A child is born. Nothing new right. It happens every day. And to those who are not in the family, it's not a big deal. Oh they will ooohhh and aaahhh over the baby when he is here, but quickly they will go back to their lives, and the parents will move on to parenting with love and logic.
But 2000 years ago something different happened. Luke 1 is a great version of the story. 1st John was born. The parents were very elderly and had no kids. They were not shunned in the community, but many people (including themselves I'm sure) thought they had done something wrong or something against God since He had not blessed them with children. Yet one day when Zechariah was performing his priestly duties, he was visited by the angel Gabriel who said he would have a son. A blessing, prophesy fulfilled.
Then 6 months later, another blessed miracle. A virgin is visited by the same angel and is told she will be pregnant and give birth to the savior of the world. The miracles never cease. The elderly woman gets pregnant and the virgin gets pregnant. What's more is the 2nd baby will be the savior to all mankind. He will be called the "Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David and he will rule over Jacob's house forever. His kingdom will never end."
But why? Why would the Son of God (God himself) come to be part of creation? He could easily have wiped out the powers that be and set up shop. To understand, we have to go back to Genesis 1. You see, in Genesis 1, God made man and woman. We were his creation. We were (are) children of God. But the problem came when we listened to someone other than God. On that day so long ago, Adam and Eve listened to the snake who talked them into doing the ONE thing God said not to do. They had so much freedom. Being in the family and so close to God was freeing.
I'm not sure the snake talked them into eating the fruit, as much as he showed them the fruit and they talked themselves into eating it. However it happened, they ate. And punishment was swift. Childbirth is painful for the woman (I wonder what it would have been like without the Fall) and work is toilsome and painful for the man. The snake is cursed (I probably would have done the same to the snake without him being bad. I hate snakes).
So we are now cut off from paradise and alienated from God. Does any of this sound familiar. Painful childbirth; check. Toiling away at work; check. Hating snakes; double check. Feeling like there is something just outside your grasp that you catch glimpses of here and there but never see the full picture; big check.
So after the separation and alienation between God and man, something needs to happen to bring them back together. It's those friends you have that were a couple but broke up and you know they were meant for each other and you know they need to be together, so you will think of ways for them to do it. That's our way of doing it. Daniel 9 is kind of like that. A god-like person comes into the world and sets up shop. He takes over everything becoming a great ruler. He lets the Jews start to sacrifice in the temple again. If you want to get on someone's good side, let them do what they love. But just a few years later, this ruler is ready to go the next step. He sets up shop in the temple. He made himself God and king. Isn't that how we would save the world too? The rich and powerful rule over everything. We need to become one of them to change things. But that's not how God did it.
To reconcile his family and bring his lost children back to him, he invaded their world. Not as a mighty conqueror but as a little baby. Something that would never be expected, and for sure something none of us would think of. Because of this little baby, our family was reconciled. We as children can go back to the Father, and the Father will open his arms wide and accept us in.
Many times it's the same with our earthly families. Sometime in the past, the parent screwed up and turned his/her back on her children alienating them. And the children with all their emotional energy ran as fast as they could. Of course the child had help. Those around him/her helped push her along that road farther away from the parent.
But then a miracle happened. A baby was born. The once child has to grow up in 9 months and become an adult. She has a baby, and the muck and dirt and pain and suffering are cleaned off the hearts of the parent and grand-parent. The past is put in the past and the future is a bright almost paradise. The pictures of the beautiful glorious family we have gotten glimpses of in the past are coming to fruition. Although this earthly paradise is not perfection, it is a start.
That's how it happened for me. Our child was born. I wiped out the past regarding my dad and started fresh. There are some things I can tell you from my experience. One is your parent has changed. He is not the same dumb-ass he was before. She is not the same selfish mother you remember. Two is you have changed. Your not that bundle of emotions you were before. You are now mom (or dad) and you had to grow up.
Your experiences have made you who you are; your decisions will make you who you become.
Showing posts with label Daniel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daniel. Show all posts
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
A study of Daniel
Daniel chapter 1
Jehoiakim king of Judah gets attacked and taken over by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Articles such as goblets and plates were taken from the temple of God and put in the temple of the gods of Babylon (this is important to remember for later in the book). In addition, the good-looking and young men of Judah are taken to be fed the best food and have the best training so in 3 years the best of the best can serve in some respect in the king’s government. If you saw the men they picked, you would automatically think of One Tree Hill or another WB TV show. Four of these men were Daniel called Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Instead of coming in and wiping out a country, Nebuchadnezzar came in and integrated the defeated people with the Babylonians. Because of intermarriage and time, the old way of doing things (in this case Judah’s ways) would be swept in and meshed with Babylonian and you would not recognize a different people.
Daniel and his friends had no plans to defile their bodies and they had total faith that God would either show them favor and protect them, or show them favor and let them die with God on their side. Daniel convinced his coach (for lack of a better term) to let him and his friends only eat vegetables and water instead of the kings food and wine. You see, the king’s food was food that was sacrificed and offered up to idles. For Daniel and his friends to eat it would be going against God’s rules. So for 10 days they ate vegetables and water yet after that allotted time, they looked better than the other men in their company. For three years they did this, and then went before the king who saw how good they looked and brought the 4 into his service right then.
Because the four followed God’s rules, God saw favor in them so (vs 17) God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. What was more, the king saw they were “10 times” better than the other magicians and enchanters in the kingdom. (important again in future chapters).
Daniel was there until the 1st year of King Cyrus.
Daniel Chapter 2
In his 2nd year (which is before Daniel and his friends came to work in the king’s court) Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and wanted it interpreted. The king sent for his magicians and enchanters and said “what’s the dream and what is the interpretation”. They did their best to walk around the subject and not get specific so they asked the king to tell them his dream. He would hear nothing of it and said he wanted both the dream and interpretation to prove they are real. In Vs. 10, the astrologers and others rightly told the king, “there is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks. No king has ever asked such a thing. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men.”
They tell the king that no man can tell him the dream and interpret the king. Only “the gods” can do this. The king feeling they were spitting in his face and basically to start all over again, he ordered for all the magicians, astrologers, etc to be killed. Daniel was in this group, even though he was just in training. When he asked his coach what was going on and was given an explanation, he told the coach that “he would be able to interpret the dream with a little time”.
Daniel told his friends what was happening and advised them to pray to God for the interpretation. Overnight in a dream, Daniel was given the information he sought.
Daniel went to his coach and said he can interpret the dream. His coach takes Daniel to the king and says “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.” Arioch was covering his bases. If Daniel doesn’t interpret the dream correctly, he can say “oh well it’s one of those Judah guys who was trying to pull one over on the king.” If Daniel comes thru and interprets the dream correctly, he can say “I brought Daniel to you. Look what I did”.
Contrast that with Daniel. He does not take credit for being able to interpret the dream. He gives all glory and honor to God almighty. He reiterated what the magicians told the king before that “no man” can interpret this dream, but only God who reveals mysteries and has shown you what is to come”.
The dream:
The king came upon a huge statue.
The head was made of gold.
The chest and arms made of silver.
The belly and thighs made of bronze.
The legs of iron.
The feet of a mixture of iron and clay.
A rock, not cut from human hands, came out of nowhere and struck the feet of the statue. The feet shattered and the statue was disintegrated and saw of no more. However, the rock became huge and basically took it’s place. Now before king Nebuchadnezzar just the rock stands.
The interpretation: There are 5 Gentile kingdoms that will rule over Israel. The head of gold was the kingdom of king Nebuchadnezzar (609 bc-539 bc). He is powerful and strong.
The check and arms of silver are Medo-Persia (539-331 bc). Daniel 5:30 tells us that Darius, the Mede, captured the Babylonian kingdom.
The belly and thighs of bronze or brass are Greece (331-164 bc)
Legs of iron are Rome (164 bc – 450ad.) that is Western Rome and Eastern Rome
Feet of iron and clay are where Roman influence are still present
King Cyrus of Persia allowed the people of Judah to return to Jerusalem in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Daniel 3
Nebuchadnezzar builds a large gold statue to worship. You would think after having that dream years before about a large statue he would not do that, but most people don’t learn from history. Then the royal governors, astrologers, judges, etc went to the king and said Daniel’s friends were not worshiping the statue. They were jealous of these 3 because they were shown up so much.
The three gave Glory to God in 3:17-18. They said “God will save us, but even if he didn’t, we don’t worship your false idols.” So the 3 were thrown into the fire to be killed. But by God’s power, they were spared and another that looked like a “son of the gods” was in the fire with them. The three came out of the fire (without the 4th) and king Nebuchadnezzar gave praise to the true God.
Daniel 4
The Tree Dream
Nebuchadnezzar had another dream of a tree so large it touched the sky. It had great fruit and the animals were using it for shelter and food. The magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners could not interpret the dream so he brought in Daniel.
Daniel interprets the dream as the tree is king Nebuchadnezzar. Because he is prideful and says his kingdom is his own creation, God will take it away for 7 years and make the king live like an animal. At the end of seven years, the king must pronounce the glory to God almighty. Since a stump and roots are left of the tree, the king will be able to retake his leadership position. 1 year later, the prophecy comes to fruition.
Daniel 5
King Belshazzar is the son of King Nebuchadnezzar. He throws a banquet and brings in goblets and plates from the tabernacle. As they drank the wine from the goblets of God and they praised their own gods. The 1st commandment: you don’t have any other god before me.
A hand appeared out of nowhere and started writing on the wall in a language the king could not understand. Now the language thing would be an issue, but a bodiless hand will really screw with your mind. The king brought in all the enchanters and astrologers (sound familiar) who could not interpret the message, no matter what the king promised.
The king’s wife tells him that Daniel can interpret the writing. The king brings him in and Daniel does as he did before. He doesn’t want the gifts the king offers, but he wants to give all the glory to God almighty. Daniel wags his finger at the king and tell him he saw everything God did to his father to humble him, yet the son is not humbled before God but still worships the god who cannot see, hear or speak.
Jehoiakim king of Judah gets attacked and taken over by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Articles such as goblets and plates were taken from the temple of God and put in the temple of the gods of Babylon (this is important to remember for later in the book). In addition, the good-looking and young men of Judah are taken to be fed the best food and have the best training so in 3 years the best of the best can serve in some respect in the king’s government. If you saw the men they picked, you would automatically think of One Tree Hill or another WB TV show. Four of these men were Daniel called Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Instead of coming in and wiping out a country, Nebuchadnezzar came in and integrated the defeated people with the Babylonians. Because of intermarriage and time, the old way of doing things (in this case Judah’s ways) would be swept in and meshed with Babylonian and you would not recognize a different people.
Daniel and his friends had no plans to defile their bodies and they had total faith that God would either show them favor and protect them, or show them favor and let them die with God on their side. Daniel convinced his coach (for lack of a better term) to let him and his friends only eat vegetables and water instead of the kings food and wine. You see, the king’s food was food that was sacrificed and offered up to idles. For Daniel and his friends to eat it would be going against God’s rules. So for 10 days they ate vegetables and water yet after that allotted time, they looked better than the other men in their company. For three years they did this, and then went before the king who saw how good they looked and brought the 4 into his service right then.
Because the four followed God’s rules, God saw favor in them so (vs 17) God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. What was more, the king saw they were “10 times” better than the other magicians and enchanters in the kingdom. (important again in future chapters).
Daniel was there until the 1st year of King Cyrus.
Daniel Chapter 2
In his 2nd year (which is before Daniel and his friends came to work in the king’s court) Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and wanted it interpreted. The king sent for his magicians and enchanters and said “what’s the dream and what is the interpretation”. They did their best to walk around the subject and not get specific so they asked the king to tell them his dream. He would hear nothing of it and said he wanted both the dream and interpretation to prove they are real. In Vs. 10, the astrologers and others rightly told the king, “there is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks. No king has ever asked such a thing. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men.”
They tell the king that no man can tell him the dream and interpret the king. Only “the gods” can do this. The king feeling they were spitting in his face and basically to start all over again, he ordered for all the magicians, astrologers, etc to be killed. Daniel was in this group, even though he was just in training. When he asked his coach what was going on and was given an explanation, he told the coach that “he would be able to interpret the dream with a little time”.
Daniel told his friends what was happening and advised them to pray to God for the interpretation. Overnight in a dream, Daniel was given the information he sought.
Daniel went to his coach and said he can interpret the dream. His coach takes Daniel to the king and says “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.” Arioch was covering his bases. If Daniel doesn’t interpret the dream correctly, he can say “oh well it’s one of those Judah guys who was trying to pull one over on the king.” If Daniel comes thru and interprets the dream correctly, he can say “I brought Daniel to you. Look what I did”.
Contrast that with Daniel. He does not take credit for being able to interpret the dream. He gives all glory and honor to God almighty. He reiterated what the magicians told the king before that “no man” can interpret this dream, but only God who reveals mysteries and has shown you what is to come”.
The dream:
The king came upon a huge statue.
The head was made of gold.
The chest and arms made of silver.
The belly and thighs made of bronze.
The legs of iron.
The feet of a mixture of iron and clay.
A rock, not cut from human hands, came out of nowhere and struck the feet of the statue. The feet shattered and the statue was disintegrated and saw of no more. However, the rock became huge and basically took it’s place. Now before king Nebuchadnezzar just the rock stands.
The interpretation: There are 5 Gentile kingdoms that will rule over Israel. The head of gold was the kingdom of king Nebuchadnezzar (609 bc-539 bc). He is powerful and strong.
The check and arms of silver are Medo-Persia (539-331 bc). Daniel 5:30 tells us that Darius, the Mede, captured the Babylonian kingdom.
The belly and thighs of bronze or brass are Greece (331-164 bc)
Legs of iron are Rome (164 bc – 450ad.) that is Western Rome and Eastern Rome
Feet of iron and clay are where Roman influence are still present
King Cyrus of Persia allowed the people of Judah to return to Jerusalem in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Daniel 3
Nebuchadnezzar builds a large gold statue to worship. You would think after having that dream years before about a large statue he would not do that, but most people don’t learn from history. Then the royal governors, astrologers, judges, etc went to the king and said Daniel’s friends were not worshiping the statue. They were jealous of these 3 because they were shown up so much.
The three gave Glory to God in 3:17-18. They said “God will save us, but even if he didn’t, we don’t worship your false idols.” So the 3 were thrown into the fire to be killed. But by God’s power, they were spared and another that looked like a “son of the gods” was in the fire with them. The three came out of the fire (without the 4th) and king Nebuchadnezzar gave praise to the true God.
Daniel 4
The Tree Dream
Nebuchadnezzar had another dream of a tree so large it touched the sky. It had great fruit and the animals were using it for shelter and food. The magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners could not interpret the dream so he brought in Daniel.
Daniel interprets the dream as the tree is king Nebuchadnezzar. Because he is prideful and says his kingdom is his own creation, God will take it away for 7 years and make the king live like an animal. At the end of seven years, the king must pronounce the glory to God almighty. Since a stump and roots are left of the tree, the king will be able to retake his leadership position. 1 year later, the prophecy comes to fruition.
Daniel 5
King Belshazzar is the son of King Nebuchadnezzar. He throws a banquet and brings in goblets and plates from the tabernacle. As they drank the wine from the goblets of God and they praised their own gods. The 1st commandment: you don’t have any other god before me.
A hand appeared out of nowhere and started writing on the wall in a language the king could not understand. Now the language thing would be an issue, but a bodiless hand will really screw with your mind. The king brought in all the enchanters and astrologers (sound familiar) who could not interpret the message, no matter what the king promised.
The king’s wife tells him that Daniel can interpret the writing. The king brings him in and Daniel does as he did before. He doesn’t want the gifts the king offers, but he wants to give all the glory to God almighty. Daniel wags his finger at the king and tell him he saw everything God did to his father to humble him, yet the son is not humbled before God but still worships the god who cannot see, hear or speak.
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