The Book of Daniel - Chapters 5 and 6

So good evening everyone and welcome to the Bible study this evening. We are in Daniel chapter 5.

Daniel chapter 5. So if we would turn there at the present time.

I did have my apps up on my screen but they have disappeared.

Then Daniel chapter 5. Bel-Shazzar the king made a great feast of a thousand of his lords. Can you believe a thousand? It says of his lords. Now I don't know from the scripture whether or not the men and the women were separated. There were wives and concubines there as we shall see as we go along here. And we should note here the name Bel-Shazzar. Bel of course is one of the other names for Marta the principal god of the Babylonians as he was the principal god of so many. Of course he didn't really exist. It's a mythological being. They had gods plural gods for many many things.

And Bel-Shazzar literally means god and steward. God and steward or god and treasurer.

And Daniel is also given the same kind of name hidden. Daniel's name in Babylonia was Bel-Tess Shower. Shazzar. Bel-Tess Shower. I get it right. Bel-Tess Shazzar. The only difference between Daniel's name the Babylonian name and Bel-Shazzar is the T-E-S. And I could not find any references that tells me what is the difference and why the difference. But Daniel's name and Bel-Shazzar's name essentially mean the same thing. So he made a great feast of a thousand of his lords and drank wine before a thousand. Bel-Shazzar while he tasted the wine commanded to bring the gold and sober vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem.

Now there's a great controversy with regard to Nabonites or Bel-Shazzar being the last king of Babylon. There's a thing called there is a archaeology has unearthed a stone with writing on it and it's called the Nabinitis chronicum. The Nabinitis chronicle says that Nabinitis went to Saudi Arabia and left his son in charge. He would be the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar.

At times as we shall note that Bel-Shazzar is called the son of Nebuchadnezzar but it was not unusual for a grandson to be called a son because actually in Chaldean they did not have a word for grandfather. So grandsons and grandfathers they were just called fathers and sons.

So they were drinking out of these vessels that had been taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem. That's a king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines might drink their inn.

Then they took the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was in Jerusalem and the king is his princes, his wives, and his concubines drinking them.

Now these vessels were holy vessels because they were in the the temple of God and they were the vessels that were used in temple worship in Mosaic Judaism and they were viewed as holy.

And one of the great lessons that we need to learn from this chapter is that you do not mock the things of God. It seems to me that Bel-Shazzar and the people that were assembled there were mocking God and saying, oh we'll just drink out of the vessels out of this the great temple that was in Jerusalem. But that is not what God expects anyone to do to mock him or to treat holy things as secular or profane. He will bring them into judgment as we shall see.

Remember that Daniel's name means God is judge and throughout Daniel we see that these pagan kings are judged and horrible things happen to each one of them. So they're having a great feast, they're making merry, and they're drinking wine out of the vessels that were taken out of the temple at Jerusalem. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem and the king is his princes, his wives, and concubines.

I drank in them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver and brass of iron, the wood and of stone. And of course these are no gods at all. It reminds me of Jeremiah 10 where it talks about they set up a tree in the middle of it and they decorate it and do all kinds of things. We're in the so-called Christmas season right now and people are, I've never seen such traffic as people are going to the stores and buying gifts for one another and all the Christmas music and everything that goes with the celebration of Christmas. By the way there are some great hymns in the Christmas music. It's too bad that they're only played at this time.

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, verse five, and rode over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace and the king saw the part of the hand that roped. Now it's an amazing thing that you look across the table and look above the candlestick that was glowing there and you see a man's hand riding there and it really shook up Belshazzar at that time that the king's countenance was changed. I would imagine all the blood drained out of his face and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his knees of his low ends were loosed. I don't know if he needed to go to the bathroom or not and his knees smoked one against the other. He was sore afraid because he saw this thing. He knew that it meant something and he wanted to know what it meant. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and the king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Now the third ruler in the kingdom, if Nabinidus, as a lot of the commentators say, that Nabinidus spent a lot of time in Arabia at the capital of Arabia and that he left his son Belshazzar in charge there, that you would have Nabinidus first, you would have Belshazzar second. He was the crown prince and the son of Nabinazar. Now a lot of the commentators say, well he really wasn't the son, but the Bible says that he is the son as we shall see as we go along here. And once again, remember that there is no word for grandfather, no word for grandson. So grandsons would call like Nebuchadnezzar, who was the grandfather of Belshazzar, would call him father, and Belshazzar would call him son. Then came all the wise men, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was the king, Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished once again. Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lord, came into the banquet. So it sounds like the queen was sitting outside or one ran to meet her and tell her about what was going on. It's not clear here.

Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king, so it doesn't say as Belshazzar's wife, Bullinger and other commentators say that the queen, her name was Nick Nitorious, it's spelled N-I-T-O-R-I-S, Nitorious, I think would be the correct pronunciation.

The queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lord, came into the banquet house, and the queen spoke and said, oh king, live forever.

And when you came into the presence of the king for the first time, you would say something like that, live forever, let not your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance be changed.

In other words, you don't have to worry about this because there is a person, she's going to tell him about Daniel, that can make you understand what is happening here.

There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods.

Now Nebuchadnezzar and Nebunaius and Nitorious, they understood that Daniel was special.

You remember that Daniel was even the master of the magicians and the soothsayers, and all of that. You remember that when he was examined, when he and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Hananiah, Mishael, and Adoniah were examined after the three years going to graduate school in Babylon, that they were 10 times smarter, 10 times more knowledgeable than the soothsayers and the magicians in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. So don't let those thoughts trouble you, don't let your countenance be changed. Verse 11, there is a man in the kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, so would be his grandfather, your grandfather, the days of your grandfather, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods was found in him, who became Nebuchadnezzar, your father, once again, showing grandfather, the king, I say your father made master of the magicians.

So once again, you see that Daniel was highly respected, made the master of the magicians and soothsayers in the kingdom. I say your father made him master, I say your father made him master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers, for as much as an excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding, interpreting dreams and showing of hard sentences, the dissolving doubts were found in the same Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar.

Now let Daniel be called and he will show you the interpretation. Now notice that phrase, he was of an excellent spirit. Daniel throughout all of this was of an excellent spirit. From the time he was taken captive, as we talked about in chapter one, he was taken captives, as oftentimes the Gentile pagan kings would do, they would take the intelligentsia of the brightest young people in the land and bring them to their land and hoping that they would be able to merge into the culture of whatever the conquering kingdom was.

And Daniel always had an excellent spirit. I wish I could describe an excellent spirit, but an excellent spirit is a spirit in which I guess you would say you feel at ease in the presence of this person, that you don't feel that they're judging you, you don't feel that they're looking down on you, you feel comfortable in conversing with them and we could go on and on with what it means to have an excellent spirit. But an excellent spirit will take you a long ways in this world.

So verse 13, then was Daniel brought before the king and the king made and said unto Daniel, the king spoke and said unto Daniel, are you that Daniel which are the children of the captivity of Judah whom your king my father brought out of jewelry? Once again, you see the the chronicle of Nabinitis would somewhat dispute this and put up in the air who was really the father of Belshazzar. The father was Nabinitis and the grandfather, which is also called the father, was Nebuchadnezzar. Now verse 14, I've even heard of you. So I guess Daniel was placed off in a corner somewhere as the term goes put out to pasture as it were. They called on him at certain times when they really needed to know what the dream or the interpretation was. That the spirit of the gods, notice gods is in you. Of course, it is a spirit of God. And in that light, an understanding and excellent wisdom is found in you. And now the wise men, the astrologers have brought in before me that they should read this writing and make known unto me the interpretation thereof, but they could not show the interpretation of the thing. And I've heard of you that you can make interpretations and dissolve doubts. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me the interpretation thereof, you shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. And there it is. Once again, the third ruler in the kingdom.

So that somewhat confirms what some of the now the Chronicle of Nabonites that Nabinites made Bell Shazar co-region and was king and Babylon was the chief city of the area. Babylon was a fantastic city, much like Nineveh was a fantastic city built by the Assyrians.

It took quite a long time. We would call it today the loop. The loop around the Babylon would take quite a long time for a horseman and a carriage to transverse.

So Daniel is told that he's going to be clothed with fine clothing and be third ruler in the kingdom if he can interpret the dream. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, let their gifts be to yourself and give your rewards to another. So Daniel never sought a reward. He never sought credit for what he did. Yet he was promoted by these Gentile kings.

Sorry about the flim that comes up. Have to get rid of it. Yet I will read the writing unto the king and make known to him the interpretation. Oh, you King, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father, once again grandfather, a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor.

And for the majesty that he gave him all people nations and languages trembled and feared before him, whom he would, whom he would, he slew and whom he would keep alive and whom he would set up and whom he would put down. So he was an absolute ruler, an absolute dictator, as we might say.

But when his spirit was lifted up and his mind hardened and pride, do you remember what we said from chapter four when Daniel, when Nebuchadnezzar was put out to pasture, as it were, literally seven years that he ate straw like the ox and the green grass of the field and and all of that and the dew of the night came upon him because he had with pride had said, look what my great hands have built this great city of Babylon. And of course Babylon was one of the seven wonders of the ancient worlds and you've heard of the hanging gardens of Babylon.

So when his heart was lifted up with pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne and they took his glory from him. So seven years out to pasture and he was driven from the sons of men and his heart was made like the beast and his dwelling was like with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like auction and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till he knew that the most high God rules in the kingdom of men and that he appoints over it whomever he will. And so God is the one who is ultimately in control. He is in control right now. He doesn't as we turn to Ozaiah 8-4 in the past, we're not turning there now, where it says you have set up kings and rulers by me and I knew it not and acknowledge them not. God doesn't choose every last ruler on the face of the earth, but at times he does intervene and he determines who will rule over the nations and bring him forth his great plan of salvation. The plan, the purpose of providence of God will not be denied and he chooses those whom he will set over the children of men.

Now we go to verse 22.

And you his son Belshazzar have not humbled your heart though you knew all this. You knew all of this Belshazzar. You were on the scene even though you may have been a little boy who knows how old you were, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that you knew this and you knew that those vessels that you were drinking out of tonight were in the temple in Jerusalem and you knew that they were highly treasured and very valuable and they were used in these services in the temple. Verse 23, but I have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven and they have brought the vessels of his house before you and you and your lords, your wives and talk about how drunk wine and dim and you appraise the gods of silver and gold of brass, iron, wood and stone which say not nor hear nor know and the God in whom your hand your breath is and whose are all your ways have you not glorified. See every breath that we breathe comes from God. God is the one who determines the length of our days and he is the one that decides whenever whatever we should be taken from this earth. I know that there are accidents that do occur and you can be at the wrong place at the wrong time and God has not necessarily placed a shield around us even though they're angels and oftentimes I think we sell the angels short. I gave a sermon not too long ago or we selling the angels short because the angels intervened for us time after time. You can read about that especially in joke 33 and 34 about how they would intervene and you know it not.

So God loves each one of you very much. He loves everyone who is his begotten son or daughter.

Not even a sparrow falls aground unless he's aware of it. So how much more are you more valuable than a sparrow? So even though Belshazzar knew all of this they made a mockery out of God and drank out of those vessels. Verse 24 Ben was a part of the hand sent from him and this writing was written. This is the writing that was written many many techo eupharsim. That is the interpretation of the thing many God has numbered your kingdom. Your kingdom is numbered and he might have thought well I've got six months or a year or 20 years or whatever I've got but actually only had a few hours and finished it. Techo you are weighed in the balances and are found wanting.

And we've been weighed in the balances and found wanting. At times I think you must be very disappointed in me Father in heaven because I don't believe I have lived up to the standard that you want me to live up to and to be as faithful and loyal and diligent and devoted as I should be. And all of us we are without excuse of all people on the face of the earth that have ever lived. We are that people. We are called to the kingdom for such a time as this. At a time like this this is no time to say well we've heard it all we've seen it all and we're here we are.

We we've heard about 1975 and prophecy for 49 years down the road and you have not sent your son yet. So what's the big deal? Well eat drink and be merry and we'll wait for a more convenient time as one told the apostle Paul. Paul you almost persuadest me to be a Christian. You almost persuadest me to be diligent but you're not. So your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Remember the statue that Daniel saw in chapter two. He saw a statue the head of gold which was Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar you're that king. He saw the statue of the silver which is the Medo-Persian. He saw the brass which was Alexander. He saw the clay and the iron which was the Roman. He saw the toes made of clay and iron and they didn't fit very well together. But we read from Revelation 17 that at the time of the end there shall be 10 kings that will give over their dominion to the beast for one hour. We don't know how long one hour is in Bible terminology but it's not very long. So the kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. It's called the Medo-Persian Empire. It was the second one after Babylon was taken. Then commanded Belshazzar and they clothed Daniel with scarlet but a chain of gold about his neck and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. Once again we have that third ruler in the kingdom. In the night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans slain. So Belshazzar had only a few hours. You've been weighed in the balances and you're found wanting and we should all examine ourselves. You remember Paul's admonition to the Corinthians to examine yourselves whether or not you be in the faith.

And we're all about faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

And somehow we can forget that. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The more we absorbed the more we absorb the word of God the more able we are to resist the fire of the heart of Satan. The psalmist writes in Psalm 119 verses 10 and 11 along in there, your word if I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Then commanded Belshazzar and they clothed Daniel. Scarlet put a chain of gold upon him made him the third ruler of Satan.

Scarlet put a chain of gold upon him made him the third ruler. In that night Belshazzar was slain.

In Darius the median took the kingdom being about 62 years old. That was quite old for that time, 62 years old. You know how the Meebs ticket Babylon was a great city and it was built on a river and the river ran through the city. And so where the river was they put iron gates deep down into the river. But the story goes in history to some degree supports this the history of that time Herodotus and many others have written about it and they I think they agree to disagree or they disagree and stick to whatever they've said. But anyhow the history of it is that they diverted the water of the cities of the city Babylon and the river of course flowed one way and the other and then that left the river bed where they could walk through. So the story goes that they walked under that gate that iron gate that was over the river and without firing a shot they were able to take the city and of course the first thing they did was to kill Belshazzar.

That was one of the things that the Dendiles would do is right away take control and kill the main leader. Darius the median took the kingdom or Darius the mead being about 62.

It pleased Darius chapter six it pleased the riots that said over the kingdom 120 princes which should be over the whole kingdom. Can you fathom can you imagine 120 provinces with governors with princes over these 120 kingdoms and over these three presidents of whom Daniel was the first. So Daniel was the first that the princes might give accounts unto them so the princes of these 120 provinces would report to these three governors and the king should have no damage. In other words the main thing was to serve as a shield for the king so that he would not have anything brought to him that will cause doubt in the minds of the people.

Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit so we see that once again an excellent spirit we should all strive to have an excellent spirit but no matter who you talk to you can talk to the the poorest you can talk to the richest you can talk to the mightiest you can talk to the weakest you can you feel comfortable and they feel comfortable in your presence. You are of an excellent spirit so one of the main reasons that they bring out because of course the knowledge part of it and being able to interpret the dreams superseded this but this was a part of this an excellent spirit was in him and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom and see that's the strategy of people who know that they are defeated and kill the messenger and not the message. The message is Daniel is over all of you well we're going to kill Daniel then we're going to bring forth a charge against him that will cause the king to remove him from this office.

Remember they accuse Jesus Christ of being an illegitimate child and we know the politics of the day in which they go after each other with tooth and toenail as it were and they try to destroy the reputation of the other and they try to dig up dirt and they try to do everything they can and envy the green eyed monster envy has been the downfall of so many people the downfall of these people that did this is absolutely horrible and tragic to even contemplate as we shall see.

So Daniel was preserved it was preferred above all of these it was third in the kingdom verse four then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom that they could define on occasion nor fall for as much as he was faithful. You know when Jesus Christ comes again one of the main things that he's going to look for are those that are faithful this is also brought out they are elected they're chosen and they're faithful. We have been elected it is a sacred calling to be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb that's what we've been called to and ultimately we'll get there if we remain faithful we have to make our calling and election sure as second Peter brings out and then we have to be faithful to the very end there will be times in which it looks like that there would be no way remember what Matthew 24 24 says that if it were possible they would deceive the halt the very elect you want to be a part of the elect for as much as he was faithful Daniel was faithful neither was there any error or fault found in him so they said we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his god so we won't attack him per se we will attack him in his worship of his god then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said best unto him king to rise live forever and the presidents of the kingdom the governors the princes council captains now consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree and whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for 30 days saved from you oh king he shall be cast in the den of lions now king established the decree and signed the writing that is cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians which alters not once the king of the Medes and the Persians put their stamp their seal as aware upon a thing it cannot be changed by the law of the land of course we are now having to fall out from a president not keeping his word and pardoning his son and showing that there is someone above the law but really there's not anybody above the law god is the ultimate judge remember that the very name Daniel means god is judge and one of the main things that's brought out in Daniel is judgment and judgment of those who would go away from god or for king to rise sign the writing and the decree now when Daniel knew that this writing was signed so he waited till he knew it was signed he's going to throw it in their face he went into his house and his windows being opened in the chamber toward Jerusalem he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his god as he did a four-time that wasn't going to change him he was going to stick to what he had always done as he had done when he was first taken captive when he declined the meals prepared by the king's men they they did the pulse they did the vegetarian diet then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his god then they came near and spoke before the king concerning the king's decree have you not made a decree that every person that should ask a petition of any god or man within 30 days save of you king shall be cast in the den of lions the king answered and said the thing is true according to the law of the means and persons which cannot be altered then answered they and said before the king that daniel is of the children of the captivity of judah regarding not you okay nor the decree that you have signed but makes his petition three times a day then the king when he heard these words was sort of please displeased with him and said his heart on daniel to deliver him and he labored till the going down as a sign to deliver him so the king deeply regretted because he loved daniel and he knew that there was something different and wonderful about daniel so he said oh i'm so sorry i made this decree but i've got to stick by my word then the king commanded and they brought daniel and cast him into the den of lions and the king spoke unto daniel your god whom you serve continually will deliver you well darius it seems had more faith than they did and a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords that the purpose might not be changed concerning daniel then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting here is a gentile king fasting fasting is not unique to the to the christian moral it is also found among other peoples as well neither were instruments of music brought before him and his sleep went from him so he tossed and turned all night said oh i've made a terrible mistake daniel has been cast in the den of the lions then the king rose up very early in the morning he went hurried to the den of the lions and when he came to the den he cried with a lamentable voice unto daniel and the king spoke and said unto daniel old daniel servant of the living god is your god whom you serve continually able to deliver you from the lions then said daniel unto the king old king live forever my god has sent his angels has sent his angel time after time god sends an angel to help us we're not aware of it some have entertained angels unawares as it says in the book of ebrus and as he shut the lions mouth that they have not heard me for as much as before him nsc was found in me and also before you old king have i done no hurt so you can rest assured that i have not done anything to damage you then was the king is exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take daniel up out of the den so daniel was taken up out of the den no manner of hurt was found upon him because he believed in his god you see some said that daniel died in 539 when saris died but daniel apparently lived a few more years because this darius is a meadow is a median king part of the meadow persian empire eventually and the king commanded and they brought these men which had accused daniel they were cast in the dead of lions them their children their wives and the lions had the mastery of them and break all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den then came darius wrote under the people nations and languages that dwell in all the earth peace peace be multiplied under you i made it agree that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the god of daniel this is like a prophet of god speaking for he is the living god and steadfast forever and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his dominion shall be even until the end because there is no end world without it everlasting as it says in isaiah 9 6 through 9 that god has purpose and he will bring it to pass that eternity never ends it had no beginning it has no end it's infinity in that sense he delivered and rescued and he worked signs and wonders in heaven and in earth who has delivered daniel from the power of the lions so this daniel prospered in the reign of darius and in his reign reign of saris the persian so daniel overlived saris and darius some now let's have a review of what we have learned in the first six chapters daniel was and his three friends were taken to babylon by gentile kings as i mentioned that they would take the intelligentsia of those the brightest and most able to be captives and hope to immerse them in their culture and every sense of the word daniel resisted the diet and also he and his three friends in the hebrew were michiel hadania and hanania names changed to belte chaser for daniel shadrach for hananiah michak for michiel and aden and obindigo for adenaya daniel understood that humans are made in god's image and the gnostic version of asceticism and separation of body and soul is a damnable heresy that our goal here is to be made sons and daughters of god in the kingdom of god the word soul that man became a living soul in genesis 2 7 the word for soul is nayfish it's used for animal life and it's used for human life it says in acts 2 that christ's soul was not left in the grave so did christ have a soul that surely didn't fly off to heaven when he died on the stake if he didn't die on the stake remember before he died he said into your hands command i u my spirit and upon resurrection he was born a glorious radiant spirit being that could appear as a human being as he did to the apostles in the upper room when daniel thrust in his hands and saw the scar and felt the scar saw the scars in his hands from being on the stake so we see that daniel set a powerful example and we should do the same thing in chapter two we saw the statue we briefly covered that again the head of gold being babylon the head of silver there the belly is the belly of silver the meadow persian empire the brass legs the brass thighs that of alexander the great and the legs and the feet being iron mixed with clay and ten nations eventually emerged at the end as we read from revelation 17 we also learned from chapter three they made a great image and chad rak michak and amendigo were commanded to bow down to the image and they said we will not and they were cast in the burning fire of furnace and their faith overcame the fiery furnace and not a hair on their head was singed and their clothing did not smell of smoke or anything burned and when they looked into the pit and when they looked into the pit and everything as i said i see one like the son of god so these first six chapters are telling you how you should conduct your life now they have some prophecy in it now in chapters seven through twelve we get into deep deep prophecy next time two weeks from now my hands made this in chapter four we see nepekan ezer in his pride say my hands made this great kingdom not realizing that it was god who had chosen him god chose nepekan ezer and the babylonians to destroy to destroy juda and jerusalem and the temple because of their sin he brought them into judgment now god is not slack concerning his promises he's not slack concerning the promise of eternal life but equally he's not promised he's not slack concerning his promise of judgment so we we need to be aware of that my hands made this kingdom no your hands didn't make the kingdom god made it through you and anything we do as paul writes he says do all to the glory of god without you without being attached to the vine as it says in john 15 you can do nothing so we see that we must not lift up our hearts and pride we may not we must not as in revelation 13 they made a statue to the image that was had life breathed into it and they were commanded to bow down and worship the image or and to receive the mark of the beast in the forehead or hands if you do that you've had it so we saw that parallel then in chapter five you cannot mock god and not incur his judgment you cannot bring out the holy instruments and vessels from the temple and drink wine of it and make mary and think that you can get away with it no you cannot get away with it god is the ultimate judge and in chapter six daniel in the lions did remain faithful through it all did his routine as before and god was with him all the way we learned that god is our protector and he sends his angels to protect us and to help us so those first six chapters of daniel are so valuable and i hope that we have learned our lessons from those first six chapters as i said the rest of daniel 7 8 9 7 through 12 is those six chapters inclusive are heavy in prophecy so we'll in two weeks uh begin there as today is a four four four and fourteen is eighteen so december the 18th i believe is correct every two weeks okay now we have questions and comments from you do we have any question or comment from you yeah dr ward i you know i think just in addition to these uh stories and experiences of daniel being valuable for us as adults they're very valuable for our kids as well um yeah very easy stories to tell them very easy lessons to teach them uh from these from these experiences and so i think almost every parent has told their kids stories of daniel and the lions den and and the daniel's friends and the flaming fire and and so uh definitely uh good lessons for young and uh young at heart yes thank you anybody else i have a question or comment okay we'll see you in two weeks