Doug Batchelor - Daniel and the End Time (Sabbath School Study Hour)

[Music] [Music] good morning friends and welcome to Sabbath school study our coming to you from the granite based seventh-day Adventist Church in Sacramento California very warm welcome to those joining us online on the various television networks and also to our members and visitors right here in person at the church welcome with the lighter that you all hear early to study the word together we started a brand new lesson Courtley that we're very excited about it's entitled preparations for the end times and this is actually the second lesson in this quarter that we studying today it's entitled Daniel and the end time so that's gonna be the theme for a study this morning we have a free offer for those in North America and we'll be happy to send this to anybody for free who calls and asks if you'd like to receive a copy of this DVD the number to call is eight six six seven eight eight three nine six six as for offer number eight four zero we'll be happy to send that to anybody who calls and ask just a great study of Islam Christianity in prophecy well before we get to our study this morning we always like to begin by lifting our voices in praise and our song leaders will lead us in music at this time [Music] [Music] his word [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] they use so much for singing along with us and at this time pastor Ross will have our opening prayer dear father in heaven we thank you once again that were able to gather together and open up your word and study this important subject dealing with the end times because we look at the Old Testament book of daniel as indeed revealed things that were to be taking place in our time we pray that the Holy Spirit coming out our hearts and our minds for we ask this in Jesus name Amen now let's the study this morning is gonna be brought to us by pastor Doc I want to welcome our friends who are joining us and we're preparing to launch into a very good study I think it's very appropriate and relevant for our times right now preparation for the end time and this is going to be in the context of a number of different books in the Bible and individuals today's studies lesson to Daniel and the end of time and we're going to be looking at what we can learn from the the character and the personality of Daniel that would help prepare us for the last days and we have a memory verse and the memory verse is from Daniel chapter 2 verse 47 if you have your Bibles handy you can say this out loud with me Daniel 247 this is the New King James Version are you ready and the King answered and said truly your God is the god of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of Secrets since you could reveal this secret through the witness of Daniel and others like him over history God was accomplishing his purpose in revealing to the world who he was and what the plan of salvation was and a lot of things that Daniel went through when he was a captive there in a Babylon those things are going to be repeated for us in the last days now why did God call the children of Israel why did he call him out of Egypt sometimes I hear people say well that's because he wanted that he saved them because they were better than other people does the Bible teach that or did God say I didn't save you because you're better than anyone else in fact you're a stuff stiff-necked people why did he pick them what was the purpose in calling Israel well the Messiah would come through the seed of Israel but he wanted the nation of Israel really to be a light to the world for one thing look at where they were situated geographically what if God had called his promised people the Aborigines in Australia well that would have been fine but it would have been hard for them isolated on that great continent down there to really be a light to the world but instead look geographically at what he did he picked a nation not a big nation but a strategically important nation in that it is a land bridge over which most of the civilized nations would cross to go between Europe Africa Asia and parts of the Middle East the only place to go was through the Land of Israel and even though it's smaller than California it is in the news virtually every week today it's a very important piece of real estate and he wanted them to be and you can read about this in Exodus 19 verse 6 he said you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation revelations is a nation of kings and priests now if they're all a nation of kings who are they kings over if they're all a nation of priests no what does a priest do doesn't a priest like make atonement and intercede for others and so in order for them to be a nation of kings and priests who are they priests teen who are they kinging so to speak he wanted them to be leaders now someone is going to read for me in just a moment Luke 16:10 you'll have that Huff tease you know probably the the best time the most ideal demonstration of what God's plan was for Israel came after the reign of King David he had sort of set the stage for the time of Solomon that was the golden era it was a golden era in more ways while I was a golden era because they were at the zenith of their influence and it was a golden in that they had a lot of gold back then in fact I always thought it was interesting they were doing Salomon was doing great they're building the temple everything's going great the Queen of Sheba comes to learn of the wisdom of Solomon and then like guy Hezekiah when messengers came he just showed him his stuff Solomon shows the Queen of Sheba God and there she's looking for wisdom she just begins to hammer him with questions and he answers all of her questions and it says there was no more spirit left in her that's where you get the word breathtaking the word spirit there's breath and there was no more spirit left in her when she saw the glory and everything was going great and then it says in one year six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold came to saw Solomon and in the next passage it says his wives drew away his heart and then it goes down that was the zenith of the kingdom the other nations were coming to Israel to find out about God they had become a light to the world that was what he wanted them to do in being a nation of kings and priests he wanted them to show the other nations God but they didn't seem to do it very well in prosperity so God ultimately had to do it in adversity and now they became witnesses most effectively when they were being captives are occupied by some other Kingdom you can look at mark 1116 it says Jesus said he won't allow anyone to carry wares through the temple and he taught them saying is it not written my house shall be a house of prayer for all Jews is that what it said it says for all nations what was God's plan when he built the temple for the time of Solomon that just Jews should pray there or it was to be a house of prayer for everybody he wanted everyone to come there and to worship there and so he wanted them to be a nation of missionaries to the world all right now we're gonna go on to the first section here faithful in what is least this is based on a verse you're gonna read them for us please Luke 16:10 he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much now do the little things matter in our witnessing in the last days one of the great stories in the Bible matter of fact I think more chapters are dedicated to Joseph in Genesis than any other individual Joseph wasn't even in Israel when he's being the greatest witness Joseph is a captive in another land and so he is in a country that is occupied by a different force and yet he is witnessing for God and God is using him to save many in those circumstances what is the status of the church in the world today do we run things or are we an occupied country the world sort of been hijacked by the enemy can we be witnesses in spite of that how was Joseph a faithful witness did Joseph ride into Egypt when he first arrived in a golden chariot how did he show up in Egypt probably tied up saddled on a camel or dragged behind a camel and he came and he was auctioned as a slave right he decided well if I'm gonna be a slave I'm gonna be a faithful slave I'm not gonna sweep that dirt under the carpet I'm gonna sweep it up in the dustpan and put it where it goes I am gonna do things faithfully and he was so faithful what did his master notice everything he did prospered and he just kept exalting him until pretty soon Joseph was in charge of everything well then you know Potiphar his wife falsely accused him he's thrown in jail he said I give up I tried and look what happened is that what he did in jail said well I don't know why I'm in prison but if I'm gonna be in jail and be faithful and he was so faithful even in those circumstances as a prisoner that soon he ran the prison now what happened to Joseph happens to the Jewish people through there he stry they get carried away captive and next thing you know they're running things did that happen to Daniel did it happen to Mordecai and Esther has it happened in the world today you know who some of the chief writers and financiers in the world are Jewish people as anyone gonna contest that wherever they seem to go it seems like they they find the Lord somehow brings them into positions of leadership it's just very interesting so what does that say to the church if we are faithful in the little things God will expand our influence and so how are we to be witnesses to the world alright look in Deuteronomy 4 verse 4 through 8 there's a great passage that many of us have memorized Deuteronomy 448 but you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today every one of you that's a good promise hold fast to the Lord you're alive surely I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me and you should act according to them in the land you go to possess therefore be careful to observe them this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes the other nations are gonna hear about it even if you were to conquer all the Canaanites the other nations that come from afar that trade with you they're gonna hear about your laws and they're gonna say surely this is a great nation and a wise and and understanding people for what great nation is there that has God's own ear to it as the Lord our God is to us and for whatever reason we might call upon and what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in this law that I sit before you this day you know the wonderful thing about the laws of Moses is they're they're not superstition many of the government laws in the world are based on the Mosaic law they're not based on the laws of Hammurabi they're not based on the man Nakara that one I guess there's some that are based on the Magna Carta they're not based on some of the superstitious laws of the world but the law of Moses most kingdoms have realized those are just and righteous laws and so many world laws are patterned after them and so others will notice even little things like that so did God call them just to save them or why did he establish them look in Isaiah 56 verse 6 Isaiah 56 verse 6 and also the sons of the foreigner who joined themselves to the Lord to serve Him and to love the name of the Lord to be his servants everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant I want to pause right there some people might say well the Sabbath that's for the Jews but what does God say to the sons of the foreigner it's for everybody who takes hold of my covenant even them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations see God wanted the other nations to flow to Israel in this last verse in this section is one of my favorite Zechariah 8:23 thus says the Lord of Hosts in those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grab the sleeve of a Jewish man saying let us go with you for we have heard that God is with you it's like thinking I grab hold of them they said look I'm sticking with you you're lucky it's kind of like when I heard when Pastor CD Brooks was flying one time he used to tell the story about how they got into some terrible turbulence plane was shaking and rocking and they put on the seat belt sign and they made the announcement for the the flight attendants to sit down and buckle up because it's really serious when the flight attendants buckle up and it was balancing then they saw a lightning flash outside the window a lady sitting next to Pastor books put her hand on his hand he said I'd never talked to her yet and but yeah I guess he had mentioned he was a pastor and she said so sitting next to a pastor it's like they think there's some kind of good luck there but you know many of the nations have seen how God preserved the Jewish people and there was a blessing there and what is the church today spiritual Israel right and so people are gonna say you know God is with you sometimes when you witnessed your neighbors they might think you're a little odd and peculiar but if you're faithful when they go through a trial and they're looking for some advice you'll be surprised how all sudden they knocked on your door and there and they call on the phone and they say could I talk to you a little bit and when they're going through some crisis if we're faithful in those little things they will look to us now one example of this if you go to Daniel chapter 1 the book starts out with a test of faithfulness on little things what was that test about food what was the first test for Adam and Eve about food oh that's a little thing you use seventh-day Adventist you make such a big stink over little things like food so was it a little thing for Adam and Eve all the misery and the trouble you see in the world around you today can be traced back to eating something you're not supposed to eat isn't that right and then look in the Book of Daniel it starts out that way the story of Samson how does it begin the angel comes to the wife of manoa I always wish we knew her name just calls her the wife of Manoah and says you're gonna have a baby be careful what you eat isn't that interesting now let me just refer to this real quick so here in Daniel chapter 1 it says that you know there carried away captive they're thankful that they're not just you know working as slaves cutting stone in a quarry somewhere they get to work in the palace be part of the university and they've got in a nice environment and you know it's always nice when you're in a hot country if you get a job where there's air conditioning right and so that they've got it pretty good then King says not only that but we're gonna provide your food but there's a problem there on three three different levels the Babylonian regular Babylonian food that they had assigned to the the students of the captives it has things in it that gods that are unclean there's alcohol and not they're not supposed to drink and then some of the food the meat in particular sacrificed to idols probably before it's butchered Daniel says to the the Guardian the chief of the eunuchs he says look can you do me a favor he said I am determined I cannot defile myself with the regular food he could have said who in the world do you think you are you ought to be thankful you're working where there's air-conditioning I could send you out there were the Stonecutters how dare you complain and then you'll knew that was a risk but he said you know I need to be faithful in the little things and this is a command from God and I'm gonna obey the command from God a lot of a lot of Jews would say well when in Rome eat with the Romans eat or they would have quoted that verse eat what things are set before you asking no questions right just be thankful and pray that God will bless it couldn't Daniel have quoted those ideas he said no God says don't eat it and I can eat it and what was the result of that you get to the end of Daniel chapter one they finally it says at the end of the days a test say the Prince of the eunuchs is okay I'll take away your regular Babylonian cafeteria food and I'm going to give you basically they like vegetables to pulse it's called and water to drink and then it says he said give us ten days see if we don't look healthy at the end of ten days he said he found them fairer and fatter of flesh then all the young men that ate from the Kings table and then the King tested them and in all matters this is Daniel 1 verse 20 and in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examine them he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all of his realm and then the last verses and Daniel continued until the reign of King it closes off by saying not only was he smarter when Nebuchadnezzar tested him but he lived a long time so we were in India last week and while there I was visiting with a pastor from another denomination and he was telling me about you know some health challenges and he asked me about my health I said I'll said I don't have those problems I'm a seventh-day Adventist he looked at me like what I said yeah we I said we live a lot longer than you guys said what I said no that's a fact I said you've heard of National Geographic yeah I said yeah National Geographic did a study to find out what groups of people live along as I said they they found the three groups of people that live the longest are the Japanese people in Okinawa the people that live in Sardinia they're in the Mediterranean and seventh-day Adventists in Southern California so what they said yeah as we follow the Bible health laws and boy it got his attention I said yeah well it's okay I'm sorry I feel sorry for you so I'm gonna live longer than you I don't want to boast I mean but you know statistically generally speaking that's that's the way it works and so you're able to witness to people by being faithful in those little things and so not only are we to be witnesses in the last days and we stand for the Sabbath commandment and we don't fall for this spiritualism but we're to be witnesses in the last days by knowing our bodies of the temple of the Holy Spirit there should be a difference that is evident all right the next section now I don't know if we ever announced during our opening statements that if people have any questions on this study they can send them into Facebook I'm gonna play it by ear if our studio puts up on the screen that questions have come in we'll stop and do questions if I don't see it I'll just keep going fair enough I'm not even if the camera see if they're nodding back they wave the camera up and down that means yes if it's not working the camera was excited to say all right so we're gonna go under humility of Daniel so it's not just what you eat it's your attitude I want you to notice in Daniel chapter 2 and we just looked at Daniel 1 and Daniel 2 there's a vision King Nebuchadnezzar calls in all his wise men they can't understand the vision and so well they're all going to be executed because they can't deliver but when the captain of the guards going out to execute Daniel says look give me time and I will show the King what he desires so Daniel prays and they go to sleep that night and Daniel has a dream and he knows it's the same dream that the King has had and he says in Daniel 2 chapter 23 I thank and praise you O God of my father's that you have given me wisdom and might and have made known to me what we asked of you for you have made known to us the king's demand first thing Daniel does he doesn't say wow I've got special powers look at that I I now know what the King knows no he gives the glory to God right away and I've got ever blesses you were the wisdom make sure and give the glory to the right place now someone's gonna read for me Daniel 2:25 in just a moment I want to show you another story in the Old Testament that's similar to this you remember when the Pharaoh calls in his wise men because he's had a dream and he doesn't understand what it means and they can't explain it and but Joseph can now joseph has the ability to interpret dreams but he doesn't say I've got these special powers he gives the glory to God in fact even when Joseph is in prison and the two fellow prisoners have dreams and he says we'll tell me your dream you can read in Genesis 40 verse 8 they said we have each had a dream and there's no interpreter of it and Joseph says to them do not interpretations belong to God tell them to me he didn't say I know dreams he says God knows these interpretations he gives God the glory Genesis 41 15 and pharaoh said to joseph i've had a dream and there's no one who can interpret it I've heard that it's said of you you can understand a dream to interpret it so Joseph's answer Farrell's saying it is not in me God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace you know that's the sign of a true servant of God is that you give God glory for any gifts that you have and if you give God glory and you thank him he's inclined to give you more but as soon as you start acting like this is a special power that I've got you're gonna lose it all right go ahead please read for us Daniel - 25 then area quickly brought Daniel before the king and said thus to him I have found a man of the captives of Judah who will make known to the king the interpretation isn't that interesting now Daniel goes to the guard after he has the King's dream and he says take me to the king I know how to answer the King an area Kuenn he brings Daniel in he doesn't say Daniel found me he said I found him you know they're all looking for rewards and all looking for credit somebody said there's no limit to what an organization can do if nobody cares who gets the credit but so often we want to know who will get the credit who is going to be praised for this who's going to be getting the promotion or the raise because of this and and who gets the reward but the guard said you know I found a man he didn't find Daniel Daniel found him and you go to Daniel chapter 2 verse 27 now Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said the secret which the King demanded the wise men the astrologers the magicians and the soothsayers cannot declare it to the king but I can that's not what he said he says but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets and he has made known to Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days you notice Daniel doesn't even use the word I he's giving all the glory to God in this story now how many times in the Bible you find it in Daniel several times in other places in the Bible do you find these spiritual showdowns where you've got first typically the Pharaoh he'll call in his his wise men and there's they can't do it but God can oh you have it for even where the Pharaoh and Moses and the magician's you know a plague comes and they try to duplicate the plagues if the magician's of Pharaoh are able to duplicate the plagues of the blood and they're able to duplicate the plagues of whether the frogs or something they couldn't do the lice is where they finally they couldn't do that but they tried to counterfeit the place when Moses threw down his staff and it turned into a serpent they were able to duplicate that and so they're able to counterfeit a number of these things but when it came to the dreams they were always befuddled they couldn't do that you can see that happening with that Joseph and the Pharaoh's magicians Pharaoh's magicians and wise men didn't know what the dream meant but Joseph did Elijah and the prophets of bail you get this showdown and they could not make the fire come down from heaven but Elijah could you got my Kaia in the prophets of bale you remember that story when Jehoshaphat and Ahab are seated and they're saying do we go to battle or not and all the prophets of bale said you're gonna go and win Mike I says no you're gonna go and die and so you've got these showdowns in the Bible they're spiritual showdowns but in Daniel you've got three times you get Daniel chapter 2 Daniel chapter 4 in Daniel chapter 5 where they call in the wise men and the astrologers and they don't know the answer and then they call Daniel and he does and so we see this happening so you even see it in the New Testament in the book of Acts you've got Simon this wizard he's performing these signs and wonders but then he sees Philip and Peter and they're performing miracles he says wow I can't do anything like that and so there's this contrast that you find he actually offers them money to see if he can get the same power they have because their miracles are so much better all right now we're going to go to the next section talking about the golden image now we're in Daniel chapter 3 and I won't promise we're going to get through every chapter in Daniel today but do we see some parallels for Daniel 3 in the last days first of all what's a Daniel 3 about it's the golden image Nebuchadnezzar makes a golden image and he tells everybody to pray to the golden image and those who do not bow down and pray to the image will be killed now when you read in Revelation 13 what's it talking about it's the same thing those do not pray to the image should be killed at first they can't buy or sell and ultimately they'll be killed do we see some parallels happening here and these to support in these two narratives look for instance in Daniel chapter 3 verse 1 Nebuchadnezzar the King makes an image of gold whose height is 60 cubits and its width is 6 cubits and he sets it up in the plain of Dura and the province of Babylon just a moment someone's gonna reach for me Daniel 3 6 but before I get to that I want to talk to you about those cubits the numbers that are given in prophecy have some very interesting usually real and also spiritual value was the image actually 60 cubits by 6 cubits in heaven when it says the city is twelve thousand furlongs is that that's you know what the biblical measurement was but the number twelve is there - it is a big city but the number twelve what is the number twelve represent at twelve foundations and twelve gates the numbers mean something twelve is good that New Jerusalem good city twelve the church means a church it's leadership it's a positive number for the church high priest has got twelve stones on his breastplate talking about the people of God on the heart of God the number six what day was man made it represents the worship of man and I think it's interesting do you find the number six of here in revelation 13 now in Revelation 13 you've got six six six here you've got sixty by six but I'd like to submit to you it's 60 by six by six I got this from dr. Leslie Harding he was saying that in the ancient world when they gave measurements if they did not give you that depth it was because it was the same as the width here's an example of that in the Bible if you go to Exodus 30 verse 1 so he'll make an altar to burn incense on this is the altar of incense and he said you shall make it of acacia wood a cubit shall be its length a cubit its width or what we would call its depth it'll be square and two cubits its height this isn't hard to picture is it you got a cubit 18 inches by 18 inches by 2 times 18 well 36 inches so that the depth and the width are the same the height is different and so what dr. Harding was saying is is that image was six by six by 60 and so you know you can't escape that the numbers even are similar that you find in Daniel chapter three and he makes an image and those who do not pre to the image should be killed what was there a problem with that for the Jewish person is there a commandment that says don't make idols and don't pray to idols and little children keep yourself from idols and and you find that all through the Bible so what happens in the story Daniel 3 6 and whoever does not fall down a worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace right you gather death decree is there a death decree in Revelation it has to do with the worship you've got true worship and false worship you know I always thought it was interesting that the Bible begin by Adam and Eve having two brothers these are the two said sorry yeah they had two sons these are the first two people that are born Adam and Eve are created right and they are instructed because of sin to sacrifice and this is part of their worship of God God gives them instructions that their - there's going to be a sacrifice there's gonna be shedding the blood for sin well Abel's willing to do this Cain he thinks well it's easy for you because you're a shepherd I'm not I'm a farmer so I'm just gonna do it my way and one does it his way they both claim to worship the same God one doesn't God's way one is true one is false the one who is false persecutes the one who is true even though they're claiming to worship the same God even though technically they're brethren they've got the same roots in their parents and one kills the other then you get to Revelation you have the same thing in the last days both groups are gonna claim to worship the same God they're gonna all claim to be Christians and one is gonna persecute the other that's really shocks people people think the beasts power is gonna do and just tell everybody they got to put on red leotards and have horns no this is gonna be worship they're gonna call it worshipping God they're gonna believe the Bible and someone's going to impersonate Jesus and and it's gonna look real you can read that in revelation 13:15 he was granted to give power to the image of the Beast that the image of the Beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed and he causes all small and great rich and poor free and slave to receive a mark in the right hander in their forehead that no one might buy or sell except the one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name and here is wisdom let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast for it is the number of a man number 6 remember number of a man number 6 6 6 now so the trumpet blows in the Babylonian music plays and everybody mouths down except Shadrach Meshach and bendigo and they're ultimately thrown in the furnace because they will not break God's law see they've got to make a decision do I obey the law of God or the law of man in Daniel chapter 3 the test is regarding the second commandment in Daniel chapter 6 the test is regarding the first commandment Daniel will not have other gods she doesn't pray to King Darius right Daniel 3 it's the second commandment when you get to Revelation 13 it's the fourth commandment it has to do with the commandments that have to do with worship of God and it's gonna be a big test in the last days I won't say that right now so when they stood up the throne in the furnace and does God deliver them from their fiery trials you know you may be persecuted for your faith I can guarantee you if you stand up for truth you'll be delivered you might be delivered in the resurrection as many martyrs will and you might be delivered miraculously like Daniel Shadrach Meshach and Abednego Daniel in the lion's den and his friends on the in the fiery furnace but I heard the pastor say one time when they did not bow down and they stood up for God what was the result of their witness and faithfulness and little things at the end Nebuchadnezzar he falls down before them he said your God is real God he issues a proclamation but nobody's to speak against the god of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and all the nations end up hearing about the true and the Living God who can deliver from the fire because you're only supposed to worship the Living God you're not supposed to worship idols because they stood up God accomplished through those three Hebrews in a foreign country what he had been wanting to accomplish through Israel when they had their own land he was able to accomplish more through Daniel on the Lions Den when he stood up than he was through Israel when they were in their own land God is going to be witnessing to the world through us during that small time of trouble when we stand for our faith and even now it still happens today so we need to be faithful and be bold about what we believe and don't be apologetic okay so we talked about the image a little bit then the next section is dealing with oh you know there's one more thing I wanted to show you we were talking a moment ago about pride and it's not in sequence so I waited to jump ahead the humility of Daniel you remember that what happens in Daniel chapter 4 I talked about Daniel 1 Daniel - Daniel 3 now Daniel 4 is another dream in Daniel 4 who remembers what it's about tree very interesting it's a tree that feeds the world and it's a tree of life it's a tree that gets cut down and it's got a band of bronze and a band of iron and wise men are brought in they can't interpret the dream and finally Daniel's brought in he interprets the dream and he doesn't want to tell the King what it means because it doesn't bode well for the king that Kingston's telling me tell me don't be afraid it says okay you're the tree you're gonna be cut down and because of your pride and a king's ISA kind of shakes him up and Daniel so let me give you some advice break up break off your sins by doing righteousness and it may be a lengthening of your tranquility the prophecies gonna happen but you might have a lengthening of your tranquility if you break off your sins humble yourself so the King does for a while but you know it's just it's hard to be humble when you're great you heard that song and here he had this this big Kingdom and everyone's bowing to him and he looks out of this balcony sees all the glory and the things that he's built and all he's accomplished and he just cannot stifle those inner voices of the devil to say aren't you great you ever heard those voices before you are so wonderful finally he gives in to it he you heard about the pastor I think it was pastor John Knox a great reformer and he was standing at the door greeting people after a sermon one day and one of the sisters is pastor Knox you're the greatest preacher in all of Scotland and he said I know ma'am the devil tells me every week so Nebuchadnezzar could not resist it and he said ha it's not just the great Babylon that I have created for my majesty and my glory and me me me and it says why the word was still in his mouth a voice came from heaven - it's being taken away from you and he turns into an animal well you know after seven years that somehow they managed to keep his throne intact and ran things for him but after seven years is his mind comes back to him again but if you look in Daniel chapter 5 now this is the handwriting on the wall again proud grandson of Nebuchadnezzar he's mocking the God of heaven he's worshiping idols again he's praising the idols with the vessels from the house of God and the handwriting comes on the wall that says meanie meanie Tegel you Frierson Daniel tells the King when he finally got in the wise men are brought they don't know what the handwriting says finally Daniel's brought he knows now you notice I don't want to rush past this point when the wise man cannot tell what the writing says King doesn't know what to do because Daniel has sort of been semi-retired during his whole reign after Nebuchadnezzar but the Queen comes in now and she says oh I'll tell you who can read that because there's a man in your kingdom that has the Spirit of the Living God Daniel's reputation had gone out and this is what we should be doing into the last days we want to live so close to God that people say how there's a man there is a man isn't that great that the King would say there is a man that in your kingdom Daniel comes in he tells the king he said you should have known better he says you knew what happened to your grandfather even if he didn't know about me you knew about his pride you knew about the golden image in idolatry you know knew what happened with the three Hebrews and when they were tried to mock the God of heaven and he says speaking of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 5 verse 20 but when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened in pride he was deposed from his kingly throne and they took his glory from him he says you should have known yeah you know if you can't learn your own lesson learn from the mistakes of others and then of course Belshazzar died that night because of his pride too now so you see that they're being Witnesses on to the Gentiles you see this also what happens at the end of Daniel chapter 4 at that time I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes to heaven my understanding returned to me I bless the Most High I praised and honored him who lives forever now you know virtually all of the Bible is written by Jews with a couple of exceptions chapter 4 in Daniel who writes that didn't it interesting you would have a Babylonian writing a chapter in the Dan in the Book of Daniel Nebuchadnezzar the King to all peoples nations languages that dwell on the air of peace be multiplied to you I thought it good to declare who's writing chapter 4 of Daniel how dare you put a pagan Kings chapter in the Bible but you know what the chapter tells about it's his testimony because the testimony of the Kings conversion because of the influence of Daniel Shadrach Meshach Abednego Nebuchadnezzar you had a babylonian write in a chapter in the Bible that's something of course the Gospel of Luke is written by Luke we believe was a Gentile the rest of the book is pretty much written by the people the Jewish people so he's being a great witness in that foreign can in that foreign land and he issues a decree now I want to look at the faithfulness of Daniel in Chapter 6 kind of marching through Daniel now once you start getting into Daniel 7 you get into prophesies the history of Daniel is the first six chapters from chapters 7 on it's pretty much prophecy so we're looking at the example of the history and so we're gonna go as far as Daniel chapter six again King makes a law the people have to decide if they're going to obey the law of God or the law of man the king is enticed to write a law that says you're not supposed to pray to any god or man except the king for how long thirty days why is that law made because there is a plot to get rid of Daniel and his friends is that going to happen to us in the last days and there will be people who will try to manipulate laws that will make it difficult you know it's interesting I don't know if you've seen in the news lately but something's happen the social media has become a very powerful means of communication people through Instagram and Twitter and Facebook and YouTube there's all kinds of communication that happens newspapers are closing up a lot of people don't mail letters anymore I know we still mail a few but so much communication I was texting it's so easy yeah the other side of the world you just have to mail a letter and you wait three months and then you get an answer and now you know I am in India I was texting people a few minutes later I get my text back no postage it's amazing number sent letter what it cost years ago I was dating Karen I was in Micronesia I'd send a postcard I got home before she got the postcards but now you just you sent a little text social media is very powerful and they've got a lot of control they're beginning to decide what they will and they won't allow you to say and I'm getting little notes from people in saying you know we were just blocked from Facebook or Instagram or Twitter or one of these things because we said something Christian but they said they thought it was biased our they don't want that kind of or we didn't meet the right criterion I could just see where there's going to be all kinds of persecution including the ability to freely communicate and so in the last day is there's gonna be laws they're gonna hedge us yet and so we need to make up our minds that we're just gonna stand for the right no matter what happened so they try to get rid of Daniel and they get the king they trick the King King likes Daniel they trick him into signing a law that you can't pray to anybody they follow him around first and they can't find anything wrong with Daniel he's faithful and everything that he does and our people are gonna be spying on us are they gonna be like you know going through our hard drive and trying to find out if there's anything dishonest well we need to make sure that we're faithful in that which is least they couldn't find anything on Daniel how many people could you say that about I couldn't find any dirt and as much as he was faithful this is an excellent spirit was in him he was spirit filled so finally they get along they know Daniels got a habit of praying three times a day see they knew that before the King signed his law Daniel was known for his personal devotions are we known as a people of Prayer Daniel had a reputation they could count it was like clockwork in the courtyard near Daniel's house three times a day his windows had opened just like a cuckoo clock it would open up right on schedule they'd see him in the window they'd see him kneel down he'd lift his hands towards Jerusalem he'd pray maybe he wasn't praying out loud they saw his lips moving and then he he'd get up and he'd close the windows go back to work and so they'd get the King to sign a law you're caught praying publicly you're going to the Lions Den Daniel knows the law is signed that's Daniel 6 verse 10 he knows what's gonna happen but what does he do you read this now Daniel when he knew the writing was signed wouldn't that be a good time to close your window I mean doesn't Jesus say enter into your closet and shut the door when you pray Daniel couldn't quote that because Jesus hadn't said it yet so he left his windows open in his upper room I mean it couldn't have gone to the basement that'd be the time to go to the basement and pray can God hear prayers in the basement sure can God hear prayers when your windows are closed yes did he have to get on his knees doesn't that look like you're praying he could have stood and just he could have prayed and looked like he's smelling the flowers you know fresh air I've been praying but no he knelt so he did everything to advertise that he was still praying to God he wasn't gonna hide his relationship with God he stood up the Lord why did Daniel pray three times a day what does it say in psalm 55:17 morning evening and at noon will I pray he see Daniel read the Bible David wrote that before long before Daniel lived David read that you know another reason I know Daniel read the Bible why did Daniel pray towards Jerusalem notice it says here toward Jerusalem I'm in Daniel 6 verse 10 because King Solomon said if your people are carried away captive if they prayed towards this place you prayed towards Jerusalem you also read in Daniel chapter 9 it says Daniel says I was reading the prophecies of Jeremiah so Daniel had a prayer life and Daniel had a study life are you known as somebody that has personal devotions do you read your Bible every day the reason the book of Daniels in the Bible is because here's a person that had a powerful relationship with God he walked with God and I think the key to it is in the middle of Daniel he had a strong devotional life can you say Amen are we going to need that for preparation in the last days that I word I've hidden in my heart that I might not sin so of course they catch him praying he goes to the lion's den the King tries to change his law he can't change his law can the law of God be changed no bullet says the law does not alter it does not alter you notice it says that in verse 12 of Daniel 6 does not alter you go to verse 15 no law of the Medes and the Persians can be changed you go to I think it says it three times anyway I think it's on the previous page so Daniel goes to the lion's den now you notice the similarities between Daniel and Jesus did they have spies following around did they have spies following Jesus around does do they say they couldn't find any fault with Daniel did pilots say I could not find any Fault in Jesus was Daniel married he was married to the people Jesus was married to the church um do they finally make a law because of the law of his God that's what happened with the trial of Jesus they said he's broken our law is he put in a to the lion's den is there a stone put on the mouth uh-huh does it happen near the going down of the Sun both stories is there a government seal placed on the Lions Den yes is there a government seal placed on the tomb yes does Daniel come out alive a king says because he believed in his God Jesus comes out alive it says they were both declared innocent it's just a wonderful parallels you find between Jesus and Daniel when does Christ rise very early in the morning when does Daniel rise very early in the morning it's just it's telling us a story about Christ in here and so I think you can see from the story of Daniel that what Daniel went through and Shadrach and meshach and they're living in a foreign land that some of the things that we may encounter and help him prepare is prophecy a prominent thing in the Book of Daniel does it talk about last day prophecy will last a prophecy be an important issue for us in the time in which we're living and Daniel was acquainted he was studying the prophecies of Jeremiah just before the angel came to him and we should be studying the prophecies also in the last days I'm sorry but we're out of time I never saw any questions pop up so I guess we're not doing any I want to remind our friends that were in lesson number 2 we do have next week's lesson 3 we do have a special offer the special offer is Islam and Christianity in prophecy Islam Christianity and prophecy do you like a free copy of this it's offer number 84 sort of a premium offer and just call the number eight six six seven eight eight three nine six six we'll send you this after you watch it we hope you'll share it with somebody and we're offering that for free now we want to get the word out thank you very much for studying with his friends God willing we'll do it again next Sabbath [Music] friends were out here in the Pacific Ocean not too far from the island of Fiji and we're getting ready to look at some wonders in the deep the Bible says God made the heaven the earth and the sea and there are things under the sea that are beautiful that many people have never seen some folks might just skim along snorkel on the surface but if you want to see the real majesty of the ocean we've got to go deeper [Music] because people don't have gills like fish we have to do something extraordinary to be able to breathe below the surface and because you have to breathe all the time we need this special equipment in the same way the Bible says a Christian needs to pray without ceasing we need to always be breathing the atmosphere of heaven if we're going to live a Christian life in this world below [Music] Wow what a wonderful world [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's face it it's not always easy to understand everything you read in the Bible with over 700,000 words contained in 66 books the Bible can generate a lot of questions to get biblical straightforward answers call into Bible answers live a live nationwide callin radio program where you can talk to Pastor Doug Batchelor and ask in your most difficult Bible questions four times and stations in your area or to listen to answers online visit BA out amazing facts 0rg [Music]

Channel: SDA Burgas

Views: 13,662

Rating: 4.7659574 out of 5

Keywords: doug, batchelor, daniel, and, the, end, time, sabbath, school, study, hour, sda, burgas, seventh, day, adventist, amazing, facts

Id: JrfvAPMvWcs

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 02 2018