Where Are We?

Introduction

If you have your Bibles, you can take them and open them to Daniel chapter 1. Last week, we began the book of Daniel by focusing on Israel, specifically Judah and how they ended up in Babylon as captives. We saw a nation that rebelled against and rejected God who has redeemed them. We saw them go from a nation with a heavenly identity to a nation with an idolatrous identity. We were warned about what happens when people conform themselves to the image of the world instead of God. We focused on verses 1-7, and we will look at this passage again, but this week I want us to shift our focus from the captives to the captures. Viewing this passage from a different angle, last week we answered the question “How did we get here?”, this week we will answer the question “Where are we?”. To understand the book of Daniel, we have to be familiar with Israel, but we also have to be familiar with Babylon, therefore this week, we are going to focus and take warning from a nation that from the very beginning, lived in idolatry and in rebellion against God. So if you will, stand and let us read together Daniel 1:1-7 again.

Body

(1) A Place of Idolatry (vv. 1-2)

a. Their History

i. The Tower of Babel (Shinar)

b. Their God (Marduk)

i. Henotheism- worship of one god, without denying the existence of others.

ii. Marduk rose to power by becoming the “champion of the gods” by battling Tiamat (the mother of the Babylonian gods, who seeks to avenge her husband Apsu after his death by the hands of other gods). This was Babylon’s greatest influence.

c. Their Desire (Power, Fame, Riches, etc)

i. Understand, Nebuchadnezzar probably sees himself as a “modern-day” Marduk. He began as a general in his father’s army for Babylon, and after finding much success in the battlefield ascends to the throne after his father’s death. Feeling like a “god” himself would drive him to demand submission and worship from others.

Application:

- The truth of idolatry is that anything can become an idol, because an idol is anything we desire more than God. Someone else can become an idol, whether it be a celebrity, president, athlete, etc. The moment we begin to conform ourselves to the image of someone else, we turn that person into an idol.

- Something else can become an idol. Riches, fame, attention, glory, power, can all become things we desire more than God. The moment this happens, those things become idols. Romans 1:25 describes idolatry this way “who exchanged the truth of God with a lie, and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed for eternity. Amen.”

-You can even make yourself an idol. Much like Nebuchadnezzar, we can begin to see ourselves as something worth conforming to. We can try to convince or demand other people to see us as something worth worshipping, and we can begin to build a following based around our accomplishments and accolades, in hopes that people will begin to envy us and so worship us as if we are somehow “gods”.

- “People who care for bodily things and seek beauty, greatness and great bodily strength know nothing of divine wisdom but rather only a false and artificial sort of eloquence (Theodoret of Cyr- died in 457 AD).” Let me remind you brothers and sisters, creation, and all that is within it, will perish. The people you look up to the most will die, you will die, the riches you accumulate will turn to dust, the fame you attract will disappear.

-We can sacrifice our lives on the altar of chasing all that is within this world, but it leads to death, but here is what Romans 12:1-2 tells us, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (ESV).

(2) A Place of Purification (vv. 3-7)

a. Israel Purified (The Re-Exodus)

i. The Exodus

- The People are redeemed

- The People complain

- The People are purified (40 years)

ii. The Captivity

- The People are taken

- The People are purified (70 years)

- The People repent (returned)

Application:

- Do not misunderstand this, the purpose of the captivity was not rejection without any hope of ever being accepted. The purpose of the captivity was reconciliation through repentance. God made a promise to his people that in the day they repented of their sin and cried out to him, he would allow them to return (Jeremiah 29:11-14; 30:1-8; Ezekiel 11:14-21), and this is exactly what happens, and this is the promise that is extended to us today.

- This is why I am convinced that the greatest marker of a genuine Christian is not how often they do the right things, but how often they repent when they do the wrong things. How could I say such a thing? Anybody can develop a religious discipline. Take the Pharisees for instance. They knew the OT backwards and forwards. They had daily times of prayer. They had time set aside to gather with other Jews and “worship”. So, what were they lacking? Humility that led to repentance. Let’s look at Paul on the other hand in Romans 7:14-25. In verses 14-23, Paul recognizes that he is living in two realities: (1) He is in flesh, and because he is in flesh, he is a sinner. (2) He has in him the Spirit that causes him to desire to obey the Lord. What is Paul’s assurance? Is it his right-doings? No, because he knows “evil lies close at hand” when he desires to do good. Paul’s assurance lies in verse 24-25, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” If you want to know if you are a christian or not, evaluate your life. Do you live out a pattern of repentance or unrepentance. Purification happens when we recognize that we need to God to purify us by reconciling us to himself through repentance.

b. Babylon Punished

i. Babylon’s Fall

- Their Pride- Isaiah 14:14 “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (ESV).

- The Picture of The Tower of Babel (I will ascend) (Genesis 11)

- The Picture of the Garden of Eden (You will be like God) (Genesis 3)

- The Temptation of Satan

Application:

- Do not miss this. We are indeed in a place of purification. This world is a temporary place on a temporary timeline through which God is bringing about his divine purpose in purifying it of sin and death through Jesus Christ. Those who repent of their sins will be forgiven, purified, and reconciled with God through the shed blood of Christ and his righteousness that he gives to us, but what about those who “stay in Babylon”? What about those who continue to live a life of pride and idolatry?

- You may believe that you can build a tower through your accomplishments that reaches the heavens. You may believe that you are “like God” by attaining power, fame, and riches. Hear me, just like the tower of Babel and just like Babylon, your pride will lead to your fall and destruction. For the Lord will not send angels, but the Son of God to judge you according to your sin, and separate you from God.

- All those who live a pattern of sin will be cast into the lake of fire, and through the fire of destruction, God will rid the world of sin, and purify it through punishment, creating a new heavens and new earth.

Conclusion