to Daniel chapter 5 because we're going 40:58 to park there and just go through the chapter 41:01 because it doesn't take a lot of commentary or explanation. 41:05 It is such a powerful chapter in of itself. 41:08 And so, I just want to invite you to read through it with me 41:12 and we find that on Sunday's lesson, it says in verse 1, 41:16 Belshazzar--now this is the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar now. 41:20 "The king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, 41:23 and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. 41:26 While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to 41:29 bring the gold and silver vessels which his father 41:32 Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in 41:35 Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, 41:40 and his concubines might drink from them. 41:43 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from 41:46 the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem;" 41:51 ouch, "and the king and his lords, his wives, 41:55 and his concubines drank from them." 42:00 Now, if these were the vessels of Marduk or Asherah or Baal 42:08 or some of these false gods, nothing would have-- 42:12 would have come to nothing. 42:14 But these don't belong to a false god, do they? 42:16 These vessels belong to the authentic God of the universe. 42:19 Verse 5, "They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold 42:22 and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. 42:27 In the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote 42:30 opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the 42:33 king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 42:38 Then the king's countenance changed." 42:42 Okay, before that, he was full of arrogance, and confidence, 42:44 and pride. 42:46 "His thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were 42:48 loosened and his knees knocked against each other." 42:52 Now, friends this is probably an exaggeration to a real degree, 42:54 but really what Daniel's trying to say in the strongest way is 42:57 this, this guy started to fall apart very, very quickly. 43:02 "The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, 43:04 the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. 43:07 The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, 43:09 'Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, 43:12 shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around 43:15 his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.' 43:20 Now all the king's wise men--" 43:22 In other words, he'll be the third most powerful leader 43:24 in the kingdom. 43:26 "Now all the king's wise men came, but they could not read 43:28 the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation." 43:31 Does that sound familiar? 43:33 Yeah, if you read Daniel chapter 2, this is kind of a repeat 43:35 as Nebuchadnezzar experienced. 43:37 "Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his 43:40 countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished. 43:43 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords--" 43:47 Now, this is probably not his wife because his wives, 43:50 you know, probably including his first wife. 43:55 And concubines were with him in the party, but this is probably 43:58 the queen, this is probably his grandmother. 44:02 And so, this is probably a surviving wife 44:04 of the previous king. 44:06 And so, "The queen, because of the words of the king 44:08 and his lords, came to the banquet hall. 44:11 The queen spoke, saying, 'O king, live forever! 44:14 Do not let your thoughts trouble you, 44:16 nor let your countenance change. 44:18 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit 44:20 of the Holy God. 44:22 And in the days of your father--'" 44:24 Now, when they use the term "father," don't get confused. 44:27 Father was a term to anybody that was previous to you and any 44:30 of your ancestor, that could be your father, your grandfather, 44:32 your great grandfather. 44:35 "Your father, light and understanding and wisdom, 44:37 like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King 44:40 Nebuchadnezzar your father-- your father the king-- 44:43 made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, 44:45 and soothsayers. 44:48 Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, 44:50 interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas 44:53 were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, 44:56 now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation. 45:01 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. 45:03 The king spoke, and said to Daniel, 'Are you that Daniel 45:05 who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my father 45:08 the king brought from Judah? 45:10 I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, 45:14 and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom 45:16 are found in you. 45:18 Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought 45:21 in before me, that they should read this writing and make known 45:23 to me its interpretation, but they could not give 45:25 the interpretation of the thing. 45:28 And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations 45:31 and explain enigmas. 45:33 Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its 45:35 interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a 45:37 chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the third ruler 45:40 in the kingdom. 45:43 Then Daniel answered, and said before the king," I like his 45:45 answer, "Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards 45:50 to another; for I will read the writing to the king, 45:53 and make known to him the interpretation." 45:55 He says, "Don't worry about the rewards, means nothing to me." 45:59 "O King, the Most High God decides--" 46:02 Daniel kind of saw the writing on the wall, he knew 46:04 what was coming down. 46:06 "O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father 46:11 a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. 46:13 And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, 46:15 nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. 46:18 Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, 46:20 he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; 46:23 and whomever he wished, he put down. 46:25 But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened 46:28 in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, 46:31 and they took his glory from him. 46:33 Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like 46:36 the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. 46:39 They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with 46:42 the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in 46:45 the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses. 46:52 But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, 46:58 although you knew all this." 47:04 So, you have to remember here that Belshazzar is not ignorant. 47:07 He's not in the dark in regards to his grandfather, 47:10 Nebuchadnezzar. 47:12 In fact, you can only imagine Nebuchadnezzar repeating that 47:15 more than once before he had gone to his grave. 47:19 "And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. 47:22 They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you 47:25 and your lords, your wives and your concubines, 47:27 have drunk wine from them. 47:30 And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and 47:33 iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; 47:36 and the God who holds your breath in His hand 47:39 and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. 47:44 Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, 47:47 and this writing was written. 47:49 And this is the inscription that was written: 47:52 MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 47:55 This is the interpretation of each word. 47:57 MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; 48:05 TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, 48:08 and found wanting." 48:10 Does it sound like a line in the sand has been crossed? 48:14 "PERES:" which is singular for a parson. 48:18 "Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes 48:22 and Persians. 48:26 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel 48:28 with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, 48:31 and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be 48:33 the third ruler in the kingdom of Babylon, of the kingdom. 48:38 And That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, 48:40 was slain. 48:44 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, 48:46 being about sixty-two years old." 48:49 And so, there we have it, friends, a powerful chapter that 48:52 tells us the conclusion of the judgment of Babylon, 48:57 and also the conclusion of the imprisonment 49:00 and the punishment of the Israelites. 49:02 Now, we don't want to get confused. 49:04 Darius the Mede certainly received the kingdom in that 49:07 part of the newly annexed area of Babylon that was annexed, 49:11 or added, to the territory now of the Medes and the Persians, 49:14 but that was not the new capital. 49:17 And so, the ultimate king in which the King Darius, 49:19 the Mede, answered to was King Cyrus. 49:23 Cyrus is the ultimate King. 49:25 And so, there was kings and then there were sub kings. 49:27 Darius was a sub king and the Median king, 49:30 but then we also have Cyrus, the Persian king. 49:33 Very much like in Jesus's day, we have King Herod who was the 49:37 king of Judea in Jesus's day, but was he the king of Rome, 49:41 of the Roman Empire? 49:43 No, okay, Caesar, okay was the king of the Roman Empire, 49:47 Nero and so on. 49:49 And so, well, you have kings and you have sub kings, 49:51 and so that's important for us to understand. 49:55 Well, that brings us to the conclusion Ezra chapter 1 and 49:58 verses 7 through 11, of course, that's one of the lists that the 50:01 lesson study brings out, and it's a list of the different 50:04 temple items that were returned. 50:06 And so, not only again were the Israelites permitted to go back 50:10 to Israel and rebuild the temple, but the very same items 50:15 that Belshazzar brought out and drank from so rebelliously and 50:20 so wickedly in great rebellion, we find then were rightfully 50:25 returned to the true God of heaven, again, 50:28 revealing that you never want to mess with God's people. 50:31 You never want to mess with God's things, because God 50:35 takes that very personally, and He is sovereign. 50:39 Well, we have an offer here that we offered at the beginning 50:42 in case you just joined our program beforehand-- 50:46 I mean, since we offered that at the beginning, 50:49 we want to make sure that you can take advantage of it. 50:51 It's a little booklet entitled, "The Armor Of God" written 50:53 by our senior pastor Doug Batchelor, 50:55 also the president of Amazing Facts Ministries, 50:58 and so please take advantage of that. 51:00 You can see the number on your screen. 51:02 And not only can you get a hard copy of that if you're in 51:05 America, Canada, or in one of the US territories, but you can 51:09 also get a digital copy of that and you can text it to the code, 51:13 or you can text the code SH101 51:16 and you just dial that to the number 40544. 51:20 Again, the information is on your screen. 51:22 God bless you until we see you next week. 51:24 And remember, God loves you and we love you too. 51:27 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 51:29 life-changing free resource. 51:31 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 51:33 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer 51:35 or mobile device. 51:37 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 51:40 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 51:45 shown on your screen. 51:47 And be sure to select the digital download option 51:49 on the request page. 51:51 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 51:53 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want 51:56 and most important, to share it with others. 52:04 announcer: Amazing Facts, changed lives. 52:11 male: My life was in turmoil. 52:14 My wife and I were fighting all the time. 52:16 I got away from everything and everybody. 52:19 I don't know, I just always had this emptiness 52:21 in my heart I wanted it filled. 52:24 I just felt like I went my whole life, you know, 52:26 just searching for something. 52:28 And my father died, and that ruined me a lot. 52:31 My father didn't believe in suicide, and I didn't want to 52:35 live but rather than disrespect him, I decided I would just 52:38 become so mean, someone else would do it to me 52:41 and I wouldn't have to. 52:43 So, I joined the army thinking what better place to get killed 52:45 than in the army? 52:47 And while I was in the army, my daughter got injured. 52:49 She was in an accident, and she was blind and paraplegic, 52:55 and it's just like I felt the whole world was 52:57 coming down on me. 52:59 One morning I just really got mad, and I gave God 53:02 a cussing like you wouldn't believe. 53:04 I said, "I'm not Moses, not Abraham, you know, I don't-- 53:09 but I put my sandals on just like they do. 53:11 And I'm a man. 53:13 I don't want to know why this is happening to me, I just want 53:15 to know that it's happening for a reason. 53:17 If you tell me right now this is all for reason, then you can 53:20 stack it on me from here to the end of time, 53:24 and I will never complain again." 53:27 And that little TV came on, had been sitting there 53:30 just static all night long. 53:33 And there was this minister well, he pops up and he says, 53:36 "Today's lesson's from the Book of Job, 53:38 God only lets those suffer that He loves the most." 53:41 And I said, "Well, that's all you have to say, Lord. 53:43 I appreciate that." 53:45 From that day forward, I knew that He was there 53:47 and He's in my life, and that He would help me. 53:50 I went to prison just almost immediately 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54:50 this is the center of my world right now." 54:54 And I said, "I really want you to be involved in it with me. 54:57 I need it." 54:59 And I said, "You will too if you ever just take hold of it." 55:02 I told my wife I said, "Listen, they've got this Amazing Facts 55:04 Bible Study on here, and this is the best way for you 55:08 to get this information, I think." 55:11 I said, "Because it's broken down, and they give you 55:15 questions and make you look for these things, you know, 55:21 so it's not anyone telling you, you find it on your own, 55:24 and they teach you to actually use the Bible." 55:27 She was there faithfully every Wednesday until we decided, 55:31 you know, she wanted to be baptized also. 55:35 She saw it coming around. 55:37 The choice was made. 55:39 In October 4, 2014, my wife and I were baptized in the water 55:44 at the same time, and we started our walk together, 55:50 I guess you'd say. 55:52 I went through everything that a man could possibly go through, 55:55 I guess, from marital trouble, loss of family members, 56:01 death of my family. 56:03 My children were harmed and my daughter 56:05 was handicapped for life. 56:08 I went to prison, but still, I kept my word to God 56:13 that He could stack it on me as much as He wanted, 56:16 and I'd never question Him, and I didn't. 56:19 But I could can say this much, He never put nothing on me 56:23 that I couldn't handle, and He walked with me. 56:27 And I'd like to say that anyone who is in prison, 56:33 not to give up, don't lose hope. 56:35 Put your faith in the Lord and study. 56:39 You seek Him and He will seek you. 56:41 And my name is Charlie Green, and I want you to know 56:44 that you and Amazing Facts have changed my life. 57:00 announcer: In six days, God created the heavens 57:02 and the earth. 57:04 For thousands of years, man has worshiped God 57:07 on the seventh day of the week. 57:09 Now, each week millions of people worship on the first day. 57:13 What happened? 57:15 Why 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Revised 2019-11-26