by Walter Giddings
October 29, 2023
Scripture Study: Daniel 1
Where in our Bibles do we find the histories of Israel in Captivity?
In a previous lesson “Captivity Captive” we were led to realize Israel is always in Captivity! Israel, the Only People in Scripture that are called a Flock of Sheep, are always in Captivity! (Matthew 7:15). We are in Captivity, in due course, to The Good Shepherd of the Sheep, Jesus Christ the Righteous. And we are in Captivity, out of due course, to The Great I Am God of Israel’s Enemies, Wolves in sheep’s clothing!
15 Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep’s clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matthew chapter seven.
“Wolves[!] ... in sheep’s clothing”!! If we are in our right minds, (how BIG a word is “if”?), would we prefer The Good Shepherd to wolves in sheep’s clothing?
Shall we ask the next question? Why does God allow poor helpless sheep to follow wolves in sheep’s clothing?
Is the Classic Example to answer this question found in Genesis? (Mark Genesis 3:6). Does God honor our choices?
p 6 And when the woman saw that
the tree was good for food, and that
it was pleasant to the eyes, and a
tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took of the fruit thereof, and did
eat, ….
“Little children,” be careful how we answer this next question. Was Adam with her when the woman ate?
Do American parents prevent their children from suffering the consequences of their choices? Do American parents teach their children to disobey with impunity? Do American parents teach their children to sin with impunity? Do they rescue their children from all consequences of their choices?
Did our Superparent rescue the woman from the consequences of her choices: to see that the tree was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desired to make her wise, and taking of the fruit thereof and eating? (Proverbs 30:20). Does this Proverb accurately describe the woman’s choice to eat the forbidden fruit?
20 Such is the way of an adulterous
woman: she eateth, and wipeth her
mouth, and saith, I have done no
wickedness.
Proverbs chapter thirty.
Where are our brothers now, and they are brothers, for none of us has it all together! Where are our brothers now, who claim the only Old Testament Scripture the Serpent Seedliners have to support their heretical doctrine is Genesis 3:15! Did God, our Father, honor the woman’s choice. Did God, our Father, acquaint her with the consequences of her choice? Back to Genesis 3 Verse 16:
16 Unto the woman he said, I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy
conception; in sorrow thou shalt
bring forth children; and thy desire
shall be to thy husband, and he shall
rule over thee.
Genesis chapter three.
Did God say of the woman in the fallen condition that he would “greatly multiply...thy conception”? Do most American women preach to each other taking responsibility by using birth control? Is God so lacking in sovereignty that he would give us something we could not handle? Do women in disobedience to God reap to themselves avoidable judgments just as men do? Or do they view themselves as more “highly evolved” having to deal with men who are all Neanderthals? How did John Wesley’s mother bear 23 children and look young well into her elder age? What did her husband know that we do not know today? Do “My people perish for lack of knowledge”? Would studying Leviticus 12 acquaint us with some basic knowledge of biology?
Now to “the Neanderthals”: Oops! I mean the men, direct lineal descendants of Adam through the miracle child Isaac, Isaac’s sons, Saxons: (Genesis 3:17). Did God our Father honor Adam’s Choice? Or did God our Father cause Adam to sin with impunity, that is, without punishment, consequences, or correction?
17 And unto Adam he said, Because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of
thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of
which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the
ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Does God our Father intend for this Lesson to be indelible unto Adam and all his progeny? Does this verse describe Adam’s sin? What is Adam’s Sin? What is the Great Transgression? Does God our Father say, “…thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it”? Can we doubt the plain words of Scripture?
Do the words, “and hast eaten of the tree” mean that Adam got the fruit from the tree? Or does this mean the fruit sources from the Tree? Where can we find a 2nd Witness to answer this question?
Do we recall that we did not read the whole verse six in Genesis 3?
Classmates, permit me to read the remainder of Genesis 3:6:
6 … and gave also unto her husband
with her; and he did eat.
Genesis chapter three.
Was Adam with her when she ate? Or was Adam with her when “he did eat”? Which answer creates problems with The Harmony of the Scriptures? Which answer preserves The Harmony of the Scriptures?
Was all this mixture of good and evil in the world God’s Will? Or was all this mixture of good and evil in the world Adam’s Choice? Did God honor the woman’s Choice? Did God honor Adam’s Choice?
If sheep prefer to follow Wolves in sheep’s clothing, will God honor their choices? When we are in our right minds will we prefer to stay as close as possible to The Good Shepherd of the sheep? What greater position of military advantage could we have than to be as close as possible to Him? If our lives are hidden in Christ, would we have the mind of Christ? If we have the mind of Christ, would we be equipped to reason together with God? If our minds are sane, or sound in Christ, will we not find ourselves discussing with 2 wolves what’s for dinner?!
(James 1:25). Is the true source of Christian Liberty sheep remaining in captivity to The Good Shepherd? Does bond slavery to Jesus Christ author Liberty?
25 But whoso looketh into the per-
fect law of liberty and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful hear-
er, but a doer of the work, this man
shall be blessed in his deed.
James chapter one.
(Galatians 5:13-14). Are licenses legal permissions to do unlawful acts? What does God mean by Liberty?
p 13 For, brethren, ye have been called
unto liberty; only use not liberty for
an occasion to the flesh, but by love
serve one another.
c 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one
word, even in this: Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself.
Galatians chapter five.
“Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh.”
Who are the most well-known people of the Bible in Captivity? They were made famous among those of us who grew up with Stories from the Bible for Children. Can we name the 4 most famous People in Bible History who were in Capti- vity? Who remembers Belteshazzar? Who remembers Hananiah? How about Mishael? Azariah?
(Mark Daniel 1:3-4).
c 3 And the king spake unto Ashpen-
az the master of his eunuchs, that he
should bring certain of the children
of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and
of the princes;
p 4 Children in whom was no blemish
but well favoured, and skillful in all
wisdom, and cunning in knowledge,
and understanding science, and such
as had ability in them to stand in the
king’s palace, and whom they might
teach the learning and the tongue of
the Chaldeans.
Daniel chapter one.
In these two verses lies one of the great secrets of Ancient History. How many here had the opportunity to take Ancient History in High School? I am a 1963 High School Public Fool Graduate. My family moved from Berkshire Hills Massachusetts Commonwealth, halfway through my senior year. I graduated from a high school that offered no 4-year course in Latin and no 1-year course in Ancient History. Does any High School in the country teach Latin and Ancient History today?
In part, Ancient History covers the rise and fall of Empires whose evidence is exhibited largely in the dust of archaeological digs minutely sifted with locations of finds carefully marked. All this evidence, including testimony that required no digs, witnesses that the history of the rise and fall of Empires is cyclical. The Cycle begins with a people who have a common ancestor living in an uncivilized state. The men wage the wars. They overpower existing civilizations because they are hardened through living by subsistence off the land. The civilizations they conquer acquaint them with tools of living [“pursuit of happiness”]. These tools greatly ease the hardness of primitive subsistence off the land. Successive generations learn to avoid the hard labor of primitive subsistence by pursuing the labor of civilized pursuits (like Ancient History, Latin, Koine Greek and the Hebrew of the Bible). Generations of the Conquerors follow who debauch or tacitly consent to the debauching of the currency and the debauching of the races. The United States is the only Nation known whose beginnings, at its being born, began with Civilization, an unheard-of feat in both Modern and Ancient History. America’s Schoolmaster, Noah Webster, wrote of our Land’s History:
The United States commenced their
existence under circumstances wholly
novel and unexampled in the history of
nations. They commenced with civiliza-
tion, with learning, with science, with
constitutions of free government, and
with that best gift of God to man, the
christian religion.
Preface to An American Dictionary
of the English Language. 1828.
(Proverbs 14:34). Has even America in our generational time gone the way of all Empires, ancient or modern?
34 Righteousness exalteth a nation:
but sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs chapter fourteen.
The Hebrew noun translated “reproach” has the seminal meaning shameful disgrace (Daniel 1:6-7). Four of those children selected from the Hebrew Captives had a remarkable restraining effect on the excesses of the Babylonian Empire and its Chaldean civilization.
p 6 Now among these were of the
the children of Judah, Daniel, Han-
aniah, Mishael, and Azariah:
c 7 Unto whom the prince of the eu-
nuchs gave names: for he gave unto
Daniel the name of Belteshazzar;
and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and
to Mishael of Meshach; and to Azar-
iah of Abednego.
Daniel chapter one.
What(!) on God’s Green Earth is The Purpose of giving the four Hebrew captives, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah Chaldean Names? They were known in the Babylonian Empire as Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (Genesis 2:18-20). To understand the Purpose, we must go to Genesis, the Book of beginnings. [stand]
c 18 And the LORD God said, It is
not good that the man should be a-
lone; I will make him an help meet
for him.
p 19 And out of the ground the LORD
God formed every beast of the field,
and every fowl of the air; and
brought them unto Adam to see what
he would call them: and whatsoever
Adam called every living creature
that was the name thereof.
c 20 And Adam gave names to all
cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and
to every beast of the field; but for
Adam there was not found an help
meet for him.
Genesis chapter two.
Relative to the subject matter of this Lesson, can we make 2 observations? From these Verses what 2 things can we say are obvious?
Let me ask you a direct question: for what is God rehearsing Adam? Naming every living creature is an act of what?
From November 1967 to November 1969, I served active-duty United States Army. I was stationed at a remote outpost on the East German border in full view of the Soviet Radar Station. While I was there the USSR invaded Czechoslovakia. One of my two pen pals was a lady who attended City College of New York, CCNY, who obtained her Degree in Geology. She lived in an apartment 5 flights up, a few blocks from Campus. In one of her letters, she wrote describing the strange behavior of her 5 cats. One female got herself locked in the closet. Several males took a running start at one end of the living room in order to scale the curtains at the other end, completely shredding every one in a month. They would meow to go out and would not go out. They stood by water and food bowls to meow repeatedly, and they were full of fresh water and food. Lots of affection for everyone that wanted attention had no impact on their behavior. At her wits end she asked what to do! I was as lost as to what to do as she was. I asked my fellow soldiers in our unit what to do. Her second letter after that she wrote that a thought occurred to her to name her cats. She did it in order to reprimand the troublemakers without giving the innocent the idea she was blaming them with guilt. The change in their behavior was startling! No more torn curtains. No more meowling. The men in my unit were as astounded as me. Who would have thunk it?!
Naming the cats was an act of what?
When parents name their children, what act are they performing? When mother and father name “the fruit of the womb”, are they performing the deeds of Dominion? (Micah 4:8). Is the 1st Covenant God made with us The Dominion Covenant he made with Adam? In Christ Jesus will we get that Dominion back which Adam lost in the Great Transgression?
8 And thou, O tower of the flock,
the stronghold of the daughter of
Zion, unto thee shall it come, even
the first dominion: the kingdom
shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
Micah chapter four.
Even the worst and most jaded people, with a modicum of sobriety, will take the giving of the name to a baby seriously. The Johnny Cash song, Boy Named Sue, is the exception that proves the rule. The lyrics tell us the boy named Sue refused to pass on what his Father did! Is that because our Names were written in The Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world?
Did God rehearse Adam in Dominion when He had Adam name the creatures He formed? And who were those creatures? If they were quadrupeds, the 1st and last verses of our reading, Genesis 2:18 and 20, make no sense.
The Cox Family Singers, a bluegrass Gospel group from Louisiana, has one of the best Gospel albums out in years, which they did in collaboration with Alison Krauss and Union Station. They did one of their songs on the Soundtrack for the Movie, O Brother Where Art Thou. All the groups that recorded the soundtrack and the staff did a benefit concert in Ryman Auditorium. The performers were asked to do their soundtrack number, and then do a traditional number, or gospel song. Willard Cox, the family Patriarch, introduced his children, and then said, “I’ve got the papers on all of them.” That brought down the House. Southern Patriarchs have generational experience with Captivity. Their forefathers reestablished Christian Civilization by 1876, in spite of the Carpetbaggers. What does Willard know?
(Back to Daniel 1). What kind of impact did the Four Hebrew Children have on King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire? Look at Verses 17-21:
c 17 As for these four children, God
gave them knowledge and skill in
all learning and wisdom: and Dan-
iel had understanding in all visions
and dreams.
p 18 Now at the end of the days that
the king had said that he should
bring them in, then the prince of the
eunuchs brought them in before Ne-
buchadnezzar.
c 19 And the king communed with
them; and among them all was found
none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah : therefore stood they be-
fore the king.
p 20 And in all matters of wisdom and
understanding, that the king enquir-
ed of them, he found them ten times
better than all the magicians and as-
trologers that were in all his realm.
c 21 And Daniel continued even unto
the first year of king Cyrus.
Daniel chapter one.
“Ten times better.” Did God ever forget the Hebrew children’s Hebrew names?
How great a restraining influence were Daniel and his kindred upon the excesses of The Babylonian Empire. Did Daniel tell King Nebuchadnezzar the awesome dream he could not recall, and then its interpretation? Was Daniel’s request of King Nebuchadnezzar not to slay the wise men of Babylon in haste granted? Did the 3 Hebrew children walk with the 4th Man in the Fire because they disobeyed the King’s Commandment to worship the Image?
(Daniel 6:5). In the reign of King Darius, the Mede, Daniel was preferred before all the presidents and princes.
5 Then said these men, we shall
not find any occasion against this
Daniel, except we find it against
him concerning the law of his God.
“These men” conspired to persuade King Darius to enact “a royal statute and to make a firm decree” that any man that asked a petition in the next 30 days of any god or man other than the king should be “cast into the den of lions”. The Conspira- cy involved all the presidents, governors, princes, counsellors, and captains of the kingdom. Daniel knew and continued to give thanks to the God of Israel openly 3 times in the day. Did Daniel believe in “freedom of religion” and “the free exercise thereof” ? According to the law of the Medes and Persians, when the king signs the decree, it “altereth not”! The day Daniel was accused, the king, “sore displeased with himself” labored all day to save Daniel to no avail. The King committed Daniel to the Lion’s Den. He spent the night in his own agony trusting Daniel’s God would save him.
(Daniel 6:24). “No manner of hurt was found upon him because he believed in his God.”
24 And the king commanded, and
they brought those men which had
accused Daniel, and they cast them
into the den of lions, them, their
children, and their wives; and the
lions had the mastery of them, and
brake all their bones in pieces or
ever they came at the bottom of the
den.
Daniel chapter six.
“And brake all their bones in pieces.”
We have seen from a previous Lesson that we are in Captivity! What are our Captivity Names? Is there anything new under the sun? Are God’s Enemies our Enemies? Do they have the Mastery over us? Are we counted as sheep all day for the Slaughter?! (Matthew 10:16). Is there a bullseye on the back of every Caucasian?
16 Behold I send you forth as sheep
in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore
wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Matthew chapter ten.
Are we “wise as serpents”? How good are we at serpent thinking?
Could it be that the serpents are tired of being thrown out of the countries of the world? Could it be they have constructed a web of Captivity that depends on sheep being blinded by sin? Could it be they have obtained our tacit consent to The Captivity? Could it be this time they are using our Christian Names in The Captivity, and float teaser notices past our eyes that we consistently, insistently, and persistently miss in our blindness? Is the movie, The Matrix, a joke? Is the movie, The Matrix, a teaser notice that we are ignorantly in Captivity?
Do Americans still think we live in the freest country on the Globe? Do we?
Did we discover in our Lesson, “Captivity Captive”, we do not own our Chariots, houses, or lands? What are our captivity names?
They wouldn’t, right? They couldn’t, right? They don’t, right? [John 8:44]
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye might do.”(?) Or “will do” ? What are our captivity names?
What if in order to avoid capital punishment or permanent Exile from this Land, they left us a Remedy? Is they an acronym: t. h. e. y., the hierarchy enslaving you … and me! And their whole Web, their Matrix, depends upon our tacit consent? Why do we, as a people, call our way of life a dream? The American Dream? If we think this message, this Lesson, is a dream, would we be the kettle calling the pot black? Are we being told our children are not ours? (Ezekiel 20:26). Which of our families has no women consenting to murder in the womb?
26 And I polluted them in their own
gifts, in that they caused to pass thro-
ugh the fire all that openeth the womb,
that I might make them desolate to the
end that they might know that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel chapter twenty.
Is this sacrifice of the firstborn to Molech and Baal? Is Ezekiel an End Time Prophet? How desperate is Our Heavenly Father to obtain our Obedience?
Bibliography
Matthew 7:15 “ravening wolves”
Genesis 3:6 “she did eat.”
Proverbs 30:20 “she eateth”
Genesis 3:16 “multiply … thy conception”
Genesis 3:17 “and hast eaten of the tree.”
Back to Genesis 3:6 “and he did eat.”
James 1:25 “the perfect law of liberty”
Galatians 5:13-14 “an occasion to the flesh”
Mark Daniel 1:3-4 “ability to stand in the king’s palace”
Preface: 1828 Webster. The United States ... commenced with civilization.
Proverbs 14:34 “shameful disgrace”
Daniel 1:6-7 “gave [captivity] names”
Genesis 2:18-20 “Adam gave names”
Micah 4:8 “the first dominion”
Daniel 1:17-21 “ten times better”
Daniel 6:5 creating a crime
Daniel 6:24 “and break all their bones in pieces”
Matthew 10:16 “wise as serpents”
Ezekiel 20:26 “polluted them in their own gifts”