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Daniel #7

            (Daniel 3:4-12 KJV) Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ¶ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

            All the people, the nations, and the languages. We know that King Nebuchadnezzar ruled over all the earth at that time. What a mighty king he must have been. This is foreshadowing of the coming Antichrist who is to rule the whole world and cause the everyone to worship his idol creation. Therefore, we must know that the Old Testament is not only a shadow of what is to come, but also a prophecy at the same time. During the Great Tribulation, everyone who does not worship the image of the Antichrist will be beheaded. No one is exempt. Here we see the instruments playing. Music. Music has been used as a universal language since ancient times. Especially in the last days, it says here that music will be the language of all nations. Look at how people around the world are going crazy even with the Korean language based music these days, which they don’t even understand. This is because Satan is working behind the music. It’s okay even if you don’t understand the lyrics because it stimulates emotions. That is why worship and praise can mislead to praising the devil instead of God even in the church today. Instead of singing hymns, modern apostate churches tend to just show more music videos. People watch the video more than they praise the Lord. They believe to receive grace from such videos. Satan was once the choirmaster of the angels in heaven, he was cast down to earth and is currently residing in the air, but in the future, when such a great orchestra plays, the Antichrist might tell the remaining people of the world to worship his image. Remember: that modern music has practically become a tool for worshiping the devil. We can know that in modern music it is used as a means of communication and as a medium of delivery. For how many years has K-pop taken control of the world? It makes no sense. It’s the work of Satan. We realize this, but most people don’t. Satan uses many music genres to deceive all sorts of people. Just about anywhere especially here in the States, you’ll hear loud beats with earth-shattering bass coming from cars and trucks. Satan works a lot behind the sound of beating drums. Many shamans beat the drums. African natives also dancer to the drum beats. The sound of drums stimulates people’s emotions and prevents them from seeing the glory of God. That’s why people today not only like to listen to music, but also like to watch videos while listening to music. It’s not fun when there’s only music these days. It was good times just listening to classical music through transistor radios back in the day, but these days people can’t be satisfied with just listening to music. Everyone desires to see something with their eyes. And Satan utilizes that to deceive people through various images. Just by looking at this, we can see that we are living in the end of the last days.

            (Daniel 3:6 KJV) And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.    The burning fiery furnace is a model of hell. Those who do not worship the image of the Antichrist will be immediately beheaded during the coming Great Tribulation period. In the seventh verse, six instruments are used to make sounds, which is like a symphony orchestra in modern terms. When these are played in the future, everyone will bow down and worship the image of the Antichrist in unison. Back then, all the nations could have gathered together on foot since they weren’t occupying every corner of the planet. Regardless of where they lived, all had to come before the image. How will the Antichrist gather everyone in the future? Through the Internet. Once the Music plays through the screens on TV’s smartphones, tablets or digital billboards across the world throughout villages, towns, and cities, the Antichrist will cause all to worship the image. Once the worship begins, you may have to drop whatever you’re doing, come out and bow down before the video imagery or perhaps even a hologram that appears on the screen. That is why the Internet was developed. But we Christians can do the work of spreading the Word of God all over the world through that same Internet. We utilize the things of the world for a while and then we leave. What a blessing to live in such times to witness such events of the Great Tribulation will surely happen. Therefore, you must be saved now. You must be born again today. Now and Today is the time to receive grace and salvation. Not quite sure how many times a day they worship during the Tribulation. Take a look at Muslims. For example in the Movie Black hawk Down, even during an intense firefight, whenever it was time for them to pray and worship, they face Mecca and dropped to their knees on the spot. Quite shocking and eerie at the same time. Perhaps it will be like this even during the Great Tribulation, maybe several times a day. This will probably be your daily routine. Otherwise, you will be killed. Those who do not bow down to the Antichrist will be beheaded, but will not go to hell. Those who bow down will go to hell. Such are the days that are unfolding before us.

            (Daniel 3:8 KJV) ¶ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. Babylonians accuse the Jews. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego do not bow down, so they criticize, and persecute. Let’s look at Revelation 12. The same thing happens during the Great Tribulation. The people of Babylon the Great persecute the Jews. (Revelation 12:5-6 KJV) And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. This is Jesus Christ, who was born on this earth, finished his work, ascended to heaven, and will come again to rule with an iron scepter. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. Back up to (Revelation 12:3-4 KJV) And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. Then in (Revelation 12:17 KJV) And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. The remnant of the Jews during the Great Tribulation. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel are types of the remnant of the Jews. They were in Babylon. But now they are being persecuted.

            (Daniel 3:9 KJV) They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. How could he live forever? They’re all dead. Nebuchadnezzar is dead, Darius is dead, Cyrus is dead, Alexander is dead, Caesars are all dead, as no one lives forever. The Bible says: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27 KJV) The Lord Jesus Christ is only one who lives forever, and only those who believe in Him, accepts Him as the Savior, and receives the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, no one lives forever. In verses 10 and 11 shows us the sounds of various musical instruments, and then they fell down and worshiped the golden image, and whoever did not will be thrown into the midst of the fiery furnace. He wants 100% obedience. This is a command. If you don’t obey the command, you can’t escape the punishment. If you don’t want to obey this command of the coming Tribulation, you must be saved today. Therefore, we must continue to preach the gospel. We must preach the gospel diligently until the rapture so that they will not face such wicked times. For this mission we must do any sort of work, and God gives an open door to those who do this. Providing an open door to preach the gospel. An open door has two meanings. It will be the door of the rapture and the door of preaching the gospel. No one can enter unless God opens the door. When God opens a door, no one can close it; when God closes a door, no one can open it. You cannot ascend to heaven on the Day of Christ just before the Great Tribulation begins unless you are born again. Otherwise, you will have to go through every damnation of the kingdom of the Antichrist on earth. The Babylonians begin their accusation in verse 12. When Daniel had given King Nebuchadnezzar the dream and the interpretation, he sat at the king’s gate, and Shadrach Meshach and Abed-nego were made ruler of the province. With such high amount of envy and hate, the Babylonians have been waiting for such chance to accuse the Jews.

            They wouldn’t have been noticed If they hadn’t been given that rank. But they had to be in the front seat, because they were very high-ranking people. If you don’t worship in the front seat, you’ll be noticed right away. The Babylonians behind these Jewish men hated them to begin with, but not bowing down to the image? AND sitting in  the front? The very fact that they were government officials foreshadowed another conflict and friction. When God’s servants and children hold a high ranking official position in the world, they are definitely bound to be envied, hated. The Lord said, If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (John 15:19 KJV) Isn’t it the pride of this life to hold an official title in the world? How could a pastor be a Government official? How could an elder become a president? There will be endless talks of envy and hatred for holding such worldly official titles. That is how you end up being humiliated. Not a single problem if we put down our heads and just preach the gospel and do the work of the Lord. We must continue to worship the Lord to the end. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? (Daniel 3:14 KJV) In verse 14, Nebuchadnezzar asked Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, “Do you not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Why not?”  The Bible warns us There are many gods in this world. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV) There are numerous gods in the world. It’s the customs of this world, certain rules, culture, things like that. Sports, athletes and musicians become gods for little children. All entertainers have become idolized unto both old and the youth of the world. Word often acquainted with shows like American idol to K-Pop, stirring up emotions of millions at a fanatical scale, even though the fans have absolutely no idea what these idols are singing in their foreign languages.

Satan works particularly through singers, look at how much money they make and how they are treated as real gods. The world asks the society to serve peace. Peace & security, don’t you worry. That is also a god. Don’t worry about anything, everything is fine, this society is safe. Jesus is not coming, we are prospering, don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine in the future. Can’t do anything without money, You have to make a lot of money. Democracy, Socialism, pragmatism. These are the gods the people of the world follow unknowingly. But if you reject these things in the world, you are labeled as a fanatic who believes in God. The world point fingers at these followers of Jesus as they chant in unison: These people should be eliminated. Through the helping hands of World Council of Churches, all religions have now been integrated. This too is the god of the world. If you are not a part of their cause, you’re quickly labeled as an offender, and they will do anything to remove you from the world. This is what Freemasons do. Shocking? But you have to know such things. If you are not spiritually awake, you will never know that these are gods. Christians who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have been born again of the Holy Spirit are have no attachment to the world and live by faith only in the Word of God. They are not fit for this world. Jesus said: ¶ If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (John 15:18 KJV) Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. (John 15:20 KJV) (2 Timothy 3:12 KJV) Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Only the followers of the Lord, those who do not follow the gods of this world, and those who are godly will all be persecuted on earth. In other words, those who are not persecuted and treated well on this planet are not godly. The world see Christians as traitors. They do not cooperate because they are not interested in the peace, prosperity, or the security that the world offers. It doesn’t matter who becomes president. So I don’t vote. These sort of people are then considered to be unpatriotic. If you are welcomed and respected and praised in the world. If you enjoy the honor given by the world, even if that person is a Christian, you have to think seriously if you are truly born again of the Holy Spirit. It is normal for Christians to become an object of hatred from the unsaved people of the world. Knowing this, if you are forced to serve the gods of the world for fear of being hated, rejected, humiliated, and removed from the world, then it is proof that you no longer trust in God. Jesus said: I tell you that he will avenge them quickly. But when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8 KJV) This speaks of the end of tribulation. It means When Jesus physically lands on earth As the Son of Man at the Second Coming, He will not find a single believer on the face of the earth  at the end of the Tribulation. Because they’ve already ascended to heaven. Even if I claim to be a Christian, a saint, a child of God, but do not trust God 100%, this is just being religious. Why do you believe in a God you can’t even trust? We need to think carefully about how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could be so bold in rejecting the gods of the world. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s the power of God. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13 KJV) It is the power of the Holy Spirit that enabled the apostle Paul to take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10 KJV) The power of the Holy Spirit is the power of our Lord, and our Lord is greater than the devil. You can always overcome the persecutions for not serving the gods of the world created by the devil. Sure, We can become weak when we are persecuted. Be insulted. You can be destitute. You can be in distresses. But it is the power of the Holy Spirit that allows us to proclaim we take pleasure in all these things for Christ.

            The king asks in (Daniel 3:15 KJV) but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Those who know this are born again Christians who rely only on the Lord. Even if we don’t give in to the gods of the world, only our Lord Jesus Christ will save us. The one and only God. The Gentiles do not know that He is THE God, but only vaguely know that He is some supreme God. It is a tragedy not to believe in the Supreme God, Jesus Christ, who shed His blood and died 2,000 years ago to take away the sin of the world. The Jews do not believe in Jesus now, but they repent during the Great Tribulation. During that time, Jews, Gentiles, and unregenerate Christians would have to choose between receiving the mark of the beast and worshiping the image of the Antichrist, or having their heads cut off. IT won’t take long. They’ll have to decide in an instant. At that time, the people of these days who have heard the end-time prophecies such as the Book of Revelation will be beating their chest for not listening when they had the chance. They’ll be the ones asking themselves who is that God that shall deliver me? German dictator Hitler selected a number of pure-blooded handsome Germanic people to swear allegiance to him, known as the Schutzstaffel /SS. They showed their oath of allegiance by raising their right arm and chanting ‘Heil Hitler‘. This is like saying we swear allegiance to Satan who saves us. Hitler is the prototype of the Antichrist. Perhaps this will be repeated even during the Great Tribulation. Even today, the Vatican bodyguards show their oath of allegiance with similar gesture holding up three fingers, the index finger, the middle finger, and the ring finger. The people who are doing this now are signaling each other to show their allegiance that the Antichrist will save them. Anyone who doesn’t will perish. We live in such horrible times and yet the People remain in the dark. Why is that? Because they don’t know the Word of God. Because they’ve turned a blind eye to the scriptures. What they have always insisted on is world peace. But you can see that this is a lie disguised in peace.

            (Daniel 3:16 KJV) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. We will see how boldly they preached the matter next time.

            Let us pray. Father God, the Holy Spirit commanded us through the words of the Apostle Paul not to get drunk but to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is in these last days that we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and do not serve the gods of the world, and even if we are persecuted, even if we are threatened, even if we are ridiculed, we want to completely trust in you Lord and fully submit to the Word of God. Fill us with the Holy Spirit at this time. Please guide us throughout the day filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with the Word, overcoming the world and witnessing to the Word of Light. Help all of us hear and understand these words and be armed with the spiritual armor and be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we can boldly witness to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ like Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego at home, at work and wherever we go. Open our mouths to proclaim the Word. Help us to witness the death of Jesus Christ. Therefore, please help all the saints to become true disciples of Jesus Christ and blessed servants who will receive their crowns when they meet the Lord later at the Judgment seat of Christ. We thank you and pray in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.