Turning your Bibles this evening to the book of Daniel, as we begin a new series, a new book, the book of Daniel, we'll be reading chapter one and verses one through eight. So let's give our attention now to the word of God, Daniel chapter one, verses one through eight. In the third year, the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his God. Then the king commanded Aspenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, and learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time, they were to stand before the king. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names. Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael, he called Meshach, and Azariah, he called Abednego. But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. Thus far, the reading of God's word. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the book of Daniel. We thank you for the many ways in which we may learn to live in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation this day. And we pray that you would give us wisdom tonight as we begin this study and that you will open our hearts and minds to receive your truth and the power and work of your spirit in our lives to your glory. We ask it for Jesus sake. Amen. Well, if you were to compose a list of your favorite Old Testament books, what would they be? I think for many people, the book of Psalms is probably number one. But what next? Next to that, what would your favorite Old Testament books be? For some, it might be Genesis, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and all the patriarchs, or perhaps alongside of the Book of Psalms, you would put Proverbs, or maybe one of the minor prophets, or possibly Isaiah. But the question is, would any of you have chosen Daniel as one of your favorite books? You can indicate that if you like, but for most people, I think it's safe to say that the book of Daniel is not exactly a high priority for reading and study when it comes to the Old Testament and the Bible. This book, Daniel, for most people seems to be centered around two or three primary events. Daniel in the lion's den, the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, and possibly the references to the end times, and the 70 weeks in particular, and some of the things that take place at that time. Now, my friends, these things are important details, and they have great significance for us, but to come to the book of Daniel thinking that this book is primarily about these two miracles, the fiery furnace and the lion's den. And other than that, this book is largely a book of scary dreams and visions of some strange creatures. To think of the book of Daniel in those terms is to miss the point entirely. Now if, if that should be you tonight, I earnestly want to change your view of the book of Daniel. And if we're going to understand this book, there are two preliminary principles we need to follow. And I've tried to give you a rather detailed outline of things that we're going to consider tonight, And so under the introduction, the two preliminary principles we need to follow is number one, to understand the purpose of the book. And second, to understand the images of the book. The purpose of the book of Daniel is not to give us a whole lot of images that no one can possibly understand. My friends, God has included this book in the Holy Scriptures. He has caused it to be written down and inspired in order to teach us some very valuable lessons. And two of those lessons, I think, which encapsulate the purpose of the entire book is number one, the sovereignty of God over all kings and kingdoms of this world. The sovereignty of God over all kings and kingdoms of this world. And the second idea on the purpose of the book is that the book of Daniel is there to teach us, to show us the sovereignty of God over every minute detail in your life and mine. So to show us God is sovereign over kings and kingdoms and God is sovereign over every detail of our lives. The second principle is to understand the images of this book. Now, I understand when people look at this book and say, Nobody can properly interpret that because that was me. For many years, my kids said, Dad, preach on the book of Daniel. Preach on the book of Daniel. And I was like, no way. Nobody can understand all of those images. And then the light came on. And I realized if you want to understand the imagery used in the book of Daniel, This is the vital principle. You must let the text interpret itself. And it will do that if you let it. You cannot import modern ideas onto those images and apply them to our present day. If you do that, you'll always come out on the wrong idea, on the wrong part of what Daniel is trying to communicate. So you must let the text interpret itself. Now those are the two preliminary principles. We're gonna look at two main ideas. We're going to look at the historical setting of the book, and then we're going to talk about seeing the big picture of the conflict that's being described here, both then with Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel and his three friends, and now. And my friends, the conflict is the same. It's still going on. And so those are the two main areas that we're going to be looking at. First of all then, consider the historical setting of the book. In the past, when we've started a new book or a new series, we've tried to look at some of the details to know who wrote it, why they wrote it, what are the circumstances that surround that writing, What time period was it written in? And what style of writing are we dealing with? And we're gonna deal not with each and every one of those, but with several in particular. Number one, the author. Who was the author? Well, most in the evangelical Christian world will say simply, the prophet Daniel is the one who wrote this book. somewhere in the 6th century BC. And as the writer, he has recorded a number of historical events that took place in the Babylonian exile of the Jews. So the Babylonians came and took Jerusalem, took the people, took the articles of worship, and took a number of other things and went back to Babylon. In the process of describing that event, Daniel records a number of miracles, particularly the lion's den and the fiery furnace. But he's also including a number of detailed descriptions of dreams and visions. And he's giving us a number of carefully prescribed details about historical yet future events. He describes visits from angels. He even describes the death of Christ in the New Testament. So Daniel is recording all of these things and he's doing so with astounding accuracy. And because of that accuracy, there are many modern scholars who say there's simply no way Daniel could be the writer. that this book had to be written by a second century Jew who could look back and knew all these events and how they happened and could therefore describe them in detail and do so accurately. Now, my friends, we don't need to be surprised or troubled when we hear modern scholars deny the authorship of Daniel. because most of these modern scholars are unbelievers. They don't believe in miracles. They don't believe in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That should not bother us so much. What does trouble us are the number of commentaries and seminaries that are teaching these very things, this rationalistic approach. And they say, those stories of miracles in the book of Daniel, those are just fairy tales. They're just religious drama. And they're not true. But my friends, they're not only calling into question Daniel's authorship and the reality of what he writes, they're calling into question Jesus' knowledge of these things. Our Savior in Matthew 24 and in verses 15, he says, when you see the abomination of desolation happen, that Daniel, the prophet, spoke of. Christ clearly says Daniel is the one that wrote these things. They're calling that into question. They're saying Jesus is mistaken. He's made an error. He doesn't really understand what is going on. Not only that, But the writer of Hebrews in chapter 11, chapter on faith, describes those who quenched the fire and stopped the mouths of lions. Now that is almost certainly a reference to Daniel and his friends. And so they're calling into question not only the authenticity of the book of Daniel, but our Lord Jesus and his truth, and the writer of the book of Hebrews as well. Let's look at the time. Daniel begins his writing in a very specific way. Look at verse one. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Daniel is very specific, and he tells us that in that year, Nebuchadnezzar came and captured the city of Jerusalem. That happened, my friend, this is a historical fact. That happened in the year 605 B.C. So here is a historical situation in which Nebuchadnezzar came and captured the city of Jerusalem, but there's more here than just the facts, as Joe Friday would say. There's more going on. You see what he says in verse 2, and the Lord gave Jehoiakim into his hands. This is not just about one king being more powerful than another and taking control of his city or his country. The Lord gave Jehoiakim and the people of God into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. The fall of Jerusalem, the enslavement of the people of God to this godless king was a work of God. And what we must realize is that it happened because God's chosen people were rebellious and they were refusing to follow him and to listen to his word and be obedient to that word. They were worshiping idols. And for many years, God had been calling these people to repent and turn from their sins. So earlier, Isaiah writes, come, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as wool. And though they be red like crimson, they shall be white as snow. God calls his people again and again to turn from their sins, to come to him, to be blessed by him, to know his favor and grace. But if they refuse, as Israel did, God will chasten them and chasten them sorely. My friends, right here at the beginning, We have a very valuable lesson and it's one that we have to learn over and over and over again. And it's this, never take sin lightly. Never think that if you just continue in this pattern of rebellion against God's commandments, he'll just look the other way. My friends, listen to what the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 6 and verse 7. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. If he sows to his flesh, will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Don't think you can continue in your sins. Turn. Remember how Ezekiel pleads with the people, why will you die, oh Israel? Turn, turn and live. And that is the message that we see here. These people refuse to turn, and now the judgment of God falls upon them. Thirdly, let's look at the style. Here is one of the most important elements in trying to interpret books like the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation. You need to understand what we're dealing with. This book is largely prophetic genre. It is apocalyptic language. Much of the language dealing with what's going to happen in the end of time when Christ returns. My friends, if you miss that, if you miss that understanding, this is prophetic genre. You will never interpret the book of Daniel correctly or other books of similar genre. And we have different styles of writing in the English language. So we have historical narrative. We have didactic passages that are designed to teach, to instruct as much of the New Testament epistles are. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Whatever you do, do in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's instructive, it's didactic, it's designed to teach us how to live. But then we have poetic language in this prophetic imagery. And so, for instance, one of my favorite books is the Song of Solomon. And you read that book, it's full of poetic language and imagery. Here this husband who is absolutely ravished by this woman says, sweetie, your hair is like a flock of goats. Now, husbands, I would strongly suggest you find another image to employ if you're trying to woo your wife. He tells her, your teeth are like a flock of sheep. Have you ever seen a sheep's teeth? It's not the type of thing that we would typically say to someone we're trying to endear to us. The key, the key to understanding much of the book of Daniel is realizing this is prophetic language. Every symbol that we see here does not necessarily have to have an exact counterpart to our situation, and that's vital. I've mentioned before that back in the 90s, early 90s, when the Gulf War started, that we were part of a homeschool co-op, and I remember in a conversation there, one of the very articulate young men that was leading the group was just going nuts over what was happening. And he said, the great he-goat in Daniel 8 and verse 5 that leaps over the face of the earth without touching the ground, it's the B-52 bombers. And they can come all the way from Greece to Iraq without touching the ground. And it's just going on and on. My friends, that has absolutely nothing to do with the book of Daniel. And what we have to do is let the text interpret itself. Throughout this study, as we continue to work through these passages, keep those Two purposes in mind. God is sovereign over kings and kingdoms. And God is sovereign over every minute detail in our lives. Now, let's look at our second major section. Consider the big picture of the conflict, then and now. The battle, my friends, the battle was not just for Jerusalem or for the Jewish people. The battle was for the souls of God's children. And that's what I want you to see tonight. When Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem, he takes their treasures, He takes their people. He even takes, if you look at verses three and four, He takes their children. And my friends, I'm not sure we can fathom what that would be like. What would it be like if all of a sudden we heard machine gun fire? out here in the lobby. And through those double doors, a foreign army comes and they take us all captive. And then they begin taking your young children away and leaving you here. My friends, that's the picture. that we have in these opening words. I want you to understand, this was a time of immeasurable pain and heartache. Think of what it would be like. You parents, particularly with young teenage boys, can you understand what it would be if they were taken away from you? and carried away to be slaves in a foreign country. Further, what we need to understand is Nebuchadnezzar was not just after a few more servants, a few more slaves to serve in his courtyard. Nebuchadnezzar wants to change these people. He wants to change these Jews into Babylonians. He wants them to think like Babylonians. He wants them to talk like Babylonians. He wants them to eat and dress and act like Babylonians. This pagan king wants to change particularly these young followers of Jehovah into godless, worldly, pleasure-loving slaves to himself and to his culture. And here's the part we really need to comprehend. If you haven't already thought about it and realized it, know this. The names and the faces have changed. but the conflict is still going on. The names and people involved have changed, but the goal is still the same. Satan, listen young people, Satan today wants to change you. He wants you to think like the world thinks. He wants you to talk like the world talks. He wants you to dress and act and eat and drink like this unbelieving world. And he's still using the same tools that Nebuchadnezzar used 2,600 years ago. He's still trying to do the same thing. Let's look at these four tools. He uses the tool of isolation. The very first thing that Nebuchadnezzar does is to isolate Daniel and his three friends. He could have left them in their own land. with familiar surroundings, with people and things that they knew, but he doesn't. He takes them. He takes them out. He moves them 500 miles across the desert, away from everything they are familiar with. He takes them away from their parents. He takes them away from their families and their other godly friends, and he isolates them. Now, young people, when I was a teenager, I could not wait to get out on my own. I wanted to be out from underneath the oversight, constant oversight of my parents. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. However, it is a dangerous thing. And you must be very careful because Satan can and will use that impulse to remove or at least greatly lessen the godly influences in your life. Your parents are teaching you the ways of God, the God of heaven, the God of the Bible. Your older brothers and sisters are there to help, encourage you, to go with you through these things. And if you remove yourself from those influences, you are in much greater danger of falling to Satan's devices. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, many of you will be familiar Chapter 15 in verse 33 when he says, evil company corrupts good morals. This is why it's so important who you choose to hang around, who you choose as your friends, who you choose to date and marry. The primary thing is that they be godly, that they love Christ, that they love the word, that they want to be involved in the church. If they're not, and if they don't, then my friends, find other friends. That's one of the things that Satan did here. He isolated these young men from their family and friends. Secondly, he used the tool of indoctrination. Not only did Nebuchadnezzar isolate these boys, he immediately starts teaching them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans. Now, this is not just learning a foreign language. That can be helpful. This is all about forgetting the things you were taught as a child, especially all those ridiculous religious stories about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the rest. You need to forget that. You need to learn to read, you need to write, you need to think, you need to act like a Chaldean. That's what Nebuchadnezzar wants. He wants to institute a totally different way of looking at life. It's not merely Something that happened a long time ago, my friends. This is still happening today. At practically every level of education, students are being encouraged to think for yourselves. Forget what you've been taught as a child by your parents. Think for yourself. You know, it's a striking study. If you've never done it, it's well worth it. Those of you that got the sketches in church history, you may see quite a bit of it in there. When you realize that just a few, maybe a couple hundred New England Puritans changed the landscape of this country, impacted this country for almost 200 years, And you know how they did it? They took over the education system. Not only just teaching young people, but ministers. So Harvard, Yale, Union Seminary all began as bastions of solid evangelical truth. And that went out to all the churches that then preached those truths to the people. And it literally changed everything in this country for two centuries. And they did it through education. Nebuchadnezzar understood it as well. And he says, I'm gonna indoctrinate you in the language and literature of the Chaldean. I'm gonna make you a Chaldean. The third thing is using the tool of compromise. Now usually when we come to this point, particularly as Daniel in verse eight says, he purposed in his heart that he wouldn't defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies. And often this idea that Daniel said, I don't want to eat the king's meat. And it's frequently presented as the reason being is that that meat was sacrificed to idols. And for Daniel to eat that would have defiled him. That is a possibility. But I wonder about the vegetables. Would they not have been offered to their idols as well? I think it's more likely that something else is going on here. The king's delicacies, they simply refer to the best food and drink that money could buy. And what Nebuchadnezzar is doing is seducing Daniel and his friends. by a lifestyle of pleasure and privilege that they had never experienced before. See what it's like to be a Babylonian. See the riches and pleasures and enjoyments of life that you can have if you will live like us. My friends, there are few things in this world more effective at luring the heart away from God than the good life. If you're seeking the good life, if you want the fleshly pleasures that this world has to offer, you are putting yourself in great danger. because that is what the world uses to lure people away from God. That's what Nebuchadnezzar was trying to do with Daniel and his three friends. Lastly, using the tool of confusion, here was just one more thing Nebuchadnezzar was trying to do. He changed all their names. He's saying, I want you to forget your past. This is the new you. Now I know perhaps it's a little easier to think of these individuals as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We've heard that so many times. I think it was far better for us to keep their Hebrew names. given to them by God. Their names are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And Nebuchadnezzar changes that so that every time someone speaks to them or commands them to do something, they're hearing a different name. They're thinking, we're different people now. Forget the past. This is the way I want you to think of yourself. And again, Satan is still using this kind of confusion. We don't have time to unpack it now, but just think about the whole gender identity crisis that we have in our society right now. Your name's been Bobby. for the last 17 years. Well, I want it to be Sally now. It's confusion about who you are, about who God made you to be, about how you've been raised and what you've been taught. And Satan wants to change that. My friends, Satan is still seeking to press God's children into the mold of this world. The way you think, the way you talk, the way you act, the way you dress, the way you eat and drink. And Paul says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds into the image of Christ. Like Daniel and his three friends, we need to push back against these subtle and sometimes not so subtle attempts of this world in which we live trying to change us and make us like them. Stand, put on the armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wilds of the devil. purpose in your heart, like Daniel, not to defile yourself before God by imbibing, by partaking of the things of this world. And pray, my friends, pray for strength to stand firm even when it costs you dearly. And we're going to see that in the coming chapter a little bit later on. For now, let us comprehend, if we can, how this book of Daniel speaks to us and tells us God is sovereign over every king and kingdom. And he's sovereign over every detail in your life and mine. Let's pray together. Our blessed God, we are indeed thankful for your truth and for the way in which you inspired Daniel to write these words and to reflect upon his own situation and his commitment to you. and how that cost him dearly to stand for your truth. We pray that you will bless this study and use it greatly in the hearts and lives of each one here. For the glory of Christ, we ask it. Amen. Let's take a few moments as we reflect upon these truths.