Latest / Voddie Baucham Sermons / Voddie Baucham - God Preserves the Faithful

Transcript

Voddie Baucham - God Preserves the Faithful · Voddie Baucham Sermons

0:00
Open your bibles to our new book, to finished the Book of Romans.
0:04
And now we are heading back to the Old Testament, and we are in
0:08
the Book of Daniel. Daniel, chapter one. The Book of Daniel has
0:15
much to say about living in the midst of turbulent times. It would be
0:23
a fitting title for the Book of Daniel, would it not Hope in the
0:27
midst of turbulent times? Whatever you have gone through, I guarantee it has
0:34
not risen to the level of Daniel's despair. I guarantee you that your worst
0:42
day was better than what Daniel experienced when he many of his countrymen were dragged
0:52
off in chains to a foreign land. And yet the Book of Daniel's stands
1:03
to give us hope in the midst of those turbulent times. Listen to this
1:10
from one commentator over against the might of Babylon and the seeming superiority of her
1:15
gods, two questions face exiled Jews. Is Israel's God truly God as compared
1:23
with the Babylonian ones? And will God forgive the sin of his people and
1:29
resume fellowship with them? The first question is answered in Daniel by his recounting
1:34
of the might of Israel's God as he exercises his sovereignty over all human kingdoms.
1:41
The kingdom theology of the Book of Daniel is an answer to the exile's
1:45
concern over the uniqueness of Israel's God. The Book of Daniel also answers the
1:49
second question. Not only is the theme of kingdom present, but also that
1:53
of covenant. Covenant is present implicitly in the narrative sections of the book,
1:59
with the infant on the distinctiveness of Daniel and his companions in their exilic setting.
2:06
However, in chapters nine through eleven, the covenant theme appears explicitly.
2:15
Is our God truly God? And will he forgive us and redeem us?
2:28
Those are the questions, not just for Daniel, those are the questions for
2:31
us. Is my God truly God? And in the light of my circumstances?
2:39
Will he redeem me? Will He rescue me? Will it eventually be
2:47
all right? If you have not asked those questions, you just haven't lived
2:55
long enough. Amen. Those are the questions with which we all wrestle,
3:01
And those are the questions that Daniel answers. Daniel is one of those books
3:07
that we know about but only in part, and we know about it only
3:10
in part because most of us have only ventured to try to understand the first
3:15
half of the book. Amen, and that badly because oftentimes when we go
3:23
to the first half of the book, there's several ways that you can divide
3:25
the Book of Daniel. There's two halves. There's the narrative half chapters one
3:30
through six, and most of us know about the narrative halves. In chapters
3:35
one through six. It's narrative, like forty percent of the Old Testament is
3:38
narrative. And we get there and it's great. Of course, the way
3:40
we deal with it is not so great because again we don't have a redemptive
3:45
historic approach. We don't have a Christ's centered approach. So all we're left
3:50
with is moralism. Daniel and his friends are great. Be like them,
4:00
like your song. Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone.
4:04
Hey, that's the way we look at the Book of Daniel. It's moralism,
4:09
pure and simple. Here's what they did that was good. Do that
4:13
so that God will be pleased with you and that all may go well with
4:17
you. We messed that up, and that's the easy half. The difficulty
4:26
comes in the second half. In the apocalyptic section beginning at chapter seven,
4:31
where there are all these dreams and visions that Daniel is interpreting, and for
4:35
most of us we don't even bother reading through those. We just go get
4:40
a good study Bible or something that will tell us what we're supposed to believe
4:44
about the symbols. If you can't say amen, you ought to say ouch.
4:47
Okay, we don't even wade through that, And of course, why
4:51
should we wade through that, because after all, it really doesn't have any
4:56
valuable, any value except for maybe to interpret some of the signs of the
5:03
end times. Isn't it amazing that we're okay with that idea? That God
5:13
gives a book and the Book of Daniels written probably somewhere around five thirty BC.
5:19
Okay, some folks will put it later than that, and there's several
5:21
reasons for that, but Daniel's probably dated somewhere around five thirty BC. The
5:29
events in the Book of Daniel take place between six oh five and five point
5:32
thirty seven BC. The book is written shortly thereafter around five third or complete
5:40
it shortly thereafter around five thirty. But isn't it interesting that we're okay with
5:44
the idea that God would have a book of the Bible written and half of
5:48
it is absolutely meaningless to all people in all times except those who happen to
5:55
be here at the end. Really, is that what you think? Now?
6:00
I know what's going on inside you right now, because inside you,
6:03
right now you're going I know, I'm supposed to shake my head no to
6:09
pastor Voti right now because it just really sounds bad the way he put it.
6:13
But before he said that, Yeah, So my answer is no,
6:28
God did not give us a book that was without meaning or is without meaning
6:34
for everyone except those who are alive at the end of the age. It
6:39
had meaning for the exiles, and it has meaning for us. Every last
6:46
bit of it has meaning for us. Not only can you divide it into
6:50
two halves, but you can also divide it into two languages. This is
6:54
unique about the Book of Daniel. Daniel chapter one through Dannuel, chapter two
7:00
and verse four A is written in Hebrew. Daniel chapter two, verse four
7:05
B through the end of Daniel chapter seven is written in Arabic. Then it
7:12
goes back into Hebrew again. So three sections, two different languages, the
7:18
Hebrew section, the Aramic body, and then the Hebrew closing of this letter.
7:26
It's another way that you could divide it, but since we're not going
7:29
to be reading Hebrew and Aramaic, we won't divide it that way. There's
7:33
a third thing that you see here in the Aramaic section. There is a
7:39
chiasm. Now we've talked about chiastic structures before. You know the structure kind
7:45
of like a cross, if you will. There's a chiasm in the second
7:48
section, the Arameic section, which is very important that it's written in the
7:54
Arabic language and has a chiastic structure. And it is just the Aromatic Aramaic
8:01
portion that has the chiastic structure. What is the chiasm? Now, again,
8:07
we don't have a chart of here for you, so it's difficult for
8:09
me to show you. So I will try to walk it out for you
8:13
and think about it going on a piece of paper like this, Okay,
8:16
in and and out, but visualize it as I move. In chapter two,
8:24
there's a dream of a statue representing four kingdoms. Chapter three there's worship
8:33
of the golden statue or perish in a pit. Chapter four there's the judgment
8:41
of King Nebuka Nezzer. Now we're going to start the same thing in reverse.
8:46
Chapter five, there's the judgment of Belshazzar. Chapter six, worship Darius
8:54
or perish in a pit. Chapter seven, a dream of four b beasts
9:00
who represent four kingdoms. Perfect chiastic structure, very rarely seen anywhere, but
9:11
here in the Aramaic portion, there is a perfect chiasm, and there is
9:18
a message there in that structure. We'll talk about that as our time goes
9:26
on. But here in this section Daniel, chapter one, verses one through
9:33
seven, we see, as I said, a tale of two kingdoms.
9:37
Let's read this section together. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim,
9:46
king of Judah, Neverkdneszar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and
9:48
besieged it. Let me just sort of put a footnote here. We'll just
9:52
put a pin in it at this moment, because there are people who would
9:56
say, we'll see there's already a problem, because the Bible contradicts itself,
9:58
because Jeremiah says and it was in the fourth year of his reign, and
10:01
here it says that it was in the third year of his reign. Just
10:05
know this, Just let me answer that as simply as I possibly can remember
10:11
that Daniels in Babylon. He's using the Babylonian rendering of the reign of the
10:18
king. Remember, Jeremiah is using a Palestinian rendering of the reign of the
10:22
king for Daniel. The reign goes like this, there's the year of ascension
10:28
where you become the king. The next year is your first year, the
10:33
year after that your second. The year after that you're third. Palestinian rendering
10:37
would be the year of your ascension is your first year. The you after
10:41
that your second, You after that your third, you have to that your
10:43
fourth. An example of this is if you've ever been over in Europe and
10:48
you get on an elevator. Here in America, if you get on an
10:52
elevator and you go up one floor, you're on the second floor. In
10:54
many places in Europe, you get on an elevator and you go up one
10:58
floor and you're on the first floor. It could mess you up. Now,
11:07
imagine hundreds of years from now, somebody finds documentation and there was an
11:13
author in England who wrote about something that happened on the second floor, and
11:18
an author in America who wrote about something that happened on the third floor,
11:22
and the people say there's a contradiction here, it must not be true.
11:26
That's the same thing here in Daniel chapter one and verse one. Okay,
11:31
it's just a different rendering of how you start the first year of the reign
11:39
verse two. And the Lord gave to Hooyakim, king of Judah, into
11:43
the hand, I'm sorry, into his hand with some of the vessels of
11:48
the House of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar,
11:54
to the house of his God, and placed the vessels in the treasury of
11:58
his God. Then the king commanded Ashfanaz, his chief eunuch, to bring
12:05
some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the
12:09
nobility, youths without blemish of good appearance, skillful in all wisdom, endowed
12:15
with knowledge, understanding, learning, and competent, to stand in the King's
12:18
palace and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king
12:24
assigned them daily portions of the food that the King ate and of the wine
12:30
that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at
12:35
the end of that time they were to stand before the king. Among these
12:41
were Daniel, Hananaiah, Michael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.
12:48
Don't think for a minute that that's unimportant. They're in the midst of exile,
12:56
and there's a book that's written basic. He says to the people of
13:01
God, God is going to preserve his people in the midst of it.
13:05
There's four characters that he picks out as the principal characters of the story,
13:09
and they are all from the tribe of the Promised Seed, from whom the
13:16
scepter is never going to depart. That's just, amen, Holy you praise
13:22
the Lord right there, just by itself, just that these four guys are
13:26
from the tribe of Judah, and the chief of the eunuchs gave them names.
13:31
Daniel he called Beltishazar and and I he called Shadrak, Michel he called
13:39
Mishak, and Asaraiah he called a bed Nago. There you have it,
13:48
the Tale of two Kingdoms, and it's set up perfectly. First, in
13:54
the Tale of two Kingdoms, we see a tale of two kings. We
13:58
see on the one hand, the king of Judah, Jehoiakim, and on
14:01
the other hand, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Now Johoikim was the
14:09
son of Josiah, he was an ungodly king. Listen to this in Tewod
14:16
Kings, chapter twenty three, beginning verse thirty six. Johoikim was twenty five
14:22
years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
14:26
His mother's name was Zebedah was Zebeda, the daughter of Pediah of Ruma.
14:33
And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according
14:37
to all that his fathers had done in the days. In his days,
14:43
Nebkadezer, king of Babylon, came up and Johickim became his servant for three
14:46
years. He was an awful king. His father was a good king.
14:52
He was an awful king. He was put on the throne by an Egyptian
14:58
pharaoh named Nico as he attempted to exercise control over Syria Palestine. Think about
15:05
these two major superpowers, Egypt in the south just below Israel, Babylon above
15:13
Israel. They are fighting for dominance in the region, and the crossroads between
15:18
the two is this little sliver of land and a small country called Israel.
15:30
When Josiah was killed in battle, the people that had en throned his son,
15:33
Jehoah Has, who represented an anti Egyptian faction. This situation lasted for
15:39
three months while Niko was busy in Haran. Nico basically deposed Jehoya has and
15:48
sent him off as a captive in Egypt. Pro Egyptian Jehoiakim was then placed
15:54
on the throne with the expectation that he would be loyal to Egypt because they're
16:03
all afraid of the Babylonians coming down from the north. The situation changed dramatically
16:07
when nebukand Nezar gained control of that region following the Battle of Carcamish remember this
16:15
one from your ancient history. There he put down the Egyptians for good and
16:22
established their dominance in the region. The guy on the throne in Egypt when
16:27
the Babylonians established established their dominance over the region and the Battle of Carcamission six
16:33
' oh five by wiping out the Egyptians was Jehoya Kim, who had been
16:38
loyal to the Egyptians. Jehoiican played the role of relooked Babylonian vassal for several
16:52
years, but after Nemagandasi's failure to invade Egypt six oh one, he again
16:59
broke with Battle Balon and sought to support Egypt and the rebellion. This disloyalty
17:04
proved fatal and led to the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, ultimately finishing them off.
17:11
And that started in five ninety seven. So there you get a little
17:17
picture of the history of this that's basically summed up in this phrase. In
17:22
the third year of the reign of Jehoia Kim, king of Judah, Nebuchadneza,
17:26
king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the next
17:32
verse you see that there are things that are carried off. You assume that
17:33
the king was probably carried off as well. But note that in this tale
17:38
of two kings, here's what you don't see. You don't see here is
17:42
a godly king in a godly nation and a godless king and a godless nation,
17:48
and they battle to see who's supreme. No, you see a godless
17:52
king in a godless nation who comes through wipes out a region, and the
17:57
king, who was faithful to God happens to be on the throne when God
18:04
judges. As people see, we love to sort of reduce the Bible to
18:14
good guys and bad guys. It's not that simple. And one of the
18:18
reasons is not that simple, is they're all bad guys, amen, just
18:23
like you and I are all bad guys. So if you want to understand
18:27
the difference between these two kingdoms, you don't necessarily just look it's the two
18:30
kings. There has to be something else. Not only is there a tale
18:33
two kings, but there's also a tale of two gods. You see in
18:40
the ancient Near East, when you go to battle, you go and call
18:42
upon your God. This idea of these secular nation is like we have today,
18:48
not so much in the ancient Near East. In fact, that's very
18:52
recent. When you look at world history, the idea has always been that
18:56
you call upon God to go before you in battle. You want to fight
19:00
on the right side, and God to be with you on your side as
19:06
you go into battle. And the ancient Near East, if you defeated a
19:08
foe, you always brought their gods with you as captives, just like their
19:14
people are captives, because when you defeat their gods, you say to them,
19:18
our God is stronger than your god. You belong to us. Your
19:22
god bows down to our God. So Nebu Canazar comes in and doesn't just
19:26
take Jehoyakin. He goes to the temple and he takes away artifacts, making
19:34
a statement about his God compared to the God of Israel, which would lead
19:41
to the dejection, the further dejection of the people of Israel. Remember,
19:45
they're not reading Daniel, they're living it, so they don't have For example,
19:53
verse two, and the Lord gave Hoyakin, king of Judah, into
20:02
his hand with some of the vessels of the House of God. The Lord
20:08
gave him into his hands. Folks, the Lord is doing this. God
20:15
is sending his people away into exile. God is allowing them to be wiped
20:22
out. God is allowing the nation to fall. God is doing this.
20:27
And if there is a message in the Book of Daniel, that's the message
20:32
God is in control. See, oftentimes we like to say that God is
20:36
in control when things are going the way we want them to go, and
20:38
all of a sudden, when things don't go the way we want them to
20:41
go, our first question is where is God? Why? Because according to
20:48
our theology, when God is in control and doing what he's supposed to do
20:52
and paying attention, he's making stuff happen the way he and I agree it
20:56
ought to happen. But if he's not a agreeing with me, then he's
21:00
slumbering or sleeping or falling down on the job. And we kind of go,
21:04
you know what, God, I know you're busy and everything, but
21:07
can you fix this because this is not how my life is supposed to go.
21:25
Let's look first internally and then externally to see the hand of God all
21:33
this. Look at chapter two and verse eight, and God gave Daniel favor
21:41
and compassion in the sight of the chief eunuchs. Chief of the eunis,
21:45
I'm sorry. Chapter one, verse eight. Chapter one, verse seventeen.
21:48
As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature
21:55
and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding and visions and dreams. Chapter two,
22:00
verse eleven. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one
22:04
can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with
22:10
flesh. Then, in chapter two, beginning of verse twenty, Daniel praises
22:15
God forgiving him. What these men have already said only comes from God.
22:19
Chapter two, verse twenty eight. But there is a God in heaven who
22:22
reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebecon Nezer, what will
22:29
be in the latter days? Look at chapter two, verse forty four.
22:33
And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up
22:37
a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to
22:42
another people. Look down with me. At the end of verse forty five,
22:48
A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this?
22:52
Look at verse forty seven. The king answered and said to Daniel,
22:56
truly your God is God of gods and lord kings, and the revealer of
23:00
mysteries. For you have been able to reveal this mystery. Let's go to
23:04
chapter three and look beginning of verse seventeen. If this be so, our
23:10
God whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace,
23:15
and he will deliver us out of your hand, o King, go
23:18
down to verse twenty five. He answered, and said, but I see
23:22
four men unbound walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not
23:26
hurt. And the appearance of the fourth is like the son of the gods.
23:30
Go down to verse twenty eight. Nebukon Nezer answered and said, blessed
23:34
be the God of Shadrack Mishak and Abitdnigo, who has sent his angel and
23:40
delivered his servants who trusted in him. Now let's go to chapter four and
23:45
look, beginning in verse thirty four, this is nebukon Nezer, after his
23:49
seven years of what we would call schizophrenia. At the end of the days,
24:00
I Nebuchadnizzar lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me.
24:06
And I blessed the most High and praised and honored him who lives forever,
24:11
for his dominion as an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation
24:15
to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. And
24:19
he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants
24:25
of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him,
24:27
what have you done? Yes, this is a tale of two gods,
24:37
but only one of them is God. Nevericannessa's gods not God. And throughout
24:47
this what do we see that God is in control? But here's the question.
24:52
If God is in control, why or Daniel, Shadrack, Me,
24:56
Shaka Betenigo and all the other young men taken away castrated and it made to
25:06
serve a pagan king. Why for that we go outside the judgment of God
25:15
against Israel Habaccic one five. I went to I did an event a while
25:22
back, This is several years ago, and it was a Missions conference,
25:26
and they had as their theme. Their theme was beyond belief, and it
25:33
came from Habaccic one five. Again, theme of the conference is beyond belief,
25:38
and their theme versus the back at one five. Look among the nations
25:41
and see, wonder and be astounded, For I am doing a work in
25:45
your days that you would not believe even if someone told you. Wow,
25:51
Missions Conference, beyond belief. Look among the nations, I'm doing something that
25:56
you wouldn't believe even if someone told you. And so they wanted me to
26:00
preach from a back at one five at the Missions conference. Small problem.
26:07
I kept reading. Listen to six through eleven. For behold, what's the
26:14
thing that God is doing that you wouldn't believe even if somebody told you.
26:17
Look among the nations, there's something happened and that you wouldn't believe even if
26:19
somebody told you. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans. There's
26:23
Babylon, that bitter and hasty nation who march through the breath of the earth,
26:32
to seize dwellings not their own. They are dreaded and fearsome. Their
26:36
justice and dignity go forth from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards,
26:41
more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen pressed proudly on their horsemen come
26:47
from Afar. They fly like an eagle, swift to devour. They all
26:52
come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captaives like sand.
26:56
At the king, they scoff at the rulers, they laugh, They laugh
27:02
at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. Then they
27:07
sweep by like the wind and go on guilty men whose own might is their
27:12
God? What's the thing that God's doing that you wouldn't believe? I'm going
27:18
to bring a wicked king to judge my people. But wait a minute,
27:26
God, where are your people? How are you going to use a godless
27:30
nation to punish your people? Is there another godly one? Find me a
27:41
godly one, and I'll use them. Oh, you can't. Okay,
27:45
Here come the Babylonians. Jeremiah five point fifteen. Behold, I am bringing
27:56
against you a nation from Afar, old house of Israel. Declares the Lord.
28:02
It is an enduring nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation
28:06
whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say.
28:11
We could go on and on and on and on. They're here because of
28:19
wickedness and sin. They're here because of kings like Jehoyican. They're here because
28:29
of idolatry. Here's the irony. They serve the one True and Living God,
28:33
and for whatever reason, they keep going after other gods. And God
28:37
says, you want to go after other gods. I can arrange that God,
28:47
we want a king so that we can be like the other nations.
28:49
Really, you want to be like the other nations. I can arrange that
29:00
they were wicked and God judged them. Remember those two questions. The first
29:07
question, is our God really God? That's the first question. Is our
29:15
God really God? The answer is yes, and he proves that even in
29:23
the midst of the most horrible circumstances have you ever been there? Is our
29:38
God really God? I know you've asked that question. I've prayed with some
29:45
of you as you've asked that question. Why is this happening? If God
29:53
is really God? But understand the theology on the other side, of that
29:59
question. Here's the theology on the other side of that question. If God's
30:03
really God, then bad stuff shouldn't happen to people who belong to him.
30:08
Really, the spotless, sinless lamb of God was crushed and killed by the
30:18
Father for the Father's glory, But you shouldn't experience bad stuff. Who do
30:26
you think you are? Do you have any idea what you deserve? Do
30:34
you have any idea what justice would look like in your life today based on
30:40
what you thought, said and did on yesterday? Have you any idea?
30:45
We still live in a fallen world. God owes us nothing. He is
30:57
sovereign over all things. And like I said, the last time I checked,
31:02
the death rate was one per person. Itoates us all, It wates
31:08
us all. The question is our God? Truly? God? Is not
31:18
answered by your circumstances. Daniel screams that to us, is our God really
31:27
God? Really? You're asking that question because Memchania has got all these guys
31:33
and they can't figure out his dreams? Who can God's people can? Really?
31:41
You're asking if God's really God? They throw us in the fiery furnace
31:45
and we didn't burn, and we weren't alone by the way, and you're
31:49
asking if our God is really God? Are you serious? Really? They
31:53
threw Daniel in a lion's den with lions who were hungry, and they did
32:00
not eat him. Really, is our God really God? Yes he is.
32:13
Yes, he is the creator and sustainer of the universe, and nothing
32:19
catches him by surprise. And he will even turn your trials into a testimony.
32:29
This is the only thing that keeps us from spiraling out of control when
32:32
difficulties come. Amen, Yes, our God is God. Yave. Though
32:38
I walked through the valley of the Shadow of Death, you are with me.
32:52
There's also the action of Demaganeza against Daniel, as we see this battle
33:00
against God even in their names. Look at what he does at the end,
33:08
be getting verse six. Among these were Daniel, Hannanaiah, Michael,
33:13
Azariah, or the tribe of Judah. The chief of the Eunuchs, gave
33:16
them names. Daniel he called Belshazzar. Now Daniel's name means my judge is
33:24
God, don and l Dan judge l from Elohem, my judge is God.
33:32
This Beltizar means something akin to the protector of the king. Hannanayah's name.
33:39
Again, you see ya in there Hannanayah's name means Yahweh has shown grace.
33:46
They changed his name to Shadrach. It's a combination of Aku, a
33:53
Sumerian or Elamite moon god. Aku is gracious Mishall, which is very similar
34:07
to Micah, who is what God is. Micah is who is like God,
34:12
Michael Mishao. They changed his name to Meshak or mesa Aku, who
34:19
is what Aku is. As Arayah again, you see Yahweh there, Mishall.
34:27
You see el Eloheim as Aaryah. You hear yah Yahweh again, it
34:31
means Yahweh has helped. They changed his name to Abidnigo or Abednigo, servant
34:43
of the god Nebo. All four of these young men have names that speak
34:55
to who their god is. All for these young men are renamed to speak
35:05
to who Babylon's gods are. Yet, interestingly enough, as you go through
35:15
this book, though Daniel was renamed, and even when he's forgotten, the
35:22
Queen, when she sees the handwriting on the wall, does not say,
35:27
hey, I remember a guy named Beltishesar. He should be about eighty years
35:30
old. Now, she says, how about Daniel Amen Hallelujah, Praise the
35:37
Lord. How about Daniel. Here's what's so ironic about this. Their names
35:45
are changed in order to strip them of their god given identity. And if
35:51
you say to the average Christian Hannahayah, Michael, and Azariah, they don't
35:55
know who you're talking about, you have to say Shadrack, Misha, and
36:00
abidin the go, we still allow their identity to be robbed from them.
36:15
Not only is this a tale of two kings and two gods, but it's
36:17
a tale of two cultures. Look at verses three through five. Then the
36:25
king commanded Ashphan as his chief unit to bring some of the people of Israel,
36:31
both of the royal family and of the nobility. That's very important.
36:37
Of the royal family and the nobility youths. So we know they're of the
36:40
royal family. We know they're of the nobility, youth without blemish, good
36:47
appearance, skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding and learning,
36:57
competent to stand in the king's palace. So at least eight things about these
37:00
guys very important. This is not random. This is not random. He
37:05
wants specific people from Israel for specific task. What is that task? And
37:12
teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a
37:16
daily portion of the food that the king ate and of the wine that he
37:21
drank. We're going to change their names, We're going to change their learning,
37:25
and we're going to change their diet. They were to be educated for
37:30
three years, and at the end of the time they were to stand before
37:35
the king listen to this from George Swab. They used were expected to eat
37:44
new foods, were given new names, and forced to learn the culture of
37:49
Babylon. They were being systematically indoctrinated and distance from their Israelite heritage. At
37:55
the end of the process, they would no longer be Jews, but Babylonians.
38:00
They would have new identities. That was the goal. That was the
38:07
goal, to destroy their identities. How do we destroy their identities through education?
38:22
You know? The great irony. The great irony is that people run
38:25
to this passage of scripture in order to justify sending Christian children to government schools.
38:36
Well, the fact of the matter is this text teaches us that if
38:39
you want to destroy someone's identity, you have to re educate them. There
38:49
are some myths about Daniel that are important in this regard number one, there's
38:54
a myth that Daniel and his friends were very small boys. In fact,
38:58
often referred to as the three grew boys like their little kids, you know,
39:02
eight nineteen years old or so. Secondly, that Daniel and his friends
39:07
gained their knowledge from the Babylonians. That's why they were so brilliant, because
39:12
they learned the Babylonian stuff better than other people did. They did better in
39:15
their education. Thirdly, Daniel and his friends represent the ideal ie we should
39:22
be willing to send our children to the Babylonians of our day so that they
39:25
can gain knowledge and status within the context of Babylonian culture. Here's the reality.
39:36
Number one, Daniel and his friends were young men between fifteen and twenty
39:42
years old. Secondly, Daniel and his friends had gained their knowledge from the
39:49
Covenant community in Israel. Listen to the requirements again, he says, beginning
40:01
at verse three, the king commanded Ashman, as his chief Unich, to
40:06
bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of
40:09
the nobility. So first, their families were important. He wanted them to
40:15
have a certain family background so that they could be useful to him. Secondly,
40:19
youths without blemish. He wanted them to be of good appearance, so
40:25
there's no defects, and they're very attractive, skillful in all wisdom. Why
40:31
because they've already completed their education by the ages of fifteen to twenty. They're
40:37
already very well educated, and they've demonstrated the fact that they're skillful at all
40:40
knowledge. Not only were they educated in the Covenant community of Israel, but
40:45
they were the best and brightest at the end of their Israeli education, endowed
40:53
with knowledge, understanding and learning, and competent to stand in the king's place.
41:00
This means that they were sharp young men who already demonstrated the kind of
41:05
not just skill and intelligence, but also the kind of demeanor and personal presence
41:12
that made them capable to stand before the king long before they learned their first
41:17
Babylonian word. You see, the message here in this clash of cultures is
41:27
not that we run to the Babylonians to gain their knowledge so that we can
41:32
be elevated in their culture. No, the fact of the matter is the
41:37
message is the opposite. When we understand who God is, God is the
41:49
one who makes us knowledgeable, skillful, and wise. The fear of the
41:59
Lord is the beginning of wisdom, not just downloading information. The fear of
42:06
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What we see here is not just
42:19
the superiority of their gods, but the superiority of their culture, because it
42:25
is ordered by God. So much so that we'll see next week that when
42:31
they finish their training, the young men are ten times better. Why because
42:39
they really picked up on that Babylonian stuff. So, folks, this is
42:44
the occult. They're learning the occult. They're learning occultic practices. And note
42:52
also that when it comes down to it and the king needs somebody to do
42:57
what these guys were trained to do, nobody can do it. Daniel does
43:00
not come back and serve the king because he learned occultic practices better than the
43:08
people of the occult. He goes back and prays to God. He doesn't
43:14
even do what they taught him to do. So, far from being a
43:19
picture that would encourage us to embrace the Babylonian culture and to see ourselves as
43:25
part of the Babylonian kingdom, this is a picture that says, you don't
43:30
need the Babylonians, They need you. God, is enough. You see,
43:42
when we find ourselves outnumbered and we find ourselves in pressure situations, we
43:51
have a tendency to turn to whatever's close. The fact of the matter is,
43:59
Daniel says to all of us, or you turn as to God.
44:06
There's two questions. Remember those questions. Number one, he is our God,
44:14
truly God. Secondly, will he and really can he redeem us?
44:37
The answer to both of those is a resounding yes. But hear this.
44:51
Daniel and his friends died slaves. They did not die in a rebuilt Jerusalem
45:05
and a reconstituted Israel, holding their hands up high and victorious before Almighty God.
45:12
And yet their God is still God. Daniel and his friends were castrated,
45:21
They did not have children to be the next generation to go and change
45:25
the culture, and yet their God is God. Daniel and his friends served
45:37
not just the Babylonian king, but also the Meds and the Persians. They
45:44
were slaves to everybody, and yet their God is God. And they learned
45:55
something that you and I need to learn. Regardless of where you find yourself,
46:01
the most important thing is that you identify yourself with the covenant community of
46:07
God's redeemed people who just happens to live wherever you live. That's who we
46:19
are. Is this not a picture of who we are as Christians? We
46:27
are redeemed, We find ourselves in Christ. And yet there is a world
46:32
out there, the kingdoms of this world out there, that is absolutely at
46:38
odds with us, absolutely against us, absolutely opposed to us, always seemingly
46:45
finding new ways to try to oppress us and oppose us. And when that
46:50
happens, all of us need to remember number one, our God is God,
46:54
and number two, our God will redeem us regardless of the circumstances.
47:00
And that does not have to mean that everything looks the way we think it
47:07
ought to look. Is it okay if God redeems you in the midst of
47:19
slavery and leaves you in slavery? If it's not, you don't understand the
47:22
gospel. Is it okay that God redeems you in the midst of bondage and
47:29
leaves you in the midst of that bondage, never to get you out.
47:31
If the answer is no, you don't understand what it means to be redeemed.
47:36
Is it okay that God redeems you as a single and never gives you
47:39
a spouse? If the answer is no, you don't understand redemption. Is
47:44
it okay that God redeems you in a bad marriage and you spend the rest
47:49
of your life in that bad marriage and it never gets better. If your
47:53
answer is no, you do not understand redemption. It okay that God redeems
48:00
you in the midst of a culture that has absolutely gone astray and in your
48:14
lifetime never writes the ship. If the answer is no, you do not
48:20
understand redemption. Is it all right that God redeems you and doesn't save every
48:24
one of your kids? If the answer is no, you do not understand
48:30
redemption. Is it alright that God redeems you and you never ever become wealthy
48:37
or healthy or prosperous. If the answer is no, you do not understand
48:42
redemption. Is it okay that God redeems you and yet you're sick in your
48:46
body and or your mind. If your answer no, that's not okay.
48:54
Then you don't understand redemption because you think that God has created you for Babylon.
49:07
That's not Daniel's message. Daniel's message is God has me in Babylon,
49:13
but he didn't create me for Babylon. What did he create me? For
49:17
here is the beauty, and I don't want to step on chapter two before
49:22
we get to chapter two. But I cannot imagine what it felt like for
49:31
Daniel to stand there and interpret Nebukanezer's dream. Nobody would tell him what the
49:39
dream was or what it meant. Daniel goes and he prays, and he
49:42
comes back and again in the midst of captivity. We'll deal with it in
49:49
more detail, but for now, just listen to this. They're in captivity.
49:53
Daniel, he's gone. Here's Daniel, who basically by this point says,
50:00
country's gone, being burned with fire. I'm not gonna have any children.
50:05
My line is gonna be gone. It's over for me. And they're
50:08
teaching me these occultic practices. I got nothing. But Daniel, who has
50:15
the ability to interpret dreams, all of a sudden gets a call. Our
50:24
lives are in danger. Why because the king had a dream and we can't
50:29
interpret. He won't even tell us what it is. He goes to God
50:31
and he praised. And not only does Daniel get the dream and its interpretation
50:37
so that he can stay alive, but here's what he gets to say to
50:39
Nebucan Nezart there's four kingdoms. You're number one. You don't last. Number
50:51
two's coming. They're gonna wipe you out. They're not gonna last. Number
50:54
three's coming, and they're gonna wipe out number two. But they're not gonna
50:58
last. Why because there is a kingdom coming that is going to stand forever.
51:05
Not only is God going to get my people out of here, but
51:09
my king will reign supreme overall of heaven and over all of the earth.
51:15
I may not ever see it, but I'm standing here to tell you King,
51:20
you won't either. But the difference between you and me is that,
51:24
even in the midst of captivity, I am part of the kingdom that will
51:29
never die. Even in the midst of captivity, all you have to hope
51:36
for is that you don't see the other army marching to take over. I've
51:44
already experienced that, and I'm still here. But what I have to hope
51:50
for is that there is a day coming when the King of Kings and the
51:57
Lord of lords will vindicate himself. I mean, maybe you were a slave
52:07
now, but I'm his son forever. So do with me as you must,
52:19
but I'm gonna be okay. That's what Daniel teaches us. Not you
52:29
just be a good little boy and try really hard and be like that.
52:31
That's not Daniel's message. Daniel's message is if you're a good little boy and
52:38
you study hard, and you're attractive and articulate and intelligent, God may send
52:46
an army to come and destroy you, kill your family, carry you off
52:51
to a foreign land, castrate you so that you never have a future or
52:54
a family, and then teach you occultic practices and have you spend the rest
52:59
of your days in a land that's not your own. That's what Daniel got
53:04
for being a good, smart, hard studying little boy. He didn't have
53:15
kids, but he's got a book in the Bible. Though he is dead,
53:24
yet he speaks. Let's pray.