4
The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till its wings were plucked; and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
Daniel 7:4
Conjugial Love # 81
81. While we were talking in sorrow about these things, suddenly a burst of light shone about us, dazzling my eyes. I looked up, therefore, and behold, the whole sky above us appeared lit up, and we heard a glorification echoing across it in long succession from the east to the west.
Then the angel said to me, "The glorification you hear is a glorification of the Lord on account of His Advent, and it is coming from angels of the eastern and western heavens." (From the southern and northern heavens we heard only a polite murmur.)
Moreover, since he understood it all, the angel told me, first, that glorifications and celebrations of the Lord are taken from the Word, because then they come from the Lord, inasmuch as the Lord is the Word, in the sense that He is the essential Divine truth in the Word.
Then the angel said, "Specifically now, they are glorifying and celebrating the Lord with these words which were spoken by the prophet Daniel:
You saw iron mixed with miry clay; they will mingle together through the seed of man, but they will not cohere.... But (in those days) the God of heaven will make to rise a kingdom which for ages shall not perish...; it shall crush and consume all these kingdoms, while it shall stand for ages. (Daniel 2:43-44)"
[2] After this I heard what seemed to be the sound of singing, and deeper in the east I saw a burst of light more brilliant than the first. And I asked the angel what they were glorifying there.
The angel said that they were glorifying the Lord with these words in Daniel:
I was seeing in the visions of night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, was One like the Son of man.... And to Him was given dominion...and a kingdom, and all peoples and nations...shall worship Him. His dominion is the dominion of an age, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one which shall not perish. (Daniel 7:13-14)
In addition, the angel said, they are celebrating the Lord with these phrases taken from the book of Revelation:
To (Jesus Christ) be glory and might.... Behold, He is coming with clouds.... (He is) the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last..., who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. I, John...heard...(this from the Son of Man from out of) the midst of the seven lampstands.... (Revelation 1:5-7; 22:13; 1:8-13; taken also from Matthew 24:30-31)
[3] I looked again into the eastern sky, and a light shone over to the right, whose glow extended into the southern hemisphere. Hearing as well a sweet sound, I asked the angel what aspect of the Lord they were glorifying there.
The angel said they were quoting these words in the book of Revelation:
I saw a new heaven and a new earth.... And I...saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride...for her husband.... And (an angel) talked with me and said, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he carried me away in the spirit on to a great and high mountain, and showed me the...city, the holy Jerusalem.... (Revelation 21:1-2,9-10)
Also these words:
I, Jesus...am...the Bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride shall say, "Come!".... (And He said,) "I also am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:16-17,20)
[4] After these and other things, we heard a general glorification echoing across the sky from the east to the west and also from the south to the north, and I asked the angel, "What is happening now?"
He said they were quoting these verses from the Prophets:
Let all flesh know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer.... (Isaiah 49:26)
Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts: "I am the First and the Last, and beside Me there is no God." (Isaiah 44:6)
It will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God, whom we have waited for to free us. This is Jehovah, whom we have waited for." (Isaiah 25:9)
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of Jehovah...." ...Behold, the Lord Jehovih comes in strength.... He will feed His flock like a shepherd. (Isaiah 40:3,10-11)
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given..., whose name shall be...Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
Behold, the days will come..., and I will raise to David a righteous Branch, who shall reign, a King.... And this is His name...: JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16)
Jehovah of Hosts is His name, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. He shall be called God of the whole earth. (Isaiah 54:5)
In that day...Jehovah shall become King over all the earth. In that day there will be one Jehovah and His name will be one. (Zechariah 14:8-9)
[5] When I heard these things and understood their meaning, as a result my heart leapt, and I went home filled with joy. And there, returning from the state of my spirit into a bodily state, I wrote down what I had seen and heard. To which I now add this, that following His Advent the Lord will revive conjugial love, such as it was among ancient peoples. For conjugial love comes only from the Lord, and it is found in people who are made spiritual by Him through His Word.
Daniel 3
1
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and its breadth six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
2
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
3
Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4
Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages,
5
that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up;
6
and whoever doesn't fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
7
Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
8
Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews.
9
They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, live for ever.
10
You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;
11
and whoever doesn't fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
12
There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not respected you. They don't serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
13
Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14
Nebuchadnezzar answered them, Is it on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don't serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
15
Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, [well]: but if you don't worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?
16
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17
If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
18
But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
19
Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his appearance was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: [therefore] he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
20
He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, [and] to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21
Then these men were bound in their pants, their tunics, and their mantles, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22
Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23
These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste: he spoke and said to his counselors, Didn't we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered the king, True, O king.
25
He answered, Look, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are unharmed; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.
26
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace: he spoke and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come forth, and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth out of the midst of the fire.
27
The satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their pants changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them.
28
Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
29
Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god who is able to deliver after this sort.
30
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
