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InVerse, 1st Quarter 2020: Daniel: Practical Principles for End-Time Living

Sebastien Braxton

Sikhu Daco

Justin Kim

Israel Ramos

07-A Church in Crisis

You ever have a best friend whose girlfriend is a little cray cray?

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now here's your host, Justin Kim, with Inverse.

We are very excited that you guys are joining us in this midst of a study in the book of Daniel.

And so far, we've looked at different characteristics of God's last day people to survive all the things that are gonna happen and I don't know about you out there, but I've been blessed by each episode thus far and This episode is called a church in crisis a church in crisis And some of you may be wondering, what does that have to do with my best friend's girlfriend, who's a little, or spouse, or significant other, who's a little bit cray cray.

Cray cray means crazy, if you're wondering what that means.

So we're going to have a word of prayer, and the Lord's going to bless and take hold of this conversation.

And hopefully, blessings will flow from that.

Father in heaven, we are so privileged to be able to study your word and we're also privileged to see the example that Daniel has left for us over these past several chapters and especially here to find that the church is not perfect and how we can respond even in these last days where the church is in crisis.

May you teach us now as we open your word and give us courage Lord to follow.

I mean we've done a lot of chapters and you updated everything, but just kind of give us a summary of someone who may have joined us for the first episode.

We've been Looking at the first part of our studies have been dealing with characteristics of Daniel and what he introduces as an example of the last day church.

When we look at Daniel's history, his life doesn't begin in Daniel chapter 1, but rather that's where his life begins to be exposed.

Daniel is a person who is faithful, right?

He's faithful in all, in the small things, not just in the large things.

He's a person that's temperate, self-control.

All these are attributes of God likeness.

And so God is giving his message to a prophet that seeks to be like him.

He's giving a message about himself that he's going to proclaim to the last day people.

So that's essentially some of the marks of the last day church.

Yeah, so Daniel being 1 of the 2 apocalyptic books, it kind of gives us a glimpse into the future of what's going to happen.

And some people get freaked out about all that's going to happen but also embedded into the narratives of Daniel are also the characteristics as you mentioned.

So let's go to Daniel chapter 9 and then in chapter 9 we have Daniel is in prayer mode.

We see prayers throughout the book of Daniel and here it's actually a pretty long chapter a long prayer We're not gonna read all of it.

Can you read verse 1 to verse something in chapter 9?

From verse 1 in the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus of the lineage of the Medes who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans.

In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Can you give us insight on what's verse 2, 1 and 2 are talking about here?

So it's dealing with a prophecy in Jeremiah who was outside of Babylon saying that they would go into captivity, but that God would actually end it after 70 years, and then he'd return them to Jerusalem.

Okay, so he's claiming that promise in a sense, he's studying the scripture, and he's trying to see, this is his mode that he's in.

Okay, sorry to interrupt, verse 3, please.

Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications with fasting sackcloth and ashes.

And I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession and said, O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant at mercy with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity.

We have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and your judgments.

Neither have we heeded your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings and to our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.

O Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us, shame of face, as it is this day to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and far off in all the countries to which you have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against you." Hey, what's up there?

Or not just Israel, I'll just jump all in here.

Any observations you see from that part that Israel, that you could just read.

I think it's really, really awesome how Jeremiah is what inspires here Daniel to pray.

And so there's, you know, Daniel was a student of scripture.

And a lot of times we, when, when, when we have prayer lives that are dead, usually because they're not there, we have a life that is devoid, that is void of the study of Scripture.

So studying Scripture blossoms a prayer life.

Yeah, because what happens is, the Bible is a mirror.

And as Daniel is studying Scripture, he's realizing, well, the 70 years are about to expire but if you know if you if you start breaking down his prayer you realize that he's speaking about the fact that Israel has been unfaithful to God yes and so it serves as a mirror I am unfaithful to God which then drives Daniel to his prayer to a prayer life and so the reason why the study of Scripture is important is because it reveals who we are to ourselves and once it reveals who we are to ourselves then prayer is the means by which we go to God and ask for these changes to happen.

So he's now asking for God to intervene in his life.

And I love that when Daniel's praying, he was talking about the mirror aspect.

Sometimes when we read the Bible, we can get stuck in, oh God, those people are so horrible, right?

Those Israelites who didn't obey God and led us into this mess, right?

But when Daniel prays, he says, we, you know, he's always saying we, we, we, we, we, we.

And you look through the book of Daniel in the summation that Israel gave at the beginning, Daniel's been, he's a faithful man.

He's faithful in the little things, faithful in the big things.

There's really nothing bad recorded about Daniel all through the book of Daniel.

And yet when he's praying here, he says, we have, to us belongs shame of faith.

He puts himself in that category of the people who have offended God.

And you're left wondering, what did you do, Daniel?

But he recognizes his own sinfulness, even though when we look at his life, we're like, this guy was spotless.

There's a kind of a difference between Nebuchadnezzar that we talked in previous episodes about the pronoun that he uses, and it's first person singular, and here Daniel's using first person plural.

It's like IIII, but we, we, we, we, and it's on different ends of the spectrum there, Sebastian.

And I was gonna add that Daniel, as usual, we see prayer being a continuous component, but this is a different type of prayer, like Sikhu's alluding to, where in Daniel 2, he's praying because his life is in jeopardy.

We go to Daniel 6 and he's praying because he wants to express his allegiance to God.

But now when we come to Daniel chapter 9, his prayer is not for himself, it's for God's people, it's for his church that hasn't been faithful.

And I love the fact that through his intercessory prayer, Daniel is owning that.

And a lot of times we want to distance ourselves from the issues in the church.

So we want to say, well, man, you know, such and such was acting crazy in the church, or a sister such and such gets on my nerves and always interrupts the pastor when they're preaching, or whatever the case may be.

But Daniel's like, you just need to own it, right?

And my dad used to always say as kids, he used to say, the strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the wolf.

Which is essentially to say that if my brother fails, then we all fail.

But if my brother succeeds, then we all succeed.

And so in this very sense, Daniel is adopting that same mindset that God was trying to put in the heart of his people as well yeah Paul put Paul put it in a different way by saying you know you are the body of Christ and members in particular And so what Paul's trying to explain in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 is it is impossible for 1 person to fail and another person to succeed because you're part of the same exact body and so My failure is Sebastian's failure And so when it comes to the body of Christ, when it comes to the church of Christ, God is trying to instill in the mind of the Christian and of the churchgoer.

It is impossible for you to separate yourself outside of the body of Christ and at the same time think you're going to be successful.

To instill in his people that it is this idea of individuality, of me being able to be better while at the expense of other people, they suffer or they fail.

This is something that does not belong to the church.

It's a dangerous attitude, isn't it though?

01-The Secret of Prophetic Understanding

There is 1 power habit that unleashes physical, spiritual, and even intellectual ability.

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, A Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Hey friends, we're so excited that you're here on Inverse.

We're starting a new quarter on the book of Daniel.

So if you're starting some new habits this new year and you wanna change your life and change your body and change whatever, start with us and start reading the book of Daniel.

We're gonna start with a word of prayer and if you're out there, get your Bibles out and turn to the book of Daniel and we're gonna have a word of prayer and Siku, can you lead us out please?

Dear God, we're so thankful for the gift of life and most importantly, we're thankful for your word because in it we find life.

And Lord, we pray that as we study the Bible, as we delve into the book of Daniel, that the Holy Spirit would teach us things that would enhance our lives on this earth, and that we can be a blessing to others as we are blessed by your word in your name, amen.

Sebastian, we're gonna go to Daniel chapter 1, Daniel chapter 1.

And for those of you out there and you're with us, and you've been with us every week, we so appreciate your support.

And you may be wondering, whoa, they're studying Daniel.

If you want to look at our Bible study guides, we have new Inverse Bible study guides.

Go to inversebible.org and you can study with us along every day, every week.

And we're going to go through the book of Daniel in a really different, unique way.

And the angle that we're taking is what we won't tell you.

So, Sebastian, let's go to Daniel chapter 1 and we'll start from verse 1 and read until until you get tired.

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with some of the articles of the house of God Which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his God and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his God Then the king instructed Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles, young men, in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace and Whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.

What's going on there set us up here in the book of Daniel.

I know we read the introduction There's history there, but what's what's the larger context?

So the Bible tells us that Jehoiakim is in the third year of his reign and at that time what the book of Daniel does is that it pulls away the curtain in history and it tells us that he was overcome by King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian King.

This was done as God's form of intervention, you know, God steps in and he handed Jehoiakim into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

Nebuchadnezzar takes not only part of the treasure house of the Israelite nation, but in addition to that he takes some of the king's family, some of the some of the nobles of that time, and then also some of the cream of the crop of the of the nation's best and brightest individuals.

And so the Bible says that Ashpenaz was in charge of bringing in these people so that the Babylonian knowledge and education can be, they could benefit from that and then they could actually go back to their home country and serve as Babylonians.

So this is really setting up a new chapter in Israelite history, I mean people are conquering people all the time throughout the Bible history, but this is now the Babylonian stage, and this is totally new.

And as Israel said, this is the cream of the crop.

Siku, can you start reading from verse 5?

And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank and 3 years of training for them so that at the end of that time, they might serve before the king.

Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank.

Therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.

And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink, for why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age?

Then you would endanger my head before the king.

So Daniel said to the steward, whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Please test your servants for 10 days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies, and as you see fit, so deal with your servants." Okay, let's go to Israel, verse 14, please.

So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them 10 days.

And at the end of 10 days their features appeared better, and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies.

Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink and gave them vegetables.

As for these 4 young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom.

And Daniel had an understanding in all visions and dreams.

Now at the end of the 10 days, when the king had said that they should be brought forth in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.

Then the king interviewed them, and among them all, none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Therefore they served before the king, and in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in his realm.

All right, this is a long passage, but we kind of need to know the narrative.

So Daniel is 1 of the 2 apocalyptic books of the Bible, apocalyptic meaning talking about the last days.

But this is really weird because we're gonna start off in prophecy, we're gonna talk about what's gonna happen and all this stuff, and then the first chapter is about, and then they ate vegetables.

So, Sebastian, what's going on here in chapter 1?

Why is this chapter the first chapter of Daniel and what is it setting us up for?

Well I think it's setting us up for the reality that prophecy is not so much about the predicting of events but also the preparation for when those events are going to take place.

The fact that Daniel receives these prophecies later in the book, the foundation is being laid for how the choices he's making in terms of his physical diet, the spiritual choices that he's making in his life at this stage in early, you know, being a captive early on in Babylon now, is setting him up for use for God in the future.

So a lot of times we disconnect what we eat and how we're living in practical ways this aspect of our lives from our spiritual understanding and insight.

But The book of Daniel actually harmonizes those.

It says there is a direct connection to the wisdom that God gives to the vegetables that the eunuch gave to them.

I mean, I'd add to that, this being the first chapter, not just a connection, but a foundational link, actually.

Your ability to comprehend things intellectually, even your ability to connect spiritually, is foundationally related to your physical health.

If your mind is unable to comprehend what you are reading, then you're not going to be able to draw benefit from it.

So he's saying that the way that we take care of our bodies is actually foundational to our spirituality, to our understanding of prophecy, to all of these spiritual things.

Your body and the way you care for your body is actually important to that, not just connected, but it's fundamental.

In verse 17, it ends there that Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

It's as if because he had this kind of discipline or what we call temperance habits, that set him up to understand these things.

And then the invitation is that if we also partake in these habits, we will also be able to understand So I think what's beautiful about this is it shows that God is not a respecter of persons that God does not change So here we see that what he did for Daniel here in this time in Babylon he's willing and able to do for me in 2020.

He's able to say that, Sebastian, if you give your body the best thing to have a clear mind, strong frame, I'm going to also give you wisdom and understanding in matters that would not be accessible to you otherwise.

And I think that's what makes the book of Daniel also beautiful for us and relevant in this time.

And God is willing to provide this blessing equally to me as well.

And I was gonna say, this is actually a powerful philosophical reality because philosophers wonder about this connection between the mind and the body.

You know, how is the mind connected to the body?

But the Bible demonstrates that there's an intimate connection between what happens in your physical body and what happens in your mental life or your spiritual life and the Bible is unapologetic about it that there is a connection so what you do with your body, the way that you eat, the way you sleep, your daily habits is connected to your mental habits and it's actually a profound thing, philosophically speaking.

Not to disagree with Sebastian and Siku, I agree with what they're saying 100% Verse 17 also though.

It gives us a 17 Yeah, it gives us a unique insight too into what's happening.

And it says, as for these 4 young men, God gave them knowledge.

And so there is, I agree that there's correlation between what we, and how that affects our intellect.

But also here, there's also another narrative that is inserted here, and that is the divine connection and interaction with the human agent of Daniel, right?

So in other words, you also have this other principle that says that those who honor God, God will also honor them.

And so what emerges to me from Daniel chapter 1 is the fact that, first of all, temperance is a revealer of character.

And Daniel could have said, I just want meat that is not offered to idols, or instead of wine, I want to have some other kind of drink.

But Daniel and his friends, they actually went towards the simplest form of a diet, right?

And they developed, in other words, they developed habits that formed or that give us an insight into the kind of character they had.

Callie Williams

02-The Key to Prophetic Understanding

In Daniel chapter 2, 1 prayer changes the course of history.

Find out more on this episode of Inverse.

We are in our study of the book of Daniel.

Last episode, we looked at the secret to understanding the spiritual mysteries of the universe through the practice of temperance.

Now we're looking into Daniel chapter 2 and there's another key habit, a power habit if you will, and we're gonna, if you have your Bibles, we're gonna go into Daniel chapter 2, open to Daniel chapter 2 and we'll read and before we read I'm going to ask that Sebastian you can open us with prayer please.

Our Father we are privileged to be able to study your Word and Father especially the book of Daniel.

Lord we ask that as we meditate upon this chapter, specifically through the power of prayer, that you would guide us, you would grant us understanding and that you would inspire us, Lord, to continue in your presence, trusting that you would open up your word to us is our prayer in Jesus name.

I'm gonna change gears and maybe go to Callie here first and ask her what is Daniel chapter 2 about?

I mean Daniel chapter 2 is like the quintessential Prophecy chapter.

Yeah, and if you guys out there if you don't know anything about Daniel chapter 2 You should know something about Daniel chapter 2 and it's it's a very nice easy prophecy to understand But set us up with the story at least we're not going to get to the prophecy in this episode But the story the narrative and how that feeds into the understanding of prophecy.

So the chapter opens where Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and he calls all his wise men and he says, tell me the interpretation, but also tell me what the dream actually was.

And the king's like, cool, you're gonna die.

And then Daniel- Great synopsis, we just skipped over.

And then Daniel comes and asks for more time and he prays and he gives the interpretation to the king.

I mean you said that very well, this is a weird dream, like this isn't the Nebuchadnezzar eating too much pizza the night before and having a weird dream, this is like a supernatural weird dream of which really the course of history would be changed as I said in my opener.

Go to verse 14 and Israel can you read verse 14 to verse 19?

Then with the counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon.

He answered and said to Arioch, the king's captain, Why is this decree from the king so urgent?

Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel.

So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time that he might tell the king the interpretation.

Then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret So that Daniel his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.

So Daniel blessed the God of heaven Mm-hmm.

And then Sebastian I just I'm gonna ask you you can read verse 28, because I just like it.

It says, But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days, your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed were these." Right.

Okay, we're going to look at the actual prophecy of Daniel chapter 2 later on in a different episode and all the prophecies will be together and it'll make sense.

But for the narrative we're looking at different aspects of Daniel's character or his spiritual life that in many ways we need as We live in these last days and understanding these apocalyptic visions to happen.

What's the key thing that's happening in the passage that Israel just read?

The key element here is Daniel turns to God in prayer in a crisis.

He decides that he's not going to just depend on the fact that God gifted him in chapter 1.

So it's interesting that rather than saying, well, God gifted me with understanding, I'm temperate, and now he's given me understanding and visions and dreams.

And so prayer is something that underlines our prophetic understanding and that's how God actually reveals it to us and that's how he reveals it to Daniel in the chapter.

I love what you're saying is that sometimes we treat God very impersonally.

It's like hey God has given me these things, God is some external entity, I push the button, He's given me these extra entities, these things, and it's just, I'm just going to use these things.

But prayer really re-envisions that whole dynamic and says, hey, it's a relationship.

I got to ask him, which is very personal.

Daniel went in and asked the king to give him a time that he might tell the king their interpretation.

He went to his house and made a decision known to Hadani, Mishael, and Nazarene, his companions.

Series

InVerse, 1st Quarter 2020: Daniel: Practical Principles for End-Time Living

09-Predictive Prophecy

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09 What About Israel?

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