King Belshazzar of Babylon
died the same night that a human hand appeared and wrote “Mene Mene Tekel Parsin” on a plaster wall in his royal palace. That is when Darius the Mede took over and began the process of dividing the Kingdom! Of course, to human eyes it didn’t seem that Darius was in the process of dividing - in fact, it looked just the opposite! It appeared he had added a whole kingdom to the sum of the Median Empire which today is known as the region of Iran and Turkey. I wonder... why don’t biblical scholars recognize the Median Empire as the chest of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue? Oh...I guess they do - but through the combination of the Medo-Persian Empire. In my limited mind, this doesn't quite make sense. I mean... Darius the Mede ruled before Cyrus the Great - at least this is what the Book of Daniel says. Apparently, there is minimal historical evidence about Darius the Mede, or the Median Empire. But obviously, this time period is significant to the Kingdom of God. There were 120 regions to rule over, once Darius the Mede took over. And he appointed 120 high officers to rule over each one of them. Then he assigned three men to supervise over the 120 of them. Guess what, Daniel was one of the three who proved himself more capable than the rest! Darius the Mede was ready to elevate Daniel to be like a king. Scripture says, “he made plans to place Daniel over the entire empire.” But then, the other administrators and the high officers began searching to find ways to condemn him. “They attempted to find Daniel at fault with government affairs, but they could not find anything to criticize or condemn” - so they went after his religion. They began colluding, and came up with a plan to trick the king into signing a ridiculous order into law - a law that would surely pull Daniel down. Hmmm... this sounds much like the Law of Moses, but in an opposite kind of way. God's law was given so that people could see how sinful they were - unlike the men in this story who created their own kind of law that went against worshipping the Most High God! The Law of Moses was created by God to show the human race how sinful we really are! As people sin more and more, they become aware of God's wonderful grace because they know that in their own flesh they are incapable of following it! The law the men created, in Daniel 6, was this, “For the next 30 days any person who prays to anyone - divine or human except to Darius the king, will be thrown into the den of lions.” I know... the order had a short time-frame, much like the Median Empire, before the Persians came along - but it was long enough to carry out the will of God. When Daniel heard the law had been signed, he went home and prayed. He prayed the same way, he had always done. In his upstairs room, with its window open towards Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, always giving thanks to God. It was then, in the middle of prayer, that Satan rushed into the room. Just like he would do again, in the Garden of Gethsemane through Judas Iscariot’s betrayal kiss. Actually, it was the jealous men who pushed through the door of Daniel’s home to catch him red-handed in the act of worshipping God. When they Daniel worshipping his One True God, they immediately ran to the palace to tell the king what he had done. Darius was deeply troubled. He had an affection for Daniel. He was one of his best men, and he wondered how he could get him out of this mess? But the men of the government continued to press on the king, they would not let him have an inch to let Daniel breath. They reminded Darius that laws signed into action by the king of their nation, which at that time, consisted of both the Medes and the Persians, could not be changed. So Darius despairingly had Daniel arrested and brought straight to him to be thrown into the den of lions. King Darius said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.” And just like the tomb of Jesus, a stone was closed over the mouth of the den of death. “And the king sealed the stone with his own royal seal, and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel.” Can you see the analogy? The seal of the king was used in place of the seal of God, the Supreme Ruler of the universe! The next morning the king got up early, and hurried to the den of lions. And once again, we see the foreshadowing of what is written in Luke 24, “Very early on Sunday morning the woman went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. And as they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. Then the man asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.” Daniel was only a man, but God was able to save him! Just as He has done for us. The king asked, “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lion’s den? Daniel answered, “Long live the king! My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me. I have been found innocent in his sight, and I have not wronged you, your majesty.” The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him for he had trusted in his God. King Darius gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel, and had them thrown into the lions den, along with their wives and children. It’s hard to think that God will do the same with people who choose not to accept Jesus as their risen Savior. Some may decide this is why they don’t need him. I’ve heard it said that if God is full of wrath, then they do not want anything to do with him. I’ve also heard it said that a God who can allow hurt to come, is not a god that they choose to serve. And it is true, I’ve heard this too - that God is so good that He will not allow anyone to perish. A person can be bad to the bone, they can even die and go to hell, but God will not allow anyone to be harmed - he will swoop right down at the last minute, and save them from an eternal death. But sadly I tell you this, none of this is said in scripture - the inspired Word of God written through Holy Spirit wisdom. You see the lions leapt on the evil men, and their wives and children - the accusers of the brethren, and every branch that extended from them! The lions tore them apart, before they even hit the floor. The pit of hell, devoured them whole, until every last piece was totally gone. This is the promise of our God, the Creator of both Heaven and Earth. He is the Author of the Book that tells the story of Him and of us. And it is all written, perfectly - with no falsehood or contradiction. Everything is woven, perfectly - through the Old and the New Testament. He is the author and perfecter of our faith, and when our eyes are set on Him, so is our heart. The more you pay attention, and the more you spend time with Him, you're faith becomes less wavering and the Word starts to make more sense. I promise you this, Scripture says that God is fully love, and fully wrath! And He has set a final judgement day when all of the books will be opened. He knows the beginning to the end because He is the Alpha and Omega! He has authored several books, which are all part of the same series, "The Story of Us and God." And when He decides to unroll the scrolls, the Book of Life will be opened. And we will see, what is foretold to John, in Revelation 20, “During the time of final judgement day when all of the dead, both great and small, will stand before God‘s throne, the books will be opened and the dead will be judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” “The sea will give up it’s dead and death and the grave will give up their dead. All will be judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave will be thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name is not found recorded in the Book of Life is thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15 The good news is this, just like God sent an angel to Daniel, He sent Jesus to us! And Jesus saves everyone who believes, first the Jew then the Gentile. The blood of Christ washes us clean, and makes us right, in God's sight. And this is accomplished, from start to finish, by faith. As the scripture says, "it is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Romans 1:16-17 So hold on, Children of God! You do not belong to the Tree of Satan! You have been cut and grafted, into the Tree of the King of Righteousness. The Lord has seen your heart! He sees you from the inside out! There is nothing that can be hidden from the Eyes of God. Take his yoke. Trust and believe. The yoke of Christ is simple, it’s easy - and all it takes is to have a mustard seed of faith to believe that your story has already been written! I, like King Darius, not a king, but a humble servant, send this message into all the world - to the people of every race and every nation, Peace and prosperity to you! I believe that everyone throughout the world, on earth and in Heaven, should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel for He is the living God and he will endure forever! His Kingdom will never be destroyed and His rule will never end! He rescues and sees his people He performs miraculous signs, and wonders, in the heavens and on earth! He rescued Daniel from the power of the lions, and He has rescued us from the second death!
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