Trusting God In Chaos Series

Trusting God in the Chaos

Book of Daniel Series- CCCAG 1-5-24

Text: Daniel 1:1-21

Today we are going to be starting our series on the Book of Daniel. This is a study I’ve been wanting to do for a few years. Due to circumstances in our church life and my personal life, I wasn’t able to give it the attention it deserved- it’s a series that requires hours and hours of study.

Now that I’m off of work for a little while, and to a point where I don’t need heavy pain medication, I can do it the justice it deserves.

So let’s dig in.

Understanding the book of Daniel is important because it’s the key to understanding biblical prophecy, especially the book of Revelation.

In that spirit, I will begin with this verse from Revelation to set the stage on what is about to happen here in Daniel chapter 1.

Cross-reference: Revelation 2:10 (Church of Smyrna) Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Keep that in mind as we go through today’s message.

Daniel was a teenager during the reign of King Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim was an evil king, and the 3rd to last of the kings of Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered by Assyria almost 100 years prior and Assyria had now been conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The kingdom of Judah had popped up on Babylon’s radar because Jehoiakim’s father Josiah had attempted to stop Egypt from reinforcing Assyria against Babylon.

The reason is that Josiah felt that Assyria was the greater threat, so if he could let Babylon take them out, the Kingdom of Judah would be better off.

Long story short- didn’t work. Babylon eventually defeats both Assyria and Egypt.

That’s what was happening from the historical perspective.

However, there is also a spiritual perspective we need to understand.

Jeremiah and Habakkuk both identified Babylon as God’s instrument to judge and punish the nation of Judah for the horrific sin they had begun to practice.

At the beginning of Daniel- Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar ransacks Jerusalem for treasure, and also takes captive a lot of royal family and the families of those who are rich and powerful in the kingdom- what we would call nobility in our time.

That’s where we will start today- with first few verses of this book-

Daniel 1:1-21 In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. (2) The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god. (3) The king ordered Ashpenaz (ash’-pen-az), his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility?—? (4) young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the Chaldean language and literature. (5) The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to attend the king. (6) Among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. (7) The chief eunuch gave them names; he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.

Prayer

For the first few moments of this message, I want you to put yourself in these four young men’s shoes for a moment.

Keep in mind- you are a teenager probably 15 or 16 years old - who had lived a privileged and pampered life to this point.

• You are part of the nobility of Judah- You are very rich, you have had servants your whole life. Very well educated and used to being looked up to by everyone you come into contact with.

• You have a great life- best clothes, best food, best friends, best education available in your nation.

• But then Babylon comes, and chaos ensues. Everything changes. You go from first, to worst.

• You go from the finest clothes, to the rags of captives.

• You go from being respected, to being enslaved.

• They even take away your name- something that was of the upmost importance in Hebrew culture.

And possibly the worst thing for these young men is seen in Isaiah’s prophecy to Hezekiah after Hezekiah stupidly showed envoys from Babylon how rich and protected his kingdom was-