WEBVTT 00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:03.620 I'm going to invite you to, if you can take a moment, find the book of Daniel. 00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:09.120 If you don't know where the book of Daniel is, if you find Psalms it's kind of in the middle of your Bible, about six books past that. 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:12.680 I didn't really add it, but somewhere around six books, you should find the book of Daniel. 00:00:12.840 --> 00:00:14.600 Isaiah, Jeremiah Ezekiel, Daniel. 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:17.800 That's how it goes after the poetic books. 00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:21.690 We're starting a new series together called Cultural Collision. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:29.020 Going through the book of Daniel to discuss for us as a people in pursuit of God, how do you follow God when you feel 00:00:29.020 --> 00:00:31.920 like you might be in a position where you don't belong. 00:00:31.980 --> 00:00:35.240 Or you've ever been in a place where you don't feel like you don't fit in. 00:00:35.800 --> 00:00:41.520 Or you meet some challenges in certain circumstances in your life that might encourage you to compromise? 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.160 Well, what does that look like to follow after God? 00:00:45.380 --> 00:00:49.020 Daniel's a beautiful book that really paints that picture for us. 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:50.720 Daniel being the primary character of this book. 00:00:50.720 --> 00:00:54.840 We're going to follow four individuals through the story of Daniel, but primarily Daniel. 00:00:55.380 --> 00:00:58.720 And being able to answer that question together. 00:00:58.720 --> 00:01:01.360 What does it look like when faith collides with culture? 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:09.740 And so we're in this series together called Cultural Collision and being able to answer that question in pursuit of God in 00:01:09.740 --> 00:01:10.820 our lives. 00:01:11.980 --> 00:01:19.180 When you come to a book like Daniel, I think one of the things that really helps us to understand why we would choose the book of Daniel to answer this question relating to Cultural 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:20.030 Collision. 00:01:20.720 --> 00:01:27.860 Daniel, in the context around in this book, if you understand biblical history, you would know that Daniel is 00:01:27.860 --> 00:01:31.180 a very prominent place to be able to ask and answer that question. 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:35.570 God, how do I live for you in light of the adversity I might face in my faith? 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:41.820 And so one of the things I want to do for us as we jump into the series together is kind of paint the picture of the Old Testament. 00:01:42.420 --> 00:01:49.680 If you've not had anyone ever explain that to you, understanding the way the Bible fits together helps us to better understand what's being communicated 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:50.540 in scripture. 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:57.560 This may be the first time you've ever heard this, but when you open up the Old Testament, it's 39 books and they're not in chronological order. 00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:02.300 Genesis, when you see the book of Genesis, which really starts at the beginning of history. 00:02:02.320 --> 00:02:03.080 And that I think that's important. 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:04.120 I'm glad it's at the beginning. 00:02:04.420 --> 00:02:06.000 It's called Genesis means the beginning. 00:02:06.320 --> 00:02:12.760 But when you get to the end of the Bible, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, in the Old Testament, that's not necessarily the chronological order of how things play out. 00:02:12.760 --> 00:02:14.940 Some of these books mixed together. 00:02:14.980 --> 00:02:21.560 And in fact, when you look at the Old Testament, they're categorized really in three primary labels that they fall under. 00:02:21.600 --> 00:02:25.500 The first 17 books of the Old Testament are historical books. 00:02:25.920 --> 00:02:28.900 And you have five poetic, proverbial books. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:32.020 And then you have the last 17 books, which are prophetic books. 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:37.620 And those prophetic books can fit into those historical books in different places in different times. 00:02:38.140 --> 00:02:45.160 I'm going to show you a little chart on the screen to help put this book of Daniel into perspective for us, but I want you to know you don't have to retain all 00:02:45.160 --> 00:02:45.520 of this information. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:53.600 You can look at it and I hope you do absorb it, but if you want, when you leave today, we have these on the table by the double doors when you walk 00:02:53.600 --> 00:02:54.100 out of here. 00:02:54.200 --> 00:02:59.150 So if you want one, if we run out, we can make more copies, but if you'd like to have one, we have those available you. 00:03:00.160 --> 00:03:04.820 Like I was saying, the first 17 books of the Old Testament are historical books. 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:13.260 And starting with Genesis, that's the first five books that Moses wrote, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:20.360 I don't know if you can make that out back in the back, but the first three books that are listed up there in that main line, Genesis, Exodus and Numbers, and 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:25.460 then below that you have Leviticus and Deuteronomy because they fall into when these books were written. 00:03:25.480 --> 00:03:29.170 But Leviticus more contains the law for the Jews and it was written during the exodus. 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:31.420 And Deuteronomy is more of Moses exhortation. 00:03:32.160 --> 00:03:35.220 It's a sermon to those living during the time of Numbers. 00:03:35.760 --> 00:03:37.580 But these books kind of lay out for us historically. 00:03:38.480 --> 00:03:42.160 One of the interesting things about the first book listed under Genesis is the book of Job. 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:48.380 Job sort of makes a narrative of the life of the individual during the timeline of Genesis, but Job was also a poetic book. 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:56.120 And so while it's labeled there as a historical book, it's also a poetic book, one of the poetic books in scripture that we talked about in 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:56.840 the Old Testament. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:04.100 And so you follow this timeline, Israel's history from Joshua who goes on the conquest and the promise land that God gave to Israel. 00:04:04.740 --> 00:04:10.560 Judges during that time, the promise land into 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 kings. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.880 This follows Israel as they become a people group under a king. 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:20.880 And then 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles, tell the same stories as 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings. 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:25.600 It just, they share the story post exilic and the other stores are shared pre exilic. 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:27.000 Now what is post exilic mean? 00:04:27.260 --> 00:04:31.420 I'll tell you in a second, but you see sort of the timeline of how things unfold. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:37.350 The place we're going to find ourselves as this blank spot that sort of got a little triangle above it that says 70 years of exile. 00:04:37.520 --> 00:04:44.520 This is where Daniel was written and what happened in Israel's history is that after Joshua and the judges, Israel 00:04:44.520 --> 00:04:46.110 decides that they wanted a king. 00:04:46.520 --> 00:04:49.180 And God appoints a king and King Saul becomes their king. 00:04:49.200 --> 00:04:52.160 And Israel really only had three kings under a united kingdom. 00:04:52.500 --> 00:04:54.650 They had Saul, they had David, they have Solomon. 00:04:55.260 --> 00:04:58.200 After Solomon's death, there's a civil war in Israel. 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:01.180 And Jeroboam and Rehoboam split the people. 00:05:01.200 --> 00:05:06.340 And there's 10 tribes that go to the north and two tribes go to the south through the civil civil war. 00:05:06.400 --> 00:05:13.040 So when you read the rest of the books of Kings, you'll see Jeroboam, Rehoboam and all the in between there for the kings that they pursued. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:14.820 Depending on if you're in the north or the south. 00:05:15.340 --> 00:05:17.180 And the north never followed a godly king. 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:23.350 So in 922, civil war breaks out the people split 10 tribes to the north, 2 the south. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.040 The tribes in north never follow a godly king. 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:30.080 At 722 BC, God lets them be taken into captivity by the Assyrians. 00:05:30.980 --> 00:05:37.620 A vicious people group comes in, captures them, and all this left is the southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin. 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:44.120 They sustain until about 586 and in 586 they're conquered by Babylon. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:45.900 And that's where Daniel writes his book. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:51.360 But in the midst of this historical timeline that you see, there's also other books that are written. 00:05:51.400 --> 00:05:55.700 The poetry books are written predominantly during the time of the Kings. 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:58.810 David wrote most of the Psalms, though he's not the only author of the Psalms. 00:05:58.820 --> 00:06:00.400 He wrote about half the Psalms. 00:06:00.700 --> 00:06:03.280 Some of the Psalms date hundreds of years before David. 00:06:03.780 --> 00:06:07.600 And then Solomon writes the proverbial books, the book of Proverbs. 00:06:07.760 --> 00:06:10.220 He writes Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. 00:06:10.340 --> 00:06:12.220 So these happened during that time period. 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:16.860 In the context of while these poetic books are being written, you also have the prophetic books. 00:06:19.060 --> 00:06:24.400 The books, some of them are written to the north, some of the prophets are sent to the northern tribes. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:27.060 Some of the prophets are sent to the southern tribes. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:29.090 Some are sent into foreign nations. 00:06:29.860 --> 00:06:33.780 Some prophesy while in exile and some prophesy after the exile. 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:36.160 But that's where you find the book of Daniel. 00:06:37.580 --> 00:06:39.600 It's labeled as a prophetic book. 00:06:40.760 --> 00:06:47.900 And in fact you'll see in the opening verses that we'll look at together, that when Israel is conquered, it's really conquered by Babylon in waves. 00:06:47.960 --> 00:06:49.140 It starts in 605. 00:06:49.400 --> 00:06:50.780 It concludes in 586. 00:06:50.860 --> 00:06:52.920 Three waves of conquering from Babylon comes in. 00:06:53.280 --> 00:06:58.900 When they go in with the first wave, they take the higher upper echelon of society. 00:06:58.900 --> 00:07:03.020 The leaders, the ones that are the movers and shakers that are making the decision for the nation. 00:07:03.060 --> 00:07:10.200 They come in and they conquer those individuals and they bring them to Babylon for the purpose of a retraining them to get them under Babylonian rule 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:13.840 so that way they can better lead the country in which that they've come to conquer. 00:07:15.200 --> 00:07:20.800 So Daniel's a part of this first wave of young leaders that are taken into Babylonian captivity. 00:07:20.820 --> 00:07:22.840 But these waves happen until 586. 00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:29.640 It kind of leaves these people with a question that I think all of us would ask. 00:07:30.940 --> 00:07:37.140 If you think about Israel's history to this point, Israel they were God's promised people. 00:07:37.140 --> 00:07:44.300 If you read in Genesis the first 11 chapters of Genesis, you have a lot of history taking place very quickly because the point of the Old Testament 00:07:44.300 --> 00:07:49.820 is to really show us how God is working through one people group to bring about his plan in history. 00:07:49.820 --> 00:07:53.500 And so you kind of asked the question of where did this people group come from? 00:07:53.520 --> 00:08:00.560 Well, it brings you a fast track in Genesis chapter 1 to 11 to sort of show how God created everything and then brought it to this one people group that started 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:00.840 with Abraham. 00:08:01.440 --> 00:08:04.460 And it tells him that through you all nations will be blessed. 00:08:04.640 --> 00:08:06.120 That the seed of the Messiah would come through Abraham. 00:08:06.280 --> 00:08:13.620 And so it shows this people group as they go into this exodus, a slaves and God miraculously shows up in exodus and he sets them free and 00:08:13.620 --> 00:08:15.390 he brings them into this promised land. 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:17.990 And they live on the idea that Messiah is going to come. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:21.640 And through them all people would be blessed and all nations would be blessed. 00:08:22.280 --> 00:08:23.780 And so you see the story taking shape. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.880 And then this kingdom is established, in David, predominantly. 00:08:27.880 --> 00:08:29.120 And God highlights David. 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:32.059 And now all of a sudden, they're conquered. 00:08:34.260 --> 00:08:34.740 They've been devastated. 00:08:36.880 --> 00:08:40.240 They saw the 10 northern tribes just demolished. 00:08:42.260 --> 00:08:45.620 And now they're southern tribes into captivity. 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:48.830 How would you feel? 00:08:50.920 --> 00:08:51.420 Depressed? 00:08:54.040 --> 00:08:55.880 Maybe that'd be a little light for the circumstance. 00:08:58.260 --> 00:09:01.550 Would you wonder where are the promises of God? 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:04.340 Especially in the midst of adversity? 00:09:06.400 --> 00:09:07.300 God, do you love us? 00:09:09.660 --> 00:09:12.260 Have you given up on us? 00:09:13.480 --> 00:09:14.000 Where are you? 00:09:15.620 --> 00:09:16.220 is this it? 00:09:19.260 --> 00:09:24.800 The story of Daniel places heavy emphasis on the sovereignty of God. 00:09:24.920 --> 00:09:30.190 It shows us that God is in control and able to save in our moments of uncertainty. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:33.520 I think it's a broader picture really of the Gospel. 00:09:33.760 --> 00:09:37.320 In fact, when you watch Daniel's life, I mean God owes no one here, nothing. 00:09:38.800 --> 00:09:45.460 But God, by His grace, while people continue to turn their back on him, he demonstrates through Daniel that God's not finished yet. 00:09:47.520 --> 00:09:52.770 In fact, when you get to the end of Daniel, you'll see these prophetic statements given to Daniel to deliver that statement. 00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:56.940 To the point that it demonstrates for us the time of Jesus's arrival. 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:06.000 And so you see this broadening display of the grace of God that's ultimately communicated in the Gospel as it works its life out in the life of Daniel. 00:10:06.040 --> 00:10:13.260 But the communication that we start to see in this chapter as it unfolds as Daniel emphasizes the sovereignty of God, that God is in control, 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:14.940 able to save in the midst of uncertainty. 00:10:17.660 --> 00:10:19.930 Daniel teaches us to walk by faith and adversity. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:26.140 Questions, no doubt all of us ask, depending on circumstances around God. 00:10:26.180 --> 00:10:28.120 How do we follow you? 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:34.880 One of the things I love about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, which we'll look at it, is they were all young men. 00:10:37.040 --> 00:10:44.280 All young men in the midst of their young age, they still walked with incredible wisdom, which even speaks volumes, I think to younger generations 00:10:44.280 --> 00:10:46.700 to say young people take your faith seriously. 00:10:49.880 --> 00:10:54.610 You think of the life of Daniel and what it means, maybe to even be a parent. 00:10:54.980 --> 00:11:00.100 You know, as your child starts to mature and they start to let go, that kite string goes out a little bit and they start to leave the house. 00:11:00.180 --> 00:11:02.580 There's a piece of you maybe as a parent you kind of take a deep breath. 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:03.380 You're like, oooh. 00:11:04.660 --> 00:11:08.860 Did I give them the tools to walk by faith? 00:11:10.920 --> 00:11:17.990 Or maybe even just yourself, like when circumstances arise that aren't ideal, how do you stand in light of Christ? 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:20.180 With regret? 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:24.160 Or do you sleep easy at night? 00:11:25.860 --> 00:11:27.520 Have you've given your life to pursue Christ? 00:11:29.880 --> 00:11:32.820 What do you do when the faith and culture collide? 00:11:35.900 --> 00:11:43.590 When we look at this book, I think it's also important to understand what's being written in the book of Daniel 00:11:44.340 --> 00:11:45.700 as a literary unit. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:53.060 What I mean is, here at ABC we don't follow one set way of teaching through scripture. 00:11:53.220 --> 00:11:55.120 Though there are some ways I prefer more than others. 00:11:55.280 --> 00:11:57.620 Sometimes we do expository teaching. 00:11:57.700 --> 00:11:59.340 Sometimes we do just scriptural teaching. 00:11:59.380 --> 00:12:01.200 Sometimes we do topical teaching. 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:03.690 Let me just explain why we do that and what all that means. 00:12:05.040 --> 00:12:08.380 My preference in studying God's Word, teaching God's Word is expository teaching. 00:12:08.400 --> 00:12:12.280 That's where you go verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and thought by thought, communicating what God's word is. 00:12:12.400 --> 00:12:15.340 One of the advantages is we all get to look at it together. 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:20.340 If I say anything heretical, you can take me out with pitchfork and torch and so long, right? 00:12:20.540 --> 00:12:21.850 So we all get to examine that together. 00:12:22.300 --> 00:12:29.340 On top of that, one of the things that helps us, as we see how to study God's word, learn God's word, it gives all of us confidence that wherever, we are, we 00:12:29.340 --> 00:12:31.400 can see what God's words communicating to us. 00:12:31.520 --> 00:12:38.700 So you're not dependent on someone to try to explain it to you, but when you learn the tools to study God's word and you can do that expositorily, it helps 00:12:38.700 --> 00:12:39.730 the church read. 00:12:39.900 --> 00:12:40.620 And so I think it's important. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:42.410 That's one of the ways that we're going to approach Daniel. 00:12:42.560 --> 00:12:45.090 We're going to look at this verse by verse, chapter by chapter. 00:12:45.980 --> 00:12:49.900 Another way is to look at just scripturally, in context the literary unit. 00:12:49.920 --> 00:12:52.360 And what I mean is, Daniel is written this way. 00:12:53.380 --> 00:12:59.640 In fact, when you look at chapter one, Daniel starts off dating for us where this is taking place. 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:05.300 Third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim, which is the king of Judah under Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. 00:13:05.860 --> 00:13:07.000 So he's dating this for us. 00:13:07.020 --> 00:13:12.100 And so when you look at the end of chapter one, verse 21, you see that there's another king mentioned. 00:13:12.100 --> 00:13:13.780 So he's sort of sandwiching this event. 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:21.560 He's telling us this narrative story and he's sandwiching what's taking place here to say, okay, this is one thought I want you to see from chapter 00:13:21.560 --> 00:13:28.580 one, verse one to verse 21, of which we're trying to paint a picture of Daniel and how he led in a cultural collision in his life 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:33.480 to encourage you and how you lead in your faith in Christ in this world to make a difference. 00:13:34.220 --> 00:13:39.340 In fact, when you get to chapter two verse one, it then starts in the second year of King Nebuchadnezzar. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.640 And so it's explained to us this is a different literary unit. 00:13:43.520 --> 00:13:48.100 And so when you study, especially the first 17 books in the Old Testament, they're narrative stories. 00:13:48.660 --> 00:13:55.820 And what's important to recognize about narrative stories is that the intentions of the author isn't always word for word going through the 00:13:55.820 --> 00:13:56.960 point that he's trying to create. 00:13:56.980 --> 00:13:58.460 Let me, let me tell you why I say that. 00:13:58.620 --> 00:14:00.220 I don't want to throw a bunch of red flags out here. 00:14:01.420 --> 00:14:04.740 When Jesus taught, for example, he taught in parables. 00:14:06.220 --> 00:14:09.650 The point of a parable isn't the precision of each word. 00:14:10.040 --> 00:14:16.000 Like we're not supposed to draw a conclusion about each thought within a parable because you can lead into heresy because of that. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:23.740 Parables, when they're taught, the point of a parable is to create one main idea, one concept for you to grab ahold of and to 00:14:23.740 --> 00:14:24.420 live in your life. 00:14:24.920 --> 00:14:27.560 An understanding of who God is and how to live in line of that, right? 00:14:28.220 --> 00:14:32.620 And so sometimes when a narrative is told, the point of the narrative is to get a point across. 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:40.380 And so we're going to look at this a expositorily and sort of tie this in scripturally to make sure that we grab the big theme of Scripture. 00:14:40.400 --> 00:14:43.260 And the other way we'll often teach is we'll teach topically. 00:14:44.610 --> 00:14:51.780 Topically you have the opportunity to jump into way more heresy that way because you can just pull a verse out of context and make it mean something 00:14:51.780 --> 00:14:53.360 that it's never intended to mean. 00:14:53.700 --> 00:14:58.460 But I think it's important not to just throw out topical teaching because that's how your New Testament was written. 00:14:59.960 --> 00:15:02.020 Like would you read the epistles in the New Testament? 00:15:02.780 --> 00:15:06.780 The authors of the New Testament are typically answering questions to problems that the church faced. 00:15:08.060 --> 00:15:10.190 And I'm going to tell you something about being an adult. 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.240 When you're a kid, the world is your playground. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:19.060 The wonder of the world just captivates you and you just experience it, right? 00:15:19.100 --> 00:15:26.160 But as you start to adult in life, you start learning your brain sometimes can only fit so much, 00:15:26.420 --> 00:15:26.640 right? 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:29.090 And there's only so much someone can bear. 00:15:29.620 --> 00:15:37.040 And at some point someone tells you something and at that particular point of your life, you're not really interested in what they're talking about because it has no 00:15:37.040 --> 00:15:38.580 context with the world that you're living in. 00:15:39.160 --> 00:15:41.540 And so what you say to yourself is, I'm going to shelf that. 00:15:41.900 --> 00:15:43.280 God gave us Google and YouTube. 00:15:43.660 --> 00:15:46.140 And next time I need to know that I'm going to look it up. 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:49.840 And so what it says as an adult, as you get older, you learn on a needs to know basis, right? 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:56.060 And when you have kids screaming at you and relationships are falling apart, there are some certain things you need to know. 00:15:56.400 --> 00:15:59.640 And so when you approach certain contexts topically, it can help with that. 00:15:59.640 --> 00:16:06.960 For example, as a church, traditionally in the early parts of the spring, later in winter, we often teach a series on marriage or parenting, 00:16:07.160 --> 00:16:09.500 something related to relational context in life. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:14.180 Because we live in an area where people tend to be married and there tends to be lots of kids, right? 00:16:14.560 --> 00:16:16.470 And so topically we might be asking some questions. 00:16:16.900 --> 00:16:17.940 Am I messing my kids up? 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:19.040 How do I do this? 00:16:19.260 --> 00:16:20.760 My neighbor's kids are driving me crazy. 00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:22.600 What can I say to encourage them in Jesus? 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:24.380 You know, something along those lines. 00:16:24.400 --> 00:16:28.000 So topically, there are some things in your life that become essential. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:29.700 So I think all of them have their place. 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:32.900 But what we want to do is walk with proper discipline and understanding. 00:16:32.900 --> 00:16:36.820 Now all that being said, take a breath, right? 00:16:40.040 --> 00:16:44.380 Daniel for us is presented as a literary unit. 00:16:45.920 --> 00:16:46.560 Chapter one. 00:16:46.560 --> 00:16:52.460 He wants us to get this concept of who Daniel is in order to encourage the people in the pursuit of God in the context of which they live. 00:16:53.700 --> 00:16:59.170 And so when you look at the book, chapter one has this unit of thought that matches to the entire book. 00:16:59.300 --> 00:17:00.120 It sort of lays the foundation. 00:17:00.800 --> 00:17:03.800 And then when you get to chapter two to chapter seven, something interesting happens. 00:17:04.060 --> 00:17:05.300 They switched from Hebrew to Aramaic. 00:17:06.619 --> 00:17:09.760 And when you look at it, chapter two aligns with chapter seven. 00:17:10.040 --> 00:17:11.800 And chapter three aligns with chapter six. 00:17:11.819 --> 00:17:13.260 And chapter four aligns with chapter five. 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:19.680 And when you go back and look at chapter seven, you see chapter seven is really the explanation springboard to the rest of the book. 00:17:19.700 --> 00:17:23.339 Eight through 12 and eight through 12, they explained to us in Hebrew again. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:31.540 And so there's this literary unit of thought that when you grab the bigger picture, it helps us to understand the context as you expositate what's taking place in this passage. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:42.260 When you look at how Daniel is written for us and the way and the backdrop, it sets itself up for 00:17:42.260 --> 00:17:42.760 understanding. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:49.240 Daniel is being written at a place where Daniel, his friends, feel like they had their back against the wall. 00:17:50.120 --> 00:17:50.820 God, you love us. 00:17:50.820 --> 00:17:51.520 God, where are you? 00:17:51.520 --> 00:17:52.990 God, how do we stand for you? 00:17:55.860 --> 00:17:56.930 In the midst of this cultural collision. 00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:01.190 Babylon has conquered us. 00:18:03.120 --> 00:18:10.820 Now sometimes as people willing to go through difficult things, I find we have a peculiar tendency to rationalize 00:18:10.820 --> 00:18:13.700 adversity in some strange ways. 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:23.560 One of the things that I always have, I don't want to say it's difficult, but I just kind 00:18:23.560 --> 00:18:30.330 of irks me inside or maybe rubs me awkwardly, is when I attend a funeral. 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:35.300 And sometimes as people we don't like death. 00:18:35.780 --> 00:18:36.820 We weren't created for death. 00:18:36.860 --> 00:18:37.740 We were created for life. 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:39.460 Death was the consequence of sin. 00:18:40.300 --> 00:18:47.020 And when we try to rationalize that with people, we want to say something and encourage someone and we don't want to say, I can tell you some of the worst things I have ever heard people say. 00:18:49.080 --> 00:18:54.820 When you encounter those circumstances in trying to encourage someone else going through that challenge. 00:18:55.800 --> 00:18:58.020 I think Daniel was in a similar spot here. 00:18:59.660 --> 00:19:00.360 He's been conquered. 00:19:01.080 --> 00:19:01.740 People have died. 00:19:03.100 --> 00:19:10.120 And we can look at this and try to take the positive road and I think the Lord wants us to be optimistic in Him in this, but not to ignore the pain 00:19:10.120 --> 00:19:13.480 we've gone through in the story of Daniel here. 00:19:13.500 --> 00:19:14.570 What Daniel was experienced. 00:19:14.660 --> 00:19:18.820 Because we could look at chapter one and say, Hey, it's being conquered by a more powerful wealthy people group. 00:19:18.820 --> 00:19:20.060 Maybe this won't be bad for him. 00:19:20.380 --> 00:19:22.820 But then it gets it verse two and it sort of wipes that clean. 00:19:22.840 --> 00:19:29.900 In case you're asking that question, because it says this, the Lord gave Jehoiakim, King of Judah into his hand along with some of the vessels, the house of God. 00:19:30.280 --> 00:19:32.040 And he brought them talking about Nebuchadnezzar. 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:36.160 He brought them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god. 00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:39.060 And he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. 00:19:39.140 --> 00:19:43.540 So you see Nebuchadnezzar, if you're wondering what God is talking about, it's not the god of the Bible, right? 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:47.020 And he tells us something specific about where he brought him. 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:49.580 Which in the Hebrew mind would immediately perked up their ears. 00:19:49.620 --> 00:19:51.040 Because he says, this is the land of Shinar. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:54.260 And the land of Shinara is where the Tower of Babel was. 00:19:55.100 --> 00:19:58.880 And the Tower of Babel is where people that live in disobedience to God. 00:20:00.380 --> 00:20:05.560 And when you read the Old Testament, something interesting about what takes place is if you ever read about people traveling east? 00:20:05.800 --> 00:20:06.480 It's never good. 00:20:08.140 --> 00:20:14.920 I don't know what it is about the east, but if you travel west, God tends to honor that. 00:20:15.780 --> 00:20:20.840 And so here in this story there in the west, in the Promised Land God gave them. 00:20:20.940 --> 00:20:22.520 And then they're getting ripped out and now they are traveling east. 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:24.760 So if you're asking the question, well maybe this won't be all bad. 00:20:24.780 --> 00:20:25.750 It's like saying in verse two. 00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:26.740 Yeah, no, it's bad. 00:20:29.180 --> 00:20:29.800 How do you deal with that? 00:20:32.220 --> 00:20:36.220 Well, on top of this, it then begins to unfold the story of what Daniel's experiencing. 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:45.680 Then the king ordered Ashkenaz, the chief of his officials to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.260 family and of the noble. 00:20:47.380 --> 00:20:50.780 So that's where the saying, they went into Israel and they took nobility. 00:20:52.280 --> 00:20:53.180 They took the leaders. 00:20:53.980 --> 00:20:57.220 They want to teach them and ingrain them in Babylonian culture. 00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:04.580 And it says, including some of the royal family and of the nobles youth in whom was no defect, who were good looking, showing intelligence in 00:21:04.580 --> 00:21:05.460 every branch of wisdom. 00:21:05.820 --> 00:21:07.800 Every time I read the verse, I'm like, it's talking about me. 00:21:08.300 --> 00:21:10.020 No, I'm just kidding. 00:21:10.100 --> 00:21:13.000 I'm not that arrogant. 00:21:13.420 --> 00:21:21.200 Endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge and who had ability for serving in the kings court. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:29.980 So what it's saying in this passage is Nebuchadnezzar is coming in these waves and he's starting with the upper echelon because he 00:21:29.980 --> 00:21:31.720 wants them to be ingrained. 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:34.460 He's picking the younger generation because they're more impressionable. 00:21:35.140 --> 00:21:40.440 And he really wants to impress them, in that impressionable age, to show why Babylon is so much better. 00:21:40.460 --> 00:21:44.130 And why they should be leading for the Babylonians instead of the people group that's just been conquered. 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:44.680 They're no good. 00:21:44.700 --> 00:21:45.220 They'd been conquered. 00:21:46.580 --> 00:21:53.600 And so these are brought in this court for this purpose, the story goes on and says he ordered him to teach them the literature and the language of 00:21:53.600 --> 00:21:54.260 the Chaldeans. 00:21:56.280 --> 00:22:01.880 The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he drained. 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:04.240 By the way, this is where modern day Iraq is. 00:22:04.260 --> 00:22:05.320 This is where all this was taking place. 00:22:06.580 --> 00:22:12.820 And he appointed that they should be educated three years and at the end of that, of which they were to enter into the king's personal service. 00:22:13.260 --> 00:22:20.040 Now among them, from the sons of Judah where Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, which you know as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:27.480 So you think about, parent letting your young man enter into this world. 00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:29.280 Or young maturing adult. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:35.780 It's saying in these verses the things that Daniel had as a temptation embracing Babylonian culture. 00:22:36.840 --> 00:22:40.340 As you look at this story, what's unfolding here is Daniel's being conquered. 00:22:40.340 --> 00:22:41.080 He's not a slave. 00:22:41.380 --> 00:22:42.960 He's actually given a position of prominence. 00:22:43.340 --> 00:22:46.170 Oh, and he's given best education, best food. 00:22:46.560 --> 00:22:53.560 He's living in the castle, he's got clothing, he's got servants.This is as good as it 00:22:53.560 --> 00:22:53.780 gets. 00:22:55.520 --> 00:23:02.740 And so all of this is thrown at Daniel and then it tells us just one, the one verse further what exactly the 00:23:02.740 --> 00:23:04.440 King is intending to do. 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:08.720 And it says then like the commander or the officials assigned new names to them. 00:23:10.620 --> 00:23:12.120 Names for Israel are a big deal. 00:23:12.620 --> 00:23:14.450 Like I think sometimes in our culture we're like, what sounds cool. 00:23:14.540 --> 00:23:15.600 That's cool, let's do that. 00:23:15.620 --> 00:23:15.720 Right? 00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:20.280 But in Israel, name was a part of identity. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:22.970 Where did you come from? 00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:24.410 Where do you about? 00:23:25.180 --> 00:23:26.300 What do you pursue in life? 00:23:27.760 --> 00:23:33.880 For Daniel and his friends, their name represented their identity as God's people. 00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:42.820 Daniel's name is, "God is my judge." Hananiah, "God has favored us." Mishael, "who can compare to God" Azariah, "God is our helper." 00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:51.460 And so what the king does in bringing them in, he only temps them with a life that maybe more plush and fulfilling then what they had before in worldly 00:23:51.460 --> 00:23:52.060 circumstances. 00:23:52.600 --> 00:23:54.000 But he also wants to erase their past. 00:23:55.860 --> 00:23:59.020 Because Dale's named now becomes Belteshazzar which just rolls off the tongue. 00:24:00.320 --> 00:24:07.940 But Belteshazzar means, "in praise to the god of Bale." The prince of god, Bell favors, 00:24:08.040 --> 00:24:08.340 it says. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:16.860 And Hananiah's new name is Shadrach, is "the great scribe." And Mishael, his new name Meshach, "guests to the king." And 00:24:16.860 --> 00:24:21.020 Azariah, who is now Abednego, is "servant of Nebo," which is the god of vegetation. 00:24:21.300 --> 00:24:24.000 Which turns out in agricultural society is very important for living. 00:24:25.900 --> 00:24:30.680 But then their names, their identities become one of praise to false gods in a foreign land. 00:24:30.940 --> 00:24:31.980 Cultural collision. 00:24:36.320 --> 00:24:38.490 It takes these young men in order to conform them. 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:43.120 Impressionable minds, right? 00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:44.780 And Paul even warns us about that. 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:50.850 Romans 12:2, Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. 00:24:52.460 --> 00:24:56.400 This idea of conforming sort of shapes what the world's perspective is. 00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:03.560 It's as if it's saying the world is shaped in this box and what it wants you to do: it wants to take you and wants to stuff you in this box, to 00:25:03.560 --> 00:25:08.480 get your new shape to become conformed to exactly what it desires for you to praise in your life. 00:25:10.560 --> 00:25:17.960 But God, rather than conforming you from the outside, pressuring you in to this mold, God wants to transform you by the renewing of your mind from the inside out. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:19.840 God wants to change your life. 00:25:24.360 --> 00:25:31.480 The Bible tells us in Jeremiah, Jeremiah was told by God 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:35.210 prophetically to share with the people how they are to behave into this new land. 00:25:35.380 --> 00:25:40.590 While God wants you to be transformed, this world's going to want you to conform. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:43.800 But here's my desire as you're transforming. 00:25:44.040 --> 00:25:52.360 Going into this land, God tells Jeremiah, thus said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, build 00:25:52.380 --> 00:25:53.220 houses and live in them. 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:56.620 Plant gardens and eat their produce. 00:25:58.580 --> 00:26:05.860 Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands that they may bear sons and daughters, 00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:07.320 and multiply there and do not decrease. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:15.760 Seek the welfare of the city, which I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its welfare, you will have welfare. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:24.390 Before Daniel arrives in the circumstances, if God's already speaking to his people and how he wants them to behave. 00:26:24.500 --> 00:26:26.340 And it's kind of saying this to us. 00:26:29.120 --> 00:26:30.300 God doesn't work in spite of adversity. 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:34.430 Rather he works through it. 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:40.200 What God's saying to the people of Jeremiah's day is, bad things are happening. 00:26:40.200 --> 00:26:43.970 And so we're praying that the bad things stop that we don't enjoy. 00:26:44.660 --> 00:26:49.860 And so once you get us past the bad things back to the good things, then we can start serving you again. 00:26:52.740 --> 00:26:59.740 But what God is saying through Jeremiah and leading in Daniel's life is that God is big enough to work in 00:26:59.740 --> 00:27:00.800 every circumstance. 00:27:02.580 --> 00:27:07.860 In fact, sometimes when we face adversity, that is the very place that God desires to work. 00:27:10.500 --> 00:27:13.540 Because in the midst of darkness his light shines brightest. 00:27:15.840 --> 00:27:22.320 You know, one of the cool things as you see scripture unfold, especially into the New Testament, when Peter starts encouraging the church that's facing persecution. 00:27:22.500 --> 00:27:23.960 This happens in 1 Peter. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:31.160 One of the things that Peter does to the church for us today is to get us to recognize that, as Daniel was taken a captive into 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:34.000 a foreign land, as an alien in a place where he didn't feel like he belonged. 00:27:34.820 --> 00:27:39.560 Peter uses that for God's people to help us understand that we are all in a foreign land, that we are all aliens. 00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:43.360 In fact, in 1 Peter 2:11 that's how he describes us. 00:27:45.360 --> 00:27:47.150 Because your citizenship is not in this world. 00:27:48.980 --> 00:27:53.820 And he even tells the church when he writes this letter, to pray for those that feel as if they're in Babylon. 00:27:55.060 --> 00:27:59.700 That Babylon becomes a picture for all of God's people because this world is not where we were created to belong. 00:28:00.040 --> 00:28:01.880 That God's created us for life. 00:28:02.620 --> 00:28:09.760 And so the exhortation in 1 Peter 2:11, is though you may be maligned against, to 00:28:09.760 --> 00:28:11.380 still walk with God. 00:28:11.380 --> 00:28:18.360 That in walking with God, while people come against you, they may still see how you live in light of the Lord and glorify God because of it. 00:28:20.820 --> 00:28:22.580 Seek to bless the city. 00:28:25.080 --> 00:28:27.860 Be not conformed, but be transformed. 00:28:30.120 --> 00:28:37.500 The tendency of our culture when it collides with our faith is that culture tends to make words 00:28:37.500 --> 00:28:41.190 that are good like Daniel and his friends. 00:28:42.300 --> 00:28:45.880 And take words that have good godly definitions and make them bad. 00:28:45.900 --> 00:28:49.200 And take words that are bad and dishonoring God and make them good. 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:53.050 But be not confirmed, be transformed. 00:28:55.840 --> 00:29:01.220 And sometimes in our lives, in the midst of living out like versus three to six, you see all the temptation that's coming Daniel's way. 00:29:01.540 --> 00:29:06.060 Daniel can very easily justify this, "Hey God wanted us to be held captive. 00:29:06.260 --> 00:29:10.280 Therefore he probably doesn't want us to follow all the things that he told us to and the other land. 00:29:10.560 --> 00:29:14.280 And you know, God wants me to just get along with everybody all the time. 00:29:14.320 --> 00:29:16.560 So I'm gonna to just keep where I'm at. 00:29:16.580 --> 00:29:18.440 I'm not going to go against the grain at all. 00:29:18.460 --> 00:29:20.260 I've got servants, I've got stuff, I'm good. 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:27.740 You know the people that don't have as much to lose as I do, let them live in light of God and I'm just going to stand here in case God might need me for something big a little bit 00:29:27.740 --> 00:29:31.180 later cause I'm so close to King." You can rationalize that. 00:29:33.140 --> 00:29:38.040 I think, sometimes in our lives we get so good at living with our idols that we can't always see them. 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:39.500 Okay. 00:29:39.600 --> 00:29:43.490 One of my favorite stories is about this lady who lived in this foreign land who came to America. 00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:51.240 She switched places with this guy who left America to go to that foreign land and when the guy got into this foreign land he walked into the home 00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:52.110 of this family. 00:29:52.380 --> 00:29:57.260 And as he got into the living room he shared with his wife when he returned, just how strange it was for him. 00:29:58.440 --> 00:30:00.480 He said, you walk into the living room and it's so odd. 00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:04.320 All of the furniture in the living room is sort of spread in this circle. 00:30:04.360 --> 00:30:10.240 And all of it faces, this idol built to this god that they shaped out of wood. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:11.880 And in his hand is this incense burning. 00:30:12.340 --> 00:30:17.120 It's just so bizarre how you walk in the living room and everything's just pointing to that. 00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:25.970 His wife was amazed and then the lady from the foreign country, she went returned back home and she said, it's so weird being America. 00:30:27.340 --> 00:30:34.480 You walk in their living room and then when you get inside, all their furniture's gathered around the circle and the thing that they're gathered around you come in is 00:30:34.520 --> 00:30:36.790 this box that plays this screen. 00:30:38.800 --> 00:30:39.700 So bizarre. 00:30:39.700 --> 00:30:42.020 They mindlessly just watch it for hours. 00:30:43.780 --> 00:30:48.430 Our idols are often hidden to us. 00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:59.140 It's easy to justify circumstances, but Daniel has help in overcoming.m 00:30:59.140 --> 00:31:02.600 Because one of the things that we learned in this verse, verse seven is he already had an identity. 00:31:04.420 --> 00:31:08.400 The people which he belonged to gave him a name that recognized who his God was. 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:13.670 He had three friends that joined him in the resistance. 00:31:17.240 --> 00:31:20.680 Daniel, it tells us in verse eight, made a very bold decision. 00:31:22.420 --> 00:31:29.520 I think in the context of chapter one, verse eight is sort of the pinnacle verse, but it says this, Daniel made up in his mind that he 00:31:29.520 --> 00:31:34.080 would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which we drink. 00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:42.680 So Daniel recognizes that as a Jew pursuing God, there are certain restrictions in the diet in which I eat. 00:31:44.600 --> 00:31:51.660 And the king has just said to us that he wants us to deny the faith in which we live out in 00:31:51.660 --> 00:31:55.980 the practice of our dietary laws in order to eat his choice food. 00:31:57.620 --> 00:32:04.820 And so rather than bend to the will of the king in pursuit of his god it says, but Daniel made up his mind, he 00:32:04.820 --> 00:32:05.730 would not defile himself. 00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:09.710 This word is literally resolved. 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:12.420 And I love what Daniel does here. 00:32:13.740 --> 00:32:15.840 Because he's walking with an understanding of his culture. 00:32:15.840 --> 00:32:17.740 He's not ignorant to it or the new culture he's a part of. 00:32:18.480 --> 00:32:22.150 And he understands as a young man, he's about to be faced with a temptation. 00:32:23.360 --> 00:32:30.640 And before he gets into that room where that sweet, savoring medium cooked steak will be put in 00:32:30.760 --> 00:32:34.500 front of his face, he's already determined when he's going to do. 00:32:36.660 --> 00:32:37.360 That's honorable. 00:32:38.820 --> 00:32:45.020 I think even this time of year, no matter how much I tell myself, no chocolate, Nathaniel, no chocolate. 00:32:46.140 --> 00:32:51.660 I know as soon as my kids walk through the door, if there is a Reese's peanut butter cup anywhere to be found. 00:32:52.340 --> 00:32:56.040 I have not truly resolved in my heart. 00:32:56.780 --> 00:32:57.450 What am I going to honor? 00:32:57.980 --> 00:32:59.920 And there's a fee to live under my roof. 00:33:00.320 --> 00:33:02.100 So it's candy money, boys. 00:33:02.280 --> 00:33:09.460 Same in this story is Daniel makes this decision before he faces the temptation that what he's choosing to live his life 00:33:09.460 --> 00:33:14.780 and align with, and that's God. 00:33:15.960 --> 00:33:20.080 You know, in your own culture, what will you face? 00:33:22.780 --> 00:33:23.200 How will you respond? 00:33:25.660 --> 00:33:27.700 What can you resolve before you encounter? 00:33:30.390 --> 00:33:31.560 What kind of person you want to be? 00:33:33.700 --> 00:33:40.880 And I love, not just the beginning of this verse, but the second half of this first because it shares Daniel's attitude in the midst of this, it says this, so we sought permission from 00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:43.740 the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. 00:33:45.540 --> 00:33:50.120 This idea of seeking permission, he doesn't immediately clashed with the people. 00:33:50.260 --> 00:33:52.440 The Bible tells us, seek peace with all men. 00:33:53.280 --> 00:33:56.100 We are to pursue peace as much as it permits us in life. 00:33:56.100 --> 00:34:02.100 And so Daniel's saying in this chapter that he's seeking out this word for permission is to seek out or discover. 00:34:04.460 --> 00:34:07.730 How can I walk in line with my God in the midst of this culture? 00:34:07.780 --> 00:34:12.139 Like what window do they give me to honor Jesus and how far do I have to press this? 00:34:13.719 --> 00:34:20.590 And Christians have the tendency sometimes, at when someone disagrees with us, we become very off-putting in the demeanor in which we carry with them. 00:34:22.020 --> 00:34:25.510 Maybe we can often get mad at people because they disagree with us. 00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:27.469 That should not shock us. 00:34:28.600 --> 00:34:32.699 It should not surprise us that someone who does not want to follow Jesus does not look like they're following Jesus. 00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:41.219 And therefore it makes no sense to then react in a way that just shows your rear end because you want to demonstrate to 00:34:41.219 --> 00:34:44.020 them why you should be justified in your action. 00:34:44.060 --> 00:34:46.850 Rather than that, what Daniel is seeking to do here is just to provide a window. 00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:53.900 Is there a place for me to walk with my God faithfully and through that opportunity to demonstrate to the people around me how good God is? 00:34:55.600 --> 00:34:58.350 Because I'm gonna tell you, God doesn't call you to be the Holy Spirit. 00:34:59.980 --> 00:35:00.780 That job's already taken. 00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:09.080 And when you go around and you tell people the way that they should be living their lives because of the God that you follow, I can tell you how people are gonna respond to that. 00:35:09.100 --> 00:35:11.880 In fact, if you've ever made that mistake in your life, you probably said this didn't happen. 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:12.870 This not good that well. 00:35:15.550 --> 00:35:22.300 But Daniel is seeking peace and pursuit of his God, I've resolved this in my heart. 00:35:23.520 --> 00:35:29.700 Oh, is there, is there this place for me to demonstrate the goodness of God and give him freedom to work? 00:35:30.080 --> 00:35:33.080 Which I would just say, maybe consider that when you log on Facebook. 00:35:36.240 --> 00:35:37.760 God, how can you use me to be a light? 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:45.720 Not necessarily just maligned because I feel like I've been lived in this unjustice rather than rather than just Stanford himself. 00:35:45.720 --> 00:35:47.960 Daniel chooses to stand for God in the midst of the circumstance. 00:35:53.560 --> 00:35:59.980 And in case you read the story and you think, well, no, it wasn't that hard for Daniel, right? 00:36:01.560 --> 00:36:05.000 Daniel, you're in the king's court, you've got it made man. 00:36:05.740 --> 00:36:10.010 You don't know what I have to face in my life and the kind of adversity that I'm experiencing. 00:36:11.340 --> 00:36:12.390 So Daniel, you got it easy. 00:36:12.440 --> 00:36:19.620 And in case that temptation starts to rear up in you and trying to justify interaction in this world, this the 00:36:19.620 --> 00:36:22.400 story, the narrative that's unfold here sort of puts the brakes on. 00:36:23.460 --> 00:36:28.780 And in verse 10 to 14 in putting the brakes on it kind of gives us a further backdrop of what's happening in the life of Daniel. 00:36:28.820 --> 00:36:29.450 And this is what it says. 00:36:30.460 --> 00:36:37.480 And the commander of official said to Daniel, I'm afraid of my Lord the king, Who has appointed your food 00:36:37.480 --> 00:36:38.140 and your drink. 00:36:38.140 --> 00:36:39.640 He's like, Daniel, let me tell you something. 00:36:40.580 --> 00:36:43.040 I've worked with this guy for years, right? 00:36:43.640 --> 00:36:48.060 And I've seen the last guy that tried this and I can take you to his grave, right? 00:36:48.180 --> 00:36:50.000 This is not good. 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:52.180 And so he said, Daniel, I'm afraid of this. 00:36:52.420 --> 00:36:58.560 Why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age. 00:36:59.260 --> 00:37:06.260 I think if the king thinks that you're something and you turn out to not be that, and he finds out he doesn't really need you, he's got no problem in getting 00:37:06.260 --> 00:37:06.820 rid of you. 00:37:08.700 --> 00:37:13.560 And so he goes on, then you would make me forfeit my head to the king. 00:37:13.640 --> 00:37:16.240 So he's saying, Daniel, this is not even just a risk for you. 00:37:16.440 --> 00:37:19.320 It's a risk for me and the responsibility I've given. 00:37:19.380 --> 00:37:25.820 But Daniel said to the overseer, who the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, please test your servants for 10 days. 00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:29.540 Let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. 00:37:30.180 --> 00:37:37.200 Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youth who are eating the king's choice food and deal with your servants according to 00:37:37.200 --> 00:37:37.780 what you see. 00:37:40.560 --> 00:37:41.660 Daniel had adversity. 00:37:44.760 --> 00:37:49.380 And you look in the life of Daniel, what he reveres in his life is the Lord. 00:37:50.200 --> 00:37:57.220 And what this individual reveres in coming to Daniel, he fears the 00:37:57.220 --> 00:37:57.720 king. 00:37:59.260 --> 00:38:06.060 You know sometimes fear has a lot to do with how we live our lives, what do you revere more in life? 00:38:07.620 --> 00:38:13.820 Sometimes if it's circumstances, we can build up that circumstance so much that the mountain of the circumstance looks much bigger than our God. 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:21.980 Or sometimes we give into people pleasing or peer pressure so much that we choose to pursue that rather than honoring God. 00:38:23.500 --> 00:38:30.880 And so you see the servant in his position against Daniel, how in this moment, even that Daniel's life being conflicted, he's now got another individual trying to tempt 00:38:30.880 --> 00:38:33.360 him from where he feels God has led him in this world. 00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:36.980 I like verse 12. 00:38:36.980 --> 00:38:39.740 Parents, I'm going to tell you this is your memory verse for today. 00:38:39.780 --> 00:38:42.000 If you take this home and you got some problem with your kids eating the right kind of food. 00:38:42.220 --> 00:38:46.340 Because it tells us, Daniel's request was vegetables. 00:38:46.420 --> 00:38:48.200 This is the first time in history this has ever happened. 00:38:49.460 --> 00:38:51.600 You think about this for a minute. 00:38:51.600 --> 00:38:53.200 Daniels like, okay, I live with the king. 00:38:53.300 --> 00:38:56.740 I can have Coke whenever I went, candy whenever I want, steak whenever I want. 00:38:56.740 --> 00:38:57.220 Give me some vegetables. 00:38:58.800 --> 00:39:00.620 That would not happen in our house! 00:39:00.620 --> 00:39:03.670 Well maybe for one of them, but not on a regular basis. 00:39:04.180 --> 00:39:10.880 Daniels like, "Give me vegetables." So if you think about this later for your kids and the challenging, say them. 00:39:10.880 --> 00:39:15.220 Look at cerse 12 Daniel loved his vegetables and he defeated the lions, right? 00:39:16.020 --> 00:39:19.420 If you want be strong and defeat some lions, verse 12 is where you go. 00:39:19.420 --> 00:39:24.040 But when you look at the context of this verse, Daniel is still pursuing and honoring God. 00:39:24.140 --> 00:39:31.200 And so it says, if you watch the story unfold, I just pick some verses out as it relates to this, but it says this, verse 15, "At the end of 10 days, their 00:39:31.200 --> 00:39:37.800 appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youth who had been eating the king's choice food. 00:39:38.600 --> 00:39:44.300 So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drinking and kept giving them vegetables. 00:39:45.140 --> 00:39:52.280 At the end of the days which the king had specified, the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar and the king talk with him and 00:39:52.280 --> 00:39:56.760 out of them all, not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 00:39:56.860 --> 00:39:59.020 So they entered the king's personal service. 00:39:59.380 --> 00:40:06.420 As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found him 10 times better than all of 00:40:06.420 --> 00:40:12.920 the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm." So it's like a "Take that Harry Potter" kind of statement, right? 00:40:13.380 --> 00:40:15.780 Daniel's better, hashtag better than potter. 00:40:16.280 --> 00:40:18.720 But it says 10 times better. 00:40:18.720 --> 00:40:22.780 And this idea of 10 times is not literally, they're like, okay, this is what a human being is. 00:40:23.120 --> 00:40:24.400 Times that by 10 and Daniels that. 00:40:24.840 --> 00:40:25.980 It's speaking in hyperbole. 00:40:26.920 --> 00:40:31.880 Just saying there's Daniel and his friends excel above everyone else. 00:40:33.260 --> 00:40:40.780 Now, I'm gonna throw out a statement of some 00:40:40.780 --> 00:40:43.100 of the abuse that's happened with this text here. 00:40:43.860 --> 00:40:45.340 Daniel chose to eat vegetables. 00:40:45.920 --> 00:40:50.100 He ate vegetables and now his life is better for it. 00:40:50.800 --> 00:40:54.720 Now the point of this story is not become a vegetarian, right? 00:40:54.900 --> 00:41:01.960 I have actually watched people read these verses and use it to become a vegetarian and then not only use it to become a vegetarian, but 00:41:01.960 --> 00:41:04.280 then use this passage to then make vegetarian converts. 00:41:05.040 --> 00:41:06.700 You know, fine. 00:41:06.700 --> 00:41:08.000 If you're a vegetarian man, good. 00:41:08.380 --> 00:41:14.400 If you're just pursuing being a healthier life and Lord leads you here, we are behind you and pursuing a healthier life in whatever capacity. 00:41:14.840 --> 00:41:20.740 But I want you to know the main point of this passage and this story is not for all of us to walk away and be vegetarians. 00:41:21.300 --> 00:41:22.780 That's not what he's saying here. 00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:25.820 Now, some of you are like, well, I don't believe you and others of you are like, thank God! 00:41:26.020 --> 00:41:27.570 Thank God that's not what he's say right? 00:41:27.680 --> 00:41:34.460 I've heard it said like this that someone's asked the question, what's the difference between you and a vegetarian? 00:41:34.500 --> 00:41:35.430 And the answer was nothing. 00:41:36.360 --> 00:41:38.620 Really we all die in the end. 00:41:39.320 --> 00:41:42.140 Only difference is a vegetarian has to die with a bad taste in their mouth. 00:41:46.100 --> 00:41:48.540 If you're a vegetarian, please don't email me. 00:41:48.620 --> 00:41:49.190 That's a joke. 00:41:49.300 --> 00:41:52.640 I know that's not true. 00:41:53.540 --> 00:41:54.220 But here's the point. 00:41:56.780 --> 00:42:03.180 Verses 9 and 17, as the story starts to unfold, it shares with us what takes place. 00:42:03.220 --> 00:42:03.690 And it says this. 00:42:04.640 --> 00:42:07.300 Remember, verse eight, Daniel resolved right to follow God? 00:42:08.860 --> 00:42:13.480 And in verse nine, it says this, now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. 00:42:15.060 --> 00:42:22.080 And then verse 17, it says this, as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature 00:42:22.080 --> 00:42:22.960 and wisdom. 00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:25.660 And Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. 00:42:28.790 --> 00:42:34.300 The point is this, Daniel honored God. 00:42:37.080 --> 00:42:38.460 And in turn God blessed Daniel. 00:42:40.660 --> 00:42:44.500 See, the encouragement in the midst of opposition is to say God's not finished. 00:42:47.160 --> 00:42:49.300 But rather do encourage you to live the kind of life God can bless. 00:42:53.060 --> 00:42:56.340 Does God work through you or does he have to work around you? 00:42:59.740 --> 00:43:01.270 Do you give into compromise or do you shine? 00:43:04.320 --> 00:43:05.380 This is the story of Daniel. 00:43:07.620 --> 00:43:11.920 Daniel starts as a narrative, as an encouragement to all people in pursuit of God. 00:43:13.860 --> 00:43:14.580 How do you live your life? 00:43:17.500 --> 00:43:20.100 Do you live your life to honor God that he may bless through you? 00:43:22.320 --> 00:43:23.140 Does he have to work around you? 00:43:26.380 --> 00:43:31.160 As Daniel lived for God, God honored Daniel. 00:43:34.020 --> 00:43:36.400 Now, I'm not proposing this as some kind of magic trick. 00:43:36.440 --> 00:43:40.770 What I'm not saying to you is if you follow God, you're going to become a part of the king in his castle. 00:43:44.260 --> 00:43:49.840 But what I am encouraging understand in is the way that God can work through the circumstance in which he has blessed you in. 00:43:52.980 --> 00:43:59.160 In fact they want to paint this picture so well that at the very end of the chapter, the last verses this is what it said. 00:43:59.180 --> 00:44:01.960 And Daniel continued to the first year of Cyrus the king. 00:44:02.580 --> 00:44:03.000 That is profound. 00:44:04.240 --> 00:44:05.120 I mean, you get it right? 00:44:06.680 --> 00:44:07.540 So what? 00:44:08.020 --> 00:44:09.720 Daniel continued until Cyrus the king. 00:44:09.720 --> 00:44:11.280 What does that mean? 00:44:13.540 --> 00:44:17.460 You see in the beginning, King Nebuchadnezzar and you see at the end king Cyrus. 00:44:18.540 --> 00:44:21.310 But here's the point that the narrative is trying to paint for us. 00:44:22.500 --> 00:44:26.960 Between king Nebuchadnezzar and King Cyrus, there are handful of kings. 00:44:28.320 --> 00:44:33.040 In fact, there's such a degree of kings that King Cyrus isn't even a Babylonian King. 00:44:35.060 --> 00:44:36.060 King Cyrus is a Persian king. 00:44:38.040 --> 00:44:45.060 And so what it's saying about Daniel on the midst of the circumstances that he went into Babylon with his back against the wall and he stood up before a king to honor his God, not 00:44:45.060 --> 00:44:50.820 in a way that insulted people but still walked with integrity, to love his Lord before others, that the light of God made shine in his life. 00:44:51.160 --> 00:44:59.800 And God honored that so much that Daniel outlived an entire empire. 00:45:00.160 --> 00:45:05.180 A youth, making that kind of a difference. 00:45:07.340 --> 00:45:08.860 How do you handle cultural conflict? 00:45:11.080 --> 00:45:18.260 One of the things I want to do in this series is just expand our understanding of what it means to fear God and love him in the light of this world around us. 00:45:18.260 --> 00:45:25.220 But just the narrative of this story encourages us through Daniel's life, to be the kind of person that makes a difference. 00:45:25.280 --> 00:45:31.080 That through the duration of our life, the beauty of the Lord rings forth. 00:45:32.680 --> 00:45:34.100 And it all started as a young man. 00:45:36.460 --> 00:45:40.500 How do you handle cultural conflict and cultural collision? 00:45:42.140 --> 00:45:46.030 Is it a way God works through you or in spite of you? 00:45:47.400 --> 00:45:54.420 One of the things I like to remind myself with this story when it starts to unfold and it tells us about Daniel and his four friends, is that Daniel and his friends, they weren't the only Jews 00:45:54.420 --> 00:45:55.380 carried in the Babylon. 00:45:58.940 --> 00:46:04.800 But as far as we know, they were the only ones that chose to stand for their faith and care for them around them. 00:46:07.960 --> 00:46:15.240 Daniel was not the only one taken to Babylon, but he was the only one not willing to eat food that defiled him and 00:46:15.240 --> 00:46:18.660 therefore he was the one that God used. 00:46:20.240 --> 00:46:25.100 Temptations for the rest of the Jews, as far as we know, was something they gave into. 00:46:27.580 --> 00:46:29.940 But Daniel was the one the Lord chose to work through. 00:46:32.120 --> 00:46:38.560 So just because you may find yourself in a hard place, doesn't that mean you have to get out before God can use you. 00:46:40.360 --> 00:46:44.460 But rather he might have you where he wants you. 00:46:46.840 --> 00:46:52.940 And for us to live our lives in a way that God works through us rather than around us. 00:46:54.940 --> 00:46:57.960 To live in honor of God, that God may bless you. 00:47:01.020 --> 00:47:08.340 Because I don't think it's any mistake that when you read into the New Testament, you see Peter continuing 00:47:08.340 --> 00:47:12.900 to reflect back to this story of Babylon to describe you as a Christian. 00:47:15.220 --> 00:47:16.820 Believers, you live in Babylon. 00:47:18.860 --> 00:47:22.020 You face different aspects of it every day of your life. 00:47:23.780 --> 00:47:25.180 The question is, do you want God to use you? 00:47:27.640 --> 00:47:30.630 Resolve in your hearts and watch what God can do.