Daniel in Exile Part 3

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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December 19, 2022

Daniel in Exile Part 4

00:00: All right, let's pray. And we will get into our study of Daniel today. And I do have to watch my time because I have a pretty yucky drive today.
00:07: Let's pray. Lord Jesus, again, as we open up your Word and we consider what you have revealed there, we ask through your
00:13: Holy Word that you would continue to convict us of our sin, but also to assure us of the great mercy that we have in you.
00:21: For you are a God who loves us so much that you have taken our iniquity upon yourself and bled and died so that we can be forgiven.
00:29: We ask, Lord, that we would never consider sin to be our friend, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, that we would produce the fruit of righteousness.
00:35: We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay. So last week we ended up our study of the book of Daniel by looking at the epistle of Nebuchadnezzar that's written for us in the author of scripture.
00:56: There's just no way around it. But you'll note that now as we get into the next part of the book of Daniel, things are going to move at a different pace.
01:09: Nebuchadnezzar, his reign is going to come to an end, and Daniel, he's going to serve Nebuchadnezzar, he's going to serve
01:16: King Belshazzar, he's going to serve King Darius, he's going to serve all the way to Cyrus, which is really fascinating.
01:25: So Daniel is going to have long old age, and I'm unsure as to whether or not he actually ever travels back to Israel.
01:34: That is kind of an open question. Maybe somebody knows definitively yes or no, but there's no definitive yes on that that I'm aware of.
01:44: So this next fellow who's now going to be the King of Babylon is a fellow by the name of Belshazzar, which sounds very similar to Daniel's given
01:54: Babylonian name, Belshazzar. And so we don't want to confuse the two. Daniel's not the king, this is one of the sons of Nebuchadnezzar.
02:04: And as is the case, you'll note that growing up in luxury, opulence, and power generally is a bad thing for a kid.
02:15: Because when they get old, when they become adults, they're still pretty much spoiled children, and they behave that way.
02:23: It's kind of a fascinating thing. It happens over and over and over again.
02:29: You'd think humanity would learn its lesson, but no. So King Belshazzar made a great feast for 1000 of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.
02:39: So he's wanting everybody to know how generous and powerful he is. This guy's stuck on himself.
02:46: Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
03:04: This is what we call a life -limiting move. You do not do this and live, this is the best way
03:14: I can put it. These are holy, holy items for the worship of God.
03:21: And him treating them in this way, I mean, what was this guy thinking? So they brought in the vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.
03:38: They drank wine. They praised the gods of gold, of silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
03:48: Oh boy. Immediately, God didn't wait at this point.
03:54: He sprung right into action. The fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace.
04:03: So maybe thing from the Adams family shows up. That's all that's showing up here.
04:12: Nothing else, just this disembodied hand and fingers. And let's see.
04:19: The fingers of a human hand appeared, wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand.
04:24: King saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king's color changed and his thoughts alarmed him.
04:31: His limbs gave way, his knees knocked together. The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the
04:38: Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, whoever reads this writing and shows me its interpretation shall be clothed with purple, have a chain of gold around his neck, and have a rap album with Columbia Records.
04:52: Sorry, sorry. That's an alternate reading. A gold chain around his neck, and he shall be third ruler in the kingdom.
05:01: Now, you'd think that Belshazzar would have learned a thing or two about how the God of the universe really operates.
05:08: He got to witness firsthand his father go mad, have his sanity restored to him and his kingdom restored to him.
05:18: And Belshazzar undoubtedly was taught by his father, Nebuchadnezzar, all the contents that ended up in the epistle in the previous chapter.
05:30: This is a kid who has no excuse for what he's doing. He is intentionally dishonored and blasphemed the name of Yahweh by taking these holy instruments from Yahweh's temple and treating them so shamefully.
05:49: So, he's now got a problem. The handwriting is on the wall. And by the way,
05:55: I think that's where we get the phrase from. The handwriting's on the wall. We still say these things to this day.
06:03: So, whoever reads this writing will be third in the kingdom. Then all the king's wise men came in and they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation.
06:14: And then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed. His color changed. His lords were perplexed.
06:22: At this point, you can kind of detect it.
06:29: He's actually fearing that he's upset at Yahweh. He knows something's really off and he's fearing the worst and he should.
06:42: So, the queen, because the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall and the queen declared,
06:48: O king, live forever. Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change.
06:54: There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods were found in him.
07:03: The king and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father, the king, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters,
07:09: Chaldeans, and astrologers, because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this
07:18: Daniel, whom the king named Belshazzar. Now let Daniel be called and he will show the interpretation."
07:26: Ah, the legend lives, right? People know exactly what Daniel has done and they know that this is their man.
07:33: So then Daniel was brought in before the king and the king answered and said to Daniel, you are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king, my father, brought from Judah.
07:47: I have heard of you, that the spirit of the gods is in you and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.
07:56: Now the wise men, the enchanters have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter.
08:07: But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now, if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and shall have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
08:22: Daniel answered and said before the king, let your gifts be for yourself and give your rewards to another.
08:29: Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. O king, the most high
08:37: God gave Nebuchadnezzar, your father, kingship and greatness and glory and majesty.
08:46: And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations and languages trembled and feared before him.
08:54: Whom he would, he killed. Whom he would, he kept alive.
09:00: Whom he would, he raised up. And whom he would, he humbled. But when his heart was lifted up and the spirit was hearted so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne and his glory was taken from him.
09:17: He was driven from among the children of mankind and his mind was made like that of a beast and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys.
09:27: He was fed grass like an ox and his body was wet with the dew of heaven until he knew that the most high
09:35: God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.
09:42: And you, his son, Belshazzar, you have not humbled your heart though you knew all of this."
09:50: And there it is. He knew it all. He knew it all.
09:56: Did he humble himself before the true God? Nope. And so he has exalted himself in complete blasphemous folly knowing full well what happened to his father.
10:12: He was not ignorant of any of it. But you have lifted up yourself against, against the
10:20: Lord of heaven and the vessels of his house you have brought in before you. And you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, you have drunk wine from them.
10:29: And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze and iron and wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know.
10:40: But the God in whose hand is your breath and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.
10:48: In fact, you dishonored him. So then from his presence, from God's presence, the hand was sent and this writing was inscribed.
11:00: And this is the writing that is inscribed. Many, many Tekel and Parson.
11:07: This is the interpretation of the matter. Many, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.
11:16: Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Perez, your kingdom is divided and given to the
11:24: Medes and the Persians. Then Belshazzar gave the command and Daniel was clothed with purple, with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck.
11:34: And a proclamation was made about him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. And that very night
11:40: Belshazzar, the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom being about 62 years old.
11:56: Swift judgment of God. You do not dishonor and blaspheme
12:02: God. And here's the thing. One of the questions I get asked from time to time, and it goes something like this.
12:11: Why is it that people blaspheme, attack, dishonor
12:17: God in horrific ways? They do so in places that call themselves churches.
12:23: And they absolutely are. Their sin is as rank and gross and egregious and an affront to God as the sin of Belshazzar.
12:33: God struck him down immediately. Yet these people go on and on and on and on and nothing ever bad happens to them.
12:43: And then the question is, why? Right? Why doesn't God do to them what he did to Belshazzar?
12:49: Why doesn't God do to San Francisco what he did to Sodom and Gomorrah? Why doesn't
12:55: God do da -da -da -da -da -da -da? And I would note this. The scripture is actually quite clear on this in the
13:02: New Testament. These things are written so that we would not desire evil.
13:08: Each of these, when God acts in punishment like this, these people stand as a foretaste of the punishment that's going to come on the
13:16: Day of Judgment. So the idea here is that, oh, don't worry.
13:22: The people who are blaspheming God and dishonoring him so egregiously today, don't worry.
13:33: God's going to give to them the same and worse than he gave to Belshazzar. Belshazzar is, if you would, the down payment on the wages of sin, and the payment, the full payment will come on the
13:48: Day of Judgment. And so you sit there and go, God did this to him. Maybe, just maybe
13:55: I should consider changing my ways rather than being like him. Right? That's the idea.
14:00: He stands as an archetype of those who face the judgment of God in the face of this particular kind of sin, this egregious rebellion.
14:11: You know better and you still don't humble yourself before God. What are you thinking?
14:19: God didn't spare Nebuchadnezzar. You think he's going to spare you? You're out of your mind. Right? And so the text,
14:26: I think, kind of bears that out. Let me see if I can find it real quick. I think it's five.
14:32: No, maybe three. Hang on. Yes, I think I found it. That's it.
14:38: Found it. Yep. I just found it. First Corinthians 10. Thank you for your help, sir. Here's what it says.
14:44: I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was
15:01: Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
15:07: Now, these things took place as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did.
15:15: Do not be idolaters, as some of them were, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
15:23: We must not indulge in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and 23 ,000 fell in a single day.
15:28: We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer.
15:37: Now, these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come.
15:44: Same principle applies when it comes to Belshazzar. He stands now as an example of those who stubbornly refuse to humble themselves before the true
15:57: God, knowing full well, they are without excuse, they know the truth, and still they turn to evil, right?
16:06: And they raise themselves against God. That is a fearful and terrible thing to do.
16:15: So, the things did not go well with Belshazzar. Now, let me check questions before we get into the next part here.
16:23: Yeah, let's see here. All right. I'm not seeing any questions.
16:28: Good. Okay. So far, so good. All right. Next one. Okay. Now, if you remember, story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Jesus shows up to save the day.
16:39: This next one is crazy. Okay. The story of Daniel and the lion's den.
16:47: This is like a dress rehearsal for the, how do
16:55: I put it, for the trial of Jesus and his death. Okay. The types and shadows here that take us back to Christ, it's uncanny.
17:08: You cannot miss it unless you stick your head in the sand. Okay. So, the story of Daniel and the lion's den, might as well say that Jesus' death is the story of Daniel and the lion's den just in fulfillment, because that's really what this is all about.
17:21: So, here's the setup. So, please Darius. So, Darius is now the ruler of the media
17:27: Persian empire. The Babylonians are gone, the Chaldeans are gone, and the media
17:32: Persian empire has taken its place. And Darius is 60s, he's in his 60s, which means he's not a stupid, insolent, arrogant jerk like Belshazzar.
17:44: He actually has a little bit of reason to him, but still he's easily tempted by the trappings of power and being a so -called
17:51: God on earth. Because if you remember, the Babylonians were known for this. All the ancient world was known for this.
17:58: And that is, is that you are, that if you're a king, you are a God on earth. And it's just nonsense, complete nonsense.
18:06: Now, hang on a second here. I copied a post here. I am unable to... Okay. When it says...
18:17: Okay. Thank you for the point of that out. Okay. So, Marlena did ask a question in relation to the
18:24: Old Testament text that we had from Isaiah today. I'll answer that shortly. Okay. But let's, we'll deal with Daniel and the lion's den, and then we'll deal with Marlena's questions.
18:34: So, it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps. I'm not sure what, how, these are kind of like provincial governors.
18:43: You know, you can think of them as maybe like local prefects, something like that, to be throughout the whole kingdom and over them three high officials of whom
18:52: Daniel was one. So, the way the media Persian empire, which now is getting up and running,
18:58: Darius the king is on the top and below him are three particular high officials,
19:03: Daniel being one of them, to whom the satraps should give an account so that the king might suffer no loss.
19:10: Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and the satraps because an excellent spirit was in him.
19:17: And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. And then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom.
19:26: But they could find no ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful. No error or fault was found in him.
19:34: Now, does this mean that Daniel's sinless? No, not even close.
19:42: Okay. But you're going to note the way the setup is in this story, he might as well be, right? They can't find any fault with him.
19:50: And the whole purpose of the way this is written out is that Daniel is an innocent man.
19:56: Okay. That's kind of the point. Now, same then since the story really is about Jesus, we'll make a note that here.
20:04: So, then these men said, we shall not find any ground for complaint against Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his
20:10: God. So, these folks are jealous. They are, they don't like the fact that Daniel is, he's making them look as bad, making them look stupid.
20:22: Daniel's existence is just, is intolerable. So, they are going to murder
20:27: Daniel and they want the king to be the murder weapon.
20:34: Just keep that in mind. So, this is how this, talk about sick. Okay. So, then these high officials and the satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, oh,
20:45: King Darius, live forever. And all the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects, the satraps, the counselors, the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes petition to any
20:59: God or man for 30 days, except to you, oh King, shall be cast into the den of lions.
21:07: Man, these folks, it's like watching a really bad B movie, like who keeps dens of lions and fiery furnaces and stuff like that?
21:14: What is with these people in this kingdom, right? Now, oh King, establish the injunction, sign the documents so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the
21:22: Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked. Therefore, King Darius signed the document and the injunction.
21:32: He's responsible for this because, I mean, seriously, how good are you at answering prayer,
21:38: Darius? Are you getting good at that at all? You let these people butter you up.
21:45: You let them just feed your ego and make you feel like you were so important and that you were just absolutely a little deity on the earth and you went and signed this injunction.
21:56: So this is his, he's a participant in this, sadly. So when
22:01: Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber, open toward Jerusalem.
22:11: He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he had done previously.
22:18: And here's where we're going to make a distinction, okay? This is an important part of this lesson. And that is that as Christians, we are explicitly ordered in Romans chapter 13, watch this, let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except for from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
22:40: Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists God, what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
22:47: So you're going to note, there are many a Christian out there who say, who somehow think that this is an absolute, that if the government says you cannot worship
22:55: Jesus anymore, you can't worship Jesus anymore, because we're supposed to submit to the authorities.
23:01: Au contraire, okay? That the purpose of a government is to punish evildoers.
23:09: So this is where Lutherans, we talk about the difference between the right hand kingdom and the left hand kingdom.
23:16: And here's the idea. Which is instituted by God, the
23:22: Church or the state? Answer, both. But each institution has a different charter.
23:31: The Church has been instituted by Christ for the purpose of making disciples, baptizing and teaching all that Christ has taught, right?
23:39: That's what the Church is instituted to do, to go and make disciples of Christ. The state, every state, has been instituted for a singular purpose, keeping of order by the punishing of evildoers.
23:53: That's its function, okay? And you'll note, every government in the world seems to be preoccupied with dealing with evildoers, because that's what they gotta do, okay?
24:06: But the state in its charter is not permitted by God to creep into the right hand kingdom.
24:13: The left hand kingdom, which is the state, doesn't have the authority to outlaw Christianity or prayer to God, okay?
24:20: So when authorities come in and say, stop doing this, we say, we obey
24:27: God, not man. And let me give you an example, okay? And I think a great example of this, obey
24:34: God. Okay, yes, here we go. All right, Acts 5, okay?
24:41: Acts chapter 5. The apostles got in trouble with the state, the official state, okay?
24:47: And here's what happened. Many signs and wonders are done. So the high priest rose up, and all who were with him, that is the party of the
24:56: Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles, put them in public prison.
25:04: But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.
25:12: This is the worst prison break ever, okay? Normally when you break out of prison, you gotta run, okay?
25:18: You gotta run, you gotta run through streams to make sure the dogs can't hunt you down, and you gotta be careful of the helicopters with the infrared and all that kind of stuff.
25:26: But no, they spring, God springs them out of prison and then sends them right back to the scene of the crime.
25:32: So when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and they began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the state of the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought.
25:45: But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported. We found the prison securely locked and the guard standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.
25:57: Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them and wondering what this would come to.
26:05: And then someone came and told them, look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and they're teaching the people.
26:14: So then they, then the captain with the officers went and brought them, not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
26:21: And when they brought them, they set them before the council and the high priest questioned them, saying, we strictly charged you not to teach in this name,
26:34: Jesus' name. They can't even say his name, right? Yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
26:42: Too late for that, by the way. But Peter and the apostles answered, well, we must obey
26:48: God rather than men. Tough turkey, dude. Right?
26:55: And the God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins.
27:06: We are witnesses to these things. And so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey. So when they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
27:16: All right? So note here, okay, it is true that God has instituted, absolutely instituted, earthly governments.
27:27: Okay? But when an earthly government steps outside of its bounds and goes beyond its charter, and let me read a little bit more of Romans 13 here, because I think it'll help.
27:40: Okay? So you'll note, okay? Rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.
27:48: That's part of their charter. Would you have no fear of the one who has authority, then do what is good and you'll receive his approval for he is
27:53: God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is a servant of God and avenger who carries out
27:59: God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.
28:06: For because of this, you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing.
28:14: So the idea then is that the whole purpose of the government is to punish evildoers. They are exacting
28:21: God's wrath. And so when a government is doing what it does, what it's supposed to do, when somebody does something evil, there should be swift punishment, and that punishment needs to be viewed as coming not from the government that issued the punishment, but the punishment is coming from God himself.
28:41: With this exception, if the government says, you Christians cannot meet anymore, we're not allowing you to publicly profess your faith or worship
28:52: Jesus or pray to God, we sit there and go, nope, sorry, we're going to obey
28:59: God, not you. You're overstepping your bounds. And here's the thing, note that when that happens, if the government says then,
29:10: I kill you, you say, go for it, buddy, do it. I'm not going to stop you because I can't, but just know this, you're sinning against God.
29:21: Not only have you blasphemously forbid people from worshiping Christ, you're murdering his saints.
29:30: You could explain this to King Jesus when he shows up. He'll be here in just a few minutes. I hope you're ready for it. This is a good way to talk, talk prophetically to the powers that be.
29:41: So when we look at Daniel then, Daniel, they've just signed the edict, no praying to anyone except to King Darius, and what does
29:52: Daniel do? He disobeys. When he knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.
30:07: He got down on his knees three times a day, prayed and gave thanks before his God, just as he had previously done.
30:13: No change in procedure. In fact, he even keeps his windows open. I want you all to watch me doing this.
30:20: I'm going to break the rule. So then these men came by agreement, found
30:28: Daniel making petition and plea before his God. One has to wonder how that went. Oh my goodness,
30:33: Daniel, what are you doing? Oh, you are so smart and so wise, but this is really foolish.
30:41: You are praying to Yahweh. You know that you're not allowed to do that. We're going to have to turn you in, right?
30:47: You're the ones who created the trap in the first place. So they came near and said before the
30:53: King concerning the injunction, watch how they do this. These guys are snakes. Oh King, did you not sign an injunction that anyone who makes petition to any
31:03: God or man within 30 days except for to you, oh King, shall be cast into the den of lions?
31:09: The King answered, well, the thing stands fast according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.
31:15: Good answer. Way to go, King. So then they answered and said before the King, Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, he pays no attention to you, oh
31:24: King, or the injunction that you have signed, but he makes petition three times a day.
31:32: Early Christians, by the way, also believed in praying three times a day. Just keep that in mind.
31:39: So now the trap is sprung. It's too late. King can't do anything. So then the King, when he heard these words, he was much distressed.
31:47: He set his mind to deliver Daniel. He labored till the sun went down to rescue him.
31:54: And then these men came by agreement to the King and said to the King, no, oh King, that it is a law of the
32:00: Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the King establishes can be changed.
32:07: You got to obey your own rules there, buddy. So then the King commanded and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions.
32:16: Now let's do a little bit of work here. Okay. John chapter.
32:24: So in John chapter 18, we have the arrest of Jesus. Peter denies him. Jesus is questioned by the high priest.
32:31: Peter denies him again. And then we get this. Tell me if this doesn't sound familiar.
32:38: So then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning.
32:46: They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the
32:51: Passover. What on earth? Okay. The Caiaphas, the high priest and the people who put
32:58: Jesus on trial at that kangaroo court in the middle of the night, they wouldn't enter into Pilate's house because he's a
33:07: Gentile and they didn't want to be defiled so that they can continue to eat the Passover. Are they completely clueless to the fact that murdering the son of God might actually defile them?
33:18: I mean, just go ahead and go into Pilate's house, dude. Nothing's going to stop you from being defiled at this point.
33:25: Just might as well go for it. So Pilate went outside to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man?
33:31: They answered him, well, if this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you. Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.
33:41: The Jews said to him, it's not lawful for us to put anyone to death. We want him dead. So this was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show what kind of death he was going to die.
33:51: So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the
33:57: Jews? Jesus answered, do you say this of your own accord or did others say it to you about me? Pilate answered, am
34:03: I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world.
34:11: If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting so that I might not be delivered over to the
34:16: Jews, but my kingdom is not from the world. Then Pilate said to him, so you are a king.
34:21: Jesus answered, you say that I'm a king for this purpose I was born and for this purpose I've come to into the world to bear witness to the truth.
34:30: Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate answered him, what is truth?
34:35: And after he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, I find no guilt in him, but you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the
34:44: Passover. So do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews? They cried out again, not this man, but Barabbas.
34:52: Now Barabbas was a robber. Chapter 19. So then Pilate took
34:57: Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, arrayed him in purple robe.
35:04: And they came up to him saying, hail king of the Jews. And they struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, see,
35:10: I'm bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him. So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.
35:20: And wait a second, wasn't Daniel given a purple robe? I'm just saying, okay. And Pilate said to them, behold the man.
35:27: And when the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and crucify him.
35:34: I find no guilt in him. The Jews answered him, well, we have a law. According to the law, he ought to die because he's made himself the son of God.
35:42: When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, where are you from?
35:50: Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, you will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?
36:00: Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me at all, unless it had been given to you from above.
36:06: Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. From then on, Pilate sought to release him.
36:13: Darius wanted to release Daniel, but he couldn't. But the Jews cried out, if you release this man, you're not Caesar's friend.
36:19: Everyone who makes himself a King opposes Caesar. So when Pilate heard these words, he brought
36:24: Jesus out, sat on the judgment seat at the place called the stone pavement in Aramaic, Gabbatha.
36:31: Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. And he said to the
36:36: Jews, behold your King. And they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said, shall I crucify your
36:42: King? Chief priest answered, we have no King but Caesar. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
36:52: You'll note that Pilate's reticence to crucify
37:01: Jesus is also mirrored in Darius's reticence to follow through on the death decree of Daniel.
37:13: It's fascinating, the two kind of work together. So the
37:18: King commanded, Daniel was brought and he was cast into the den of lions. The King declared to Daniel, may your
37:25: God whom you serve continually deliver you. And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den and the
37:33: King sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his Lord so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
37:41: This sounds familiar too. Matthew 27. Okay. Judas hung, hangs himself and the crown chooses
37:49: Barabbas. Jesus mocks the crucifixion, the death of Jesus. Here we go.
37:58: The next day, that is the day of preparation. The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, sir, we remember how that imposter said while he was still alive, after three days
38:09: I will rise. Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead and the last probably worse than the first.
38:20: So Pilate said to them, you have a guard of soldiers, go and make it as secure as you can. So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
38:30: The details in Daniel and the lion's den are so, I mean, I can't read it without reading about the death of Christ.
38:39: All right. So let's see. So the stone was brought, laid on the mouth of the den. This is
38:45: Daniel. The king sealed it with his own signet, with the signet of his Lord so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
38:52: Then the king went to his palace, spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him.
38:57: Sleep fled from him. All insomniacs know exactly what that feels like, including myself.
39:04: So then at the break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. Break of day.
39:11: Isn't that the same time that Jesus rose from the dead? I'm just saying. All right. And as he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish.
39:21: The king declared to Daniel, oh Daniel, servant of the living God, has your
39:26: God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the lions? Then Daniel said to the king, oh king, live forever.
39:36: My God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouths and they have not harmed me because I was found blameless before him.
39:44: And also before you, oh king, I have done no harm. And then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den.
39:52: So Daniel was taken up out of the den. No kind of harm was found on him because he had trusted in his
39:57: God. Then the king commanded and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions, they, their children, their wives.
40:06: And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones and pieces.
40:12: And now we have an epistle from King Darius written to you.
40:18: Okay. So Nebuchadnezzar is an author of scripture. So is Darius. So then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, the nations and the languages that dwell in all the earth.
40:29: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in all my royal dominion, people are to tremble and fear before the
40:36: God of Daniel for he is the living God enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed and his dominion shall be to the end.
40:46: He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. He who has saved
40:52: Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius, the reign of Cyrus, the
40:59: Persian. Pretty good story, right? And the connections to Christ are unmistakable.
41:07: It's just, this is Christ's death and his tomb. Now, of course,
41:13: God didn't kill Daniel. He just, Daniel figuratively died and rose again, but it prefigures the death and resurrection of Christ.
41:21: Even with the stone, even with the seal being put on the stone, it's unmistakable.
41:26: Love that story. And again, you sit there and go, who wrote this book? God, the Holy Spirit. And you get the feeling he knew what he was doing.
41:35: Now, real quick, there was a question from Marlena and let's see here. The question was, um, could somebody please ask what it means in the
41:47: Old Testament reading today when it says, when he is old enough to choose good, does it mean that baby
41:54: Jesus was a sinner? Can't, can't it be, can't be, can it?
41:59: No, it isn't. That's not what it means. Uh, or is this, uh, it was what Baptists referred to as age of accountability.
42:06: Neither of them are actually in play here. Let me show you the text so we can see this because this will answer the question.
42:13: This actually deals with, again, this idea of what's called the proleptic prophecy.
42:19: So in Isaiah 7, um, the Lord says, I will give
42:25: Ahaz a sign, right? Um, so, so here's the sign.
42:31: Is it too little for you to worry men that you worry God also? Therefore the Lord himself, Yahweh, will give you a sign.
42:36: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
42:45: For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
42:50: So the idea here is, is that this is called a proleptic prophecy. There's a portion of the prophecy that is fulfilled in the time of Ahaz because this is a sign for him.
43:00: But the virgin born Jesus is, is wrapped up in that. That's a, that's a part of it.
43:06: But that part lays dormant until Christ fulfills it. The other part here, this is a time prophecy.
43:14: And the way the time prophecy works is what, what God is basically saying in, in the amount of time it would take for some human being to be conceived, then be born, then be weaned, and then grow in enough age that mentally they're able to, to be able to choose between good and evil.
43:34: In that amount of time that the two kings who he fears will, they'll be gone.
43:41: They'll already be gone. So that part of the prophecy was fulfilled in, in Ahaz's time.
43:47: And within that time frame, the king, the king of Syria and the king of Israel, they were long gone.
43:54: They were the, the people who, who Ahaz feared, they were long gone. And so this is, this, the second part is not referring to Jesus.
44:02: It's just a time prophecy basically saying that in the, this amount of time that, that will take place.
44:08: The part that refers to Christ is the first part of the prophecy, the proleptic part, which remained unfulfilled during Ahaz's lifetime and then wasn't fulfilled until, until way, way later, six centuries later.
44:24: So this is not implying that Jesus is a sinner, because the part that was fulfilled in his time was basically from this amount of time, during this amount of time, those kings will no longer exist.
44:37: That's the whole point of it. So you have to understand how proleptic prophecy works. There's a part of it fulfilled in the, in the immediate term, and then a part of it fulfilled off in the, in the future.
44:47: And again, the quintessential example of, of proleptic prophecy is when Jesus in Matthew 24 gives us details regarding both the end of the world and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.
44:58: The two go together, but the end of the world hasn't happened yet. The destruction of the temple in 70 AD has already happened.
45:04: Again, that's a proleptic prophecy. The two kind of go together because thematically we're dealing with the topic of God's wrath.
45:11: But the, the, the full, the total fulfillment of the, of the Olivet Discourse has not come, has not come yet.
45:19: So part of it has, was fulfilled in that time. And there's a part that's going to be fulfilled still in the future to come.
45:26: So, all right. Hopefully you found all of that helpful. And there's where I have to jump off because I have to watch my time.
45:32: I've got to jump in the truck and head off to, to Emmanuel Lutheran and it's zero degrees outside.
45:37: We've warmed up. When I woke up this morning, it was seven below. So, okay. And there's no
45:42: Sunday school next Sunday, just so you know. On Christmas day, there's no Sunday school. So I will make
45:48: Stephen the co -host. But Stephen, I'm going to make you the host, sir. And so you guys can have your, you can have your fellowship time.