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Subject: Daniel 4 vss 1-3 Post #16 Author: Hillbilly [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 08:36:37 05/17/09 Sun Chapter 4 Daniel 4:1-3 Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 2 I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. 3 How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. In reading the early chapters of the Book of Daniel I find it interesting and insightful at how Nebuchadnezzar has moderated his spiritual beliefs. Notice the salutation to the world in Nebuchadnezzars address. His address is aimed at "all people, nations and languages, that dwell in all the earth". For the ruler of the known world to extol the God of the Jews in such a fashion as he does here shows that the evidence he had witnessed from his first dream until now had been weighing heavily on his mind. What follows in Nebuchadnezzar's narrative in chapter 4 details the final working of God that leaves no room for any other God in his life. Anthony Flew was a Darwinian atheist as well as a renowned philosopher. His views were in line with nearly all evolutionists who deny the creation. In 2004 he admitted to believing in a God who created everything. What changed his mind? He credits his change of mind to “following the evidence”. When he weighed the empirical evidence and then honestly looked at it he had to come to the conclusion that a God had to have created it. He became a deist. He has never embraced Christianity but is weighing the evidence there also. If he remains honest and sincere Jesus will one day lay claim to his life and he will receive Jesus to his salvation. This is very similar to what is happening to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar has gone from "who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?" in chapter 3:15 to the extolling of that very God here in 4:1-3. Conversion is based on revelation and evidence that can't be successfully argued against. This brings conviction and finally surrender. While Nebuchadnezzar may not have been an atheist his path was leading him to the same eternal destination as the atheist. In embracing all gods he was denying the one true God. From dreams interpreted to the deliverance of 3 companions of Daniel Nebuchadnezzar was seeing evidence that was totally lacking in his pantheon of gods. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego worshipped a personal God whom they talked to and who talked back to them. This was a personal God and Nebuchadnezzar only new of impersonal gods. I imagine that when Nebuchadnezzar laid down at night these events he witnessed took up most of his reflections and meditations. "Who is this God?" he would ask himself and I suspect the desire to know this God of the Hebrews was steadily growing in Nebuchadnezzar. What follows through the rest of chapter 4 is the final straw for this powerful and arrogant king who is so full of pride that he can't bring himself to honestly accept all the evidence and bow. Before God is through with him he will be glad to extol and praise the God of heaven. Think back to the experiences in your life that brought you to salvation. How many times did God have to show you something before you would reach the conclusion that it had to be God. How many times did you resist before surrendering you all to Him? When you think about it you realize that "all flesh is grass" and "the Spirit of the Lord bloweth on it". (Isaiah 40:6-8) and given the same circumstances you might have been like Nebuchadnezzar also. I suspect the conversion of the Apostle Paul to Christianity followed much the same pattern. Can you imagine the battles that went on within Saul of Tarsus? A Pharisee (Philip. 3:5) brought up and taught at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) who believed implicitly in the law and righteousness through the works of the law. The teachings of Christ must have enraged him just as it did the other Pharisees but when he heard the testimony of Steven and heard his "sermon" that day (Acts 7) he became a rebellious man. He was enraged that these people were willing to die for their Master whom they claimed arose from the dead yet the words of His followers would not let him have peace. Jesus started working on him long before he apprehended him on the road to Damascus that fateful day (Acts 9) but it was only when Paul had no arguments left that he surrendered and believed. It was only after I had no arguments left and was brought under heavy conviction that Jesus is Lord that I surrendered and testified to his claims on my life. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

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[> Subject: A powerful post, Hillbilly Author: dori [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 23:09:51 05/19/09 Tue I think this is the essence of the whole Book, isn't it? I see now why Connie suggested I read this book many years ago when I asked her where to start reading the Bible. Better late than never, eh Connie?

[> Subject: Hillbilly/Dori Author: Connie [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 09:33:37 05/20/09 Wed I love the Book of Daniel and even more so with HB's detailed explanation of it. Daniel was a true historian and thru the centuries many so-called scholars have tried to disprove it but couldn't because at the beginning of each chapter Daniel states where he is and who the reigning monarch was at the time. BTW it was when I became fascinated by Biblical prophecy that I learned so much about the Bible and the truths contained therein. I had gone to church all my life and attended a Church of England girls school and we had Bible study every Tuesday morning but I never learned anything that stuck with me or came together as it did after studying prophecy.

[> [> Subject: It's easy to see how this book could do that Author: dori [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 18:36:21 05/20/09 Wed It's fascinating! And I give credit for the new insights to the way Hillbilly presents it to us. Thanks, HB. And isn't it about time you posted some more prophecy for us, Sistah C?

[> [> [> Subject: Dori Author: Connie [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 09:07:42 05/21/09 Thu Well I don't have any prophecies to refer you to at the moment other than to say that we are seeing a lot of them come true right before our eyes in the daily news. Fascinating that those things were prophesied over 2000 years ago. How can anyone say "there is no God?"

[> [> Subject: Dori Author: Connie [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 14:59:26 05/21/09 Thu In the Bible study paper called THE JEWS IN PROPHECY which I sent you a few months ago there's a section called THE ACCELERATOR SIGN and lists the following: 1. Population Explosion (Rev 9: 15-16 and 16-12) 2. Increase in knowledge (Daniel 12-4) 3. Increase in violence (Matthew 24-12 4. Increase in transportation (Daniel 12-4) 5. Rapid disintegration of society (1 Timothy 3: 1-4) 6. Signs in general to be like birth pangs, i.e. increasing in frequency and intensity (Matthew 24-8) It appears to me that all of these "signs" are occurring now and all that the same time which is what Jesus said in Matthew 24:33 ...when you see all these things, recognize that I will be near, right at the door." Guess you could call that a prophecy....grin!

[> [> [> Subject: Yeah, I'd say so! Author: dori [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 23:20:59 05/21/09 Thu Thanks for the tips of what to watch out for. Well worth watching, that's for sure.