BIBLE STUDY LESSON 17
SERIES P --- YHVH’S PROPHETS
THE KING’S MADNESS
From Daniel 4
King Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed this message to all peoples of all languages throughout the world: Peace be multiplied to you! It has seemed right to me to tell you about a strange miracle which the Most High YHVH worked in my life. It was certainly a mighty wonder, and it reminded me again that His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, for He rules generation after generation. I was living comfortably and in peace at my palace when one night I had a very frightening dream. I summoned all my magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, but they could not tell me the meaning of my dream. At last, I summoned Daniel, whom I had named Belteshazzar after my god, a man who is as wise as the holy gods, and I said to him: [O Belteshazzar, greatest of the wise men, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and that no mystery is hidden from you. Tell me what my dream means.] Then I told Daniel my dream. [I dreamed of a tall tree growing in the centre of the earth, so tall that its top reached to heaven and it could be seen throughout the earth. It was rich with bright green leaves and its delicious fruit fed the world. In its shade the animals found rest, and among its branches the birds made their homes. As I dreamed, an Angel of YHVH descended from heaven and gave orders concerning the tree. ‘Cut it down and trim its branches,’ the Angel shouted. ‘Strip its leaves and scatter its fruit. Warn the birds and the beasts to run from it before it falls. Let its stump and roots remain where they are, but bind them with iron and bronze, and let the tender grass of the field grow around them. Let the dew of heaven drench the man whom this tree represents, and let him eat the grass of the field with the wild animals. Remove his human mind and put the mind of an animal in its place for seven years. This is a decree by the Watchers, a sentence by the Holy Ones, so that all people may know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of the world, giving them to those He chooses, even to the lowliest of men.’ That was my dream O Belteshazzar. My wisest men could not tell me its meaning; but now will you tell me? I know you can, for the spirit of the YHVHs is in you.] Daniel sat quietly for a while, stunned by the meaning of the dream. His thoughts alarmed him, and he was afraid to tell them to me. At last, I spoke. [You must not be afraid of the dream, or to tell me what it means,] I said to Daniel. [If only this dream could be for your enemies instead of you!] Daniel said at last. [King Nebuchadnezzar, you are that tree -- tall, strong, and reaching to the heavens so that all the world can see you, with rich green leaves and abundant fruit, a refuge for even the birds and animals. You have become strong and great, and your power reaches to the ends of the earth. Your dream of the Angel ordering the tree to be cut down, with only the stump remaining, bound in iron and bronze, wet with the dew of heaven, and eating grass with the animals of the field -- that dream has an ominous meaning. For YHVH has decreed that you will be driven from your palace and your high place of authority, and you will live with the animals of the field and eat grass like an ox, drenched with the dew of heaven. You will remain this way for seven years, until you learn that the Most High YHVH rules the kingdoms of the world and gives power to those He chooses. Yet the stump and the roots of the tree remained, and likewise your kingdom will return to you when you have learned that YHVH rules over all. Therefore, King Nebuchadnezzar, turn from your sins, practice righteousness, and show mercy to oppressed people. Perhaps then Adonai will lengthen the days of your prosperity.] All that the dream foretold came to pass exactly as Daniel predicted. Twelve months later I was walking on the roof of my palace in Babylon. I began to boast to myself of my power. [Isn’t this a great city which I have built by my own power to be my royal home and show my royal power?] I said. But even as I spoke, a voice came from heaven. [O King Nebuchadnezzar, the moment has come when your kingdom will be taken from you,] the voice said. [You will be forced to leave your beautiful palace, driven away from men to live with the animals of the field. For seven years you will eat grass like an ox, until you learn that the Most High YHVH rules the kingdoms of men and gives power to those He chooses.] The prophecy came true immediately. My reason left me, and I was driven from my palace and lived with the animals, eating grass like an ox. My body was wet with dew, my hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and my nails as long as birds’ claws. Nevertheless, at the end of the seven years, I looked up to heaven, my sanity returned, and I offered praise and honour to the Most High YHVH, Who lives and rules forever and Whose kingdom is everlasting.
[His rule is everlasting, His kingdom from generation to generation. The peoples of the earth are nothing compared to Him. He does what He knows best among the inhabitants of heaven as well as the inhabitants of earth. No one can limit His Power or question what He does. When my sanity returned, my kingdom, majesty, and power returned also. My counsellors and nobles accepted me and I was once again established as ruler of my kingdom, this time with more power and honour than before. Now I, King Nebuchadnezzar, offer praise, honour, and glory to the King of heaven, for His works are right. All that He does is fair. But He can take those who walk in pride and bring them down to humility.]
COMMENTARY
NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S BABYLON
Little is left of the splendour of King Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. Heaps of crumbling bricks cross the broad, treeless plain where that city’s mighty walls once stood. Mounds of rubble mark the places where the Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens rose proudly as two of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Six hundred years before Christ, the scene was very different. When Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon, he decided to restore the deteriorating city. He built a double row of brick walls fifty feet high around the city. Watchtowers were stationed every hundred feet along its ten-mile length. Attackers who penetrated the outer wall were trapped in the space between. Even with these defences, the Euphrates River that ran through the middle of the city provided a way for enemies to invade by boat. Nebuchadnezzar redirected some of the river into a moat that ran outside the city walls and surrounded them. But the river was also put to good use. Its waters fed the irrigation canals inside the city so that the people could grow large gardens and wheat fields to supply food during sieges. The river served as the major highway for trade and communication. Babylon’s wharves and marketplaces overflowed with goods from countries as distant as India. Of the eight gates in Babylon’s walls, visitors most often entered the main gate into east, or old, Babylon. Called the Ishtar Gate and dedicated to the goddess Ishtar, it was flanked by massive towers painted with dragons and bulls. An avenue of limestone and pink marble almost eight feet wide paved the way from the gate to the temple. On both sides of the avenue rose walls of baked brick decorated with brilliantly coloured bulls, dragons and lions. Known as the Processional Way, the avenue was used especially during festivals, when worshipers carried gold statues of the Babylonian god Marduk from the gate to the temple. Along the way to the temple stood the tower which some believed was the Tower of Babel, dedicated to Marduk when Nebuchadnezzar and his father restored it. Next to the tower, the great temple of Marduk glittered with gates of solid bronze and bore the scent of cedars from Lebanon. Nearly fifty-five smaller shrines in Babylon also honoured Marduk, and about forty others served lesser deities. A walk east from the Processional Way led to Nebuchadnezzar’s palace, the ruins of which still cover twenty-eight acres. Designs in blue enamelled bricks adorned sections of the throne room, reception and living rooms, and the five courts. Across a deep valley from the palace stood the Hanging Gardens, situated on a hill to be seen by the entire city. Legend claims that Nebuchadnezzar built these gardens in the form of an artificial mountain to comfort one of his wives who was homesick for the mountains of her native land, Media. Stairways led from one garden terrace to the next. A system of shafts and chains carried buckets of water to the top. Residents built their houses as solidly as the city walls to protect themselves from the heat of summer. The flat clay walls ten feet thick had few or no windows. Dim rays of sunlight filtered inside from courtyards between the houses. Large houses and public buildings sometimes rose to heights of three or four stories.
"Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."
1J 3
Big weekend coming up! Dont let doubt enter your mind. Acts 2:38 is real.
103How sweet to my taste has Your word been, More than honey to my mouth!
104From Your orders I get understanding; Therefore I have hated every false way.
105Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
106I have sworn, and I confirm, To guard Your righteous right-rulings.
Psalm 119
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13
Paul wrote that Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female are all one in Messiah. We are all equally "saved". But it has always been that way. Abraham, Caleb, and Rahab were all equally God's chosen people by their faith in his salvation despite having not been born as Israelites. This didn't change at the cross or pentecost. It also doesn't mean there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female. Equality in one respect does not mean--or even imply--equality in any other respect, as the rest of this chapter and Paul's other writings makes abundantly clear.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12
The foot isn't unimportant just because it is lower or earthier than the head. All parts are vital for a properly functioning body. It's ok for people to be different, to have different methods, roles, missions, and traditions so long as they are in alignment with God's instructions. We don't have to do all the same things in the same ways.
BIBLE STUDY LESSON 16
SERIES P --- YHVH’S PROPHETS
THE FIERY FURNACE
SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO
From Daniel 3
One day King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made a golden idol ninety feet high and nine feet wide and set it up in the Plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then the king assembled the presidents, captains, judges, treasurers, and counsellors, as well as all the other rulers of his empire, for the dedication of his idol. When all these officials were gathered before the idol, a herald announced with a loud voice, [A royal command is given to you people of all nations and races. When you hear the sound of music, you must fall to the ground and worship the king’s golden idol. Whoever does not fall to the ground and worship it will be thrown into a fiery furnace.] Soon the sound of music began -- horn, pipe, lyre, sackbut, psaltery, and other instruments. Then the people fell to the ground to worship the golden idol which Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then some of the Chaldeans complained to Nebuchadnezzar that certain Jews did not bow down. [You commanded that everyone who hears the sound of music must bow to your idol,] they said to the king. [And you warned that anyone who does not do so will be thrown into a fiery furnace. Now some of your Jewish officials, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have refused to worship your gods or bow before your golden idol.] Nebuchadnezzar was furious when he heard this and ordered the three men brought before him. [Is it true that you will not serve my gods or bow before my golden idol?] the king demanded. [If you will fall down now when you hear the sound of music, and worship my idol, you may live. But if you don’t, you will immediately be thrown into a fiery furnace. And what god can save you from me then?] Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king. [King Nebuchadnezzar, we will not defend ourselves, for if you throw us into a fiery furnace, our YHVH is able to deliver us,] they answered. [Even if He chooses not to deliver us, we must still be faithful to Him and refuse to worship your idol or serve your gods.] King Nebuchadnezzar was extremely angry when he heard this. His face became dark with rage at these three men. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than normal and ordered some of his mightiest soldiers to tie Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the furnace. The three men were tied, fully clothed in their mantles, tunics, turbans, and other clothing, and were thrown into the fiery furnace. The king’s command was so strict and the furnace was so hot that the heat of the furnace killed the men who threw them into the fire. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell bound into the fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar jumped to his feet in amazement. [We threw three bound men into the furnace, didn’t we?] he said to his counsellors. [You are correct, O king,] they answered. [But I see four men walking in the midst of the fire and they are not hurt!] the king exclaimed. [The fourth one looks like the Son of YHVH!] King Nebuchadnezzar came closer to the mouth of the furnace and called out, [Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High YHVH, come out of there and come here to me!] The three emerged from the fire, and all the other officials noticed that the fire had not hurt them at all. Not one hair of their heads was singed, their clothing was not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. [Blessed be the YHVH of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent His Angel to save His servants who trusted in Him. They refused to obey the king’s commandments and were ready to die rather than serve another god,] the king said. [Now I decree that any nation or people who speaks against the YHVH of these three men will be torn limb from limb, and that their houses will be utterly destroyed. There is no other god who can perform such a wonderful miracle.] The king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to higher positions in the province of Babylon.
COMMENTARY
BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN ORCHESTRAS
The language of music calling people to worship was familiar to everyone living in Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. Taught by priestesses, temple musicians accompanied religious chants and hymns on harps, lyres, drums and tambourines. Ancient monuments and pictures reflect a deep love and enjoyment of music among the Babylonians and Assyrians. Musicians were greatly respected and appreciated. Feasts and banquets were not complete without hired orchestras, and professional musicians could afford to charge low rates. The Assyrian king listened to music in his leisure time too. Even war called for music. On the march, horses walked to the rhythms of an army orchestra. At rest, soldiers were entertained by musicians. When a town was conquered, musicians and singers led the victory march. Orchestras in ancient times did not look like those of the modern world. Most of the stringed, wind and percussion instruments were carried by walking players. Flutes resembled a double-tubed version of today’s clarinets, and an instrument later called the sackbut looked something like a trombone. Some instruments were inlaid with bits of shell and coloured stones. Harps and lyres were particularly enjoyed by the rich. Often made of precious woods, silver and ivory, they were decorated with figures of bulls and bulls’ heads. Harp sounds, sometimes compared to a bull’s bellowing, were rich and deep. A clay tablet, believed to be a piece of ancient sheet music, has been found, but how ancient musicians wrote or read music is still a mystery.
This teacher who showed the students a film with a homosexual character in it claims that parent's rights to their children are gone when the kids are in school. What do the rest of you have to say about that?
https://www.lifesitenews.com/n....ews/teacher-investig
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