establish the edict

Posted on July 2, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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establish the edict

Daniel 6:6-9 (JDV)

Daniel 6:6 Then the high officials and satraps went together to the king and said to him, “May King Darius live permanently.
Daniel 6:7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an edict that for thirty days, anyone who petitions any god or mortal human except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den.
Daniel 6:8 Therefore, Your Majesty, establish the edict and sign the document so that, as a law of the Medes and Persians, it is irrevocable and cannot be changed.”
Daniel 6:9 So King Darius signed the written edict.

establish the edict

The enemies of Daniel and his God have finally gotten their way. Darius has signed the edict. Satan is quite pleased because now God’s people cannot obey him without breaking human law. If God is merely an idea, that idea will disappear. But if the God behind Daniel’s religion is real, his power will manifest.

Brother or sister, don’t be discouraged if the law is not on your side. The deliverer is.

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looking for dirt

Posted on July 1, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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looking for dirt

Daniel 6:1-5 (JDV)

Daniel 6:1 Darius decided to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, to be throughout the realm,
Daniel 6:2 and over them three high officials, including Daniel. These satraps would be accountable to them so that the king would not lose power.
Daniel 6:3 Daniel distinguished himself above the high officials and satraps because he had an extraordinary breath, so the king planned to set him over the whole realm.
Daniel 6:4 The high officials and satraps, therefore, kept trying to find a charge against Daniel regarding the kingdom. But they could find no charge or corruption, for he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.
Daniel 6:5 Then these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

looking for dirt

Daniel was a target from the beginning of Darius’ reign. People were looking for dirt on him so that they could discredit him and replace him. Particularly, they wanted to find evidence of negligence or corruption. But they could find none. Eventually, they discovered that the only way to discredit him was to discredit his religious principles — the law of his God.

We need a generation of leaders who are so committed to Christ that their integrity is impeccable. We also need men and women who are strong enough to withstand an attack against the commands of Christ which they are keeping. Evil people will be looking for dirt. May their only charge against us be that we are consistently obedient to Christ.

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found deficient

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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found deficient

Daniel 5:24-31 (JDV)

Daniel 5:24 Therefore, he sent the hand, and this writing was inscribed.
Daniel 5:25 “This is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin.
Daniel 5:26 This is the interpretation of the message: ‘Mene’: God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.
Daniel 5:27 ‘Tekel’: you have been weighed on the balance and found deficient.
Daniel 5:28 ‘Peres’: your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Daniel 5:29 Then Belshazzar gave an order, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Daniel 5:30 That very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was killed,
Daniel 5:31 and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

found deficient

Belshazzar lost his kingdom and his life because he was found deficient. An unseen hand (like the hand that wrote on the wall) had been weighing him. An hourglass was signaling that his time was up. A judgment at the resurrection will determine our permanent destiny. But there is also a judgment going on right now to determine how many days we are allotted in this life. We are all on death row, waiting to see how long we actually have.

Is there anything we can do to prolong our days alive? There appears to have been something Belshazzar could have done. He could have invested in a different kind of life, a life of honor and integrity, compassion and mercy. But he did not live that kind of life. He was found deficient.

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the God who keeps you breathing

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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the God who keeps you breathing

Daniel 5:17-23 (JDV)

Daniel 5:17 Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts and give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription for the king and make the interpretation known to him.
Daniel 5:18 King, the Highest God gave sovereignty, greatness, glory, and majesty to your predecessor Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 5:19 Because of the greatness he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages were scared and trembled at him. He killed anyone he wanted and kept alive anyone he wanted; he exalted anyone he wanted and humbled anyone he wanted.
Daniel 5:20 But when his heart was exalted and his breath became arrogant, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken from him.
Daniel 5:21 He was driven away from mortal humans, his mind was like an animal’s, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky until he acknowledged that the Highest God is ruler over mortal human kingdoms and sets anyone he wants over them.
Daniel 5:22 “But you his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.
Daniel 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against Yahveh of the sky. The receptacles from his house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But you have not glorified the God who keeps you breathing and who has your paths in his hand.

the God who keeps you breathing

Belshazzar’s chief crime was the failure to glorify the God who keeps him breathing. Such is the case with many kings (and paupers) today. Whether in power or in fear, so many are walking to their permanent fate with no regard for the one who will decide it. This scripture serves as a warning for us.

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retrieved from obscurity

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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retrieved from obscurity

Daniel 5:13-16 (JDV)

Daniel 5:13 Then Daniel was brought before the king. The king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah that my predecessor the king brought from Judah?
Daniel 5:14 I’ve heard that you have a breath from the gods in you, and that insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom are found in you.
Daniel 5:15 Now the wise men and mediums were brought before me to read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not give its interpretation.
Daniel 5:16 However, I have heard about you that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around your neck, and have the third ruling position in the kingdom.”

retrieved from obscurity

Daniel was not leading the wise men of Babylon at the time. He had apparently retired to obscurity. But the crisis of the day caused him to be retrieved from obscurity and thrust again into the limelight. We need people who know God and are willing to serve in his name no matter what their age or present status.

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summon Daniel

Posted on June 27, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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summon Daniel

Daniel 5:10-12 (JDV)

Daniel 5:10 Because of the outcry of the king and his nobles, the queen came to the banquet hall. “May the king live permanently,” she said. “Don’t let your thoughts terrify you or your face be pale.
Daniel 5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has a breath from the holy gods in him. In the days of your predecessor, he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. Your predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, mediums, Chaldeans, and diviners. Your own predecessor, the king,
Daniel 5:12 did this because Daniel, the one the king named Belteshazzar, was found to have extraordinary breath, knowledge, and intelligence, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems. Therefore, summon Daniel, and he will give the interpretation.”

summon Daniel

The queen had the answer. To hear the message from God you need to listen to the man of God — the wise man who knows the plan of God. We need men and women today who know God and his word like that.

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none could read the inscription

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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none could read the inscription

Daniel 5:5-9 (JDV)

Daniel 5:5 At that same moment the fingers of a mortal human’s hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the king’s palace wall next to the lampstand. As the king watched the hand that was writing,
Daniel 5:6 his face turned pale, and his thoughts so terrified him that his bowels released and his knees knocked together.
Daniel 5:7 The king shouted to bring in the mediums, Chaldeans, and diviners. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Any mortal human who reads this inscription and gives me its interpretation will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around his neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom.”
Daniel 5:8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but none could read the inscription or make its interpretation known to him.
Daniel 5:9 Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face turned pale, and his nobles were bewildered.

none could read the inscription

Swindoll writes “Belshazzar must realize deep down that the message spells judgment” (56). But no one can be immediately accessed who is an experet in the things of God — the God through whom the judgment is coming.

Such seems to be the case today in many parts of this planet. The handwriting is on the wall, but the true followers of God have been so marginalized by society that few are present to tell those about to be condemned of their fate.

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party first — pay later

Posted on June 25, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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party first — pay later

Daniel 5:1-4 (JDV)

Daniel 5:1 King Belshazzar held a large feast for a thousand of his nobles – drinking wine in their presence.
Daniel 5:2 Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver receptacles that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines could drink from them.
Daniel 5:3 Then they brought in the gold receptacles taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines drank from them.
Daniel 5:4 They drank the wine and praised their gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

party first — pay later

Disaster is about to strike. What are king Belshazzar and his entourage doing? They are partying like there’s no tomorrow. There is no tomorrow. Don’t live like that.

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my sanity returned

Posted on June 24, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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my sanity returned

Daniel 4:34-37 (JDV)

Daniel 4:34 But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to the sky, and my sanity returned to me. Then I praised the Highest and honored and glorified him who lives permanently: You see, his dominion is a permanent dominion, and his kingdom lasts from generation to generation.
Daniel 4:35 All the inhabitants of the land are counted as nothing, and he does what he wants with the army of the sky and the inhabitants of the land. There is no one who can block his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Daniel 4:36 At that time my sanity returned to me, and my majesty and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and my nobles sought me out, I was reestablished over my kingdom, and even more greatness came to me.
Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and glorify the King of the sky, because all his works are true and his ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

my sanity returned

Morey comments on verse 36: “The various Hebrew and Greek words that are translated as “reason” in our English versions always refer either to sanity or to common sense (Daniel 4:36; Acts 6:2 KJV). Since the abstract concept of “Reason” was not developed until the Renaissance, this is to be expected. Instead of seeking to justify Divine revelation before human reason, the authors of Scripture always demanded that human reason justify itself before revelation! Human reason was correct to the degree it agreed with revelation and not the other way around” (7-8).

Our attitude toward God’s revelation can serve as a sort of barometer to test our pride. Do we believe the Bible only when we find its statement reasonable? What if our reason or sanity is the problem? Only when Nebuchadnezzar stopped living in the arrogance of his own thoughts did his sanity return.

Morey, Robert A. Here Is Your God: A Study in the Nature and Attributes of God. Crowne Publications 1989.

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lesson from the field hay

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Jefferson Vann

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lesson from the field hay

Daniel 4:28-33 (JDV)

Daniel 4:28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 4:29 At the end of twelve months, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon,
Daniel 4:30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic honor?”
Daniel 4:31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from the sky: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you.
Daniel 4:32 You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals, and you will feed on grass like cattle. Seven times will pass over you until you acknowledge that the Highest is ruler over mortal human kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.”
Daniel 4:33 At that moment the message against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mortal humans. He ate grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.

lesson from the field hay

Unless we learn the message from the field hay, we are in danger of being reduced to eating grass. Jesus taught us to notice how God takes care of the grass. He said:

Matthew 6:30 But if God so clothes the field hay, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

We need to repent and turn back to God — to stop living under the illusion that we are in control.

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