Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 813. Bible Study: Daniel 4 (Warning given, then 7 years of hardship, then Restoration)

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813. Bible Study: Daniel 4 (Warning given, then 7 years of hardship, then Restoration) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 4 from the book of Daniel.
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Dear Lord, please be with us and give us wisdom and insight as we
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read through the words that Daniel has recorded in this
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book. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
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This is Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a tree.
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King Nebuchadnezzar to the nations and peoples of every
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language who live in all the earth.
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May you prosper greatly. It is my pleasure to tell you
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about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God
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has performed for me. How great are His signs?
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How mighty His wonders? His Kingdom is an eternal
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Kingdom. His dominion endures from
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generation to generation. I will stop there because the
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first time I read it, I was. I was kind of confused about
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this context. What it appears to me as that
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this is he is recounting what happened to him.
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So he is this is like only God could do this.
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This king God actually gets this king to realize that he that God
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is sovereign over everything because this king did not know
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that. I mean, he he saw the power of
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God through Daniel and what Daniel could do, but he just
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thought it was like one of the gods because he worshipped many
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gods. So this is really interesting to
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just pay attention to him. So I believe that the way this
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starts out is he is saying, hey everybody, let me tell you about
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what happened to me. I think that's a simple version
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of what is going on here. And then he was praising God.
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So here, here it continues. I Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in
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my palace, contented and prosperous.
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I had a dream that made me afraid as I was lying in bed.
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The images and visions that passed through my mind terrified
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me, so I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought
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before me to interpret the dream for me.
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When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came,
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I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.
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Finally Daniel came into my presence and I told him the
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dream. He is called Beltashezer after
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the name of my God, and the spirit of the holy gods is in
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him. I said Belt to Shelzar, chief of
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the magicians. I know that the spirit of the
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holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult for
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you. Here is my dream, interpret it
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for me. These are the visions I saw
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while lying in bed. I looked, and there before me
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stood a tree in the middle of the land.
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Its height was enormous. The tree grew lower, large and
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strong, and its top touched the sky.
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It was visible to the ends of the earth.
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Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was
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food for all. Under it the wild animals found
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shelter, and the birds lived in the branches.
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From it every creature was fed in the visions I saw while lying
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in bed. I looked and there before me was
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a holy 1A messenger. It also says there's a footnote
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in the study Bible that says or Watchmen also found in verses 17
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and 23. So there was a watchman or a
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messenger coming down from heaven.
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He called in a loud voice. Cut down that tree and trim off
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its branches, Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit.
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Let the animals flee from under it, and the birds from its
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branches. But let the stump and its roots,
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bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground in the
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grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew
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of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of
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the earth. Let his mind be changed from
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that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal till
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7 times pass for him. I'm going to pause here because
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I think this is significant again, and this is another
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pattern that we see that God does throughout Scripture.
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There's this seven-year period, there is a final seven-year
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period where God, I believe just like here, God gives, this is
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your last chance, your last seven to make it right, to get
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right with God. And I believe that's what the
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tribulation is. I believe that in the end times,
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the tribulation is that final seven years that people have to
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acknowledge God to. And we will see later that
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Daniel actually tells Nebuchadnezzar to report this is
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crazy. I mean, it's not in those exact
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words, but I'll point it out when we get to it.
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So again, this is a a type and foreshadowing.
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It's an actual event, and it's a foreshadowing of future events,
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and it also shows God's mercy. So God is actually having mercy
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on Nebuchadnezzar. Now we remember, like who
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Nebuchadnezzar is. He's in charge of Babylon.
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Babylon's always been an enemy to God, but he's a king and he's
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ruling there and God used him to conquer Jerusalem because
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Jerusalem are the tribe of Judah.
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They were not being repentant. God gave them warnings.
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I think Jeremiah warned them for like 20-3 years or something and
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they didn't listen. So finally God brought it about.
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This just shows God's patience, His mercy, and He does that with
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all of us. He is pursuing us whether we
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know it or not. If anybody tries to, I don't
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know, make, you know, give you anything that relates to Jesus,
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to God, to, you know, unfortunately most people when
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they get that stuff, they think, oh, that's a religious fanatic
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and they don't want it, but God could be inspiring them to reach
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you. Us, you know, that when we are
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before we are connected with God.
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So God uses all kinds of people to do this.
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And here God is using the king of essentially an enemy country
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against his own people, his chosen people, so that they
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would repent to him. That was the ultimate plan.
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But look at God's compassion, mercy, that even at that same
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time, he's going after King Nebuchadnezzar, he's going after
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him saying, hey, if you will acknowledge me as God, you know,
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there's there's a lot for you here.
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So this is just showing how loving God is and, and the seven
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times is very significant. It's I, I do believe that this
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is like a final warning to people.
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There's a final seven years and in our current, what they call
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age before Jesus returns, there is a final seven.
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And I believe that is for everybody to get right with God.
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And it's, there's a lot of weird stuff going on in the world
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right now. There is kind of like this
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revival happening, and I don't know if this is again like a
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temporary thing or a foreshadowing of what is to come
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in the future, but there's a lot of pathetic things that appear
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to be lining up right now. Like ever since 2020, I started
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noticing this and, and I do wonder if we are actually in the
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end times, like if the seals are actually opening and if they've
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been opened or if there's just kind of a foreshadowing of
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future events. And when the seals actually
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open, it's going to be just so significant that, you know,
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there's going to be no question of whether it is or it isn't.
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Because a lot of people throughout time have said, oh, I
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think we're living in the end times.
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But the times right now really have a lot more of the elements
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of Bible prophecy. So the reason I bring it up is
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not to necessarily just keep focusing on that, but what if we
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are in those in that last seven-year period right now and
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we don't know it? Because I think the first half
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of it, the first 3 1/2 years, people aren't going to be
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certain about it. But as soon as which hasn't
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happened yet, as soon as the lawless man claims to be God on
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the holy ground, then we will know for sure that there's 3 1/2
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years left before Jesus returns. But up into that point, we,
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we'll be guessing. So until that actually happens,
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we're going to be guessing. So like I said, I could very
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well be wrong. But if I'm not wrong, now is
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really a critical time because, you know, you look at the first
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seal and that's someone who, the way I understand it well, the
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way the Bible says it's somebody going out to conquer and it
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appears like a religious figure because Jesus is always dressed
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in white and this this conqueror or is dressed in white.
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So it's kind of like a false, a false person who's going out
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trying to conquer or a false religion trying to go and
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conquer. And I kind of think maybe there
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is a false religion that's going out trying to conquer and has
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been for many years. So that's the first seal.
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The second seal is war and rumors of wars.
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And of course that continues and it says it will continue until
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the end. So that's going to be a really
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ambiguous seal for us to pay attention to because wars happen
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all the time. So we really don't know.
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Then the next one is famine and war and our, I guess famine and
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scarcity. That's the third seal.
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And we are seeing some of that, our scarcity and, and inflation.
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And I would say that we are definitely seeing that happen.
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However, inflation does happen throughout the world.
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Over time, things get more expensive.
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So are we in that stage or, you know, just a foreshadowing of
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the future or is it really happening now?
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And then the next seal, the I guess it's the that was, let's
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see, the Conqueror was the first one, war was the second.
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Third was famine and scarcity. 4th, I think that fourth was
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like plague and wild beast and like a whole bunch of things
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happening. So if we have some sort of a
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major war, almost like a World War, which it doesn't appear to
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be, but that's also concerning because the Bible says when
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there is when they say peace and safety or peace and security,
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then come sudden destruction. That's what prophecy says.
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So we are in a time where everybody seems to be like the
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world. When I say everybody, the world
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is focusing on peace and has a message.
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I mean, the Abraham Accords, they keep getting expanded.
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And there's this, like, global focus on peace.
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And everybody is like, all for this.
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Everybody's tired of the fighting.
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But at the same time, we also hear reports of people building
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up their weaponry. I don't think it's going to just
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go away no matter who joins the peace accords.
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I don't think it's going to go peaceful.
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It'll probably be a short period of time.
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In fact, prophecy says there will be a short period of time
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that people will think they're in peace.
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But then comes the sudden destruction.
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So we can't rest thinking, OK, we're good now we've got peace
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because Bible prophecy tells us otherwise.
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So that's the fourth seal that there's probably going to be
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some big war happening because it talks about word, which is
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war and famine and wild beasts. Like it's probably going to be
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pretty intense. And then at the 5th seal, there
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are those who were beheaded because of their testimony of
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Jesus. And if you have any idea of
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what's going on in Nigeria and other places where people are
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literally being beheaded because of they of Jesus, this is
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literally happening right now. And so the 5th seal has the
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souls. The souls are the part of us
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eternally that live forever. And the souls of those who were
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testifying about Jesus and wouldn't renounce their belief
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in Jesus are under the altar, the heavenly altar.
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And they're saying to God, when are you going to about justice
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for us? And they are told, wait a
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minute, the number of all your other brothers and sisters still
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has to come in. So what we're seeing right now
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or hearing about right now is just the beginning.
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There is going to be more of this according to what Bible
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prophecy says so and it's it's shortly after this, this point,
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after the 5th seal going into the 6th seal where it says in
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Scripture and in many, many, many prophets like Joel, like
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Amos, I think like like Isaiah, multiples of them say the sun
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will be darkened, the moon will not give its light and the stars
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will fall from the sky. Those are some signs that happen
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before the day of the Lord, before Jesus returns.
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It also says that there will be this lawless one and there's
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going to be this time of tribulation that is greater than
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has ever happened on this earth in the past or in the future.
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And immediately after the distress of those days, the Son
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of Man, Jesus will be coming on the clouds and will gather his
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angels. His angels will gather his
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elect. So that's around the 6th seal
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when that happens. So just think about it.
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Are we there or is this just kind of a symbolic foreshadowing
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just like all of these things? Just like, you know,
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Nebuchadnezzar had seven years to figure it out, and that was a
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foreshadowing of this very end thousands of years later, seven
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years. But I want people to know some
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of the signs and to just think about it because it doesn't hurt
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to get right with God right now if you're not right with God.
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So anyway, I'm going to go back and continue in this this this
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account that we're reading about with Nebuchadnezzar and I forgot
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to walk, right? OK, the seven times that's so
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I'm on verse 17 in chapter 4. The decision is announced by
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messengers. The holy ones declare the
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verdict so that the living may know that the Most High is
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sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone
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he wishes and sets over them the lowest of people.
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So this statement here, this is, you know, part of
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Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and it's the decision that was announced
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by the messengers or the Watchmen.
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The holy ones declare the verdict so that the living may
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know that the Most High is sovereign.
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That is, God wants to be revealed, and He will do.
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That's why miracles happen, That's why healings happen.
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That's why all these things happen in the name of Jesus,
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because God wants to be revealed.
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God wants people to know him. God wants us in his Kingdom and
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he goes through all these efforts to get us into his
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Kingdom. But we have an enemy of God
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who's trying to blind us from that, trying to separate us from
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that, trying to make us not focused on that, distract us
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from that. There's all these things that
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are happening and, and God is still like seeking us.
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He's still trying to get our attention, but this list
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Statement 17. God is sovereign.
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He controls everything. He puts kings in place.
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All the leaders that are in place right now, God's in charge
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of that. He can take them out.
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He can leave them in. If he wants to leave them in and
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have them fulfill prophecy, that'll happen.
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If He decides, Nope, it's not going to happen now.
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I'm going to wait a while because I need to get more
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people. Then he'll pause it so God is in
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control. We don't, we don't know when all
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of this will happen, but we do know that it will happen
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someday. And I for me personally, I want
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to be prepared now. I don't want to wait and be at
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risk of not being ready when it does happen.
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So all right, verse 18. This is the dream that I, King
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Nebuchadnezzar had. Now Beltashezar, tell me what it
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means for none of the wise men in my Kingdom can interpret it
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for me. But you can because the Spirit
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of the Holy God is in you. So when I read something like
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this, I I challenge the theology that is taught in many Christian
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churches because it seems to me like I know this is
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Nebuchadnezzar saying this, but the Holy Spirit is in Daniel.
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Like I believe this. I mean, I just like Saul when it
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said that God took his spirit from Saul and then an evil
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tormenting 1 came. And then Jesus tells us that if
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there is like, I guess if a spirit is cast out of a person,
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an evil one, that if they are not filled with the Holy Spirit
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afterwards, that the evil spirit that was cast out of them will
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go seeking another host. You know, because like a spirit
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resides inside a body, it needs a body, so it goes out looking
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for another one. And if it can't find it and
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maybe it finds other spirits, then all of them come back to
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that. And that position is worse than
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it was at the beginning. I mean, that's something that
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could kind of put a little fear into you, but Jesus said it.
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This is true. This happens to people.
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And so the the point is, if evil spirits can do that, why
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wouldn't the Holy Spirit be able to do that?
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And especially when, you know, God anoints a king and he puts a
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spirit on him like he did for Saul.
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But Saul, it was his Holy Spirit on him.
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But Saul wasn't accepting it. He was rejecting it.
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He wanted to do things on his own, so.
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I, I don't know if there is a difference.
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I mean, I'd have heard people say, well the Holy Spirit could
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be on a person but not in a person.
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So that could be the case. There was also another
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documentation about in the Bible, I guess.
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I don't know if it was an Exodus, it probably was because
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it was during that period they were in the wilderness when all
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of a sudden the Holy Spirit came upon these people that were in
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intense. They were in the assembly.
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So I see the Holy Spirit throughout the Old Testament.
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I see the Holy Spirit being active and and that is how Jesus
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is from the dead by the Spirit of God.
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And so when we think about the people who believed, we are
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saved by faith, and by faith we received the Holy Spirit.
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How do we know that the people of the Old Testament didn't have
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the Holy Spirit actually from Jesus, although they didn't even
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know it was Jesus because Jesus hasn't been on earth yet.
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But he could have been sending the Holy Spirit to everybody.
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And then, you know, when they died, they had the Holy Spirit.
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And so they will be rising from the dead.
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And the only, you know, what Jesus did was he atoned for all
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of our sins. Like people could have the Holy
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Spirit, but Jesus's sacrifice on the cross still had to happen
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because people could not atone. They couldn't make up for the
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bad that the bad things, the sin they did.
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We do, you know, we can't make it up.
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We can't correct it. It's once it happens, it
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separates us from God. The only way that we can have
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the opportunity to be in the Kingdom of God is because of
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what Jesus did on the cross. So what Jesus did on the cross
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was necessary for all the the Old Testament, necessary for us
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today and necessary for us and the for people in the future.
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And but it's the one time sacrifice because this was the
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Son of God in flesh who died for our sins.
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So take a while, let that sink in.
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And that's what I see in the Bible.
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But anyway, this Kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar believes Daniel
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has the Holy Spirit and all of his magicians and chanters,
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diviners, all those people, they don't have it.
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They can't do it. So that's the other thing is
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like they're limited. God limits them because God
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gives the spirit to whomever he chooses.
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And if someone has the Spirit of God, they will know things that
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God will hold from somebody who does not have the Spirit.
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So Daniel interprets the dream. Then Daniel, also called
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Beltashezar, was greatly perplexed for perplexed for a
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time, and his thoughts terrified him, maybe because he knows what
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this means. So the king said, Beltashezar,
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do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.
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Beltashezar answered. My Lord, if only the dream
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applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries.
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The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top
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touching the sky, visible to the whole earth with beautiful
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leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving
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shelter to the wild animals and having nesting places in its
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branches for the birds. Your Majesty, you are that tree.
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You become great and strong. Your greatness has grown until
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it reaches the sky. Your dominion extends to distant
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parts of the earth. Your Majesty saw a holy 1A
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messenger coming down from heaven and saying, Cut down the
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tree and destroy it, but leave the stump bound with iron and
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pawns in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the
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ground. Let him be drenched with the dew
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of heaven. Let him live with the wild
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animals until 7 in times pass for him.
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This is the interpretation your Majesty, and this decree the
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Most High has issued against my Lord the King.
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You will be driven away from people and will live with the
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wild animals. You will eat grass like the ox
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and be drenched with the dew of heaven.
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Seven times will pass for you until you acknowledge that the
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Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them
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to anyone he wishes. So this is something else we see
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from God. God gives warnings.
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God gives warnings through people and He gives a reason why
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he, you know, like if he pronounces a disaster, he
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doesn't just let people say, I wonder why that happened to me.
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He tells them in advance. Usually it's like you need to
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correct this or this is going to happen to you.
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Like that's again showing God's great mercy and love and
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compassion for people. So he says you know again, he
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says 7 times will pass for you until you acknowledge that the
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Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them
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to anyone he wishes. He needed to know the power of
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God. He needed to know that King
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Nebuchadnezzar wasn't this great conqueror.
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It was because of God allowing him to do that.
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So verse 26, the command to leave the stump of the tree with
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its roots means that your Kingdom will be restored to you
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when you acknowledge that heaven rules.
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Now, this is something else. The seven-year tribulation, if
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you want to call it that. I think it's a 3 1/2 year.
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Well, I don't know the Great Tribulation, but the final seven
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years, whatever the final seven years, at the end of that period
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is a restoration for the Jewish people, for Jerusalem.
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When Jesus reigns on earth for that 1000 years, then things
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will be restored during that time.
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And we can see again, this is a foreshadowing, a picture of what
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would, what is going to happen. Nebuchadnezzar is experiencing
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the same thing. It's just showing that God
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doesn't change. He does the same things over and
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over and over again. So he's telling Nebuchadnezzar,
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your Kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that
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heaven rules. That's just like at the the
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final seven years. It's when the people of
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Jerusalem acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah.
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So, your Majesty, be pleased to accept my advice.
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Renounce your sins by doing what is right and your wickedness by
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being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your
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prosperity will continue. So this is the same message that
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Jesus said. Repent and be baptized and go
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and make disciples, you know, follow Jesus and baptize them in
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the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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So that's the command Jesus gave the prophets.
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How many of the prophets said repent, repent, repent.
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That was their consistent message.
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Repent or repent or repent or destruction.
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And then this again shows God's character.
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He said, let me read this again. Therefore, Your Majesty, please
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be pleased to accept my advice. Daniel's giving him advice.
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Renounce your sins by doing what is right and your wickedness by
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being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your
28:27
prosperity will continue, so you won't suffer the destruction
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that's going to come if you change your ways.
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You're not going to experience this.
28:38
So he's telling him essentially repent and maybe it'll go well
28:43
with you. That's the same message that we
28:45
have today. Repent and maybe you won't
28:48
experience the destruction because if you don't repent, you
28:51
are going to because that is God.
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God is a God of justice and he has to do that.
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And when Jesus returns, he is separating good from evil.
29:00
He is bringing about justice and you don't want to be on the
29:03
wrong side when he returns. So verse 28.
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All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar 12 months later.
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So look at God gave him a year as the king was walking on the
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roof of the royal palace of Babylon.
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He said, is not this great Babylon I have built as the
29:23
royal residence by my mighty power and for my and for the
29:30
glory of my majesty. Do you think maybe that upset
29:35
God a little bit? He's like, wait, buddy, you have
29:37
not figured this out yet. It's 12 months later, you've not
29:41
repented. You still think you did all
29:43
this, so now it's going to have to happen again.
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This is a God of justice saying, I warned you, you're not
29:51
listening. This is going to happen.
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He did it to his own people. He did.
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You know the tribe of Judah. Work was conquered by the enemy
29:58
Babylon. OK, verse 31 Even as the words
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were on his lips, a voice came from heaven.
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Think about this like I don't know who heard the voice.
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Maybe it was Nebuchadnezzar, maybe there were more.
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I don't know. But God speaks audibly.
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Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven.
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This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar.
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Your royal authority has been taken from you.
30:28
You will be driven away from people and will live with the
30:32
wild animals. You will eat grass like the ox.
30:36
7 times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the
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Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them
30:49
to anyone he wishes. You know you have to think about
30:53
this if if it's you're in a monarchy, if you are under the
30:57
king, you you know in order to live in that Kingdom, you need
31:03
to accept the king. You need to acknowledge, you
31:07
need to submit, you need to realize that he is the ruler.
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And here we can see that Nebuchadnezzar was, you know,
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not thinking about the heavenly realms and who the ruler
31:18
actually was. He was thinking he was the
31:20
greatest ruler on earth because God let him do that.
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But in reality, no one, even the most powerful person on earth
31:28
has a ruler over them. And that is God.
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And we have that too. And unless we are willing to
31:36
submit to the rules of the Kingdom, which are essentially
31:40
what the 10 commandments. And if if we refuse that or we
31:46
say I'm going to do it my own way, I'm not going to be
31:48
obedient to God. I'm not going to do what God
31:50
says. We're not repentant.
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We need to repent. We need to live by God's laws if
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we're going to be in God's Kingdom.
31:57
Don't you think those laws are going to be consistent there?
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God doesn't change not it's Jesus even said, you know the
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heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will remain so it's
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something that you know us today.
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I mean, we may struggle with the commands God has given, but the
32:22
Holy Spirit, we can begin to be changed.
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It starts with our mind. It starts with our willingness
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to let God change us. And I, I always think of it as,
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you know, God changed me to what you really created me to be.
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If I didn't have sin in me, let me be that person that you would
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have had me be if I wasn't sinful.
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And that's what the Holy Spirit does.
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And we need the Holy Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.
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Just like I always say, John chapter 3, You must be born
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again to enter the Kingdom of God, born of the Spirit.
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No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of the
32:59
Spirit. That's what Jesus said.
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So verse 33, immediately what had been said about
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Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. So God waited 12 months, but
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then He did it. He was driven away from the
33:13
people and ate grass like an ox. His body was drenched with the
33:17
dew of heaven until his hair grew like like the feathers of
33:21
an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
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At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes
33:28
toward heaven and my sanity was restored.
33:32
So here's Nebuchadnezzar. This is Nebuchadnezzar's
33:34
testimony, really what it is because he says at the end of
33:38
that time, so Nebuchadnezzar is like remembering these events
33:42
and he's proclaiming this to the people now.
33:46
So his sanity was restored. Like he's he's like, yeah, this
33:49
all happened to me. Then I praise the most High.
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I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
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His dominion is an eternal dominion.
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So now Nebuchadnezzar is acknowledging the truth of God.
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He's acknowledging him, the God of an eternal God.
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His Kingdom endures from generation to generation.
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All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.
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He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples
34:26
of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or
34:30
say to him, what have you done? At the same time my sanity was
34:35
restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the
34:42
glory of my Kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me
34:46
out and I was restored to my throne and became even greater
34:52
than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, please
34:57
and exalt and glorify the King of heaven because everything he
35:02
does is right and all his ways are just.
35:07
And those who walk in pride, he is able to humble.
35:12
So pride. God hates pride because pride
35:15
essentially is resistant to God. Pride is saying, yeah, I'm, I'm
35:21
great. And it's not that humble
35:25
posture, that servant posture that God wants all of us to
35:29
have. Just like the definition of love
35:33
that I just recently learned in a Bible study was that it is
35:38
service to others for their good as God defines good.
35:44
So being a servant or serve, providing service to others,
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that is for their good, not selfishly for us for their good
35:55
as good is defined by God. So that's that's some of the
36:00
parameters on it. Anyway, really good chapter and
36:03
applicable to us today. Like all chapters are really
36:06
good, but this one does have a lot of application to us.
36:09
There are a few questions and answers for this chapter.
36:12
So I will I will read those and then wrap this up.
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So did Nebuchadnezzar write this part of the Bible?
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Daniel four one through 18 appears to be an official
36:23
proclamation from the king, but it but does it belong in the
36:27
Bible since it reflects the King's belief in many gods?
36:30
Yes, because the statement exalts the true God, which is
36:34
the remark which is remarkable coming from a Pagan ruler.
36:38
Surely that's why Daniel was inspired to quote it.
36:42
Why was Daniel also called Beltashezar?
36:45
The Babylonians gave new names to Daniel and his friends to
36:49
assimilate them into Babylonian society.
36:51
Their old names were which referred to the true God of
36:55
Israel were replaced with names that referred to the false gods
36:59
of Babylon. Daniel's name meaning God is my
37:02
judge, was changed to Beltashezar, meaning bell
37:06
protect him. I think bell is actually Satan,
37:09
but that's a side note. OK, why did Nebuchadnezzar refer
37:14
to the spirit of the holy gods? The king recognized that Daniel
37:18
had access to some kind of divine power, since he had
37:22
successfully identified and interpreted the King's dream.
37:25
But Nebuchadnezzar was still a Pagan king who believed in
37:27
several gods. Thus he mentioned the spirit of
37:30
the holy gods instead of the spirit of the holy God.
37:35
Singular. How was a messenger a holy one?
37:40
The word translated messenger can also mean Watchmen.
37:44
This was an apparently an Angel who was in the vision of
37:49
Nebuchadnezzar. What kind of insanity was this?
37:53
Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream to mean
37:56
that Nebuchadnezzar would become so violently insane that he
38:01
wouldn't be able to be around people.
38:04
He would be driven out of the palace and would live like an
38:07
animal in the fields. The king gave other indications
38:11
of mental instability, instability by vacillating
38:15
between extreme highs and extreme lows.
38:19
God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to lose his mind in order to break
38:24
his pride, causing him to acknowledge the one true God.
38:30
What were Nebuchadnezzar's sins? In addition to attacking other
38:33
nations and killing, torturing, or deporting their people, the
38:37
king kept his own citizens in relative in relative poverty.
38:42
He spent huge sums of money on elaborate building projects,
38:46
including, according to tradition, the famed Hanging
38:50
Gardens of Babylon. The excavations have shown that
38:55
the King's palace was enormous and surrounded by a series of
38:58
thickly fortified walls, while most of the While most of the
39:03
populace lived in one story, mud brick houses.
39:08
Though he was not a believer, Nebuchadnezzar was held
39:11
responsible for his violations of God's justice.
39:15
That's an important part because people will say, well, you know,
39:18
they might think, well if I just don't acknowledge God or I just
39:21
don't say God exists, I won't be held accountable.
39:24
That's not true. We all have a soul.
39:27
Our soul is going to be before God when he judges, and his
39:35
judgement is where we will end up in eternity, like forever.
39:41
We have no concept of eternity. We think of a lifespan.
39:45
That's the way we think in the earth, but it's so much greater
39:49
than that. And people need to realize that,
39:51
like how important this is for each and every one of us, we
39:56
will face judgement. We can't just say, well, I'm not
40:00
sure about God. I'm, you know, I can't be held
40:03
accountable if I don't even know that's not true because there is
40:07
a true God. We can't erase that.
40:09
And he will be the judge. So if you are.
40:13
Thinking that way? Look into it.
40:16
Get your answer, get your questions answered, because this
40:21
is critical. All right, So who would dare
40:26
drive away the king? No palace coup was needed, since
40:30
Nebuchadnezzar's mental state probably kept him from putting
40:33
up a struggle. The King's humiliating behavior
40:37
may have been kept secret from the public.
40:40
There were parks that contained animals on vast palace crowns.
40:44
The king may have lived out his time as a beast in those parks.
40:48
How long did Nebuchadnezzar's insanity last?
40:51
The word times refers to years since Nebuchadnezzar was told
40:57
that seven times would pass until he recovered.
41:00
He was insane for seven years. Does God really regard everyone
41:06
as nothing? Nebuchadnezzar, having learned a
41:09
humbling lesson, was contrasting God's power with human power.
41:14
His emphasis seems to have been on kingdoms, God's Kingdom
41:18
versus the nation's Kingdom. God makes it clear that other in
41:24
other passages that he values and loves people and has given
41:28
them a position of honor. Among his creation was the king,
41:34
now a believer in Daniel's God. Through Daniel's interpretation
41:39
of his dream and his humiliating descent into insanity,
41:44
Nebuchadnezzar embraced the truth that Daniel's God ruled
41:49
over all. This seems to be the lesson God
41:52
wanted the king to learn. However, this realization didn't
41:57
necessarily mean Nebuchadnezzar abandoned belief in the
42:01
Babylonian gods. The end result, however, meant
42:05
that Daniel had a powerful ally who respected God.
42:09
So I don't, I don't know what happened to Nebuchadnezzar and
42:13
maybe we'll find out in the next chapters because he, you know,
42:20
maybe he did, but maybe there's history that we're not aware of
42:24
where he didn't become a follower of God.
42:26
I don't know. But it's certainly open to him
42:30
and God certainly put him through that.
42:32
I can't imagine that somebody who went through all of that
42:35
would reject God once you really, once your eyes are
42:38
opened. So I'm going to hang on to the
42:43
idea that we might see Nebuchadnezzar in God's Kingdom.
42:46
It'll be interesting. We'll see the only God knows.
42:50
So if if you found this podcast helpful in any way or you think
42:54
someone else could benefit from it, please share it because the
42:57
whole point is to make heaven more crowded, not heaven, but
43:00
God's Kingdom more crowded, more people in it.
43:04
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43:08
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43:11
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43:13
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43:17
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