THE LESSONS (1-9)
1. Giving Testimony: The King didn't feel shy to share his testimony of becoming a beast for 7yrs & his restoration. Today, many people feel ashamed to testify how God saved them from sexual & other forms of sins. Share it because it can change someone's life. But don' paint it to look ugly, if it doesn't; And don' paint it to look good, if it doesn't. U can't change a person by 'massaging' your testimony to look good or bad. It is the Holy Spirit's job to do the CONVICTION & the CONVERSION. U are only a vessel.
2. Content of the Testimony: After humiliation, King Nebuchadnezzar ONLY GLORIFIED GOD in his testimony. Today, when many so-called Christians are giving testimonies, they give Glory to themselves, and at ''best,''they share the Glory with God - instead of giving ALL the GLORY to GOD. God doesn't share His Glory with anyone. If He gives U any gift or blessing, remain humble. Never ever let those things get into your head; else U will become proud & that will let God descend to humble U. Avoid that danger.
3. Source of Help: In Daniel Chapter 2, we learned that when the King had a dream, he consulted his magicians, soothsayers, etc to tell him the dream & its interpretation but they couldn't. It was Daniel who came to their rescue. So U would think that, if there is another case, the king's first point of call would be Daniel. But that wasn't so; 32yrs after the king's magicians had failed him, he had another dream & instead of contacting Daniel first, he rather called the same magicians & once again, they failed. So he had to finally rely on Daniel. My Dear, Don' treat God & His people as Plan B. Give God the first place in all that U do. It's sad that the king in particular, and man in general, is slow in recognizing & respecting God & His True Servants. Again, in this Chapter, the king, even after 32 years, still considered Baal as his god. No wonder God brought this final judgement upon him to change him forever.
4. Daniel's Humility: As Christians, we shouldn't take offence, even when we're treated the second option at workplaces, homes, schools, etc. If we're not called upon first when a solution is needed, let's still remain steadfast and humble. If it's the Lord's WILL, they will seek our input at last. Daniel didn't feel offended for being called last; so we also shouldn't. And if we're not called at all, let's continue to be humble & faithful. No need to have hatred for anyone.
5. Don' Water Down God's Word. Though Daniel was astonished & wished the dream was for the king's enemies, due to the love he had for the king, he didn't lower the severity of the Judgement; he said it exactly how the dream meant. Today, due to fear for persecution, tribulation and sometimes death, many people ''massage'' the Word of God. They have compromised themselves & instead of calling a spade, spade, they beat about the bush. Homosexuality is a sin, abortion is a sin, no matter how medical practitioners & politicians will say. Instead of telling people this truth, U will see many preachers defending these and many other sins. BEING GAY IS NOT A SEXUAL ORIENTATION GOD INTENDED FOR ANYONE. REPENT FROM, OR PERISH IN IT. If U Truly love someone, tell him/her the judgement of God that is pending. Warn them. Tell them to REPENT. Don' fear them. Even if U will be hated, persecuted or killed, TELL THEM THE TRUTH. U will regret, if later U go to Heaven & realize U failed to Tell your loved ones to Repent. Daniel put fear of being killed & his love for the king aside and told the king the hard truth. John the Baptist also preached against King Herod's marriage to his brother's wife, even at the cost of his life. We must do same with the help of God, Amen!
6. God's Judgement/Punishment: God hates all forms of sin, especially pride and He punishes sin. Due to pride, the king was transmogrified; he was given a beast's mind, grown nails like claws & grown hairs like eagle's feathers. Maybe, your punishment won't take that form, but be rest assured that any sin commit deserves God's punishment.
7. Merciful God: The root/stump was not removed Daniel 4:28. This meant that, the king was to be restored. This tells us that, if we repent after God's punishment, He could restore us into fellowship. But after learning from our mistakes & repenting from our sins, we should not even tell God what He should do for us. Our attitude should be that of the younger son of the rich man; we don' deserve to be called your sons; make us servants. That's humility; we can learn it the easy way like Daniel; Or the hard way like the King & the younger son of the rich man. God is merciful.
8. Preventive Measures Against God's Punishment: Daniel didn't only interpret the Dream/Judgement of God which was to happen to the King; he also PRESCRIBED HOW TO AVOID the judgement. He said if the King would (i) stop sinning by practicing righteousness & (iii) stop committing iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, then God would forgive & stop visiting him with the punishment. Dear reader, there is no other way to escape God's judgement, apart from repentance. Jonah preached & warned Nineveh. When they repented, God didn't visit them with the punishment. U might have committed several sins & God might have warned you for years. Please, REPENT, else U can be rest assured that even if U don' get punished in this life, U will be punished in the life after here. U will suffer in Hell and later in the Lake of Fire.
9. God Always Warns Before He Punishes: Nowhere in the Bible did God punish without first warning. Noah's & Lot's times are typical cases. Take King Nebuchadnezzar as an example; God warned him several times, yet he only seemed to have repented for a moment & reverted to his sinful state. Even 32 yrs of several warnings, he failed to repent. God sent him this final warning, which if he repented, would have made God rescinded His decision to punish him. Yet he failed to repent. Still, God didn't instantly punish him; HE waited for 12 months (1 year) after the final warning before punishing him. When studying why God sent the Israelites into Exile in Babylon for 70 years, we learned that God didn't choose the 70yrs arbitrarily. From 1451BC (when they entered Canaan) to 606BC (when they went into exile in Babylon), was 845 Years (i.e. 1451 - 606 = 845). This means God waited for a whole 845 years before punishing them; because they failed to observed the 7th year Sabbath for 490. Therefore, they were to go into exile for the land to enjoy its 7th year Sabbath for 70 years (i.e. 490 divided by 7yrs). If God waited for 845yrs before He squared up the account & visited His own people with punishment, what makes U think U will not be punished after rejecting His warnings for years? God is not bias. If U reject His warnings & fail to repent, U will get punished - no matter how long it takes. Read more from https://www.facebook.com/
10. ???? This is a Serious Lesson. We shall look at it tomorrow, if God permits.
--Samuel Kwasi Forkuo
ALL GLORY TO GOD.
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