WEEK 45 [DANIEL 1-6]
WEEK 45 [DANIEL 1-6]
“There Is No Other God That Can Deliver”
October 31 – November 6
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Transcript
Welcome back everybody.
Speaker:This is week 45 of Creative.
Speaker:Come Follow me for the Old Testament and this week we get
Speaker:to enjoy the book of Daniel, and trust me, you're gonna enjoy it.
Speaker:, we have six chapters.
Speaker:It's not that hard to cover.
Speaker:It's also a lot of familiar stories.
Speaker:So if your kids have been missing the story component of the old Testa,
Speaker:Daniel's gonna bring it back strong.
Speaker:These are gonna be familiar to you, but I promise you that as you dive a little bit
Speaker:deeper, you're gonna find hidden treasures that you didn't even know were there.
Speaker:That's what my week has been filled with and I just can't wait
Speaker:to teach you the book of Daniel.
Speaker:Here are a few things that you'll wanna know as you head in.
Speaker:So Daniel is in part of that initial.
Speaker:Exile into Babylon so that the siege of Jerusalem actually
Speaker:covers about 20 years of time.
Speaker:And so when Babylon captures Jerusalem, they take people away in waves.
Speaker:Daniel's in that very first wave, at least we think that, um, what the
Speaker:king does is he wants to kind of.
Speaker:Pillage those who can contribute to Babylonian society.
Speaker:So Daniel is likely somewhere in a noble family, at least that's what the Bible
Speaker:Bible dictionary teaches that he is from some kind of nobility and he's incredibly
Speaker:bright and talented, and he and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
Speaker:those are their Babylonian names.
Speaker:What you're gonna learn about that in a minute, but they all get
Speaker:carried off and going to Babylon.
Speaker:What's powerful to me about their story is that they teach you how to live in the
Speaker:world, but not become a part of the world.
Speaker:And after hearing President Nelson talk to us at conference about this
Speaker:idea of us choosing to overcome the world and giving us tips on how we
Speaker:can accomplish that and why it's worth our time, I feel like Daniel's
Speaker:message is that he basically teaches you how to be yourself in a world full.
Speaker:Other opinions and people pressuring you to assimilate and all kinds of things.
Speaker:He also teaches you how to do it with dignity and grace and compassion.
Speaker:He's, he's not brash and in your face.
Speaker:In fact, he really reminded me of Joseph in Egypt.
Speaker:So if you loved reading Joseph's story and how he found ways to be
Speaker:successful, no matter if he was in Potter, her's house or in a prison, or.
Speaker:Next to Pharaoh.
Speaker:Daniel has that same kind of feel.
Speaker:He'll serve several kings in Babylon.
Speaker:In fact, I don't know that we, as far as I can tell, he never gets back to Jerusalem.
Speaker:He will spend his whole life serving various kings who are in powered
Speaker:there, and he does incredible work.
Speaker:In fact, one of my favorite lines from President Nelson's talk is that he
Speaker:talks about how this quest to overcome the world is a lifetime challenge.
Speaker:And that's what you get to read this week.
Speaker:You guys we're gonna see Daniel's lifetime pass before our eyes,
Speaker:and you'll see how he chooses to overcome the world at every turn.
Speaker:Not just Daniel, but his friends as well.
Speaker:And it is so good.
Speaker:So I promise you're gonna love it.
Speaker:Grab your scriptures, grab your notes, and let's get.
Speaker:In pretty much every chapter of the six that we're reading this week, there
Speaker:is an experiment upon the word, you know, like Alma taught us back in Alma
Speaker:32, that if you plant a good seed, you yield good fruit, and if you plant a bad
Speaker:seed, it won't, and you can cast it out.
Speaker:And each chapter hits this a little bit differently.
Speaker:Chapter one is focused on these boys being brought up in the court of the.
Speaker:Basically they have three years to be raised and taught in the court, and
Speaker:then they'll be eventually presented before the king, and in that interim,
Speaker:they're supposed to assimilate.
Speaker:You're gonna see that in the verses.
Speaker:So if you're looking four, you see these were children of no blemish
Speaker:that are well favored and skillful, and that they might teach them.
Speaker:This is the end of verse four.
Speaker:They might teach the learning and the tongue of the caldeans.
Speaker:The goal here is that these kids, Become Babylonians, basically, that they'll learn
Speaker:the traditions, they'll learn the ways.
Speaker:I think a piece of that will be because they want the other Jews
Speaker:to see these nobles assimilate and then be easier to manage.
Speaker:I think there's something about if you can get the elite to, you know, to
Speaker:join your ways, then things are easier.
Speaker:So one of the first things that happens is in verse seven it says that they're
Speaker:given new, So they're changed from their Hebrew names to these Babylonian names.
Speaker:Interestingly, Daniel's name stays Daniel, that's his Hebrew name, and
Speaker:that's how we'll know him the whole time throughout these chapters.
Speaker:But Shadrach, Meshek, and Abednego are their Babylonian names, and somehow
Speaker:we, we know those women instead, So, But it was the idea of changing their
Speaker:names That actually jumped out at me.
Speaker:I think the reason is because of that single adult fire side that I told you
Speaker:guys about the, I guess, young adult fire side where President Nelson talked
Speaker:to those young adults and he said, Don't let any label of the world supersede the
Speaker:three most important labels, and that is your child of God, a child of the
Speaker:covenant, and a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:And that's, I think, what they're trying to do here subtly by
Speaker:giving them Babylonian names.
Speaker:Helping them forget or maybe hoping that they'll forget who they are and
Speaker:whose they are, and it's just this slow process of hoping to change them.
Speaker:What's so cool about these boys is they don't change, but they seem to know
Speaker:when to push boundaries and when to not.
Speaker:They don't seem to resist having their names changed, but they do
Speaker:resist the diet that comes their way.
Speaker:So if you go a couple versus down, you see that they're basically invited.
Speaker:Encouraged to eat the King's meat and drink the King's wine.
Speaker:But I love how it's phrased.
Speaker:In verse eight, it says, But Daniel purposed in his heart that he
Speaker:would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor
Speaker:with the wine in which he drank.
Speaker:Therefore, he requested of the Prince of the Unix that he might not defile himself.
Speaker:He didn't make a big stand.
Speaker:He didn't, you know, tip the plates over and throw everything on the floor.
Speaker:He seems to show respect and temperance.
Speaker:And asked to abstain.
Speaker:I really think there is a key in this.
Speaker:For us specifically, you have to learn or you have to remember that how old
Speaker:these kids are, if they're in their, you know, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 range,
Speaker:for them to be able to withhold from the king's meet is pretty impressive.
Speaker:You know, we're at that time where your kids probably have a whole
Speaker:stash of Halloween candy that they.
Speaker:Poured through and they've eaten pounds more than they should have.
Speaker:That's the same age that Daniel and his friends are, and they have
Speaker:been taught well enough or feel the spirit about this strongly
Speaker:enough that they choose to abstain.
Speaker:And I think that's pretty remarkable.
Speaker:But I love the way they go about it.
Speaker:There is a, there is a patience in their approach that I think is pretty remark.
Speaker:And you learn how it works for them.
Speaker:In the next verse, so when you go into nine, it says, Now, God had
Speaker:brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the Unix,
Speaker:so the man who's in charge of them.
Speaker:Kind of like the situation we saw with Esther where she won the hearts of other
Speaker:people at court and therefore was trusted.
Speaker:That's what's happening with Daniel.
Speaker:Same thing we saw happen with Joseph.
Speaker:What I love about this is I feel like this is the promise that if you
Speaker:choose to honor God first, if you choose to love God, he will teach you
Speaker:how to love others, how to love your fellow men, how to love your neighbor.
Speaker:He will also help those fellow men and neighbors love you
Speaker:and see the goodness in you.
Speaker:That I think, is a remarkable promise, and you see it fulfilled in Daniel.
Speaker:It goes a little further and you see this test, right?
Speaker:The one that you've read about all your life.
Speaker:This is where they basically come to.
Speaker:That guy who's over them and they say, Give us 10 days.
Speaker:We just want to eat the foods that are.
Speaker:It doesn't specifically say that those foods, the wine and the meat
Speaker:are outside of the law of Moses.
Speaker:In fact, we know that within the love of Moses, you can eat
Speaker:meat and you can drink wine.
Speaker:So this is kind of an odd, We don't know exactly.
Speaker:It's possible that these things, the specific meats they were referencing
Speaker:are against that, that law.
Speaker:But it's also possible that they just wanted to be distinct and different, that
Speaker:they were seeking a way to say to each other and maybe to those around them.
Speaker:We are still set apart.
Speaker:We're gonna live in Babylon, but we're gonna be ourselves.
Speaker:I think this is what, what they're trying to teach with the
Speaker:strength of the youth lately.
Speaker:Now, the idea is that you're going to create boundaries, not because
Speaker:there is a checklist for you to follow, but because you've made a
Speaker:covenant with God that you will be.
Speaker:Distinct and different in happy ways.
Speaker:You will stand out when the time is right and I feel like that
Speaker:might be what's happening here.
Speaker:It may not be against their code, it might just be a choice they make.
Speaker:There's a great story in the notes.
Speaker:If you go in, I think it was.
Speaker:Oh, I can't remember who said it.
Speaker:It's in the notes, but it's one of the apostles.
Speaker:And he talked about how he ran into problems in business meetings because
Speaker:they would have these cocktail hours.
Speaker:So for a lot of times he wouldn't go.
Speaker:And then his boss said, No, you're missing key business opportunities.
Speaker:You need to go to the cocktail hours.
Speaker:Just don't drink the alcohol.
Speaker:And so he chose to instead go and drink the Sprite.
Speaker:But he said it looked so much like the other alcoholic beverages that he felt
Speaker:like he was sending the wrong signal.
Speaker:He went and spoke to the bartender and got a glass of milk and , and
Speaker:he was very distinct and different.
Speaker:And he talked how at first he got a lot of jarring and was kind of teased.
Speaker:And then over the course of time, because he was distinct and different,
Speaker:he made business relationships that would've passed him by if
Speaker:he just blended into the crowd.
Speaker:That's what you're gonna see with Daniel, where his uniqueness and his choice to.
Speaker:Have integrity blesses him and blesses others around him.
Speaker:It's so good you guys, so watch for it.
Speaker:As you study this week, basically what happens is at the 10 they,
Speaker:they ask to put this to the test.
Speaker:They say, Let us eat our own food for 10 days, and then just
Speaker:look at our counts and see.
Speaker:And at the end of 10 days, their accountance was fair and they were fatter.
Speaker:You know, I don't think it means physically fatter, but they
Speaker:looked healthier than the others.
Speaker:What I thought was really powerful is that's what the world can see.
Speaker:That's what this prince of the Unix can see.
Speaker:It'll be what the king can see, their countenance, their overall physical look.
Speaker:What they can't see is what, what they were blessed with also.
Speaker:That's in verse 17.
Speaker:As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all
Speaker:learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and.
Speaker:That's the blessing of keeping the standards of God.
Speaker:It's not just about our health.
Speaker:It's not just about how we look on the outside, those standards and for
Speaker:the strength of the youth and the word of wisdom and all those physical
Speaker:commandments that we, we think about.
Speaker:They don't just yield physical blessings.
Speaker:They, They yield deeper spiritual gifts that we will need.
Speaker:Daniel will interpret dreams that will save people's lives.
Speaker:Their ability to learn fast will help them stand out.
Speaker:Above all the other kids in this program, they are blessed with the
Speaker:skills they need to accomplish the work God has for them, and they needed to.
Speaker:Step up to a standard in order to accomplish that.
Speaker:I just think sometimes we teach this like a word of wisdom story and it is,
Speaker:but it's also so much more the same way you can teach for the strength of the
Speaker:youth and talk about how it helps you be safe and it helps you be healthy.
Speaker:And you could talk about it like that or you can take it deeper
Speaker:and say, God will always love you.
Speaker:He wants to love and bless you, not just physically, but with the gifts and
Speaker:the talents and the abilities you need to withstand the Babylon you live in.
Speaker:And the way to get those blessings is to choose this higher standard,
Speaker:whether the world sets it for you or the church sets it for you, live higher,
Speaker:and then watch the blessings roll in by the end of this chapter you see.
Speaker:get to the end of those three years, they stand before the king
Speaker:and he can see that they are 10 times better than anybody else.
Speaker:And that sets the stage for what we're gonna see in chapter two.
Speaker:You're gonna get total Joseph Fis when you read chapter two, because this is
Speaker:when King Nene has a dream that troubles him and he turns to his wise men to try
Speaker:and get an interpretation of the dream.
Speaker:And of course, none of them can do it.
Speaker:But thankfully, we have someone who lived a higher standard and received the
Speaker:spiritual gift of interpreting dreams.
Speaker:And now, That comes into play.
Speaker:So you see it kind of pulled through in chapter two.
Speaker:This is when you learn about his dream.
Speaker:But what's interesting is he doesn't tell you what his dream is, and he
Speaker:doesn't tell the wise men either.
Speaker:So he basically puts out a challenge to the wise men in his.
Speaker:Ruled and says, Not only do I want you to interpret the dream, I want
Speaker:you to tell me what the dream was.
Speaker:This is where you wanna watch the footnotes cuz it gets a little confusing.
Speaker:But essentially what you've learned is that the king remembers
Speaker:his dream, he knows what it is.
Speaker:He wants to put his magicians and.
Speaker:Wiseman and sourcers to the test.
Speaker:This is another experiment upon the word, but this time it's bad seed.
Speaker:These magicians don't have the skills.
Speaker:They don't have the ability or the connection to
Speaker:revelation to give the dream.
Speaker:In fact, that's what they say to thinking.
Speaker:They say in verse 10, There is not a man on the earth that
Speaker:can show the king this matter.
Speaker:They are willing to interpret the dream, but they cannot read the king's
Speaker:mind to know what the dream was.
Speaker:That's the king putting them to the test and that sea doesn't grow and so
Speaker:all of a sudden he's skeptical, right?
Speaker:So he turns to another source.
Speaker:But there has to be something that happens in the middle.
Speaker:Basically what happens is he says, If you guys can't interpret dreams,
Speaker:cuz their answer comes in 11, where they say, Only the gods could read
Speaker:your mind and tell you what it means.
Speaker:And the gods don't deal with men of the flesh.
Speaker:So essentially what they're saying to the king.
Speaker:We know we're supposed to be your channel to talk to the gods, but the gods
Speaker:don't actually talk to us, which makes them completely useless to the king.
Speaker:And you can tell that cuz he sends out a decree in the next verse
Speaker:that all of them are gonna die.
Speaker:Now since all of the wise men in this gigantic kingdom are gonna die, Daniel
Speaker:and his friends are included in that mix.
Speaker:So when he hears about that happening, he's concern.
Speaker:But here's what I love about Daniel.
Speaker:He has temperas, right?
Speaker:So if you look when the decree goes out in verse 13, in 14, then Daniel answered with
Speaker:counsel and wisdom to the captain of the kings garden that was gone forth to slay.
Speaker:So this is, they're about to kill all these wise men and he steps
Speaker:forth in counsel and wisdom aren't those interesting word choices?
Speaker:I just feel like that means he probably talked to his friends, he probably
Speaker:took counsel from those who were similarly minded, who have also have.
Speaker:That the Lord has given them, and then they respond in wisdom.
Speaker:The way they respond is to ask more questions.
Speaker:So I think this is a key way for us to live in Babylon
Speaker:and not become like Babylon.
Speaker:We have to.
Speaker:Not get easily shocked, . We have to show patience, but we also have to act.
Speaker:And the way he acts is to say, I need more information.
Speaker:I'm not understanding.
Speaker:Help me understand why the king feels this way.
Speaker:So that's what happens in 15.
Speaker:He wants to know why is the king in such a hurry?
Speaker:To, you know, execute everyone.
Speaker:And then he learns what happened.
Speaker:And so he basically says to the king, Could you give me more time?
Speaker:Can you gimme some time to think about this?
Speaker:And then they powwow together.
Speaker:So in 17, Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to his companions.
Speaker:So these are those.
Speaker:three Shara Meach and a Bengo.
Speaker:They list their Hebrew names in that verse, but he turns to them and
Speaker:he asks them to counsel together.
Speaker:It feels like Esther, when she's fasting with her maidens before they, before she
Speaker:can go into the king, they come together.
Speaker:I loved studying this concept cuz I think there is not just power in a group prayer
Speaker:like this, but there is joy in unity and there's a great talk from elder.
Speaker:All about this in the notes, but this idea that heavenly Father often
Speaker:creates opportunities for us to be unified so that we can experience
Speaker:deeper joys together, and that's what you're gonna see with these.
Speaker:So if you look in 18, they pray for tender mercies, um, of God, and
Speaker:then within one verse they get it.
Speaker:Now, I don't know how many hours pass between when they're praying for
Speaker:these mercies to come and when the answer comes, but the answer comes
Speaker:to Daniel cuz he's been given the spiritual gift of interpreting dreams.
Speaker:So it says in 19, then the secret was revealed and to Daniel in a night vision.
Speaker:So after they've come together, after they've prayed and counseled,
Speaker:then the answer comes, isn't.
Speaker:Helpful . I, I think sometimes we think, Oh, he's a prophet and he's
Speaker:gonna know things automatically.
Speaker:And I think it takes counsel and it takes time and it takes prayer
Speaker:and fasting the same way it does for us no matter who they are.
Speaker:So you see that process play out for Daniel, and then it
Speaker:says that he, Thanks God.
Speaker:I love that to get the answer is one verse to thank God for giving
Speaker:him the answer is like six verses.
Speaker:He's so grateful for the wisdom and the might.
Speaker:He continually talks about how it's God's wisdom and God's might
Speaker:that has been shared with him.
Speaker:I love how it's phrased in at the end of 22 it says, Well, let
Speaker:me read the whole of the verse.
Speaker:He says he reveal with the deep and secret things, he knoweth what is in
Speaker:darkness and the light dwelleth with him.
Speaker:I especially love it if you go in the notes, there's a lot of links to the
Speaker:doctrine covenants where you learn about God being the father of light and how
Speaker:he wants to give us more and more light, and it grows brighter and brighter.
Speaker:That's what's happening to Daniel and his friends keeping the standard.
Speaker:Give them an opportunity to receive more light using it
Speaker:the way that God wants them to.
Speaker:Using their spiritual gifts to bless others increases that light.
Speaker:And that's what you'll see over the course of the chapter.
Speaker:So he has the interpretation of the dream.
Speaker:He turns to the guy who's over them and he says, I, I can do this.
Speaker:Can I get before the king?
Speaker:What I love is what he says to him in at the end of 24.
Speaker:He asks, Destroy not the wise men of baby.
Speaker:Daniel's not just looking out for himself and his friends.
Speaker:He's gonna save the lives of all those sourcers and magicians and people who have
Speaker:nothing in common with him who are even working against him in future chapters.
Speaker:Uh, but he saves their lives anyway.
Speaker:I, I think he's a type of Christ in a lot of ways, and this is a big one.
Speaker:Um, so he gets before the king, and the king in 26 says, Are you able, Basically
Speaker:what you have to love is how Daniel.
Speaker:Because even though the king said, Can you do this?
Speaker:What Daniel replies over and over again is, It's not me.
Speaker:Yes, I can, but it's not me.
Speaker:So he says, But there is a God in heaven that reveal these
Speaker:secrets and making them known.
Speaker:And then in 30, But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom.
Speaker:It's not that I have any special talents or gifts.
Speaker:It's revealed through me so that you can know King, what God wants you to know.
Speaker:And then he interprets the dream.
Speaker:And this is where you've, you've probably seen the statue that has different kinds
Speaker:of, They're super expensive metals like gold at the very top, and then it goes
Speaker:slowly down to different kinds of metals on this great big warrior statue, and
Speaker:by the time you get to his feet, it's this compilation of clay and iron.
Speaker:And the prophets have already kinda laid this out in the institute manual.
Speaker:You can read some quotes, but they talk about how this
Speaker:is basically seeing history.
Speaker:In the future, like he's seeing our history laid out ahead of
Speaker:him in the different reigns.
Speaker:So this is the Babylonian reign.
Speaker:And then as you go down to the silver of his arms and his shoulders and
Speaker:his breast, that's supposed to be the next reign, that will be the Persians.
Speaker:And you can go in the notes and learn the whole thing.
Speaker:But he's basically talking about how there will be these great kingdoms
Speaker:of the world, this, these world powers that will dominate things.
Speaker:And then slowly that will break down into smaller powers.
Speaker:And then even.
Speaker:The Kingdom of God will roll forth.
Speaker:That's where you learn about the stone.
Speaker:Oh you guys, I had to do an object.
Speaker:Listen about this cuz I just love these verses.
Speaker:It's in 34.
Speaker:He says That was sauce till that a stone was cut out without
Speaker:hands, which sm smoked the image.
Speaker:So this stone comes out of the mountain without any help from men and rolls
Speaker:forth, and it tumbles into this statue, Breaks it to pieces, not just breaks
Speaker:it, but like crumbles it to dust, It compares it to like a threshing floor
Speaker:where all the seeds scatter in the wind.
Speaker:It's that same idea that it's gonna, it's gonna break it all.
Speaker:What I thought was really cool is the way he phrases it at the end of 35, it says,
Speaker:And that no place was found for them, and the stone that smelt the image became a
Speaker:great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Speaker:This is a phrase that Joseph Smith teaches in the doctrine covenants
Speaker:as well, and he talked about how this isn't a stone that's gonna.
Speaker:Snowball.
Speaker:It's not that kind of stone.
Speaker:It's something that will begin in a small radius.
Speaker:He compares it to like a millstone, I think.
Speaker:Um, and it's, oh no, it's a, a grinding stone, but it's this circular kind of
Speaker:donut stone, and he says, It's gonna start small and then as it spins, it's
Speaker:gonna get wider and wider, and pretty soon it will fill the whole earth.
Speaker:And I don't think this is just a, you know, kind of military like kingdom.
Speaker:I think this is the hearts of the people when he describes this stone
Speaker:rolling forth and covering the kingdom.
Speaker:It is.
Speaker:The hearts that are now united.
Speaker:I mean, think how many different countries have so many different governments, and
Speaker:yet all of these saints that live in these countries, we all unite under this kingdom
Speaker:of God, even before the Savior is here.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:We are coming together as a kingdom of God.
Speaker:Rolling forth.
Speaker:So that's the image that he teaches, the king.
Speaker:He tells him that what the dream.
Speaker:What the dream meant.
Speaker:And then the king honors him because he can see that he is someone who
Speaker:has access to the actual living God.
Speaker:And that's a pretty powerful promise.
Speaker:So as you can see, if you go in the verses a little bit further as he
Speaker:interprets it, the king worships, he worships Daniel, he honors him.
Speaker:It's kind of tricky this week because the king.
Speaker:Oftentimes will praise God.
Speaker:And then one chapter later, he is not praising God and he's worshiping other
Speaker:things and building giant statues.
Speaker:So you sort of have to keep that in check.
Speaker:You, you want to believe that this is gonna be one of those Booka Mormon,
Speaker:King Lamona and King Mona's dad conversion stories, but it's not.
Speaker:It's a heart that.
Speaker:Flip flops.
Speaker:It's almost like this king is the same kind of man who has an opportunity to
Speaker:give away all his riches and come to know God, and he just never quite gets there.
Speaker:But you're gonna see him change.
Speaker:I think it's, it's powerful.
Speaker:It teaches you about the strength of Daniel and his friends.
Speaker:That even though this king never fully converts to the gospel of Jesus Christ,
Speaker:he does change at pivotal moments, and I think that's, that says something about
Speaker:the missionary work that they're doing.
Speaker:I don't think we have to have full conversions in order to have our
Speaker:missionary efforts matter, that this matters significantly, even though
Speaker:this King's heart never fully changes.
Speaker:But that'll kind of become more clear as you jump into chapter three.
Speaker:As a result of Daniel's ability to interpret the dream, all four of them
Speaker:are promoted to positions of power, not necessarily in the greater kingdom,
Speaker:but at least over all those wise men and sourcers and advisors to the king.
Speaker:And this is really big province.
Speaker:In the notes, I give you a link to a map so you can see
Speaker:how big Babylon's Empire is.
Speaker:So it's a, it's an important position of power and that creates, Really quickly
Speaker:in those, especially those other wise men and counselors, they want to get
Speaker:these Jews out and they can't find any fault in them personally, much like
Speaker:you see with the scribes and Pharisees trying to deal with the savior.
Speaker:So they try and get at them via religion.
Speaker:And chapter three is a really famous story about that.
Speaker:This is where they're, they make a gigantic statue.
Speaker:So King Ezer makes a huge, I mean, we're talking 90 feet tall, nine feet
Speaker:thick, huge, at least gold plated.
Speaker:Statue and they set up this plan that there's gonna be music
Speaker:that plays and everybody's gonna need to bow down and worship.
Speaker:And this creates a similar problem to what we saw in chapter one, where
Speaker:they've made covenants with God that they will only worship one God.
Speaker:And so they choose not to bow down.
Speaker:And that's where the trap happens, because the consequence is you're gonna get thrown
Speaker:in a fiery furnace if you don't bow down.
Speaker:And interestingly, everybody's gather.
Speaker:So all the kings are all the kings, like, you know, second in command guys and
Speaker:all the members of the rural household.
Speaker:And everybody is there.
Speaker:They've all been gathered and there's this social pressure to bow.
Speaker:And what's interesting is how these three get singled out.
Speaker:Basically, those who are envious of their positions say to the king, Hey, did you.
Speaker:Who didn't bow?
Speaker:It's these certain Jews.
Speaker:So if you look in verse 12, it says, There are certain Jews whom now has set over
Speaker:the affairs of the province of Babylon.
Speaker:They give their names and then they say, Oh, King, they have not regarded
Speaker:the, they serve, not they gods.
Speaker:They're trying to call attention to their distinct and differentness
Speaker:and get them in trouble.
Speaker:So they get thrown in the furnace.
Speaker:And it's really fascinating to me that they call them certain j.
Speaker:Because I guess I wonder if maybe there are lots of other Jews who did bow
Speaker:just because of all the social pressure and they don't wanna cause waves and
Speaker:they don't wanna, you know, they just wanna let things roll and I think
Speaker:there's a lot of pressure for us today.
Speaker:in that same same vein where I feel like not just in social media but in the world
Speaker:at large where I'm supposed to bow or just kind of take on, I'm supposed to
Speaker:assimilate into the world and just take on their viewpoints on family and marriage
Speaker:and lots of areas where I feel like I'm being pushed to believe certain things,
Speaker:or at least to vocalize certain things.
Speaker:And that's why I love this phrase.
Speaker:There are certain Jews who aren't, cuz no matter how many of their own
Speaker:faith choose to bow down these certain.
Speaker:Choose not to.
Speaker:They choose to love God first, even at their own peril,
Speaker:and that's inspiring to me.
Speaker:I think it's what the prophets are asking us to do in all their
Speaker:talks lately, they're asking you to first of all be certain.
Speaker:Do you remember that talk?
Speaker:I can't.
Speaker:Is it Linda Burton?
Speaker:That one about certain women in the New Testament.
Speaker:I feel like you can apply those same principles here, that
Speaker:this isn't just certain Jews, meaning there are certain ones.
Speaker:I think you can also.
Speaker:To mean they are certain they have, They have become centered in who they are and
Speaker:what they know, and they can then stand.
Speaker:In fact, I think if we want our kids to be able to stand like these
Speaker:three, they need to have a sense of certainty about their testimony.
Speaker:It's why President Nelson in the last conference invited us to take hold of
Speaker:our testimony to take ownership of it.
Speaker:That's powerful, the doctrine because it allows you to be certain in these key.
Speaker:It's a great talk from, It's a BYU devotional from President Worthen
Speaker:where he talks about holy places.
Speaker:And he says, he talks about that scripture that says, you know, stand
Speaker:in holy places and be not moved.
Speaker:And then when you choose in moments like this to stand for God, you make
Speaker:the space, you are in holy ground.
Speaker:So you make holy places.
Speaker:We often think of holy places as like, you know, being in the temple
Speaker:or being maybe in our home or.
Speaker:But you can make any place a holy place if you choose to stand for
Speaker:what God would want you to do.
Speaker:So that's what they're making this pocket of a holy place.
Speaker:And remember, there are tons and tons of people and leadership who
Speaker:are watching their every move.
Speaker:You see this with our general authorities all the time.
Speaker:They're in a spot where they.
Speaker:Are gonna get all kinds of pressure to assimilate and be like others.
Speaker:And they choose to make the ground, they stand holy.
Speaker:And you'll see how this plays out as you go to the next page.
Speaker:So basically the king comes to them, cause now he's alerted to these three
Speaker:guys who aren't bowing down and he doesn't immediately throw them into the furnace.
Speaker:He gives them another chance, which tells you if probably a little
Speaker:bit about the relationship that the king may not want to lose.
Speaker:These very integrity, rich, good leaders, . So he gives him another chance and says,
Speaker:Do you realize what the consequences are?
Speaker:And then they do this fascinating thing first in 16.
Speaker:They say, Oh, Neba, Canne.
Speaker:We are not careful to answer the in this matter, meaning I'm not gonna be
Speaker:delicate with your feelings right now.
Speaker:I'm not worried about saying the wrong thing.
Speaker:I'm gonna tell you exactly what I believe.
Speaker:Isn't that remarkable?
Speaker:I think sometimes when I try to stand up for what I believe, I hedge
Speaker:a little and I try to like gauge their responses and cushion my words.
Speaker:And what they're saying is in these pivotal moments where you can
Speaker:create a holy space, you just speak.
Speaker:In fact, the doctor in Covenants teaches that you'll be given the words you
Speaker:need in those moments if you choose to speak what God wants you to say.
Speaker:So that's what they say.
Speaker:We're not gonna be careful with our words.
Speaker:Let me tell you what we believe.
Speaker:And then 17 and 18 are what they.
Speaker:What they say is, if it be so, our God will deliver us.
Speaker:If we are gonna get cast into that furnace, our God can deliver us.
Speaker:He doesn't say they, He will deliver them.
Speaker:He says they, He can deliver them.
Speaker:That's really important because he says if he chooses to, he will deliver
Speaker:us out of eye handing and then 18.
Speaker:But if not, be it known unto the O King that we will not serve by Gods that.
Speaker:An incredible statement of faith that no matter what comes, whether they're in an
Speaker:OB Ben I type moment where they are in the heat and the flames and they, their
Speaker:life is over, they will stand with God.
Speaker:They know he can deliver and they also know that sometimes God chooses
Speaker:not to and that his purposes and his.
Speaker:Are so much grander than we can picture, and so we just trust.
Speaker:In fact, there's some incredible quotes in the notes about this, but I really
Speaker:love how this ties into elder bed.
Speaker:Ours talk about choosing not to be healed.
Speaker:Do you have the faith to be healed and the faith not to be healed?
Speaker:If you haven't read that talk lately, it's so good you guys.
Speaker:It helped me in some really pivotal moments with Jason's
Speaker:disease, and I feel like that's what they're inviting us to do.
Speaker:It's this invitation to.
Speaker:Your integrity and say, No matter how the chips fall, this is where I stand.
Speaker:Um, and it doesn't go well for them.
Speaker:And we'll see that as we go into the next half of this chapter.
Speaker:I think what's most powerful about their decision to say clearly to the king.
Speaker:He can deliver us, but if not, is that they've taken all power
Speaker:and fear out of the situation.
Speaker:They've left everything up to God, which makes the king not be
Speaker:able to wield power over them.
Speaker:The king's power comes in them being afraid of death.
Speaker:If they're not afraid of death, then.
Speaker:What, what do I have to worry about?
Speaker:What the king thinks or what the king will do?
Speaker:So the king feels that lack of power, and he's not happy about it.
Speaker:So he has them increase the temperature of the furnace.
Speaker:It says seven times, which usually in the Old Testament means perfect or full.
Speaker:So this is like cranking the furnace up to full capacity.
Speaker:Um, It's so hot that the people who carry these bound men up to
Speaker:the furnace die in the process.
Speaker:But I think it's really powerful to see what happens next.
Speaker:So the death of those men come in 22, and then in 23 it says, And
Speaker:these three men, Shadrach, Meek, and a Bendigo fell down, bound into the
Speaker:midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Speaker:Midst means middle.
Speaker:It doesn't just mean in the area of.
Speaker:In my mind when I read this verse, I don't think this is them kind of
Speaker:tumbling in because the other guys died.
Speaker:I think this is, they walked in and then they knelt down.
Speaker:So many times in scripture we read about people falling down in prayer
Speaker:and adoration, and I could be wrong.
Speaker:This is just my opinion, but it also, it reminded me so much of
Speaker:that verse in the Book of Mormon, when the ne fights are about to
Speaker:fight the Lamanites and they're so.
Speaker:Outnumbered, uh, that when they get to that frontline, they bow and the lamanites
Speaker:are charging forward, thinking that they're gonna be weak and submissive.
Speaker:And you know, they see them bow down and think, Oh good, the battle's almost over.
Speaker:And then right as the Lamanites get close, they rise and battle
Speaker:and like fight like lions.
Speaker:That's, that's what this reminds me of.
Speaker:This is they kneel and.
Speaker:Are loose.
Speaker:It's so cool.
Speaker:So if you go further in the verses, the king sees them in there and he
Speaker:says, Didn't we cast three people in?
Speaker:And his servant says, Yes.
Speaker:We cast three people in.
Speaker:And then in 25 he answered and said, Low, I see four men loose walking in the
Speaker:midst of the fire and they have no hurt.
Speaker:And the form of the fourth is like the son of God.
Speaker:That's a king speaking.
Speaker:He sees four men in the fire.
Speaker:It doesn't just see four men.
Speaker:He sees them walking around loose.
Speaker:Oh, you guys.
Speaker:This image is so powerful in my mind because oftentimes I think in our
Speaker:hottest fires of affliction, God creates a way for us to walk around loose.
Speaker:I only know this from my own personal experience, and you'll have your own,
Speaker:but in some of the most intense, hard times during our cancer battles, It
Speaker:sure seems like we should be crumbling.
Speaker:In fact, people will often come to us and say, You don't always
Speaker:have to put on a good face.
Speaker:You don't always have to be smiley.
Speaker:You know, And we're not always for sure, but there are times when I know we should
Speaker:be crumbling based on the outside fire that is around us, and yet we feel like
Speaker:we're walking around loose, that there is someone with us carrying us to make
Speaker:the burdens weren't carrying lighter.
Speaker:I don't know how to explain it.
Speaker:I can.
Speaker:I can't help others who see me understand it.
Speaker:I just feel it and I just get to testify of it, that there will be times in your
Speaker:hottest fires when you kneel down and you pray for guidance and you pray for help.
Speaker:And he will find a way not to take you out of the fire, but to find a
Speaker:way to help you walk around loose.
Speaker:And generally, I think it comes because there are ministering angels who.
Speaker:Lift us people that we don't even see.
Speaker:I sometimes wonder how much they understood or saw within the fire that,
Speaker:that the king could see from the outside.
Speaker:But when they emerge, cuz he calls them out.
Speaker:When they emerge, they say that there was an angel that came
Speaker:because that's what happens in 28.
Speaker:He says he has sent his angel and delivered his
Speaker:servants that trusted in him.
Speaker:I love the phrase you see in 28.
Speaker:This is the King speaking and he says they have changed the king's word and yielded
Speaker:their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any God except their own God.
Speaker:That phrase they yielded their bodies, I think is what for the strength
Speaker:of youth and the word of wisdom and even our covenants that we make in
Speaker:the temple is when we yield over the natural man and all those tendencies.
Speaker:We gain power, we gain strength beyond physical, beyond mortal strength even.
Speaker:And King, who's an outsider, can see that coming to be.
Speaker:So he makes a decree and yet again, he, you know, praises their God.
Speaker:He doesn't.
Speaker:Fully convert, but he praises their God and makes way for them to not be
Speaker:afraid because he puts out a decree that says there's no other God can deliver,
Speaker:that can deliver people like this.
Speaker:God did and then he promotes Shadrach, Mick, and the Bengo.
Speaker:And that's gonna be important for what comes next in chapter four.
Speaker:We have another dream that pops up in chapter four.
Speaker:This is a different one.
Speaker:So Nene again has a dream and again, seeks for interpretation of the dream.
Speaker:This is a dream about a great big tree, a healthy thriving tree that
Speaker:produces fruit and then gets chopped down by some angelic type of creature.
Speaker:And the it gets.
Speaker:Decimated, right?
Speaker:The fruit gets scattered, everything gets broken down, and
Speaker:then the root structure is left.
Speaker:And there's a curse of madness that is kind of hinted at in the dream,
Speaker:and he doesn't know what it means.
Speaker:So of course, he turns to every other source the same way he did before.
Speaker:Remember, this is the king who never quite commits to this God.
Speaker:Uh, it it reminded me a little bit of elder Holland's talk from last
Speaker:October where he said like, There's no halfway mes in the gospel.
Speaker:You can't be halfway in.
Speaker:You have to be all in.
Speaker:And this king never quite gets there, but.
Speaker:At the very last resort turns to Daniel.
Speaker:And it's interesting to me cuz Daniel's the one who figured out
Speaker:his dream the first time really clearly, and he promoted him for it.
Speaker:So it makes you wonder why he wouldn't turn to him first.
Speaker:And then I had this humbling moment from the spirit where , there's
Speaker:been lots of times when I receive an answer to a prayer.
Speaker:, you know, by going into my personal scripture study, my family scripture
Speaker:study, going to the temple, and then I don't always turn to those sources
Speaker:when I need help with something.
Speaker:I sometimes will turn to friends or social media or all kinds of things, and I just
Speaker:was like reprimanded a little like, Oh, you're not too far off this situation.
Speaker:So I.
Speaker:At least for me, oftentimes when I am in this spot where I'm seeking
Speaker:advice from any other source except God, it's because I know what God's
Speaker:answer is gonna be and I don't want it
Speaker:And I think that might be what happens with the king.
Speaker:I think he knows from the previous proxy that his kingdom
Speaker:is eventually gonna topple and get picked up by inferior forces.
Speaker:And you know, someone else is gonna rule his.
Speaker:And I think he probably knows that's what's coming,
Speaker:so he doesn't wanna hear it.
Speaker:And, but just like everything else, eventually we need to hear
Speaker:what the Lord wants us to know.
Speaker:And so Daniel does interpret the dream, but he's troubled by it cuz he
Speaker:doesn't want to say this to the king.
Speaker:I mean, it says he takes about an hour.
Speaker:This is around verse 19 where he.
Speaker:He doesn't wanna give the interpretation of the dream, cuz
Speaker:honestly you guys, it's not good news.
Speaker:And the king just threw his friends in a fire for a smaller thing.
Speaker:So you could see where they would be careful.
Speaker:Remember Daniel is careful and he, he's never, he never compromises
Speaker:his integrity, but he is very thoughtful about his choices.
Speaker:And I just think there was so much for me to learn from this.
Speaker:If you're gonna live in the world and not become like the world you have, Careful.
Speaker:You have to be temperate.
Speaker:You have to seek guidance from the Lord at every single step,
Speaker:and that's what he's doing.
Speaker:Eventually, the prompting is that he's supposed to tell the king exactly
Speaker:what the dream means, and so he does.
Speaker:He basically says to the king, This is gonna happen.
Speaker:Your kingdom's gonna get overrun.
Speaker:You are going to have a curse of madness that will come over you.
Speaker:You're gonna end up being in the fields and eating the same
Speaker:way animals do like it's a.
Speaker:Severe curse, like he's gonna lose his mind a little bit and they're gonna
Speaker:cast him out of the kingdom for a time.
Speaker:And all of this is gonna come to be, but interestingly,
Speaker:there's a delay that happens.
Speaker:I love what you see in first 27.
Speaker:So after Daniel starts to tell him about what this prophecy or this dream
Speaker:means, he says, Where for king, let my council be acceptable unto the, and break
Speaker:off thy sins by righteousness and thy iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.
Speaker:If it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility, I don't think.
Speaker:What the king is going to do is going to change the fate of this prophecy.
Speaker:This prophecy will be fulfilled.
Speaker:What he can do is change how it impacts him.
Speaker:Daniel's inviting him to change his future.
Speaker:So he's saying, Oh, king, shake off the chains by which you're bound.
Speaker:You can't save your kingdom, but you yourself can be saved if
Speaker:you will take care of the poor, if you will cast off your sins.
Speaker:Don't you love that invitation that the prophets, even in these moments where
Speaker:they have this mighty prophecy about the fate of nations, they still go
Speaker:back to, How can I minister to the one?
Speaker:If I just could take care of this person in this room, what should I say?
Speaker:And the spirit says, Tell him to shake off his sins.
Speaker:Tell him to take care of the poor, and he can have a chance
Speaker:to not have these consequences.
Speaker:But it sure doesn't sound like the king takes it cuz 12 months pass
Speaker:without any of these consequences.
Speaker:And he gets pretty comfortable.
Speaker:So in 30 you see that he says, Is this not the great Babylon
Speaker:that I have built for the king?
Speaker:Like he, he's kind of patting himself on the back to say, I,
Speaker:this is a pretty impressive city.
Speaker:And if you go in Wikipedia and look up Babylon, like it is an impressive city.
Speaker:It's actually gorgeous what we, what we've discovered.
Speaker:So, Incredible what was built, and he's feeling pretty good.
Speaker:And then he hears a voice fall from heaven that says this is in
Speaker:31, The kingdom is departed from.
Speaker:It's interesting because the kingdom hasn't fallen yet.
Speaker:In fact, he'll get his kingdom back first season even after this verse.
Speaker:But his choice to ignore the prophet to not depart from his
Speaker:sins, to not take care of the poor, means his kingdom is departed.
Speaker:It's tempting to think that that is the kingdom of Babylon.
Speaker:But sometimes I wonder if this is in an eternal kingdom, cuz ne Canez is still
Speaker:gonna rule later on in these verses.
Speaker:He'll, he'll have his thrown back after this period of madness.
Speaker:So maybe this is a, a bigger warning that his chances for repentance are.
Speaker:Our waning and his kingdom is departing from him.
Speaker:It just had this kind of hunting sound when I read it.
Speaker:Um, so you see this dissent into madness.
Speaker:The curse is fulfilled, He struggles, and then eventually
Speaker:he gets back on the throne.
Speaker:He sees that Daniel's prophecy about the dream has come to pass.
Speaker:And so again, he praises this God of Daniel and says, you
Speaker:know, take care of these people because their God is a true God.
Speaker:It just doesn't.
Speaker:You should know when you go into chapter five that you've
Speaker:jumped a couple of generations.
Speaker:So Nene's Reign is over and now a couple generations later, you have
Speaker:this new King Bill Shaar and they'll call Neese are his father, but
Speaker:really that just means ancestors.
Speaker:So they think there's two, I think generations between them.
Speaker:Um, and this one sounds a little younger and more.
Speaker:Arrogant.
Speaker:He's having a party in front of thousands and he drinks the wine and
Speaker:says, Okay, I want those holy vessels.
Speaker:Remember those sacred things that way?
Speaker:Back in the book of numbers, we learned that if somebody touched
Speaker:the holy, sacred things without authorization, they died on the spot.
Speaker:remember the studying of the arc?
Speaker:So this is a similar situation where he's basically daring God.
Speaker:To punish him.
Speaker:It almost reminded me of Indiana Jones and like the Lost Ark.
Speaker:You know, there there's a cockiness and an arrogance, Andre, and I think
Speaker:that's all coming to the surface here because he, with all of his friends,
Speaker:they drink wine from these sacred objects and they don't just drink wine.
Speaker:They also worship idols in the process.
Speaker:So it just seems like.
Speaker:A really bold upfront to what these objects are intended to
Speaker:do, and this king will die.
Speaker:But like by the end of the chapter , it doesn't happen
Speaker:immediately like the studying of the arc, but it absolutely happens.
Speaker:And I think that's a really good thing to understand upfront.
Speaker:So while he's in his merriment, he sees a hand right on the.
Speaker:And it's this encoded message.
Speaker:It's an arama, but nobody knows what it means.
Speaker:And so his countenance changes.
Speaker:I thought this was fascinating.
Speaker:So in verse six it says, Then the king's countenance was changed and
Speaker:his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loose and
Speaker:his knees smoked one against another.
Speaker:Something about seeing this hand right on a wall.
Speaker:I don't know if this is a divine hand.
Speaker:Some of the footnotes linked to like ether, the brother
Speaker:Jared, seeing the hand of God.
Speaker:So possibly, um, but he in his wicked state who is doing so.
Speaker:Horrifically against God, uh, sees the hand of God, but in an ominous way.
Speaker:Remember how we've studied this over and over again in the Old Testament, how
Speaker:the God of the Old Testament is a God of mercy and kindness and compassion, but he
Speaker:also will be a God of justice, and this is a time when justice is called for.
Speaker:So he writes this message on the wall and nobody can.
Speaker:and then the queen remembers that there is this guy named
Speaker:Daniel who happens to be wise.
Speaker:In fact, I love her word choice.
Speaker:In 12, she says he is dissolving of doubts.
Speaker:Not only is he wi has wisdom, and he has an excellent spirit and
Speaker:all these other kind of things.
Speaker:I love the phrase and dissolving of doubts.
Speaker:I feel like you could say that about our prophets and apostles,
Speaker:that they are men who are able to dissolve my doubt, even if they don't
Speaker:answer my questions specifically.
Speaker:There's steadiness in.
Speaker:Calms my heart, . Cause I still have questions that I'm wrestling with
Speaker:and things I'm trying to understand better and layers of revelation
Speaker:that haven't fully unfolded yet.
Speaker:But when I listen to the prophets and apostles speak and the women leaders
Speaker:of the church, I feel my adult, my doubts dissolve and my faith swell.
Speaker:So I love that, that you feel that with Daniel as.
Speaker:So the king comes to him and says, in 14, I've have even heard of the,
Speaker:that the spirit of the gods is in the, Remember he's old, Daniel's older now.
Speaker:That light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in the,
Speaker:He gives him all these praises.
Speaker:It's interesting to me that knowing the guy like this is
Speaker:in the kingdom, he's never.
Speaker:Talk to him before.
Speaker:He doesn't know of him specifically.
Speaker:Um, and so he promises him gifts just like he would any anyone
Speaker:else who can interpret the dream.
Speaker:But I love Daniel's response in 17.
Speaker:He says, Let that gifts be to thyself and give thy rewards to another.
Speaker:I will interpret the dream.
Speaker:It.
Speaker:It's a lot like we saw with Elisha and Naman.
Speaker:Remember Naman wanted to give him all these gifts for healing
Speaker:of the leprosy, and Elisha says, I, I don't need that from you.
Speaker:I think that tells you a lot about the character of Daniel.
Speaker:I also think it tells you that he knows what this dream means.
Speaker:This dream what?
Speaker:What you'll see as you watch the rest of the dream play out, or this,
Speaker:I'm sorry, the writing on the wall.
Speaker:When he interprets the writing on the wall, it basically, Your kingdom is over.
Speaker:In fact, by the next day it's over.
Speaker:And so gifts and lavish things from this king won't matter much . But anyway, it's
Speaker:kinda interesting to see how it plays out.
Speaker:So if you go into 20, he reminds him that Nevo Canez or his ancestor.
Speaker:Also got in this spot where his pride caused his downfall.
Speaker:So he wants him to know, even though he is gonna get destroyed here really quick,
Speaker:he wants everyone in the room to know that it's the pride that got in the way.
Speaker:And he reminds him how that all happens.
Speaker:And then he talks in 23.
Speaker:That he was basically daring.
Speaker:God, in this moment, thou has lifted up thyself against the Lord of
Speaker:heaven, and they have brought the vessels of this house before the you
Speaker:committed a sin, you knew was a sin.
Speaker:Remember, we talked about the difference between weakness
Speaker:and rebellion, weakness as.
Speaker:Almost always extended.
Speaker:Mercy Rebellion is different, and this is rebellion.
Speaker:So then you have to love what the wall phrase means.
Speaker:So if you look in 25, you can see the actual words that are written on the wall,
Speaker:and then he tells 'em what they mean.
Speaker:And it means God had numbered the kingdom and finished it in 27.
Speaker:Thou art weighed in the balances and Thou Art found wanting.
Speaker:There's this great movie, it's called The Knights Tale, that Jason and I used to
Speaker:watch early in our marriage, and they used this phrase, I had no idea this phrase was
Speaker:in scripture until this week where they say you've been weighed and you've been
Speaker:measured, and you've been found wanting.
Speaker:It's the there.
Speaker:There are some incredible quotes in the notes about this.
Speaker:Even Joseph Smith himself talks about there will be a time he knows people
Speaker:won't believe him and he wouldn't believe himself either if he were
Speaker:somebody else, but he says, , at some point I will be weighed and measured
Speaker:and you will know and I will know.
Speaker:Like it's this certainty.
Speaker:He has a certainty about who he is, and this king will not.
Speaker:In fact, if you flip phage, you can see that within one night that he
Speaker:gives Daniel the gifts and then in one night his kingdom is overthrown
Speaker:and the Persian start coming in.
Speaker:Remember I told you Daniel's a lot like Joseph and Egypt because Joseph,
Speaker:no matter where he was put, whether it was, you know, in a prison or
Speaker:in Podifer house or by the Pharaoh, he rises to a position of power
Speaker:because of the character that he has.
Speaker:And that's what happens to Daniel as well, even though now
Speaker:he's probably in his eighties.
Speaker:He's in a position of power.
Speaker:He, the, the area of Persia is divided into these three zones,
Speaker:and he's one of the presidents, in fact, he's the chief president.
Speaker:I don't think, at least from the institute manual, it made it sound
Speaker:like, again, this isn't a civic responsibility as much as it is.
Speaker:He's over all of those wise men and all the religious leaders of the areas.
Speaker:But this is a big.
Speaker:A big job and the people who are under him want him out, just like we saw
Speaker:with his friends a few chapters ago.
Speaker:So they set up a trap and they, they know they can't catch Daniel in
Speaker:anything he's actually done wrong.
Speaker:It kind of sounds like what we talked about with the savior again, where it
Speaker:says at the end of four that there was no error found in him, no fault found in him.
Speaker:And they realized that in vibe, except we find it against him
Speaker:concerning the law of his God.
Speaker:So these other wise men who are envious of Daniel's power, If we can
Speaker:create a situation where Daniel has to choose between his God and the king.
Speaker:We know Daniel will choose God.
Speaker:I think this tells you a lot about how Daniel must have lived his life
Speaker:around them, that they know exactly where he's gonna stand, and so they
Speaker:can actually set up a trap based on that plan, and that's what they do.
Speaker:They set out a decree that the king signs that says, if anyone basically
Speaker:prays to other gods in these 30 days, then they're gonna get thrown into
Speaker:a lions den and the king signs it.
Speaker:What I think is really cool is what you see.
Speaker:Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his
Speaker:house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem.
Speaker:He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks
Speaker:before his God as he did a fourth time.
Speaker:I love that that verse ends with that phrase, because what it tells you is this
Speaker:isn't a big defiant moment for Daniel.
Speaker:He knows the degree has been signed.
Speaker:He knows what the king.
Speaker:Threatened, uh, what these other guys are up to, and he's just
Speaker:gonna do what he's always said.
Speaker:He al has, he's the same kid he was when he was nine or 10, and just coming to
Speaker:the court of the king, he's gonna stand.
Speaker:For what he believes.
Speaker:And I love the simplicity of it.
Speaker:There's a great talk from Elgon about holy habits and this idea of almost
Speaker:creating a spiritual muscle memory.
Speaker:You know, if you've ever done sports and you do so many drills that I remember
Speaker:doing volleyball, serving drills forever, , and it's critical cuz when you get into
Speaker:a game, That muscle memory kick kicks in and you can serve without being afraid.
Speaker:That's basically what Daniel's doing right now.
Speaker:He says, I've always prayed three times a day.
Speaker:There's a lot of scriptures that tell you why he does it this way, but if you
Speaker:go on the notes, you can learn those.
Speaker:But he, this is his holy habit and he's gonna continue no
Speaker:matter what the consequences are.
Speaker:And it, it devastates the king a little bit.
Speaker:It tells you they have a good relationship.
Speaker:Cuz in 14 when the king realizes that Daniel's gonna need to be thrown,
Speaker:Lions then because of this decree, he is sorrowing, the king was sore,
Speaker:displeased with himself and set his heart to deliver Daniel so the king.
Speaker:Is disappointed, not just in the men who trapped him into this situation,
Speaker:but in himself because he was someone who should have been more careful.
Speaker:I think all of us have been in this spot where we maybe lost sight
Speaker:of our stewardship for a time, or we didn't perform in a calling
Speaker:quite like we knew we could have.
Speaker:And then you have these moments where you see the consequences of that lack of.
Speaker:Kinda slip through your fingers and it's too late and that's,
Speaker:that's where the king is.
Speaker:But I love what the king does.
Speaker:Remember I told you there's lots of experiment upon the
Speaker:words moments in these chapters.
Speaker:There's another one in six cuz you see this king.
Speaker:Who doesn't have a full testimony of the God of the Old Testament.
Speaker:You know that he doesn't know Daniel's God intimately, but he knows Daniel
Speaker:and he knows Daniel serves this God.
Speaker:And so he has a little bit of hope.
Speaker:So he takes Daniel to the lions den.
Speaker:They have to cast him in, and the king basically says in 16, Thy God, whom now
Speaker:serviced continually, he will deliver the.
Speaker:I don't think the king knows this for certain, cuz we know the next
Speaker:morning he comes worried, but he hopes.
Speaker:There's a great quote in the notes, I think from, uh, there's a BYU devotional
Speaker:where they talk about how we tend to read that, that verse from the Book
Speaker:of Mormon that says, if you can know more, but desire to believe that that's,
Speaker:we say it almost like that's a last resort, but that we should see that as.
Speaker:Enough that sometimes just a desire to believe is enough to create miracles.
Speaker:And that's what happens here.
Speaker:He desires to believe, he seals the den with his C so that you
Speaker:know, they can tell that it's been sealed and Daniel is stuck in there.
Speaker:And then he goes home and he passes the whole night fasting and praying.
Speaker:He doesn't want any entertainment.
Speaker:He, there's no sleep that comes to him.
Speaker:And I love this piece cuz he just has a beginning.
Speaker:It's just a fledgling hope, a small desire that this God who Daniel has spoken of,
Speaker:who he's watched Daniel serve, can do what Daniel has promised he could do.
Speaker:And so he hopes and then he rushes to this den the next morning, opens it up, and
Speaker:then with a lamentable voice calls out.
Speaker:So that's in 20.
Speaker:I think that's important because that means the king didn't fully
Speaker:expect this miracle to play out.
Speaker:He's just done everything he know.
Speaker:To do.
Speaker:He stayed up all night.
Speaker:He fasted, he prayed.
Speaker:He told Daniel that he hopes it will work and he's done everything he can do.
Speaker:And then he comes with this sorrow in his voice saying, Daniel, are you there?
Speaker:Did your God save you?
Speaker:And Daniel answers, and we have to love about Daniel is just like he
Speaker:did when he was a young teenager.
Speaker:He doesn't take any credit on his own or.
Speaker:How he pulled something off.
Speaker:He says, My God has sent his angel and has shut the lion's mouths.
Speaker:That's in verse 22.
Speaker:They have not hurt me for as much as before him.
Speaker:My in icy was found in me.
Speaker:He didn't claim any credit for this victory.
Speaker:He just knows he was innocent before God and therefore was saved in this moment.
Speaker:And the king rejoices, he's exceedingly glad.
Speaker:That's what 23 says, and then he begins to believe, I think this is what you see.
Speaker:President Nelson's invitation to move mountains with our faith.
Speaker:That's what's happening here.
Speaker:Again, I don't think King DiUS ever fully converts, but think of the
Speaker:power of this missionary moment when.
Speaker:So many people get to witness this miracle happen, and they know
Speaker:that it's because of his belief.
Speaker:In fact, that's what you see in 23.
Speaker:He was not hurt.
Speaker:There was no hurt found upon him because he believed in his God.
Speaker:I love that piece of his story.
Speaker:Even though the king doesn't necessarily fully take on Daniel's
Speaker:God as his own, he says because he believed in his God he was saved.
Speaker:That's I think why we have to stand in holy places and be not moved
Speaker:because those around us, even those who believe in other things, will see.
Speaker:Those moments and will say, There must be something to the God they worship.
Speaker:I think I wanna know more.
Speaker:It's this invitation to come and to ask and to find out more for themselves.
Speaker:And then he gives these promises.
Speaker:In 25, 26 and 27, he talks about peace be multiplied unto you.
Speaker:He, He talks about Daniel's God that you, you should fear and tremble before
Speaker:Daniel's God because he is a living God.
Speaker:He's steadfast forever in his kingdom and his dominion will never have an end.
Speaker:That's a pretty powerful thing to say from a king of a place like Persia.
Speaker:I mean, that's a world dominating king, and he's talking about
Speaker:Daniel's God who will have dominion forever that will never go.
Speaker:What I love is the way he defines a living.
Speaker:God is a God who deliver.
Speaker:Rescue with and worketh signs and wonders on heaven and in earth.
Speaker:That's a pretty succinct way to define a living God.
Speaker:I think what you see in all Daniel's life is a living God is
Speaker:someone who gives you temperance in moments when you need patience.
Speaker:He gives you words to say when you need to know how to say them.
Speaker:Well, he gives you moments.
Speaker:You can walk loose in a fire, even though he won't pull you out of it.
Speaker:You have moments where you can walk loose and have.
Speaker:People on your right hand and on your left right?
Speaker:That's a living God.
Speaker:He's someone who gives you power to create holy spaces, even
Speaker:in really hard circumstances.
Speaker:And I think it's someone who gives you power to overcome the
Speaker:world cuz he overcame the world.
Speaker:When you go all the way back to President Nelson's challenge from his October
Speaker:talk, that's what he's inviting us to do, to use our lives to figure out
Speaker:how to overcome this world, how to live in Babylon and not be part of it.
Speaker:And Daniel's life is just this beautiful template.
Speaker:So I hope you enjoy studying him.
Speaker:This is, this will take you all the way through the end of this week's study.