DanM4 — Transcript

I am so happy that I can now welcome you to module four, you can see that the time is going fast.

We are going to be very soon in the middle of this course, but I do not want to make you nervous and talk more about it.

Nevertheless, it's good to keep the time frame on our mind, and this module to me is very important.

Because very often in holding presentations on the book of Daniel, I turned the audience's attention to the fact that in the culture of the Bible, whatever is most important or whatever was most important to the people came right in the beginning.

They would place it in the beginning of the book, for example, if they were writing a book.

So by following this cultural trend, we may be wondering what was most important to the author of the book of Daniel, and I believe that it was Daniel himself, which he placed right in the beginning after the introductory chapter one.

What was most important, because when the book of Daniel is mentioned in some circles, there are people who tend to put prophecies in the first place, and this is important.

There are people who speculate and put speculations in the first place, and we'll try to avoid to do that in this class, but before we talk about prophetic predictions that pertain to the future, I believe that here we have an important element, and that is that God's dealings with the most powerful person in the world at that time.

And his name was King Nebuchadnezzar, was extremely important to the Lord and also to his servant Daniel.

So the conversion, the three-step conversion of King Nebuchadnezzar is something that is talked about here in this module, and that's why I would like us to pay special attention because in our own lives when we live with God from day to day and when we minister to others, we will be facing with that important work of God.

I would call it the most important work of God, and that is to change or transform our hearts, to take them as they are, fearful hearts, and to make them trusting hearts in God.

Some of the proud and sinful hearts, they become the hearts transformed by God's power, and God's dealings with King Nebuchadnezzar contain a number of lessons that we can learn and from which we can draw lessons also for our own ministry.

At the heart of chapter three, of course, is that triple miracle when the Lord saved his faithful servants or Daniel's friends.

They did not burn in the fire, the only thing, the second miracle was that the only thing that burned were the ropes that were around them.

And then the third miracle that God performed was the appearance of the divine person that joined the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace.

And that that triple miracle is something that the faithful have talked about and studied and repeated in their presentations about faith from one generation to another over centuries.

But the issue that could be legitimately raised is what is the greatest miracle in this story?

And I would like to suggest that the greatest miracle in this story is the faith of the three Hebrews as they faced the challenges, especially the death sentence.

When they said in no uncertain terms that whether God chooses to save them or not, they will still not disobey him.

And this type of faith in the heart of a weak human being is nothing less than a miracle.

I would say the greatest miracle.

Chapter four contains King Nebuchadnezzar's farewell letter in which in the first person, he tells his story of God's dealings with him.

And especially when he was very proud, how God was able to humble him and make him worship the one true God.

So what kind of God do we meet in this module in chapters three and four?

God of impossible things.

And what is that impossible thing?

To change the heart of human beings, to change laws of nature?

Yes.

To direct the history of this world in a certain way?

No doubt about it.

But then the greatest power of God is doing impossible things in the lives of his servants.

He, God, was able to change the heart of this proud king.

So, I'm wondering as Jesus Christ was studying the important messages from the book of Daniel, how he himself was learning the lessons of loyalty and humility from these faith-building stories of Daniel.

And I'm wondering if we can also learn the same lessons during this module and have even a greater commitment in our hearts to serve God and to minister to the people with our whole heart and full dedication to God.

That that greatest miracle of faith that we will stand by what God wants us to do to his glory and to the ministry of others.

That that kind of decision will be unshakable.

That nothing will be able to stop us from our willingness to accomplish the plan that God has for us.

So I'm asking you this week to read in one sitting both of these chapters, three and four, to see how God had guided King Nebuchadnezzar step by step.

Also would like to encourage you to pay a special attention to the information that is found in the textbook, and the pages are specified in the explanation of the module.

Please remember to do the discussion postings, one original with a specified number of words, and also one threaded, and please prepare for the test that you should take by the time that is Thursday 11:59 p.m. as specified in both the calendar and also the module.

Also, lastly, I would like to remind you that now you can begin writing the expository paper.

And I would like to tell you that what you have already prepared in the proposal, you can incorporate that into the introduction to the paper.

And as for the proposal, the proposal can be repeated, and if I have found that something could have been done better, I have already communicated with you.

Telling you how you can do well on your proposal so that your the writing of your paper may go very well.

May the Lord bless you, and let us close with a word of prayer, Father, we thank you that in this module, we learn of that great power that can be displayed in our lives and in the history of this world.

That you are a God who can change human lives, and we thank you for the experience that both Daniel's friends and King Nebuchadnezzar could share with us.

And we pray that we would see the same transformation in our own lives and the lives of those to whom we minister.

In the name of Christ, I pray.

Amen.

God bless you.