Daniel #2

            Let’s continue from (Daniel 1:17-21 KJV) ¶ As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus. God gave special gifts to Daniel and his three friends. He gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of the LORD… the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; (Isaiah 11:2 KJV) That is why God gives wisdom, understanding, and might to who have received the Holy Spirit today. Thus creating a spiritually perfect man in a Babylon-like world of today. The Holy Spirit further enables us to serve other saints through the gifts given to those individuals who have received the Holy Spirit. Daniel, along with his friends, are special gifted people. Daniel is said to be a man of wisdom and knowledge comparable to the devil. You need to remember the devil is the wisest being after to God. Therefore, if we do not understand the Word in the Spirit of God, we will lose everything to the devil. That’s why people fail when they are put to the test. Satan is so cunning, that to those who do not thoroughly know the word of God, he will use the word of the Holy Bible to deceive and lead them to temptation.

            Let’s turn to Ezekiel chapter 28. Verse 3 is God speaking to Satan. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: (Ezekiel 28:3-4 KJV) God told the Devil he is wiser than Daniel. There is no secret they can hide from him. Remember folks: Babylon was a great kingdom at the time. God used Nebuchadnezzar as His instrument to judge Israel. King Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t some weak random person. Current President of United States is nothing compared to him. As the kingdom that ruled over the entire world at the time, God temporarily gave wisdom and power and used it to judge Israel. No matter how wise Daniel was, he was not as wise as the devil. In other words, no one can outsmart the devil. He’ll ultimately fall into the lake of fire at the end of the millennium because he sinned, but the devil is nevertheless a wise being. It was no big deal for the devil, the old serpent to deceive the inhabitants of Garden of Eden. It was a piece of cake for the Devil to fool the man created from dirt. We must remember God made Daniel second only to the devil in wisdom and knowledge. Therefore, the way to overcome the devil is to stand firmly in the Word. You must put on the full armor of God. That is why the apostle Paul exhorts to put on the full armor of God when he wrote to the church in Ephesus. Against those principalities (Babylon) and powers, the rulers of the darkness of the world, and spiritual evil on high. To fight against this put on the full armor of God’s Word, for our fight is not against flesh and blood. It means to be fully armed spiritually from head to toe, and there should be no gaps. If there is a gap in the armor, the sword will come through. It is no wonder Christians get beat up by the Devil daily since they do not learn the word these days. We are told to wear the full body armor, but many Christians today are not wearing them. This is a sin and they do not realize this. They don’t realize that not studying the Bible or not reading the Bible is a sin. Even so, they resent God when they get problems poured upon their lives when they don’t do their part. you have to do what God tells you to do. It’s not an option. Verse 18, the king calls the boys in at the end of ten days. Daniel and the three Hebrew boys are brought before Nebuchadnezzar. The king wanted to see how much these men learned the sciences of Babylon, how much they have been transformed into Babylonian ideology, how brainwashed they have become to be completely loyal to Babylon and the royal palace.

           (Daniel 1:19 KJV) And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. No doubt. Because they have received the Spirit of God and wisdom, they are second only to the devil. These men stood out as they are personally interview by the king himself. They get hired to work at the royal palace. Standing before the king is equivalent to modern day advisors from the White House. People who give direct advice to the king or president in economics, political and social affairs. People like Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs or National Security Advisor or Senior Secretary for Political Affairs, or Civil Affairs. So, standing in front of the Babylonian king at the time was a great honor. But ancient Babylon was much more powerful than today’s America. It is always working by the king’s side, directly advising the king’s dominion, as they stand before the king. They had deeper, meaningful conversations. This is naturally because Daniel was the person God established second to the devil in terms of knowledge, learning, and wisdom. Nebuchadnezzar was a smart ruler of an empire, as he was able to recognize this. He recognized God’s righteous people and utilized their wisdom. It’s the same today. It’s wonderful to share wisdom with god’s wise people. Again, this is why God used Nebuchadnezzar when Judah and Israel sinned.

            (Daniel 1:20 KJV) And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. Nebuchadnezzar had been using magicians and astrologers to ask questions back then. He used fortune-tellers. To him, Daniel seemed like one of them. He made this comparison because he don’t know God. Daniel is not a magician or an astrologer. Modern day fortune-tellers are no match for the magicians and astrologers of that time. With the power they received from Satan, they foresaw the movements of the world, the stars, and informed people of good luck and misfortune. Fortune telling by looking at the stars and divination. There are people like this even today. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Jerusalem, people came to tell fortunes by looking at the stars. They are called the wise men, or the magis, but in fact, they were fortune-tellers through astrology. But God gave them wisdom and allowed them to know that Jesus, the Messiah had been born. God loves everyone. Back in those days, Israel was trying to kill the Messiah once he appeared, so God gave wisdom to such people to have them bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. As for the gold, signifies Jesus is God. As for the frankincense, He is the High Priest. And the bitter myrrh signifying He will die as a prophet. God allowed them to know this, and has shown us that Jesus is the Messiah. The Christ. The anointed. The only begotten Son of God as recorded in the Bible. Astrology is different from science. Astronomy is science, but astrology is not. Astrology is the study of divination by looking at the stars. However, astronomy actually studies location of stars and their movements, while astrology is fortune telling by looking at them. Astrology and astronomy are two different things. As such, verse 20 says Daniel and the three young Hebrew men had greater learning, wisdom, and science than all the wise men in Babylon, and just three or four times, but ten times better. Daniel and his three friends did not eat the king’s delicacies, and instead ate pulse as a test for ten days. Ten days. Number ten is shown again. Ten days of trial. A beast with ten horns appears in Daniel 7:7. Ten horns. These are the kings who will arise in the future. Ten is the number of Gentiles. God’s number is seven. That’s why we currently use the Gentile decimal system. One to ten, eleven to twenty, twenty one to thirty and so forth.

            (Daniel 1:21 KJV) And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus. Cyrus is a Persian king. Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon fell, Medo-Persia came up next. After Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar was killed by Darius of Medes. Daniel reigned under the rule of Darius as well. Then onto when the next kingdom was integrated at the arrival of Cyrus of Persia. Daniel remained there during the reign of Medea and ruled under three kings. Daniel became the ruler of all the provinces of Babylon, became the head of the governors who presided over all the wise men, and he played the role of the right-hand man of Nebuchadnezzar, and he continued to be there until the first year of King Cyrus. In other words, Daniel had a very long life as a high ranking government official. God allowed it so until each government changed. Before we move on to Chapter 2, there’s something we’ll look at first. Chapter 2 is a very important chapter. One of the greatest chapters. The millennial kingdom appears and many theologians speak about premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. Mille