SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/22/2013
8:06 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Darius-Judgment
Delivered
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Daniel
5:30-31
Message of the
verses: “30 ¶ That same night
Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. 31
So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.”
First we will look at Proverbs 29:1 “He who is often
rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without
remedy.” Looks like this verse surely
applies to Belshazzar.
Even though we will finish the fifth chapter of Daniel in
this SD I want to add one more SD on this chapter from a message I listened to
from John MacArthur, as he goes through some of the sins that the nation of
Babylon committed against the Lord and compares them with some of the sins that
are happening to the United States. The
message was given in 1980 so I am sure that we have added many more sins since
that time.
Let us clear up who this Darius was for there is some
confusion about his identity. Dr Wiersbe
writes “Many students believe that Darius was Gubaru, an important officer in
the army whom Cyrus made ruler of the providence of Babylon. Darius the Mede must not be confused with
Darius I who ruled from 522 to 486 and encouraged the Jewish remnant in the
restoration of the temple (Ezra 1:5-6).”
Now from an endnote: “Some
scholars think that ‘Darius’ was the title of the Persian ruler just as ‘Pharaoh’
was the title of the Egyptian ruler.
This would mean that ‘Darius the Mede’ could have been Cyrus himself.” In the 44th and 45th
chapters of Isaiah we see that Cyrus was called by God before he was even born
to take His people out of Babylon and return them to Israel. It is not believed that he was a believer in
God, but was doing the will of God in returning the children of Israel back to
Israel.
How did Babylon fall in one night? We have stated that the walls of Babylon were
87 feet thick and were some three hundred feet tall, and that the city was very
large, large enough to grow crops in it to sustain the people who lived in
it. The Euphrates river flowed through
the city, and it was the river that actually did them in for the Medes and the
Persians dammed up the river diverting it away from Babylon so that their
soldiers could go under the wall to enter the city. Remember that there was a great party going
on so the security of the city was not as great as it should have been, but
they were sure that they were safe inside the walls of the city. I heard a sermon on this chapter shortly
after I became a believer and the man who gave the sermon said that a few days
before their attack that they sent some of their men into the city who had
their ears cut off, which was a sign of disgrace. These men would scout out the city to see
where its weak points were and when the rest of the army came into the city
they would know where to go. That is
what happened and the mighty city of Babylon fell in one night. Dr. Wiersbe points out that one of the
reasons that God destroyed this empire is because they destroyed the temple in
Jerusalem. We must remember that though
Babylon was destroyed that the two systems of Babylon are still around to this
day, that is the political Babylon and also the religious Babylon which God
will destroy for good as seen in the 17th and 18th
chapters of Revelations.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Prideful behavior
is seen in this section and is something that God hates. Pride was the first sin that entered the
universe that God created. Both Satan
and also Adam and Eve’s sins were pride.
Pride is saying that God is not needed, for I can do it on my own. This surely is not true and very a dangerous
trait to have, and should be confessed right away.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Proverbs 3:5-6.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 46:1-7
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear
though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of
the sea; 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its
swelling pride. Selah. 4 There is a river whose streams make glade
the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the most high. 5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be
moved, God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations make and uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He
raised His voice, the earth melted. 7
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
Answer to yesterday’s
SD: “Martha” (Luke 10:40).
Today’s Bible
Question: “What was the name of the ten
cities east of the Jordan River called?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
7/22/2013 8:43 AM
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