20240915_Daniel

[0:00] So, we need to pray for our government because what we're studying here in Daniel, we're talking about governments, really. We're talking about all the Gentile governments and empires that came in over the world, all the way back into the early AD 600s, all the way up to the fall of Rome, all the way up through the second coming.

[0:26] So, it's very interesting stuff. Some of it's pretty heavy, but it all is talking about governments and how the governments run and the weakness of these governments and the weaker they get.

[0:43] And so, let's have a word of prayer. Father, we just thank you this morning. We thank you for your amazing love and grace that you give to us every day of our lives. We just thank you for what you've done for us at the cross.

[0:56] We thank you. We praise you just to know that we have been forgiven of our sins. And we can come before you, not because of what we do, but because of what your son did at the cross.

[1:12] So, we thank you. We thank you for all these things. We thank you for your word. God, this is this morning as we go through your word here in Daniel. And we just ask these things this morning on our Lord and Savior's name, Jesus Christ. Amen.

[1:28] Okay. Last week, we got into chapter 2. And we had quite a few that weren't here last week.

[1:42] So, I've got some handouts that goes along with chapter 2. So, if anybody didn't get a handout, they are up here. Roger, you want to hand them out too, if anybody needs one?

[1:56] I'd appreciate it. I better keep one. Yeah, just one. Anyway, old Nebuchadnezzar had a dream.

[2:08] It was a dream that troubled him and his sleep left him. And he went out to his magicians.

[2:22] He went out to his sorcerers. All these people he depended on for all the religious stuff going on in that kingdom. And he said, tell me what this dream is, guys.

[2:36] I've got a bad dream here and I don't know what it means. Tell me what it is. Of course, they couldn't tell him what the dream was. And we went through that stuff where he said, no, I know you can interpret the dream.

[2:50] You might tell me anything. I want to know what did the dream say to begin with. And if you can tell me what the dream said, then you give me the interpretation of it.

[3:01] And I may trust you there, but I don't trust you just to say, oh, we'll give you an interpretation. So we went through that and finally it came down to the place. He said, okay, you guys are just pulling my leg.

[3:14] If you can't do this, then I'm going to put all of you to death. And that's what happened when you have a king that is absolute power. And that's what Nebuchadnezzar was.

[3:25] He was a king of this nation, empire. Now, there wasn't that many empires at that time. And this was a big empire. And he was the king, absolute ruler. All he had to do was say, you're done.

[3:40] He had signed the thing, and anything he said was done. And that's what kingship was all about back there during the biblical times. And that's what he did.

[3:51] And at that point, Daniel said, wait a minute. Those guys, we're just slaves here. We don't deserve to be killed. And neither do these people.

[4:01] So he said, take me to go see Nebuchadnezzar. And they took him in, and he says, King, I can do this. Just give me some time. So what did he do with his time?

[4:13] He allowed him to have the time. What did Daniel do? He called a prayer meeting, didn't he? He called a prayer meeting with his cohorts and said, let's pray about this.

[4:27] And they prayed about it, and God gave him the vision of what this was in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. And that's where we're going to be starting this morning.

[4:38] We got into all this, and let's see. We got into the kings. He had a dream. And this dream is about a statue. And that's what we're seeing here on this sheet.

[4:51] And a statue is made of gold. It's made of silver. It's made of bronze. It's made of iron. And the feet is made of iron and clay.

[5:05] And going through chapter 2, we kind of described what all this meant. And we found that the gold represented Babylon and the king, absolute ruler.

[5:20] The silver was a Persian empire that came in and defeated Babylon and the king. The bronze was a Greek empire that came in and became larger and defeated the Persian empire.

[5:37] And, of course, as we move on through history, then the iron comes in, and that's the Roman empire. And the Roman empire was a mighty, mighty empire that grew and grew until, you know, four or five hundred years after B.C., before it finally fell.

[5:56] And we haven't really had an empire since then. And we've had all kinds of multiple-type governments. Look at all the countries we have today.

[6:07] What have we got, 170-some countries in the world today? These countries have their own government. Some of them may not be good, but they have their own government. Some of them have their own financial systems.

[6:21] So it's just a mix and collaboration of all these things going on in the world today. And I think it all comes from this dream that Nebuchadnezzar had because he was showing this king, okay, king, you are here.

[6:37] You have absolute power. Now, who gave him that power? God allowed him to have this power. And he's using King Nebuchadnezzar.

[6:49] And he's going to find out through this dream that, hey, you may be powerful, but it's going to end.

[7:00] This power is going to end. So as we head on into that. And then we've seen that the Persians came in, defeated them. And what happened there?

[7:12] The Persians were more strong with military because they defeated the Babylonians. But was their government strong as the kings?

[7:25] No, it wasn't. Because now instead of an absolute power, absolute king that could do anything he wanted, now you had Persia, which had two coming in.

[7:39] So he had two people to run the government. So the government was weakening at that point. And after 100, 200 years then, the Greeks came in, which is the brass.

[7:54] And who do we think of when we talk about the Greeks? Yeah, Alexander the Great.

[8:05] He came in and he just wiped through the country as fast as he could go. And this man was only in his 20s when he died. And he captured all kinds of territory.

[8:18] And he did it very quickly. And what happened when he died? Broken into four parts because they had four generals. I mean, this man was a young man.

[8:31] When he died, I'm sure it just left him flustered. What are we going to do? Well, we've got these four generals. Let's put them in charge. Well, again, you've got strong military. But the government is weaker and weaker because you've got all these things you've got to go through to get something done.

[8:48] And then you get to the Roman Empire. It comes in. And we all know how strong Rome was. The military that they had, how strong it was.

[8:58] They had the influence and just went everywhere. You know, they conquered the world out there. This then-now world.

[9:08] And so that went for quite a few years. And we're finally going to get down to the feet, which is the iron and the clay mixed together.

[9:21] And what does that represent? That represents what we have today. All these countries. All these countries. All these leaders. All these different type governments.

[9:33] The United States with their own type of government. We call it democracy. democracy. It's different from most of the other countries. Although some of them are trying to imitate us.

[9:44] But it's not working. So there's all kinds of things that's happening in the world today that just makes you think, man. The time is coming. And it is.

[9:55] Of course, it's closer and closer. But we still can't come up with a time. We don't even try. So, let's start with, we ended up, I think, of Daniel 2.43.

[10:08] So let's start with that. In your Bibles, turn to Daniel 2.43. In that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in their descendants, but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not combine with pottery.

[10:29] The final revived Roman Empire that we see in the Western world today, with all its ethnic differences and all its political differences, yet they are in a federal Europe, also called the United States of Europe.

[10:42] This is the iron mixed with clay that the Scriptures predicts. They all have their ethnic differences, and even within the many European nations, you have many ethnic groups. So they'll mix themselves with a seed of men.

[10:56] In other words, they will not be a solid democracy, like we've seen in the United States. They're always going to have these differences of opinion. They can't even agree on a constitution.

[11:07] Most of these countries don't have a constitution that they can go to. It's that confusing in these countries. This revived Roman Empire, the coalition of empires coming down from 606 B.C.

[11:22] under Nebuchadnezzar, and down through the ancient Roman Empire, which disappeared and now has reappeared since World War II in what we call the European Union. All this coming together as we see it today brings globalism on every hand, and that's why we see the financial disaster and all that we're facing today and the political upheaval that we have.

[11:46] Just another step. God is designed to bring a world economics and world government and a world church. It's all coming together so fast.

[12:00] Daniel 2.44. In that day of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will never be left for another people.

[12:14] It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Of course, what are we talking about here? We're talking about that stone that goes in and breaks the foot, and we're talking about Jesus Christ.

[12:33] We're talking about God. We're talking about taking over, crushing these empires, and coming up not with a political type thing, but a spiritual thing.

[12:45] All this other stuff was Gentile nations. We're talking about governments. But when God comes in, we're not talking about a government here.

[12:56] We're talking about God's plan. And that is not a government. God is going to set everything straight. And that's what we're talking about. So it will crush those kingdoms and bring them to the end.

[13:10] It will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of the mountain, but not by human hands, a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold to pieces.

[13:23] This rock, of course, is God himself. Many times in the Old Testament, we see God as the protector of his people with metaphors of shielded fortresses, hidden places, keeper, refuge, rock, shade, shelter, and stronghold.

[13:41] God is seen as a great rock in which we hide, a hiding place, and a shade. These caves of the rocks are places where David and his men sought safely when they were being hunted by King Saul and his armies.

[13:55] And we see that all the way through the kings and the second kings and the chronicles, how God dealt with these guys when they were in trouble. He shielded them. He protected them. Yahweh is called a rock many times in Scripture.

[14:09] God, Messiah, Jesus Christ is also given this title in 1 Corinthians. He is the stone that the builders rejected in Matthew 21, referring to Isaiah 8, 14, which talks about the stone, the stone that unbelievers will stumble over in Romans 9, 32.

[14:28] And also Peter talks about the stone and the people stumbling. This coming kingdom of God will be temporal. Jesus declared the times have come.

[14:40] The kingdom of God is near. Mark 1, 15. Yes, it will be fully realized at Christ's coming, but it was established when he came to earth as Messiah.

[14:51] Divine, God will set it up. Not man. This is something that God is going to do. Eternal, this kingdom will never be destroyed or succeeded by another, but will endure forever.

[15:03] And like all the kingdoms and empires that preceded it, it will not fall. Nebuchadnezzar did not see his kingdom ever ending. He had this dream, and he saw these things.

[15:16] Can you imagine what he was thinking? Here's a guy that's a ruler of everything, and he's seeing visions of him being crushed.

[15:29] Now, I'm sure that really set him on fire. He's thinking, what in the world is going on? It's eternal, consuming. It will eventually crush all kingdoms and bring them to an end.

[15:41] Jesus himself is the rock, the divinest Messiah, who is the second coming, will destroy all kingdoms and substitute his own. Revelation 11, 15.

[15:52] The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and they were loud voices in heaven, which said, the kingdom of the world is to become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and they will reign forever and forever.

[16:07] Revelation 12, 10. Now have come to the salvation of power, the kingdom of God, and the authority of his Messiah. God will reign.

[16:19] The Messiah will reign. Jesus Christ will be ruler. Daniel 2, 45. Just as you saw that the stone was broken off from the mountain with hands, and it encrushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, and the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king and what will take place in the future so the dream is certain and the interpretation is trustworthy.

[16:46] The dream is certain and its interpretation is sure. Daniel didn't guess or analyze what was going on here. Through him, God announced the future.

[16:58] The only reason that God can predict history is because he can control it. God is in control. Now, he saw this picture of all this stuff that we're talking about, and how many years are we talking about?

[17:12] My goodness. Now, just stop and think a minute. Here, this pagan Oriental king, he got a picture of this in symbolism of the whole time of human history from 606 B.C.

[17:24] to the advent of eternity. No wonder he was all in shock. He knew that this was something special, and that's why he was ready to kill all the wise men of Babylon to get down to the root of this thing.

[17:40] It was the very picture of human history as we now look back on it. That's our advantage. When we look at the book of Daniel, we've got history.

[17:54] We know about these empires. We know what happened because of history. Nebuchadnezzar had no idea. The people had no idea.

[18:06] That's why a lot of people will say, hey, this book of Daniel, that's all baloney. All this stuff, it happened. Once it happened, then somebody sat down and wrote all this stuff to make it seem like it was a prophecy, something came from God.

[18:23] This God out there has made all this stuff in the future. It's all baloney. So, we have a lot of that today when they see Daniel.

[18:34] They don't believe it's prophecy. And now, turn to Daniel 246. Nebuchadnezzar honors Daniel.

[18:44] Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, paid humble to respect to Daniel, and gave orders to present him an offering and an incense.

[18:56] The king responded to Daniel and said, Your God truly is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets since you have been able to reveal this secret to me.

[19:08] Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief perfect over all the wise men of Babylon.

[19:21] And Daniel made a request of the king and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administration of the provinces of Babylon while Daniel was at the king's court.

[19:35] Wow. Wow. The king just turned around and gave this slave power of his kingdom. That's an amazing fact right there.

[19:49] Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face. Well, come on. Fell on his face. This great king was obviously impressed.

[19:59] He wasn't in the habit of showing such respect to anyone, especially a foreign slave. He was about to be executed with the rest of these people, the magicians and the sorcerers, when they couldn't interpret the dream.

[20:14] This confirmed that Daniel actively poured the dream and skillfully explained its meaning to Nebuchadnezzar. Your God is the God of gods. Nebuchadnezzar knew that it wasn't Daniel himself that revealed these things, but Daniel's God revealed it through Daniel.

[20:31] Daniel wanted the glory to go to God, and it did. Now, where this comes from is when Daniel first went to Nebuchadnezzar, what did he say?

[20:43] He said, I can't interpret this, but I have a God in heaven who will show me what this dream is. And Nebuchadnezzar remembered that.

[20:54] So he said, there is a God, your God, in heaven, and he knew that. So, that was quite amazing. The king promoted Daniel. Not only had his life been spared, but he was reported to high places.

[21:09] In summary, verse 29 says that the king dream came at a time when he was thinking about his future. As he contemplated his vast kingdom and all that he had created and achieved, God gave him a vision that showed the whole thing being destroyed, coming to nothing.

[21:27] The king had learned that the greatness of his kingdom met nothing. It would be reduced to shaft and blown away. What happens when the feet of iron and clay and the rock comes and hits it?

[21:44] As you see on your statue here, it's a massive statue. Now, this was all in a dream that he saw this. But what happens if the feet are weak and something hits him?

[21:56] What happens? It crumbles. You fall. And that's exactly what the interpretation of this means. All these things, all these great kingdoms, in the end, God is going to strike the feet and it's just going to topple over.

[22:13] It'll go what it does. So, the king had to learn that the greatness of his kingdom meant nothing. It was reduced to shaft and blown away. also, you need to remember that our lives will pass through a fire and that test will test our works.

[22:32] Only that which is built upon the foundation of the true stone, Jesus Christ, will remain. We see that in 1 Corinthians 13.10. Any questions about chapter 2?

[22:44] Chapter 2 is really the basis for this whole book of Daniel and we'll see that as we go through it. So, it's, it was a fascinating dream, all the things that were coming out there.

[22:58] Any comments or questions about chapter 2 before we move on? Okay, chapter 3. In Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzar, as we go through in each chapter, we'll see what king is there because it's going to change as time goes on.

[23:19] And Nebuchadnezzar creates a gold statue of himself and requires all the people to bow down to it whenever the music played. The overriding theme for this chapter is a faithfulness of God in the face of persecution.

[23:34] God's deliverance of those who stand firm in their faith. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven and above or on earth.

[23:49] You shall not bow down to them or worship them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. We see that in Exodus 20 verses 3 and 5.

[24:01] In the Ten Commandments, it clearly states that the Jews are not to bow down to or worship any other gods or even make a graven image. Israel was commanded to serve God alone and thus all idols were forbidden.

[24:17] When Israel enters Cana, God said in Deuteronomy, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

[24:28] You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth.

[24:44] You shall not worship them or serve them for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God visiting the inequity of the fathers on the children and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me.

[24:59] When the Israelites defeated their enemies and took the images of their gods, they were destroyed to destroy them. They were not to keep them even for the value of their medals. God specifically forbidden the Israels to avoid satisfying their curiosity about how the idols were used.

[25:19] And we see this. What did God tell these people when they finally got to Cana? And they're going to cross into the promised land. He said, go, conquer, kill everybody.

[25:35] Don't take the idols. Don't worship these idols. Have nothing to do with these idols. And Israel went in.

[25:46] They captured. But what did they do? They didn't take everybody, did they? They also took some of the idols. And that's just the story of Israel. Good with God, bad with God, all the way through the Old Testament.

[26:02] So, that's what was going on. Deuteronomy 7, 25, the graven images of their gods are to be burned with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves or you will be snared by it for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.

[26:22] You shall not bring an abomination into your house and like it come under the band. You shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly adhor it for it is something that is banned.

[26:37] Let's turn to chapter 3 verse 1. So, what did old Nebuchadnezzar do? Nebuchadnezzar, the king, made a statue of gold the height which was 60 cubits.

[26:55] It's width six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. This seems to be a discernible link between Nebuchadnezzar's dream, doesn't it, and the image he made in this chapter.

[27:10] It seems that Nebuchadnezzar deliberately made an entire stature of gold to say that the day of his reign or authority would never end in contradiction to God's declared plan we saw just in chapter 3.

[27:27] So, what is he saying? He's kicking back. He said, oh no, I am the ultimate king. Here's a statue you need to see completely of gold, not just the head, completely of gold.

[27:42] gold. When the king learned from his dream in chapter 2 that the mix of races weakened the last kingdom, he set his mind to solve this problem. How could he change the course of history?

[27:53] How could he eliminate the fatal flaws of that final kingdom to prolong his glory as the head of gold? Well, very simple. Just build a complete thing of gold and say everybody has to worship this idol.

[28:09] The king erects a statue to solidify his dominion by unifying the many races and nations under his rule with a common religion and object of worship.

[28:21] This proposed a serious threat to the Jews. The other nations who believed in more than one God simply added his idol to the list of deities to worship. So, most of the people there in Babylon, when the king came out and said, bow down and worship this idol, they said, ah, okay, no big deal.

[28:45] We can do that. We have all kinds of gods, so why not? So they could bow down to anybody. This posed a serious threat to the Jews, however.

[28:57] And why was that? God told them, right? You are not to bow down to any idol. The other nations who believe in more than God simply added his idol to their list of deities to be worshiped.

[29:12] The Jews, however, worship God alone. They could not be faithful to their God and worship anything, anyone, or anything else. Humanly speaking, if the king's command stood, it could mean the end of the Jewish faith.

[29:27] Just think. that's a possibility. These four guys, Daniel wasn't involved in this chapter. I don't know what Daniel was doing.

[29:40] I don't know why he wasn't also put on this, but he wasn't. He had been made head of this nation, part of this kingdom. So maybe he was eliminated, where he didn't have to do this.

[29:52] I don't know what was going on at that point, but it doesn't say Daniel. This chapter just involves the other three. An image of gold.

[30:03] The image was tall, slender, tapered, mounted, with four sides being 90 feet high and nine feet wide, being so large it is safe to say that it was not made of solid gold, but probably wood overlaid with gold.

[30:17] This was common in the method of construction in the ancient world. I mean, all through the Bible you see all this stuff about gold and everything was gold and all these things.

[30:28] A lot of it was done with the wooden wood overlaid with gold. And you can imagine why that is because it's such a material that people just couldn't get their hands on.

[30:42] Although a lot of stuff inside the sanctuary was a solid gold. An image of gold, the image was, well, Daniel 3, 2. David Nebuchadnezzar the king also sent word to assimile the satraps, the perfects, and the governors, the counselors, the chief treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all administrators of the province to come to the dedication of the statute that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

[31:12] Then the satraps and the perfects and the governors, the counselors, the chief treasurers, the judges were assembled for the dedication of the statute of Nebuchadnezzar.

[31:25] The king had set up and they stood before the statute that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then they hurled loudly proclaim, to you the command is given, you peoples, nations, and populations of all languages.

[31:40] This was going out to the whole kingdom. That at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, bagpipes, and all kinds of musical instruments, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, has set up.

[32:01] But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be thrown into the middle of a burning and firing furnace. Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, the flute, and all the instruments, all the peoples in the nations, all populations, all languages, fell down and worshiped the golden statue that Nebuchadnezzar, the king, had set up.

[32:27] Doesn't say anything about the three guys, does it? Not yet. This is a universal decree for the then-known empire. Remember that the then-known world was primarily what we call the Euphrates area, the Middle East, the area around the nation of Israel, and the Mediterranean Sea.

[32:44] They knew nothing of the Western Hemisphere. They knew nothing of the South America or anything like that. Even Europe was pretty much still out in the barbarian areas of history.

[32:56] The first time that the image is to be worshipped appears to be at the dedication ceremony. This initial ceremony is important in determining how successful the king's plan will be.

[33:08] the dedication ceremony is to lead to a comedic act of worship. He gathered all the leaders.

[33:19] There was an orchestra which appears to include instruments from all over the world. He had things gone according to the king's plan.

[33:32] It would have been a very spectacular ceremony. A huge crowd. Virtually all who lived in Babylon would be gathered. The awesome golden image standing high above the crowds.

[33:44] Not far away the furnace was burning. Spoke bailing from the top. Everyone knew that they must choose between the two. It was the image of the furnace.

[33:56] Bow down or burn. Wow. That's what an absolute king can do. Amazing, isn't it? Okay, the fiery furnace.

[34:09] Daniel 3. 8. For this reason, at that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and brought charges against the Jews. Wow. They began to speak and said to Nebuchadnezzar, the king, O king, live forever.

[34:26] You, O king, have made a decree that every person who hears the sound of the horn, the flute, the lyre, and all the other instruments is to fall down and worship the golden statue.

[34:37] But whoever does not fall down, they will be put in the blazing furnace. Now, king, there are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of our providence, namely, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

[34:55] These men, O king, have disregarded you, and they do not serve your gods, nor do they worship the golden statue which you have set up.

[35:08] Now, I don't know how they knew that. I would imagine the three were in their house or wherever they at, and they just didn't go out because they knew what was going on.

[35:19] But these guys, they knew it, and they went to the king. Nobody seems to be monitoring compliance for this mass ritual, except some jealous government officials who are watching the Jews, guessing that their religion wouldn't allow them to bow down to the image.

[35:38] Why would they say this? These four guys lived God in their lives, and we saw that in chapter one, where they refused to eat the food.

[35:52] We saw that in chapter two. We see that Daniel and these men, God was primary in their life, and they were living that, trying to live that out here in a foreign land.

[36:08] They weren't having much luck. I'm sure they had some luck, but they weren't having much luck. These guys, they did not want them taking their jobs. They were leaders of this empire, and because of Daniel doing this dream, he's made a very high position in this government.

[36:31] Daniel was now telling some of these leaders, this is your job, you do this, I'm in head of you. Also, these other three were given positions of administration. I'm sure it was a time of very stressful for the politics at that time.

[36:49] Notice they did not mention Daniel as being one of them. Again, we don't know what Daniel was doing at this point. It just doesn't say. These government officials didn't like foreigners, getting better government positions than local loyal citizens.

[37:03] So before the king they could accuse the Jews of not bowing, Nebuchadnezzar demands that the Jews to worship his statue. They go to the king and they say, king, they're not doing it.

[37:15] And he said, come on, everybody's going to do what the king says. No, they're not. Nebuchadnezzar demands the Jews to worship this statue. Daniel 3.13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in a rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

[37:34] Then these three men were brought before the king. Nebuchadnezzar began speaking and said to them, is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that you do not serve my God, nor worship the golden statue that I have set up?

[37:51] Now, if you are ready at the moment you hear the sound of the horn and all the instruments and all kinds of musical instruments to fall down and worship the statue that I have made very well.

[38:04] Hey, the king is being gracious here, isn't he? He's giving them a second chance. He said, okay, you didn't do it? Okay, I'm giving you another chance.

[38:15] He said, if you will bow down and worship this idol very well, but if you do not worship, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of a blazing fire, and while God is there who can rescue from my hands, he's saying, hey, I am king.

[38:35] There is no God out there. When I say you're going to be put to death, you're going to be put in that blazing furnace, there's nothing that can stop me. You know, it kind of sounds like governments today, doesn't it?

[38:54] Nothing ever changes. Okay, we're running down short, so any questions, comments about what we covered so far? I know this thing about the fiery furnace, that's a story that we've known ever since childhood, if you've been going to church, because every Sunday school is going to have this, the three thrown into the fiery furnace, and it's a thing that's going on.

[39:23] But here it gives direct details, and it's a very interesting story of what's going on here. This king is so powerful, he thinks, there is nothing that's going to stop me.

[39:35] That's why I'm the absolute king, the head of gold. Oh yeah. Because he said, what God is that can deliver you out of my hands, he put himself higher than even his gods.

[39:56] Yeah. Nobody can stop me. We know that you have a God, you said you had a God in heaven, and you worshiped him, but he's not going to be ahead of me.

[40:09] He's not going to be ahead of me. And it's kind of amazing because when we ended chapter 2, it kind of sounded like David Kedezer was changing his mind.

[40:22] He said, I know there's your God in heaven because he gave you the interpretation of this dream. So he is, you think that he's changing.

[40:35] I'm glad I don't have a short-term memory law. Really, Nebuchadnezzar is, we don't see a lot of difference there.

[40:48] See, he had conquered Israel while God was Israel's king, or God. To him, all gods of the nations were equal.

[41:02] And that's what. So he says, hey, what God can deliver you. Nobody else's God ever delivered them. What God's going to deliver you from my hand.

[41:16] Yeah. God. And today, we hear Christianity put on the same plane as any other religion.

[41:28] Oh, you're all worshiping the same one anyway, or you're, really, it's not an assumption that all gods are equal, it's an assumption that there is no God.

[41:40] Yeah. that's that what? That's always worked. Co-exist. Oh, yeah.

[41:54] Okay. Well, that makes for a great government, right? Hey, anything goes. Yeah. And that's the picture you're seeing as we're going through Daniel.

[42:09] How it went from structure to confusion to a mass chaos. And I think we're seeing some of that chaos today. You agree?

[42:21] Wow. There are a lot of strange things going on in the world today. It's just not here in the United States. All the stuff that's going on over there in the Middle East, wow. I mean, and we're going to, we'll get into that when we get into chapter nine especially.

[42:38] We're going to turn a lot of stuff that's going on over there. Some of the future stuff that's going to happen as far as the future wars there in Ezekiel.

[42:50] We're going to see some of that. We'll even go back to Psalm 83 where there's got to be a war. And there's confusion there too what that means.

[43:01] These are wars that's going to have to happen before we get to where this stone crushes defeat. It's just things that's going to happen that haven't happened yet and it's in the Bible.

[43:15] So it's going to happen. If we believe that everything in this past has happened, I can believe that the things, the prophecy is going to happen, that it's going to be true.

[43:26] And if it's talking about future wars, it's got to happen before or at that, around that time, it's going to happen and we're going to see it. The timing, no idea.

[43:41] But things seem to be heating up, doesn't it? Anything else? Alright, we'll see you next week.