Daniel in Babylon

In light of things that are happening in our nation, I want to take a quick break from Luke and we are going to look at God on the throne.

We face days of uncertainty ahead. Covid is still present though we all thought that it would have passed by now. The country being in turmoil with riots still happening in multiple cities. The election still being up in the air and no matter who the winner is, I fear we will see civil unrest either way.

With these things happening, us believers need to be asking the question, what is our worldview?

If your worldview is that God is not sovereign and if something is going to happen. Then you fight, you rebel. You do whatever you can to make sure that your will, that what you think is best happens.

If your worldview is that God is sovereign, then we’d better make sure that whatever we are doing, we are examining scripture to know how He wants us to live.

We don’t want to be practical atheists. We say that we believe in God, but does the way that we live show that we believe He is absent from the world and isn’t in control?

We are looking at Daniel, because he demonstrates this better than anyone.

Daniel 1:1-4

To get a larger grasp of what is going on, we are going to back up a little bit more.

The book of Daniel opens up with the announcement that God has brought the King, artifacts from the temple, and some of the royal family and those of nobility.

What would you do?

If you were a noble in a land, you were among God’s chosen people, and now you have been taken away to Babylon. How would you react?

Would you flee before the Babylonians arrived? Would you hide when they came to take you so that you wouldn’t be found and could remain? When you got to Babylon would you find ways to sabotage the kingdom?

How would you react?

I ask because it specifically relates to how you react to circumstances today.

How do we react to the new president whoever it might be? How do we react to mandates or other things that are imposed?

Do we realize that even when things aren’t exactly the way we want it to be; that God is in control?

God’s People

Israel was God’s special people. Because of this they didn’t believe that they would be overtaken by the Babylonians.

Leviticus 26 (Homework)

In Leviticus God lays out the blessings and the curses for Israel. The will be blessed if they follow God and do what He commands.

But if they don’t follow God. They will be destroyed.

We all know the outcome of that. They followed after what was false, what couldn’t give real lasting joy or hope. They chased what was false.

I see many parallel’s to Israel and America. We saw ourselves as a Godly nation. But a nation where many Christians have chased after so many idols in this world just as Israel did.

Getting together as believers is no longer important, church is no longer important, studying the bible is no longer important.

Instead this has been replaced by the idol of money with people becoming workaholics. Or the idol of pleasure with people wanting to have fun. Or the idol of sports where our little league games are more important.

We need to make sure that we are not falling into the same trap as Israel.

But they had false prophets. Prophets who would tell them things that their itchy ears desired to hear.

Jeremiah 14:13-14

Jeremiah 14:13–14 ESV

13 Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ” 14 And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

The prophets were telling Israel, we won’t be overtaken, we are God’s people.

But God said that these prophets were worthless and they were either making up prophecies on their own, or they were listening to teachings of demons.

Israel had forsaken God, because of this they were being punished. Even though that was a hard thing for the people to hear, it was the truth.

Because a lie is easier to face than the truth false prophecy was running rampant in the land.

They didn’t want to believe that Nebuchadnezzar was taking the area by storm. That God was using him to complete God’s purpose and will.

Nebuchadnezzar was Ordained

But the truth was that God was raising up an immoral king, to use for His own purposes. That was to bring punishment on Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 27:5-6

Jeremiah 27:5–6 ESV

5 “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him.

The great and powerful King Nebuchadnezzar who no army in the world could stop is nothing more than a pawn in the hands of almighty God.

When they saw this evil King coming, no one believed that God would be the one raising up this army against Israel.

If someone is in power, God has allowed them to exercise that office. Whether it is Trump or Biden who ends up as president these next few years, God has placed them in that position for His purposes.

Habakkuk 1:5-11, Jeremiah 21:1-10 (Homework)

We always think that the ones who are hauled away are the one’s that God is displeased with…but that isn’t the case.

I’m pointing this out so we see how different the plans of God are from our plans.

Jeremiah 24:4-5

Jeremiah 24:4–5 ESV

4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.

Those who willing went into exile were the ones who God was working in. Who God was going to strengthen and bring back.

God sent away the one’s He loved.

Daniel was one of these where were taken away this first time.

Jeremiah 24:8-9

Jeremiah 24:8–9 ESV

8 “But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them.

The one’s who remained were the one’s who would be a reproach. They would be the one’s who God’s wrath was on.

This is totally backwards from the way we think. We think that if we are left we are the blessed, if we are taken away, God must be angry.

This is what has now brought Daniel into Babylon.

Still on the Throne

I want us to see, that God is still on the throne.

From a purely historical perspective, God’s chosen people have been taken away into captivity and Jerusalem was destroyed. God must not be in control, how could he let this happen. How could He let evil prevail.

Through the bible, we learn that God was allowing the evil to accomplish His own purposes. He hasn’t lost control.

As we move foreward into the uncertainty of 2021, remember that no matter what is happening, God has a plan behind it. He is very much the sovereign, omnipotent one who is still on the throne.