Daniel 4:31

While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 2nd & 3rd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

“The words were still in the king’s mouth,” the text tells us, when “a voice came from heaven” that pronounced the predetermined decree, revealed by Daniel, should the king refuse atonement.

Daniel 4:29-30

Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”

From Background Notes [BN] for February 2nd & 3rd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

History confirms the extensive building activity of Nebuchadnezzar which included the royal palace where nothing was spared: neither "cedar-wood, nor bronze, gold, silver, rare and precious stones.” Archaeologists uncovered a stone monument with the following inscription excerpt:

Daniel 4:4-5

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me.

From Background Notes [BN] for February 2nd & 3rd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

But Daniel doesn’t just offer the interpretation of the dream as a mere insight, to comply with the request of the king. He refers to his words as “the decree of the Most High that has come upon my lord the king” (4:24).

Matthew 4:8-9

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

From Background Notes [BN] for February 2^nd & 3^rd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

There is a seduction in the hustle of power. Power tricks, even as it tempts, laying out a whole world before our eyes, as Satan did with our Lord on the mountain of temptation, and then telling us it can be ours if we but worship the seducer.

Luke 15:13-14

Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.  After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.

From Background Notes [BN] for January 26th & 27th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Still, there was redemption for the younger son. Unlike Esau who found no repentance, the so-called prodigal finally woke up to the short-sightedness of the hustle that deceived him.

Hebrews 12:16-17

See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

From Background Notes [BN] for January 26th & 27th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

For Esau, the hunger of the moment becomes despising at the end.

Genesis 25:33

But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

From Background Notes [BN] for January 26th & 27th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

This is a story about cunning and transformation, and it undercuts any false illusions about the effectiveness of change-on-demand.  Oh, Jacob may have wrenched the birthright from Esau for “a mess of pottage,” but…