Okay, well it's Dare to Be a Daniel tonight, not Gentle Mary, but it's good to sing those songs and get ready for Christmas. And we will be having Christmas services soon, Lord willing, so bear that in mind. We'll be having a Christmas carol service on the 23rd. Sunday the 23rd for the PM service. And then this year we'll also, Lord willing, be having a Christmas Day service at 9.30am. So if you're not aware of those dates, you can grab one of the flyers from the table over there. Otherwise, if you look on our website, we try and keep key events up to date on the calendar there on the front page. so you can see what is coming up so far as special events are concerned. Okay, turn in your Bibles please tonight to the book of Daniel, the Old Testament book, the book of Daniel. We're going to read a couple of portions of scripture tonight and Lord willing we're going to be looking at an introduction and an overview tonight of the book of Daniel and sometimes it is valuable to pause before we get into the verse by verse exposition of a book to consider the overall framework of the book, the overall theme and that can help us as we come to then the study of the text itself. I'd like to read firstly tonight verse 1 through 8 of chapter 1 and then we're going to turn over to chapter 4 and verse 17 and read what would be the key verse of the book. Alright, reading from verse 1 in Daniel chapter 1. The Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God. The land of Shinar is just an ancient name for Babylon, going right back to the Tower of Babel. And he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. And the king spake under Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the prince's. Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. The king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, under whom the prince of the eunuchs, gave names, he changes their names to pagan names, for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, and to Hanani of Shadrach, and to Mishael of Meshach, and to Azariah of Abednego. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank, therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now over to chapter 4 verse 17. So we have some introductory verses there in chapter 1 but in chapter 4 verse 17 we would have what I believe would be the overall theme of the book in the last part of the verse. The verse reads, this matter is by the decree of the Watchers and the demand by the word of the Holy Ones. Now note particularly this next part of the verse, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men. That right there is the overall theme of the book. You're going to see in the book of Daniel this truth that God rules in the affairs of man. God is on the throne to the intent of So I've entitled tonight's lesson, God is still on the throne. God is still on the throne. on the throne. Lord, we pray tonight for your help as we embark on this introductory message on the Book of Daniel. Lord, help us tonight, Lord, to receive not just some instruction knowledge-wise, but Lord, we pray that our hearts might be stirred along the way as we consider a number of spiritual applications and truths tonight. Father, we pray, Lord, that you would enable your man, the speaker tonight, Lord, to just say only what you would have him to say. Many things could be said, but Lord, we pray that you would so take control of these moments together that we would go away from here knowing we have heard what you want us to hear. So Lord, give us what we need tonight. We pray for your ministry in every heart here and that our Lord Jesus ultimately would be exalted as we study these things. In Jesus' name, Amen. Alright, so try and have your thinking cap on tonight and stay tuned as we just look at some of these introductory thoughts concerning the book of Daniel. God is still on the throne and that's really, as I said, the overall theme of this book. Tremendous emphasis upon the sovereign rulership of God in the affairs of men. Now Daniel was likely written around 536 BC, towards the end of his life. Daniel's ministry was in Babylon during the period of the captivity. Now basically you can divide the prophets into three main periods. Okay, when you come to reading the prophets, we have the pre-exilic prophets, the exilic prophets and the post-exilic prophets. You say what on earth are you talking about pastor? Okay, let's just very simple. Okay, pre-exilic simply means before the exile. Then we have the exilic Prophets means during the exile or during the captivity and then post-exilic, the prophets that came after the captivity. Okay, that'll help you actually in understanding the message of the prophets. So for an example, Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied before the Babylonian captivity. Tremendous amount of warnings to the people of God that judgment was coming. They failed to heed those warnings. Ezekiel and Daniel prophesied during the captivity, okay. Now Daniel was influential in the king's court in the higher echelons of society, so to speak, whereas Ezekiel was amongst the captives by the river of Sheba, but God had a purpose that he was going to accomplished through both of these men. So we have prophets prophesying before the captivity, warning God's people, then God provides men to speak to his people during captivity and then we have prophets that prophesy after the captivity when the Israelites return or the remnant returns to the land. Now the book of Daniel is a very significant book in the area of Bible prophecy. We're going to talk about that as we get later on into the book and it has some of the really the foundational teaching in the area of prophecy but it also is a book that inspires us and encourages us as believers in the area of practical Christian living. We see a tremendous example don't we in Daniel of a man who had a godly resolve. a man who did not allow his circumstances to dictate and to influence his convictions. And isn't there a need for that today? As we increasingly live, like Daniel, in a society that is hostile to the Lord, a society that is hostile to Christianity, it's important that we, like Daniel, do not have circumstantial beliefs or allow our beliefs to move with the ebb and flow of society. Daniel was a man who was firm in his convictions and his resolve despite being in a difficult place. So there's wonderful lessons to be learned from the godly character of Daniel. Well I want us basically tonight to consider some of the background and the theme of this book under four headings, okay? We're going to introduce ourselves to the book of Daniel. And the first thing I'd like you to consider tonight is the authorship of Daniel. We're going to use a similar outline to what we used for our introduction to the Gospel of Mark, okay? So we have the authorship of Daniel. Now firstly, the first thing about this authorship I want us to consider is the tremendous attack against the authorship of Daniel. Now, the book of Daniel has been subjected to very vicious attacks by the liberal critics. In fact, I was listening to a message by a seasoned Irish preacher this week and he said that from his studies and his understanding, Daniel has been more viciously attacked by the Liberals than even the book of Genesis. And so they will say that Daniel is a fictitious book and that it was written sometime later during the period of the Maccabees. Now the reason why they say this is because Daniel's prophecies are so breathtakingly accurate that the skeptic says they can't possibly, we don't believe that the future can be foretold because they deny the supernatural. And they say, since Daniel is so accurate, I mean, think about the vision of the statue and the four empires, the four literal kingdoms. They say this could not possibly have been written beforehand because it happened exactly as prophesied. Therefore, we would have to conclude that it was written after the event, okay? It's because of unbelief, isn't it? Now their attacks can be traced back to a man by the name of Porphyry. who was born in about AD 233 in Thai Syria, and he wrote 15 books entitled Against the Christians. So this man Porphyry was a polytheist, he worshipped many gods, and he seems to be one of the first architects of some of these arguments against the book of Daniel, and it would seem that the modern critics have pretty well just taken his arguments and rehashed them. Sir Robert Anderson, who wrote a famous work, Messiah the Prince, on the 70 week prophecy, and it's a very good book to have, also wrote a book entitled Daniel in the Critic's Den. Now we have Daniel in the Lion's Den, but he wrote a book, Daniel in the Critic's Den, okay? So this is what we have today. We have the book of Daniel being subjected to unbelieving criticism. Why? Because it is so accurate in the area of its predictions and its prophecies. Well for us as Christians there's no confusion is there as to why it's so accurate because we believe, unlike the critics and the skeptics, that the Bible has a divine origin and we would expect to see prophecies come true that God has given, wouldn't we? There's no issue there for us as believers. W. A. Criswell the famous Baptist preacher said, there is not a liberal theologian in the world, past or present, who accepts the authenticity of the book of Daniel. So we note the attack against the authorship of Daniel, but we notice now also, or consider the affirmation of his authorship. Why is it that we would disagree with the critics. Why would we disagree with the liberal theologians? Well I want to give you two reasons that affirm the authorship of Daniel and the first and most important one is that Daniel's authenticity is affirmed biblically. Daniel's authorship, the authenticity of the book of Daniel is firstly affirmed biblically or in the scriptures, okay. Now let me give you an example in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. In the Old Testament we have a man by the name of Ezekiel, mentioned him before, and Ezekiel was a contemporary of Daniel, that means he was living at the same time. And Ezekiel mentions Daniel in his prophecy in the book of Ezekiel. Now most critics do not so viciously attack the book of Ezekiel, they will recognize or will generally acknowledge that the date of writing is accurate. So here we have a very powerful proof for Daniel, the book of Daniel, because Ezekiel speaks about this Daniel as a godly person that he's acquainted with and that disproves the theory of the critics. So Daniel is mentioned three times in the book of Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 14, verse 14, 14, verse 20, and also chapter 28, verse three. And in at least one or two of those verses, Ezekiel links Daniel's name with two other giants of the faith, Noah and Job, okay? Let's have a quick look at it, shall we? Ezekiel 14, 14 is an example. you following so far? Ezekiel 14 verse 14, he writes, So we see that the authorship of Daniel is very clearly proven by Ezekiel's reference to Daniel in the Old Testament. Ezekiel lived at the same time of Daniel, was also in the land of Babylon, prophesying, being used of God in his own way. All right, now we have the second example in the New Testament and this example is one from the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, in the Olivet Discourse in the book of Matthew 24, or you could read it in Mark 13, Christ refers to the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet. Okay, how many of you here tonight would say you believe what Jesus said. Okay, I'll take Jesus' word over the skeptics, wouldn't you? All right, the Lord Jesus here quotes Daniel as a real historical figure, he says Daniel the prophet, okay, so Daniel was the prophet at this time God used and the Lord Jesus when speaking about those last things, those prophetic events, he quotes from Daniel. So we see that the authorship of Daniel, though it has been attacked, it is affirmed biblically in the Old Testament by Ezekiel and in the New Testament by the Lord Jesus Christ. But also, interestingly, Daniel's authenticity is affirmed archaeologically. Okay, so it's affirmed biblically, but it is also, there's been some very interesting discoveries in archaeology that also disprove the critics. Now obviously the first one that we lay hold of is the Bible's own testimony of itself, that's the most important. But it is interesting how that the archaeological discoveries have overturned some of the theories of the critics. Let me give you some examples, give you four, about three or four examples here. In chapter 1, look at it there with me, and verse 2, we note that Nebuchadnezzar did something with the vessels of the house of God. It says, And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his God. And he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. So we see that Nebuchadnezzar, as he conquered Jerusalem, he took captive some of the cream of the crop from amongst the princes, from amongst the seed royal, but he also carried away some of the vessels of the house of God. And where did he place those vessels when he returned to Babylon? the house of his God. Now the critics jumped on this and said we have no reference in ancient history to this type of practice or custom. Therefore, there we are, it must be a fictitious book. Well recently they have now discovered an inscription that proves that Nebuchadnezzar always put his choices spoils into his house of worship. It was one of his peculiar habits, okay? So interesting, isn't it? We have the skeptics saying, look, we don't have reference to something unique like this in history. We don't know, we are not aware of this and therefore the Bible must be false. Now they found inscription that clearly presents that this was one of King Nebuchadnezzar's peculiar habits. He was in the habit of putting his vessels into the worship house of his God. Well, we're not surprised, are we, at the accuracy of the Bible. Then we have another man mentioned here by the name of Ashpenaz. Now Ashpenaz in verse 3 was the master of the eunuchs. He was in charge of this school to train these men for service in the king's court. Now again, the sceptics said we've never heard of this man by the name of Ashpenez, we find no evidence of him in ancient history, therefore he must be another fictitional character in this fictitional book. Well, in the last quarter of a century, the name Ashpenaz has been found on the monuments of ancient Babylon, which are now in the Berlin Museum. And wonder of wonders, this is what it says in the inscription, Ashpenaz, master of eunuchs in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. All right, so isn't it, look, whenever the skeptics try and disprove the word of God, eventually they prove themselves to be fools. God's word can be trusted and we have no doubt that God has breathed these words. So God has a way of making foolish the wisdom of man, doesn't he? Nebuchadnezzar's image of gold. Records have been discovered that show that Nebuchadnezzar's custom was to make public the worshipping of large images. And excavators at Babylon found a furnace with this inscription, this quote, this is the place of burning where men who blaspheme the gods of Chaldea die by fire. Okay, interesting isn't it? So Nebuchadnezzar was in the habit of, or in the custom of making public the worshipping of huge images and there were these fiery furnaces built particularly to punish those who dishonoured the deity, the deities that were being worshipped and as we know from the book of Daniel and it's in chapter 3 isn't it, as we're going to see later in our series, the courageous stand of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they defied the king's orders, they would not bow the knee to the golden image that had been set up, they were cast into that fiery furnace and but God showed himself strong in their behalf, didn't he? The Dead Sea Scrolls also contain eight copies of Daniel, more than any other manuscript. So that's just a sampling of some of the archaeological discoveries that just blow apart these arguments of the critics. So we see the authorship of Daniel. Okay, we know that it is very clearly proven by the Old Testament reference there of Ezekiel, and then most importantly, the New Testament affirmation by Christ, but also we are not surprised that archaeologically these things are being proven. Number two tonight, second main heading, the attributes of Daniel. What are some of the characteristics of the book? What are some of the features of the book as we do this flyover, as it were, of the book. Well, I want you to consider it tonight linguistically first. Linguistically. Daniel, interestingly, is written in both Hebrew and Aramaic. In fact, the sections are as follows. We have from chapter 1, verse 1, through to chapter 2, verse 3, written in Hebrew. Then from chapter 2, verse 4, through to chapter 7, verse 28, Aramaic, or the Chaldean tongue, which has been referenced here in chapter 1. And then in chapter 8 verse 1 through to chapter 12 verse 13, It resumes back in Hebrew. Very interesting. And again, the critics have jumped on this, as they like to jump on many things and make a big deal out of it, but it's interesting when you look at the overall structure of the book and what's being covered in those verses, Aramaic at that time was the Gentile language of commerce and industry, kind of like what English is becoming today. If you want to trade internationally, you need to know English. Well at that time Aramaic was the language of the world or the language of commerce so to speak. Now interestingly in Daniel 2 verse 3 chapter 2 through to chapter 7 it gives the general outline of the course of the times of the Gentiles. particularly documents the times of the Gentiles. Now that had obviously an important reference to the nation of Israel, but it was specifically that portion there that was written in the language that could be understood readily by the Babylonians and others in the ancient world. Then, in the sections relating particularly to the Jews, in the latter part of the book, they're written in Hebrew. So God had a purpose in all of that. Of course, we have it nicely translated for us in our English KJV, so we don't need to know Hebrew or Aramaic, okay? But just for interest's sake, just point that out to you. So consider it linguistically. Secondly, consider it divisionally. What are the overall divisions of the book? Well, there are 12 chapters in the book of Daniel and they pretty well neatly divide in half. So you have the first six chapters forming the first major section of the book. Then you have the second six chapters forming the second major part of the book. So I like simple outlines like that. You basically have Daniel part one, chapter one through six, Daniel part two, chapter six through 12. And the first section is essentially historical. And then the second section is prophetical. Okay, so we have the historical section in chapter one through six, and then the second section, chapter seven through 12, that particularly emphasizes more prophecy. So that's the divisions. Consider it then prophetically. Daniel, as I mentioned before, is a very important book for understanding Bible prophecy. later on we'll look at Daniel's 70-week prophecy in chapter 9. This is foundational to understanding the system of last things, the doctrine of last things. In fact, some have called Daniel chapter 9, and particularly the 70-week prophecy, the backbone of prophecy. the backbone of prophecy. If you want to understand what God's plan is for the future, you need to come back to that very foundational passage of Daniel chapter 9 to understand what God is doing in the 70-week prophecy. And we'll give you more on that as we get to it later. Then consider it practically. Daniel's life is a tremendous challenge to us, isn't it, in many areas such as living for God in a hostile world. Daniel is really an example of the truth That's what God said didn't he, 1st Samuel 2.30. And as I mentioned at the start of the message, Daniel and his friends did not allow their circumstances to dictate their convictions. I like what Spurgeon said about Daniel, he said the lions would not have enjoyed Daniel if they could have eaten him as he was 50% grit and 50% backbone. That's good isn't it. If they could have eaten him, they wouldn't have enjoyed his taste. He was 50% grit and 50% backbone. What's he trying to say there, Spurgeon? He's just saying that Daniel, as a man of God, was just stalwart. He was straight. He was a man who knew what it was to stand in difficult circumstances. He's an example to us, isn't he? In the place of prayer, his regularity in the place of prayer and seeking the Lord. And even when he was going to potentially die, For that walk with God, he said, look, I'd rather die than surrender my prayer time. I'm going to pray, even if it means I go to the lions. Tremendous example to us, a man who knew power with God. So we have the authorship of Daniel, the attributes of Daniel, some of the overall features and characteristics of the book, its outline, its division, and so on. Then we have number three, the audience of Daniel. the audience of Daniel. Now I want you to consider the place of the audience and also the people of the audience. So we have the place and we know the place as we've mentioned is Babylon and the question I want you to think about for the moment is how did they get there? How did they get there? How did the children of Israel end up in Babylon? Well, in chapter one, verse one and two, we have in brief the occasion whereby the people of God arrived in Babylon. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. So Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem around 605 BC. At this particular time in history, you had essentially two superpowers. One was Babylon, and one was Egypt. And these two superpowers were competing with each other for this prized piece of land called Palestine. Interesting there's so much conflict today over that one little slab of land. It's always been a significant part of the world and it was in that day. So Nebuchadnezzar around 605 BC conquered the Egyptian army at a place called Karchemish, I hope I'm pronouncing that right, on the upper Euphrates River. The Egyptians were pushed back to their homeland and then he was able to go on to the conquest of Jerusalem and Palestine. While he was there, as he defeated Jerusalem, he received word that his father, by the name of Nabopolassar, had died and so he had to cut his time short in, is that pronounced right, how do you say it? Is that right? N-A-B-O-P-O-L-A-S-S-A-R, Nabopolassar. Oh, I don't know. Anyway, never mind. Whatever his name is, we'll call him Nab for short, okay? All right. Good old Nab there on the throne in Babylon. He died and so Nebuchadnezzar at that time, who was captain of the army, went back, cut his campaign short in Palestine. He took some of the temple vessels and some of the cream of the Jewish young men back with him and to make sure that he took the throne. Now, as you study the Bible, you'll find there were actually three Babylonian invasions of the kingdom of Judah. The first one, the first invasion took place in 605 BC, and this is when Daniel and a few other of the seed royal were taken to Babylon with some of the temple vessels. That's the captivity that we have before us here in Daniel chapter 1. The second invasion took place a little bit later in 598 BC, and that's where a much larger group of the population of Jerusalem was taken captive, along with a young priest by the name of Ezekiel, okay? So Daniel was taken in that first conquest. Then a little bit later, we have Ezekiel carried captive in the second group, and then the third invasion took place in 587 BC, where finally the city, temple, and the nation were destroyed. And that's where you have the Book of Lamentations, where Jeremiah weeps over the city that has been completely destroyed. So that's how they got there. But why were they there? Think about the place, Babylon, how they get there, the people, the Jews themselves, why were they there in Babylon? Now this is important. And it has some challenges for us tonight as well. And there's two reasons why they were there. The first one was because of their insubordination or their disobedience. And it's significant that the Jews were to spend 70 years in Babylon. That's what Jeremiah prophesied, that they would spend 70 years in captivity. Now, why 70 years? Well, it's because the Israelites had disobeyed a particular command of God. The Israelites were to observe something called the sabbatical year. Now what this was, was they were not to farm the land for one, on the seventh year, every seventh year, they were to allow the land to rest for that year. And Leviticus 25, one through seven talks about this. And interestingly, in Leviticus 26, the next chapter, God actually warned them that if they have failed to obey him, they would be taken into captivity so that the land could, quote, enjoy her Sabbaths, okay? So after six years, the seventh year, the children of Israel were to observe a sabbatical year. They were to allow the land to rest for one year. They weren't to farm the land. That was just a law that God had for his people. Over 490 years, this command of God had been neglected which brought it to a total of 70 sabbatical years that were owed to God, okay. So God sent them to Babylon for how long? For 70 years so that the land could enjoy those 70 year sabbaths that God had commanded. Now what this teaches us and the challenge for us is God says what he means and means what he says, doesn't he? God says what he means and he means what he says and disobedience to the Lord is a serious matter and we cannot go on in rebellion and disobedience against the Word of God without there being eventually consequences. Now we know in the New Testament Age of Grace we're not subject to laws concerning Sabbaths, but the principle there that God eventually will deal with disobedience in the lives of his people. And though time may go on for what may seem to be a protracted period of time, yet God will eventually deal with the disobedience of his people. So that's why they were there in Babylon, because of their insubordination, their disobedience. Then secondly, because of their idolatry. Because of their idolatry, the people of God had stubbornly persisted in their pursuit of idol worship and its associated evil practices. evil practices always go hand in hand with idol worship. It's not just a creed, it's a practice, it's a conduct, it's a way of life. Now the captivity that's mentioned here in chapter 1 verse 2 came in the time of Jehoiakim's reign. Now he was son to a very godly king by the name of Josiah and if you've read through the Old Testament you'll know that Josiah was a man of God, one who was used of God to bring a great sweeping revival across the nation of Israel. But Jehoiakim sadly did not follow in the godly footsteps of his father, but rather, the Bible says, did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done, 2 Kings 23, 37. God had warned his people repeatedly through the ministry of the prophets, giving them opportunity to repent and to avert judgment. And that is how God works. God sent his men as spokesmen to warn the people of God so that they could be delivered from coming judgment. God warned them and he sent messengers to them, but they refused to hearken. And so then God eventually brought judgment to bear. God's patience has its limits. Turn over to Jeremiah 25 for a moment. Jeremiah 25 verse 1 through 14 and we will read here about the 70 year captivity foretold by Jeremiah. Jeremiah 25 verse 1, the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of who? Jehoiakim, he's the man we just read about in Daniel 1, isn't he? the son of Josiah, king of Judah. That was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. So we're talking about the same people here, aren't we? To which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, from the thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, but ye have not what? hearkened and the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets rising early and sending them but ye have not what hearkened nor inclined your ear to hear they said turn ye again now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your doings and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers forever and ever And go not after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands, and I will do you no hurt. Yet ye have not what? Hearkened unto me, saith the Lord, that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. That's interesting, isn't it? God is going to use Nebuchadnezzar as a heathen king to be a weapon of chastisement against his people. And God can do that, so he calls him his servant. Nebuchadnezzar was going to fulfill a function there ultimately for the most high God, though he didn't even know it himself. And will bring them against this land and against the inhabitants thereof and against all these nations round about and will utterly destroy them and make them an astonishment and an hissing and a perpetual desolations. Moreover, I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon, how long? 70 years. And it shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished, this is interesting now, that I will punish the king of Babylon. Hang on, God's going to use Nebuchadnezzar as his servant, a wicked ruler, but that doesn't mean that God is not also going to deal with the wicked ruler. And that's something we see God doing. God can actually use a wicked king or a wicked government at times to accomplish in his overall purposes something that he wants to do, in this case the chastisement of his people, but that does not mean that the despot, the wicked ruler, is not going to be dealt with as well. Okay, so in a sense God deals with both for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans and will make it perpetual desolations. And I'll bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also, and I'll recompense them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands. Okay. Now, the children of Israel had persisted in idol worship. God in his mercy had sent them warning after warning through the prophets. And that shows us the mercy of God. God tends to prolong or to hold off judgment or to hold back chastisement. Sometimes we get the idea that God is just waiting up there rubbing his hands, waiting to just, you know, just to inflict destruction upon people. No, God in his mercy sent them the prophets to warn them repeatedly. But they refused that, they persisted in their love of idols, and so God's patience eventually ran out and he would deal with them. Now what I find very interesting here, the children of Israel loved their idols, and so God sent them to Babylon, which was the centre and the capital of idol worship in that day. It's like the Lord said, if you want idols, If you're going to persist in stubborn rebellion against me in your pursuit of other gods and the evil practices, the evil doings that go along with the worship of those gods, eventually after those repeated warnings, God said, okay, you will not listen to me. You will not hearken to the words of my prophets. I'm going to give you not one year, not two years, not three, not 10, not 20, not 40, not 50. You can have 70 years in the capital of idolatry in the world. This teaches us, doesn't it, something about the ways of God in his dealings with his people, that God in his mercy warns us. And it is always better to take God at his word and to heed the warnings of God. But if we stubbornly refuse to hear God's warnings and we persist in our pursuit of sin, eventually we get to this point where God says, okay, if you really want it and you won't listen and you won't submit, To my warnings, you can have a gut full of it. Yeah, it's always better, isn't it, to go with option one and take God at His word. But if you're not careful tonight, as a Christian, if you persist in your stubborn pursuit of ungodliness, fearfully, God may eventually give you more of that than you ever counted on until you learn. So the people of God wanted idols, so eventually God placed them in the capital city of idolatry for 70 years so that they would eventually hate the idols they once loved. Sometimes when we fail to take God at his word, he eventually gives us what we want and lets us have our gut full of it until we again long for fellowship with him. Now please tonight, my plea to you is don't, don't push to where God has to do that with you as a Christian. Are you listening? Don't push past the warnings of God. It is far better to heed the scripture, to heed the warnings of God and to submit to the Lord and to avert such chastisement. But if you will not, you're in a fearful position where God may have to chastise you by giving you what you want until you are sick of it. Sick and tired of it. It was a different story, wasn't it? It was all very well flirting with the idols there and the lifestyle back there in Egypt and all the immorality that went along with the worship of the goddesses and all those things. It was always polluted and sinful, not very much different to the society we live in today. But they were carried off then to Babylon and we read in Psalm 137 these words, by the rivers of Babylon there we sat down, yea we wept when we remembered Zion. Different now, in captivity. Slaves in a land of idolatry. How they wished then they could be back in Zion. You know there are believers like that. even tonight, who maybe wistfully look back on where they used to be. Much better to take God at his word. So the audience of the book, the place, Babylon, the people, the Jews, how'd they get there? Through Nebuchadnezzar being used as an instrument of God, instrument of chastisement. Why were they there? They were there because of their disobedience, their insubordination against the Word of God and their idolatry. Fourthly now, the aim of Daniel. What is the aim of Daniel? What's the central theme of the book of Daniel? Now Daniel reveals God to us in a special way. There are a couple of dominant themes, the central one being the dominion of God or the sovereign rule of God. Turn back over to chapter 4 again. I'll just reread the words here we read at the beginning of the message, "...to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basis of men." Look down in verse 25, we have the same thing again, towards the end of the verse, "...till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men." and giveth it to whomsoever he will. Verse 32, we have the same phrase again towards the end of the verse, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will. So this is the dominant theme of the book of Daniel, the dominion of God. the rulership of God, the sovereignty of God. God is on the throne and God reigns, God rules in the affairs of men. Now let me give you some examples here, turn back to chapter 1 again and notice some examples of God ruling in the affairs of men. Chapter 1 verse 2, and the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand. Who gave Jehoiakim into Nebuchadnezzar's hand? Lord. That's God ruling in the affairs of men isn't it? God gave Jehoiakim into his hand. Now Nebuchadnezzar went away, carried the vessels into the house of God, no doubt to honour the gods he thought gave him victory, little did he know that this was a sovereign act of Almighty God. Nebuchadnezzar is another example, look at chapter 2 verse 37, chapter 2 verse 37. having given Nebuchadnezzar the dream, or having retold the dream to him, Daniel says in verse 37, thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength and glory. Who gave Nebuchadnezzar his kingdom and rulership? God, God gave it to him. Belshazzar, another example, chapter five. Okay, we're looking at this dominant theme in Daniel, the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men. Chapter 5 verse 23. We know the story that Belshazzar has used the vessels of the house of God for an idolatrous feast. And reading from verse 22 actually, he says, And thou, his son, Obel-Shazza, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven. And they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines have drunk wine in them. And thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know. And the God in whose hand thy breath is, And whose are all thy ways hast thou not glorified? Then was the part of the hand sent from him, and this writing was written, and this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tikil, Yufasin. This is the interpretation of the thing. Mene, God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Tekel, thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting. Peres, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Again we see the sovereign rulership of God. Belshazzar given over by God, an act of God into the hands of the Medes and Persians. Now this ought to actually encourage us a bit tonight. It's nice at times, it's encouraging at times to stop and to allow our minds to Just think and ponder a little bit upon the fact that our God is on the throne. Our God is on the throne. You know, we can sometimes become very discouraged when we look around maybe in our nation and see the events that are taking place. We can be very discouraged when we look around the world and see what's taking place in the world. It's good for us to be reminded tonight that our God is on the throne. God reigns, our God reigns and He still rules in the affairs of men and though wicked men in this world may feel and think that the destiny of this world is in their hands, we know that ultimately God's will will prevail and God reigns on His throne and He will accomplish what He will accomplish. God is on the throne, even with some of the things that have happened in our nation of recent. It should grieve our hearts, shouldn't it, the passage of the recent legislation to broaden the definition of marriage to something that would include an abomination? But as I read the scriptures, read Romans chapter one, and sit in that light, God's still on the throne. In fact, it would seem that when a nation is being given over to perversion of that nature, it's actually an act of judgment. Do you realize that tonight? That is an act of judgment. God is giving our nation over because of our stubborn rebellion against God, because of our rejection of him as the creator and our distancing of ourselves from him as our sovereign and our ruler. According to Romans chapter one, God then begins to give people over to vile affections to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. So God's even still on the throne in that. I'm not saying it's God's will that a nation go in that direction, I'm just saying that when we see that when God acts in this way, it's usually in response to man's persistence in their rebellion. It's never his will that a nation or a people go in that direction. But God is not a neutral bystander. He's not some weak grandpa sitting up in heaven who is constrained somehow by the actions of man. When man persists against God and pushes past him and rejects him, eventually God, as an act of judgment, will give a nation over to these things. So God is on the throne. Let me give you some other verses that teaches this. Psalm 115 verse 3, That ought to encourage you tonight Christians. Psalm 99 verse 1 through 3, The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble. He sitteth between the cherubims, let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion, and he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name, for it is holy. The truth we can hold onto tonight is the Lord reigneth. God reigns. Canberra's not ultimately in control of things. men puffed up in their pride think that the destiny of this world is at their fingertips, that they are just, we're just going to be progressive and we're going to go in this direction. No, no, no, God will have the final say. God is on the throne and men may shake their fist in the face of God and they may try and push in an anti-God direction. But as believers, we can be encouraged in this fact that our God reigns, our God rules in the heavens. So we have the dominion of God, that's a prominent theme in Daniel. Then the designation of God, or the title of God. What is the most frequent title of God in the book? Well, it's this, the Most High. The Most High. This title of God occurs 13 times in the book of Daniel, in 12 verses. The Most High, El Elyon. What is the significance of this title? Well, we understand a little bit more about its significance in Abraham's words. Abraham was one of the first to use this title of God when he spoke to the king of Sodom in Genesis 14, 12. He says, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, and note these next words, the possessor of heaven and earth. the possessor of heaven and earth. Here we see that God is the exalted one, the most high God. There is none higher than him. And this title speaks to us of his sovereign right to do as he pleases with the heavens and the earth. He is the possessor of heaven and earth. He owns them and it is his prerogative to direct ultimately the affairs of this universe. It's his property. Most high God. Isaiah 6-1. What are the next words? High and lifted up. Don't we need a return today to a lofty view of God? to seeing God in his glory. And this is what the book of Daniel will do for us when we, in a sense, take a step back and allow the book of Daniel to just draw us up into the heavenlies a bit there and to see that God is on the throne. It can bring courage to us and strength to us. You say, there's trials going on in my life. There's this going on and this is happening in the world. Listen, just rest in the fact that God is in the throne. He's on the throne. He's the most high God. He is, the universe is in the grasp of his almighty hand. Isaiah 57, 15, for thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity. What a wonderful description of God, the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity. whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place, says God, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Psalm 8610, for thou art great and doest wondrous things. Thou art God alone. Thou art God alone. And so Daniel will unfold that for us. as we see God works in nations, God's going to humble Nebuchadnezzar. This great man, this man who is the king of the known world, whose empire spanned many miles there, a man who was very powerful, God would rule in the affairs of his life and humble him. Eventually God would bring in the kingdom of the Medes and Persians and so on. And then as we look forward into the future, we're going to see through the book of Daniel that God still has a plan for the future. And that the course of this world will ultimately unfold according to his divine program. And so we've entitled the series, God Reigns. God reigns, the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men. Tonight, maybe for you, amongst all the facts and figures there, some of the background details, the challenge might be this. Are you heeding God's warnings? We get a sense for how God works by studying the book of Daniel, how he works and deals with the lives of his people. In his love and mercy, he warns us through the word of God, through the ministry of proclamation, the Old Testament through the prophets, the New Testament through the ministry of pastors, teachers. God brings warnings to his people in love that they might yield to him and deal with the idolatry and things in their lives. But if we push past that, then God will chastise us. And sometimes the greatest chastisement is giving us a gutful of what we really want until we don't want it anymore. And maybe for some tonight, they just need to be encouraged. Things look bleak in your life, difficult, trials, difficulties. encouraged with this truth, God reigns, God's on the throne and ultimately the course of this universe will unfold according to his will and his plan and God will deal with all things in his time. Lord we pray tonight