Spurling Silver: No Compromise, Daniel 1:1-7

Are you ready to enter the action packed, prophecy filled book of Daniel?

Pens out, notebooks ready?

Lord willing, in just 12 chapters we'll walk with Daniel through the fiery furnace, the lion’s den, the rise and fall of empires, the first coming of Christ, and the rise and demise of the antichrist during the Great Tribulation.

In a way you might say, Daniel is a foundation to Revelation.

From start to finish we'll walk with Daniel for about 70 years (605-536 BC).

However prophetically, the Lord will carry us through thousands (605 BC through The Millennial Reign of Christ).

Of all the amazing events of this book, one thing that rises to the top is Daniel's unflinching, uncompromising faith, no matter what challenges or opportunities come his way.

Written around 536 B.C. by Daniel.

Multiple times Daniel refers to himself in the first person. Yet, some faithless “higher” critics, say Daniel couldn’t have written Daniel because of the incredible accuracy of the prophecies.

That statement reveals their ignorance of the very definition of prophecy and who God is. He sees the end from the beginning and often reveals to man, things to come.

Then they ignore the fact that in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14, Jesus names Daniel as the writer: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand).” Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11.

Daniel is called “The Apocalypse of the Old Testament.”

Daniel has a strong prophetic element. The first half is HIStory, the last half is prophecy.

Daniel prophesied how empires yet to come would follow the Babylonian empire. HIStory revealed them to be the Medo-Persian Empire and the Greek Empire.

Over 200 years in advance Danel told how Alexander the Great’s empire would break into four parts.

He prophesied the 1^st coming of the Messiah, to the very day.

He prophecies the rise of the Antichrist; the Tribulation period; and the end of the age.

Speaking of prophecy.

We just recently closed the final pages of Genesis where Jacob and Joseph both prophesied about leaving Egypt.

From Joseph in Egypt to Daniel in Babylon we leap about 1,200 years and about 1,000 miles northeast.

Joseph, as a teenager, was taken against his will and turned into a servant in someone else’s kingdom, Egypt.

Daniel, as a teenager, was taken against his will and turned into a servant in someone else’s kingdom, Babylon.

But God was with them and gave them favor and wisdom and understanding of visions and dreams and thereby elevated them to influence the course of HIStory.

From the times of Joseph, Israel grew in the incubator of Egypt from a family of around 120 to a 12 tribe nation of millions.

It was about 400 years from Joseph to Moses and the Exodus from Egypt.

Then, due to unbelief, they wandered in the wilderness with Moses for forty years until their children finally entered the Promise Land with Joshua.

From Joshua they had judges for about 400 years with God Almighty as their king.

Then, their idolatrous hearts lusted for things and kings like the pagan nations around them. So, God raised up kings, first Saul, then David, then Solomon.

For being the wisest man on the planet, Solomon acted like an idiot, taking 700 wives and 300 concubines, which turned his loyalty from the One True God to the many false gods of his foreign wives. 1 Kings 11:1-4.

Then, what happened is what always happens to any nation that turns from God.

A war began within.

They went from one nation under God to a civil war between north and south. Ten tribes in the north, called Israel; and two in the south, called Judah.

A house divided cannot stand.

Rather than worshipping God who gave them the land flowing with milk and honey, they committed idolatry by turning to false gods like Baal, Asherah, and Molech.

Baal, the storm god, depicted with a raised lightning bolt, allegedly gave them good weather for health and wealth of crops and livestock.

Asherah, the goddess of sex and fertility, supposedly gave lots of healthy children. The attraction of Asherah, was “worship” involving ritual prostitution.

In the name of Molech they sacrificed their very own children.

(Aren’t you glad our culture has progressed beyond worshipping sex and money, and our culture would never abort, I mean sacrifice, our very own children?)

But God is patient and rather than destroying them He sent prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Amos and Hosea to the gold calf worshipping tribes in the north.

But they wouldn’t listen, so in 722 BC the Lord allowed the Assyrians to drag most of the Israelites into captivity, leaving so few in the land that it came to be known as “Galilee of the Gentiles.”

Did their brothers in the south watch and learn, repent and turn, back to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

No, instead they ran to the child sacrificing evil of Molech.

But God is patient and sent prophets like Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk and Joel.

But they wouldn’t listen.

So, around 606 BC, God allowed Babylon to become the discipling rod of God.

And that brings us to Daniel.

Daniel
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.

The Biblical narrative switches from Jerusalem to the land of Shinar which was a territory in the Babylonian Empire that included the capital city of Babylon on the Euphrates River.

Like the U.S. is today, the Babylonian Empire was the super power of that day.

Located in modern Iraq, and westward, including Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan.

Nebuchadnezzar is a Babylonian name which means: Nabu protects the crown. They believed Nabu was the Babylonian god of wisdom.

This was the first of three times Nebuchadnezzar would lay siege to Israel. Each time trekking captives over 1,000 miles back to Babylon:

Ø 606 B.C. King Jehoiakim, Daniel and friends, among the captives.

Ø 597 B.C. King Jehoiachin (son of Jehoiakim) and Ezekiel among the captives.

Ø 586 B.C. King Zedekiah (last king of Judah) among the captives. In this siege, Jerusalem was destroyed.

Now that we’re in Babylon, let’s look around since we’ll be here about 70 years.

Notice, the Babylonians were not like the Assyrians who conquered the northern tribes of Israel. The Assyrians used domination by intimidation. The Assyrians were brutal, cruel, ruthless, they put hooks in the noses of captives and pulled them like fish on a stringer.

However, the Babylonians had an entirely different school of thought. Rather than domination by intimidation, they used domination by indoctrination.

Rather than conquering by annihilation, they used assimilation. They exposed them to the beauty of Babylon, the pearl of the world at the time. They’d seduce them through the splendor of Babylon.

Babylon was 10 times the size of New York City.

It had nearly 60 miles of walls, over 300’ high, over 80’ thick.

100 brass gates. 220 high towers. The Euphrates River was diverted through and around the city to form a deep moat.

From the center of the city rose a pyramid like structure, a ziggurat, containing a winding staircase filled with beautiful foliage and flowers. These Hanging Gardens of Babylon made the city one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.

Thus, they’d capture the captive’s heart with awe and wonder.

Except, for Daniel and a few good friends.

How about you?

Are you drawn to the beauty of Babylon?

Dear Child of God, this world is not our Home, this world is our Babylon, it tries to seduce us away from our real Home, with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

But all of the pleasures of sin cannot compare to even one of the joys that await us in the city not made with hands, but whose Builder and Maker is God.

Daniel and friends were in Babylon, but Babylon was not in them.

How about you?

In Christ we’re called to be salt and light. Salt and light changes things.

Salt preserves and flavors.

Light chases darkness to illuminate what once was hidden.

Matthew 5:13-16
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

3 Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, 4 young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. 5 And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.

They wanted the best and the brightest.

They were after all a very advanced society. Algebra, trigonometry, you can thank the Babylonians for that. The 360 degree circle, the twelve 30-day months, we got that from them too.

Yet for being so advanced intellectually, they were very backwards spiritually. They were immersed in occult rituals, demonic worship, stemming all the way back to the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11).

All occult today can be traced back to ancient Babylon and the tower of Babel.

Other than the occult stuff, you might be thinking it’s not so bad.

Israel already had more than their fair share of idol worshipping wickedness anyway.

It sounds like an intense college scholarship recruiting program for the best and the brightest.

Babylon U gives you a free ride with room and board, including food and drink fit for a king—literally.

Plus, you get an ivy league education, and training for three years, with a guaranteed job working with royalty.

See, it could be worse, right? It could be the Assyrians.

Before you answer, don’t miss the small print.

The king isn’t stupid.

Handsome teenage boys, wining and dining in a palace full of princesses, may whet their appetite for more than just the king’s bread and wine.

So, Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs is put in charge of the handsome boys.

Okay now, do the math, or is it algebra?

The football coach is put in charge of—football players.

The basketball coach is put in charge—yep, basketball players.

Thus, the eunuch coach is put in charge of—eu-nuch-onna like it.

About 100 years earlier Isaiah prophesied to king Hezekiah this would happen (because Hezekiah showed off Israel's treasures).

“And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Isaiah 39:7.

So now how do you feel about the Babylon U recruiting program?

They forcibly take you from your family.

They take you over 1,000 miles from home.

They take your ability to make a family and home of your own.

Those young men had their whole life ahead of them, and then, just like that they have their whole world cut out from under them.

Yet, we're about to see, they don’t flinch. Their identity is not confused, they stand unwavering, uncompromising in faith in God.

Would you? What would you do if your whole world was cut out from under you?

It's easy to know.

We can tell how we'll handle the big test by how we handle the little ones.

6 Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7 To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

Their Hebrew names were changed from reflecting God, to reflecting Babylonian gods.

Daniel: God is my Judge. Changed to Belteshazzar: May Bel protect my life.

Hananiah: The Lord is Gracious. Changed to Shadrach: Illuminated by the sun god, Rach.

Mishael: Who is like the Lord. Changed to Meshach: Who is like Aku.

Azariah: The Lord helps. Changed to Abednego: A servant of Nabu.

This is indoctrination in action. Change their name, call them something they’re not, change their identity, their pronouns, transition them into who you want them to be, to promote your agenda, build your kingdom.

Doesn’t work for Daniel and friends, they're powerful as Popeye. No matter what you call me, I yam what I yam, a servant of I AM.

You say, “Sure glad nothing like that ever happens anymore.”

Really?

Let’s talk about Tommy, Johnny, Benny, Danny...

I know, now they call you something else. What is it, Theresa or Janice or Emma, or Danielle?

Or perhaps it’s the other way around.

No matter, you’re still you.

No matter what they did to you.

No matter what you did to you.

You are still you.

The Lord says to you:

I STILL SEE YOU, FOR WHO YOU STILL ARE

God never makes a mistake, and He made you. He sees you as someone He made and loves.

No matter what they call you, He sees you and loves you and calls you by name.

And what's He saying... Come Home.

You'll never be happy as someone you’re not.

You'll never be content living where you don't belong. Come Home.

Come Home, He's calling dear child, come Home.

Let’s pray.

Our gracious heavenly Father, thank You for calling us Home, help us to be salt and light, making a difference, illuminating the Way, for others to follow straight to You.

Thank You, Lord.

We love You, forever.

Amen.