Daniel 4:1-4
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 2 I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. 3 How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
Believe it or not these are the words of Nebuchadnezzar himself in the form of an edict. The letter or edict written for the entire earth in the form of a personal witness for the Lord. As the letter develops we will see exactly what put these words into the king's head. It is known that Daniel found this paper in the archives of the monarchy and copied the words in exact detail and in it's original language.
In the first 4 chapters of Daniel the patterns of prophecy are found alive and well in America. Now before someone accuses me of being anti American just remember one thing yours truly is a veteran. Have you ever heard the phrase “America is not mentioned in prophecy”. This is true in a specific sense but let's consider that phrase from this perspective. Much of the known western world was not known in the time of the prophets. The reason these things are important is because if many people start to believe there is no prophetic judgment coming for this nation then many many souls will be lost. Especially among the young population because in essence when some declare this or teach it we are saying “don't worry about God” and some will take this and run with it.
A good example of what is happening is found in the parable of the sower.
Matthew 13:3-9
3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth<1093>: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear
Let's look at the word earth in the Greek.
Daniel 4:5-13
4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace: 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof. 8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying, 9 O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof. 10 Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree <0363> in the midst<01459> of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 11 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: 12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. 13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;
Once again there is a time frame in which Nebuchadnezzar is having bad dreams and visions which are troubling him greatly. We again find out that the “psychics of the day” are unable to help the king. Daniel is described as the last to come before the king. Nebuchadnezzar describes Daniel's Babylonian name as derived from the god of himself. Also Nebuchadnezzar addresses Daniel's gifts as being the spirit of the holy gods in a plural sense.
In this passage we discover what is perplexing the king and we also have some word studies to look at. At the center of his dream is this great tree the king describes. This is where we will begin our word study on this passage.
00363:
363 'iylan ee-lawn' (Aramaic) corresponding to 356; a tree:--tree. see HEBREW for 0356
00356:
356 'Eylown ay-lone' or (shortened) ;Elown ay-lone'; or Eylon ay- lone'; from 352; oak-grove; Elon, the name of a place in Palestine, and also of one Hittite, two Israelites:--Elon. see HEBREW for 0352
00352:
352 'ayil ah'-yil from the same as 193; properly, strength; hence, anything strong; specifically a chief (politically); also a ram (from his strength); a pilaster (as a strong support); an oak or other strong tree:--mighty (man), lintel, oak, post, ram, tree. see HEBREW for 0193
The Aramaic word relates to the Hebrew for oak and a location in Palestine. As we carry the study one more level we discover we can symbolize this to strength and might in relation to a man. In deed we can find accuracy in this passage. Nebuchadnezzar had control of Jerusalem and was indeed given the kingdoms of the world by God.
Jeremiah 27:5-8
5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. 6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. 7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. 8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
The next word we will detail is the location of this tree in the dream.
01459:
1459 gav gav (Aramaic) corresponding to 1460; the middle:--midst, same, there- (where-) in. see HEBREW for 01460
01460:
1460 gev gave from 1342 (corresponding to 1354); the back; by analogy, the middle:--+ among, back, body. see HEBREW for 01342 see HEBREW for 01354
The tree is anchored in the center of the earth and it encompasses all the earth and reaches into heaven. Everything described in the passage from Jeremiah 27 is mentioned by Nebuchadnezzar here in Daniel 4. Now it's time for yours truly to step out on a limb(pardon the pun) concerning the words watcher and holy one. Most commentaries studied consider this being a single entity. However it should be noted we are dealing with 2 different words completely. This in itself does not state my case but maybe a little more detail will.
Without dragging us too far off the beaten path and to put it quite simply there are different groupings or categories of angels. We know this because Michael commands angels which wage the war in heaven of Revelation 12. The idea that there were or are different categories of angels was also a belief amongst the Chaldean oracles so it would not be that unusual for Nebuchadnezzar to have made this distinction.
Revelation 12:7-9
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
The angels which were allowed to take upon flesh and know the daughters of men in Genesis 6 were known as the watchers. This is according to ancient tradition passed down through the generations and they are also referred to in the book of Enoch. The book of Enoch was not considered a canonical book. However it is mentioned in the book of Jude and upon careful reading is also quoted in other books of the OT. Not all of these angels were considered to be fallen ones.
Genesis 6:1-4
1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
The question here lies within the phrase :”and an holy one”. These words indicate a difference in the 2. This would also serve to fulfill scripture in the sense that there should be 2 or 3 witnesses to bring forth judgment upon a guilty party. Again you can feel free to make your own determinations about the subject.
Deuteronomy 19:15
15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
06922:
6922 qaddiysh kad-deesh' (Aramaic) corresponding to 6918. --holy (One), saint. see HEBREW for 06918
6918 qadowsh kaw-doshe' or qadosh kaw-doshe'; from 6942; sacred (ceremonially or morally); (as noun) God (by eminence), an angel, a saint, a sanctuary:--holy (One), saint. see HEBREW for 06942
6942:
6942 qadash kaw-dash' a primitive root; to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally):--appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, (be, keep) holy(-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify(-ied one, self), X wholly.
Daniel 4:14-17
14 He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: 15 Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: 16 Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. 17 This matter is by the decree <01510> of the watchers <05894>, and the demand <07595> by the word of the holy ones<06922>: : to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
Looking at this passage it would definitely appear we are dealing with 2 separate types of angelic beings. One appears to be the messenger or commander of God's wishes and the other implementing these commands. It seems kind of unusual that many commentaries (not all) imply one being involved. The very same words we studied in the previous passage are both used in a plural meaning in verse 17.
The concept of Deuteronomy 19 comes into play in verse 17 as well. There is a decree associated with the watchers.
01510:
1510 gzerah ghez-ay-raw' (Aramaic) from 1505 (as 1504); a decree:--decree. see HEBREW for 01505 see HEBREW for 01504
01504:
1504 gazar gaw-zar' a primitive root; to cut down or off; (figuratively) to destroy, divide, exclude, or decide:--cut down (off), decree, divide, snatch.
The very word decree implies a structure of command within the the ranks of God.
DECREE:
1. An order from one having authority, deciding what is to be done by a subordinate; also, a determination by one having power, deciding what is to be done or to take place; edict, law; decision
07595:
7595 sh'ela' sheh-ay-law' (Aramaic) from 7593; properly, a question (at law), i.e. judicial decision or mandate:--demand. see HEBREW for 07593
07593:
7593 sh'el sheh-ale' (Aramaic) corresponding to 7592:--ask, demand, require. see HEBREW for 07592
DEMAND:
To ask or call for with authority; to claim or seek from, as by authority or right; to claim, as something due; to call for urgently or peremptorily; as, to demand a debt; to demand obedience.
The demand comes down from God in His throne room and is announced by the holy ones to the watchers as a decree to be carried out. This is not much different from our laws and structures of command in today's world. It's very similar to the chain of command followed by the military.
Daniel 4:18-23
18 This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. 19 Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. 20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; 21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: 22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. 23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;
In verse 19 Daniel is upset concerning the interpretation of the dream. It was not that unusual for a prophet predicting a king's downfall to be put to death. However as we see in every chapter of the book of Daniel God shows grace and favor to those that love Him. With the permission of the king Daniel divulges the interpretation of the dream.
Daniel 4:24-27
24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: 25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. 27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
The interpretation details a harsh expulsion of the king away from his kingdom. In this case we could use the word exiled for a period of 7 years. It would be most disturbing to be sitting with a prophet having Daniel's capabilities telling this incredible physical change that would come over the king. It is made known that the kingdom itself would not be in jeopardy from any source of military threat. However the king's condition would remain until the fact that God rules and appoints kings and takes down kings is understood. Daniel proclaimed this in chapter 2 concerning another problem the king was having.
Daniel 2:17-21
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Daniel 4:28-33
28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
It appears that the king became inflated with his old self again and after a 1 year period proclaims his power is that which built his kingdom. No sooner the words left his mouth than he hears the prophetic sentence from God come down upon him.
Daniel 4:34-37
34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? 36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. 37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
Just as God proclaimed Nebuchadnezzar regains human form again. Once again we see him lift up the Lord and give Him praise. With this acknowledgment just as his words before humbled him to the level of the animals his new praise for the Lord restores what was taken from him. Nebuchadnezzar realizes also that his pride was what delivered him into the state of insanity he encountered.
Prophetic Mirrors and Food for Thought
We once again encounter Nebuchadnezzar's fickleness of faith. The other attributes we encounter with him in this chapter but not limited to are pride,arrogance and we can include blasphemy according to verse 30. Whether or not he was aware of his blasphemy we can't say but anytime humans put their claim on something without acknowledging the Lord's oversight we are basically committing blasphemy. Every breath of air we take and every blink of our eyes belong to Him.
Psalm 17 A Prayer of David.
1 Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. 2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. 3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. 4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. 5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. 6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. 7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. 8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, 9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. 10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. 11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth; 12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. 13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: 14 From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. 15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness
Psalm 33
1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. 2 Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. 3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. 4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. 5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. 6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. 10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 13 The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. 14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works. 16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. 17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
A good example of what is happening is found in the parable of the sower.
Matthew 13:3-9
3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth<1093>: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear
Let's look at the word earth in the Greek.
01093:
1093 ge ghay contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe (including the occupants in each application):--country, earth(-ly), ground, land, world.
Please note that the word implies the occupants in it's applications. In essence we could look at verse 5 and see that we can apply without even making a symbolization that the inhabitants or people of the world can be implied here. If you think this is far fetched just look at the present examples Daniel provides. We have Nebuchadnezzar falling in and out of God's good graces. He received a sowing of seed none of us could comprehend and it seems to have taken hold but obviously we have seen his faith whither at least in 2 separate instances already. It's pretty hard to read a prophecy given for the whole earth and say America is not mentioned in prophecy and there are many prophecies given for the whole of the earth. After all were the seeds of Christianity not planted in America. There are more Christians by numbers than any other religion in our nation.
Now let's take a further look at the parable as Jesus gives the explanation.
Matthew 13:37-43
37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world<2889>; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
02889:
2889 kosmos kos'-mos probably from the base of 2865; orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; by implication, the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively (morally)):--adorning, world. see GREEK for 2865
You may feel different about things but for myself it appears Jesus means the entire earth and its inhabitants in either application. Now let's consider some more things that connect ancient Babylon and the United States.
Every where we look around us in America today we can see our spiritual parallels to Babylon. There are palm readers, tarot readers, psychic hotlines, Wicca practitioners, self help gurus, satanic music, cults of many kinds and we could list more and more. In the not so distant future unless the Lord comes for us first we will take these matters into much more detail and study. We can look at almost any type of media applied in today's society. Many television shows represent individuals who display psychic abilities and some of these are quote “reality” shows. We have shows titled “American Idol”. Even our very educational system attempts to pull us away from faith by teaching theories such as evolution as fact when it very much is falsehood. This is where we will put the breaks on for now and look at a few numbers.
According to one source there are approximately 38,000 denominations of the Christian faith worldwide.
Approximately 1/3 of the world's population consider themselves to be Christians.
With approximately 2 billion followers divided by 38,000 denominations we get a figure of roughly 50,000 per denomination.
Many hundreds if not thousands included in this figure attempt to merge some kind of cult followings in with the Christianity and may not even use the Bible at all.
The question becomes how did 2 testaments married into 1 Bible and 1 way to God being Jesus turn into 38,000 denominations? And what are these denominations teaching? Many of course would question possibly what is being taught on this blog. Please believe this we will 100% use the KJV of the Bible just to avoid any arguments. If we quote from other translations which will be done on occasion they will be mentioned by name. Our Hebrew and Greek word studies will come from the KJV.
It should be of little wonder why witnessing God's plan of salvation being Jesus is at best difficult in some cases. This is probably what went wrong with Nebuchadnezzar to a great extent. Although he probably did not practice any of the customs of these different cultures he did worship Bel and Marduk. He was very much under a satanic grip which was tightened by so many different religions and practices. After all if we are not worshiping the God of he Holy Bible who are we following? The Bible mentions one shadowy evil figure other than our God and His Son and our Savior Jesus and that figure is Satan.
Matthew 7:13-16
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
This is coming straight from the heart and is very much a fact. If we let 1 generation slip away from any understanding of faith then we are opening a real can of worms for our youth. For example my great grandfather, his son-in law my grandfather, his daughter my paternal grandmother in addition to my maternal grandmother were involved with preaching and teaching the word to a certain extent. Notice carefully my father is not mentioned in this list. Let's just keep it simple and say there were problems, a divorce and in the shuffle of all this I lost my way especially about the age of 13. I'm not blaming any of the above mentioned people for any of this. However it left the cracked open just enough to start slipping away from faith and into the grips of a world rigged by Satan to start to question those things that the Bible puts forth.
With that moment a trend started that not only affected my generation of family but my children's as well in the long run. It was very easy to get caught in a world of the wrong kinds of music, scholastic intellect and picking the wrong kinds of idols which were mostly the musicians I listened to. Before you know it my situation is repeating Nebuchadnezzar's with missing so many wake up calls it's not even funny. As I mentioned in the Role Reversals of the Nations studies I was witness to the eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. There was also a 7.9 earthquake and approximately 30 typhoons the size of hurricane Andrew on average. One of these in unison with the eruptions. There were at least 3000 casualties in the midst of all this combined. I was so caught up in the world of science and intellect I failed to recognize both the creator and His power in all these majestic situations.
None of this is being shared to impress. It is being shared in order that it will keep others from making the same mistakes both with their life as well as their children's. The ultimate result being that in spite of all the above I had to make sure I failed in many more ways including divorce to start my journey back to God. Although I failed to establish faith in my kids' lives every opportunity I have to speak with them I make sure God is talked about. Thanks to some special family members I redirected my path in life back toward God. I asked Him to take whatever brains I had left and put them to work for Him. He has not and will not stop His revelations from coming into my life. So remember do not let that 1 generation slip away. God and Jesus will help you hold your head up in the midst of shame and humiliation. Amen!
Jeremiah 33:1-3
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; 3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
As always Thank You and God Bless
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