Daniel Chapter 6 - 1993 HD

and so much more so as you see the Day approaching and surely we do see the Day approaching and so let's gather together let's pray together let's seek God for our nation I think that we are in tremendous peril at the present time I'm shocked at what is happening and I think that we need to really respond with prayer that God will save our nation from the disaster that is no doubt going to come it must come if God is righteous and so we need to really pray tonight we come to Daniel chapter 6 it's a transition the Babylonian Empire has fallen the chest of silver has now taken over the medo-persian Empire is now reigning the Babylonian Empire fell around 539 538 BC and thus the timing for the story tonight is probably somewhere around 537 BC it is said that during is perhaps a title rather than a name it has been suggested that like the title of prime minister or the title of rabbit check in the earlier part of the Old Testament that it's not actually the name of the individual but the title that he had it pleased arias to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes which should rule over the whole kingdom so the meat of Persia empire has now taken over world domination conquering the Empire of Babylon there are a hundred and twenty provinces and so they appoint over a hundred and twenty princes that they might be over the whole kingdom and over these hundred and twenty princes there were three presidents of whom Daniel was first that the princes might then give an account unto them and the King should have no damage and so the government is thus appropriated or allotted the hundred and twenty say traps or princes over the whole kingdom and then the three presidents Daniel being one of the three and the first he was preferred verse three above the presidents and the princes because an excellent spirit was in him in the previous chapter we read that there was in him the spirit of the holy God and when you have the Holy Spirit in you you have an excellent spirit because the fruit or the effect of having the Holy Spirit in your life is love which will manifest itself in joy and peace and long-suffering and patience and temperance and meekness and goodness that's an excellent spirit you meet a person like that you say oh he has an excellent spirit well he has the Holy Spirit residing in him and how we need the Holy Spirit not just to reside in us but actually to be control of our lives a spirit govern life spirit controlled life and such was the case with Daniel the Spirit of God dwelling in him and so the King Darius thought to set him over the whole realm it was in his intention to make Daniel more or less second-in-command now at the end of the last chapter when he had interpreted for Belshazzar the writing on the wall Belshazzar made him third in the kingdom and we made mention of the fact that Belshazzar father was still alive and Belshazzar them was second in the kingdom he made Daniel third now Daniel is being thought of being promoted to the position of prime minister in the Persian Empire because of this excellent spirit but this provoked the other presidents and the princes to jealousy and they sought to find an occasion against Daniel of a misuse of his power of some type or form of corruption they were studying scrutinizing him trying to find a flaw find of trying to find something they could accuse him about to the king but they could find no occasion or no fault that says a lot for Daniel being in the public eye is not an easy place to be your life is open and usually there are people who can find fault with something you have said or something you have done or some way that you have responded if you would follow me around for a week you probably find fault in the way I Drive and in the way I respond to other people who drive crazy - Daniel was a man of excellent spirit they couldn't find any fault because he was faithful it is accounted of a steward jesus said that he be faithful the most important characteristic that we can have is just a faithfulness to be what God has called us to be faithful to the calling of God and neither was there any error or fault found in him just a good man so these men said we're not gonna find any occasion against this Daniel unless it be in regards to his commitment to the law of God this fellow is committed to the Lord and the Lord is first so they decided to devise a law that would cause Daniel to violate his conscience before God knowing that his conscience before God would prevail over a law of man now we as Christians are told in the scriptures that we are to obey the laws of the land being obedient to those that are in authority over us but if laws are created that violate my conscience before God if in obeying that law I would be violating my conscience then as Peter said we must obey God rather than man when Peter was commanded and the disciples not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus they said whether or not we are to obey God or man judgy but we know for ourselves that we cannot but Speak the things that we have seen and heard in other words we have no intention of keeping your law when the three Hebrew children were commanded by the king to bow down and worship the golden image they defied him made him angry but they said the God that we serve is able to deliver us out of your hand and even if he doesn't were not going to bow down to your image we're not going to violate our conscience before God so with Daniel they knew that his obedience and commitment to God was the primary love and thrust of his life and the only way they were going to get an occasion against Daniel was to devise a law that would violate his conscience before God and they knew that he would obey God so these presidents and princes gathered together to the king and they said unto him King Darius live forever and now they start this big lie all of the presidents of the kingdom not Daniel so they're declaring all of them and as they declare Oliver who would sound like Daniel was also an agreement all of the presidents of the kingdom and the governors and the princes the councilors the captains I mean we've got a unanimous thing going here have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for 30 days except of you O king he shall be cast into the den of lions now the idea is to flatter first of all the king let the people realize how important you are let the people give you the honor that is due to you it's really a very ridiculous kind of a law that no one could pray or offer any request of any God or men with the exception of the King for thirty days with the threat of being cast into the den of lions and so they were pressuring him now O King established the decree sign the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians which cannot be altered which alter if not so the pressure and you know that come on sign it here's here's a pen sign it you know be careful of that kind of pressure where you know well this is the last opportunity tomorrow it's going off the sale you know and yeah you better sign today you know because this is your you know or someone else is planning to come and get it they've gone to get the money from the bank and if you want it you better take it now you know and this kind of push pressure kind of a thing that's where you can make mistakes that's where a trust in the Lord comes in great well if the Lord wants me to have it it'll be here when I get back and if it isn't here when I get back then the Lord doesn't want me to have it I Drive these pressure salesmen crazy cuz they they you know they're threatened me someone else coming to get I said well fine if they get it that's great you know means the Lord didn't want me to have it and they don't know what to do with that but I mean I believe that I I believe that you know God wants me to have a deal see that it's there I don't get ready you know just desperate I've got to you know that those got to Zoar can be costly and so they're pressuring it quickly sign this decree now nebuchadnezzar was a sovereign ruler those whom he would he slew those whom he would he kept alive he could do what he wanted he could follow a Caprice he wasn't bound by the laws he was the law his word was law and he could change it he could alter it but now you find that the king is really governed by the laws he no longer is a sovereign type of a ruler but he himself is subject to the laws of the Medes and the Persians thus the gold head is replaced by an inferior kind of a kingdom the chest of silver were for King Darius signed the writing and the decree under the pressure under the lies under the deceit under the guise and under the flattery now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed he went into his house and his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem and he kneeled down on his knees three times a day and he prayed and he gave thanks before his God as he always did he didn't stop his habit of daily prayer what a tremendous person this Daniel is he's one of those that I am looking forward to meeting in heaven I I'm hoping to spend quite a bit of time with Daniel I admire this man his godly character his commitment to the Lord I can understand why the angel said to him you're greatly loved of God he was just a excellent man a man of Prayer and a man of the word we find that Daniel speaks about the scriptures when he was reading the prophecies of Jeremiah he realized by the prophecies of Jeremiah that the the time of captivity would be seventy years he was a man of the word and he was a man of Prayer and God always uses men of the word and men of Prayer you want your life to count for God you want God to use your life just become a man of prayer and a man of the word and you'll find that God will use you now his windows open towards Jerusalem go back to first Kings chapter 8 and beginning with verse 46 Solomon is praying unto God at the time of the dedication of the temple thousands of the Israelites are gathered there he's on this little platform and he's praying unto God as they're initiating the worship in the newly built temple and in his prayer he said if they sin against you for there is no man that sinneth not and you are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy so that they carry them away captives unto a land of the enemy far or near now what was the situation with Daniel he was carried away as a captive to Babylon so Solomon's prayer is is foreseeing the very situation that Daniel is in yet if they shall be think themselves in the land whether they are carried captives and they repent and they make supplication unto you in the land of them that carry them captive saying we have sinned and we have done perversely we have committed wickedness now when you get to the ninth chapter of the Book of Daniel and as you read Daniels prayer this is exactly what he's praying he's acknowledging Lord we have sinned against you we've done wickedly and and thus Daniel no doubt is very familiar again being a man of the word he's very familiar with this prayer of Solomon and in verse 48 and so returning to you with their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies which have led them away captive and they pray notice unto you toward their land in other words if they are turning toward Jerusalem toward their land which you gave unto their fathers the city that is Jerusalem which thou has chosen and the house the temple which I have built for your name then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven your dwelling place and maintain their cause so here is Solomon asking God that when the time comes the people have sinned and done wickedly and because of their wickedness you allow them to be carried away captive to their enemy's lands if they're they confess their sins they repent and they turn towards this place toward this house and they pray then hear thou from your dwelling place in heaven answer their prayers and so here is Daniel facing Jerusalem three times a day praying before the Lord and we will get some of Daniels prayers as we move further on in Daniel and chapter 9 verse 3 I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting in sackcloth and ashes I prayed to the Lord my God make confession I said O Lord the Great and awesome God keeping the Covenant and mercy to them that love him and to those that keep his Commandments we have sinned we've committed iniquity we've done wickedly we've rebelled even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments and neither have we hearken unto your servants the prophets and all beautiful prayer and we'll get to that when we get to chapter 9 and that's no doubt just a sampling of the prayer that he is offering to the Lord three times a day towards Jerusalem windows open he knows the decrees been signed he knows that this can get him in the lion's den III don't think he really cares I don't think it really bothers him he's probably around 88 years old at this time and so you know feed the Lions it does you know what difference does it me I'll be with the Lord you know it's amazing you know the I think the older you get the less you fear death I feel that I have lived a very full and rich life and it's it's a great feeling to look back and see that God has blessed and God has been good and you've tasted of the fullness of life in Christ here and thus you're ready for the next chapter you know what's God got in store now you know and so with Daniel I you know it wasn't really cowed by this decree but three times a day he prayed and he gave thanks before his God as he did a four time I think that often times we misunderstand prayer when we think of it only as petition we think of prayer as only asking God for something when in the prayers of the Bible they are usually more involved in the acknowledging of God his greatness his power his glory then they are in petition notice the prayers they are usually rather lacks on petition when Jesus gave you the model he said this is the way you should pray our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come well that's a petition but it's a petition of God's kingdom thy will be done in this earth as it is in heaven then you get to the petition give us this day our daily bread and then you go on for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and so interspersed with the petition is that praise and worship and the acknowledgement of God when the disciples were threatened not to speak anymore in the name of Jesus and when they came back to the company of disciples and told them the things that had transpired the threats that had been made how the government was threatening to close them down they prayed but you notice their prayer O Lord thou art God you have created the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them and by the mouth of your servant David you have spoken of these days when he said why do the heathen rage and imagine a vain thing but they have gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah saying I'm going on and then they finally get to the petition but they go way down telling Lord you're great you created everything heavens the earth sea everything is in it you know all about what's going on in our lives you told about the very things indeed against the Holy Child Jesus have the rulers and governors gathered together and then they get to the petition now Lord grant unto your servants boldness that we might go forth in Jesus name proclaiming his power in his glory I think that more time should be pretty spent in praising the Lord in thanking the Lord rather than in just petition when you begin to praise the Lord and thank the Lord you're brought into an intimacy of fellowship and relationship that you can never know just by petitions if your prayer only involves petitions you never draw into the Holy of Holies so to speak of just worship next time when you get down to pray just spend some time telling the Lord how much you love him how wonderful you think he is you know I think if we would spend more time praising the Lord and giving thanks we would have less petitions to offer now these men assembled outside of Daniels house and they found Daniel praying and making his request before his God and so they came near and they spake to the king concerning the decree have you not signed a decree of course they knew he had they pressured him to do it that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within 30 days except of you O king shall be cast into the den of lions King answered and said that's true according to the law of the Medes and the person which alder is not it's been signed it's been set into law it cannot be altered or changed right and so they answered and said to the king Daniel which is of the children of the captivity of Judah does not regard you Oh what an accusation nor the decree that you have signed he's in rebellion but he makes his petition three times a day and when the King heard these words he realized that he had been taken and he was sore displeased noticed not with Daniel he was sore displeased with himself I was a fool they took me I mean he was just he the whole thing it just open up he saw yes these guys set a trap I fell in it and and it upset him and so he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and he searched all that time for a loophole in the law looking for some way some loophole whereby he might not have to put Daniel in the lion's den and he labored till the going down of the Sun to deliver him he really looked through the laws studies sought some loophole and then these men assembled again under the king and they said unto the King know o king that the law of the Medes and the Persians is that no decree or statute which the King established may be changed now they're pushing it now they're pressing it they're forcing the king to enforce the law these men have murder in their heart jealousy so often leads to murder they were jealous of Daniel in the position that he was being considered for and mastered by jealousy now they conspire to murder and then the king commanded and they brought Daniel they cast him into the den of lions but the King spoke and said to Daniel your God whom you serve continually he will deliver you now where did he get that kind of confidence in Daniel's God he probably had heard the story of the three Hebrew children he probably heard how God delivered them from the burning fiery furnace something like that would have been broadcast a long way and when he became King it could be being close to Daniel and as they're sharing stories Daniels witnessing to him about God it could very well be that Daniel witnessed to him about their history of their of their nation what God had done throughout the history I cannot believe that Daniel could be this close to the man without really witnessing to the man about the true and the Living God whom he served and having witnessed to the king now God is sort of on the line I love the story in Ezra how that when Cyrus gave to them the decree to go back and to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and they gave them many of the gold and silver vessels they were carrying back tremendously valuable artifacts back to Jerusalem priceless artifacts and it said that Ezra was sort of ashamed or embarrassed to ask for a military guard to go with them which would have been the wise thing to do because there were bandits all the way along the route that would rip off the caravans and and robbed the treasures and having these valuable treasures the the thing you would think would be that well let's get a military guard to go with us you know for protection but he was embarrassed to ask for that because he had been telling the king of the greatness of his god I mean you start bragging about God then you know sometimes put on the line well your God so great okay well he'll take care of you you know oh but wait a minute you know and couldn't you just and so and so the king is encouraging Daniel having heard of Daniels God your God whom you serve continually he will deliver you so a storm was brought and laid on the mouth of the den the king sealed it with his own signet the signet of his lords that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel then the king went back to his palace he canceled dinner past the night with fasting he canceled the instruments of music the orchestra that usually came in and played him to sleep and he tossed and turned all night he could not sleep this was just one of those things that you get on your mind how could I have been so foolish how could I've been so stupid an innocent man a marvelous man ay ay is suffering tonight you know because of my folly and just tossing and turning miserable his thoughts just not giving him any rest and so the King arose very early in the morning couldn't sleep any I'll get up and he went in haste he went running to the den of lions and when he came to the den he cried with a lamentable voice and I like that very picturesque and he said Oh Daniel servant of the Living God now this is again very interesting the acknowledgement that Daniels served a living God do you know that most people serve insensate gods gods that can't breathe or see or hear or talk even today the majority of people are worshipping insensate gods their lives are being ruled dominated mastered by their passion for money or their passion for excitement for or their passion for knowledge and understanding and and that becomes their God they devote their lives to the amassing of material wealth and they make every decision based upon the profit aspect that's their God but it's not alive it's in dead inanimate objects Daniel serve the Living God servant of the Living God is thy God question-is thy God whom you serve continually able to deliver you from the den of lions what happened to his faith the night before he's saying your God is you know going to deliver you he made it very positive he will deliver you now the question is he able to deliver you from the Lions and out of the darkness of the lion's den there came a voice Daniel said unto the King O king live forever my God has sent his angel remember the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace how when Nebuchadnezzar looked in he said did we not cast three how is it that I see four walking around in the midst of the fire and the fourth his face is like the Son of God oh how the Lord shares in our times of trial he said I will not leave you or forsake you and you do not go through a testing or a trial but what the Lord is there with you in it to see you through it he sent his angel then he shut the Lions mouths and they have not hurt me I imagined Daniel slept better than the King I would suppose that a lion would make a pretty soft pillow the king was exceedingly happy all right and he commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den so Daniel was taken up out of the den and no manner of hurt was found upon him why because he believed in his God Jesus said if you can believe all things are possible Satan is out to destroy your faith in God and he does whatever he can to challenge your belief but to those who do believe and and again I think that in in keeping with this it would be well to read the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews reminding ourselves again of what God has done for those people who dared to trust in him dared to believe his promises and as Hebrews 11 is telling us about these men it said who through faith stopped the mouths of lions and no doubt referring to this very chapter into Daniels experience Jesus said have faith in God for if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed you could say to young mountain be thou removed and cast in the midst of the sea and it be done oh how far short we fall today no harm to Daniel no hurt to Daniel because he believed in his God no harm to the Hebrew children they believed in their God and the king commanded and they brought those men which had accused Daniel you say well the Lions weren't hungry but this will dispel that they cast them in the den of lions with their children and their wives and the Lions had the mastery of them and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever hit the bottom of the den I mean these guys didn't even hit the bottom now you say oh but my why would they throw in the wives and children well because this is a pagan Empire and it was the practice of the Persian Empire when a man was guilty of treason or whatever they would not only kill him but the family that was just a practice of the Persian Empire now God's law said that a son was not to be slain for his father's sin or the father for the son but every man is responsible for his own guilt and under the law of God this would not be but under the law of the Persians that's the way it was so this is not God's law it isn't what God required is just the law of the Persians that this happened then King Darius wrote unto all the people the nations and languages that dwell on all the earth and and it's interesting he sort of begins as as Nebuchadnezzar began his little message to all of the people that dwell on the earth notice how God is getting his witness out you know God has never left himself without a witness now the nation of Israel was to be God's witness to the world through the blessings of God upon that nation the world was to see the benefits of worshipping God and serving the true and the Living God that was God's witness and it was to be God's witness to the world but they no longer served God they began to serve the gods of the heathen they began to serve the gods of the Canaanites even the Babylonian gods and thus they were driven from the land no longer a witness but God is not without a witness and Nebuchadnezzar this great king of Babylon bears witness to the world about God chapter four Nebuchadnezzar the King unto all people nations languages that dwell in all the earth and notice peace be multiplied unto you it's quite similar to the way Derr is begin his Proclamation then King Darius wrote unto all the people nations and languages that dwell in all the earth it's very same thing peace be multiplied unto you so God is now using these Kings the Babylonian king and now the Persian king or the mean he was a he was a Meade Cyrus was the Persian I make a decree that in every Dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel that's quite a decree you better fear and tremble before Daniel's God the problem is righteousness cannot be legislated you know there are always those today because we object to the filth that they are seeking to dump on us they say all those right-wing Christian fundamentalist they're trying to force us all to live according to their convictions no you cannot legislate righteousness you cannot create laws and force people to be righteous God didn't intend that people be forced to be righteous now this is a testing time God has given a person a free will and God wants not a legal relationship with you but a loving relationship with you and if being a Christian was a law and and this is what's the problem with the Muslims in that they have the laws by which people are forced to remain in that faith or they can be put to death it is a capital crime to leave the Muslim faith it is also a capital crime to convert a Muslim from his faith to another religion so how do you know whether or not they really love Allah or maybe they're just afraid of the sword poor Allah he doesn't know if they really love him or not he just read he doesn't know period but [Applause] but God has given you that free will and he wants you to exercise that free will by choosing to live a righteous life choosing to live a life of purity choosing to deny your flesh to deny yourself choosing to take up your cross to follow him because when that is a matter of choice I don't have to love God I don't have to serve God I could live after the flesh I could pursue the things of the flesh I could live for pleasure or whatever I mean I have that choice but I choose to serve God I choose to deny myself to take up the cross and follow Jesus and thus my relationship with him is a loving relationship and I am held by the bonds of love not by the laws and that's exactly the way God wants it not a legal relationship just a loving relationship I don't want laws that would force them to live righteously but I don't want laws either that forces me to have to take their filth for that's not freedom either so I make a decree legislating then in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble in fear before the god of Daniel and he acknowledges now he is the Living God so right King and he is steadfast forever a witness a testimony of the eternal kingdom of God the Living God his kingdom which shall not be destroyed and his Dominion which will exist until the end what a witness go for it Darius I love it bear witness to the whole world of the greatness of the god of Daniel for he delivers he rescues and he works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth and he has delivered Daniel from the power of the Lions oh what a witness God has brought now to the world because of the word you know we are so anxious that God deliver us from the situation rather than through the situation but many times God gets much more glory by delivering us through in the situation then had he delivered us from it when he delivers us from it's often people say oh well it probably would have happened anyhow you know you were lucky and it you know but it probably wouldn't have happened you know you were just worried about it probably would have happened though but when it does happen and God is there and he delivers you it oftentimes is a much greater testimony in the situation through the situation the Lord has brought me so this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in his successor Darius only reigned for two years and he died he was 62 when he when they captured Babylon and he died in two years and Cyrus became the king and Daniel also was thought highly of by Cyrus and he prospered also in the reign of Cyrus the Persian now this brings us to the end of the historic part of the Book of Daniel we've sort of followed the history of Daniel from his teenagers in Chapter one as he was a teenager taken captive to Babylon we saw some of the major events that took place to Daniel and to his companions while they were captives in Babylon we saw the fall of Babylon and the rise of the medo-persian Empire and now through Cyrus it brings us to the end of Daniels life from a historic standpoint beginning with chapter 7 and through the rest of the book we have visions which are prophetic that God gave to Daniel concerning the future of the world so beginning with chapter 7 these events like just take a look at the first verse of chapter 7 in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed and he wrote down the dream and he summed up the matters so chapter 7 actually took place back in the area between chapters three and four when Belshazzar was in his first year as king and Daniel will date for you these various prophecies the time that they came to him as we get into the rest of the Book of Daniel but this is where the book becomes quite fascinating because now Daniel begins to prophesy of the future events that are going to take place upon the earth during the time of the Gentiles the times of the Gentiles began with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews being taken to Babylon as captives when the nations ceased to exist when Zedekiah was blinded the last king taken to Babylon the kingdom ceased to exist and thus the Jews are now being reigned over by the Gentiles and so you were in a period of time known as the times of the Gentiles these prophecies that Daniel will be giving our prophecies that will transpire during the times of the Gentiles and so we're going to come into the very fascinating portion of the Book of Daniel as we get into that portion which deals with Eve that have already many of them taken place and events which have not yet taken place but are shaping up in the world today and so Daniel will bring you right up to the minute right up to what's happening and what will be happening in the near future and so it it's absolutely phenomenal the things that Daniel writes about and they give proof that this book the Bible was inspired by God jesus said I told you things before they come to pass so that when they come to pass you might believe and when you see with what tremendous accuracy Daniel spoke of the future events which we will look at history and see where these things took place just exactly as Daniel prophesied then you'll realize surely God is the author of this book father we thank you for the privilege that we have of studying your word and how it puts us ahead of everybody else Lord who are just today really confused with what's going on in the world they don't know what to make of world situations and Lord as we look at your word we see very clearly what's happening what's going on and we know Lord that you are right on schedule and you've told this of these days in which we live Lord we pray that you'll bless our continued study of the Book of Daniel as we look now at these marvelous signs that you have given to us to prove that you are there that you are the eternal God living outside of the time continuum able to tell us the end of a matter from the beginning Lord guide us inspire us as we continue our journey through your word in Jesus name Amen shall we stand may the Lord bless you and strengthen you as we face this daily saga of what's he going to do next I believe that God is calling us to prayer to fasting and God said if my people called by my name will just humble themselves and pray and seek my face I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land and I think that rather than complaining or bemoaning what's going on if we would just take and use that same breath and energy to pray that will do a lot more for the nation than our complaints will ever do it's time that we get serious because the enemy is serious in his attempt to destroy if you're in need of prayer tonight you can go back to the prayer room the elders will be back there to pray for you if you'd like to just wait upon the Lord and spend some time and worship in prayer you may go over to the fellowship hall and a group will be gathering over there just to wait upon God and to worship our Lord god bless you give you a glorious week

Channel: Chuck Smith TWFT

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Length: 63min 6sec (3786 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 12 2019