Daniel

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0:00 Okay, Daniel Malayan's Den. Crazy story. It's right here in the middle. We're right here in the middle. See that? We're reading this. My friend Carol's like, the book looks way cooler if you take the dust jacket off of it. So if you've got one of these, it looks cooler. We gave away about 20 or so these. If you take the dust jacket off, you'll be more light prompted to read it. Feel, you know,

0:33 it's true. I mean, some things are just true, Carol. We read chapter 18 this week and it is, it's about the Israelites in exile. We talked last week about Jeremiah and the like, a final straw of Judah being conquered. And we talked even about how the Babylonians come and their practice was to take key people, like a whole group of them, away into Babylon and then to settle.

1:08 And then, well, these people don't resettle. They just took a group of them into Babylon. So they took most of the royal family and the kind of landed class, the wealthier people. They take them away to Babylon and they leave the poor folks. They decimate the place and then they repopulate it with other people. And so Israel is in Babylon's famous like kind of period of their existence.

1:39 Because like, you know, they had had now for hundreds of years, they had the tabernacle and then they had the temple. And so they're like key characteristic here was that they were the people among whom God lived. And of course, the problem that God had with Israel is they just like, they just abandoned that identity. So that though he though they were a royal priesthood, a chosen nation among all the nations of the

2:11 world, that they were intended to be a city on a hill that everyone would look to Israel with God in the center and see what life was like with the God of creation and life. Now they were living like every other God. And so they were bringing different gods into the temple. They were they were worshiping in different ways. They weren't trusting God in general. But the the premise of Israel was that they were a group of people with God in their midst in the tabernacle or the temple.

2:43 And now there's nobody left there. The temple's been destroyed. There's no Israel left in Israel. Like northern 10 northern tribes are long gone. And now the two southern tribes in Judah are carried off into Babylon or hiding in Egypt or intermarried with the people around. And so for all intents and purposes in this period right now called the Babylonian exile, where is Israel? This is the kicker. Where is Israel? Who is Israel? What is Israel? And I think it's the first time where they

3:21 really had to try and figure it out. One of the professors, one of my favorite professors I've mentioned before, Lessing. He taught us Hebrew and and exes and atora, Isaiah and the prophets. He pointed out that one, this is when so much of first century Judaism develops. If you think about Israel, especially the like leading families of Israel are this conquered nation.

3:58 Southern tribes of Judah conquered nation. They were their own kings. Now they're carried back and they're like in this court living among the kind of higher educated wealthier class in a foreign nation. But they're trying to maintain their sense of dignity. They're like sense of personhood. And so all of the like laws, you know, like we talk a lot in first century when Jesus is

4:29 around how by the time he's there the Pharisees are sure there's 603 or something laws because of the numbers of the letters of Torah. But they can't agree on which letters they are. And they've figured out all these rules to go along with food and Sabbath and work and purity. The most of the tradition suggests that this practice of figuring out all these rules, the first century form of Israel first started developing in Babylonian exile.

5:00 Because they need to go in what way are we distinct and different from these people. How are we and we don't have the sacrificial system to make us Israelites anymore. We can't go and make sacrifices because the only place where we make sacrifices are at the temple. So now we can't worship in the way. So how might we live in a way that is different and preserve our identity. This question of how does Israel continue to exist is like really interesting if you consider it. They're

5:34 completely conquered. They were 12 tribes. There's like two ish, one and a half. And then that one and a half is decimated and conquered and carried off. How does Israel persist? Like I don't know. I don't know ancient Near East as well as I might but like the parasites don't persist. The Hittites don't persist. The Philistines don't persist though the name,

6:12 you know, kind of a Philistine that kind of endures. But the notion of a nation doesn't persist after being conquered. In what way, how might why does how could Israel persist in being conquered. I think it's a kind of an interesting question. And you know they have initially problems like the story if if you read chapter 18 talks about Daniel and his three buddies, their the name,

6:48 their Israelite names are harder to remember than their Babylonian names. So we always remember them by their Babylonian names. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. You remember? And they are like part of Israel's royal family so they get brought into Babylonian's royal court. And their big thing is that they he wants to feed them well because they're in his court and he likes having like good looking people from all the worlds that he's conquered in his place and it's like court.

7:20 So he wants these like four young guys to be there and so he wants to feed them well. And so he has meat that's been sacrificed to their gods, wine that's the province of their gods and food that they're supposed to eat. But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are like we're not going to eat the food that's been offered up to your gods just feed us the vegetables. And that's where like the idea of the Daniel diet comes from. And so they they start to find different ways to um they start

7:51 to find different ways to like protect and their identity that are different from maybe how it was before. Like the food laws aren't about abstaining from meat. Israel didn't have a premise to abstain from meat. So Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel are not abstaining from meat in order to keep with the food laws. It's a new thing where they're trying to go. How are we committed to this our God among the others? But the real question I have is like why does God stay with them?

8:25 You know the passage I was looking at is in Jeremiah 29 if you want to look there with me it's in the prophet so you go past Psalms and Isaiah. Jeremiah writes a letter to the Israelites in Babylonian exile and um he has this like he he tells them like all the prophets for Israel are

8:58 like that go with them are like this is crazy our God is stronger we're going to get out of here real fast and God tells Jeremiah to write a letter to the Israelites in Babylon explaining that they're not going to be gone right away that they're going to be there for a while. So he tells them like in Jeremiah 29 if you look at verse 10 Jeremiah says or God says through Jeremiah for thus says the Lord when 70 years are completed for Babylon I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise

9:31 and bring you back to this place for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord the plans for wholeness and not for evil to give you a future and a hope and then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you and you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart and I will be found by you declares the Lord and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you declares the Lord and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. God is like is telling them he said I sent

10:03 you into exile you're going to be there for 70 years and also I know the plans I have for you and I'm going to bring you all back. Do we need to go over the failures of Israel again? Do I need to remind you of their kings? They had Israel had kings who were sacrificing their children

10:35 burning their children to other gods. They completely abandoned the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the God of creation and life. This is why he brought their judgment because all the world was he was trying to get to all the world through Israel and Israel was blocking his access to the rest of the world. So he took them out of there completely took them out of their position. They are no longer Israel I thought but then while they're in exile receiving the punishment of God God

11:08 writes them a letter that says hang tight for 70 years but my commitment to you endures. Spongers. Of course it goes it's because that their identity as Israel is not contingent on their actions. We talked about this last week that their place in the land, their ability to stay in the land was a conditional promise that God made at Sinai. If you keep my covenants then you'll

11:44 be here for me. But remember that their identity as Israel predates Sinai all the way back before they're in Egypt as Abraham is living in Huron and God says I'll do this thing for you. He's like my commitment is so severe to you that I will extend my covenant promises to your children before they can make any choices. God says I will bless the whole world through you. I'll give you land and everything will be better. This is an un I'll do this for you and I'm so committed to

12:20 you Abraham that when your kids are eight days old before they can do anything mark them with my covenant my blessing extends and then Abraham build a practice where I'll just continue extending it every eight days of your descendant keep giving them the covenant promise because it rests not in their capacity to fulfill a promise to me but in my prerogative to see the world blessed through them and he makes a commitment he's going to do it. So Israel could keep screwing the thing up

12:54 all the time and they do and God's persistence to them endures yet. It's incredible you guys. It's unbelievable sometimes the phrase God is ridiculously committed to his people to these people ridiculously committed.

13:35 How are you doing? What's your record of fidelity to God look like this week this month this year? I mean none of us are sacrificing our children so far as I know. Or yet I guess. I mean the obviously the punch line here is what you see in God's commitment to Israel

14:13 you can safely understand represents his commitment to you God is ridiculously committed to you. His like faithful presence promise support provision creativity collection compassion for you is not contingent on the choices that you've made.

14:48 It's not limited by your capacity to be faithful in response. It's not timed out by like your by the length of time by which you've been faithful God does not match your faithfulness God overwhelms your unfaithfulness with his continued generosity. It does not matter. Israel was Israel even when they were failing.

15:26 It just didn't get the benefit jokes on them. This is that interesting. Israel was Israel even when they were being conquered. God's commitment to them did not falter or fail. It's just that they were trusting in something else. God was ready to defend them and they were not interested in his defense.

15:57 It's not that his defense of them failed or even that he withdrew it. It's that they didn't want it. And so they got the defense whatever else could give them. They got the defense Egypt could give them or Ashira could give them or whatever. And God defeats Egypt and God defeats Ashira and so they were defeated. It didn't mean he wasn't committed to them or that their position failed. It means they didn't want it. Isn't that interesting?

16:31 And so the story about Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace with the lions den is just that they decided whether we live or die we're going with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whatever he gives us. When you read the story they don't presume he's going to defend them as they go into these places of punishment. The king in both cases, neither cases particularly wants to punish them.

17:02 In the fiery furnace he's a little bit more energetic but with Daniel he definitely does not want to put Daniel in there. He kind of gets tricked into doing it. And he like the guys don't like Daniel. The other satraps don't like Daniel and so they make him pass a law about the prayer thing without consulting Daniel. Because they know that Daniel won't stop praying to his God. And so then once the king passes the law he doesn't want to be seen as weak. But Daniel does not presume that his God will defend him. It's very much like

17:34 Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when he's like can't we do this another way. I wish I didn't have to go through this. Isn't there a different way you could do this? This is going to be painful. I can already feel the pain and the guilt mounting and God goes anyway. Jesus goes anyway. Daniel goes anyway. So it's not as though you know I was thinking about this. It's not as though God very rarely just like makes you skip it. Like the you know the disciples get peace amongst the storm. It's not as though he steers the boat

18:10 around the storm. And so Daniel goes into the lion's den and spends the evening. I mean Daniel seems like a very faithful guy but I mean I don't know how much sleep you get. You know when it's like lions around you and the stone and shout at me. She had a bend ago. They get thrown into the fiery furnace not knowing what will happen. And they come out and it says they had their robes and their turbines and their clothes weren't even singed. You know. And the

18:44 fiery furnace was so blazing so hot that the guys that came and threw them in died from the heat exposure. And these three are fine. I'm saying like God's commitment does not mean things will be easy or predictable. But the evidence the story tells us that it does not fail.

19:19 So God's commitment to you does not mean you won't have you will have easy experience. Like Daniel rises to the top of all these things. It's much like the story of Joseph. You know he's like the chief consultant for all these like foreign kings. It's a really beautiful story. I was thinking there's a lot of other people Israelites in Babylon that we don't hear their story. And like are they observing? Like are they having to make these choices about the food? Are they having to make

19:52 these choices about the prayer? Is Daniel setting the... You know once God delivers Daniel from the lion's den then the king makes the ruling that everybody should respect Daniel's God. So he made a way for everybody else. But I'm saying there's a lot of people who are having to make simple little choices to figure out how do I follow God in a foreign land. And actually he lays it out here in Jeremiah 20 right before the 29 right before where we were. If you look at Jeremiah 29

20:24 and it says starting at verse one, these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet said from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles and to the priests and the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was the this was after king Jukoniah and the queen mother and the eunuchs and the officials of Judah and Jerusalem and craftsmen and the metal workers had departed for Jerusalem. This is all the people that they took away. The letter was sent by the hand of Elissa at the son of Shaphon and Gomoriah

20:58 the son of Hylkiah whom Zetikiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They give us the names of the people who actually carried the letter. Thanks guys. Verse four, thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel to all the exiles whom I have sent in exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Verse five, he tells them what to do, build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters,

21:32 take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply they do not decrease but seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf. For in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts the God of Israel. Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you and do not listen to the dreams that they dream. For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name. I did not send them to clear

22:03 the Lord. I wanted to read this for you because to remind you most of us don't ever come up against a decision to go into the fiery furnace or into the lion's den. That's not most of our situation. It's not so black and white. It's not like bow down to me or I kill you. That choice is not in front of us very often. The choice is how shall we live simply? And most of the Israelites in exile in Babylon were not in Daniel or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Those stories are compelling.

22:37 They demonstrate to us God's provision but they're less helpful for us in how we live. And this interesting little admonition from God to Israel in exile. You're in a foreign country among rulers who don't recognize the reign of God. How might you live? He says build families. Raise children. Build gardens. Make homes. Work for the welfare of the people around you.

23:07 How do you live in the world? Maybe think of verse, I can't remember. It wasn't that long ago that we talked about it where Paul is writing to Timothy encouraging the believers in Corinth to pray for some peace in their government that they might live peaceful and quiet lives. Pleaseing to God because he is willing that none should perish but all should come to everlasting life. God is convinced that

23:38 Israel though they are conquered, defeated, exiled. Yet they can be a blessing. God is convinced that these ones, his ones, the ones to whom he's committed, if they would but trust in him in the small ways the welfare of those around them would be increased and more people

24:10 would want to marry into their family and come under their way of living. God is convinced that even in exile Israel can be Israel. This is the encouragement for you this morning. You are not at home. We are sojourners and travelers in the world. This world is not good enough for us. We are aliens and strangers going someplace else. We are in exile and yet while we are here we live.

24:40 We love. We serve. We increase the welfare of those around us because we can trust the God that no matter what we do good choices or bad he'll be with us whatever comes. So we trust him with the future and we live well today and the world is better for it. It happened in Babylon they ended up getting come back. Next week we'll talk about them getting sent back. Another further demonstration of God's commitment. But today I want you to hear God is committed

25:14 to you because of his prerogative not because of your choices and that commitment frees us up to live in a way that blesses the world around us. Let's pray that we could do that. Hey Lord thank you for your commitment to us. Unmitigated. Your commitment to us is unlimited. Unconditional. We receive it. We thank you for it. Teachers had to live underneath your blessing, your love in a way that builds peaceful and quiet lives that bless those around us and increase the

25:50 welfare of our city to our great joy and your great glory. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.