Category: Heads Up (Page 35 of 36)

North Koreans are indoctrinated from an early age to adore “The Eternal Leader” and his two sons, including the current dictator. Last fall, Christian Solidarity Worldwide described testimony from defectors: “Christians are reported to have suffered brutal violence. Forms of torture include beatings with fists or implements such as electric rods, wooden pokers, metal poles, water torture through forced submersion, and being used as test subjects for medical training and experimentation.” Continue reading

Nebuchadnezzar built a great golden statue. It was made of gold, and it was ninety feet high and nine feet wide. This was a gigantic statue that must have required enormous amounts of gold. Even if the statue was only covered with gold, it still would have taken a great amount. But this is what he did, and the fact that the statue was of gold is the thing of chief importance. Continue reading

In the book of Daniel, the climax of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is the rock that struck the feet of the statue, destroyed it, and then grew to be a mountain that filled the whole earth. Daniel interpreted this part of the dream, saying, “And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor shall it be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold.” (Daniel 2:44-45). Continue reading

The Book of Daniel is a magnificent story of the triumph of Daniel and three other godly men in the midst of the moral and spiritual miasma of ancient Babylon. But it is also a record of important visions that prophesy both immediate and distant historical events. Critical scholars of the Old Testament have been hard on Daniel – they cannot believe that God could have given his servant revelations of actual historical events to come. Continue reading

When the command went out to execute the astrologers, Daniel was included. Soon the commander of the king’s guard, came to escort Daniel and his friends to death row.

At this point young Daniel reveals an astonishing measure of faith. He went to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him. Where did Daniel get faith in God strong enough to make such an offer? Continue reading

At the end of Daniel 1 we are told that God gave Daniel three things. Because of his decision not to defile himself with the food and culture of the Babylonians, God granted Daniel wisdom beyond the wisdom of the Babylonians, influence beyond that of any in the kingdom, and health that resulted in long life. However, when we move from the end of the first to the beginning of the second chapter, we find that each of these is at once either disregarded or threatened. Continue reading