Daniel pt 4

We have reached part 4 of our quest through the book of Daniel. I must admit that I have no idea how to look at this chapter. So much of what is in it seems too obvious to try and point out. What is interesting is the way this chapter starts:

Nebuchadnezzar the king,

To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:

Peace be multiplied to you.

2 I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me.

3 How great are His signs,
And how mighty His wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And His dominion is from generation to generation.

We saw from the last couple chapters that Nebuchadnezzar did not acknowledge the Lord previously. So between Daniel interpreting his dream, which only the gods could do, and Azariah, Mishael, and Hananiah walking through the fiery furnace without being burnt, Nebuchadnezzar is now a believer.

At least it seems that way...

We read on and quickly come to realize that Nebuchadnezzar has another dream that terrifies him. The dream is of a tree that is very large and very tall. The beasts of all the earth find shade under it. This tree could be seen from all the earth. It was lovely to look upon.

But then a holy one from heaven comes down and cries, "Chop down the tree and cut off its branches!" They rip off the leaves and scatter the fruit and cause the birds to fly away out of it and the animals to run from underneath it. They leave only the stump and the roots.

We find an interesting wording in verses 15 and 16... The tree is no longer looked at as an inanimate object, but as a "he." Let "him" graze with the beasts. Let "his" heart be changed from that of a man to the heart of a beast. Let seven times pass over "him."

And the decree for the end of the dream is that all of this is to show that God rules over the kingdom of man and that He has the authority and power to put in place whom He will and to take them out of place when He desires.

Daniel interprets the dream because the rest of the magicians and Chaldeans could not. Daniel says the tree represents Nebuchadnezzar. He has grown strong and prideful. So the decree has been made that Nebuchadnezzar will be cast out from civilization and he will lose his mind. He will eat grass like the oxen and become more animal than human. But after seven "times" have passed, he will be restored.

The idea of the "times" is that from one Passover to the next is one "time" or season. So a time is a year. This is how the translators get that.

Now we see that Daniel tells the king to humble himself. But within a year's time, Nebuchadnezzar is cast out just like the dream had said he would be. When you read the text you find that the king did not believe that God gave him the kingdom. "I have built Babylon for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty." He sure sounds humble...

So Nebuchadnezzar is cast out and he eats grass like oxen and his hair grows long like feathers and his nails grow long like bird's claws.

The story ends with Nebuchadnezzar coming back to his right mind and blessing the God of heaven. The last sentence of Daniel chapter 4 is, "Those who walk in pride He is able to put down."

This is once again a message to us about the principalities and powers that influence us.

We have all bitten the apple that says knowledge is power. We have all accepted the idea that you have to look out for yourself because no one else will. We have all been taught very heavily by the culture around us how to live in opposition to the ways of God.

It isn't beyond any one of us to say, "Look at this lifestyle that I have made for myself."

I was reading in Ezekiel 31 how Assyria was also likened to a tree that is cut down. Which is something in and of itself that needs to be understood. Babylon and Assyria come from the same descendant: Nimrod. Nimrod is found in Genesis 10 amongst the genealogies of Ham. Nimrod was the one who built the tower of Babel. He was also the creator of the detestable god Molech. Why was Molech detestable? Molech required the sacrifice of your first born.

Now here is where it gets interesting...

Nimrod died. According to legend, Ham chopped him up into little pieces and sent a piece to each of the nobles of Nimrod's kingdom with the message, "This will be your fate if you continue to practice such wickedness." Nimrod had a wife. Her name has been translated as many things: Inanna, Ninhursag, Ishtar, Astarte, Artemis, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Venus.

She was the mother of a son named Tammuz. Tammuz is found in Ezekiel 8 as the priests at the Temple are weeping for him. Tammuz is known as the light bearer. In Latin, light bearer reads "Lucifer." Tammuz is a satanic figure. It is foolish (and if you do your research you'll see I'm right) to say that Tammuz doesn't represent Lucifer. Osiris represents Satan; Attis represents Satan, Adonis represents Satan, Cupid represents Satan; Baal represents Satan.

Where do I get this?

The mother of Tammuz was Ishtar. We find them in several other religions:
"Cupid is a Roman name (also called Amor) associated with his lover Venus. They are the god and goddess of love whose stories ill the mythologies. Venus and Cupid were known by many other names. In Babylon they were Semiramis and Tammuz. In Egypt they were Isis and Osiris. In Phoenicia they were Ashteroth and Baal. In Greece they wereAphrodite and Adonis (Eros). In Iceland they were Frigga and Balder. Even in the far East, Cupid was known as Zoroaster (zoro, ‘‘seed of’’ and aster or ‘‘ashteroth’’)

Aletheia Archives; The Bookshelf
February 1994; Vol. 2, No. 2

So when we're talking here about Babylon or Assyria being a tree that is chopped down, we're really talking about something beyond just Babylon or Assyria. This is a demonic religion that has been enforced since a couple generations right after the flood.

This is why we see many times that what is said of Egypt sounds like the antichrist. Many times what is said about Babylon or about the king of Tyre sounds like it is talking about Satan himself. Satan is the ruler of these nations. The kings and priests and other authorities are only pawns being influenced by the Satanic principalities and powers.

I believe that this ties in with the book of Revelation (which we'll be discussing a little bit as we go through Daniel's visions) in that the antichrist and the dragon that represents Satan are both representations of completely separate kingdoms. There is an unbroken continuum from Satanic nation to Satanic nation. It leads us all the way to today that there are certain secret societies and sects that believe that they are descendants of the Roman Caesars, of Jesus and King David, of Nimrod, of the Babylonian magicians, of the Egyptian Pharaohs that had ancient mystical powers, or of Masons that had magical powers and worked on King Solomon's Temple and Palace.

All of these secret societies are interwoven. They know each other. They look out for one another. These secret societies are front organizations or an even more secret society that has the majority of the world's wealth. They are an elite group of Satanists who still perform Nimrod like occult rituals. From Nimrod all the way through to the end of Revelation 19 there is this unbroken continuum of many nations ruled by one figure: Satan.

This is why Babylon is the beast in Revelation 17 and 18. Babylon was established by Nimrod and it is alive and well today. God has already proclaimed His judgment upon it. When we speak of these principalities and powers, we're speaking of something much deeper than just demonic possession or even demonic oppression/influence. We're speaking of an entire system that has been set up and that is being taught by mainstream media and Hollywood.

That is why Kanye West is caught wearing pants with Pentagrams and other Satanic symbols on them. That is why Drake's logo is an owl. That is why Kesha and Katy Perry and Madonna and Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and the Kardashians and Miley Cyrus and Justin Timberlake and Eminem and Lil Wayne and Rihanna and Jay-Z and Beyonce and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars and R Kelly and Snoop Dogg and Amber Rose and Ciara and Rick Ross and many others are all working very hard to pervert the minds of our society. They sing/rap about garbage, they promote garbage lifestyle, and they themselves are garbage.

You find a lot of Satanic symbolism and occult rituals in performances, music videos, and lyrics.

Our society is being swamped with Satanism.

So when we're talking about the principalities and powers and their influence on culture and society and politics (which there are many politicians who are Skull and Bones members or Masons), we're talking about a very real thing.

God will take that whole system down. And after He has taken that antichrist, false prophet, and the system that comes with it down, He will then destroy Satan. These are very real and tangible things.

So may God teach you and preserve you and keep you in a way that will help you from being influenced by the devil. I pray that each of you might be able to learn and teach others. As we continue through Daniel, we'll find more instances to get into greater detail.