Daniel: Introduction (1)
Text: Daniel 1:1-4
Well we’ve made it to 2026. That’s going to take me a while to get used to. I’m still trying to process 2020… and now we’re six years past that. Just kidding… but seriously though, we are in a new year, and we’re going to start working our way through another Book of the Bible, and after much prayer and consideration, I’ve settled on the Book of Daniel. I think… and I hope and pray, that as we go through this, you will be blessed, and equipped by the Spirit of God through the Word of God, and it will help us in this new year.
So just a few months from now we’ll be right in the middle of the Mid-Term elections. Just thinking about that kind of turns my stomach to be honest with you. Because we now know, for certain about all the fraud and mess with voting machines, and criminal activity… to my knowledge, there have been no arrests or convictions. The Dominion voting machines were bought by someone else… so that will be interesting.
And all the political pundits and talking heads in the media, and arm-chair political quarterbacks will be doing what they do. Stress levels will rise, and people will get so caught up in all, and through it all - God is on His throne. So much of what we see take place in the world around us is the result of things taking place in the spiritual realm… Those things that happen in our world are the outworkings of hearts that have either been converted to Jesus Christ, or they’re the outworkings of hearts and minds that are in darkness.
The heart of the human problem is the problem with the human heart. And until the modern Church gets that, and goes out and blankets the nation with the Gospel, then those politicians you vote for – at best, are going to be in a constant battle to try to get things done.
And I think that’s why this Book of Daniel is such a relevant book for us today. Because in Daniel we not only see the outworkings of the heart… we see the outworkings of hearts that are evil and wicked, but also the outworkings of hearts that are full of faith and trust in God. But we also see that the battle that takes place in our physical world is also being fought in the spiritual world. And as we look through it, what this Book does is help us stand strong in our faith in a world that seems to have gone off the rails.
So, while you’re turning to Daniel, let me just set the stage for you. This book takes place in a place called Babylon. And Babylon is not a good place by any means or measure. It’s wicked, it’s evil, it’s corrupt. It’s controlled by demons and Satan. But what’s interesting is that if you were to ask the common citizen of Babylon, they would’ve told you that it was great being a citizen of Babylon. They would’ve told you, “Of course it’s great living here. Our empire is the strongest in the world. Our economy is booming. We have plenty to eat, and can live however we want as long as we obey the king and his commands. You know… bow down to his statue, and don’t disrupt the system. Life is pretty good.”
That’s what they would’ve told you… but that’s because the citizens of Babylon were all lost. They were demon worshipers. They were ok with child sacrifice, and temple prostitutes, and the kings rules, as long as they themselves got to keep on living in sin, and being wicked too.
And so, Babylon is a wicked place. It was a real kingdom, but the Bible also uses it to describe for us a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom of spiritual darkness & evil.
Babylon is mentioned in the Book of Revelation, and it’s used as representation of the fallen world and world system. The kingdom of darkness that is opposed to God, and all that God wants to do, and all that God stands for.
And the Biblical teaching is that the spirit that is behind Babylon – which is the devil… is at work in all the world systems, and nations, and institutions, and organizations. It’s the place where false religions develop, it’s the place where abortion is prominent… they’re involved in human trafficking and slavery, and drugs, and just about every evil thing you can think of. And this spiritual wickedness is working night and day, without rest, to twist its way into every single sphere of human life and thought.
We see it in all the sodomites you see on TV these days, to taking the sign of God’s covenant promise – the rainbow, and twisting it to say that it represents a perverse lifestyle, to the lies of evolution, and critical theory and critical race theory, and on and on, and on it goes. It’s in politics, it’s in education, it’s in organizations, in religions.
You get the picture.
This is why I say, “The Front Line is Everywhere.”
And the reason for that is; because the spirit behind Babylon – is your enemy. He wants to steal, kill and destroy you. And your spouse. And your kinds. And everyone, and everything you know and love.
So let’s go to our text… We’re in Daniel 1:1-4 (READ TEXT).
So in the 3rd year of the reign of Jehoiakim the king of Judah… that sets the historical stage for us. This was right around 605 B.C…. So roughly 2620 or so years ago a guy named Jehoiakim was the king of Judah. And Jehoiakim wasn’t a good king. We read in 2nd Kings and also 2nd Chronicles that he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He was already compromising with Egypt and making deals with the enemies of Israel way before the Babylonians came along.
And verse 2 of our text tells us that the Lord gave Jehoiakim into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
Now Nebuchadnezzar is the king of Babylon.
And he’s not a good guy either.
So basically, you’ve got the king of Judah, who has been brought up hearing about God, and hearing God’s Law, but he has no faith in God. He’s just out for himself, and he’s doing evil in the sight of the Lord, and making alliances with the enemies of God, thinking that this will keep him safe from the growing empire that is Babylon. But it doesn’t.
And you notice it says there that THE LORD gave Jehoiakim into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
So why does God do that? Because the king, and the people were in rebellion. They had disobeyed God. They refused to repent. They wanted the blessing and protection of God, but they didn’t want the holiness of God. They wanted to live like the world, and do all the things those in the world do, and still claim to be in covenant relationship with God.
And God has been patient with them. He has sent His prophets to warn them. Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, and Habakkuk, to call them back to repentance and faith. To tell them to turn from their sin and wickedness.
In Isaiah 39:6-7 Isaiah says, “Behold the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says. The Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
God has been patient with them. He has warned them over and over again. He has told them what will happen. And finally He drops the hammer and brings judgment.
Church, let me explain something to you. God gives warnings. He does that through His Word, He does that through things that happen in our lives… He allows us to see precursors. He does that as we look through history and we can see how He has moved and directed things in the past. And by seeing what He has brought upon disobedient people who refused to listen.
But then, if the people continue to keep sinning, and continue to remain in disobedience, eventually God decrees judgment. And once His Word goes forth, it will come to pass.
God had warned the people for years and years. And then finally brought His just judgment.
And so, Daniel is a book about a guy, who was alive when that finally happened.
Now… also, understand this. A lot of times, you’ll see people use the Book of Daniel and try to tie that in with young people. And it’s true, Daniel was probably around 13 or 14 when he was taken away to Babylon.
Imagine that for a second. He was an 8th grader, or maybe a freshman in High School. And all of a sudden the Babylonians attack your city, and they capture you. And they chain you up, and take you away from your home, your family, everything. They make you march, on foot, about 700 miles to the east. And when they got to Shinar, which is where Babel was… they changed his name, they started indoctrinating him, and even worse… You all see who’s in charge over Daniel, and his friends right? The chief of the eunuchs. A guy named Ashpenaz. And so the chief of the eunuchs is over Daniel and his friends, so guess what… not only has Daniel been captured, and enslaved. He’s been forcibly made into a eunuch.
You see; the Babylonians didn’t want a repeat of what happened in Egypt. They didn’t want a few Hebrews to multiply into a multitude of Hebrews, so they sterilized them.
It’s terrible.
But… also remember, Daniel spends about 66 years in captivity. So by the time this book ends, he’s in his late 70’s or early 80’s. Daniel isn’t just a book for teens. It’s a book for the older people as well… and for ALL PEOPLE. Daniel shows us that you can be faithful to God all your life, no matter where you are, or what happens to you, or what’s done to you. You can be faithful, by God’s help and grace.
So let me re-cap all of this for you, because we need to get it down before we move forward in this book. Babylon is the demonic world system. The fallen world system. It’s a real place, but it’s also a picture of the world controlled by Satan and darkness. It is hostile toward God and God’s people. It hates God and God’s people. It is designed and operates to oppose God’s plans and purposes, and destroy God’s people. It attempts to do this in various of ways. Either outright through war, and violence, or through indoctrination and assimilation. Making you conform.
The people in that system, don’t see it as bad. In-fact; they think that the only reason that system isn’t creating heaven on earth is because those fundamentalist believers in God are messing up the works. In other words, they see us as the problem. We’re the ones keeping utopia from happening.
And it comes to us today in all kinds of forms.
“If you’d only submit to Islam, the world would be at peace.”
“If you’d only bow the knee to Marxism, the world would be at peace.”
“If only you would get on board with the program… John Lenon’s ‘Imagine’… no heaven, no hell, living for today… no countries, nothing to kill or die for, no religion too. Imagine all the people, living life in peace. I hope some day you’ll join us – and the world will live as one.”
John Lennon was singing that in 1971, but the idea has been around since Satan first rebelled against God, and tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Same demons, different day.
But Daniel shows us something different.
He went from his home to a wicked place. A place that was hostile toward him, and opposed to him. He was humbled and made lowly. He faced adversity & temptation. He was even wrongly accused and forced to go down into a pit – a den of lions.
But then, he came out of that pit alive and well. And he rose to a position of royalty. What Daniel shows us, is the ONE who is greater than he is. Daniel is a picture of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And if you know Him, as Lord and Savior, you can stand strong in Babylon.
CLOSING
