Depending on God’s Faithfulness
Living in Babylon: An Exposition of Daniel

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All right, good morning, church! We have a good crowd here this morning. It’s good to see all of you guys. Have you guys been struggling with this cough and cold thing that’s going around – this flu thing? I was sick with it last week. Pray for me that I can keep my voice today. My voice is a little rattley.

I’m excited about this series, going through the book of Daniel, starting today. You’re here on the first day of this series. We’re going to be spending twelve Sundays working on this. We will read twelve chapters for twelve Sundays, going through the book of Daniel and listening to see what God wants to say to us, about what it looks like to live in Babylon.

You’re thinking, I don’t live in Babylon. I live in Wilson. What are you talking about ? What is this with the name Babylon?

The name, “Babylon,” comes from the Akkadian language and is thought to mean, “Gate of the Gods.” It was the capital city of the Babylonian Empire. During the year 605 BC, 600 years before Jesus, Nebuchadnezzar II overthrew Jerusalem. From that day forward, Israel never existed as a country that wasn’t under someone else until 1947 when Israel came back into existence. There’s never been a story like this in human history, where a nation disappears for 2000 years and then reappears in 1947 as it did.

(Pictures of Babylonian Empire shown on screen.)

I like to show pictures whenever I start a new series like this to make sure you understand that the Bible is not a story book. It’s a history book and the places it describes really exist. You can still see the ruins. The Babylonian Empire didn’t exist very long. It was like a flash of lightning across the sky. It really only existed for about 70 plus years. King Nebuchadnezzar conquered this whole area.

(Pictures continue on the screen.)

Every time archaeologists dig something up in the Middle East, it always agrees with the Bible. There’s never been a single instance where archaeology has disagreed with the Bible. The Bible is trustworthy. It’s a history book.

As we read the book of Daniel, I want you to feel confident that what we’re reading here is something that a man named Daniel wrote in the sixth century BC, probably towards the end of his life and reflecting on what had happened.

Why are we talking about living in Babylon? You told us that it is this place in the desert that’s now in ruins and no one lives there. How are you saying that we live in Babylon?

Here’s the thing: from Genesis to Revelation that name Babylon keeps reappearing, and it’s a symbol of the world. So if I say we’re living in Babylon, What I’m really saying, biblically speaking, symbolically speaking, is we’re living in the world. “Babylon” is a description of the world’s economy, the world’s government and the world’s religion.

In the book of Genesis, chapter 11, we read that Noah’s kids built a giant tower in an attempt to reach the heavens called the Tower of Babel and God disrupted their plans by confusing their language.

In Revelation, Babylon represents counterfeit religion and the evil, world dominating, government of Satan.

We encounter the story about the sons and daughters of Noah who had moved into the valley of Shinar. They said to themselves, ‘Why don’t we build ourselves a tower that will reach the heavens?’ That was man made religion in its own human effort trying to reach God. They built a tower and called it the “Tower of Babel,” the root of the name, “Babylon.” But, God disrupted their language and they were unable to complete it.

Inthe book of Revelation, we see several references to Babylon and the world dominating government of satan under the beast. Every time we see the word, “babylon,” in the Bible, it’s about satan’s kingdom talking about the world system. Jerusalem is one poll and Babylon is the other.

Here’s Daniel and his friends; they are exiled to Babylon and so are you and I, as believers, because we’re already followers of Jesus. We are already members of the kingdom of Heaven, but we’re still here. We’re still here, for now.

Here’s what that creates; here’s what that causes. It creates a tension inside of us. What is the tension? The tension is this, that we’re already with Christ. We might even say, like Paul did, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” I’m ready to go home, you know, and be with Jesus. In this world, there’s still so much trouble. Sometimes you’re living for God, with all your heart, and bad stuff happens and you think, What in the world? Where is God? Why God, are You letting this happen?

I am sure that’s what it feels like to live in Babylon. Daniel was a teenager and his three friends were teenagers from the Royal House of David. They were top notch young men. They’re carried off to Babylon. They had to be thinking, Where’s God?

There might be someone here this morning and you’re having trouble in your marriage. Maybe, after years and years of marriage, your spouse has come to you and has said, “I don’t love you anymore” and they’ve left you. Why God? Where are You? Maybe you have a teenager; you raised him right. You took him to church. You taught him about Jesus, but now they’ve rejected you. They’ve rejected God. They are in rebellion. They’re on the wrong path and you’re praying for them. Where’s God? Why God? Maybe, you moved to North Carolina to take a job, and then you got here and they laid you off. God, why did You let this happen? You go to the doctor and you get a diagnosis that you don’t want to hear. God, where are you?

That’s how Daniel felt, I’m sure. This word that I want to bring to you this morning, from Daniel, chapter one is about how to depend on God’s faithfulness as exiles in Babylon, because we’re God’s people. Yet, we still have to live in this world. It says, in the first chapter of Daniel, that Daniel and his friends learned they could depend on God’s faithfulness in spite of being exiled in Babylon.

I believe this morning that we can learn to depend on God’s faithfulness, even though we’re as exiles in this world. As we look at the text, I think we’ll see three ways that we can depend on God’s faithfulness. This is a big chapter, so I am going to take it in three “bites.” Let me read the first seven verses and we’ll comment and move forward that way. Let’s read:

Daniel 1:1-7 (ESV) 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 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. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of goodappearance 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 language of the Chaldeans. 5 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. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 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. This is God’s word.

How to Depend on God’s Faithfulness:

1. Recognize God’s sovereignty.

Here’s the question I ask when I’m studying an Old Testament narrative like this: Where is God? That’s the question I was talking about earlier . That’s what we ask. Where’s God?

I’m reading this chapter and I’m asking, Where’s God in this chapter? I see God three times; three times He gives something. I want you to take note of this first time; it’s in verse two, 2 “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.”

Here’s what I want you to hear: The Lord gave Israel; the Lord gave Jerusalem to Babylon. There was no way that Nebuchadnezzar could have overthrown it otherwise. God gave it into his hand. God had been warning Judah for centuries about idolatry, their violence and so forth. They were not listening to Him. He finally said, ‘I’m going to send you into exile’ and they would not repent, so He disciplined them. The only way Nebuchadnezzar could have ever touched Jerusalem was because the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah to Nebuchadnezzar.

Here’s “old” Daniel. He’s probably about 15 or 16 years old when this story first starts. If you’re a young person here today, you should be able to relate to Daniel and his three friends. They got sent off to “Babylonian University” for three years; they were supposed to come and learn the literature and be educated in the Chaldean way, which was the language of Babylon. These young men, these Judaean boys, from the house of Judah, were royalty. They had ambitions. They had plans and it certainly did not include being sent to this Gentile pagan place called Babylon, but that is where they are sent.

So,not only was Judah given to Nebuchadnezzar, but Daniel was given to Babylon. Daniel, later in life, is writing the book of Daniel. He reflects back on when he first got taken there. He says, ‘Do you know what? When I look back on it now, that was the last place I wanted to be. I hated the idea .’

It says that Nebuchadnezzar took some of the implements, some of the vessels from the house of God. Let’s look at verse 2, “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.” He is “rubbing their nose”in this; he’s saying, ‘our gods are more powerful than your old God. We are going to prove it to you by taking the stuff out of the temple and putting it in the Temple of Marduk, the god of the Babylonian.’

This is where Daniel gets taken and he has to take that journey in chains with his friends. He sees what has happened. He did not want to be there, but, when he looked back on it, he wrote this, ‘You know what God gave me there.’ This one is unique because three times he says, God gave, but here, he says , ”the Lord gave.” In this 1st instance however, he wrote that “Adonai” (The Lord) gave. In the other two instances, he wrote that “Elohim” gave. It appears that Daniel chose the name “Adonai” to emphasize God’s sovereignty over nations and individuals. The Lord gave Judah to Babylon, Jehoiakim to Nebuchadnezzar, and even Daniel was given to Babylon.

He says, “Adonai nathan” in Hebrew. You have probably heard of the word, “Adonai;” it just means “Lord nathan.” If your name is “Nathan,” it means “gift” or “gave.” My middle son’s name is Jonathan. His name means “Yahweh gives.” “Nathan” means “give.” “Adonai” means “Lord.” Two times later, we’ll read that he said, “Elohim nathan;” “God gave.” In this passage, though, it says,“Adonai;” “Lord.” It is “Adonai” here, because Daniel says that God is sovereign, even though it looks like Nebuchadnezzar’s in charge, even though it looks like he overthrew our wonderful land and God’s people have been exiled, God never left the throne.

I don’t know what you’re going through this morning, but God knows. Maybe, you’ve been saying, “Where is God? Where are you, God?”

Daniel didn’t do anything wrong. He’s a young man who, as we learn, was obedient. He was living right. He didn’t deserve this, but God put him there. It was not an accident. No, God the Lord, gave Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar.

I don’t know what you’re going through, but consider this – perhaps the Lord has put you in this situation for His glory and for His purposes, because God’s purposes are beyond our purposes. As we read the book of Daniel together, over the next few weeks, we’re going to see that God has a purpose. Even though it looks like God’s team has lost, God is still at work. We’ll see it.

Who is this Jehoiakim? Jehoiakim was the son of King Josiah. King Josiah was the last righteous king of Judah of the Southern Kingdom. King Josiah saw that Pharaoh Neco was trying to become an ally of the Assyrians. King Josiah saw that he was crossing over the land of Judah and he went to battle against Pharaoh Neco. King Josiah was killed in battle, fighting against the Egyptian Pharaoh Neco. So, Egypt made Judah a vassal of Egypt under the son of Josiah, who was Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim is now reporting to the man who killed his father; Jehoiakim was an evil king. The Bible says that he did evil in God’s sight, so God brings judgment.

Here comes Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar’s father, Nabopolassar. They defeated Assyria, which was the ally of Egypt. Then they take on Egypt at the battle of Carchemish. At that point, Nebuchadnezzar was the general . His father had passed away. He defeats pharaoh Neco. Then, he comes down and surrounds Jerusalem. They say, ‘Okay, we were vassals of Egypt. Now, we’re going to be vassals of Babylon.’ That’s what’s going on. That’s the background.

So, Jehoiakim king of Judah carries the vessels to the land of Shinar. By the way, he could have said in Verse two that he carried us off to Babylon. But he chose that particular language, I believe, to refer back to Genesis 11, which is where they built the Tower of Babel in the land of Shinar. I think he put that little tidbit in there so that the Jews, when they would read this and were feeling discouraged because they were in exile and say, ‘Wait a minute, that’s where the Tower of Babel was. That’s where God overthrew those people, so maybe God’s going to overthrow Babylon.’ Maybe that was put in there to recognize that God is still sovereign.

They were going to “Babylonian U;” they were to get a Babylonian education. Verse four says that they were to eat the Babylonian diet. Verse six and seven says that they were to get Babylonian names. The goal of Babylon was to indoctrinate them into the Babylonian way of thinking.

By the way, young people, when you go off to college, that’s the college’s idea, too. They want to indoctrinate you into the way that the world thinks. We want young people, when they go off to college to keep intact, as Daniel did, their Christian worldview because they’re going to want to give you a “Babylonian” education, diet and identity, so you see yourself through the world’s lens rather than through the lens of Christ.

It’s sad that their names were changed because I’m sure that the Jewish parents prayed and were given these beautiful names; they thought about what they would name them. They named Daniel. “el” in a Hebrew name, is the shortened version of Elohim, a name for God. In fact, all four of these men have God in their names. So Daniel’s name means “my judge” or “Elohim.” “My God is my judge.” That’s what his name means.

Ashpenaz, the chief eunuch, changes Daniel’s name to Belteshazzar, which means “May Bel protect his life” — Bel means “lord,” referring to the Babylonian head god, Marduk. We see that in the New Testament, right? It means lord, It refers to the god Marduk. Hananiah’s name means, “Yah (Yahweh) has favored,” but was given Shadrach, which means “The command of Aku,” the moon god. They’re taken away their names that have God in it and putting these Hebrew god names in their name. Mishael means, “Who is what El (God) is?” But was given Meshach, which means, “Who is what Aku (the moon god) is?” Azariah means, “Yah (Yahweh) has helped.” But was given Abednego, which means, “Servant of Nebo,” the Babylonian god of wisdom and agriculture. These men were given these new identities–new names, new diet and new education in an attempt to make them Babylonian.

It’s so easy when you get put into a situation that you can’t figure out how you got there and you don’t know why God would allow it, you go ahead and say, ‘ Well, I’m just gonna go with the flow. I’m just going to become “Babylonian .” I guess I’m just going to become like the world. Where’s God?’

That’s not what Daniel and his friends did. Daniel and his friends stayed true to God, even though they were exiles in Babylon.

2 Chronicles 20:6 (ESV) “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.” God is God over the nations. He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Jesus says in the book of Matthew 10:29-30 (ESV) “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” Not one sparrow will fall to the ground that the father doesn’t know about.

He is sovereign. He did not take a nap. He did not step off the throne. He knows exactly what you’re going through.

Perhaps, as hard as it may be to consider, He puts Daniel there for such a time as this, because He has big plans for him. He needs Daniel to be in the inner circle with the King of Babylon in order to move His purposes forward. He put Daniel there for His glory.

Will you, today, surrender to God and say, ‘God, You are God and I am not. You’re in charge. You are sovereign and I’m not. I’m going to surrender control of my life to You.’

That’s the first step to depending on God’s faithfulness as exiles in Babylon. Recognize God’s sovereignty. Let’s keep reading.

Daniel 1:8-16 (ESV) 8 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. 9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were inworse worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. 16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

How to Depend on God’s Faithfulness:

2. Rely on God’s favor.

Rely on God’s favor. Do you see it in verse nine? “And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,” “God gave,” “elohiym nathan.” Daniel uses Elohim rather than Adonai. This seems purposeful. In verse 2, Daniel means to describe God as sovereign, but here He is Creator and Sustainer.

God gave Daniel favor with who? With the chief steward and the stewards that were under the chief steward. They liked him best. God did that. Even though they were carried away from their home, their mother, their father and everything that they knew. Snatched away from their language and everything they believed in from the temple and all that they were. They were snatched away and brought to this place. But God gave him favor. It’s kind of a flashback to Joseph in a way, the way Joseph had favor with Potiphar and with the Egyptian pharaoh. We can see sort of a “Joseph type” here. He had favor.

The word, “favor,” is an Interesting word in the Hebrew language. It’s the Hebrew word, “checed.” It means mercy, kindness, faithfulness, covenantal love. The Hebrew equivalent of agape. The word, “favor,” is a powerful word. God’s favor was upon Daniel and his friends. It starts with Daniel being resolved that he would not defile himself; then, we see God’s favor. It’s almost as if they happened simultaneously. I don’t know if Daniel knew that he was under God’s favor yet, but he resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food and wine. We’re not sure why that would have defiled Daniel. Perhaps it wasn’t kosher. Perhaps they were cooking pork and and preparing it in unclean ways. That could have been it. Perhaps it was offered to the Babylonian gods before they brought it to Daniel. We don’t know, but there was something about it that Daniel was concerned would defile him. In other words, it would make him unclean and unholy.

Daniel put up with learning Chaldean. He put up with learning the literature of Babylon. He put up with this crazy new name, Belteshazzar. But, he resolved himself that he would not lose his purity.

I want you to think about this – Daniel is a kid. He’s maybe 15 or 16 years old. He’s a young person. He resolved himself that he would not give in to the pressures of the world, but that he would live for God.

It reminds me of a story in 1 Samuel, where the son of King Saul, Jonathan and his shieldbearer were fighting the Philistines. Jonathan got up one morning and said, ‘Let’s go see if we can pick a fight.’ They were kind of in a lull . They saw some Philistines upon a cliff area and Jonathan turned to his shieldbearer and he says, “Perhaps the Lord will be with us.” Can you imagine going into battle with that? “Perhaps the Lord will be with us?” Jonathan says to his shieldbearer that is how we’ll know if the Lord is with us. I’m going to call up there and say, ‘Hey, we want to come up there and fight. You guys invite us up.’ If they invite us up, perhaps the Lord’s going to be with us. The Philistines said to them, ‘Come on up.’ So they climbed up there and defeated them.

Perhaps, that’s what Daniel did. Daniel resolved on a “perhaps” and then God’s favor moved. He didn’t know he could have gotten killed. Ashpenaz had already said, ‘Look, my head could be on a platter for this. That king, Nebuchadnezzar, he don’t play. He’ll throw you in the fiery furnace, man. He’s a wicked, violent man. Look, we love you, Daniel. You’re the best. We’ve never seen anybody like you. I wish I could go your way, but I never can. He would have my head.’

Daniel went to his subordinate and said, in verse 12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” Not only did God give him favor with those that were over him, but God miraculously made him and his friends look fatter at the end of the ten days. That is what is said in the scripture, right? 15 “At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food.” They looked fatter. That was a miracle. Ten days of the Daniel diet and they looked better.

What was going on here? If you decide to follow your conscience and to do what God has put in your heart to do, no matter what situation you’re in now, you’re relying on God’s favor to take care of the details that you can’t handle. Maybe, you’re in a situation at work where your boss is asking you to do something that you don’t feel is quite ethical. It’s a little in the “gray area: and you feel like you need to take a stand, but it could cost your job. Do what Daniel did. Resolve to do the right thing; perhaps God will show you favor. Perhaps, God will show you favor, but you resolved to do the right thing.

Psalm 84:11 (ESV) “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does hewithhold withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

God loves to show favor. God looked down and saw Daniel making this decision. He makes Daniel their favorite.

I used to work for the Eckerd Drug company for 12 years. I was a district manager and I had a boss who was about 6 ft 5 inches tall. He was a pretty big, heavy guy, and he spoke “French” more than he did English. Some of you know what I’m talking about. I used to pray, “God, get rid of this guy. He’s my boss and he makes me nervous wreck.” My boss would come in my store, kick boxes in the stock room and curse me out. It was hard to work for him. He was just like a dictator; he was really hard to work for, but he started to like me. Every time there was an opportunity for a promotion, he would put my name in the hat and get me promoted. I was the youngest district manager in the whole company. I was a district manager at age 25. The more I prayed that God would get rid of him and put him somewhere else so I could have a nice boss, the more God turned my heart to where I started praying for him and loving him in spite of his aggravated nature. God even made him love me. He actually told me before I left the company, “I love you, boy.” I said back to him, “I love you too, boss.” We never called each other by our names. He called me “boy” and I called him “boss.” He came to Christ about three years after I left Eckerd Drugs. He called me on a Sunday night and said, ‘Hey, boy.’ My back went straight when I heard his voice and I said, “Hey, boss.” He says to me, “I got saved today . I thought you’d want to know. I figured that you’ve been praying for me. My wife and I got baptized tonight.”

Praise God. God gave me favor with that man, so I kept getting promoted. Every time he would get promoted, he’d make sure I got promoted. I worked hard, but I would take a stand. I would take a stand on things. I remember when they interviewed me for district manager. They asked in the interview, “Tell us in three minutes something about yourself.” What they didn’t know is I had memorized how to give my Christian testimony in three minutes. So I just gave my Christian testimony. The guy looks at me like I am a weirdo. I figured what I told God was, ‘If You want me to have this job, then You’ll have to do it because I’m going to do the very things that they would never promote –a guy who talks about Jesus that much.’ But, they promoted me.

I want you to think about your job . Maybe, you’re in school. Wherever you’re at in life, perhaps God put you there. Perhaps, He gave you that situation. Perhaps, the story that you’re in right now, that you’ve been praying that you could get out of, God wants you to stay in. Je wants to give you favor so that you can live for Him and He gets the glory. Let’s keep reading.

Daniel 1:17-21 (ESV) 17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found themten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

How to Depend on God’s Faithfulness:

3. Exercise God’s gifts.

I’m sure, after three years in Babylon and after all that Daniel’s been through, he had to be tempted to say, ‘Man, I wish I could just go back home. All of this training of God. I didn’t even want to be in this line of work. But now, I’ve come out on top of the class.’ Daniel got “summa cumme laude.” Nebuchadnezzar wants him now to work for him. The guy that Daniel hates the most on Planet Earth wants him to work for him.

Nebuchadnezzar found them “ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.” He wants Daniel to work for him; he has a choice. He could use those gifts. See it in verse 17, “As for these four youths, God gave themlearningand skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”

Friends, He’s a giving god. He gave them gifts of what? Verse 17, “…God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” God gave them their “platform,” their position. He put them in a place where they could give God the glory. When the king interviewed them, he was thinking, Wow, these guys are ten times better than any of the other people that I have advising me. By now, they’re probably 19 or 20 years old, so this is pretty amazing stuff.

Can you picture these Judean boys? They’ve been brought up as royalty. They were so well behaved and respectful and now they have multiple languages. The king was so impressed with these guys.

It says in verse 21, “And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.” Who is King Cyrus? He’s the king of the Medes because the Medes and the Persians overthrew Babylon. So, Daniel outlasts Babylon; he outlives Babylon. He outlives Nebuchadnezzar. He outlives his son, Belshazzar. He outlives them all. Then, he starts reporting to the king of the Medes, to the Persian King Cyrus. King Cyrus loves him. He starts sending Jews back home to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. This needed to happen so that the Messiah would come and fulfill all of the prophecies.

Judah was never the same; the Jews were never the same after this. They always struggled with idolatry, but those seventy years in Babylonian captivity seemed to have weaned them of their idolatry. They set the synagogue system. They started meeting in small groups and studying the scriptures. They had never done that before. They’d had the temple and people kind of forgot the scriptures. But now, because they were in exile, they said to themselves, ‘We need to hang on to what we know.’ They started meeting in community groups. They started meeting in houses, house to house. They called them synagogues, which means, “a place where you meet together.” They would meet and they would study the scriptures. It kind of strengthened Judaism. Really, the Babylonian captivity had the opposite result of what you would think.

Look at this graph one more time. Babylonian captivity lasted seventy years. Here’s old Daniel; he’s alive when it starts. He’s alive after Nebuchadnezzar’s death and after Belshezzar death. Daniel is still alive when Cyrus takes over.

Exercise God’s gifts. Use what God has given you. I don’t know if I could do it in this place. I don’t want to be in this place. No, that’s the very place that God has given you to be in. Right now, He will show you favor if you will resolve to move in obedience to Him and He will give you the appropriate gifts so that you are noticed.

Then, you have the opportunity to do what? To tell people about Jesus. This God that we have is a giving God. He’s a giving God. He gave Daniel to that situation so that He could get the glory. He gave Daniel favor and He gave him gifts.

He gave us Jesus. He gave Daniel to Babylon. He gave Jesus to the world. He gave Jesus. John 3:16 (NKJV) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” He gave us Jesus.

See, Daniel’s a “type of;” he’s a foreshadowing of the Christ. Daniel was obedient in Babylon. Jesus was perfect, sinless and obedient to His Father when He lived in this world. Then, when Jesus was crucified. God raised Him up. God elevated Daniel to be one of the leaders in Babylon. He elevated him and showed him favor . God elevated Jesus and He raised Him up to the highest place, so that, at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

He’s a giving God. He’s a giving God. He’s a giving God. He’s faithful. We’re still exiles in Babylon until He calls us home. How do we live? We depend on God’s faithfulness. He’s sovereign. He’ll show us favor. He gives us gifts, the greatest of which is Jesus.

Let’s pray. Lord, I pray, first, for the person that’s here that’s far from You, but today, they want to come near. They sense Your spirit calling to them. If that’s you, my friend, and you would like to become a Christian today, pray with me. Pray right now, right where you are, “Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner, but I believe that You died on the cross for me. I believe that You died for my sins. I believe that You were raised from the grave on the third day. I believe that You rose again and that You live with the Father. Would You forgive me of my sin? Would You come and live in me and be my Lord and Savior? I surrender my life. I surrender control to You and recognize You as Lord, as sovereign and as king over me.” If you prayed that prayer, my friend, believing in your heart, then He’ll make you a child of God. He invites you to be a member of His family. Others are here and you know Jesus. You know Him as your Lord and Savior. You’ve surrendered your life, but you’re in a situation. You’re in a place right now where you’re asking, Where are you, God? By faith right now, pray, “God, I know that You’re in charge. I trust You. I recognize that You’re Lord. Would You give me favor? Would You give me the gifts? I’ll be obedient. I’ll do what You want me to do in the place You’ve put me. I will ‘bloom where I’m planted.’” We pray all this now in Jesus’ name. Amen.