Episode Transcript
Daniel chapter 6 verse 24, the title of the message this morning is God is my judge.
And we've been studying Daniel's commital to the lion's den.
And his victory over death.
And we have seen how Daniel's condemnation.
To the lion's den in his victory over the grave was an Old Testament picture of Jesus' future condemnation in victory over the grave.
It's been a wonderful study, and I want to tell you folks, it's only going to get better from here.
As we continue to build upon what we've learned in this marvelous prophetic book, and that's what we have to remember: this is not just Old Testament story time.
The Old Testament stories in Daniel are New Testament revelations.
We're reading the past that we might understand the future.
And only the Bible can do that.
And we have been watching this New Testament Revelation play out in astonishing detail.
We'll sit again this morning the same way.
We left off in Daniel 6:23 last week.
When King Darius learned that Daniel was alive and he raised Daniel from the grave.
Look now in Daniel 6, 23.
It says, Then was the king exceeding glad for him. and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den.
So Daniel was taken up out of the den.
And no manner of hurt was found upon him because he believed in his God.
And we learned last week that when he stands and they go and they look all around him and they inspect Him and no manner of hurt was found on him.
It was a picture of us because of Jesus' resurrection once we're inspected.
No manner of hurt is found upon us because there's no manner of sin.
It's all gone.
And it says, Because he believed in his God, for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish.
As Daniel did not perish, but have everlasting life, as Daniel's resurrection from the dead was a picture of.
So Daniel now, being fully justified by God and man, by his victory over the grave, his victory over death, he's taken up Out of the den, but the story does not end there.
You know, there are a lot of unbelievers.
Who loved to tell Christians how Jesus really was.
You notice that?
They'll look at a Christian if a Christian takes a stand on something.
If they take a stand against some type of immorality that's going on in our world today, there'll always be a group of people that said, now, Jesus wasn't like that.
Jesus didn't judge.
Jesus wouldn't have condemned.
Jesus would have been more accepting.
They love to tell us how kind and sweet and non-judgmental Jesus is.
And I want to tell you, they have a false notion about Jesus Christ.
They give a notion that Jesus' message to the world was one of accepting people like they are.
And that it is a sin to judge them.
But we're going to learn this morning that just coming up out of the grave.
And Christians coming up out of the grave when Jesus comes again.
And no manner of hurt being found on us.
Doesn't matter how long we've been in the grave, we're going to be raised up.
And the Bible says that our body is going to be likened to His glorious body.
And there's going to be no manner of hurt found on Him, there's going to be no manner of hurt found on us, but it doesn't stop there because not everybody believes in their God, as Daniel did, and as we do.
And let me assure you, nothing can be further from the truth that Jesus Christ doesn't judge.
And that's what we're going to learn this morning in the prophetic book of Daniel.
Daniel's ascension from the lion's den. beautifully and powerfully demonstrates the coming judgment of God upon men.
I want you to understand that had Daniel been found in the lion's den dead, Then the political scheme of those wicked politicians would have succeeded.
But because God raised Daniel up from the lion's den, their plan failed.
And now they were about to be the ones judged for their evil ways.
Daniel was raised from that pit.
Now look with me in verse 24.
And the king commanded And they brought those men.
Now, this is a summoning of these men.
This is an arrest of these men.
This is them being brought.
Against their will, under the power of that kingdom authority, to stand before the king and their judge.
And one day, when Jesus comes again, all of the godless world that we're having to deal with right now I get so sick of reading the news.
I get so sick of seeing the headlines.
I get so sick of the senseless murders.
Of the sexual perversion.
I get so sick of that Tallarico that's running for senator here in Texas, he said that Islam and Christianity were essentially the same.
And I get so sick of it.
And one day, all of these godless people.
Are going to be summoned against their will to stand before the King and the Judge of all the earth.
Because God delivered Daniel from the dead and raised him from that grave, these men are compelled to stand before the king and be judged for their rejection of Daniel.
Remember, the king was going to appoint Daniel as second in command over the whole nation.
Which meant the whole world, at least in that area at that time.
And so, what we see here, Jesus.
Is going to be raised and be second in command unto the Father as he rules the whole earth.
They rejected the king's choice to rule.
And this world, by rejecting Jesus, rejects the king's choice to rule, you see, which is his son.
Daniel, down in that lion's den, just picture him for a moment down in that lion's den.
His enemies thought, surely he was gone forever.
They fed them to those lions.
They went and slept and they rejoiced and thought, this man will never rule over us.
But when Daniel came up out of that grave, God was demonstrating that those men's judgment was certain.
And this was a sign to us in this prophetic book because God delivered Jesus from the dead, and God raised Jesus from the tomb.
And every unbeliever in this world is going to be compelled to stand before the king and be judged for this.
Their rejection of Jesus as these men are being judged for their rejection of Daniel.
Acts chapter 17, verse 31.
Acts 17, 31.
Says, because he, that is God, hath appointed a day in the which he will judge. the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.
Who is that man he has ordained to judge the world?
Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men And that he hath raised him from the dead.
The fact that God raised Daniel up out of that pit, remember, Daniel said the Lord has sent his angel.
The Lord sent his angel to deliver him from that pit.
And we saw who that angel was.
It was Jesus.
We saw that was the same angel in the pit.
That was the same angel of the Lord talking to Moses in Mount Sinai there in that flaming, burning bush.
And so as God raised up Daniel from the dead from that pit, He gave assurance that judgment's coming.
And so as God raised up Jesus from the dead, He gave us assurance that judgment is Coming.
Look at that word there in verse 31 again.
I want y'all to say that with me.
He will judge the world.
Judgment is coming, folks.
Judgment is coming.
And that's what this is a picture of.
Now take your pens.
And if you have your Bible open there still in the book of Daniel, write out the word Daniel.
D-A-N-I-E-L, write it out in big letters in your margin of your Bible.
And I want you to underscore the three letters Dan, Dan.
Man, I love God's word, folks.
It is just pregnant with good truth When you underscore the three letters Dan, that kind of sounds like a name, doesn't it?
You ever heard of the tribe of what?
Dan?
Do you know what the word Dan means?
It means Oh, we done went past their verse.
That's my fault.
Here we go.
It means judge.
It means judge.
Now look and underscore the last three letters.
E-L.
If you know anything about Hebrew at all, who can tell me what L means in Hebrew?
It means God.
And then there's that one little letter in the middle.
And fascinatingly, it's the letter I.
And you know what that E means in Hebrew?
My.
I is my.
Daniel means God is my judge.
When we're looking at the book of Danielle, We are looking at the book of the prophecy that God is going to judge his people.
He's going to judge the world.
You see that?
He has appointed a day in which He, God, will judge the world.
And he's going to judge the world by the man he's ordained, which is the man Christ Jesus.
And he assured us that that's taking place because he raised him from the dead.
So as we see Dan E.
L. coming up out of that pit.
God is giving us a prophetic assurance in the Old Testament that He's going to judge the world because here comes the judge of man up out of that pit.
God is my judge, is coming up.
And that he's going to reign as the king said here in the book of Daniel.
When Jesus came out of that grave, it was evident that he God is going to be our judge.
Now notice who's getting judged here.
The people who were getting judged were those.
Go back now to our text in Daniel.
The people getting judged were those who had accused Daniel.
Daniel's accusers are getting judged.
The accuser Of Daniel, the one who was rejected to rule over man is about to get judged.
The accused.
Now don't miss this.
There's two things we don't want to miss in this.
First, the Hebrew word translated accused here.
If you're taking notes in your margin, it literally means to eat and devour.
To eat and devour.
Now, you may already be seeing where we're going with this.
To eat and devour.
Now, listen to how the Apostle Paul describes the difference between the relationship of love between the brethren and the church.
In the relationship of hostility in the church between false teachers and the brethren who came in to trouble the people in the book of Galatians.
He says in Galatians 5, 14 through 15, For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, but if ye bite and devour, one another.
Take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
The ungodly politicians were trying to bite and devour the prophet Daniel through their accusations.
Metaphorically.
And they were trying to destroy him by having him bitten and devoured literally by the lions.
All of that is a picture, folks, of us in the last days.
An accuser, therefore, Is someone who seeks to destroy, seeks to devour as a wolf or a lion would devour sheep.
And that's why the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 5:8, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, who?
The devil.
Walketh as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
The devil seeks to devour the children of God.
The devil seeks to devour God's creation, the human race.
The devil seeks to devour us the same way these politicians were seeking to devour Daniel by being our accuser.
As we watch Daniel's accusers coming before the king, we are watching a picture.
Of the end time judgment of the devil and his people.
For the devil Is the accuser of the brethren.
I want you to listen to how the Apostle John describes the end-time judgment of the devil.
In Revelation 12, 9, and 10.
Look with me now in Revelation 12, 9, and 10.
And the great dragon was cast out.
That old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world He will say those words with me: cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now has come salvation.
And strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, for the accuser.
Of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Now, don't miss this church.
Let's read Revelation 12, 10 again, and let's see what will happen to our accuser when he stands before God on the day of judgment.
Look with me in verse 10.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now has come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser.
Of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before God day and night.
I'm going to reduce that down.
The accuser is cast down.
Sit with me.
The accuser is cast down.
Now look back in Daniel 6, 24 and let's see what happened to Daniel's accusers.
And they cast them into the den of lions.
Isn't this amazing?
It's all a prophecy through a picture in the Old Testament.
Daniel's accusers were cast down. just as our accuser is going to be cast down.
And don't forget what we learned the past few weeks.
We learned that the Chaldean word for den, lion's den, we learned that that word means pit.
The Chaldean word for den means pit.
So it wasn't like at a zoo when you have a compartment like a cage and then a a stone over it because remember they put Daniel down in the pit.
They then rolled a stone over it just like they did Jesus tomb.
The king then sealed it in the book of Daniel just like they sealed Jesus' tomb.
And then it was overcome, just like Jesus to him in the book of Daniel.
And now here we have this pit.
Down in the pit, the accuser of Daniel is now being cast down in a pit, brother.
And when we look here in the book of the Revelation, where we were just a minute ago, we're not going to go back.
You don't have to take that back, that slide back.
We understand that we're looking at the accused of the brethren being put down in the pit.
Now, go to Revelation 20, verse 1.
And three.
Revelation 20, verse 1 and 3.
Watch this now.
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottom.
Let's say that word with me: pit.
In a great chain in his hand, he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan. and bound him a thousand years, and cast him there's that casting, see that casting again?
The accuser of the brethren is being cast into a pit, the bottomless pit, and shut him up and set a seal on him.
Remember, they put a seal on Daniel's pit.
Jesus comes, they roll a stone over his tomb, they put a seal on his.
But guess who gets the seal in the end?
It's the old devil.
It's the accuser of the brethren.
Guess how Jesus got crucified?
Through accusation.
Through accusation.
Remember what they put up on his cross?
This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.
That was his accusation.
The accusation was written.
Go read it in the scripture.
It was his accusation.
All of this is a picture of us in Jesus overcoming the devil, our accuser.
Why?
Because through Jesus, death, burial, and resurrection, when we come up out of the grave, there's nothing left to accuse us of.
Sin's gone.
Accusations are null and void.
Apart from Christ, the accusation stands.
But within Christ, the accusation's overcome.
It says, and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season.
That's a whole other story.
So look at that.
He was cast into a pit.
A seal set on him to keep him in, just like they did Daniel, just like they did Jesus.
But it wasn't just the accuser.
Who's cast in the pit in the book of Revelation?
And it wasn't just the accusers who were cast into the pit in the book of Daniel.
Look here, back in your text in Daniel.
Not only did the accusers go in, but who else?
Them and their children and their wives.
Brother Richard, that's cruel.
It's not cruel, but it is tragic.
It's very tragic.
At first, this may sound very cruel to you.
But what we have to understand is there is a very powerful prophetic message in this tragic event.
And here's the message.
The children of our accuser will perish with our accuser.
The children of our accuser, the devil.
Will perish with our accuser.
The offspring, you remember how Revelation described him?
That old serpent, which is the devil.
That's how Revelation describes them.
Remember what the Bible says in the book of Genesis?
God said, He was speaking to the serpent, speaking to the devil in the book of Genesis.
Described as a serpent in the form of a serpent.
And God told that serpent, I will put enmity between thy seed in talking about The woman, the coming woman, seed, the conquering seed, in her seed.
It, the woman's conquering seed, shall bruise your head.
And you shall bruise his heel.
But there's enmity between the two seeds: between the offspring of the serpent and the offspring of the Savior.
Make sense?
As the Savior overcomes death, in hell, in the grave, in sin for us.
And as we are raised up with no harm found on us, being the seed of Christ, the Apostle Paul said, If ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
In the same way that Jesus' children overcome death, hell, and the grave.
Satan's children are committed to the pit with him.
You see?
I'll put enmity between thy seed and her seed.
That's why Jesus looked.
At those Pharisees, and he said, Ye are of your father the devil.
And as their father the devil is cast into a pit and judged at the last day, guess where the devil's children are going to go?
Right down in there with them, all of his family.
Revelation chapter 20, verse 10.
Revelation chapter 20, verse 10.
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.
So now here is the devil in this lake of fire.
Now go to Revelation 20 verse 15.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
The Bible says the unbeliever, Jesus said, the unbelievers will be cast into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
And that's what this is a picture of, not just the accuser of the brethren, but their offspring, their family, too.
The seed of the serpent, the children of the devil, who were not redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, are going to go to the same place as our accuser.
Daniel's accusers were cast into the pit.
Now look back in Daniel with me.
It says, and the lions had the mastery of them, underscore the word mastery.
That word mastery in that Chaldean language, it literally means to rule, to have dominion over.
You see, watch what's happening here.
Daniel gets thrown down into the pit.
He's accused.
He gets thrown down into the pit.
That was his death.
The angel of the Lord comes.
Jesus comes, delivers him from death.
Causes him to be raised up from the dead.
And guess what?
The lions had no mastery over him.
He said the angel of the Lord came and shut the lions' mouths so they could do him no harm.
Through Jesus' death and resurrection, Jesus, the angel of the Lord, shut the lion's mouth so it can do us no harm.
So death had no dominion, no mastery over Daniel.
But death does have dominion in the end and mastery over Satan and his seed.
The fact that the lions could reign over the accuser Was the fact that they could not reign over Daniel, who was delivered from them.
Everyone follow me?
Death had no dominion over the devil.
Death has no dominion, I'm sorry, death had no dominion over Daniel, but death does have dominion over his accusers.
Revelation 20 verse 14.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
That is where the devil and his Followers go, this is the second what?
Death.
So, as the devil and his seed are cast into the lake of fire, death reigns over them.
Has the mastery of them forever.
On the other hand, Daniel being a prophetic picture of Jesus Death had no dominion over him.
And if death has no dominion over Christ, then death has no dominion over us.
Romans chapter 6, verse 8.
Romans chapter 6 6 verse 8 through 12.
Now if we be dead with Christ We believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more Say it with me, death hath no more dominion over him.
Do you know what that's saying?
Translate it back into the Chaldean: death has no mastery over him.
Doesn't have it.
For in that He died, He died into sin once, but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin, therefore, reign.
Let it not have the mastery over you in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof.
Sin and death. no longer have the mastery over us because of Jesus.
And that's what we see here in Daniel.
Daniel standing outside the pit.
His accusers are thrown in.
Daniel has no harm.
They are broken into pieces by the lions.
As we look back in the text, we see that death was very eager to devour his accusers as well.
For the lions had the mastery over them, look back in your text, and break all their bones in pieces.
This is very important, wherever they came at the bottom of the den, which means before they even got to the bottom of the pit.
As they were sliding down, those lions were climbing up, and they devoured them, and they crushed their bones, and they killed them as they mauled them.
And this shows us the swiftness of God's judgment that awaits sinners when that day shall finally come.
Now, I want you to think about those lions.
What do you suppose they did with those lines?
Do you think if I was going to if Doug was a bad guy and I was the Chaldean king?
Or the Persian king, excuse me, he's Persian now.
If I was the Persian king and Doug was an enemy the kingdom.
And I wanted Doug to get eaten up by those lions.
Do you think that I would feed those lions a really, really good meal?
maybe throw some antelope in there and let them eat them up and just be about to pop and they roll over and they're going to take them with a nap and then throw Doug in there.
What are you going to do?
You're going to starve them, aren't you?
Yeah, well, she may make a good queen one day.
You're going to let them go hungry.
And then, when that food finally comes in, oh man, we've been waiting for this.
Oh, we're chomping at the bits for this.
Let me tell you what's been happening.
Ever since Adam sinned back in the Garden of Eden, and then Cain Murders the first man.
And then this rebellious nation springs up with the Tower of Babel.
In all the murders and wars that took place until that time, until Noah's flood.
And then the evil that took place after the flood.
And now, all the sin and all the wars and all the debauchery, all the sodoms and Gomorrahs, and all the the wickedness that has taken place all the way up here the the kings and the the the that that rejected god and went back to To idolatry in the time of the kings.
And then, when Jesus comes, the rejection of the Son of God Himself.
And then now we see I was looking the other day, my mom sent me a video of these Muslims who are taking Christians and making slaves out of them in Africa.
And we know that where Brother Wisdom is, it's the most dangerous nation on earth for a Christian right now.
And all of this wickedness, like a hunger in a lion.
Has been building up and building up and building up.
And finally, one day.
The food finally comes.
And they can't even wait for it to get down to the bottom of the pit.
They jump on it.
And I want to tell you.
The heart of our holy and righteous God, God is patient, God is long-suffering.
The Bible says He's not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance.
But I want to tell you that in the heart of God, It's like a hungry lion.
In the heart of believers, it's like a hungry lion, but not like God.
But I want to tell you, there's some days I pray this way: I say, Lord, I want these people to repent.
Lord, I want them to be saved, but I'm sure looking forward to the coming of Jesus Christ.
I'm looking forward for these wicked people to be cast down.
I'm looking forward for all the wickedness of this earth to be finally and forever put away.
Away and that has been building up all these years.
And when Jesus comes, the accuser is going to stand before the once-accused.
Just like happening here with Daniel.
He's going to judge the world in righteousness And everyone who is not found redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, it is those who are not written in the book of life of the Lamb written from the foundation of the world.
They're going to be cast in that fire, and I want to tell you, the flames of that lake of fire are going to be licking them up in righteous judgment.
Did you notice?
Did you notice this minor but big detail?
They Caught, devoured before they ever reached the bottom of the pit.
And did you notice in the book of Revelation?
They never hit the bottom of the pit.
It's a bottomless pit, Brother Doug.
He can't wait for them to hit.
Judgment is going to seize upon them in the righteous vindication of our God.
So Daniel's resurrection from the lion's den was not only a joyous event for Daniel, as Christ's return will be for us.
But Jesus' resurrection and Daniel's resurrection was also an ominous event for his accusers.
And for hours, for it signals that judgment is on its way.
Dan E.
L.
The world needs to understand that God is our judge.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word, and we thank you most of all.
That our sin has already been judged by God in the person of Jesus Christ.
And Father, we accept that judgment that we may never be cast into the pit.
But raised to be like Jesus.
As the Bible says, we've been raised together with Him already and seated at your right hand.
Thank you for your incredible Highly detailed prophecy in the Old Testament in the amazing fulfillment that's yet to come.
In Jesus' precious name, amen.
