Hello
Friends!
Welcome
back
to our Encouraging Concepts Bible
study series focused on the powerfully PROPHETIC picture portrayed in the Old Testament book
of Daniel painted as a panoramic
landscape of World History in FIVE successions “written” in
ardent ADVANCE some 2,600 years ago…
“The Book of Daniel: Prophecy PAST, PRESENT
& FUTURE!”
The Book of Daniel: Prophecy PAST,
PRESENT & FUTURE (Chapter 2: Verses 46-49)
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell
upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an
oblation and sweet odours unto him. 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth
it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of
secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him
many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and
chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then Daniel requested of
the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the
province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king – Daniel
2:46-49
OPENING POINTS TO PONDER: The UNBELIEVING heathen monarch “king
Nebuchadnezzar” will indeed now
finally ACKNOWLEDGE the great “God in heaven” of brother “Daniel” in a tremendous THREEFOLD way:
ONE: The glorious “God of gods” as “God” the “Father” residing in – HEAVEN!
TWO: The loving “Lord of Kings” as “God” the “Son” residing on – EARTH!
THREE: The reverent “revealer of secrets” as “God” the “Holy Spirit” residing within – HEART!
This is a beautiful
picture of that desired “day” when our “Lord
Jesus Christ” will rightly RECEIVE His
perfectly PROPHESIED Theocratic “throne“ as “we” too rigorously REIGN with Him in
His – Great GLORY!
Prophetic Promotions!
To begin this PROMISING passage of “scripture” concerning “Daniel” and his poignant PROMOTION to follow, “we” find the “dream” of which “king Nebuchadnezzar” had deeply “dreamed” is now rightly REWARDED by the great “God of heaven” Himself accordingly:
Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell
upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation
and sweet odours unto him – Daniel 2:46
THEOLOGICAL THOUGHTS: WHY is
the “king Nebuchadnezzar” appear to be WORSHIPPING the young lad “Daniel” in this manic manner as he “fell upon
his face” here in this passage? Great question! The
“king” does NOT personally
“know” the great “God” of this young lad named “Daniel" as such. At this point, the “king” is nigh NOT ready
to ACKNOWLEDGE the great “God in
heaven” as the ONLY
sweet Sovereign Savior Himself. Therefore, perhaps he rigorously reasons
in his MIND that the ONLY way to approach “Daniel’s”
eternally glorious “God” is
through “Daniel” himself. However, this
kind of wicked “worship” was aptly addressed
by the “angel” in the New Testament text of Sovereignly signified “sayings” of whom had “saith” unto the exiled “John” by sternly stating: “do it not! ”
And I John saw these things, and
heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the
feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou
do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of
them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God – Revelation
22:8-9
Rather, “we” are
to willfully “worship God!” absolutely – ALONE!
And
then something else INCREDIBLE happens… This mighty “king
Nebuchadnezzar” now rankly requires absolutely ALL of his “kingdom” subjects to ALSO personally “offer an oblation” and a superb “sweet odours” ultimately “unto” this “Daniel” in kind. Sound familiar? Here again, the “king” had corporately “commanded” his royal
subjects to personally partake in yet ANOTHER form of idolatrous
wanton WORSHIP unto the “beloved” human being “Daniel” himself – WOW!
A Possible CONVERSION?
Then the “king” amazingly “answered” in response to “Daniel” regarding the total “truth” told “of” his great “God” through an apparent
adoration:
The king answered unto Daniel,
and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of
kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret – Daniel 2:47
Either
“king Nebuchadnezzar” is simply placing THIS great “God
of gods” on the spiritual shelf right NEXT to
all his OTHER pathetic pantheistic pagan “gods” of sorts. Or quite POSSIBLY this
confounded “king” is powerfully PROCLAIMING that
indeed THIS glorious “God of gods”
of Whom “Daniel” speaks is in
fact THE absolute lead “Lord of kings” and is thus the grand “God” of Whom is far ABOVE the
goofy “god” of belligerent “Babylon” goaded as the sensational Shadu Rabu himself! And that THIS gigantic “God” is indeed the loving “Lord” lording OVER the very wind
itself. Perhaps “Nebuchadnezzar” now
confidently concedes that indeed THIS great
“God” is actually the ONLY righteous
“revealer of secrets” to be
found anywhere throughout HIS intricately created
UNIVERSE expanse including “heaven”
as lording OVER the universal
– UNSEEN
World!
In
this moment, “king Nebuchadnezzar” is no
doubt literally OVERWHELMED at the dynamic DISPLAY
of the great “God” with all POWER and absolute AUTHORITY through this young lad “Daniel” of whom the “Spirit of God” resides. Ultimately,
this peculiar pious PROCLAMATION made by the “king”
appears to simply represent a very SHORT-LIVED so-called conversion of the
EMOTIONAL sort and is
perhaps nothing more than an emphatic MONTAGE of this magnificent MOMENT made on queue. WHY? Because he belligerently bails
out from this pragmatic PROFESSION
of his false “faith” facade as
“we” shall soon “learn” in the very NEXT chapter!
However, this was perhaps indeed the very FIRST spiritual
step for the concerned “king
Nebuchadnezzar” as a distinct possibility
of boldly BELIEVING upon the ONLY
eternal – ONE True GOD!
BIBLICAL BACKGROUND: This adamant “answer”
is very similar to the powerfully pragmatic PROCLAMATION made
by the “Pharaoh”
when addressing young “Hebrew”
man “Joseph”
in kind:
And Pharaoh said
unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit
of God is? – Genesis 41:38
And now “Daniel” too is thus LIFTED from the practical place
of harkened HUMILIATION to a powerfully PROMINENT political
place of extoled EXALTATION received directly from
the “king” as provided
THROUGH our great “God” alone:
Then the king made Daniel a great
man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province
of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon – Daniel 2:48
That
is a wonderful PROMOTION to be sure! At this decision decreed
as an absolute “answer” from the coronating “king Nebuchadnezzar” himself, this
diligent “Daniel” was thus immediately
moved from being one of the boys in the BOTTOM
of the “Babylonian” barrel to
the very TOP man presiding
directly NEXT to the “king” as the vice-regent “ruler” and choice “chief
of the governors over all the wise” directing the affairs
of the ENTIRE province…
And
Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is
none so discreet and wise as thou art: Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all
my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land
of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand,
and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and
put a gold chain about his neck; And he made him to ride
in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee:
and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And
Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up
his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt – Genesis 41:39-44
Indeed
“Daniel” was now
the hand-picked Prime Minister
appointed over the boisterous – Babylonian Empire!
And as a RIGHTEOUS response, “Daniel” definitely did NOT foolishly
forget his trusted “three” incorporated caring “companions” in kind. Rather, he had “requested” that “they” too soundly share the high HONOR and
grand GLORY gladly “given” unto ALL of “them” by
this commanding “king” himself:
Then Daniel requested of the
king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the
province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king – Daniel 2:49
Therefore,
when “Daniel” receives his new
POSITION of purposeful POWER presiding and “set
over” the premier “province of
Babylon” itself, he decided to use it as an
OPPORTUNITY to beautifully BLESS his royally re-named honored “Hebrew” friends “Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego” with excellently EXALTED ranking
RULE placed in strategic
positions as vice regents directly “set over” the pointed POLITICAL ponderances concerning the vast
landscape of “Babylon” to be utilized BY their great “God” in kind. And for well over “seventy years” of such Sovereignly appointed
SERVICE throughout his long “life”
lived, this HUMBLE man named “Daniel”
himself soundly “sat” within
the governor’s “gate” of the
great – King’s Court!
PROPHETIC PROMISE: We will NEVER have to manually
MALIPULATE the destined details of our “life” to greatly get
what we THINK we might actually WANT within
this waning “world” of ours. WHY? Because if we simply OBEY our
gracious “God” according to HIS wonderful
“word” He no doubt WILL indeed
“powerfully” provide for each
of us “exceeding abundantly above”
absolutely anything we could EVER dare to aptly “ask or think” of Him…
Now unto him that is able to do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power
that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout
all ages, world without end. Amen – Ephesians 3:20-21
As
we have “learned” so far here
in our solemn “study” series,
“Daniel” became the premiere Prime Minister positioned
“over” the bastion of the “Babylonian” Empire. WHY? Because his grandiose “God” had purposefully PLACED him
and his “three” captured “companions” there “according” to His PREDESTINED plan. Therefore, HE indeed
“knoweth”
the wonderful “way” that “we” ought to each
rightly “take” in such
matters…
Behold, I
go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he
hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his
way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone
back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth
more than my necessary food. But he is in one mind, and
who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such
things are with him – Job
23:8-14
Beloved,
“according” to the wonderful “words of his mouth”
in kind, our glorious “God”
graciously “gives” to each
of “us”
exactly what “He”
wondrously “wills” for our “lives” in full. And “He” will completely KEEP us
there until his allotted “time”
is finally fulfilled. Therefore, we must NOT seriously
“seek” the fickle foolish “things” of this wicked “world” system. Rather, we must “desireth”
His select “ways” of which “He” has
appropriately “appointed”
for each of “us” as such. We must constantly
be ever CONTENT with our great “God’s”
wonderful WILL for our “lives”
as we willingly – OBEY Him!
More to
follow… STAY tuned!
In
closing:
REAL REFLECTIONS: The twelve chapters of “Daniel” are powerfully PROMISED prophecies depicting the unfolding
of the HISTORIC events of which will take place leading up to
the literal “time” of the SECOND awaited
physical “coming” of our loving “Lord Jesus Christ” back to the earth:
And in the days
of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever – Daniel 2:44
And
our SERIOUS study of these PROPHECIES will
rightly REVEAL to each student of God's wonderful “Word” that the events FORETOLD
some 2,600 years ago could
possibly be FULFILLED in the seemingly near future…
We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com
I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!
Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><
Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"
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