1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,800 S2 of Love in Context podcast welcomes you. Get ready for engaging unscripted conversations with 2 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:14,880 your hosts, Ben and Spencer. Our mission remains unchanged to explore the Bible through the powerful 3 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:20,800 lens of love. In this new season, we'll embark on a journey together, unearthing fresh insights and 4 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:25,280 gaining deeper understanding of how we can love God and live out our faith in practical ways. 5 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:31,360 So let's dive into this season of Love in Context, where love in the context of the Bible intersect 6 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:40,080 to transform our lives. Welcome back to the Love in Context podcast. That's going to be our new 7 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:47,040 intro right there. Me just making noise. I don't even know that's going to sound like. 8 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:53,520 Oh, that's so great. So great. So we are continuing on in our series of Kings and Kingdoms. 9 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:58,240 Week five. Yep. Talking about it. Did I do this right? Yeah. Week five. I had to count. 10 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:04,480 It is somewhere between week one and eight. I was by the way, I was going to mention that 11 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,360 we had a comment on the YouTube video a few weeks ago when we were saying, raise your hand. Have 12 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,800 you ever heard of snack a Rebbe? And they're like, I can't raise my hand. I don't know who that is. 13 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:19,520 So great. So great. We're going to be talking about Darius today. Darius the first Darius, 14 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:24,880 the first, which the second does imply that there was more than one Darius. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So 15 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:31,440 what do we know about Darius? He's a king. He is a king. He had a kingdom. Very true. I know. Well 16 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:36,480 done. I'm being so helpful right now. Would you like a gold star? Do you have one? No, I know you 17 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:41,120 don't. So you're literally making promises that you can't fulfill. Do you hear that YouTube? You 18 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:46,720 hear that Spotify? You hear that other places that we post? He makes promises and he does not fulfill 19 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:55,920 them. Only to you. So Darius, also known as Darius the great rule the Persian empire from about 522 20 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:01,200 to about 486 BCE. I'm going to give you a spoiler alert. Anybody who calls themselves the great 21 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:09,120 tends to have some issues. You think about Alexander the great, we're going to talk about 22 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:14,400 another one called Herod the great. I don't think they had quite the same level of psychological 23 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:19,280 evaluations back then. Probably not. Even if they did, like we were talking about in our last 24 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,840 episode, it's like who's going to tell the most powerful person in the world that, hey, your brain 25 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:29,280 isn't quite right. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Right. You think a little too highly of yourself. 26 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,720 Really? Do you want to talk to my army about that? Oh, I do? Well, I'm just going to cut 27 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:45,440 your head off for insulting me. So Darius, he was mostly known for military conquest. Yeah. And so 28 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:50,320 we're going to go Persian empire now. Persians coming in and completely knocking out the Babylonians, 29 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,840 which by the way, if you, last week we were talking about Daniel, we were talking about Nebuchadnezzar. 30 00:02:54,400 --> 00:03:00,000 There's actually a vision of Daniel in the book of Daniel where it talks about nation getting 31 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,200 knocked out by nation, getting knocked out by nation. We're actually kind of going through 32 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,760 them right now. Right? And so Babylon is just completely knocked out. Assyria is knocked out 33 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:14,720 by Babylon. Babylon is knocked out by Persia. And so he is, like, like, like you said, he's known 34 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:19,360 for his expansion because they, uh, takes over territories. So Babylon was taken over. Egypt was 35 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:27,600 taken over and parts of India, India, to put context in this, that is a huge, massive empire 36 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:33,920 for that day and age. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's massive, which by the way is, is one of the things 37 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:39,040 that led to, uh, administrative reforms, the way that he actually started running his government. 38 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:44,320 So, uh, it was a centralized government. So Darius implemented a system of satrapies. Yeah, that's 39 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:50,080 right. That's a word. It's basically provinces to manage all of this vast Persian empire. So, 40 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:55,200 uh, such a satrapy is a Providence or region governed by a satrap, hence why I sell it called 41 00:03:55,200 --> 00:04:00,640 a satrapy, right? Um, who acted as the king's representative, right? So somebody is in charge 42 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,560 of this area that the king's representative. And so this allowed them to have more efficient 43 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,920 administration and diverse and extensive territories of the Persian empire. Cause you 44 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:13,120 have each person in charge of a little area who reports up to the big person. Right. And, uh, so 45 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:18,400 the, the satraps were typically appointed by the king and they'd be members of the royal family, 46 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:24,240 trusted noble local leaders. Yeah. But their loyalty was incredibly crucial because they held 47 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:30,640 significant power, um, that the empire has now diffused. Yeah. Right. Their administrative 48 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:37,440 responsibilities, uh, collecting taxes, maintaining order or odor. They were teenagers. They had to 49 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:44,880 maintain odor, um, maintaining order and overseeing, sorry, Spencer works with teenagers. So that's a 50 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,800 little too close to home for him. Oh, that's hilarious. They had to collect taxes. They had 51 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:53,840 to maintain order and oversee local governance. And so they had the authority to enforce the 52 00:04:53,840 --> 00:05:00,320 laws and manage resources. Um, but to the king specifications, right? So they can just go, 53 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:06,240 you know, uh, go cowboy on this and just do whatever they wanted. Right. Um, so, but each, 54 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:12,160 each province was then expected to provide troops for the Persian army and maintain local security. 55 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:16,560 So they not only had to, uh, send people off to be part of the Persian empire, who is going to 56 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:22,880 continue to expand their territory, but they also had to retain local presence as well, uh, to make 57 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,880 sure that they were maintaining security and everybody was staying under the heel of Persia. 58 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:32,720 So what this allows is that communication and control is facilitated very quickly. And so then 59 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:36,640 you have, uh, you're able to have this sprawling empire. Cause you know that if you're, if you only 60 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,880 have centralized power in one spot, there's only so far you can go before your authority runs out. 61 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:47,040 Yeah. So diffusing it over like, uh, let's just say hundreds of different people over different areas 62 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:52,080 is going to give you the ability to continue to move your presence further and further out 63 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,920 while still maintaining the same level of authority. Yeah. One of the things that sets 64 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:02,960 Persia apart from Babylon or Babylonia is that Persia was actually more focused on quantity 65 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:08,080 quality. Yeah. Like, so they were more about, okay, how big of an army can we get? We don't 66 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,840 need the best tools, but if we have a big enough army, it doesn't matter if the other army has 67 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:16,720 better tools. We'll still take them out. Right. Right. And so that, so Persia wasn't really known 68 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:21,920 for their technological achievements. They did have some, um, but they were known for the size 69 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:28,080 of their army. So like their army was so flipping big that, uh, that when people are like, oh, 70 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:32,560 you're going to go up against Persia. Cool. We'll have fun dying tomorrow. Like that was the, 71 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:37,680 that was the mindset. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you just, you just, it's just overwhelming odds. And, uh, 72 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:43,120 um, by the way, I really want it. I really want you to understand, understand this idea of regional, 73 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,320 there's understand this idea of, I want to say dictatorships, if that's not what I meant. 74 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,480 This idea of regional, uh, responsibility, because it's going to be a really big deal. 75 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:55,600 When we talk about Ossowarra's next week, um, when we're talking about the next king. So, 76 00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:01,120 but this is already in place and then Ossowarra's is going to step into that, uh, after this. Um, 77 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:08,400 yeah, just, I mean, if you imagine like, uh, like a spider can kill an ant, but if there's like a 78 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:13,360 thousand ants versus a spider, it's problematic for the spider. Right. And it's, that's kind of 79 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,720 like the whole person thing is it's not that they weren't bad, they were bad at war, but they just 80 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,400 said so many overwhelming numbers that even if somebody was better, they're still going to lose. 81 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,360 Right. Um, which makes sense if you talk about all these regions, they're having to send off 82 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:29,440 troops on a regular basis and maintain local security. So now you're not having to use your, 83 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:36,560 your occupying troops or your conquesting troops to secure your land. That's a big deal. Um, 84 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:41,840 something else that Darius did is he did a lot of, uh, uh, legal reform. So standardization of the 85 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,760 laws all across the area. So you think about all these different tribes, all these different 86 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,720 regions, they're all going to have different variations of the laws. He's like, nope, 87 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,040 we have one standard law. This is how you're going to do it. Right. Everybody is going to follow 88 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:59,360 this thing exactly the same way. Right. Uh, unity of the, the, uh, taking the device, diverse cultures 89 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:04,640 and legal practices, the various areas standardization now provides legal proceeding and ensure that 90 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:09,120 similar offenses were treated all throughout the region or out throughout the nation the same way. 91 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:16,400 Okay. Um, with that, you have the codification of legal codes, right? So, um, he actually, 92 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,920 he actually then outlines and gives it to them. So they, they have this, uh, this codification 93 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,760 makes it more accessible and understanding to the populace. So it's not just rules that people 94 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:30,480 don't know. Now everybody knows the rules and if you break the rules, you know what the price is 95 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:35,760 for breaking the rules. Right. Um, in this way, way knowledge is helping them maintain power. 96 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:41,280 Right. Um, and the legal forms included establishment of local courts and judges within 97 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:48,320 each setrapi. Right. So allowing the resolution of disputes at local levels, this decentralized 98 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,480 judicial system ensured that the legal matters could be handled more efficiently and in accordance 99 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,720 with local customs while still adhering to the overall legal framework set by the central 100 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:01,120 government. Cause you don't want to be the king of Persia dealing with a guy who's still bred 101 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:07,680 in one of your furthest outreaching, you know, regions, right? Like it's a big deal. And, uh, 102 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:12,560 and a few of these things start to play in together. Like, so like in infrastructure, um, 103 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:16,080 one of the things that Darius is credited with is building what's called the Royal road. This is not 104 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:20,640 the rainbow road for those of you that play Mario, it's the Royal road. Um, and what this does is 105 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:25,280 allows them to trade and facilitate communication over vast distances in a much more time effective 106 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:31,680 manner. Um, I don't know if you've been in mountainous region, but unless you have roads, 107 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:37,440 it can take a while to get word from one place to another. Yes. Yes. We live in Alaska. Um, uh, 108 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:43,440 I do a lot of hunting and there's some areas that, well, that I'm like, oh, it won't be that bad to 109 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:50,400 get up to this area to go hunt. And then, um, as I'm climbing up to that area, I have all sorts of 110 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:56,240 thoughts and words coming out of my mouth as I'm, as I'm like, I made a horrible decision. And then 111 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:02,720 I get up there and I'm like, it better be the best animal I have ever seen for me to pull the 112 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,720 trigger on this one. And then you don't find anything. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So mountainous 113 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,720 regions are hard to get across. One of the things Darius did with this road system though, 114 00:10:11,680 --> 00:10:18,320 is he actually established waypoints along there. So, so he was able to actually communicate 115 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:24,480 his message with across the entire kingdom in a matter of, I think it was like nine to 11 days, 116 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:29,840 something like that, which sounds slow to us, but was, it's so fast by ancient standards. And so 117 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,600 what it was, is there, there were these way stations where, where they figured out, okay, 118 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:38,960 we can ride a horse from this spot to this spot before the horse is worn out. So we're going to 119 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:44,080 put a way station here. Uh, another horse is going to take off from there. And that's what they did 120 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:48,720 all throughout this road. And so they would pass messages all the way from central India at the 121 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:54,160 time to Egypt in about nine to 11 days. Well, and he actually did even more than that. Cause he 122 00:10:54,160 --> 00:11:00,560 actually cut a canal that connected the Nile to the Red sea. Yeah. Right. So, um, so he's not only 123 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:05,760 connecting land, but he's also connecting water. Right. And so like, cause boating is becoming a 124 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:12,000 much, much bigger thing at this time. So, uh, now if you need supplies for this ever moving army, 125 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:16,320 or regions, or let's just say there's a, there's a natural disaster in an area and you're needing 126 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:20,320 to shift food or resources to an area, you're able to actually ship food and resources and 127 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:25,920 everything to these places inside of your kingdom in a much more effective manner. Right. Um, 128 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,280 because people tend not to rebel when they're not hungry. Right. Yeah. 129 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:32,960 It takes about the same amount of time. It takes Amazon to get us a package. 130 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:37,760 It is, uh, one of my favorite things. And this is by the way, Amazon, not, not a sponsor, 131 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:43,680 but if you, if you order something when, when I see the commercials and they're like same day, 132 00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:48,720 and I was like, not in ket, not, not, not in Alaska. Nope. Not in Alaska. Uh, it's, 133 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,880 it's going to take a least, uh, it is free shipping and it will show up. Yeah. It is free 134 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:57,200 shipping and we'll show up. Um, but beyond that, it's, it's not going to be a big deal. 135 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:01,600 It's going to be a big deal. It's going to be a big deal. It's going to be a big deal. 136 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:08,320 But beyond that, it's, it's not going to be quick. Yeah. No. Um, so the other thing is moving in. 137 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,520 So he's codifying all these different things. He's, he's establishing these trade routes. 138 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:15,920 He's putting a lot of people in authority that report back to him. Um, the other thing that 139 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:21,840 he's really pushing is cultural and religious tolerance. Right. Um, so Darius promoted a policy 140 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:27,280 of a religious and cultural tolerance, allowing the various people from all over his empire to, 141 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:33,840 um, have their own customs and beliefs, uh, to help maintain peace and stability. Now we're going 142 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:38,560 to get into some stories about why, like even with that, he, there were some expectations on that, 143 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:43,120 but overall they were allowed to keep their customs as long as they adhere to some different things. 144 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:49,440 And then, uh, uh, in his lifetime, Darius was also a massive supporter supporter of a very 145 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:55,840 popular religion religion at that point. It's called Zoro Zoroastrianism. Sorry. Nailed it. 146 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,200 Yeah. It's, it's not an easy one to say. Um, I actually wrote it down because I was like, 147 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:03,760 there's no way I'm going to be able to remember how to say that, um, shaping the religious, 148 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:10,320 the religious landscape of the empire. So, uh, I'm going to call it Zoro. Just anybody who has a 149 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,520 problem with me calling it that just feel free to send me an email, but I'm just going to call it 150 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:17,760 Zoro. Okay. Cause I don't want to try to say that every time and mess it up, but it's based on the 151 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:24,160 teaching of a prophet by the name of a Zoroaster or a Zara thruster, depending on who, uh, what 152 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:29,360 translation you look at, uh, who emphasized this duality of good and evil. And, uh, this, 153 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,920 this central belief is that there's a God by the name of Ahura Mazda, which is not the car, 154 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:39,040 by the way. Um, that's the Supreme God representing truth and light. And then there's Agra, 155 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:44,720 my not, my non you, uh, it's a spirit of chaos and darkness. And there's this cosmic struggle 156 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:50,480 that's going on, right? And when you do good, like you feed the God of light. And when you do bad, 157 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:55,200 you feed the God of darkness. And, uh, so it emphasizes like this ethical living with core 158 00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:00,720 principles, good thoughts, good words, good deeds, uh, prayers, offerings, ceremony centered around 159 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:06,960 fire, which symbolizing purity and the presence of Ahura Mazda. Uh, I just can't not hear the car now. 160 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:13,200 Um, and they believe the, that in the afterlife, their souls are going to be judged based on their 161 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:18,320 deeds, the righteous being rewarded in paradise while the wicked face of punishment. Now I want 162 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:24,080 to pause here because there are a number of people that I've encountered that look at 163 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:30,480 Christianity through this lens. Yeah. And hopefully through listening to us, you understand 164 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:35,520 that this is not Christianity and it's not even close to Christianity. 165 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,640 But there are a number of people who believe that they're going to take their good deeds 166 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,920 and their bad deeds. You're going to set them on a scale in whichever one weighs heavier 167 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:48,320 is going to determine your eternal faith. You know who there's, there's another nation we've 168 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:55,200 talked about that has a similar practice to that. How many things now Ben's being facetious. 169 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:02,320 Uh, I think it was, uh, let me, uh, Egypt. Yeah. Right. Right. That's like when they're going to 170 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:07,680 the afterlife, they weigh out the good and the bad and it determines how that goes for you. 171 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:13,440 And the main reason I want to pause here, it just pause there is because I think there is a tendency 172 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:20,000 in our faith to fall into this trap of like religions that have like, God has telling a 173 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:25,760 different story on purpose. The whole story of redemption is that God is, as you live in community 174 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:32,560 with God, that he's going to walk with you. And it's not because of something you did, 175 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:38,640 but because of who he is. But when you walk with him, he calls you to walk a certain way. And, uh, 176 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:43,040 and there, there are, there are a number of people still through this day who have this idea and 177 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:49,200 inside the Christian church who have this idea that you do good and God is happy with you and 178 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:54,800 you do bad and God is mad at you. Yeah. I also want to just add one caveat on the good and bad. 179 00:15:54,800 --> 00:16:01,680 Yeah. A little bit. Uh, so there's, we often view that through a Westernized modern cultural lens 180 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:05,920 of like what we interpret as good and bad. Okay. Yeah. A hundred percent. Um, and you have to 181 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:11,520 understand what we interpret as good and bad today is different than what Egypt interpreted as good 182 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:17,040 and bad in their day, which is different than what Persia interpreted as good and bad. So if, if you're 183 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:21,200 really going to dive into this and want to understand more about the, the, the thought 184 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:26,880 process, this religious system that Egypt had, that Persia had, uh, you need to take time to 185 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:33,120 also dive into what they deemed as good and what they deemed as bad. Correct. Correct. Yeah. Um, 186 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:38,560 the main, the main thrust of this is that we understand that we are, uh, we are accepted 187 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:43,440 because of whose image we're made in. And it is actually us having faith in the faithfulness of 188 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:49,280 Jesus Christ and his sacrifice that enables us to walk with God in communion. It opens this door to 189 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,920 the kingdom of God for us to walk in. Um, there is, there is no cosmic battle between God and the 190 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:59,680 devil. God won that a long time ago. Yeah. Um, and you know, the whole thing it's finished. Yeah. 191 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:06,560 The battle's done. War's done. He won it handily. And, uh, and now the choice for us is that, are 192 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:11,120 we going to walk in that freedom or are we going to choose to live in our old ways? Right? Yeah. 193 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:15,840 So that was the, a little aside. We're going to get back into this. So one of the things Persia 194 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:21,360 is also known for, and I've talked about a little bit, but is military strategies. Now they differed 195 00:17:21,360 --> 00:17:28,400 from surrounding nations. Okay. They were more focused on expansion and defense than they were 196 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:34,320 on like siege warfare. Right. Right. So they were, uh, like I said, there were, they were a nation 197 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:39,600 of quantity, not quality. Right. Right. They actually had, uh, one of the things that can be 198 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:44,560 accounted through history about the Persian army is that they had a variety of weaponry. And that's 199 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:49,840 because as they expanded, they pulled people from local regions, created their own militia that then, 200 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:56,240 uh, led into the expansion force that Persia had. Uh, and what Persia did is like, actually, 201 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,640 you know how to use those weapons, keep using those. Yeah. Right. Um, and we're just going to 202 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:04,080 create a massive army. You use the weapons, you know how to use, and we're going to go take over 203 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:08,480 more nations. Well, and as you, if you think about that is like, if you go in and a nation just 204 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:14,080 surrenders to you, then you actually end up adding people to your army without having to lose anybody. 205 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:20,560 Right. So, um, obviously Babylon is conquered. Uh, he solidifies his control over Babylon. Um, and 206 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,720 then there's a country, the Scythian, there's a Scythian campaign. He grows and takes over Scythia. 207 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:31,120 It's, uh, modern day Ukraine is the area, um, expands, uh, Persia into the Northwest and, uh, 208 00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:36,400 he starts to incorporate new territories, getting further into Egypt and, uh, and placing people in 209 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:41,440 authority there, uh, going into India. Like we talked about again, once again, um, particularly 210 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:45,120 he's going to be in the regions of like the Indus river, uh, because it's going to help increase the 211 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:50,480 empire's wealth and resources because now you're able to trade and move, um, move things at a much 212 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:55,440 more, uh, much more faster pace. Wow. I'm, I'm good at English, good at English. You're doing great. 213 00:18:55,440 --> 00:19:00,160 I, I'm good at English today. Um, yeah. And then like, to your point, you're talking about the 214 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:06,000 standing army, right? Uh, the defense. So standing army. Um, so I love this, uh, Darius established a 215 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,960 well organized standing army known as the immortals consisting of 10,000 elite soldiers. 216 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:16,240 And this force was crucial for both the defense and, uh, expansion, providing a reliable military 217 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,160 presence throughout the empire. By the way, if you've seen 300, they kind of played with this a 218 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:26,560 little bit, but that was with Xerxes, but it's same idea, the immortals, right? Yeah. Um, and then, uh, 219 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:32,400 this is, this is, um, this is a piece with like every time he's advancing, he's also creating so 220 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:37,520 that they're, they're fortifying specific cities, key cities, um, and making sure like your point 221 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,680 with the way, the way points that there's this royal road. And so these specific places that you 222 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:47,200 can go place to place to place to place and, uh, these cities that are, are fortified and, and a 223 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:53,840 process throughout the country, right? Um, and also provide them with a warning system. Yeah. 224 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:59,280 Yeah. Absolutely. They could have a quick defense response. And if each, and if each region is 225 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:04,800 supposed to maintain a fighting force, as well as sending troops to the army, what that means is 226 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,840 that if you're going through and announcing, then everybody's bringing their, their fighting 227 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:14,640 troops forward, right? Um, naval power is becoming a thing at this point. Uh, so not Persia was 228 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:19,280 actually one of the main players in developing that. Yeah. And so they have this Navy not only 229 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:25,440 to protect their trade routes, but also some more support their military operations. And, uh, um, 230 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:30,400 Darius, one of the things about, uh, when they would deal with rebellion is because you have 231 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,400 these regional people who are in charge of handling the rebellions, if they want to maintain control 232 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:40,800 of their little kingdom, you can't have rebellion happening in your area. So their job is to make 233 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:45,760 sure that people don't rebel and the people who do rebel, you don't hear from again. Yeah. Right. 234 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:51,840 That's a fancy way of saying they get killed, but, um, thanks for the clarification. You're welcome. 235 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:57,120 I just want to make sure that, uh, people know. So this is, this is who Darius is like, so he's a, 236 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:04,480 he's a king of a, of a, of a expanding empire, um, moving into all the known places of the world. 237 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,160 Uh, people are, you know, there's people who are being placed in authority underneath him 238 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:11,120 and, uh, and they're just like going, going, going, going, going, going, right. 239 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:17,920 And, um, enter the back half of the book of Daniel. Um, there's a couple of places in scripture 240 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:22,720 we're going to talk about and back half of Daniel, there's a story, uh, and then in the book of Ezra 241 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:28,880 when the Israelites are being released, we're also going to be talking about that. So also just 242 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:33,440 because it's fun on the podcast is raise your hand if you realized Ezra and Daniel took place in the 243 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:40,000 same time. I mean, I did, but yeah, but, uh, it's, uh, it's, it is a little bit surprising 244 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:46,320 because sometimes we have a hard time putting these on a, uh, time timeline, right? Uh, so let me 245 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:50,880 go back to the book of Daniel. So like we were talking about last week, if you have not read 246 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:55,120 the book of Daniel recently, I would recommend, uh, reading through the story of Daniel in the 247 00:21:55,120 --> 00:22:01,120 lions den, uh, because this is one that's going to be dealing specifically with Darius. Um, also 248 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:06,240 Ezra four through six, that's going to be a lot of the places where we actually hear from Darius. 249 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,840 Um, if you haven't read the book of Ezra, I also recommend maybe just, uh, doing the Bible project 250 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,840 Ezra on that as well so that you can kind of get a context for that before our conversation here. 251 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:25,760 Yeah. So, uh, when we last left, um, Daniel, when we last left Daniel, um, Nebuchadnezzar had been 252 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:31,440 humbled and then after this, there's this whole thing about the hand writing on the wall, right? 253 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:37,040 That, uh, that the destruction is coming. So destruction has come to Babylon. Now Persia 254 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:44,000 is in charge of, um, what was previously Babylon. So Darius, Darius is now in charge of this area. 255 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:49,120 Um, so Daniel has given this, this, uh, um, what was about to happen. It says that very night at 256 00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:53,760 the end of chapter five, first 30, that very night, Belshazzar king of the Babylonians was slain. 257 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:59,840 Darius the mead took over the kingdom at the age of 62. Okay. And it pleased Darius to appoint 258 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:05,040 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom with three administrators over them. One of whom was 259 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:10,800 Daniel. Okay. So Daniel apparently is real popular with people, right? Cause he's, he probably 260 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:16,560 watches them and he's like, this guy knows what he's doing. Right. Um, so Darius has taken over 261 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:21,760 and then right away, what does he do? Points Daniel and 120, uh, regional people with three 262 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:27,200 to oversee them. And all three of those report back to him. Right. So he's real, real invested 263 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:31,680 in this type of government. Right. Um, so I'm just going to read this story because I think this is, 264 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:39,520 it is an interesting story. Um, the satraps were made accountable to them, uh, to them so that the 265 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:43,920 king might not suffer loss. Now, Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators 266 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:48,000 and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole 267 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:54,080 kingdom at this, the administration, the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel 268 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:58,480 in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption 269 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,800 in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally, these men said, 270 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:07,120 we will never find any basis for charges against this man, Daniel, unless it has something to do 271 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:15,520 with the law of his God. Okay. So he sets Daniel up and he's like, he's like, you're one of three, 272 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:20,160 but because Daniel's so good at it, he's like, I'm planning on putting you just in charge of like 273 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:26,480 everything. And then you report to me. Yeah. Like you're going to be number two. Um, so I do want 274 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:32,880 to compliment Darius on, on recognizing like, yeah, he, he puts good people in authority. Um, 275 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,480 and then, so then you have a bunch of people who are like, well, we can't find anything negligent 276 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:42,640 about him. So let's go and attack something that doesn't actually really matter to Darius. 277 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:48,960 We're going to come at this sideways. Yeah. Right. Because Darius wants, once again, uh, 278 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:54,560 religious tolerance, he doesn't really care who you worship. As long as you give him what he's 279 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:58,880 supposed to have and administer his stuff. Well, yeah, he's like, we're good. Right. 280 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,840 So then what happens here? Okay. So the administrators, uh, continuing verse six, 281 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:09,280 the administrators and sat traps went as a group to the King and said, may Darius live forever. 282 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:16,320 He's 62. So that's probably not going to happen. Um, the Royal, uh, see he's probably older. Yeah. 283 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:21,600 Probably the Royal administrators, prefects, sat traps, advisors, and governors have all agreed 284 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,840 that the King should issue the edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any God of, 285 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:31,360 or human being during any human being during the next 30 days, except to you, your majesty should 286 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:35,600 be thrown into the lion's den. Now your majesty issued a decree and put it in writing so that it 287 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:40,320 cannot be altered in accordance with the law of the means and the Persians, which cannot be repealed. 288 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:46,880 So King Darius put the decree in writing. Okay. So quick problem here. They said 289 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:51,360 the Royal administrators, prefects, sat traps, advisors, and governors have all agreed. 290 00:25:52,880 --> 00:26:00,160 Is that true? No, no. Cause who would have known that if they had agreed? Daniel, Daniel, 291 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:06,960 one of the three guys in charge. So this is a lie, but King Darius writes it in anyways. 292 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:13,280 So now when Daniel learned the decree had been published. Okay. So clearly Daniel didn't know 293 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:18,320 about it. He went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem. Three times 294 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:22,720 a day, he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 295 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,880 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to 296 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:31,520 the King and spoke to him about his Royal decree. Did you not publish a decree that during the next 297 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:36,160 30 days, anyone who prays to any God or human being except to you, your majesty would be thrown 298 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:40,000 into the lion's den. The King answered, this decree stands in accordance with the law of the 299 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:45,280 means and the Persians, which cannot be repealed. Then they said to him, to the King, Daniel, who 300 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:49,920 is one of the exiles from Judah pays no attention to you, your majesty, or to the decrees you put 301 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:54,800 in writing. He still prays three times a day. When the King heard this, he was greatly distressed. 302 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,800 He was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him. 303 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:08,080 Darius is very different than Nebuchadnezzar. He's like, oh, okay, yeah, if you want to. 304 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:15,920 That's fine. I don't mind being praised. Cultural tolerance, religious tolerance has been a thing 305 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:24,000 in his area. But these guys are shysty. They're like, hey, didn't you remember that rule that you 306 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:29,120 put out there that nobody could do this? He's like, oh, yeah, I remember that rule. Yeah. So 307 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:40,400 Daniel broke it and he's like, y'all set this up, didn't you? Yeah, right. But unlike Nebuchadnezzar, 308 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:45,040 who probably would have been like, I'm just going to kill you all, Darius is like, nope, 309 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:49,120 this law has been made and now we have to try to work within these confines of these rules that 310 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:54,560 have been made to rescue Daniel. One side note on Daniel here, which I'm not going to spend a ton 311 00:27:54,560 --> 00:28:03,040 of time on this, but I think it's worth saying is that when Daniel learned about this decree 312 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:10,320 that puts his life in danger, he goes to God and gives thanks just like he's done before. 313 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,720 There's something to be said about when trials, tribulations come our way, 314 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:23,280 just continue to be who you are with God. Yeah. Yeah. That's a dynamite takeaway from that. 315 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:29,200 So he does every effort until Sunday, but he just can't figure out a way to get him out of it. So 316 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:33,680 continuing 16, so the king gave the order and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lion's den, 317 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:38,480 which by the way, like, why do you have a den of lions? Because you can, I guess, because you can, 318 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:45,360 right? And he threw him into the lion's den. The king said to Daniel, may your God, whom you serve 319 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:49,760 continually rescue you. By the way, this is once again, Darius doesn't care that Daniel serves God 320 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:57,760 because he's fully aware. Right. And he says, may your God actually save you. So the story goes 321 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:04,720 through and, and Daniel is safe at the end. And I want to jump in here in verse 22, says the king 322 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:08,240 was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the 323 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:14,320 den, no wound was found on him because he had trusted in his God at the king's command. The men 324 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:19,440 who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lion's den along with their wives 325 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:24,160 and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed 326 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:29,040 all their bones. Then King Darius wrote to all the lions were in there. I know what they didn't eat 327 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:34,800 them. They just crushed their bones. Well, I have one, one thought here too. It's going to be 328 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:38,960 something I probably won't resolve, but I'll bring up in a second. Then King Darius wrote to all the 329 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:43,440 nations and the peoples of every English and every language in all the earth. So he sends a message 330 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:50,000 all across the nation. May you prosper greatly. I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom, 331 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:55,360 people must fear and reverence that God of Daniel, for he is the living God and he endures forever. 332 00:29:55,360 --> 00:30:01,040 His kingdom will not be destroyed. His dominion will never end his rescue. He rescues any saves. 333 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:06,080 He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of 334 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:11,360 the lions. So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus, the Persian. Okay. 335 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:15,040 Um, I did think this is interesting. I just want to point this out here. He says the men who had 336 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:19,760 falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions. And the issue I have, of course, 337 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:24,080 with that is that they didn't actually falsely accuse him. They just set up the situation to 338 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:30,000 trap Daniel. And I think probably if I went into the, the Hebrew Aramaic, depending on 339 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:35,120 which portion of Daniel that is, by the way, um, the book of Daniel was written in both Hebrew and 340 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:41,920 Aramaic. So it's actually one of the most difficult books to translate. Yeah. Um, and there, 341 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,520 there might be a reason that some of it's written in Hebrew and some is written in Aramaic. Um, 342 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:52,720 but it's written that way on purpose. Um, but so Darius then writes to everybody. He's like, 343 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:59,040 Hey, so the idea here was, uh, to kill Daniel because of who he served, 344 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:04,240 but we recognize from this event, his God is living God, and he's the one who's going to protect 345 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:08,240 Daniel. So all throughout the nation, you need to be aware of this. God is real. Right. 346 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,320 Um, that's a big deal. Yeah. Like it's a really big deal. Cause once again, 347 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:18,320 we're talking about powerful people in the world. Well, you're talking about Darius who doesn't care 348 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:22,320 who you worship. He doesn't care who you worship. Yeah. Right. Right. He's, he has his religious 349 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:27,440 tolerance about him. I mean, you could say that he is a proponent of the Zorah Torah. He's a 350 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:34,160 proponent of the Zorah tourism, but, uh, but he doesn't really, but he doesn't care. Like who, 351 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:39,200 like as someone underneath him, like he doesn't care who they worship. Yeah. Right. He, he has 352 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:44,080 his religious beliefs and he's like, if you have yours, that's fine. Okay. He's saying he's like, 353 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:49,120 Oh, by the way, I have my religious beliefs. I know you have yours. Uh, Daniel's God, uh, 354 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:56,960 he's a real thing. Like he's a real deal. Yeah. Right. That's pretty big for someone who has a 355 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:03,120 religious tolerance. Yeah. Well, and it's going to be during the, uh, the reign of Darius and the 356 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:08,720 reign of Cyrus who comes after him, that, uh, the Jews are actually released from captivity and 357 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:15,680 they're sent back to, uh, Israel. Um, once again, this has to do with the way that, um, Persian, 358 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:21,920 Persian people like governed, they are like, we want you to go back to your land and run your land 359 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:26,000 and prosper in your land and give us your stuff. They want you to go back and they want you to, 360 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:33,200 to run your nation and have somebody who's placed an authority over you. And so, uh, Ezra, uh, 361 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:39,040 Nehemiah's, Reuval, they are, they ended up leaving the exile back to, um, back, not the exile, the, 362 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:46,640 the return back to Israel and, uh, Daniel stays, Daniel doesn't leave. Um, Daniel, I believe dies 363 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:53,360 in Persia and, uh, uh, I do, do love this idea that Daniel continues to be the remnant and, 364 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:58,240 and doesn't go back, but actually continues to bring Yahweh into all the world. And we're, 365 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:02,480 so we're also going to see that in the life of Esther and, and Mordecai, that they, they continue 366 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:07,680 to dwell in this, in this foreign nation. Um, and, and Darius is, he's not only going to send 367 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:12,320 people back, but he's also going to send stuff back to help them rebuild the temple. And, um, 368 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:16,480 they're going to have issues with the people who, who are in the land during that time. So when, 369 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:21,040 when they, when Ezra and, uh, Nehemiah and Zerubbabel and they're all working towards 370 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:24,080 rebuilding the temple, rebuilding the walls, all the different things that happen in, 371 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:29,120 in Ezra, Nehemiah, um, people start giving them hard, hard times. So they write a letter back to 372 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:35,440 Darius, write their letters back to, uh, serious, not serious, uh, Cyrus, they write letters back to 373 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:42,640 Cyrus and they come back in their defense, right? Um, they're like, Hey, I sent these guys here. 374 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:48,720 They're supposed to be here. You know, um, I, one of the things I do like about Darius is he doesn't 375 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:57,440 suffer people who are dumb, right? Yeah. Darius is a king where he was actually very logical and 376 00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:03,440 thought thoughtful and how we went about stuff. Um, which to his credit, he didn't have the most 377 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:10,960 technologically advanced kingdom. He did, they did pioneer like naval, uh, warfare and transfer 378 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:17,360 transportations of goods via, via boats. Um, but they don't, they didn't have the siege warfare 379 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:23,520 that the Babylonians had. They didn't have anything that was listed as like a Marvel wonder of the 380 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:30,160 world type thing. Um, they were just a basic group of people that were like, we're going to get a 381 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:34,400 lot of us together and we're going to have other people instead of paying tribute, uh, which they 382 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,840 paid some tribute, but instead of doing that, we're going to have them make sure they have a 383 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:43,280 fighting force for when we do need to go to war. We can be like, all right, here we go. Yeah. 384 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:48,640 So they governed very differently. Well, if you think about Nebuchadnezzar and Babylonian rule is 385 00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:54,080 that like, they're going to rule with an iron fist above you. Like, uh, the Persian rule by the same 386 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:59,360 metric is like, we're going to take over, but we're going to govern you with an open hand. Right? 387 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:04,320 In other words, like we're, it's, it's more of a partnership, but don't be, don't be fooled. 388 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:11,280 I run this show, right? Like, so I'm not, I don't want to pretend like Persia 389 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:16,160 didn't lay down the law if it needed to happen, but they were much more interested in having a 390 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:20,080 bunch of people that were excited to be a part of what they're doing and would add their 391 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:25,040 distinctiveness. Do you think about the Borg? Add your distinctiveness to our own. Right? Um, 392 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:28,960 that was a real nerdy joke for Star Trek people out there, right? Um, it's not quite the same 393 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:32,960 because that's, that's, yeah, it's a little different. It's a lot different than what we're 394 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:36,720 talking about, but I couldn't, I couldn't help. But when I said adding their distinctiveness to 395 00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:45,760 their own, I just couldn't help it. It had to be said. So, um, but, uh, so it, it really sets up 396 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:50,800 this, there's just this different mentality that's going to happen moving forward in the ancient 397 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:56,240 world. Yeah. Right. Uh, because it's, you're kind of going to getting away from this idea of the 398 00:35:56,240 --> 00:36:01,120 iron fist and you're going to see that even when the Greeks come in and when the Romans come in, 399 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:04,880 yes, they're still going to like take over people. They're still going to take over territories, 400 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:10,240 but it's less about just like, it's not brutal annihilation. It's not just carting tons of people 401 00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:17,440 off into captivity. It's about how do we occupy these places and make these places look like us? 402 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:25,200 Yes. Right. How do we make these places look like the country we come from? Um, in fact, 403 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:28,640 with Rome, they're going to say, you know, all roads lead to Rome because every place that Rome 404 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:35,760 takes over is supposed to look like Rome. Right. Yeah. Which leads to Rome's downfall, 405 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:42,640 but that's another episode. So, so what would be the biggest takeaway? 406 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:50,480 And when I'm talking about King Darius, I just think that it's going to like understanding the 407 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:55,920 shift that's happening in history and how it's going to impact the Jewish people. But it also 408 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:00,320 it's how it's going to affect the story that's coming forward because you think about, uh, 409 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:05,200 you think about the time of Jesus, right? Jesus comes at a time that's not only, uh, opportune in 410 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:09,520 the life of the Israelites. And I want to say this in the way that like they are passionately 411 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,520 pursuing Torah. They have rabbinic school. They have people who are debating about the right ways 412 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:18,880 to follow Torah and whether or not those debates are helpful. Everybody's thinking about it. Yeah. 413 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:23,200 Right. So like their schooling system is based around like memorization of Torah and following, 414 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:28,720 uh, following rabbis and teaching and, and growing in the word of God and, and, uh, 415 00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:32,720 experience of the word of God, even while they're in occupation. But, uh, we're moving towards this 416 00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:37,440 direction that when Jesus actually does come and he dies and is resurrected and his disciples go 417 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,760 and they bring the church, now there's going to be roads that go everywhere. Right. So when the 418 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,920 gospel goes to spread and it's not just about Israel anymore, but it's about all nations, 419 00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:48,720 there's actually going to be roads that go everywhere. Yeah. Where there's going to be 420 00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:54,240 ships that can take Paul to different places and he's going to crash most of them because that's, 421 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:58,480 that's how Paul does boats. But like, uh, and there's going to be, there's going to be like, 422 00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:03,280 uh, centralized laws because that's going to be a new thing. So, you know, we're going from place 423 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:06,720 to place to place to place that the, that the nation has like a centralized law. Like that's 424 00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:11,440 something that Rome picks up. It's Roman laws, the same everywhere, right? This starts with 425 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:15,760 Persia. We're starting on this road towards a place where when the gospel spreads, it's able 426 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:21,520 to spread like wildfire and humanity thinks that they were the ones that came up with it. 427 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:27,120 But God is like moving things along to the point where, uh, when the time was right in the fullness 428 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:32,800 of time is how they're going to say it. Christ came. Yeah. And because of the time that they came, 429 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:37,680 it was the most opportune time. I said inopportune. It is the most opportune time for him to come 430 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:44,000 in history as well, because it's able to spread like wildfire across the known world. And so, 431 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:50,320 and not only that, like Jews have been carted off into like Ukrainian areas and Turkey and like all 432 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:53,840 these different places because of captivity. And so you still have the Daniels and you have the 433 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:58,960 esters who have Jewish heritage in these outlying areas. And they say, Hey, the Jewish Messiah 434 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:05,760 finally came. And they're like, Oh, I'm a Jew. Right. And so like when we're reading about a 435 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:13,200 king like Darius, uh, you seeing how God is, is, uh, working with humanity throughout is a big deal. 436 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:19,200 Yeah. Uh, the other piece I think is, is what does it mean to be a Daniel in a land when that isn't 437 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:26,320 following God, when it costs you everything, when you were in trouble, where do you run for help? 438 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:32,800 You know, um, I, I do think it's important to note that Daniel doesn't go and pray in the town 439 00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:36,400 square. He's still just praising his house, but he does not close the window because he's praying 440 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:41,760 towards Jerusalem. Right. And he gets caught, but he's not just going and flaunting it in front of 441 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:46,960 people. Yeah. But he also does not betray who he is. He still prays three times a day, like he's 442 00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:55,120 going to, uh, what does it, what does it mean to be a follower of Yahweh in a land that's not serving 443 00:39:55,120 --> 00:40:02,160 him? You're going to look different. You're going to look different. And even if your character is 444 00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:07,520 impeachable, um, impeccable, that's what I'm looking for. Impeachable would be something else. 445 00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:13,520 Even if your character is impeccable and everything was impeachable and everything 446 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:19,840 and everything that you do is, is, is, um, good. 447 00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:27,760 People will still find ways to come after you. Yeah. And what you do in that moment tells a lot 448 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:30,720 about who you follow. Exactly. Yeah. So 449 00:40:30,720 --> 00:40:40,320 I would say that with this life circumstances doesn't, uh, does not dictate who you are. 450 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:46,560 Right. And that's a, that's a lie. We've kind of been fed by a culture, the enemy, whoever you 451 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:50,880 want to say, or we'll be like, Oh, well, they're just have some tough situations right now. So 452 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:55,520 that dictates who they are. I was like, no, you are a child of God. Like you are reborn into his 453 00:40:55,520 --> 00:41:02,320 image. You are reborn into his likeness. You have been redeemed, saved from your sinful self. Um, 454 00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:07,840 if life sucks right now, that doesn't change that. Correct. It doesn't change that. If life's great 455 00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:14,000 right now, it doesn't change that. Uh, when we lean into that, uh, that call of who we are, 456 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:19,680 the child of God adopted into his family, uh, he realizes it doesn't matter your life circumstances 457 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:24,400 because you not serve in this kingdom. You're not serving this world. You are serving the God most 458 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:30,240 high. One of the things you should note, note as we're in a week five of this Kings and kingdoms 459 00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:35,520 is God uses very different types of people. Um, and these other Kings that are not Jewish Kings, 460 00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:40,400 right? So you have Melchizedek who's largely a priest King, right. And a follower of God most 461 00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:46,400 high. Yes. And Nechareb who is just a brutal fighter, right. And a guy gets a little high 462 00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:51,680 on his own supply, right. You have Necho the second who wants to reclaim the glory of Egypt, 463 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:57,600 right. You have, uh, you have Nebuchadnezzar who is the single most powerful person in the world 464 00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:04,160 and is determined for you to know it, but is also a servant of God. Right. And then you have Darius 465 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:09,280 who's largely an administrator, right. A person who's setting up an elaborate system in order to 466 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:13,600 consolidate power, but also to maintain power throughout a nation. Um, when we talk about 467 00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:17,920 Asuwaras, he's different, even though he's still Persian, right. Uh, Herod the great is going to 468 00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:22,160 be different. Caesar Augustus is going to be different. And in the middle of all these 469 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:27,120 situations, the, uh, the, I think maybe this, this takes on a little bit of different flavor, 470 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:32,640 especially with us just recently, uh, having election season, who is in charge doesn't matter 471 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:39,760 so much as that God is on his throne, which spoiler alert God is on his throne. And so we're 472 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:46,080 like, Oh, well, if so and so gets elected, the world is going to fall apart. And I was like, 473 00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:51,360 listen, I've seen Seneke, I've seen Neco, I've seen Nebuchadnezzar, I've seen Darius, we're going to 474 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:55,920 see Asuwaras, we're going to see Herod the great, we're going to see Caesar Augustus. Uh, we could 475 00:42:55,920 --> 00:43:02,480 list a hundred other ones. Yeah. And in all of those, God's will is accomplished. God's kingdom 476 00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:08,080 moves forward. Yeah. Uh, Kings and kingdoms like God works in the middle of them to accomplish 477 00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:13,040 his purposes. And he is always after everybody, even the terrible people that we don't like. 478 00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:18,160 Mm hmm. Amen. And, uh, and that is a theme that you should be catching through this mini series. 479 00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:25,840 Yes. Is that God works for all types of people. Yeah. Well, join us next week as we talk about 480 00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:30,560 the, I'm going to butcher this, Asuwaras. Yeah. You're going to have to practice that before next 481 00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:38,320 week. Asuwaras. Yeah. Uh, by the way, if you're having a kid, just saying Asuwaras. Yeah. Also, 482 00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:44,080 uh, avoid those Mazdas. Um, the, uh, not a sponsor. Yeah, not a sponsor. All right. Uh, 483 00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:51,120 so yeah, join us next week. Thanks. And that's a wrap for today's episode of Love and Context. 484 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:55,200 We hope you enjoyed this engaging conversation and gained valuable insights into the powerful 485 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:59,920 message of love within the Bible. We'd love to hear from you and continue the conversation. 486 00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:04,320 Connect with us by sending us your questions, thoughts, and suggestions to loveandcontext 487 00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:12,000 at gmail.com. We greatly appreciate your feedback and ideas for future episodes. Stay connected with 488 00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:17,040 us on social media for updates, behind the scenes content, and additional resources. You can find us 489 00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:22,240 on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook at loveandcontext. Don't forget to hit that follow 490 00:44:22,240 --> 00:44:26,960 button to stay up to date with the latest episodes and join our growing community. Thank you for being 491 00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:32,560 part of the Love and Context family. Remember, love is at the heart of it all. Until next time, 492 00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:37,920 keep seeking wisdom, embracing love, and living out your faith in the context of today's world.