InPerspective

Host: We are going to come across a text of scripture in which the people who want to destroy Daniel, who want to do away with Daniel, will say, “You will not be able to find any fault in him except that he always lives by the law of his God.”

If you want to get at Daniel, even the princes of a pagan culture said, “The only way you can get to him is to get to him in his obedience to his God.”

Guest: Putting life in biblical perspective, with Dr. Harry L. Reeder. This is InPerspective, a radio and Internet ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

How are we to live in a nation abandoning Christian truth and devolving into a society on the very brink of neo-paganism? We can learn a great deal from the life of a faithful follower of God many centuries ago, Daniel, who found himself in a situation similar to ours today. Join us as we begin an in-depth series examining Daniel's memorable memoirs and message.

Stay with us now as Dr. Reeder brings us today's teaching, part one of the message, fascinating facts and feature.

Host: If you have your copies of God's Word, would you open them to Daniel? We will read there in just a few moments. We start this series on the memorable memoirs and messages, and starting with some, what I think are some fascinating facts and features of this book.

I have been looking forward to going through this with you for a number of reasons. I believe that the reasons are highly pertinent to our heart's desires and some of the challenges that face us.

When I was in college, the challenge that was given to us was that the world in which we served the Lord was a world that we could see the progress of God's kingdom throughout the world, but we could also see the decadence of the kingdom of darkness and how it was impacting even our own country.

That our country was rapidly descending from a country that had been so influenced and challenged by Christianity that it would be called, not officially, but by influence a Christian nation in terms of its view of government, its virtues, its values, and how Christianity had affected it into a post-Christian nation, post-Christian culture.

It was not long until it became very obvious that, in fact, we had slid downward beyond that into what I would call a neo-pagan culture. We are a culture that worships the creation and not the Creator. We are a culture that rejects the verities and virtues of God's Word. We are a culture that will call evil good and good evil.

You can see us sliding into paganism, the paganism of devolving marriage back into the pits of polygamy, back into the practices of sexual immorality and sexual promiscuity. You can see us redefining marriage. You can see what is happening to the family. You can see what is happening in the culture in terms of class warfare and in terms of a sense of irresponsibility to one another.

Love has grown cold, there is no doubt about it, and truth has disappeared off the radar screen of virtue in the life of our culture. So what does that mean? Does that mean that a Christian gives up or that a Christian becomes angry? No, it means that a Christian understands, "How shall we now live in light of that?"

I cannot think of two more interesting characters to learn how to live as God's people in a pagan culture other than Joseph. But the second person in the Bible who is of great value to us, who lays out for us how we ought to live as the people of God in the midst of a kingdom of this world, in the midst of a culture of paganism.

How is it that we shall live attractively, convincingly, with conviction? I cannot think of anybody better to challenge us than Daniel, better to set before us the power of God's grace. It is interesting, Daniel, who lives his life out in a pagan society, gives us not only a book of the Bible but gives us a roadmap of how to live by God's grace for God's glory, fixed upon the One that he points to.

That is the redeeming Son of Man. I cannot think of anyone that is more powerful in the presentation of that way of life. In fact, he was so powerful that when they sought to destroy him, we are going to come across a text of scripture in which the people who want to destroy Daniel, who want to do away with Daniel, will say, "You will not be able to find any fault in him except that he always lives by the law of his God."

If you want to get at Daniel, even the princes of a pagan culture said, "The only way you can get to him is to get to him in his obedience to his God."

Here is a man whose life spans 80 years for us. Here is a man who, we know, we do not have any much information about his life prior to his captivity in Babylon. But we have much about his life afterwards. We follow the course of his life through 80 years, 70 plus years. We follow the course of his life through one king, Nebuchadnezzar, to another, Belshazzar, to another, Darius, to another, Cyrus.

He goes through two kingdoms, Babylon and the Medo-Persian kingdom. He goes through four kings, and constantly, no matter what the environment and the situation, he accomplishes the purposes of God.

And for the first and only time in history that I am aware of, a nation that has been judged by God and scattered is allowed to re-gather. That is the only nation I know of in all of history where that has occurred.

If you will look with me in the opening chapter of Daniel, Daniel chapter one, we are only going to read the introduction just to talk about some things that it opens up for us. Look with me in verse one, "In the third year of 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, along with some of the vessels of the house of God.

"And he brought them to," this is another word for Babylon, "to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god." Now, let me just go ahead and tell you there were multiple gods in a pagan society. Whenever you do not know and love the one true and living God, you have to keep multiplying gods because there is always something left out. But the key god in Babylon at that time was one by the name of Marduk. So this is probably referring to the temple of Marduk.

And so, he brought him into the house of his god. And this, by the way, was very common. Whenever a king conquered another, the first thing they would do is destroy that particular house of worship that belonged to those people, take whatever belonged to that god, asserting their supremacy and the supremacy of their god symbolically, and bringing it back to the house of their god, which is what they do with the first temple, Solomon's temple, and with the furnishings of it.

And they bring it back to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Of course, just another little commentary here, we are finding out that one of the reasons God is letting them do this is to put it in safe keeping, in a safe deposit box, because 70 years later it is going to be freed up to go back for the rebuilding of the temple with these vessels being restored to it.

"Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans."

Now, so immediately, as soon as we read this, we are immediately brought into a historical setting. Now, of course, many of those who would challenge the legitimacy of the book of Daniel do so for a variety of reasons, and I will give you some of the reasons why they do so in just a moment. But one of the things that is said is that the book of Daniel is a myth, it is a legend, creating a legendary hero of epic proportions, which Israel needed to do because of them having been captured.

And that it is not really historical, it is legendary, it is mythical. I mean, hey, it is valuable. It can become God's Word as a kind of divine pep talk that is given to us. Just a myth that is kind of like a locker room pep talk at halftime. Things are going bad, but it is going to get better. And so it is kind of presented that way, as a myth and a pep talk for Israel.

Particularly the Judah, the two tribes that have now been taken into Babylonian captivity. Now, the only problem is, very clearly, the book does not allow you to look at it that way. The book puts itself very clearly in a historical setting. In fact, it gives you a date, the third year of Jehoiakim. It gives you two kingdoms at war, the kingdom of Israel/Judah.

That is the two tribes that were yet left. And the third year of Jehoiakim, now you will remember, King David had been followed by Solomon. After Solomon had come the judgment of God and the division of the kingdom of Israel into the 10 northern tribes and the two southern tribes. The 10 northern tribes have by this time already been captured. They have intermarried under the impression and bondage of the Assyrians.

They have been scattered north, south, east and west, and some of them have been left in the land. And by the days of Jesus, they will be known as Samaritans, those who have intermarried with the Gentiles. The city of Samaria has been captured. They have been captured and many of them taken and sold into slavery, scattered abroad. Some of them actually were refugees and went down south to join the two tribes that were yet faithful to the Lord to some degree anyway.

And that, of course, was Judah and Benjamin. And therefore, King Jehoiakim is called the King of Judah because Judah was the dominant tribe and Benjamin was the one that was found within its boundaries, and those were the two faithful tribes, with the 10 northern tribes having already been judged.

But now, these two tribes, Judah, is now given over to judgment, specifically in the hands of a pagan king, a pagan religion, and a pagan empire. The Babylonian Empire, Nebuchadnezzar, and pagan religions dominated by the god Marduk. They have now come, Jehoiakim has been captured and destroyed in the third year, the temple, the Solomonic temple destroyed. All of the vessels and the things have been taken away, placed in a pagan temple back in Babylon, and put within the treasury of Nebuchadnezzar.

Now, clearly, this is given to us as a historical event. And as you begin to do the research, of course, it matches up to a historical event. Who is Daniel? Let us look at the person of Daniel, first of all. Daniel, of course, is given to us as a real person. But not only in the book of Daniel, he is affirmed throughout. Daniel will be both quoted and referred to eight times in the New Testament.

Specifically, five times by Jesus. Let me give you just one of those times. Take your Bibles and look with me in Matthew chapter 24. Matthew 24, verse 15. "So, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, then let the reader understand, and let those who are left in Judea flee to the mountains."

Jesus said, "You are going to see something called the abomination of desolation." Where did you first hear about this? Spoken in the prophecy of Daniel by the prophet Daniel. Jesus affirms the book, the prophecy, and the prophet as historical fact.

Now, which Daniel is this? There are actually three Daniels in the Bible that are referred to. One of them is one of royal birth but does not fit the right place in terms of the dating of this. And that was a Daniel that belonged to King David and one of his wives, Abigail. Would you take your Bibles and go with me to First Chronicles chapter three?

Let me go ahead and give you the other one. Another Daniel is a Levite who belongs to the Levitical tribe, obviously, and is a part of the restoration process back in Israel. So, we have Daniel of royalty, who belonged to David. Let me show you where he is documented for you in your Bible, First Chronicles chapter three, verse one.

"These are the sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron. The firstborn Amnon by Ahinoam, the Jezreelite, the second Daniel by Abigail, the Carmelitess." So, we have David with a son called Daniel. Of course, this does not fit the dating. We have another one, a Levite, who is, does not fit the dating. So, what Daniel is this?

Well, this is a Daniel who lives of royal nobility, of some royal lineage. This is a Daniel who is captured and taken into captivity along with others as well. And he is taken into captivity. He is a young man who is learned. He is a young man who has shown physical stature, appearance, and wisdom. And he is a young man who is affirmed as a historical fact, and a young man who is referred to not only eight times in the New Testament, but a number of times in the Old Testament.

Let me give you just a couple of times there. Take your Bibles and go with me to Ezekiel. Ezekiel. Ezekiel, of course, is a prophet who overlaps Daniel, somewhat preceding him, a prophet who preaches the truth of God's Word. Let me just look at a couple of passages. Go with me in Ezekiel chapter 14. Ezekiel chapter 14.

Ezekiel 14, and look with me in verse 12. "And the word of the Lord came to me, 'Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it, that is bring judgment, and bring its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness,' declares the Lord God."

So he refers to Daniel as a wise man. This is really interesting. Probably, when Ezekiel writes this, Daniel is about 50 years old, which to me is very amazing. We tend to not lift people up. Human nature is, we do not tend to lift up any of our contemporaries, do we? I do not know whether it is jealousy or what. But Ezekiel is able to lift up a living contemporary and put him in the same hall of renown as with Job and Noah.

And he calls him and therefore puts him in that pantheon of wisdom that comes from above. In fact, let us see, he does it a little bit more. Ezekiel 14, go down to verse 19. "Or if I send a pestilence into the land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man or beast, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live," declares the Lord, "They would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness."

He says, "I may spare them, but I would not spare my judgment if they were there." So here is again referred to. Let me show you one other way he is interestingly referred to, and it has somewhat of an impact on one of the problems with the book of Daniel. Would you take your Bibles and turn with me to Ezekiel chapter 28?

In Ezekiel chapter 28, you will see that Daniel is referred to again. Look in verse one, "The word of the Lord came to me, 'Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, thus says the Lord God, because your heart is proud, and you have said, "I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods in the heart of the seas." Yet you are but a man and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god.

"'And you are indeed wiser than Daniel, no secret is hidden from you by your wisdom and your understanding,' et cetera." Now, notice here, Ezekiel refers to Daniel again, and he refers to him as a wise man. Remember that, if you would. You have got Job with his wisdom, you have got Noah, God's favor had been upon him, and you have Daniel.

And Daniel is affirmed by Ezekiel, not only as a prophet but as a wise man, and two times as a righteous man. A man who is righteous. So, here we find that he is affirmed continually. Now, when did all of this happen? Well, here we have, is it not interesting? We have a book that starts with the judgment of Judah in the hand of Babylon.

And in this book we are going to see the events that occur and learn from it. We are going to have prophetic messages that are going to take us to the first advent of Christ and then all the way to the second advent of Christ. So here is a book that will take us from the Babylonian captivity, will give us the life of powerful impact and influence by God's grace through Daniel in a pagan world, and will then give us prophetic messages that declare the birth of a Messiah and a second coming of that Messiah.

And it is in the context of this book that we have. We have Jerusalem and Babylon. And, in fact, with what we learn about the coming of Christ and his second coming at the end of the age, the city of man and the kingdom of this world will be described as what? Babylon. But the birth of redemption will be given to us from a nation whose capital is Jerusalem.

Here we have Judah and Jerusalem. Here we have Babylon. Here we have a king of Judah. Here we have a king of Babylon. Here, Babylon is the birthplace of paganism, Genesis, the Tower of Babel. Here is Babylon, the birthplace of paganism, the home of a culture of depravity and degradation that is being used in the hand of God for a judgment upon his people, who reside in the land from which our Redeemer will come and to which he will come again.

Here in these verses, this amazing juxtaposition of a Redeemer from the one true and living God, and the eternal covenant of the Gospel of Grace, and over here, a kingdom that will mark out all rebellion against God all the way to the end of the age. Babylon, the great whore, the great prostitute.

And it is this kingdom in the hands of God that comes down and brings judgment in the third year of Jehoiakim. Would we do just a little bit of history here? Hang with me. In the Bible, there are certain kings that are referred to. They have kind of funny names like Ashurbanipal. You remember him, don't you?

Ashurbanipal, of course, was the last powerful king of Assyria. It is with his forefathers and him that the hand of God has already come down upon the 10 northern tribes. First of all, they came down to tax them. Then after they taxed them and controlled them, they then began to impress their people into slavery. Finally, they took them into bondage and then they scattered them north, south, east, and west. And they intermarried with them as they captured Samaria. And later these, as I mentioned, would be called the Samaritans.

Well, Ashurbanipal and his Assyrian kingdom, whose capital city was, it was a city that had had even a great revival, but a city that had housed a kingdom that had gone forth to judge the 10 northern tribes. And the kingdom of the Assyrians, its capital city was Nineveh. Well, they are kind of coming to the end of their rope. God has appointed the habitations and the boundaries of all nations, and they are in his hands. And so it is with him.

Guest: Our nation is abandoning the spiritual, cultural, and moral impact of Christian truth. We can learn a great deal about living in such a society from Daniel, who found himself in a situation similar to what God's people face today.

You are listening to InPerspective, featuring the teaching of Dr. Harry L. Reeder. Our sermon series, Daniel's Memorable Memoirs and Message. For additional teaching by Dr. Reeder, visit InPerspective.org.

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The title of a popular book by Dr. Francis Schaeffer asks, "How should we then live?" Join us again next time as Dr. Reeder shows us how Daniel's life and example helps us answer this vitally important question. That is next time as we turn back to the scriptures to put life in biblical perspective.