https://youtu.be/M02ayu0ew3I
Exodus 20:2-5; "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol (covid), or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Jer 17:5; Thus says the Lord, "Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
Heb 2:14-15; NET Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil),
15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.
Dan 3:1-29; NET King Nebuchadnezzar (CCP) had a golden statue made (covid). It was ninety feet tall and nine feet wide. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar (CCP) sent out a summons to assemble the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other authorities of the province to attend the dedication of the statue that he had erected (covid).
3 So the satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial authorities assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar (CCP) had erected (covid). They were standing in front of the statue (covid) that Nebuchadnezzar had erected.
4 Then the herald made a loud proclamation: "To you, O peoples, nations, and language groups, the following command is given:
5 When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the (covid) golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar (CCP) has erected.
6 Whoever does not bow down and pay homage will immediately be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire!"
7 Therefore when they all heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations, and language groups began bowing down and paying homage to the golden statue (covid) that King Nebuchadnezzar (CCP) had erected.
8 Now at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and brought malicious accusations against the Jews.
9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar (CCP), "O king, live forever!
10 You have issued an edict, O king, that everyone must bow down and pay homage to the golden statue (covid) when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music.
11 And whoever does not bow down and pay homage must be thrown into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.
12 But there are Jewish men whom you appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - and these men have not shown proper respect to you, O king. They don't serve your gods and they don't pay homage to the golden statue (covid) that you have erected."
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar (CCP) in a fit of rage demanded that they bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him. So they brought them before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar (CCP) said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don't serve my gods and that you don't pay homage to the golden statue (covid) that I erected?
15 Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue (covid) that I had made. If you don't pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?"
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar (CCP)"We do not need to give you a reply concerning this.
17 If our God whom we are serving exists, he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well.
18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don't serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue (covid) that you have erected."
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and his disposition changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was normally heated.
20 He ordered strong soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire.
21 So those men were tied up while still wearing their cloaks, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, and were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire.
22 But since the king's command was so urgent, and the furnace was so excessively hot, the men who escorted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were killed by the leaping flames.
23 But those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into the furnace of blazing fire while still securely bound.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and quickly got up. He said to his ministers, "Wasn't it three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" They replied to the king, "For sure, O king."
25 He answered, "But I see four men, untied and walking around in the midst of the fire! No harm has come to them! And the appearance of the fourth is like that of a god!"
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire. He called out, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the most high God, come out! Come here!" Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego emerged from the fire.
27 Once the satraps, prefects, governors, and ministers of the king had gathered around, they saw that those men were physically unharmed by the fire. The hair of their heads was not singed, nor were their trousers damaged. Not even the smell of fire was to be found on them!
28 Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, "Praised be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent forth his angel and has rescued his servants who trusted in him, ignoring the edict of the king and giving up their bodies rather than serve or pay homage to any god other than their God!
29 I hereby decree that any people, nation, or language group that blasphemes the god of Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego will be dismembered and his home reduced to rubble! For there exists no other god who can deliver in this way."
30 Then Nebuchadnezzar promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
31 "King Nebuchadnezzar, to all peoples, nations, and language groups that live in all the land: Peace and prosperity! I am delighted to tell you about the signs and wonders that the most high God has done for me.
1Peter 2:16; Live as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil (destroying liberty), but as God's slaves.
Rev 13:16-17; He also caused everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead.
17 Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast - that is, his name or his number.
We are presently in a study of Jonah, Nineveh and Nemesis and now Israel Judah Assyria and Nemesis where we see God's policy of grace before judgment. God always provides the opportunity for repentance before he executes judgment.
Some principles we can derive from of our brief study of Jonah, Nineveh, Israel, Judah, Assyria and Nemesis is that anyone can repent, because God extends His mercy even to the merciless and help to the helpless but judgment is always waiting in the wings because ultimately the truth wins because God is truth and He cannot deny himself. 2Cor 13:8; John 17:17; 2Tim 2:13;
Last time we were noting Isa 36:12; where Rabshakeh insisted on speaking in Hebrew because he wanted to frighten and intimidate the people into submission just like the leftist media is trying to do to the voters in our country. He implies that peace will result and war will be averted if they will simply surrender but if they resist then the most desperate disaster of famine will overtake them.
This is the use of hyperbole to convince the target audience of the worse conceivable scenario in order to intimidate them into agreeing with your evil proposals.
The lying leftist politicians and media are consistently using this tactic. If you don't wear a mask everywhere you go you are going to get covid and die, if you don't shut down the schools all the kids are going to die or they are going to spread covid to all the old people and they are all going to die. Churches have to be closed to prevent the spread of covid and die etc, etc.
Once the people believe the lie their thinking becomes inverted and they become cowards and use their freedom to vote against divine establishment liberty because of their fear of death. Heb 2:15b;
This is what happened to the Exodus generation because even though they were free they remained enslaved in their thinking. Numbers 14:26-35; Likewise the free citizens of this country are using their freedom to vote themselves into this tyranny because of their mental slavery..
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not afraid when they replied to King Nebuchadnezzar "We do not need to give you a reply concerning this. If our God whom we are serving exists, he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well. But even if he doesn't, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected."
Jesus Chris describes the eternal consequences of those who remain unbelievers because of their fear and unbelief. Revelation 21:8; But the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, idol worshipers, and all of the liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. That is the second death."
Isaiah 36:13; Then the Rabshakeh turned and spoke loudly in Hebrew, "Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
v.14 "Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you because he is not able to deliver you;
v15 do not let Hezekiah cause you to trust in the Lord, saying, "The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria."'"
After setting them up by suggesting the most grotesque circumstances that famine can impose are in their immediate future Rabshakeh directs his attack back to Hezekiah.
Before people can be turned against their own belief system their trust in that system must be destroyed. Rabshakeh has already derided Hezekiah.
Now he boldly addresses the people with three imperative moods: "Listen to the words of the king of Assyria," "Don't let Hezekiah deceive you," and "Do not let Hezekiah cause you to trust in the Lord God,"
He repeats his reference to Sennacherib as the "great king" while refusing to assign the title to Hezekiah.
He then proceeds to accuse Hezekiah of misleading them with the most despicable duplicity. He tells them that Hezekiah simply cannot be trusted to deliver them from Assyria's army.
This is a lie because Hezekiah never told the people that he could deliver them he told them that the Lord would. This is true and the Rabshakeh attacks it next by commanding them not to trust in Hezekiah's appeal for them to trust into trust in the Lord.
This lie is actually an assault on the integrity of God and His Word because we have seen that The Lord had spoken to Hezekiah through Isaiah the prophet.
Isa 38:4; Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying,
v5 "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
v6 "And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city."'
Because of this Hezekiah was able to say with confidence to the people gathered in Jerusalem that the Lord would deliver them from Sennacherib and the Assyrian army.
2Chron 32:7; "Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the multitude which is with him; for the One with us is greater than the one with him.
v8 "With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Rabshakeh refutes Hezekiah's words and by doing so blasphemes God's Word because he calls God a liar. He attacks the messenger (Hezekiah) and once the messenger is discredited then attacks the message (the Word of God).
His attack is designed to tear down their deeply held belief systems. To do this the attack must be embellished with hyperbole as illustrated earlier in verse 12 or camouflaged by the invention of a new vocabulary.