Bible look at Daniel chapter 2 Daniel chapter number 2 is where we'll start Daniel chapter 2 now I just read through I read through the last of Ezekiel and I read through Daniel this week and Really, I just find these things very exciting, very interesting, and of course, I believe the Bible. I believe every word of the Bible. I believe the punctuation of the Bible. I believe God put it there for a reason, and we can learn something from it. But in Daniel chapter two, and I want you to notice just verse 21, he changes, well, I gotta go back to verse 19, excuse me. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in night vision. This is where the king had a dream. He can't remember the dream, and he demands all of his soothsayers to tell him what the dream was and then tell him how it's interpreted. And if they can't tell him what it was, he can't have any confidence that they can interpret it, which makes sense, I suppose, but they were all going to be put to death because Nebuchadnezzar could put people to death if he wanted to, or he could spare their lives if he wanted to. But they let Daniel hear about this, and he prayed to God in heaven. And that's what's going on now. It says, Then was a secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And notice this, 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. He revealeth the deep and secret things. He knoweth what is in the darkness and the light dwelleth with him. And then he starts to thank God for all these things. So his answer is this, kings and kingdoms are in his hands. Kings and kingdom. Now you might get a guess of where I'm going with this, but remember, we just mentioned that this is the dream, the vision that Nebuchadnezzar had. And what was that vision? He interprets this vision and says that he saw a golden statue. He saw a statue and how it was comprised and all of this. And then Nebuchadnezzar built a golden statue to himself and caused everyone to fall down and worship it. But that statue, that image, what did it reflect? It reflected the four kingdoms that were yet to come, the four kingdoms that were coming. And so when Daniel says this, when he says that he changeth the times and seasons, he removeth kings, he is talking in the immediate context of the rest of history, actually the future, isn't he? Because that first king, The golden head is Nebuchadnezzar, and if you look over, it says, let's see, in verse 36, this is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation there before the king, thou, O king, are the king of kings. For the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength and glory." Isn't that what Daniel is praising, the God of heaven who puts up kings and puts them down? God's given you a kingdom. And this is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, which is modern-day Iraq. And there's still Babylon over there. Have you been to Babylon, Steve? Yeah. I mean, it's over there. Of course, it's been rebuilt and so on, but these are very real places geographically in this earth. And the Bible says, Thou art a king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold, and after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior. In other words, this head of gold reflects Babylon's kingdom and it's superior to the ones that follow. So Daniel has pleaded with God that God would give him not only the interpretation of the dream, but tell him what the dream is. Well, men can't do this, and one of the great verses in verse 28, but there is a God in heaven, because the king asks him, how can you do this? Well, there's a God in heaven. There's a God in heaven. And if you have a prayer life, you know there's a God in heaven. If you know Jesus as your savior, you know there's a God in heaven, because not only did he save you, but he took that burden away from you so that you can have the certain knowledge that you possess eternal life right now. Daniel has pleaded for God to reveal that dream, and God revealed that dream to him in the night. And then he spends some time just praising God. That's verses 20 to 23. Daniel praises God. He speaks of God's control of creation, how he controls kings, and how he is a blessing to the wise man. And all of this is very amazing. It's praise to God. And all of this is amazing from a man that is in captivity. a slave, a servant. And we've looked at that many times before. But I want you to notice this. In other words, God's in charge, isn't He? And as you look at kings and kingdoms, there are still kings in this earth. There are kingdoms on this earth. And of course, we have the remnants of the Roman Empire. And we have what is supposed to be republics or democratic republics. And of course, all that stuff falls apart. But we'll look at that as well this morning. But we see kings and kingdoms rise and fall, don't we? And that's what he's talking about. God gave him a vision of the future with clarity. with clarity, and it would have been interesting to see everything that he saw, but he tells us what God wants us to know, doesn't he? Let's pray. Lord, bless his time. Give me the right words to speak, Father. This is a blessing to me. I pray that you help me to impart the blessing to your people. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, now this is kind of an odd bunch of points here today, but remember, they are in captivity. That means that the time of the Jewish rule was over. They have been taken out of Israel. Israel has been divided. Now it's the northern kingdom of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah, and this is Judah in captivity, and God has taken them out of the land. And that's where the times of the Gentiles begins. Luke 21, 24 speaks of the times of the Gentiles. The Bible has one of the major themes of the Bible is who's going to rule? Who is going to rule? And that's why it says God raises up kings and puts down kings because God is still in charge of the affairs of man. So you'll see this, first of all, that brings us to this point. That is the Jews have made a mess of the earthly kingdom. Do you understand that? Now, I'm not anti-Semitic. I certainly am not. This is history. David was on the throne and really no nation around them stood against them. What happened? David was on the throne. He got into trouble. He got into adultery and then was guilty of murder. and some other indiscretions, because he is a man after all. He is still the man of God's own heart, but he is just a man, isn't he? He passes the kingdom on to his son, and it doesn't even last throughout Solomon's reign, because Solomon did exactly what God told him not to do, and if he did that, God told him exactly what would happen, and that's what happened. They went into idolatry. It didn't last a whole generation after David. The kingdom was divided and it went downhill from that point on, didn't it? So this earthly kingdom that was to be a beacon to all the world, all the Gentile world, It really lasted through David's kingdom with some glitches, and then mostly through Solomon's kingdom only because of giving honor to David. Then it was split in half, wasn't it? And yet David was a benchmark ruler, and in 2 Samuel 23 he says this, He says this, this have I found, he that ruleth among men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. Now I wish we had people ruling like that in our country, don't you? They say lawmakers, they're not making laws, they're making regulations. If they would just honor what was written down when we started this country, it would be a lot better, wouldn't it? And they're fighting every way they can to compromise that or extend it. In fact, that's what they'll actually tell you. We want to have a modern interpretation of that so that we get more power and you become more subservient. I saw this morning that in the last two years, the average price, monthly payment on a mortgage, on an average mortgage has gone up by 90 or 95%. In other words, roughly twice what it was two years ago. Some of that's inflation, some of it is the interest rate that's skyrocketing, and all of that. But the benchmark of rulers was David, and he says this, If you rule among men, you must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he said, Although my house be not so with God. Not only does he know what's right, he knows that he's not right. His house isn't what it should be. So there was an integrity there that's lacking today in the public sphere too. So David's sins are recorded, and yet he's a benchmark as a ruler. And he was never idolatrous. But then Solomon, he enjoyed some great blessings from God, didn't he? The Bible says in 1 Kings 11, kind of to God's frustration, that God appeared to him twice. Now, it would also be fun to see what that was like, wouldn't it? How did God appear to him? He came to him in a dream at night, and he said, what can I give you? And he said, well, I'm just young. I'm over my head. Would you give me wisdom? And because he didn't ask for long life or riches, God gave all those things to him as well. but God appeared to him twice. And there are people today that want to have God appear to them, but obviously didn't have a lasting impression on Solomon, did it? Because Solomon didn't end up on a good note. Solomon had blessings and warnings. God appeared twice to him. The Bible says that God gave him wisdom above all the men on the earth. Think about that. He was the wisest man that walked the earth, at least in that day, probably ever. He was a wise man, wasn't he, so that people would hear of his wisdom. And the queen of Sheba, in particular, came just to examine his wisdom. And what was it she said? Even your servants are blessed. Now it's not just your court, it's your servants. They are blessed and the wind was taken out of her sails. And yet he had warnings. Look at 1 Kings 11 and verse 4. Now this isn't new to anybody. 1 Kings chapter 11 and verse 4. And the reason we go to this is because we are still in the same boat today where the Bible is plain about things and we decide to do it our way. 1 Kings 11 Now, his wives did exactly what God said would happen if he took them as wives. That's not the wives' fault. They were behaving exactly the way they were when he married them. But Solomon, the wisest of men, thinks that he's not subject to the laws of God or they won't affect him. So we had, first of all, the man after God's own heart, then the wisest man on the face of the earth, that is, wisdom above all else. And he ignored the warnings about marrying the idolaters around them. Marrying into the idolatrous practices around them. And what happened? The kingdom was divided. The kingdom was divided. And so all that was left to David was the southern kingdom, which he called Judah, but it's Judah and Benjamin. And the other 10 tribes to the north became Israel. Jeroboam led them away. And what's Jeroboam they benchmark for? He taught Israel to sin. He wanted to make a distinction between Israel and Judah, and so he invented idolatry in the north so that those people would be united around a God that wasn't the same God that they left, and there would be a difference between the two nations. He taught Israel to sin, didn't he? So the kingdom was divided. Of Judah, you can say this, they had some really good kings. Hezekiah and Josiah, David, some of Solomon, And yet Daniel is written about the children of Judah being carried into captivity for idolatry and for violating the Sabbath and all those things. Israel, they had bad kings. You can't find a good one amongst them. That is the Northern tribes. They had bad kings. They had intentional idolatry. And even their example and their judgment came upon them before it came upon the Southern kingdom. The Bible says, in Jeremiah 3, verse 7, that Judah saw what happened to Israel and their rebellion, and they did worse than Israel did. Do you understand how insane this is? Now, I say that knowing full well that any one of us can demonstrate insanity too. But when my point is the Jews made a mess of the kingdom, it didn't last two generations without being divided. And both kingdoms, the North was all idolatrous. They went into captivity. And the South was fat, dumb, and happy. And they went into idolatry. And there are people in our passage today that say, hey, just build houses here. None of this is going to happen to us. Even though they're surrounded, in fact, Uh, Daniels, uh, recounts a time when, no, I'm speaking of Ezekiel in the morning service, but Daniel recounts a time when they're in captivity and Daniels there. Jews made a mess of the kingdom. Now that's not a surprise to us. You know why? Because it's rare and even rarer still each day to see people that actually walk with God. We are promised this, that salvation's full and free. I got saved, I was completely saved in 1967. I'm not any more saved today than I was then. I trusted Christ as my savior. Never regretted that. And if you got saved, you're just as saved then as you are now. God's kept you just like he promised you. How's your walk with the Lord? Do you continue to do the things that God says don't do? God says don't do? Well, Israel had bad kings. They went into captivity. Judah had a lot of good kings, and they went into captivity. And they basically ignored all the warnings and commandments of God and went into captivity, didn't they? So it initiates the time of the Gentiles. In captivity, Daniel sees this dream, interprets the dream, and says, God puts down kings and raises up kings. And so Israel failed. Now the kingdom's gonna come back to them. They'll rule with Christ for a thousand years, but that's yet in the future. In the middle, there is the time of the Gentiles from Luke 21. So the Jews made a mess of the kingdom. Now, the next point is this. Guess what the Gentiles did? They make a mess of the kingdom. We make a mess of the kingdom, don't we? You look at, I've said this recently, there are places I'd still like to see. I mean, I've driven through Utah and Utah to me seems like a barren desert in a wilderness, which it is. But man, there's some beautiful places there. I've lived in the Sonoran Desert and the Mojave Desert, and there are beautiful places there. And literally, I've taken my Bible and stood out in the middle of the night at midnight and read my Bible from the light of the moon. and there are some beautiful places there, but it's a beauty that's different than here. There are places I'd like to see. I'd like to see the Roman ruins. Really, I'd rather see the Greek ruins. There's stuff I wouldn't mind seeing. When you look at all the natural resources we have, I think I read about some guy finding a billion and a half on his property of one of those rare earth metals that's necessary for electric cars. and they won't let him mine it on his property because they're afraid of the pollution that it might create. I'm not for pollution. But just think of all the minerals and the rare earth things that are all over this earth. Think of the beauty of places you wouldn't expect beauty. I'm sure Siberia is beautiful sometime of the year. Even in the winter it's probably beautiful sometime, isn't it? There are places that you may not expect it, but God's handiwork is all over this earth. And now the Gentiles have control over it. And Nebuchadnezzar has two dreams, and they were both interpreted by Daniel, weren't they? And yet, before he repented, and I'm not going to go into those dreams, but before he repented, he had to be put out with pasture and grazed with cattle. Isn't that right? That's Daniel chapter number 4. He was out there, and I like these words. He's eating grass with the beasts of the field. And verse 36 of Daniel 4, At the same time my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me. and my counselors and my lord sought unto me and I was established in my kingdom and excellent majesty was added unto me. You know, what happened was, well verse 37, now I Nebuchadnezzar, remember, he's the first king, the head of gold, and the rest are inferior. I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the king of heaven. It took grazing for years in the pastures and the fields with cattle. before he finally was humbled. You know what's the sign of our humility? When we finally take God at his word. Hey, you can't do wrong and get away with it. It would be bad if you could get away with it. Why? Then you'd do even more wrong and probably worse stuff. It's going to exact a price, isn't it? So Nebuchadnezzar went out to pasture before he repented, and his repentance and his kingdom was short-lived because Belshazzar had a dream, and Daniel interpreted that. Well, he saw the hand writing on the wall, and Daniel came in and told him what it was, and the Medes and the Persians came in and took over that kingdom. So it was short-lived. The Medes and the Persians, and the Bible speaks of even Alexander, and they were short-lived. Now we have Rome, the longest, and yet there's no record of righteousness. So there's some freedom, like our country. Our country was established with religious freedom that they're trying to extinguish today. They're actively trying to extinguish religious freedom. When liberals are actually telling you watch out for churches to be attacked by terrorists, then when the liberals say that, you know that they're a little nervous about what could happen. Well, I was just thinking the other day, I'm a sap. I like the old muscle cars of the 60s. The new cars do pretty much everything better except for the pizzazz they have. What I like is finding, I've got a couple of books on garage finds, barn finds, where you look into a barn. I know there's one up in Whitefish. Many years ago, some woman had a 57 Chevy to sell or 55 Chevy to sell. No, it was a 54. 54 Chevy to sell. And someone looked at it and thought, well, I'll go and try it. She opened the door and it was a Corvette. Now, I love those stories. I like those old cars. But you know, if the powers that be in this world, the World Economic Forum, their objective is to get everyone to live in a little apartment. They don't own anything. These are his words. You don't own anything. You know what that means? That I just have an indulge, I enjoy those old muscle cars, but you can't own one. Who has the right to tell you not only what you can own, but that you can't own anything? Who has a right to? In other words, the Gentiles are messing up the kingdom. The time of the Gentiles is not ending a warm and fuzzy, is it? And you can look at all of the republics, and yes, Rome was supposed to be a republic. They degenerate without learning. And we've seen our own country in our time In our time, degenerate to idolatry, perversions. It's not just the presence of perversions, it's the fact that you're not only supposed to accept perversion, you're supposed to applaud it. I don't. I don't. Oppression. I've seen some of those interviews where in the Senate or the House someone is pushing one of the leaders of our government and say, how many people were prosecuted when they were torching downtown Seattle? Well, that's an ongoing investigation. That's not what I asked. How many are being prosecuted? How many did you arrest? And they won't answer the question. And yet the January 6th people, whether you like it or not, the January 6th people were put into solitary confinement and given third world conditions in jail. And no one was killed except the Capitol Police killed an unarmed woman, okay? How come they're not prosecuting because it's selective prosecution? You say, well, that's delving into politics. You know what my point is? Gentiles have made a mess of the kingdom. It's the time of the Gentiles. And there are some more, decent than others, yes, but look at Zechariah 14. We've looked many times at this, but notice Zechariah 14, verse 1, Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee, for I will gather. Remember, Daniel says he puts up kings and puts down kings. I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. Are we a nation? That means God's going, we're going to join in surrounding Jerusalem to exterminate them. What is my point? Well, first of all, the Jews made a mess of the kingdom that God established. Now the Gentiles are making a mess of the kingdom that God not only granted to Nebuchadnezzar, but then told him what was going to happen, appeared to him twice, told him the kingdoms that would follow him, and is doing exactly what he said it would do. And the Gentiles have so also destroyed the kingdom, haven't they? Number three, here's another one. Christians have in general made a mess of the church. Now, lots of people don't like to hear that. But if you were dropped from a hundred years ago into today, You wouldn't even darken the doors of a church, most of the churches today. Oh, you're old-fashioned. Thank you very much. Oh, you do the old way. Yes, that's right. Well, because they worked. And now churches are filled with people that probably don't even know the Lord. I knock on doors all the time and talk to people who go to this church and they don't know they're going to heaven when they die. Now, just going to the church doesn't give you that assurance, but why wouldn't you have heard what to do at least? Why wouldn't you? The Bible says in 1 Peter 4 that judgment must begin at the house of God. Remember, in the Old Testament, when Jews were in charge, it said, If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, I'll heal their land. 1 Peter tells us that judgment must begin at the house of God and people don't like to hear preaching on sin and preaching on the wages of sin and all those unhandy things that aren't popular with people. Christians make a mess of church before Paul was even gone. He warned of false prophets, of wolves in sheep clothing. He warned of worldliness. He warned of lethargy. He warned of abandoning the church, neglecting the church. And in fact, 2 Timothy 3 speaks of a religious context. They have the form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. It's nothing more than religion. Now, obviously, God says the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, but the church is becoming more and more remnant. Where are you going to hear the Bible? Where are you going to hear the Bible preached with power and where it doesn't have any certain brand on the door? Where are you going to hear? I want a church where the Bible is preached. Now, I like to identify with Baptists. I'm a Baptist. It'd be hard for me not to be. but it's not the church that saves you. You're born again by the power of God through his word, aren't you? Little influence on the world around us. Why could God tell the children of Israel, if my people get right, then I'll hear from heaven. He tells the New Testament church, judgment must begin in the house of God. And you look through history and the great revivals almost invariably started out with prayer meetings. Almost invariably. But we're too busy to pray. People are too busy to go to church. Church isn't important enough for people to be faithful. Church is the high point of my week. And by the way, it was a high point of my week before I was ever a pastor. When I moved to Los Angeles 40 years ago, more than 40 years ago, when I moved to Los Angeles, I did the same thing I'm doing now. I just helped the guy who was a pastor down there in Newberry Park. I enjoyed serving in the church, had no intention, had no idea I'd ever be a pastor. You know what I look forward to each week? Going to church on Sunday and teaching a class and sometimes preaching in the services and all that. Church should be the most important thing in your life. and Christians make a mess of church, and I'm so glad there are faithful people. We have good people here, and I'm thankful for that. But in general, and if you don't watch your own heart, you'll neglect the things you should pay attention to. If you don't watch your own heart, you'll be the wrong influence on people around you. If you don't watch your own heart, you could end up in, as David did, knowing what's right, but knowing you're powerless to do it. We have the indwelling spirit of God. Now, the whole text tells us number four, that is that God intervenes. Aren't you glad? Man makes a mess of everything we touch. I mean, think about at least 50% of marriages today end up in divorce. That's among Christians. At least 50%. You know what marriage is? It's a little taste of heaven before you get there. It's just a little taste of heaven. My wife was still horizontal this morning. I went in and took her coffee to her. I do that for her. Oh, I didn't, I didn't know you were coming in. I said, just relax. Gave some coffee to her. I enjoy spoiling her because she spoils me a whole lot more than I can spoil her. Marriage is a taste of heaven. It should be. I had a call yesterday from a guy on his third marriage, and he asked me one time, where'd you find your wife? I said, she's a piano player in my church. Now, it's hard to believe, isn't it? Oh, mine were found in bars. Maybe I should look elsewhere. You think? You think? Well, she doesn't agree with me. She didn't agree when you married her. Well, I think she hid it from me. Come on, come on. Like we were talking about, the woman you gave to be with me is guilty, not me. God intervenes. You know what our prayer life is all about? That God would intervene and save those loved ones that aren't saved. Save those neighbors that need to know Jesus. Provide the needs of those people that desperately have them, and God intervenes. Think about the mystery of the rapture, 1 Corinthians 15, 51. We'll all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. The Bible speaks of it as a mystery. That is, it's concealed in the Old Testament, but revealed in the New. So one day, There'll be a trumpet that probably only we will hear. And we'll be caught up together in the clouds with him and be with him forever. Wouldn't it be nice if that were today? Wouldn't that be all right? Like one of my preacher friends jumps up and down and says he's doing rapture practice. Okay. Wouldn't that be wonderful? The sad thing is a lot of churches would still be open next week. And maybe even sadder still would be the fact that the world is jaded by its own foolishness, would be glad to be rid of the Christians and never give a thought to the fact that we've been saying this would happen one day. The mystery of the rapture has been preached. They make fun of us for believing it. But when it comes in reality, it'll probably be ignored. probably, and there's a mystery. God intervenes and takes us home. Number two, there's all kinds of fulfillment of prophecies. Israel is going to be surrounded, and when they're surrounded, they will finally repent. Zechariah 9 says, they'll look upon me whom they have pierced, and they'll mourn for him. One day, Israel, who is the apple of God's eye, Israel will come back to the Lord, accept Jesus as Messiah, and all of them will be saved in a day, except according to Zechariah 13, two-thirds are dead. A third of them are left. Two-thirds go to the grave without trusting the words of God. Isn't that sad? We have the joy in our age, in this dispensation, of having the Holy Spirit of God indwelling in the believer. The day I got saved in 1967, Holy Spirit of God came and filled me and sealed me. People have told me a lot of times to go to hell. And I tell them, I can't. Because I'm saved. Jesus promised to take me home to heaven. Okay, they don't like to hear that. You don't have to go to hell either. Trust Jesus and you'll have the same confidence that I have. Not in me, but in my wonderful Savior. All the prophecies will be fulfilled. Think about it. Acts chapter one comes about, and the apostles who have seen Jesus abused, crucified, buried, and raised from the dead, they've talked with him, they've eaten with him, is now when you're gonna restore the kingdom to Israel? It says it's not for you to know the times or the seasons. In other words, God's going to restore the kingdom to Israel one day. It's just that he didn't tell us what day that was going to be. So all kinds of fulfillment of prophecies. And then look at Revelation chapter 2. Revelation chapter number 2 and verse 27. The Bible says, The Bible says in verse 27, He shall rule them with a rod of iron. As the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received my Father, and I will give them the morning star. This is where Jesus is crowned, because remember our text says that God raises up kings and puts them down. After Israel made a mess of the kingdom, after the Gentiles make a mess of the world, after the Christians even make a mess of the church in general, Jesus comes back, sits on that throne, and he rules with a rod of iron. And everything is going to be changed, and that's another message to go into, but everything will be changed in that day where those people that surrounded Jerusalem, you can look at this in Zechariah 14 too, those nations will have to come up to Jerusalem to worship the God of heaven in Jerusalem if they want rain for the next year. So the nations that hate Israel have to bow and scrape to Israel in the millennium. And at the end of the millennium, what happens? By the way, the millennium, the devil is bound for a thousand years. People say, well, the devil made me do it. No, you had your will. You did it. The devil might tempt you and lead you astray, but you're responsible. The devil didn't make Adam sin, but you can't say the devil made you do it in the millennium. But he's loosed for a season and he'll find the vast majority of this world that's tired of a righteous and holy reign. And there it's not even a whole verse where Jesus puts them down with the sword of his mouth. What happens? God puts down kingdoms and raises up kings, doesn't he? And one day Jesus will sit on the throne that he's been prepared for. And he'll rule for eternity. with a rod of iron for that first thousand years. He'll reign, and the increase of his government and peace, there should be no end upon the throne of David. It's incredible, isn't it? What that does, it should teach us this. We aren't to have confidence in men. David, you can read 2 Samuel 23. David didn't have confidence in flesh. He'd learned that. He wasn't impressed with himself. He'd learned that too. But he knew the one that he was the friend to the one, the man after God's own heart. His heart was toward the God of heaven. It's not a blessing, not a blessing. So what's the bottom line here? Don't be too concerned about things God's still in control. That doesn't mean we're not going to have some hard times. If we weren't to have hard times, then we'd have to resurrect all the people from the dark ages and apologize to them for not intervening in their persecutions. Because thousands, probably millions died, and they're dying still today. But God puts down kings and raises up kings. You look at the testimonies of people that actually died for their faith. And their walk with the Lord was so close before they lost their life. It probably defies description. Hope your walk with the Lord is right. We have been given a really blessed and a peaceful respite from the rest of this world. But don't let the rest of this world rob you of your joy. Let's pray.