Forward to the Past
Notes
Transcript
This is the first sermon of the year. We are starting a new series, exploring Daniel and Revelation.
Most people think about Daniel and Revelation and they think about End Times Prophecy. Which wouldn’t be wrong. And yes, we will dive into prophecy.
However, that is not the whole picture. Both books start with several chapters about what was going on at the time of the prophecies. The prophecies were given because of what was going on at the time of the writing in order to impact those who heard the prophecies at the time they were given.
I know many people will be interested in this study because of the discussions of the end times. And, many of those will make comments such like: I think the end is coming. All the signs point to it.
And yes, there is evidence of the approaching end. However, there has been evidence ever since Jesus ascended to heaven, because at that time, the days of the end began, and God has been slowly bringing things to pass toward the ultimate culmination of the return of the king, the millenium, and the eternal kingdom.
My goal through this series is not to major on the possible end times events that are happening, though I will need to discuss some of these. Nor is it to focus on the future timelines and theological controversies, though I will need to discuss some of those as well.
My goal is to present these books how they were written. A Message given to a group of people to encourage them in their daily lives.
A verse that you will hear me relate several times throughout this year is Acts 1:9-11
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.
So often, we fall prey to the same stature as the disciples. We are caught looking up. And we need someone to come along and say: Yes, Jesus is coming again. Now, get to work. May the truth of the end change the way we live and focus us on the task before us.
I believe the message of Daniel and Revelation is pertinent today, because the culture of America is more similar to the cultures of Babylon and Rome, than our culture 200 years ago.
Daniel starts simply:
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
But before we dive into this, will you pray with me?
Today, we are going to give an introduction to Daniel and dive into the first chapter.
Introduction
Introduction
When starting to study a new book of the Bible, it is good to get some background, to discuss the author, the audience, the timeline, and the purpose.
For the sake of time, this will be faster than normal, because I want to dive into the actual chapter.
A. Author
A. Author
Daniel is the author of this book. As we read through this, there is a familiarity with the individuals and historical events and customs by the author that could only have been known by someone taking part in the events. And then, Jesus, in Matthew 24:15, gives Daniel as the author of this book.
“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—
Daniel was a young man in Israel, of a noble family, as the beginning verses of Daniel show us.
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.
He grew up during a time of national apostasy and resulting wars, as different nations vied to take over this Israel He was probably in his teens when Nebuchadnezzer took over the land, for the first time, in 605, after Babylon had taken over Assyria and pushed back Egypt.
B. Audience
B. Audience
After Daniel was deported with his companions, Nebuchadnezzer returned to Judah 8 years later, and took 10,000 captives, including Ezekiel, back to Babylon, because of the rebellion of Jehoiachin.
And then, in 588, 17 years after Daniel’s capture, Nebuchadnezzer returns and destroys Jerusalem and the temple. Most of the rest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were taken to Babylon at that point.
Can you imagine was was going through Daniel’s mind during this time? How about the people of Israel?
They were chosen by God, but they had turned their back on God. He had handed them over to a pagan nation. He had allowed a pagan nation to desecrate and then destroy the temple.
They could not follow the law anymore. No sacrifices, no offerings, no festivals, no Day of Atonement.
Instead, they are now surrounded by pagan worship practices. And they are wondering: where God is. Is he still in control? If so, do they still have a part in his plan?
C. Timeline
C. Timeline
As I said, Daniel is deported around 605 B.C. During his time, he sees from afar the destruction of his hometown and symbols and practices of his faith. He handles and guides the influx of thousands of Jews into Babylon.
He lives in that pagan nation, until he becomes an old man and sees Babylon overthrown by the Medo-Persian empire under Cyrus. And Cyrus, in fulfillment to a prophecy by Jeremiah, allows 50,000 Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, which was accomplished in 515, 70 years after its destruction.
Daniel died during that time of rebuilding. The last prophecy that he gives is about 3-4 years after Cyrus takes over.
D. Purpose
D. Purpose
So, why did God inspire Daniel to write this book of history and prophecy?
Well, to show the Israelites that even though their country was destroyed, their religious system demolished, their lives as they knew them over, God is still in control.
Even though they are being punished, God is faithful to his covenant and his covenant people.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary Purposes
God does not cast off His covenant people; He deals patiently with them to bring them to blessing.
And even though the ungodly and pagan think that they can live apart from God, in fact have control over God, God is supremely soveriegn over all. He establishes and deposes kings and empires to serve His purpose.
And that should comfort anyone who is surrounded by godlessness.
God Is Glorified among the Pagans
God Is Glorified among the Pagans
With that, lets dive into Daniel chapter 1.
In this chapter, we will get the first taste of God being glorified among the pagans.
We will see the situation, the decision, and the influence.
A. The Situation
A. The Situation
Well, we already read the first few verses. Nebuchadnezzar, in taking over Judah, is trying to show his mastery, not just over the nation, but over the nation’s God. He takes articles from the temple and puts them in his temple, to show that his god had conquered Judah’s god.
He then take young men from Judah, from the ruling families of Judah, and trains them in the language, culture, and religion of Babylon.
The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
They are trained for 3 years, about the length of a college degree without breaks.
In addition to training, the names of the men are changed.
Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
Those four men had Hebrew names which reflected the name of Yahweh.
Daniel: God has judged
Hananiah: Yahweh has been gracious
Mishael: Who is what God is?
Azariah: Yahweh has helped.
But, their new names reflect the gods of Babylon:
Belteshazzar: Protect the king, Bel
Shadrach: I am fearful of a god
Meshach: I am despised before my god
Abednego: servant of Nebo
Nebuchadnezzer tried to strip these men of everything and remake them.
But, even in that, he couldn’t do it. The names he chose are grotesque, silly names which actually make fun of the gods they are supposed to honor. And they can bear those names, because the idol those names try to honor is actually nothing.
But, then, these men begin their college course. And they are not just learning the language and culture, but they are being trained as magicians and enchanters. The national name “Chaldean” is actually synonymous at this time with magician.
Daniel is learning about how to read intestines and livers, how to look for fortune in the stars through astrology, all these things that we would be disgusted by, but he is being forced to learn and live, instead of the Law of God that he was raised to know.
How would you feel if that were you.
B. The Decision
B. The Decision
Which brings us to Daniel’s decision.
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
Why in the world did Daniel and his friends make this decision? Many people say that they were trying to follow the law on food. However, why did they decide not to drink the wine, because that has nothing to do with the law.
Other people say that they were trying to stay away from food and drink that was sacrificed to idols. Which makes sense. However, the vegetables they were eating would have been sacrificed as well. So, that throws that out.
In addition, later on, we see that Daniel enjoyed the rich foods from the court later in life, and God never accuses him of wrongdoing.
Why did they make that decision? Daniel and his friends were in a process of education and preparation for service to the Babylonians. “Their mind and their bodies were being fed by the Babylonian court. If they prosper, to whom should they attribute their success? The Babylonians.
But, if they choose a form of food that is not known to make a strong healthy appearance, only God could provide that. So through this diet, these boys were kept “from believe that their physical appearance (and by consequence, perhaps, their intellectual gifts) were the gift of the Babylonian culture.”
What is the result of the diet?
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
The point of the diet was not to prove publically the power of God, but privately.
Look at who knows. Daniel, his three friends, and their immediate guard. No one else.
In fact, when Daniel and his friends are presented and tested in front of Nebuchadnezzer, and they are shown to be the best of the best, the king could take pride in the products of his work. Thinking their appearance and their knowledge was because of his direction.
Only the Jewish boys knew the truth.
C. The Influence
C. The Influence
With that truth in the forefront of their lives, they began their life of influence, working for the good of that pagan nation.
At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
This really blows my mind. Daniel and his friends are tested in all the mystic arts and they are found better than all the magicians and enchanters in the kingdom. Because God gave them ability to do these things.
Through their ability, through their jobs, they make the nation they are part of, that ungodly nation, better. And they increase the riches, reputation, and respect of their godless, proud king who destroyed their nation and tried to demolish their religion.
As we reflect on Daniel’s life, as God is glorified in his life among the Pagans, though they don’t know it yet, we are forced to see a difference in his life.
Daniel was not trying to make a culture Jewish, but was trying to live faithfully in a hostile culture. In the same way, our struggle is not are not to make the culture Christian, but how a Christian can live in a hostile culture.
No modern nation can compare themselves to Israel, where God himself is ruling based upon a law verbally given to his servants.
I’m going to say something that some people will not like.
America is not a Christian nation, because there is no such thing as a Christian nation. As I said, America is more like Babylon in Daniel’s day or Rome in Jesus’s day, than like the nation of Israel. We are not called to create a moral nation.
As in the words of Martin-Lloyd Jones:
“The New Testament is never interested in conduct and behaviour in itself. I can go further and say that the New Testament does not make an appeal for good behaviour to anyone but to Christian people. The New Testament is not interested, as such, in morality of the world. It tells us quite plainly that you can expect nothing from the world but sin, and that in its fallen condition it is incapable of anything else. In Titus 3:3 Paul tells us that we were all once like that: “for we ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.…” Thus there is nothing, according to the New Testament, that is so fatuous and so utterly futile, as to turn to such people and appeal to them to live the Christian life.… The truth is that it only has one message for people like that—the message of repentance.”
God is not interested in lives of external conformity to his will.
“But this doesn’t mean that we withdraw from a dangerous and hostile world. In Matthew 10:16 Jesus calls his disciples “sheep” and the rest of the world “wolves,” but he demands courage from his sheep to take the risk to live among the wolves. In the process, he gives them a strategy, using two more animal metaphors: “Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” We are to be innocent and shrewd as we live out the issues of faith in our culture. And does this not describe Daniel perfectly? Daniel certainly was innocent. He mounted no angry assault on his captors; rather, he acted quite civilly. He was virtually serpent-like in his crafty strategy to remain faithful in a land antithetical to his deeply held faith. As the story continues, we will observe that Daniel not only remained faithful but exercised significant influence on the godless world around him.”
So, where has God placed you?
You might look around and ask how God can be glorified in that situation. Well, through you as you remained innocent and faithful where you are. In future weeks, we will talk about what that holiness looks like.
And through you, as you work for the good of where you are placed.
As we do that, we are able to have conversations about our faith, as we will see later in Daniel, conversations founded on our faithfulness and the good that we have done, the benefit we have brought, that ultimately result in someone turning to Jesus.
Communion: to save us out of this world. to put us back into the world.
