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[0:00] All right, we're going to return to chapter 4. And last week we left off in a, I guess about verse 17.

[0:14] This morning we're going to be starting in Daniel chapter 4 verse 18. So, let me get my screen set here.

[0:41] And what happened here is Daniel, not Daniel had to dream, this was Nebuchadnezzar's dream. And Nebuchadnezzar is speaking here in chapter 4, which is different from the other chapters we've been in.

[0:55] And so he's had this dream about a big tree and he doesn't know what it's all about. And he asked his magicians and all his guys that he has and he says, interpret this dream for me.

[1:12] This time he gave him the dream and they still couldn't interpret it or they wouldn't do it. Because this was a pretty, pretty rough dream that he had. And as we're going to see, it all comes to where it's going to be him that this tree is talking about.

[1:28] So, he's had this other dreams. He had the dream in chapter 2 where he saw the kind of light that he was going to be losing his kingdom and his power.

[1:40] And then we go into chapter 3. He showed his self and made this big image. So, to kind of act like he's not going to live it. I'm the king and this is what it's going to be.

[1:52] And we had the fiery furnace and we went through that last week. So, now in this dream, we're going to see what's going to happen here. So, in 4.18, this is a dream which I, king, that's him speaking, Nebuchadnezzar, have seen.

[2:09] Now you, Balthazar, tell me its interpretation since none of the wise men of the kingdom can make known to me the interpretation. But you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.

[2:21] Now, it's amazing that he's this Gentile king. He has no effect for, has all these foreign gods and all this stuff. But he recognizes in Daniel about this god that he has.

[2:36] So, 4.19, then Daniel, whose name is Balthazar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him. The king responded and said, Balthazar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.

[2:51] Balthazar replied, my lord, if only the dream applied to those who hate you and its interpretation to your advisers. The tree that you saw, which became large and grew strong, whose height it reached to the sky and was visible to all the earth, and whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and those branches the birds of the sky lodged.

[3:24] It is you, O king, for you have become great, grown strong, and your majesty has become great, reached to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.

[3:34] So, here we have Daniel interpreting this dream for him. And this is where the hammer drops. Daniel didn't mess around.

[3:47] He said, it's you. You, O king. He came right to the point. So, with all humility, we all could use a little more humility, Daniel thought.

[3:58] The truth is love. So, he was speaking in truth and love for this man, who was his master, really. That the fact that you're going to be this person, king, and things are going to start happening to you.

[4:13] So, and we saw something like that also. With somebody that was strong and had the faith and told somebody, a king, you did wrong.

[4:28] That's not an easy thing to do. And who was that? Can anybody think of somebody that told a king, hey, king, you messed up, and this is what's going to happen? Think back to 2 Samuel.

[4:40] We think of that and what happened to King David. And that's when he had Bathsheba. And Nathan came up and he told him, it was you.

[4:54] It was you. And that's, and you have to suffer the consequences from it. And King David had to go through this. Now we're going to sing King Nebuchadnezzar also.

[5:05] So, now Daniel says the dream is about you, O king. How difficult it must have been for Daniel to do this. Verse 23. And that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, Chop down the tree and destroy it.

[5:24] Let yet leave the stump and its roots in the ground, with which a band of iron and bronze around it, and the new grass of the field. And let him be drenched with the dew of the heaven.

[5:34] And let him share with the beast of the field until seven periods of time has passed over him. This is the interpretation, O king.

[5:45] This is the decree of the Most High, which has come down upon you, Lord the king. That you may be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place being to the beast of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle, and be drenched with the dew of the heaven, and each seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize the Most Holy, His ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.

[6:16] And in that, He has commanded to leave the stump and the roots of the tree. Your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is heaven that rules.

[6:29] Therefore, O king, my advice is be pleasing to you. Break away now from your sins by doing righteousness, and from your inequities by showing mercy to the poor, and in case there be any prolonging in your prosperity.

[6:46] Wow. This is a lot to tell this king. Nebuchadnezzar knew he could get an honest answer from Daniel, but he wasn't expecting this. Even the truth was hard to bear.

[6:58] He says, You are able, for the Spirit of the God is in you. Though Nebuchadnezzar recognized Daniel was a man filled with the Holy Spirit, Nebuchadnezzar had not yielded himself to this holy God that Daniel had.

[7:12] Daniel's thoughts troubled him. He genuinely cared for Nebuchadnezzar, and he was clearly affected by the meaning of this dream. He didn't want it to be his true friend.

[7:24] And they did become friends over the years because he exalted him up on high. He gave him one of the highest positions in his kingdom. So that's an amazing thing.

[7:35] So he told him all these things. So I can't think of anything that would be more difficult for him to do. And, you know, sometimes we're in the same situation, aren't we?

[7:47] Something happens to us, and we want to tell somebody something, but we're afraid to. We're afraid to take the faith and do it in truth.

[8:02] So we are afraid to say hard things that must be said to others, our brothers and our sisters. And that happens today, and it happens a lot of times. Our society has become so politically correct that almost nothing is safe to say without offense being taken.

[8:21] And that's what our society is today. I mean, you've got to be careful. Narcissism, self-concern is on the rise, and any slight negative comment becomes a huge issue.

[8:33] We're afraid of retaliation from other people if we confront them. I don't do social media, but I've seen and I've heard a lot of stories about this social media that's just, it blows your mind.

[8:49] It's a format set up for retaliation. It's a format set up for abuse for, what do I want to say, what is it they're doing?

[9:03] I can't think of the word. But anyway, talking about other people. And in high school, it really becomes a problem. Bullying. It's a tool for bullying.

[9:16] And that's really known in our high school areas where a lot of girls, a lot of guys, even, if somebody doesn't like you, that's their opportunity. They can stick it out there and say all kinds of things.

[9:28] And wow, that's devastating. It really is. So we have the same type problems here today that they had back then when you want to confront somebody and tell them something.

[9:42] And so we can get, some of the things we can do is, number one is get over ourselves. It's not all about you. You know, usually if we want to do this, there's something that this person has done, and we should be able to help them to get through this.

[9:58] And so it's not about us. We've got to think about that. And we shouldn't be thinking about the consequences that's going to happen. We just tell them the truth. And let it go at that.

[10:11] So we can't, we can get over ourselves. Prayer is an answer. You know, if something comes up like that, we need just to take the time and pray about it. And for the one that we're going to be speaking to, we need to speak in love.

[10:26] And for the hearer to be able to receive the word as they, as that word is met. And hopefully if we do this in love, they're going to see the fact that we are doing it in love and not just being able to, what do I want to say, degrade them.

[10:47] We're doing this in love. And also it goes for me. If, you know, if I receive harsh words also, I need to be able to take those harsh words with love and take them and think about them and possibly change in my mind.

[11:08] And that's exactly what Daniel was hoping here when he was telling the king all these terrible things that was going to happen to him. He was hoping that, hey, King Nebuchadnezzar, think about it, repent, and change your mind about what's going on in this life.

[11:26] So it is you, O king. It is here where the hammer drops and the prophet Daniel reveals the identity of this glorious tree that will be cut down. Daniel came right to the point.

[11:37] Instead of reaching for a general point like such a saying, we could all use a little more humility, king. He didn't do that. Daniel brought the truth and love. This was like what the prophet Nathan said to King David.

[11:51] So David was punished by God for his sins against Bathsheba, and now this king is going to be also punished. Some Christians may believe the words, God never punishes people.

[12:06] And, you know, I think that's pretty foolish because we know that God does punish people. It's unbiblical to think that God does not punish.

[12:19] When things go against him, it may not happen now, but something's going to come along. So God does this in love, not in hate. So he does it for justice.

[12:31] He does punish those. He does punish those who refuse to believe in him, but he only disciplines those who come to him. God judged and punished David's son, Absalom, when he did all this stuff to David, slept with his wives and everything else, and God was responsible for, he is not responsible for doing evil.

[12:54] He's just having justice. And so most of the time, we don't think God punishes, but he disciplines, and he does discipline us Christians.

[13:08] So now the next thing is, think he will be driven from men. This is one of the statements that he made in those verses. That is, thou shalt be driven from the habitations of men. From the place which thou hast occupied among men, which was a high position that the king had.

[13:25] The prophet does not say who would do this, but he says that it would be done. The language is such as he would use for one who should become a maniac and be thrust out of the ordinary society in which he had moved.

[13:40] That you be driven away from mankind. The journal senses that he would be in such a state that as he be treated like a beast rather than a man, he would be removed from the ordinary habits of this miserable, and be miserable and neglected outcast at this point.

[13:58] Be with the beast of the field in the open air and of the den and the cavern instead of being in his court and among his nobles a strange challenge or change of condition indeed for a king.

[14:12] You will be wet with the dew of the heavens, strip him of his clothes and he be left naked so that he should have nothing to shelter him from the dew and the rains and the heavens.

[14:24] Now Daniel reveals the most devastating part of this interpretation regarding the king. Instead of living as an exalted man in a lap of luxury, Nebuchadnezzar will now live like an animal or a lunatic.

[14:39] When Daniel explained this to Nebuchadnezzar, the king probably had no idea or could guess how literally this was going to happen. Until you recognize that the Most High is a ruler over all the realm of mankind.

[14:55] Here is the unusual statement that is understood as direct consequence of the sovereign king's pride. In essence, God is declaring that he will take the length of seven times for the king to recognize or know that it is God himself who rules over the kingdom of men and that it is he who bestows or he gives those kingdoms to those whom he pleases.

[15:23] While a hard lesson that the proud king of Babylon must suffer. This was God's intended purpose for Nebuchadnezzar. The king could have avoided his humiliating feet if he had just humbly, genuinely humbling himself.

[15:43] We might think that Nebuchadnezzar had more reason than most. After all, he was a great king. He had all this great city that he built, everything. But, Daniel 4.27 says, Therefore, O king, my advice be pleasing to you.

[16:00] Break away from your sins by doing righteousness and from your inequities by showing mercy to the poor in case there be any, may be a prolonging of your prosperity.

[16:13] Wow. Daniel came right down to the fact he's presenting the gospel ending. He said, King, you've got to change. You've got to change your mind about all the stuff that you, all your pride and all the stuff that you have.

[16:30] So, Daniel here is being a good preacher. He presses home the application, repent, perhaps it is not too late. Daniel would break off your sins.

[16:42] The right reaction to the threat of judgment is a humble repentance. Unfortunately, Nebuchadnezzar did not do this. He should have followed the example of the repentance of Nineveh at the preaching of Jonah where he humbled himself.

[17:01] But, break off from your sins by being righteous and your inequities by showing mercy to the poor. This is what Nebuchadnezzar needed to do and we'll see if he did that.

[17:13] So, what happens in verse 428? It says here, this will all happen to you Nebuchadnezzar the king. Then, the 12 months later, he is walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon.

[17:28] all this that we just read, all this stuff that was going to happen to him and look, wow, God gave him another 12 months to think about this, to try to change his mind.

[17:48] What happened? 430. The king reflected and said, is this not Babylon the great which I myself have built as a royal residence of the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty.

[18:03] While the world was in the king's mouth, the voice came from heaven saying, King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared, sovereignty has been removed from you.

[18:15] 32, verse 32, and you will be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place will be with the beast of the field and you will be given grass to eat. All these things that we've been talking about.

[18:27] 433, immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle and his body was drenched with dew in the heavens until his hair had grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird claws.

[18:47] Wow. I think Nebuchadnezzar was getting his dew, wasn't he? So, he's going through all this stuff.

[18:59] This happened for seven years. Once he was, this edict came out and he became like a beast, this happened for seven years because he said it would be seven times and I would think that would probably be the years.

[19:15] It wouldn't just be seven weeks but it was seven years that he was like this. The word doesn't say anything about the kingdom and his empire that he built and what was going on during these seven years.

[19:28] But we're going to see now as we continue reading at the end of the 12 months God gave Nebuchadnezzar 12 months to repent and he did not.

[19:40] One day as the king was walking, more where he said that, the proud word was immediately followed by his humiliation and the word was still in the king's mouth and that's when all this stuff happened.

[19:52] So we see that all these things were happening to him. So he lost his mind for seven years. It doesn't say what happened to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was given the opportunity to humble himself and he did not.

[20:08] Now God humbled him with this experience that he's going through at this point. all this has happened and what happens now in verse 34. But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me and I blessed the most high and praised and honored him who lives forever for his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.

[20:41] That kind of sounds a little bit like the first couple of verses that we read in chapter 4, doesn't it? Because Nebuchadnezzar did recognize Daniel's God but we didn't think that he really meant it.

[20:54] And as we see when he went through all this in here in 4, he probably didn't mean it. But now, verse 35, all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing but he does according to his will the most of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.

[21:12] And no one can ward off his hand or say to him, what have you done? It's in God's will it's going to be done. At time my reason returned to me and that my majesty and splendor were restored to me and the glory of my kingdom and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out again.

[21:34] So I was reestablished in my sovereignty and surpassing greatness was added to me. verse 37, now I've been that Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the king of heaven for all his work and all that is true.

[21:52] His ways just and he is able to humble those who walk in pride. So at the end of the time, Nebuchadnezzar could not break free from his madness until God appointed an end time.

[22:09] And it appears that that end time was seven years. Then he had the opportunity to humble himself and lift his eyes to heaven. Wow, what a way to have your eyes opened up, huh?

[22:23] Nebuchadnezzar now realizes that God whom we serve not only exists but reigns. No other position would become him but that of unlimited sovereignty over all his creatures.

[22:34] It says there, I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him. Nebuchadnezzar could only see the truth about himself when he first saw the truth about God.

[22:45] The Babylonian king did see who God was and he eloquently praised his sovereignty. After this, his reason returned to him and everything was a return to him.

[22:57] God wanted to restore Nebuchadnezzar. The goal was not to bring him low or to kill him or anything but to bring him to his proper place before God and among men.

[23:09] Truly, Nebuchadnezzar learned that God could put down those who walk in pride. An abiding lesson is plain. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

[23:21] We see that in James 4, 6. We also see that God will glorify himself among the nations. When Nebuchadnezzar took some of the treasures of Jerusalem's temple and put them in the temples of his gods, he had reason to believe that his God was stronger than the God of heaven, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[23:42] By the end of chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar knew which God was a true God. When Nebuchadnezzar knew it, he wasn't shy about telling people what he had learned.

[23:55] We saw some of that again from the last lessons he learned in chapter 2. He spoke about this God again. So the explanations of Nebuchadnezzar recorded in the book of Daniel have led some to consider the possibility that Nebuchadnezzar became a believer and the one true God.

[24:17] History records Nebuchadnezzar being a follower of all these foreign gods. Is it possible that Nebuchadnezzar renounced his false gods and instead only worshipped the one true God?

[24:32] It is possible, isn't it? It happens today. The way people change their mind and they repent and they come before God. They ask Jesus to come into their life and everything changes.

[24:47] So is this what happened to Nebuchadnezzar? We don't know. We can't answer that question. If nothing else, Nebuchadnezzar became a heathenist.

[24:59] What is a heathenist? This is somebody that believes in many gods but he worshipping only the one true God as supreme. Based on his words recorded in Daniel, it seems like Nebuchadnezzar submitted himself to the one true God.

[25:16] Now whether he still messed around with the other gods, we don't know. Further evidence is the fact that God refers to Nebuchadnezzar as my servant three times in the book of Jeremiah.

[25:31] Was Nebuchadnezzar saved? Ultimately, this is not something that we can answer. We just can't. While I were the case, the story of Nebuchadnezzar is an example of God's sovereignty over all men and the truth that the king's heart is the stream of water in the hand of the Lord.

[25:52] He turns it wherever he will. We see that in Proverbs 21. 21. So, if we were to think about all this stuff that we just talked about in chapter four, what's something we can take from that?

[26:07] come on. I take from it that God puts people where he wants them.

[26:18] He's in control. And you've got to get over your pride. You work for him basically and not to wear them. Yeah. And it don't matter.

[26:29] Your power position does it? No. I mean, it can be the CEO of IBM or any of these big corporations. You know, these guys fall all the time.

[26:42] So, God chooses. And, so in Daniel chapter four, the main lesson is the importance of humility, recognizing God's power and his importance.

[26:56] You know, God is there. He loves us and he wants us to do things with him and for him. So, we've got to recognize that we have to be humble and we have to turn our life over and change our mind.

[27:10] King Nebuchadnezzar downfall teaches us that pride leads to destruction. While acknowledging God's authority brings restoration. So, sometimes when we fall, we change our mind and we're restored.

[27:26] And, so we should embrace humility, acknowledge our dependence on God and not put ourselves above him. Some other lessons that we can get from chapter four.

[27:39] I think there's a lot of them in here. Yes, Barbus. The thing that I think of is that you know, the annual war in him and it was a full 12 months before this happened.

[27:53] And I think just as people, you know, we do something we shouldn't do and then there seems to be no consequences and we think, you know, people think, oh, that's okay, I can do that and get away with it.

[28:06] But, none of us, I don't think, recognize how patient God is and he waits. Yeah. That person's not going to change. Yeah.

[28:18] But he does give us time, doesn't he? And here, he gave Nebuchadnezzar, 12 months. He said, all these things are going to happen to you, but 12 months later, you know, I'm wondering what he was thinking during those 12 months.

[28:37] You know, Daniel told me all these things that God is going to do to me. I'm still here and I'm still doing all these things. Look at all this great stuff I've done. And zap, it happened.

[28:50] So, he gives us time. So, that's definitely one of the things that we see there. Roger? I wonder what Daniel was doing because he told him, you know, so there's 12 months there and I wonder if every time you looked at Daniel, Daniel, I wonder if it's going to happen today or what.

[29:08] Yeah. Yeah, it's good lessons. Well, one of the things I picked up was Nebuchadnezzar says here's divine encounter with God.

[29:21] In chapter two and chapter three. So, this guy had all kinds of examples. He got it in chapter two with the dreams and all the stuff that was going on.

[29:33] He got it again in chapter three. These guys he threw in the furnace. How could there be three guys walking? They were tied up. How could they be walking?

[29:44] And then there's a fourth person walking with them. What's the king going to do? And you saw what he did. It's amazing.

[29:56] So, he shared, he taught. So, again, the first part of that, he was telling his people. He was sharing something about this God, but then he really wasn't going along with it, was he?

[30:10] So, openly discussing our challenges, victories, and divine insights will affirm our faith and encourage others to seek and recognize God work in their own lives.

[30:21] And that's what he was doing there in the beginning of chapter 4, and then all this happened, and now he's doing it again at the end of chapter 4. And I think that's a lot of times that happens when we as Christians accept Christ in our life, don't we?

[30:37] We want to tell other people, this happened to me, and this can happen to you also. And that's one of the things that we as Christians should be doing. We should be telling others about the experiences that we received when we took Christ into our life.

[30:55] And so that's one of the things. I think another one is the fact about power. True power doesn't come from human strength or intelligence, but from God showing us that even the most powerful people can't solve every problem on their own, and they need to rely, on the power of God.

[31:17] No matter the position you have, no matter how powerful or how low you are, God is there for us, and we just got to know that. So no matter how much we try, there's things that's just out of our control, and we've got to depend on God.

[31:36] So what did Daniel tell Nebuchadnezzar to do? Break off your sins and die inequities. This lesson directly speaks to you and to me, encouraging us to reflect on our lives, to identify areas where we fall short and make necessary amendments and changes.

[31:56] And that's what Nebuchadnezzar, or that's what Daniel was trying to get Nebuchadnezzar to do. So many times God changes his mind and he withdraws his judgment over a nation or a person if they take that to fact and they change your mind.

[32:13] Anything else you see from there? My thought was as an individual, when they reject God, he just leaves you alone. You don't exist.

[32:24] Yep. If it's a nation, he gives the people a government that they want. If they reject him, you're going to get what you want. Oh, exactly.

[32:35] That's how I see that lesson. Yeah. I also see it as a type for Israel. Yeah. Seven years tribulation. That figure seven always jumps in there, doesn't it? It does. Yeah.

[32:46] It's amazing how God uses numbers, but he does. Oh, this is the last thing.

[32:56] God usually gives us time. And we saw that. Nebuchadnezzar got that. So, his mercy and his long-suffering providing individuals with the opportunity to recognize that we're going down the wrong path.

[33:12] This grace period is a testament of God's wish that no one should perish but recognize their wrong doings and seek forgiveness in their lives.

[33:23] And that's what Christianity is all about, going out and witnessing the other people. My goodness, we're sending missionaries all over the world.

[33:35] to tell them about Jesus. And a lot of people say, how can this happen? How can the end times, how can God do the things they're talking about in Revelation when there's people that don't know God?

[33:53] Well, come on. We've had the opportunity. We've got people in just about every country of the world giving time. If people do not accept it, God says there is a time.

[34:10] And he's chosen that time and we're going to see more as we go through this study of Daniel about the timing. And of course we never know what the real time is going to be, but we get a good idea of what it's going to be.

[34:24] So anything else out of chapter 4? Anybody want? You just yawning back care or you've got a question? I was raising my hand for real this time. I wanted to share something.

[34:35] I looked up Nebuchadnezzar in history. Actually, it looks like Nebuchadnezzar is one of the most attested figures in ancient history.

[34:48] It says here that as part of all his building projects, because he was making a name for himself, he produced over 15 million bricks in his building projects.

[35:05] Yeah. And most of them had an inscription on them. Right. I don't know if you've talked about this already. Did you? Okay. I think I mentioned it maybe in one of the chapters.

[35:16] But the inscription is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, provides for the temples of Assegala and Azita, the eldest son of whatever, something, something, something.

[35:29] But he did that because I guess a lot of other ancient kings had tried to erase previous people and their writings and things about them.

[35:40] And so he wanted to make sure that nobody could erase his memory by basically putting a inscription of him in all of his building projects all over the kingdom. Yeah. And you know some of those things have been turned up.

[35:53] Yeah. They say that, where is it, in Canada, there's a museum in Canada where you can see these bricks. And in the New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art, there's this cuneiform tablet that has the inscription.

[36:09] It says, I built a strong wall that cannot be shaken with butumen and baked bricks. I laid its foundation on the breast of the netherworld and I built its top as high as a mountain.

[36:23] And it says, the fortifications of something in Babylon I strengthened and established the name of my reign forever. Yeah. So just kind of an indication like the Bible teaches of his pride.

[36:40] I think we talked before maybe back in chapter one about his building of Babylon. I mean, this place was a fortress.

[36:51] The walls were so high and they were so wide, I think there was four or five chariots could go around this wall. So it was like a highway on top of this wall that he had built.

[37:03] And of course all the architecture, the hanging gardens, which is still one of the wonders of the world today over there. So yeah, this guy was really high up as far as the king being in.

[37:20] So he had a lot of power and left a lot of things for the world to take in. We're going to see that he's going to be taken out and some of these other kings are going to come in and try to do the same thing.

[37:36] And we'll see that it's not going to work out all that great. So anything else before we leave chapter four? Yep. I hate to say this, but it kind of reminds me of Donald Trump.

[37:52] Oh my goodness. I mean, he, you know, he's been two times at least that they've tried to assassinate him and I read something.

[38:04] It was kind of to the effect of, well, I think God wants me to be president. You know, it's not like, hey buddy, he's trying to get your attention and he doesn't need you.

[38:14] he doesn't seem to get it. I don't know. I think, I think this country is at a time that's what we've never seen before. And, I don't, the outcome is just beyond us.

[38:32] But, we're going to be living it, I think, before long. Roger? We were at a Bible conference and Branson and Joel McGarvey was talking about in the tribulation that God sends these people that wouldn't listen to us now a strong delusion.

[38:51] And, it made me wonder, will he be sending people like Nebuchadnezzar? I mean, you know, he saw stuff that we would just marvel at.

[39:04] You know, that Daniel and his dream and everything. And, all the things he accomplished, but he did not humble himself. So, God sent him a strong delusion and took seven years.

[39:19] And, I don't know where God undid the veil that was messing him up or what, but after seven years he looks up at heaven and worships God. And, I know people are so caught up in the cares of the world, we call them, you know, these phones are just so addicting.

[39:38] My wife, she's always listening to somebody, but she don't remember nothing. It's just awful, you know. Well, it's... I try to save articles if I want to go back and read them on my stupid printer.

[39:54] I can't keep a printer on the house. But, anyways, you just wonder if it just seems like they're being blinded in part. So, they almost, you know, either that or they just, we've gotten so far away from the gospel or the notion that, you know, even people in the old days, when I was young, they may not have believed totally in God or understand about Jesus, but they were raised right.

[40:21] They knew that stealing and killing was not good. You know, it wasn't good for society. And, you know, do unto others as others would do unto you. Yep.

[40:31] And that seems, we seem to be losing. Man, I just read about a Chicago Venezuelan gang. The black gangs up there are saying they're worse than us.

[40:43] And, and they're going to Chicago is going to burn down because when we cut loose at them people, you know, they, they go past, the guy said they go past what black gangs normally would do, you know, the evil.

[41:00] They're worse than that. They just don't care. They're killing people. It's fun. You know, it's just a, so that, it's just a totally different world. And here we are people that we don't want to kill nobody.

[41:13] We don't, you know, we don't want to hurt nobody. What are we going to do if they decide to come after us? You know, that used to be the case. And all this is, well, there's so many things going on in our country today, technology wise.

[41:31] It's overwhelming. overwhelming. It is overwhelming. It's overwhelming. It is overwhelming. It is overwhelming.

[41:41] And, you know, it's so much quicker. But all of a sudden it turned from that to social. and I think since it turned to social, it's just turned everything upside down.

[41:56] And, you know, instead of doing your accounting on it, doing inventory on it, you're tearing people down, doing all kinds of weird things. So, yeah, I think this country is setting itself up for a big wide awakening.

[42:12] And going back to Nebuchadnezzar, how many years do we have? We don't know. Yeah. But, we'll find out. And I think times are changing where we're going to find out.

[42:25] I don't know if it's just going to be this generation or the next generation. But, God will finally have his will done. Yeah.

[42:36] Anything else? Well, we've already gone past the time where we can't start another chapter. So, next week, you would think that we're going to start chapter five. We're not. we're going to leave out chapter five and chapter six because chapter five and chapter six, if you go by chronology, you were talking about a different king and a different period of time that he was king before or after these visions that Daniel's having in chapter seven and chapter eight.

[43:10] So, we're going to jump into chapter seven and do chapter seven and chapter eight before we do chapter five and chapter six because I know it was confusing to me when I was going through this stuff and I got to chapter seven and chapter eight and I'm thinking, whoa, I think this should have been back here.

[43:31]  So, I'm going to do it that way. You might want to read through it and see if it makes sense, but that's what I'm going to do. So, have a good week. You might charge Psalm of the