Watchers in wait

Daniel 4:33 reads, “The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.”

Jordan explains, “That madness that goes in Nebuchadnezzar; there’s a name for it in the books: lycanthropy. It’s when a man or a woman imagines themselves to be an animal and Nebby goes stark-raving buggy, or I should say beastly. He just goes berserk. He’s out in the field and thinks he’s an ox.”

If you look on Wikipedia, clinical lycanthropy is defined as “a rare psychiatric syndrome that involves a delusion that the affected person can transform into, has transformed into, or is a non-human animal. . . Affected individuals report a delusional belief that they are in the process of transforming into an animal or have already transformed into an animal.”

Jordan continues to explain, “Now this madness he’s involved in here, notice the terminology. Over and over again, the madness and the reason for the detailed descriptions (in Daniel 4) are the terms that match the tribulation period. He goes out and he eats grass like a what? An ox. Do you remember when we studied Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 10 and Revelation 4 and we saw who an ox was a representative of? The cherub. Who’s that? Satan.

“Folks, people talk about him with the two horns--the two horns are the horns of an ox! People go around like this with their two fingers—peace, victory, that kind of stuff. They don’t know what in the world they’re talking about! You know what that is? Do you remember over there in Genesis 3 when He talked to the serpent and said you’re going to be cursed above all the cattle of the field?

“Some dumb thumps come along and say, ‘Well, see, your Bible’s not very scientific. It doesn’t know the difference between a reptile and a cattle.’ Well, my dear friend, you just haven’t studied far enough! There’s a revelation there that science can’t pick up on and botany and biology can’t get! That tells you that the serpent standing there was cattle—he was an ox!

“ ‘And his hair grows like eagles’ feathers.’ You go over in Ezekiel 1 and you’ll see that eagle associated with that same type of thing. That’s a Second Coming passage, by the way.

“His nails are said to grow like bird claws. You ever read in Revelation 18 about Babylon over there being the habitation of every filthy and foul bird? You know what birds are types of in the Bible? Demons.

“Did you ever read that parable in the Book of Mark and in Matthew about the sower who went out there and sowed that seed, and then the fowls of the air came out and what did they do? They snatched that seed away and Christ said, ‘That’s what Satan’s done; taken that word out of those peoples’ hearts.’ Those birds are demons that go in and snatch out that Book, see? That’s why in Revelation 18 they’re used in a passage that’s describing demonic activity.

“When Hitchcock put that movie out about how the birds are coming, you just thought he had a nightmare, didn’t you? You didn’t know that that fellow had . . . I tell you people that the creative genius of unsaved people is satanically inspired. Satan knows that Book even if a bunch of dumb Christians don’t.

“The greatest handbook on types and symbols in the universe is that one right there in your hands! Don’t you let somebody come along and say that Book isn’t important. That Book right there will explain to you what’s going on in the world when you don’t understand what’s going on.

“The types and the symbolism in art, movies, theatre of today come right out of that Book! In the great movie ‘Star Wars’ they say, ‘The Force be with you.’ That’s a quotation out of Daniel 11.

“See people, that book is THE Book!

“The tribulation period is going to be a time when God looks at the Antichrist and says, ‘He’s the beast! He’s a mad man!’ And what does the world do? They bow down and worship him and exalt insanity! Madness!

“Psalm 49:6 says, ‘They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.’ Verse 10 says, ‘For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.
[11] Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.’

“ ‘They call their land after their own names.’ Boy, isn’t that the telling the truth! ‘Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.’

“He said, ‘If you’re a guy like that, you know what you are? You’re a beast.’ Peter in II Peter 2 warns about a class of people who are literally beasts. II Peter 2:12 says, ‘But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption.’

“Natural brute beasts. Just fit for nothing but destruction. That’s a class of people that are just beasts.

“Notice the reference to Balaam in verse 15? Come over to Jude. Compare II Peter 2 with Jude and you’ll notice references to Sodom and Gomorrah preceded the passage we just read as they do in Jude verses 6 and 7 and then verse 8:

“Verse 10 says, ‘But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.’ All of that’s like Revelation 2:14 and 2:20.

“Verse 16 says, ‘These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.’

“You get the idea that these are a bunch of bad rascals, don’t you? This is just man gone mad and it’s the madness of self-will, and that willful king leads the nations in a mad pell-mell rush to destruction.

“Go back to Daniel 4 and notice Nebuchadnezzar is restored into his kingdom here. Daniel 4:34 says, ‘And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.’

“Folks, when Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself, God restored him and he’s found in his right mind. In verse 26 he comes to know that the most high rules in the kingdoms of men; he comes to know that the heavens DO rule!

“He’s not just saying, ‘God’s the boss.’ He’s saying that the heavens RUN things!

“There’s an interesting reference in verse 13: ‘I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;’ That holy one, by the way, Nebby understood that to be angels. If you go back to verse 8 he talks about ‘the spirit of the holy gods.’ Those are angels.

“Verse 17. In verse 23 he talks again about the watcher and the holy one coming down and giving the word. There’s a decree these angels bring down that results in what happens to Nebuchadnezzar happening.

“People, the watchers and the holy one there, that is a reference to the administration of the affairs of the universe. God Almighty has a government over this universe, not just over the earth, but over the whole universe.

“Notice they’re called the watchers. There’s a special class of these people who have the function of going about in the earth and seeing what goes on and carrying back to God the report before the judgment throne of God.

“Go to I Kings 22 and you’ll see a little glimpse of some of the activity of this deal. 22:19. There is a courtroom scene whereby what is going to happen on the earth, and what is determined, is decided upon, and there’s one that’s sent from that court down to the earth to see to the execution of God’s purpose.

“Now I can’t give you perfect understanding about how all that goes on, but Nebby came to understand that God Almighty ran the show and that what happened down here, happened according to His governmental authority and His control and His rule and His decision-making!

“The Book of Daniel is full of this stuff. Daniel 10:13. The reason Daniel and his prophetic import is so full of this is because in the tribulation period this is going to be the issue! Jesus Christ is going to come back down into the heavens and take over the government of the heavens, cast Satan down onto the earth (Rev. 12) and then follow him down here and take the earth away from him.

“People, the issue from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, is the authority of a throne over this universe!”