King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Sunday, September 13, 2020
Chapters: Daniel 1-3
Message: We Serve The LORD
Hello My Friend,
If you were to study world history, and this is still happening in many countries today, you would discover that every country has their own god and religion, and everyone residing in that country is required to follow it or literally face death. America was founded on Judeo-Christian values because faithful, born again believers of Jesus Christ wanted to worship God His way, not the British way. They risked their lives proclaiming, “We will not serve thy gods!”. While America is still free to worship God His way, we are quickly falling into the abyss of Satan as faithful Christians are being severely persecuted because they proclaim Christ as their Saviour. The devil is so good at intimidation, but we do not have to take his bullying, we can stand up to him by standing true to our faith and proclaiming, “We will not serve you!” [Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.]
The Book of Daniel contains twelve chapters. The author of the book is Daniel and it was first written to the Jews that were held captive in Babylon, about 434BC. The purpose of the book was to show how God rules the affairs of all men and nations. What we are to learn from the book is that God is the only God and gives honor and protection to those who worship only Him. Daniel was one of the captives carried into Babylon, he was quite young, perhaps a teenager, he and several others were set apart to teach them Babylonian culture, even the language. Daniel and three of his friends were favored over all of them and assigned new Babylonian names. The name Daniel means God is Judge, but his Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, which means prince of Baal.
[Daniel 1:3-8 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; 4 Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. 5 And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. 6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. 8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.]
[But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself] We have to make a choice, and that choice will determine whether or not we will be free to live or held to die. We may face a lot of persecution for our faith in Christ, but we are free, even in captivity. You see, all the gifts that the government has to offer us actually do come with a price, and they will expect payment the second they require it, as we will see in Chapter three. I will tell you that my faith may hang on by a thread at times, and I fail Him daily, but my heart belongs to Jesus, and it will never be defiled by the gifts the government wants to hand out. There is no better gift than to give someone the truth about Christ and how they can be saved. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had all sorts of opposition, but never gave up on God, they could change their names, but could not change their faith. Now, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that he wanted interpreted, the catch, he wanted someone to tell him what he dreamt first. He got what they called, wise men, which included sorcerers, astrologers, and magicians to try to reveal the dream, none of them could, and even said no one on earth could know what dream he had. Out of anger Nebuchadnezzar ordered all of the wise men killed, even Daniel, and his friends.
[Daniel 2:3-5,10,12 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. 4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation. 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. 12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.]
[There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter:] Do not let them fool you, physics, mediums, fortune tellers, they cannot reveal dreams or the future, and they know there is only one true and living God. Every other god are man made gods, including those who make up their own version of God and say they worship God. Now, when they came to Daniel he requested time with the king to see if he could be of help, and it was then that God revealed the dream to him in a dream. Before Daniel did anything, he praised God.
[Daniel 2:19-23,30 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter. 30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.]
[and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.] God does not look at the thoughts is in our head, He looks at the thoughts of our heart. The mind does think some crazy things sometimes as we get doubts, fears, and anxieties about things, but it is our heart the reveals how we react to them, [Matthew 15:17-20 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.]
Now, Nebuchadnezzar might have been impressed with Daniel’s God, but was not willing to give up his own to worship only Him. In fact, he thought of himself a god, and even had a giant golden statue made up of himself and it required by all to bow down and worship it as soon they heard music playing. If they refused to bow to the statue they will immediately be executed, in fact, thrown in a furnace for all to watch burn inside. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were not about to bow down to any god, but God, and we captured.
Daniel 3:16-19,22-25 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. 22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.]
[that we will not serve thy gods,] There is this movement going around where black people are demanding that they get treated with the same respect as white people, and are wanting restitution for the years of slavery that happened centuries ago. Now, you see all these white people bowing down to the black people, and this is exactly what comes to my mind. I will not bow to anyone, but my God. [and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.] Nebuchadnezzar had these men thrown into that fiery furnace, in fact, turned it up seven times hotter than it had been. That fire was so hot that the men throwing them into the furnace burned up and died instantly, but not one hair on these men was singed. In fact, something amazing occurred, Jesus was in the midst of them, and it was Nebuchadnezzar who pointed that out. As Christian’s, we are going to be faced with lots of opposition, even more so because we choose Christ over the world. They can try to intimidate and bully us, but we need to stand, even in the face of death, we need to proclaim that we will not serve thy gods. We need not fear for Jesus is right there in the midst of the fire with us. Amen! [Philippians 1:20-21 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.]
Today’s Prayer: God, With all the things that are going on today, and all the persecution we face just for choosing Your Son, it is comforting to know that He is in the midst of the fire with us. I have chosen, and still choose You to serve. As much as we think and even know that all things are possible with You, when pressure comes our way it can be hard to believe that when we are being thrown into the fire. Lord, give us Your power, mercy, grace, wisdom, and guidance. Help us to look beyond our difficulties and remain faithful to You, trusting that all things are possible with You. Give us the strength to stand by Your Son at all times, and not buckle under pressure to those who want to see us fall. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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