INTRO

Hey Family!

We are just a month away from Christmas!

Isn’t that crazy?

The year has absolutely flown by.

And today, we find ourselves in the last chapter of the book of Daniel. One more crazy fevered dream and we’ll be done.

It’s funny, I think of the Adam Sandler song about Hanukkah. You know the one, “Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. Instead of one day of presents, we have eight crazy nights!”

You know what is even more interesting? Hanukkah is a celebration that reminds us a lot of these visions of Daniel.

The story of Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabeean revolt against the Seleucid Empire. The revolt was sparked by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, that name should sound familiar now. The revolt was sparked by Antiochus IV Epiphanes outlawing Jewish practices and desecrating the Temple.

After their victory, the Maccabees cleansed the Temple, rededicated it, and claimed to witness a miracle. When the Maccabees entered the Temple, they found a small container of oil that was only enough to light the menorah for one night. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days, which is how long it took to rededicate the Temple and get new oil.

Hanukkah, meaning "dedication" in Hebrew, is celebrated for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah to honor this miracle.

You may be familiar with another Hanukkah classic, the Dreidel Song. The dreidel is a toy with four sides, each inscribed with a Hebrew letter: nun, gimel, hey, and shin. The letters form an acronym for a Hebrew phrase which translates to "a great miracle happened there".

Hanukkah honors the miracle of light during a time of oppression.

As you may know, there are other holidays and other traditions which we celebrate and observe during this season.

None of you probably celebrate Hanukkah, but I know many of you observe Advent. And I’m pretty sure we’ll all join in for Christmas, though admittedly to differing degrees.

Advent anticipates the light of Christ entering the world to overcome its deepest darkness.

Hanukkah is the celebration of the light emerging from a dark time in which God’s people weren’t allowed to worship.

Christmas is the celebration of the light of the world entering into the darkness of our own sin in order to make us children of the light.

Together, they reveal a shared spiritual truth: the light of God’s presence brings hope, transformation, and the promise that darkness will never prevail.

The times may be evil and are only going to get worse. But the light of the world has come. "[We who are] walking in darkness have seen a great light; on [us who live] in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned". (Isaiah 9:2, Matthew 4:16)

Jesus is the light of the world.

THE SON OF GOD

What I want to do is look at two more identities of Jesus. Two more ways that Jesus refers to Himself before we come back to this last chapter of Daniel and see how that affects our identity as His beloved children.

Two claims of Jesus.

John 10. Verse 22.

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

Did you catch when this is taking place? What’s going on when Jesus is having this interaction and making this claim?

It says, “22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter…”

It’s Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. Jesus is celebrating Hanukkah in Jerusalem.

This is not mere coincidence. The Bible is a collection of absolute brilliance and hardly anything seems to be done by accident. But it is also not our focus in this section.

Jesus claims to be the “Son of God”.

Although he doesn’t really say it like that. I mean He does in the sense that He says that’s what the Jews are saying about Him, which He isn’t denying, and rather agreeing to Himself. But He doesn’t actually make the declarative statement, “I am the Son of God!” here. Or perhaps He does and it’s not recorded that way.

Here’s how the exchange really goes, “31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him…” and then Jesus says after a bit, “36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”

Maybe this is the first recorded instance of the Mandela Effect.

The Mandela Effect is a social phenomenon where a large group of people misremember a detail or event. The term was coined after this lady discovered that many people shared her false memory that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 80s. In reality, Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and became the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and then passed away in 2013.

A classic example of the Mandela Effect is in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). What does Darth Vader confess to Luke?

"Luke, I am your father".

Yes, except that’s not what he says. Darth Vader actually says, "No, I am your father." But for some reason, a lot of people remember it as "Luke, I am your father," and that misquote has stuck in pop culture ever since.

What Jesus actually confesses is “30 I and the Father are one.”

What the Jews here, and what Jesus admits that they understood to be correct is His identity as the “Son of God”.

SON OF GOD IS AN IDENTITY OF DIVINITY

That’s why they pick up stones to kill Him, because “Son of God” is an identity of divinity.

Jesus is making a claim to the divine here, even in His actual words, “30 I and the Father are one.”

Jesus is claiming to be God.

Notice what the Jews say, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

They could not prove any evil work by Jesus! So they try to "cover their tracks" somewhat by saying they were not stoning Him because of His good works, but His "God" words by which He a mere mortal made Himself out to be God. "We're stoning You for Your words not Your works!" They totally missed Jesus' point in John 10:32 that His miracles clearly demonstrated His oneness with His Father.

They would never know how wrong they were. Jesus is not making Himself God but showing He is God by His words and His works which they could not receive because they were showing themselves to not be His sheep.

Jesus wasn’t making Himself God. He was demonstrating that He is God.

Jesus is the Son of God speaks to the divinity of Jesus.

Jesus is God.

John writes at the beginning of his Gospel, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

John identifies Jesus as “the one and only Son from the Father”. It clearly identifies Jesus as God’s divine Son. He is a Son unlike any other son of God, and throughout his Gospel John returns to Jesus’s divine nature. Jesus is Yahweh incarnate, who is greater than all things because he came before all things, equal in every way with the Father, which led the Jewish leaders to desire Jesus’s death.

The author of Hebrews writes, “3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.”

Jesus, the Son of God, radiating with the glory of God to bring light to the darkest reaches of the world. To reach down into your life that light may dawn.

SON OF GOD IS AN IDENTITY OF HUMANITY

The “Son of God” is a clear statement of Jesus’ eternal sonship and His deity.

But that’s not the only way “Son of God” is used.

Jesus as the Son of God also speaks to His humanity and His purpose.

The title “Son of God” is given to others throughout the Bible, to those who manifest obedience to the Father. We are called the sons of God. We are given sonship.

Sonship is defined predominantly, not in biological terms, but in terms of being in one accord or submissive towards. It is a title that not only speaks to identity but also purpose.

D. A. Carson explains how this “Christological title” has been “often overlooked, but demonstrates how “son of” is not just positional, beloved in the family, but often vocational.

It’s about what you do.

Your father defines your work.

More specifically, Christ himself receives the title “Son of God” in the sense that he fulfills the role of Adam, Israel, and David, being a covenant mediator who supersedes these previous “sons of God”.

Jesus is the One Whom His Father had set apart and sent on mission into the world to redeem those dead in their trespasses and sins. He set Jesus apart for a mission, to redeem the lost world. He sent Him into the world as One Who was fully Man, yet the only Son of God that He might be the sacrifice for sins of man.

Jesus the light of the world, the Son of God.

THE SON OF MAN

But there’s another title that you may be equally familiar with.

It is actually the primary title Jesus used when referring to Himself. He looks back to Daniel and calls Himself the Son of Man.

The Son of Man who takes away the sins of the world. The Son of Man who has come to seek and save the lost. The Son of Man who came to serve and not be served. The Son of Man, full of glory, who has the power to forgive sins. The Son of Man who is coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Jesus is referred to as the “Son of Man” 82 times in the New Testament. The only use of Son of Man in a clear reference to Jesus, spoken by someone other than Jesus, came from the lips of Stephen as he was being martyred.

This title, “Son of Man,” is the one I want you to really pay attention to, because it’s used so often in the New Testament, and it almost exclusively comes from the lips of Jesus Himself. And it refers back to the Old Testament visions of Daniel, where Daniel had a vision into the interior of the heavenly court of God, where he saw the Ancient of Days enthroned, and the judgment was set. And to the Ancient of Days comes “one like unto a son of man,” who then is given the authority to judge the world.

Since we read some of Matthew chapter 24 and 25 last week, why don’t we read a bit of chapter 26 this week? Another account akin to John chapter 10, where the people are not too happy to hear what Jesus has to say about Himself.

It says in Matthew 26:57-66, “57 Then the people who had arrested Jesus led him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of religious law and the elders had gathered. 58 Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and came to the high priest’s courtyard. He went in and sat with the guards and waited to see how it would all end.

59 Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death. 60 But even though they found many who agreed to give false witness, they could not use anyone’s testimony. Finally, two men came forward 61 who declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” 63 But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I demand in the name of the living God—tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

64 Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

65 Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Blasphemy! Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your verdict?”

“Guilty!” they shouted. “He deserves to die!”

SON OF MAN IS AN IDENTITY OF HUMANITY

Strikingly enough, this title speaks the same volumes of Jesus’ identity and character as the last.

Son of Man is a title of humanity. Other titles for Christ, such as Son of God, may be more overt in their focus on His deity, though it also speaks of His humanity as we just saw. Son of Man, focuses on the humanity of Christ.

God called the prophet Ezekiel “son of man” 93 times. In this way, God was simply calling Ezekiel a human being. Son of man is simply a synonymous term for “human.” Jesus Christ was truly a human being. He came “in the flesh”.

Son of Man is a title of humility. The Second Person of the Trinity, eternal in nature, left heaven’s glory and took on human flesh, becoming the Son of Man, born in a manger and “despised and rejected by mankind”. The Son of Man had “no place to lay his head”. The Son of Man ate and drank with sinners. The Son of Man suffered at the hands of men. This intentional lowering of His status from King of Heaven to Son of Man is the epitome of humility in His humanity.

Philippians 2:6–8 says (we may hear this verse again over these weeks to come), “6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”

Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, fully human.

God made Himself nothing and came to us.

That’s the heart of the Gospel. It’s not that we try to live our best life so that we can go be with Him. It’s that He has come to us and met us in the thickness of our darkness so that we get to be with Him right now, through the thick of it. Jesus is with you even now. In your darkest day, He is here. That’s the beauty of the Gospel.

And Paul tells us in Philippians that we have to have that same approach to life. “5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” Don’t make yourself into your God, chasing after your will and desire. Conversely that’s what humanity has been doing since the garden.

Rather, make yourself nothing. Anybody want to raise their hand and volunteer to be nothing? In our humanity, humbling ourselves to serve others in obedience to Christ so that through us He may be glorified.

Because, although His humanity is part of the story, it’s not the fullness of the story,

Philippians goes on, “9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

That’s because “Son of Man” is also not just an identity of Jesus’ humanity.

f Man is a title of deity. It too speaks to the divinity of Jesus.

Ezekiel may have been a son of man, but Jesus is the Son of Man.

Jesus is the supreme example of all that God intended mankind to be, the embodiment of truth and grace. In Him “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”. For this reason, the Son of Man was able to forgive sins. The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. The Son of Man came to save lives, rise from the dead, and execute judgment.

And that’s the funny thing about this passage in Matthew, if you could say there was anything funny here at all. The religious leaders believe Jesus is the one being judged, but He is the Judge. They believe they are judging Him, all the while they don’t even know. They don’t even have a clue.

That’s what makes this statement of Jesus so powerful, and so infuriating to those listening.

At His trial before the high priest, Jesus said, “I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64). And they immediately accused Jesus of blasphemy and condemned Him to death.

Because you see, Jesus sitting on the throne is a picture of judgement and they understood what He was saying. He is saying I am the King and I have already judged you and found you wanting. You don’t measure up.

It’s not the same thing He’ll say to us. We’ll see Jesus as Stephen did, standing and welcoming us in with open arms. We who have faith and believe. “56 [Stephen] told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!” 57 Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting…”

You see the difference in these images?

Son of Man is a fulfillment of prophecy. Daniel saw glory, worship, and an everlasting kingdom given to the Messiah. To Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.

The Son of Man is a heavenly person—a heavenly person who descends to this world, whose principal role in His visitation to this earth is that of the heavenly judge. And then He returns to the presence of God in His ascension. We tend to only think that Jesus’ calling Himself the Son of Man was an expression of His humanity, His humility. It was a claim to divine authority. This is a highly exalted title.

JESUS - LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Jesus.

The Son of God.

The Son of Man.

The light of the world.

That’s what we encounter here as we conclude our time in the book of Daniel. Daniel’s not writing so that we may know when is the end.

Verse 4 says, “4 But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”

And again verse 8, “8 I heard what he said, but I did not understand what he meant.”

It’s a hidden secret to be discovered only at the end of time and not in the midst of it.

Daniel’s writing so that we may know God.

Verse 10, “10 Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means… 12 Blessed are those who wait and remain until the end…”

Daniel’s writing so that we may have hope because… the times are evil and they will only get worse.

Verse 1, “Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence.”

But the Son of Man will come. The Son of God. The Light will dawn.

And the Saints will inherit the Kingdom.

“​​13 “As for you, go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you.”

“2 Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace. 3 Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.”

What we’ve been talking about through the book of Daniel is identity. Answering the question, who are you? Knowing that if you know who God is, you will know who you are, and you will know what to do, you will know your purpose.

Satan's number one goal is to make you forget who you are in Christ and why you exist your identify and purpose - you are a beloved child of God who is here to make disciples (to help others see their real identity and purpose).

How many countless names are there of believers who fell away when it no longer became advantageous to be a christian, it no longer benefited them, in fact it only cost them – greatly…

Let’s go back to that thought at the beginning. Jesus made sure he was in Jerusalem during Hanukkah. He who was called “the Light of the World” in celebration of hope and justice against the dark pervasive tyranny that existed in those evil days. He told His followers that they themselves were the “light of the world” and should not be hidden away but to be like a lamp stand – a menorah, a candle. He told us, “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5).

During this season, let’s be lights in the midst of darkness. With all the evil, division, oppression and injustice that takes place in this world, it’s important that those who celebrate the lights of this season become the lights of this season for those around us who desperately need light in their darkness.

Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):

https://www.rjgrune.com/blog/advent-meets-hanukkah

https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/life/faith/2018/12/12/jesus-hanukkah/2268302002/

https://www.ligonier.org/posts/difference-between-son-god-and-son-man?srsltid=AfmBOorYKt8Sb9JkawMzh0wEGKGG4i-wlciSeP8_4WvdnuckQiYmQXmF

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/jesus-as-the-son-of-god/#:~:text=Instead%2C%20%E2%80%9CJesus%20is%20designated%20as,formula%20of%20Matthew%2028%3A19.

Generated Transcript

Why don't we open this time with a word of prayer.

Father, we want to know your word. We want to have a correct perspective on the world. Would you speak to us through Your Word? As Miss Sandy has been teaching us Your word is truth, and so would it shape our lives, our minds, our spirits, how we walk in this world?

Well, I think something we say in youth often is after reading passages like this, is like, great, we're good to go home. We understand it because that made a lot of sense. It didn't actually make a lot of sense, but that's okay. That's why we come together. That's why we read Scripture together. And before we start, I just, I just want to say, I'm, I'm glad to be here with you guys this morning, and this morning we get to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

And you're like, how did you get that from Daniel chapter 10. How do we get the resurrection of Jesus from Daniel chapter 10? We do, in a sense, but in another sense, we actually come every Sunday morning that we gather, we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus again. That's why we gather traditionally on Sunday mornings, because that's the morning that Jesus raised from the dead. We're celebrating that Jesus has won the victory over the powers of darkness, and so together, as we gather this Sunday morning, we are celebrating the universal reign of Jesus. That's why we sing these songs. That's why we worship about who Jesus is, and that's why we read scripture, because it points to Jesus.

So Sarah, thanks for reading for us today. This reading is a bit obtuse, and if we were reading this for our own devotion in our own time, it might be pretty confusing. We've got an angelic being, a sick Daniel, angels being held up by the Prince of Persia. What does this mean?

And I'm going to start by saying I don't know exactly what all of this means, but I believe there are truths that we can gather from this text. And so what we're going to do today is we're going to look at perhaps the historic meaning of this passage, what this would have meant to Daniel, what it would have meant to the readers, the original readers of the text of Daniel. And then we'll pull out some wisdom for us.

And in youth, lately, we've actually been going through a book called How not to read the Bible. And this book outlines four principles, and I'm gonna have Emerson come up and share them. No, I'm kidding.

No, the four principles, it's never read a Bible verse, so we don't want to read a verse outside of its context. We want to understand where it is in its context, to understand what's the historical context around it, what is the biblical context around it? The second principle is, I actually didn't write these down, so I might need to lean on Emerson.

The second principle is, the Bible was written for us, but not to us. This passage of Daniel itself was written to a specific set of people, the Jewish people, who were returning from exile. It wasn't written to you and me, but it was written for our edification that we might know God more.

The third principle is the Bible is a library, not a book. There is all these different types of literature encapsulated within this one book. There's poetry and there's prose, there's wisdom and there's Apocalypse, and we're going to talk about that word today a little bit more.

And then the last principle is that all of scripture points to Jesus. And so those four guiding principles will guide us as we study Daniel 10 today.

And I want to open or I want to start by beginning with the three principles, the three pieces of wisdom that I think we can pull out from this for our lives today. And that first one is there is more to the world than meets the eye. The second is that the resurrection of Christ is the lens by which we must view the enchanted world. And third, when we pray, real things happen.

But first, let's dive into this historic moment. So Daniel 10 opens and it says, In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar.

This indicates to us that Daniel would be about 84 years old at this time, he's lived through numerous empires. He's been of the highest heights, and he's also been in the pit with the lions. And so we see that Daniel has lived through a lot of experiences. And we see that this vision, these chapters 10, 11, and 12 are one cohesive vision together, and it's a vision of a cosmic conflict.

Sarah's version, I don't know, maybe that was ESV. It talked about this, the coming conflict, or the Great War. Some versions, like New King James, will say the appointed time. The point of this is that there is this struggle. There is a conflict coming for the people of Israel. And likely, what this refers to this cosmic conflict that shapes the rest of Daniel's vision is this coming conflict with Antiochus Epiphanes.

Antiochus Epiphanes was an evil ruler of the Seleucid Empire, doing a quick history trip, right after the time of Alexander the Great. If you have read any of the Maccabees, those are inter testamental books. They talk about this ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes, and he was to the Jews then, what to the Jews today would be Hitler. He was evil to the bone. And his rule over the Jews, and I don't use this lightly, was demonic, and we'll talk a bit more about that later.

So Daniel, he has this vision of this great, coming cosmic conflict. And he is very sad. He begins to mourn. He eats no pleasant food. He begins to pray. And he prays for three weeks, three full weeks, and then he has this vision. He has this vision of one like a man, but not like any man that you or I have seen, probably this man. He says, who's clothed in linen.

We might be able to see a man like that if we go to the Mediterranean, but whose waist was girded with gold, whose body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.

This is not a normal man. This is not someone that you can walk down the street and find this is someone beyond our current experience. And commentators and scholars are a bit divided on the identity of this man. Some would say that. He is Jesus coming. Is what is called a christophany. What an appearance of Christ before his birth. Others would say that this man is an angelic being. And I do want to read Revelation chapter one.

If you have your Bibles, we're just going to read Revelation 12 we're going to start in verse 12. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned I saw seven golden lampstands in the midst of the seven lamp stands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

Sounds familiar, his head and hair were like wool as white as snow. His eyes are like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace. And his voice is like the sound of many waters. And it goes on and it continues, and we realize that this explicitly states that that man is Jesus.

There's another vision in Ezekiel. We're going to turn to Ezekiel chapter one, starting in verse 25. A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads. Whenever they stood, they let down their wings, and above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, an appearance like a sapphire stone. On the likeness of the throne was the likeness with the appearance of a man high above it, also from the appearance of his waist, and upward, I saw, as it were, the color of Amber, with the appearance of fire all around within it. And from the appearance of his waist and downward, I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with the brightness all around like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh.

So we see in each of these visions, the visionary is having this experience and encounter with the heavenly, something beyond the physical realm. And I personally would say that, from what I've read and studied, that this would be an angelic being, not necessarily Jesus. But if you disagree, that's fine, because of his conflict that occurs later in the passage, in his weakness in that conflict. But that's a side note. What I want to draw out is this idea of these descriptions are meant to excite the imagination of the readers.

It is likely that these descriptions are attempts to pen, to write down what the reader sees. This is why we say a picture is worth 1000 words. It's really hard to communicate the reality, the fullness of what one sees with words, and so they use this heightened language, this really vivid imagery that our imaginations might be stirred and this is actually what would be called apocalyptic literature.

Now, Apocalypse, as Zach has talked before, is not necessarily end times prophecy. That's not what it means at its very base sense. It's actually a translation of the word revelation. That's why we have the last book of our Bible is called the revelation of Jesus. The actual translation is the apocalypse of Jesus. We use the word revelation, or epiphany would be another word that we could use for that.

And so what apocalypse is is an unveiling of reality. James Smith says it like this, the point of apocalyptic literature is not prediction, but unmasking, unveiling the realities around us for what they really are. So as Daniel is having this image, this vision of this heavenly man, this angelic being, he is seeing reality, not for sometimes what our limitations are as humans, but for what it truly is.

And so as the story continues, we see that Daniel becomes very weak. Up to this point in Daniel, he has passed all his tests. You might say he is as his human track record has been flawless. He's been a man in exile who has proved faithful to God.

The story of scripture from Genesis three onward, we are meant to be looking for this man who will pass the tests. In Genesis three, God says that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. And so we're looking, as biblical readers, we're looking for this offspring of Eve that will ultimately crush evil.

And so each of these different characters in Scripture, they have these tests, and we wonder, are they going to pass them, and are they going to be this seed? And even in Genesis four, the story continues this way, and it begins with the seed of the woman being born. And you wonder, is this Cain? Is he going to be the one that crushes the head of the serpent?

And if you've been in the church for a little bit, you know that Cain is not the one who crushes the head of the serpent. But allows this animal creature sin to have dominion over him and ends in death and separation and exile.

The story of Scripture continues, and you see Noah, and he's a man righteous in his generation. And you wonder if he's going to be the one that crushes the head of the serpent. But then Noah has his own garden experience where he fails and drinks from the vine.

And then you go to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and you wonder if they're going to be the ones, and they all fail their tests. And this story continues with the kings. You have Saul, Solomon, David, they all fail.

And so then we get to this point in exile where Daniel comes on the scene, and Daniel, he passes the test of ritual food. He doesn't eat the richly impure food, and then he has this test of, is he going to pray or stop his devotion to Yahweh and turn his devotion to the King of King Cyrus or King Darius? Sorry, King Darius. And he doesn't change his devotion. He doesn't change his allegiance to protect his life.

And so Daniel, he's, he's this character who we wonder, I think we're meant to wonder, Is he this Messiah figure that's going to crush the head of the serpent? But I would put forward that these last few chapters, 9, 10, 11 and 12, they indicate Daniel's failure, but it's not a moral failure. It's a failure of mere frailty he's presented with the way that the world truly is his vision that is clouded by his mere humanity is unveiled to see the heavenly realities going on around him, and it causes him to be very sick.

So we as the reader were left looking for this next seed of the woman that is going to crush the head of the serpent. And even in Daniel's frailty, the Messenger of God encourages him. He puts his hand on him. He touches his lips, which is interesting, if we think about Isaiah. There's, there's something there to be meditating on, but, but this angelic being. He comforts Daniel, and he says that he is in Sarah's translation, it said treasured by God. In my translation, it says greatly beloved.

And Spurgeon in a sermon, at one point, he said that for Daniel to understand his belovedness was not too great a thing. It was actually right for Daniel to hear and reflect on the fact that he was beloved by Yahweh. And so despite Daniel not being the seed of the woman, this Messiah figure through prayer, he is encouraged by this messenger of God.

While he is overwhelmed by reality of the way things actually are, the angel does not seem shaken. Instead, he encourages Daniel to be strong, for he is greatly beloved. Daniel's prayers were heard, his humility noticed, and it was because of his humble prayers that the angel came to him.

And this is where it starts getting a little bit out of our comfort zone. Maybe not for you, but maybe for some of us, the angel begins to speak about withstanding, being withstood by the Prince of Persia. He has this battle for 21 days, and this leads to a whole strand of theology that is fascinating and compelling and worth meditating on. I'm not an expert on it, but if you're interested in thinking about this idea, I have some resources I could definitely help you with.

But we're going to watch A Bible project, video that talks about some of these oppositional spiritual beings. You have this heavenly being that comes to comfort Daniel, but he's opposed by another being, which means that this being is in opposition, whether it's human or spiritual, in opposition to God. And so we're gonna watch this video, and then we'll continue our talk.

[Bible Project Video]

Again, hope that all made sense. Could probably spend a long time unpacking that. But one of the things I want to highlight that that video discusses is that these spiritual beings and that actually is part of a whole series that the Bible project did on spiritual beings. And so they talk about all of these different types of beings that maybe might not be familiar to you and me. And so it's actually worth a watch. There's like five or six videos that are worth watching, but.

But this idea, it maps on the spiritual, and it talks about the spiritual being manifest in the physical. What we see from this world view that an ancient Jewish reader would have is not that the spiritual and the physical are completely separated and distinct, but they're actually interrelated. They're closely related to one another, and what happens in one impacts the other.

For an ancient Jewish reader, this actually was very encouraging. This chapter 10, here in Daniel and others, they were written to an ancient, or Daniel, more broadly, was written to an ancient Jewish people struggling from exile. They were returning to their land and finding it wanting. They were preparing for the many troubles that were laying ahead and returning to Jerusalem, which is happening about this time in Daniel 10 the Jewish exiles are returning to Jerusalem.

The Jews did not receive the power and glory and honor that they had under David or Solomon. No, they were conquered again and again by rival Imperial armies, forced to serve other nations. So it's no wonder that the author of Daniel sees this constant cosmic battle, not merely as physical but having spiritual realities, that it's a deeply spiritual cosmic battle.

And so for us today, how do we approach? Daniel 10, how do we approach and how do we live differently because of it? How do we allow it to shape us?

And so I think the first takeaway that I want to highlight is that reality goes far beyond what you and I see or hear, what we touch or smell. There's far more to the world than meets the eye. Daniel spent time praying and fasting, and he was met by a spiritual being who encouraged him.

You or I, we might give lip service to this idea of the spiritual realm, and indeed, some of our faith backgrounds give us a better or worse foundation for understanding this. But our basic socio philosophical, historic moment has not prepared us for the true reality of the spiritual realm.

From the enlightenment to our current postmodern moment, the last 300 years have been disenchanting the world. We have become materialists. In the words of Madonna, we are materialists. We are living in a material world. And I'm a Material Girl.

Those words, they actually speak to the heart of the Western mind that matter what we see, the physical around us is all that really matters.

And his new book on enchantment, Rod Dreyer describes this phenomenon as actually a minority view in all of history and in our current geographic moment as well. We in the modern West think that our world view of science and materialism is the correct one. What we don't realize is that for the rest of history, people did not believe the same way that we do. People believed in a spiritual realm that operated closely within and beyond the physical. Indeed, even today, the Western mind is the minority compared to the rest of the globe. If you look at everybody across the world right now, there's actually far more people who have this understanding of reality being beyond what we just see and hear than there are that actually limited.

And so Richard Loveless, a theologian, wrote in 1979 this is a long quote, so bear with me. Said that Christians since enlightenment have become nervous about acknowledging the reality and agency of demonic powers. 18th Century rationalism offered Western culture a plausible bargain. It would dispose of ghosts and vampires and other troublesome creatures, at the cost of ridding the universe of all created beings in the interval between man and God. He goes on to say that the death of Satan was not only a tragedy for the imagination, it was rather the result of a rather amazing failure of imagination and for the age of reason, it was a remarkably unreasonable assumption that the Lord of hosts should not include among those hosts some creatures above the estate of man, and that the human conflict between the cities of God and man should have no analog among fallen and unfallen angels as irrational and unlikely, particularly in light of the terse but clear biblical evidence to the contrary. End of quote.

So a long way of saying that to minimize the presence of the spiritual realities of the world around us is to live in a false reality. Loveless is articulating the need for a re enchanted view of reality, and he argues that it fits squarely within the biblical framework.

What we want to allow Daniel chapter 10 to do is to shape our worldview, rather than having our worldview shape Daniel 10. So I'm not arguing for a regression or what I am arguing is for having a clear biblical. Understanding of reality.

I remember when Sam and I moved to Boone, we had a friend drive us around. We moved from College Station, which is and we moved to Boone, North Carolina. And our friend, who also moved from Houston, as she was driving us down the Blue Ridge Parkway, she said, Welcome to Narnia. That's where you live now. And it was this idea that we live in a place that seems a bit more enchanted than college station, at least, which is kind of sad.

What Daniel 10 teaches us is that there are beings at play, forces of good and evil, that are very real. Our systems and structures of power, they reflect these realities. And as the Bible project video explained, the spiritual realm appears to map onto, or at least engage with the physical realm. So our structures of government, our interactions with fellow humans, or our rulers and leaders, can in some sense reflect these heavenly realities. And this is why I mentioned earlier that Antiochus Epiphanes was viewed as demonic. It wasn't that ancient Jewish people were just trying to insult him because they didn't like him. It's because they actually believed demonic forces to be at play within physical kingdoms.

This is why it's possible to think of these chief princes of Greece and Persia to not be merely human or merely demons. They can reflect both simultaneously. To explain this away might short change truth.

I do offer a warning, though to us, while some of us might need to hear that, this is a very real part of reality, some of us might need to hear this. These words from CS Lewis in Screwtape Letters. He says there are two equal and opposite errors into which the human race can fall into about the devils. One is to disbelieve their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves, the demons themselves, are equally pleased by both errors and hail the materialist or the magician with the same delight.

The goal of the believer is to have the correct world view, or a correct world view shaped by Scripture and centered on the sun. I believe that our western mind needs this re enchantment, but it's not to be found in some fascination with the occult, with magic or manipulating spirits for our own gain.

And Acts Eight actually speaks to this. You have Simon the magician approach Peter and John, and he tries to buy this power of the Holy Spirit, and Peter and John, they rebuke him like you totally are missing the point this, this power of the Spirit is actually a gift from God, and to use it for your own gain is manipulative, and it's a complete reversal of the way that God designed it.

And this leads us right into the next takeaway, that it's the resurrection of Christ that is the lens through which we view this enchanted world. Daniel 10 through 12 is about a cosmic battle at play in the physical geopolitical realm. It likely meant to speak of the time, as we've said, of Antiochus Epiphanes, but the wisdom behind it is instructive for us today.

What's different between Daniel and you and me is that we operate under completely different metrics than Daniel, because of Christ's resurrection, where Daniel looked forward to the day of resurrection, we look back to the day of resurrection, the resurrection of Christ. We live in the hope of the resurrection today.

And Jesus, actually, he talks about this in Matthew 28 when he says that all power that he says he's just resurrected, and he's sending out in what's called the Great Commission. He says that all power and authority has been given to me. And then he says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.

This idea of all power and authority, it communicates, as we were singing earlier, about all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions, that Jesus reigns above them all. No longer is the world handed over to these powers, but actually Christ has all power and authority, and we are now part of advancing the kingdom of God.

And so Paul picks up this idea of Daniel 10 when he talks about our cosmic war, he says that though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage our war against the flesh. Our war is actually against the principalities, these powers, these rulers of darkness. And while Christ has won the victory, we the church, are still in the process of deposing these rulers, but now we have the authority of Christ to do so.

And so this leads us to our third takeaway, that we, like Daniel, operate in this realm through prayer.

The angel told Daniel that his words were heard the first day he began praying and fasting, and that since that day, the angel was moving to get to Daniel to encourage him. Daniel, an 84 year old man praying in Babylon in exile, had the ear of Yahweh, and when he prayed things shifted in the spiritual realm.

And this point has been convicting for me over the last few weeks, that when I pray, I'm not speaking into an empty void. I'm actually communing with the God of all creation. And when I pray, when we pray, real things happen, whether we see it or not.

Paul talks about this in two Corinthians 10, that the weapons of our warfare in this cosmic war, they're not fleshly, but they're mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, for casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against God.

When we pray for the corrupt power systems that reflect the demonic power, our prayers are heard and they affect reality. When we pray for our family members that are believing lies, our prayers are heard and they affect reality. When we pray for our leaders like Peter and Paul encourage us to our prayers are heard and they affect reality.

Abraham Heschel, he was a Jewish scholar. He said that prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pure pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehood, the liturgical or worship movement must become a revolutionary movement seeking to overthrow the forces that continue to destroy the promise, the hope and the vision.

And we as believers, we look back on the day of Christ's resurrection and forward to the day of the future resurrection of all things, when all things are made right? So our prayers are situated in this theme of Daniel and the greater theme of Israel, that all creatures, the visible and the invisible, the things above and the things below, the stars and the moon, the seas and all its creatures, the powers and authorities, the angels and the demons, all of humanity, all of it, is subject to Christ's rule.

We pray because we know that God has empowered us to advance his kingdom. Here, we pray because we look forward to the future day of the resurrection of all things. We pray because we live in the resurrection and and we pray because what we do now in this realm really affects reality.

Father. We want to be a praying people. We want to be a people who, like Daniel, have a correct world view of reality. We long to see your kingdom come and your will be done here on Earth. Would you enchant us by your spirit that we would move from a world view of materialism to a biblically transformed spirituality? May your resurrection be our guiding light shining in the darkness of this world. Father, would you? Would you teach us to pray? Amen

INTRO

Hey family!

It’s so wonderful to see you all again this morning. To spend this time together. To worship together. To sing praises to the Most High God together. To be – together.

I know this past week has been difficult for many as it is a time when the powers and authorities of this nation seek to divide and separate. To lie and belittle one another to gain position. To remind us of and highlight our differences.

Perhaps the one consolation is that maybe now those blasted political ads that are so very annoying will finally go away. And, just think about this, last election Kanye West got 60,000 votes. So there’s that.

I wrote much of these thoughts out before the election. I didn’t know who had won. There’s a good chance I may still not. I’m kidding. It was uh… Chester A. Arthur, right? No, that’s right it was Benjamin Harrison. I mean Millard Fillmore. My bad. And if at any point you thought one of those names was made up or wasn’t a president, maybe there’s a bigger problem with the US educational system than I had imagined. I actually had the thought, I wonder how long I could go without finding out who won. Then I woke up at like 6 am and Jenny rolls over and says, “you know who won don’t you.” No…

There are very real and tangible ways in which it doesn’t matter, though you may disagree with that sentiment. So whoever it may be, I am thankful that our hope does not lie in earthly kingdoms.

Jenny told me there was an acquaintance of ours who shared some verse from Daniel 9 on election day. So I suppose it’s fitting that we find ourselves in this chapter at this time. I’m sure most of you have no trouble believing that I didn’t for one moment consider the election when I felt God leading us to this book a year or so ago. God knows what He’s doing. I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know it was an election year.

I am reminded of Daniel’s words in chapters 2 and 4. “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. 21 He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. 22 He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light.” (Daniel 2:20-22)

And so I pray that these words from Daniel today would do what they were written to do. That they would fill us with hope. And that they would remind us that God is in control.

AN AMAZING COINCIDENCE

Hey, would you all mind closing your eyes for a few minutes?

Do you trust me…? No? Well, close your eyes anyway?

I want you to engage your imaginations for just a moment.

Imagine, if you will, you're just living your life. You’re doing your thing. And some empire, some world power comes along invading and takes you away to another place. Removes you from your home, everything you know, and the life that you had found comfort in.

Daniel was one of the elite. He was smart. He was elite. He was among the best of the best. And I know there are many of you who are pretty good, but let’s not fool ourselves, we’re probably not hanging out in royal palaces along with David. 

More than likely we’d find ourselves along with Ezekiel who lived near a canal in a Jewish refugee camp, surrounded by displaced families, living each day in the dust of Babylon. How would you feel, knowing that the place you once called home lies in ruins? What would you long for? Perhaps you would yearn for justice, for a return, for a rescuer who could bring hope to a world in shambles.

Can you picture it? Probably not.

Go ahead and open your eyes. Whatever we can imagine probably doesn’t even come close. 

In the midst of this loss, God gives Daniel an astounding prophecy—a vision so detailed and clear. In the shadow of Babylon, Daniel records a prophecy about the Anointed One, the Prince who would one day come to save.

Check this out: “25 Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times. 26 After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing…”

 That’s 69 seven-year periods—or a total of 483 years. Both the Hebrews and the Babylonians used a calendar with 360 days in a year. So we multiply 483 years by 360 days, which gives us 173,880 days.

Now if we translate to our own Gregorian calendars and start counting from the decree made by Artaxerxes in March of 444 BC, some people may say January or February of 457 BC, the decree that allowed Ezra and Nehamiah to return to Israel and help rebuild. If we start counting, that timeline brings us directly to AD 33 – the exact year, the same month, the exact day perhaps that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, presenting Himself as the Messiah.

Interestingly enough, this is something I didn’t know until this week, the word Messiah shows up a bit in the Old Testament most commonly with regard to the anointing of priests and kings like David, but the only time it shows up in reference prophetically to the coming savior is in this chapter of Daniel – Daniel chapter 9. That’s the only time the word we use all the time to talk about Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, that’s the only place it shows up in the Old Testament. Isn’t that funny.

Okay, so what happens next? The prophecy goes on: “Then after the sixty-two sets of seven, the Messiah will be cut off, appearing to have accomplished nothing...” Days after Palm Sunday, Jesus is crucified. He is, indeed, “cut off,” fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy down to the very day.

So think about this: early 500 years before Christ, God gave a detailed timeline through Daniel. This wasn’t vague or open to loose interpretation—it was specific, it was precise. And it points us to a God who does not forget His people, a God who keeps His promises, who brings a Savior exactly when He says He will. And in that, we find a God who is in control. A God we can rest our hope in.

And yet, here’s the funny part. For all that precision. The importance of these words lies not in the length of time but in the events that would transpire in them. The timing doesn’t make the day special. It’s the arrival of the King. It’s the event. It’s Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s God breathing life into the dry bones. 

It’s the times being evil, but the Anointed One coming. It’s about hope. It’s about stepping into your inheritance.

These are stories about exiles coming home.

THE THEME OF EXILE

Exile may be one of the most important themes to understanding the Bible.

The experience of exile is where the Bible began to take shape. There are all these stories of course which predate the exile, but those who collected all of these works into one library were those people during and following the exile living in the oppressive rule of earthly empires.

We see it reflected in the narrative. Adam and Eve fall into sin and are driven out of the Garden to the east. They are exiled. This story is repeated with their children. Cain kills Abel and is banished from his home. Cain becomes a wanderer on the earth, moving further east. Civilization is formed and developed pushing further east to the point of Babylon. Certainly there is something past Babylon, but in the Biblical narrative it is symbolized as the extent of man’s movement away from Eden, away from the Garden, away from God.

Daniel prays, “So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin. 12 You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem. 13 Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true.” 

Babylon is the furthest of the far, worst of the worst, the symbol of God’s divine judgment.

Which is interesting, because when Abram shows up, he is said to be from the land of Ur of the Chaldees. If you look that up on a map you’ll find Ur to have been located in modern day Iraq, on the Euphrates river, just downstream from Babylon. It’s a city within the Babylonian empire.

God calls Abraham to leave Babylon and head west. Both literally and figuratively.

And when he arrives in the land promised to him by god. That’s where we get the term promised land from in case that connection had eluded you all these years. When he finally arrives, the only piece of land he ends up owning is a burial site for Sarah, his wife. 

It says in Genesis 23, “When Sarah was 127 years old, 2 she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her. 3 Then, leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders, 4 “Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”

When he is negotiating the purchase of this plot of land he calls himself a stranger and foreigner. Abraham is in the land of promise. He’s home. He’s returned from exile to the east and yet he’s still a foreigner. It’s his home, but it’s not his home. Abraham describes himself as a stranger not at home even though he is in the land God has promised him.

And for two thousand years, this has been the story of God’s people.

When the Israelites begin to repopulate the promised land during Daniel’s time. They returned home, but they were still exiles. Isaiah was a prophet following the exile and yet he continued to speak as though exile was still the condition of humanity. So much so, that critical scholars believe Isaiah was written by three different people spanning from during the exile to much later. The book is dripping with hope for a people still in exile.

At the end of the Old Testament, Israel and all humanity find themselves at a cliffhanger…

You know like that show Lost, which began every episode by saying “previously on Lost”. Or maybe even more accurately, I used to have an internship where the Weather Channel and CNN and those kinds of shows were constantly playing. I remember one stinger cut-to-commercial Rick Sanchez said, “you see all those dogs behind me, they're all dead now, find out why when we come back…”

“At the end of the Old Testament, Israel and all humanity find themselves in exile, awaiting God’s deliverance and the coming of His kingdom.”

HUMANITY’S CONDITION

Humanity’s condition is that we are displaced in our homes, waiting for the Anointed One to return, waiting to inherit the kingdom. It’s not exile in a place so much as a time, an age as the Bible refers to it. 

Even following the arrival of the Anointed One, we are still in exile awaiting His return. It is one of the most important themes, one of the most important ways of seeing ourselves. 

Peter begins his first letter, “I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

And he ends it, “12 I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace. 13 Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet each other with a kiss of love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.”

Peter wrote this letter from Rome, not Babylon. And he wrote it to believers, many of whom were gentiles living in their own hometowns. They weren’t exiles. Yet he borrows the language of Abraham and calls them foreigners and strangers.Can you imagine receiving this letter. What are you talking about Peter? I’m still in my parent’s basement. Well, we don’t have to imagine, this letter is to us as well. 

Everyone’s story is really a story about exile. It’s the world as you and I have never  experienced it but have always felt as if we should experience it. 

These saints in Turkey had shifted their allegiance. They were still in their homes but they had given their allegiance to Jesus.

We are living in exile still awaiting our homecoming.

FAITHFULNESS IN THE WAITING

So what should we do in the meantime?

If the second half of Daniel 9 is about the coming of the Anointed One, the first half is about what we should do in the waiting. At least that’s what the letter Daniel read from Jeremiah is about.

What do we do until then?

Just to remind you, Jeremiah writes these instructions from the Lord, “4 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”

And if we are a still in exile as Peter supposes, then these are instructions for us as well.

So I just want to spend the rest of our time together leaving you with six instructions for how to remain faithful in the waiting. This is the way of the exile…

LOSE YOUR IDENTITY

Number 1, lose your identity. 

Now, wait a second. I thought the book of Daniel was all about identity and how if you know who God is you will know who you are and you will know what to do, you will know your purpose. And that’s definitely true. 

But another thing we’ve talked about is how exile is a place where people normally lose their identities. That's kind of the whole point, you remove people from their homeland, you disseminate them across the empire so that they will assimilate to the culture around them. That’s true in some ways for us as well. We must lose our identities.

To step into your true identity, you’re going to have to let go of some of the ones you’ve built your life around, ones you’ve been holding onto. You have to lose your earthly identities.

“While our world encourages you to look within yourself for your identity, and your natural tendency is to search for your identity in external things…” Ultimately these things don’t last.

“God, however, is unchanging. He is reliable. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. If you find your identity in Him, you will never ultimately be let down because He has proven time and time again to be trustworthy. 

It is important, as you define your identity, that God not be just an aspect of who you are, like “I am a Christian,” or ”I am religious,” or “I am spiritual”. Understanding your identity in God starts with understanding who He is, what He says about Himself, and what He says about you.” 

While Peter writes to us who are strangers and foreigners in our own lands, there is an age to come where we will find ourselves at home. There is a kingdom where we are at home.

Paul writes to the Ephesians, “You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow 

citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.” (Ephesians 2:19)

FIND YOURSELF

Number 2, find yourself.

Jesus says multiple times, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”

Giving up an identity is not enough unless we should find a new, more powerful one that supersedes all the others.

We must step into these new identities as new creations scattered in exile and living for a kingdom that is not of this world. 

It’s interesting that the exile is actually the surprising way God makes Israel into a kingdom of priests.

God gives Moses a message in Exodus 19. He tells him, “5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

Israel being scattered among the nations is the surprising way that God accomplishes this. So too are we a priesthood of believers scattered in this world that is our home, but is not our home, at least not in its current state. 

And so, we step into these new identities by living in these caveat communities where Jesus is actually King. It’s not something we just talk about. It’s the way that we live.

And baptism is the way in. We can see it almost as a departure, a shedding of our old identities and a putting on of our new one with a new allegiance to King Jesus. Baptism becomes physical point of reentry to the same place but under new leadership, to the same life filled with new desire and purpose. 

Just as Daniel is prophesying to Israel of hope for the coming age, the coming Anointed One. Ezekiel is also prophesying and writes, speaking prophetically of the picture of baptism, “25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

If you haven’t made that decision. If you haven’t been invited to make that decision. I just want to offer that invitation to you now. This is part of the reason why believers' baptism became such an important practice in the early church. It was the marker of the loss of one identity to step into another that is far better. The proclamation of a new allegiance. Our hearts would be so full to be able to take that step of faith and obedience with you.

Submit and pray

Number 3, submit to and pray for earthly kingdoms.

That might be unwelcome words to many in this country, even within the church. But it is what the exiles in Daniels time were called to and it is what we are called to. Though our allegiance is to another kingdom, we live in all the ways that are uncompromising for the sake and well being of these earthly kingdoms. 

We read in 1 Timothy 2, “1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”

David Platt wrote a blog about this. He said, “Every leader in the world will one day stand before God as judge and ruler and ultimate Lord and king. They will give an account to him. There is nothing we see happening in the world right now that will not one day be judged by God, which means every single one of these leaders, every single one of these nations and tribes and people groups needs mercy from God because all of them are sinful before God. They all need a savior. This is why we pray for the nations, why we pray for the peoples, why we pray for leaders of nations, that they would receive God’s mercy.”

We submit and we pray.

MAKE HERE YOUR HOME

So that, to that end.

Number 4, we make here our home. This place that isn’t our home, we make into our home. 

Now, that doesn’t mean settle in and make the best of an unfortunate situation. Equally so, it doesn't mean get comfortable outside of Eden.

It means the exact thing we talked about in our mission as a church, “to be a place where Heaven meets Earth…”

We do as Jeremiah instructs Daniel. We stay.

We don’t look longingly to some far off land. We stay and we bring Heaven here.

INVITE OTHERS IN

We stay and we regather the lost children of God.

Number 5, we invite others in.

It’s not just Christians who are seen as still in exile. It is the dominant metaphor for all of humanity. 

God has stamped His image on His creation. That doesn’t just mean you and I. So we live that His children who have lost their true identities to this universal exile might find their way home.

We live in the waiting by regathering more of the family.

There may be more to be said, but I don’t just want to spend the rest of our time repeating our mission to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, embodying Jesus to our community, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people, who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.

WE TRUST

Which brings us to our final number 6. There is no doubt more to be learned about the way of the exile as we live in the waiting for the return of the Anointed One. But these are a good start.

Number 6. We trust.

We trust even though we don’t have much to show for it yet.

There are times when those of us who are believers may find the way difficult. We will be tempted to lose heart. We will need reassurance that there is a world beyond this one and that God loves us. Our hope may grow faint. But we trust in the waiting. 

We trust in the truth of Daniel 9, “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands.” (Daniel 9:4)

When we are tempted to run. When we are tempted to fight. When we are tempted to withdraw and hide because sometimes our solutions don’t match the problem. Instead we stay and trust and we join in the praises of Psalm 138. Go ahead and stand with me.

“1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart; I will sing your praises before the gods. 2 I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. 3 As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength. 4 Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord, for all of them will hear your words. 5 Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways, for the glory of the Lord is very great. 6 Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud. 7 Though I am surrounded by troubles, you will protect me from the anger of my enemies. You reach out your hand, and the power of your right hand saves me. 8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.”

Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):

https://bibleproject.com/podcast/series/exile-series/

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/exile/

https://bibleproject.com/podcast/series/faithfulness-in-exile/

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/the-way-of-the-exile/

https://www.gotquestions.org/seventy-sevens.html

https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/the-end-of-exile/

https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/core-christian-beliefs/identity-in-christ.html#:~:text=The%20Bible%20says%20that%20all,find%20their%20identity%20in%20Him.

https://radical.net/podcasts/pray-the-word/praying-for-our-world-leaders-jeremiah-2517-26/

INTRO

Hey family!

Since we’ve entered into the weird world of the book of Daniel, why don’t we start with a weird video? What do you say? Some of you may have seen this before, so please don’t ruin it for the person next to you.

[A Double Dutch | Brain Games 2:55]

How many of you caught the chicken? There’s another similar video with a moonwalking bear in the background. That’s pretty crazy right?

Did anyone see the background changing color or the people swinging rope change?

Y'all are some pretty smart and observant people, no doubt.

So what’s the connection to Daniel?

DON’T GET DISTRACTED

As we get into these last chapters, we don’t all agree what these sections are about.

In fact, as we’re looking at these pages, we’re going to see different things. And that’s alright. 

Here’s the important part. Don’t get distracted by the weirdness and minutia of details. Don’t get too focused on the imagery that you miss the chicken. At the same time, don’t go looking for chickens. There may not be any. It may just be the steady rhythm of the vision.

So, we’re going to take the stance of focusing on the general. Teasing out the principles that are relevant to our lives and experiences.

Because, remember, these are prophecies for the people of Israel in their time of exile. And while we know there are certain aspects that are yet to be fulfilled in their fullness. We can believe that all these prophecies have been fulfilled for Israel in some way or another but may also be fulfilled again in their fullness.

In the last chapter of Daniel, chapter 12, we’ll read, “4 But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”

There’s more to be seen, more to be understood which will only become clear at the end of it all. Until then, it’ll just be looking in a fogged mirror – seeing through a mirror dimly. But only in the end will we see face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Our job is not to look for signs and wonders and try to figure out when to expect fulfillment.

YOU MIGHT MISS THE POINT

In fact, Matthew 16 starts out, “One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

2 He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; 3 red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times! 4 Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Then Jesus left them and went away.”

This is a bit of a strange aside, but there’s some real hard hitting truth for us as we dive into Daniel’s apocalyptic literature. 

I’m drawn to the fact that Jesus uses the word “adulterous” in reference to those who demand from Him a sign. The same charge that is ushered against Israel which led them into exile. In some coming chapters, Daniel will lay the blame for Israel’s troubles not on Nebuchadnezzar but the people of Israel themselves who had wandered far from God’s word and fellowship.

Now, with the Pharisees and Sadducees this wandering had resulted in a superficial, self-righteous, and legalistic religion that had no trouble seeing the evidence and interpreting the weather, but missed the one they had been waiting so long for.

They got distracted.

Jesus tells them, “there are sufficient indications (there's sufficient evidence) on which you should judge concerning me and these times. My miracles, and the state of affairs in Judea, are an indication by which you should judge.”

So, there’s some more going on here than we can see, some details that we might miss.

"Popular Jewish superstition of the time held that demons could perform earthly miracles but that only God could perform heavenly ones… So the Pharisees and Sadducees demanded a miracle they thought was beyond Jesus, hoping to prove that His power, and therefore His message, were not divine.”

They were laying a trap to disprove the evidence they were so blinded to. They missed the point altogether.

A sign is "something that points beyond itself to something greater.

The purpose of a sign is to direct us toward something beyond itself. It acts like a guidepost from God, pointing us to something greater, pointing us to someone greater. Its value lies not in the sign itself, but in what it reveals about the grace and power of the one who created it, and His connection to a higher spiritual reality.

 It’s not enough for people to believe in Jesus' works; they have to believe in Him and in the Father who sent Him (John 5:14-24).

All signs are designed to point back to God.

And the truth is that there’s just too much information in these prophecies of Daniel and the world at large for our tiny minds to process.

YOU MIGHT GET IT WRONG

There is a real sense that we lack the knowledge and wisdom to interpret the evidence though to us it seems like it should be obvious.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ time were better meteorologists than they were theologians. They didn’t see it.

We don’t see it all. For every sign we see there may be a thousand others that change the meaning of the ones we do catch.

“Just when you think that three circumstances or three natural signs have lined up to point to a certain direction of behavior and have a certain meaning, God sees a thousand factors that you don’t see that put a completely different meaning on those three that you do see.”

We don’t have enough knowledge or wisdom. And the other thing is that we can so easily be misled. 

Jesus tells us such just a few chapters later. In chapter 24 he talks about the prophecies of Daniel as a matter of fact, and how there are signs that will bring us to the end, but looking for those signs sure can get us into trouble.

He says, “23 “if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. 25 See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.”

If you want, you can find a lot of crazy theories about what Daniel is talking about. And if you look hard enough you might even find some evidence to support those wild theories. There will be people who are so convinced that the kingdom that unites the world and brings about the end of times is the United Nations. And that’s not even that crazy as far as interpretations of Daniel go.

So, we too have a choice as we read Daniel and go about our lives. We can either try to read God’s will in everyday events and signs, treating it like hidden messages to decipher, or we can live by focusing on God’s revealed will in Scripture, seeking guidance through worship, teaching, and prayer.

We can believe there’s some hidden code. Or we can believe it’s as simple as abiding.

I think it was John Piper who wrote, “We can live in the slipstream of God’s merciful, all-governing providence by orienting our entire life toward understanding the revealed will of God in his word — not a secret, hidden will in the coding of clouds and coincidences — and by availing ourselves of all the biblically appointed means of grace, like corporate worship and pastoral teaching and brotherly correction, and by being transformed in the spirit of our minds, like Ephesians 4:23 says, so as to discern, moment by moment, the way of truth and love.”

Don’t get lost. Don’t get distracted. I know it’s getting weird.

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE SIGN

But remember, no matter how weird it gets, it’s not about the sign. It’s not about weird imagery. It’s pointing to something greater. A greater truth. Someone greater.

If we’re looking too hard we’ll miss the chicken.

Those Jesus were talking to were so blinded that they refused to believe even when presented with the greatest sign.

Jesus says, “the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

“So they would receive a "sign" and it would be [Jesus’] last sign to them. It was the greatest sign, His resurrection from the dead, the sign that must be believed in order to enter the Kingdom of God.”

For Jonah, the only sign for Nineveh was his warning of coming judgment and his call to repent. In the same way, the only "sign" for this generation is the message of judgment and a loving call to turn back to God.

Don’t get distracted. These chapters of Daniel are about identity yes, and even more specifically about three things. The times are evil and they will only get wors. The Son of man will return. And the saints will inherit the kingdom.

If we back up in chapter seven of Daniel it says, “21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against God’s holy people and was defeating them, 22 until the Ancient One—the Most High—came and judged in favor of his holy people. Then the time arrived for the holy people to take over the kingdom.

Chapter seven and chapter eight sort of go together. Actually, as we get into chapter nine next week, these chapters are all sort of linked. They communicate very similar information utilizing talking horns of all things. 

In high school our mascot was a unicorn, so those students who were much more inclined to the appearance of school spirit than I was would mimic a horn on their head. These are horny chapters. 

And lucky for us, there’s an interpretation for these first couple visions so we don’t have to guess and make assumptions. Although they may not satisfy the curiosity of some. They’ll have to take that up with Gabriel and ultimately God I suppose.

These final chapters are also inextricably linked to those which have come before them. There will be some who tell you to read chapter seven with chapter one and chapter eight with chapter two and so on and so forth. Some will say that the structure of the first six chapters is mimicked by the second six. And there’s probably some truth to all that.

But what these chapters hold in common. What they are all about. Put simply, is hope.

For us to feel hope deep within our spirits and find comfort, no matter what rages around us.

IT’S ABOUT FEELING

The apocalyptic literature of Daniel is not there for us to look for signs and interpret images, it is here to cause us to feel something deeply.

Jesus felt it. 

Mark’s version of the passage we read in Matthew adds “12 When [Jesus] heard this, He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.” (Mark 8:12)

He sighed deeply in His spirit. It speaks of a deep-grown issuing from the bowels of His very being. From the depths of Him.

It’s about feeling something deeply.

Daniel felt it.

Listen to the descriptions in these two chapters as Daniel encounters these Heavenly signs.

“15 I, Daniel, was troubled by all I had seen, and my visions terrified me.” (Daniel 7:15)

“28 That was the end of the vision. I, Daniel, was terrified by my thoughts and my face was pale with fear, but I kept these things to myself.” (Daniel 7:28)

“18 While he was speaking, I fainted and lay there with my face to the ground. But Gabriel roused me with a touch and helped me to my feet.” (Daniel 8:18)

“27 Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for several days. Afterward I got up and performed my duties for the king, but I was greatly troubled by the vision and could not understand it.” (Daniel 8:27)

These were awe-some, awe-ful, terrifying visions. Daniel was deeply affected.

“He was anxious and alarmed; and then, “greatly alarmed” and his “color changed.” These details are not insignificant, because how Daniel responds to the vision and its interpretation is also how we, in part, are to see the vision.

These chapters (the whole second half of Daniel) are about the end of days, but they are not necessarily aiming to make specific, detailed prophecies about the future as much as they are to provoke powerful feelings within us who read them with care.”

“The point is not really to give specifics about the identities of the beasts in history, although Gabriel does help us out with that, but to look for single, often simple meanings that give God’s people hope in chaotic times. These prophecies are not meant to turn readers into investigators, but to inspire faith and hope and worship, to help us live in the present, and to instill confidence in us for however the specific forms of these visions become reality in the future.”

So, these images are designed to affect us, like they did Daniel.

Daniel was shaken. We are to be shaken to our core but not to result in fear, but to kindle hope.

“The Bible was written by suffering people in difficult times.”

“Daniel was no stranger to difficulty. God gave him this vision when Daniel was in exile, far away from home. Jerusalem lay in ruins. No Israelite king was on the throne. And God’s people were in Babylon, of all places. Their situation felt dire, and it had felt dire for a long time, going on seventy years. And into this context, into these desperate times, God gives Daniel a dream designed to shock him and to comfort him… And then Daniel wrote it down, that his people, and even we today, might be shocked and comforted with him.”

We are to be shaken, but we are to be comforted in increasing measure.

We are meant to have hope.

Things will get worse.

But don’t get distracted by what’s happening in the world.

Look for God and build your life on Him and His truth.

This glimpse of the end is meant to give us great hope in our times of chaos.

IT’S ABOUT TRUTH

Chapter eight is a building, an intensifying.

And although we could join those who say that it speaks of the abomination of Antiochus Epiphanes and his desolation of Jerusalem and the Temple. Which it more than likely does.

Jesus also speaks of a future fulfillment yet to take place (Matthew 24:15).

Remember that these are for Israel in their time but have far reaching implications.

We talked about this in group last week, how apocalyptic literature, even the revelation, is a cycle of history that builds and intensifies until those events unique to the end finally come. 

Antiochus and these visions throw long shadows into the future. They are fulfilled and will be fulfilled as these tendencies continue until the end.

It’s building to this last manifestation of a horn appears.

Verse nine starts, “9 From one of them a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. 10 It grew as high as the heavenly army, made some of the army and some of the stars fall to the earth, and trampled them. 11 It acted arrogantly even against the Prince of the heavenly army; it revoked his regular sacrifice and overthrew the place of his sanctuary. 12 In the rebellion, the army was given up, together with the regular sacrifice. The horn threw truth to the ground and was successful in what it did.”

Gabriel interprets this for us, though more vaguely than other details you may say, ‘’23 Near the end of their kingdoms, when the rebels have reached the full measure of their sin, a ruthless king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne. 24 His power will be great, but it will not be his own. He will cause outrageous destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the powerful along with the holy people. 25 He will cause deceit to prosper through his cunning and by his influence, and in his own mind he will exalt himself.”

Things will get worse.

We all have an idea of what that might look like, tailored made for whatever causes us the most terror. And some of these images in our imagination may be true, or they may not be. 

One thing is for sure. Truth will be the victim.

When the final horn gets power it will throw truth to the ground.

We must cling closely to the truth.

As we asked in our group times this week, what areas of your life in our society do you feel the most pressure to compromise? 

Jeremiah tells us in chapter 23 that there will be many false prophets who will speak words of peace and encouragement to continue in the way of the world around you. They will cast down truth and decide for themselves what is good.

He says, “Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes.They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for the Lord! 17 They keep saying to those who despise my word, ‘Don’t worry! The Lord says you will have peace!’ And to those who stubbornly follow their own desires, they say, ‘No harm will come your way!’

Don’t believe these false promises that are so prevalent in the world around us.

The response and instruction is to cling to truth. Cling to the truth.

In our culture you can hardly make that statement without expecting the response, “Who’s truth?”

God’s truth. Anyone else’s is arbitrary and inconsistent. Build your life on the firm, unshakeable foundation of God and His truth.

We must have a knowledge of this word, a knowledge of the truth, because the enemy will cast down truth. It’s one of the first things that must go if these spiritual forces that war against us are going to claim victims from God’s holy ones. 

We must have a deep knowledge of the truth. A knowledge that leads us in hope.

Things are going to get worse. Things are going to get worse but our attention must not be fixated on that. Because God wins. God has already won. The Son of Man is coming. And you will inherit the kingdom and all its joys.

These visions are about hope. They are about truth. Guard truth in your heart. Don’t compromise. Build your life on it.

What are you fixated on? What are you thinking about? Is it the tall walls of the valley of death? Or is it the light that is shining at the end, leading you through?

Whatcha think’n’ ‘bout? For some reason I can only hear Stewie Griffin from family guy asking that question. I won’t attempt an impression. Whatcha think’n’ ‘bout?

SO WHERE’S YOUR FOCUS?

It’s kind of funny. And I’m sure you can read too much into it, so I don’t want to build any theology around this. But in chapter seven Daniel gets transfixed on this little boast horn. All cap – as the kids might say. 

Daniel is focused on the boastful horn and experiences terror even as he is surrounded by a worship service and the majesty of God in the throne room of Heaven.

Don’t get distracted. Fix your eyes on Him. The author. The perfector. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

It says starting in verse eight, “8 As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly.”

Then comes God, the Ancient of days.

“9 I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like purest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, 10 and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from his presence. Millions of angels ministered to him; many millions stood to attend him. Then the court began its session, and the books were opened.”

But Daniels is still looking at the horns.

“11 I continued to watch because I could hear the little horn’s boastful speech. I kept watching until the fourth beast was killed and its body was destroyed by fire. 12 The other three beasts had their authority taken from them, but they were allowed to live a while longer.”

But here’s the focus. Here’s where we sit transfixed on God’s Heavenly throne room where better is it to be just one day than a thousand anywhere else. (Psalm 84:10)

“13 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.”

Stare at God. The Son of Man is coming. No matter how bad things get. They won’t last forever. God has appointed a time for the saints to suffer no more, but to step into the inheritance of His kingdom as His beloved sons and daughters. 

Stare at God. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Think about Him. Build your life on Him. Build your life on the truth and don’t get distracted and led astray by anything else. Walk straight as His word spoken softly in our ears lead us on. (Isaiah 30:21)

BUILD YOUR LIFE ON JESUS

Since we started with Matthew’s Gospel, it’s only fitting we end with Matthew.

Jesus instructs us in chapter seven, “24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

We don’t have trouble understanding these words. We have a pretty good idea of what this means. And we’re not wrong. Build your life on Jesus and weather all storms knowing that in the end we receive the prize. It’s these chapters of Daniel.

There is a further level of detail that’s pretty interesting. 

Jesus isn't just making a general appeal to individuals who follow him to build their lives on His teachings, which is a bold claim if you think about it. And so very necessary for us.

He’s also speaking of a very specific house built on the rock of Zion. The Temple in Jerusalem. The house of the Lord. He’s making the same statement when he says, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move.” (Matthew 17:20-21) With faith you may have real effect on the idolatry that has taken captive the hearts of my people who love evil and despise what is good.

It’s the house of the Lord Jesus also has in mind. And He has the exile in mind. The kingdoms of Assyria of Babylon who are referred to as a storm, indeed a flood.

In Isaiah 8 it says, “5 Then the Lord spoke to me again and said, 6 “My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it… 7 Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River...”

Jesus is looking at this past destruction of the Temple in Daniel. He’s looking forward to the future destruction of the Temple by the Romans. He’s saying there are nations raging. They are a storm. These mighty nations. Even our own mighty nation here in this country. These are the winds and the rains. Not just unfortunate and difficult circumstances, but our own culture They are a flood rising against the house on the rock. How you have built your house, how you are now building that house will determine how it should fare for the flood is rising.

And we, as Paul says, we are the holy Temple set apart for the Lord. We must be built on the truth as the floods of our own culture, our own friends and family, our own people compromise and cast down truth. We must stand strong on Jesus.

Isaiah's words of the coming flood are followed by a call to trust. A call to hope.

12 “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. 13 Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. 14 He will keep you safe.”

Stand in truth. Build your life this church, this house of the Holy God, on His sure foundations.

Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/should-we-watch-for-signs-from-god

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/god-tells-the-time

https://www.preceptaustin.org/matthew-16-commentary#16:1

INTRO

Hey family!

It’s good to be back with you.

Let’s get right into it this morning.

This is Daniel chapter 6 if you’d like to follow along in your Bibles. If you don’t have a physical Bible there are some at the front ends of each row. There is a familiarity that comes with thumbing through these pages that we miss when we scroll on our phones so if you need one feel free to grab one. And if you don’t have one at home you’re more than welcome to take it with you. But if you’re a bit of a Bible collector, just leave it behind. We’ve got more Bibles than I’d care to admit, collecting dust and being eaten by silverfish. These ones are here to find their way into the hands of those who need them.

Alright, let’s get stuck into it. Daniel chapter 6…

1 Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. 2 The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. 3 Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.

4 Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. 5 So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”

This is the quintessential story of the book of Daniel. That’s why we’ve saved it for today.

If you know anything about Daniel it’s the lion’s den. But there’s so, so much more to this story than we can remember or imagine. And as I’ve been meditating on these words and discerning what God would have for us through this chapter, I find that there are sort of two main sticky points for me. Not sticking points that are challenging, but sticky points that need to worm their way into our brains and change the way we live as we work our way section by section through these beautiful words.

So I pray. Lord, change us. May the persons we were when we walked into this room not be the same people who leave. May your living word transform us, our minds, our desires, and our behaviors so completely that what the Bible teaches about us being new creations is true in our living. Open up new levels of growth and maturity in us. May your resurrection power change our identities, who we are into who you say that we are. Amen!

CALLED TO BE SAINTS

The first sticky thought I want you to have is actually a reminder from some Sunday’s past. All the way from 1 Corinthians. And that is that you are called to be a saint.

Paul writes in chapter 1 verse 2, “2 I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.”

“…to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord.”

As we have spent this series asking the question, “Who are you?” As we’ve been answering this question knowing that if you know who God is, you will know who you are, and you will know what to do, you will know your purpose. Even as we’ve spoken these truths to remind us of this identity that God has endowed into His beloved creation that:

You are a child of God!

You are a beautiful creation, made in the image of the Almighty!

You are a warrior who stands firm on the truth!

You are a vessel of love, grace, and strength, filled with the Holy Spirit!

You are a citizen of Heaven who is redeemed, chosen, and set apart for God's purpose!

You are a follower of Christ who walks in victory and refuses to bow to fear!

You are a pillar of truth who doesn't take any lies from the enemy!

You are a servant, sent into the world to shine His light!

You are a messenger of hope, sent to proclaim the Good News and live out the love of Jesus!

You are an ambassador, bringing peace, justice, and mercy wherever you go!

You are a glorious expression of the King, sent to make Him known!"

Even as we are reminded of these words, these truths, this identity, there is a part of you that doesn’t believe it – doesn’t want to believe it perhaps. But perhaps even more so, especially if you’ve grown up in the church, have been programmed not to believe it.

That seems strange to say. Shouldn’t it be the opposite. Shouldn’t this be the place where we stand firm in the truth of our identity in Christ? You would think so. I hope so.

And it’s not that we are being lied to. It’s that we focus much too heavily on the fact that we are sinners, yes sinners saved by grace, but sinners nonetheless. That is our intrusive thought. And because that is what we experience in this life in exile is the brokenness of humanity. We acknowledge the truth of sainthood but we deny it to ourselves.

We are constantly reminded of our own failures. Our own sins. They are ever before us.

The mantra playing in our heads is, “I’m a sinner. I’m a sinner. I’m a sinner.”

It’s the pink elephant problem. If you try not to think about something, you're going to think about it more.

For example… Don't think about a pink elephant. Whatever you do, don't think about a pink elephant. Don't picture a pink elephant in your mind. Just don't do it.

Now, what are you thinking of?

Does this sound familiar? You often think about the things you're trying to avoid?

When you tell yourself "not" to do something, your brain just hears it as an instruction. This means you spend lots of time and energy focusing on what you want to avoid, making it more likely you'll do the very thing you don't want to do.

You can’t stop thinking about the pink elephant.

“I’ll never be good enough. I’m a sinner.”

“I can’t do anything right. I’m a sinner.”

That becomes the sum of it all. I’m a sinner. Saved by grace or not. That’s all I’ll ever be.

Don’t look. Don’t touch. Just don’t do it!

We read these passages in Daniel, and even though I’ve been telling you that these stories in the Old Testament are not to present us with heroes to be emulated, and I should say neither villains to compare ourselves with, the natural inclination is to see ourselves much more as Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar, and Darius. We are trying to be faithful Daniels. We hope to be Daniel, but we fall short.

Paul writes, “15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate... 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing…”

Daniel seems unattainable.

Daniel doesn’t have a chink in his armor.

Daniel doesn't have an error in his integrity.

Daniel doesn’t have a flaw to uncover.

There are these three characters in this story. There’s Daniel. There’s Darius. Then there are the other administrators and high officials. I guess there are the lions and then God of course as well. But if we interpret these words as we are not intended to, we are left wondering if we are going to be ones who scheme, trick, and defraud to get what we want, or are we going to remain faithful? Who will you be? Who are you?

“The other officials couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn Daniel. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.”

In public and private Daniel had integrity.

What if, instead of spending all our attention focusing on not sinning. We spent the majority of our thought life reminding ourselves of the truth of our identity which does not come from within but has been bestowed upon us from the God our loving Father. Why don’t we listen to who He says we are?

Daniel was faithful to God regardless of what he faced because his integrity and reputation were not dependent upon his circumstances. In the face of difficulty he did what he always did, not something special, he remained faithful.

Circumstances don’t dictate your integrity or reputation – your identity does. And your identity doesn’t come from within yourself.

You are saints.

“The idea of the word “saints” is a group of people set apart for the Lord and His kingdom.

Christians are called to be saints, to increasingly allow their daily life to more closely match their position in Christ.”

Instead of focusing on not sinning, what if you flipped it and focused on who you are. Yes your sainthood is a gift that you can’t earn, but it is yours and it is who you are.

You are a saint. Focus on that. Focus and tell yourself to act in a manner that aligns with who you are.

The beginning words of Romans has beautiful words of encouragement for us all,

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:1-6)

Athenaseus, who was an early figure in Church history, some people call him Saint Athenaseus, reflected on the victory of Christ over death, the significance of the Resurrection, and the power of the Cross.

And he talked about how Jesus’ resurrection is the demonstration and sign of His victory over death which is made clearer by the observable effects held in believers’ lives.

Jesus is not dead! Jesus is alive!

Only someone alive can continue to influence and change the lives of others. Christ is active, continually persuading people from all nations to embrace Him in faith. This ongoing transformation of human lives—where sinners abandon sin and idols are overthrown—serves as further evidence that Christ is not dead but alive and working in the world.

Athenaseus asks, “How, if [Jesus] is no longer active (no longer alive), does He stay from their activity those who are active and alive, so that the adulterer no longer commits adultery, and the murderer murders no more, nor is the inflicter of wrong any longer grasping, and the profane is henceforth religious? Or how, if He be not risen but is dead, does He drive away, and pursue, and cast down those false gods said by the unbelievers to be alive, and the demons they worship? 6. For where Christ is named, and His faith, there all idolatry is deposed and all imposture of evil spirits is exposed, and any spirit is unable to endure even the name, nay even on barely hearing it flies and disappears.” (on the incarnation of the word)”

Our transformed lives are demonstrations of The power of the resurrection moving across time and space. And encountering Christ and His word lead to real changes in our lives. And it is such a profound transformation.

That is who you are.

You are a saint!

Let’s keep reading…

NEW LIFE

6 So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! 7 We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. 8 And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” 9 So King Darius signed the law.

Now, this may seem like an odd detail. Why couldn’t the king change a law he created? But we see this same dynamic in the book of Esther. I don’t know exactly how the king Esther marries relates to Darius in the book of Daniel, but it is the same empire just a few years down the road perhaps.

Esther shows on multiple occasions how the king cannot overturn a law he has passed. At the end of the book this plays a major role as the king can’t repeal his law to kill the Jews, but he can pass a new law that says the Jews are allowed to defend themselves. And so the Jewish people are preserved in the Persian empire.

Let’s keep going…

10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. 11 Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. 12 So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?” “Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.”

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from Daniel in this story.

Certainly with regard to identity, it’s not merely what you do in public that determines who you are, but it must also be confirmed in your private lice. Your identity doesn’t mean a thing if it doesn’t remain true when no one is looking.

As William Shakespear wrote, “ All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players.”

So is your identity the character you play then? Who you show yourself to be to the world at large? Or is it the truth of who you are when no one is looking? When you’re no longer playing the part?

As we established earlier, there’s a real sense where neither of these is true because your identity does not come from within yourself. It comes from God.

And there’s also the awareness that Daniel prayed in front of an open window. He wasn’t hid in some closet. He was well aware of his visibility to the world around him. So does this really speak to our private life?

Does it not then say that we should live out our faith to be seen. We should be visible.

Surely this is a lesson for us to learn as well.

There is also the observation that Daniel was simply doing what he always did. He had built a habit of prayer these some 60 or 80 years that would not be abated under threat of death. His allegiance was to a king of a different kingdom altogether. So there too is a lesson for healthy habits that build spiritual resilience. That may be enough to fill several more weeks.

At least there will be more to talk about should we return to Daniel in the future.

For our second sticky thought, I am much more concerned with what Daniel should be praying for. What were the contents of his prayers? What are the things that we should be praying for one another?

And I know, we can’t really know what Daniel prayed for preceding the Lion’s Den. It wasn’t given to us to be known. We do have some of Daniel’s prayers which we will arrive at in not so many weeks time. But that’s a future concern.

We do have a question that can guide the remainder of our time and become a sticky thought to us. Who are you grabbing onto for dear life?

Who are you grabbing onto for dear life?

For many of us we think of prayer as crisis management. And we could continue that false belief should we not pay attention in this story. But Daniel was not turning to prayer in his time of need. Daniel continued in what he was already doing. The circumstances of the Lion’s Den were not dictating Daniel’s integrity. His identity was already driving his actions from long before Darius. When a person is doing great they need prayer just as much as when their life is threatened to pour more fuel on the fire and fan into flame the work of the Spirit.

Daniel clung to God. Daniel abided in the Lord.

I believe we can pray for the same thing. Not to be rescued from our circumstances. Although I would not fault Daniel for such a prayer. Not for a way out per se. But for a new way of life to take us captive. We can pray this for one another. We can pray for a new way of life regardless of the circumstances. To be a community living under the reign of a different king.

New Life!

Paul teaches us to pray this over one another as well in the book of Ephesians. He writes in chapter 1, “15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

You know it’s interesting. When we say we will pray for someone. When I say I’m going to pray for you. We usually mean I’m going to pray for your circumstances. I’m going to pray for a new job. An upcoming move. I’m going to pray for the things going on in your life right now and maybe those coming up.

When Paul prays for the saints he is rarely praying for people’s circumstances. Mostly what he’s praying for is God’s given wisdom so that in whatever circumstances they may draw near to Jesus.

That’s what we should be praying for one another as well. Not for circumstances and for them to change. But for a new quality of experience in our life so that we might understand God’s personal presence in every circumstance. For new life.

Paul prayed for three things for the Ephesians to know. We can pray these three things for one another as well:

The Hope of Their Calling: Paul wants them to understand the hope that comes from being called by God, which includes the future promises and eternal life in Christ.

The Riches of God's Glorious Inheritance: He prays that they would grasp the value and splendor of the inheritance they share with all the saints, which reflects God's abundant blessings and promises for His people.

And the Immeasurable Greatness of God's Power: Paul prays that they would know the vast and incredible power that God exercises on behalf of believers—the same power that raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him above all other authorities.

Hope.

Riches.

And Power.

Hope that whatever the present state of the world may be, whatever circumstances you may find yourself in, that your hope would come from and be found in Christ. That the meaning of your life is not determined by what is happening to you or around you. That the meaning of your life would be found in Jesus. The hope He has called you to.

That the eyes of your heart would be opened to the riches you are walking into. Wake up to the fact that as God's family you are unique and holy, different from the world around you, to be the witnesses to His grace and glory. This is your privilege. This is your calling. This is your election as saints.

Where we are going in the book of Daniel is about to get real weird. But it will continually show us two things. It’ll show us that the times are evil and as the saying goes it’ll only get worse before it gets better.

But it will also show us that the Son of Man will return. Jesus will come. And the saints will inherit the kingdom. Wake up to the riches of being a child of God.

And open your eyes to His power proven in the resurrection and demonstrated as His Word goes out and changes lives. As it changes your life.

This is not a power to do whatever you want. It is not a power to be free and independent as the world sees it.

There was a Caesar or someone, I can’t recall who, but when he became king he said, “now I can do whatever I want to do, whenever I want, to whomever I want to do it.”

That’s not the power to be realized.

This is the power of the One who lived overcoming the desire and pull of sin and resurrected Jesus from death to new life. The power that gives up status and influence for the sin of others to be thrust upon Him. Power to take spiritually dead sinners and turn them into life-giving spirits. Resurrection power.

It’s the power that is turning death moments in your life into something new. That is restoring patterns of death in your life and injecting within them new life. It is the power that is overcoming what Paul will go on to talk more about in Ephesians, the power to overcome the very real principalities and powers of this world who have real influence in human behavior and history that are not visible to us.

That is the power of our prayers for one another. Subversive prayers that topple empires.

One of the most influential Rabbis of the twentieth century, Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehood. The liturgical movement must become a revolutionary movement, seeking to overthrow the forces that continue to destroy the promise, the hope, and the vision.”

This is our challenge. The challenge to see prayer our prayers for one another as a force within the world rather than a mere spiritual exercise removed from it.

This is the prayer I envision Daniel praying before his open window.

Let’s go ahead and finish the chapter…

JESUS IS KING

14 Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament. 15 In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed.” 16 So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.” 17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel. 18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night. 19 Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. 20 When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”

As we learn from Paul, there is an influence exploiting my thoughts and feelings and realities. There are beings and powers who have influence over whole cultures and societies exploiting the collective brokenness of humanity.

But as we know from Daniel, Jesus is the victorious king over these spiritual realities.

Jesus is king over everything, exalted over all power and authority, for the church to be this little pocket of humanity where that is actually seen to be true.

Jesus is king here where people experience their true humanity and beloved status by God.

OUTRO

21 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! 22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.” 23 The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.

24 Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.

25 Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world: “Peace and prosperity to you!

26 “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end. 27 He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Where in your life do you profess Jesus but your lives are still controlled by other powers?

What small step can you take to have that area come under the influence of king Jesus?

So that, no matter who you thought you were when you walked into those doors. What identity you’ve been speaking over yourself all these years. You will leave changed. Forever changed.

As Athenasesu said, you used to harm others. Now you no longer act selfishly. You were once disrespectful toward God. Now you live faithfully.

Whatever it is, may you leave those doors knowing that you were once a sinner. But that description suits you no longer. You are a saint. And may we pray over the saints this new life of hope, riches, and power. The same power that brought Jesus back from the dead. The same power that is changing you today into the glorious identity God has given you.

Revelation 2:9-10, “9 “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.”

Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):

https://www.gotquestions.org/saints-Christian.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goPp4klxoTo&ab_channel=TimMackieArchives

INTRO

Hey family!

It’s good to see you again today.

Listen, we’ve been making our way through the book of Daniel, trudging through life in exile. Why don’t we fast forward about 30 to 50 years? Why don’t we see what happens on the other side as the Israelites begin to return to Jerusalem and rebuild?

This is Ezra chapter 3 if you’d like to follow along in your Bibles. If you have a physical Bible, or if you don’t there are some at the ends of the rows. There is a familiarity that comes as we flip through these pages.

So, Nebuchadnezzar attacks the kingdom of Judah. Daniel and his friends are taken into exile to Babylon. About 20 years pass before the full destruction of Jerusalem and the first temple. The temple is completely destroyed. Then, 50 more years pass, during which we see the death of Nebuchadnezzar. Several others try to take his place ultimately only lasting for a few years or less each. Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, Belshazzar, ends up in power for a number of years before the Medes and the Persians finally take over – they are the silver chest in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. These 70 years pass. And it’s during this second kingdom that Ezra and Nehamiah are granted the favor to return and rebuild.

Ezra is a bit like Daniel. It’s not really a book about the man for which the book bears its name. Ezra doesn’t even show up in his own account until the second half. But he is there and he is recording history.

He writes in chapter 3, “1 In early autumn, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose… 8 The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring, during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem…

10 When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord, just as King David had prescribed. 11 With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!”

Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid. 12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. 13 The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.”

The temple was destroyed. It lay in utter ruin. There is nothing there but rubble. It is a site not too dissimilar to the mountains of debris we see piled in nearly every neighborhood of Boone as people hurry to remove the old to make way for rebuilding to commence. It is a sight full of mixed emotions, of a past that cannot be returned to and the way for an uncertain future. There is certainly much to weep for.

But what exactly is the reason the old men in Ezra were weeping?

Some say it is because there was finally a second temple. They were finally rebuilding the temple. There was to be a temple again. Were they weeping with gratitude to see the second temple, expressing deep feelings alongside those who were likewise rejoicing with shouts and cheers?

Some say it is because they saw and remembered the beauty of the first temple and were distressed by the fact that this second one was far inferior – it failed to measure up. Were they weeping because the first was so much better than the second?

Saying to each other through the tears, “you should have seen the temple Solomon built. I saw it! I saw that temple destroyed. I saw the destruction. I witnessed the fire. I still remember Solomon’s temple. That temple was so magnificent. You wouldn't believe the majesty of it. Look at the rubble still left behind.”

Haggai was a prophet during this time and wrote to Zerubbabel the word of the Lord saying, “3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?”

Solomon would have spent the modern equivalent of $5 to $8 Billion dollars on the construction of that first Temple. It was designed to convey the awe of the holiness of God in all His glory. It was built to communicate something about His majesty.

Why were the old men weeping? It is ambiguous. They wept for a lot of reasons. They wept and shouted for joy that it was being rebuilt. And they wept for the majesty unrealized. It is for both reasons. They knew it would not have the same splendor as the first once completed and they wept that they finally got a temple again.

Ezra is describing the mixed feelings that people were experiencing concerning the glory – the majesty of the past, present, and future of the temple. Whatever it would become. And it would become great again, but this time for a different reason, as God, Himself would become a man and Jesus would walk through its gates and teach in its courtyards. Whatever it would become, there was a majesty that was now lost as its new foundations rose from the rubble of the past.

More than two thousand years later, and Israel is still crying. That’s what the time of Tisha B’Av is about. Mourning the destruction of the temple, both temples. The Talmud (Ta’anit 30b) teaches “Whoever mourns for Jerusalem will merit seeing its joy”. It is the loss of majesty.

WORSHIP HIS MAJESTY

That’s a funny word isn’t it? Majesty.

People say, especially in monarchies of times past; your grace, your greatness, your highness, your majesty. Your majesty. Because it is their majesty and not ours.

Majesty indicates greatness in sight or sound that is also wonderful. Bigness that is beautiful. Imposing size that is viewed with delight, imposing power received as attractive.

In an article on majesty, David Mathis writes, “Dominion and lordship are more technical and prosaic; majesty rings more poetic, with the awe of worship.”

The word captures not only greatness but also goodness, both bigness and beauty, awesome power together with pleasant admiration. It is a fitting and appropriate term for a God, who is, above all, “the Majestic One”.

“God is not only great but good — good in his greatness and great in his goodness. He is not only big, strong, imposing, indomitable, omnipotent; he is beautiful, attractive, stunning, compelling, glorious. He is the Majestic One, who delivered Israel at the Sea, and his church at the cross. And so, we say with the psalmist, “On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate” (Psalm 145:5).”

Nebuchadnezzar uses the word majesty. Only he gets it a bit wrong as we know from the last chapter and are reminded of here in this chapter of Daniel.

Necuchadnezzar said as he looked out across the city, “30 Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.”

“Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power… for the glory of my majesty?”

Right word. Wrong focus.

Something that we’ve learned over the weeks and chapters of Daniel. Something we have seen demonstrated. Something Daniel, Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego knew to be of absolute value.

God, His name, and His reputation are sacred. He alone is the Most High God. He alone is the Majestic One, worthy of all honor, and glory, and praise. Worship His majesty!

RELATIVIZING THE ABSOLUTE

Belshazzar’s sin is pride, of course, just as his grandfather’s was. The apple doesn’t rot far from the tree. Yes, it's pride like his forebear.

We just read the recount of Nebuchadnezzar’s story here. He retells Nebuchadnezzar’s story because there was a generational sin but the “son” does not humble himself and so faces destruction. These are the two sides of the same coin. Two kings presented with an opportunity for humility. One looks up and is restored. The other is condemned to destruction.

Verse 18 reminds us, “18 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. 19 He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear… 20 But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them.

22 “You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. 23 For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you.”

Yes pride was his sin, but not only pride. In his pride, he devalued the God of Heaven by drinking from the cups of the temple that bore his name and which was designed to communicate His majesty. “4 They drank from them they praised (created things) their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.”

Sin is the desire to satisfy the eternal craving for God that has been stamped onto us with material things.

Let me say that again. Sin is the desire to satisfy the eternal craving for God. This eternal craving that has been stamped onto us. Sin is the desire to satisfy that craving with material things rather than God Himself.

Sin is taking something that is of some importance, of relative value, and elevating it to a place of absolute value. It’s exalting the relative. At the same time, it’s taking what is of absolute value – God Himself – and it’s casting Him among the rest. It’s relativizing the absolute. It’s not treasuring God above all else but simply casting Him among the other things you may or may not treasure.

We have already been introduced to these cups in Daniel chapter 1. A foreshadowing, a foretaste if you will.

It says, “1 During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 The Lord gave him victory… and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land of Babylonia and placed them in the treasure-house of his god.”

The cups of the temple are placed in the king’s treasury showing that they are of some value, but only as a demonstration of the superiority of Nebuchadnezzar and his gods. They were not the treasure. They were simply tossed among the other treasures. So they only had relative value.

ABSOLUTE GOD

God is absolute!

Absolute means the highest, the most, the final degree.

Absolute truth. Absolute value. Absolutely good. Absolute . . . everything!

Does God hold absolute value in your life?

Honestly?

I’m not playing around here. I’m not asking this question for dramatic effect. I want you to search the depths of your life and answer that question. Is God of absolute value, or do you treat Him as just one of the treasures in your life?

I hate to tell you, but if you are someone who treats God as just one of the treasures, I’m willing to bet that you are also the kind of person who worries about what you are going to do for eternity.

He’s not a prize. He’s the prize. He is the treasure. He is the absolute God – absolutely!

Because, here’s the thing. Culture loves to take what is of absolute value and demote it to a relative value. Our culture can’t stand when something is presented as an absolute. Absolutes are seen as dangerous.

Relativism - many believe is the safest place to stand. There is no absolute truth. All paths lead to God. Everything is sacred. You do you. Don’t take a stance.

Like Belshazzar. Like Nebuchadnezzar. Human beings have always been prone to self-centeredness. We want what we want when we want it and are willing to justify it by any means necessary.

That’s a danger of relativism. It is a convenient posture that helps us justify doing whatever we want to do. It offers us escape from serious self-reflection.

Don’t resist. Compromise. That’s the battle raging around Daniel and the boys at all times. Don’t stand for what you believe in. Compromise and do good in the world.

It’s especially attractive when we see it as being tolerant and open to people who believe differently than we do.

People are willing to tolerate someone else’s truth until it affects them. Then it becomes unacceptable or unfair.

That is a danger of relativism. But it’s not the danger of relativism.

That’s not the largest danger of relativism. The worst part about relativism is that it's the same thing we do with God. We bring that heart posture to bear in our understanding of the absolute. We conveniently build our preferences, even our theology around whatever happens to align with what we already wanted to do.

Your heart and my heart will find a way to justify our sin — whatever we believe or say we believe about the truth. And that’s absolutely true.

We try to remake God in our own image, and what’s worse – we don’t even know that we’re doing it.

WHO DO YOU BELONG TO

There’s an interesting encounter that Jesus has in the book of Matthew.

It’s in chapter 22. Let me just read it,

“15 Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. 16 They sent some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. 17 Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

18 But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed him a Roman coin, 20 he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”

21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.

“Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

22 His reply amazed them, and they went away.”

There’s several things going on here. Most obviously, for Jesus to support the unlawful taxes of Rome would be to heap coals on the suffering of the oppressed people of Israel. Even more insidious is that on this Roman coin was more than Caesar's image stamped into the silver coin. There was also an inscription that lays some amount of claim to the divinity of the Caesar and confirmed his religious authority. In fact, the denarii were referred to as the “tribute penny”.

This was more than a question about taxes.

It was a question of allegiance.

Who do you belong to?

Jesus masterfully flips the question back on his would-be entrappers.

Whose image is stamped onto this coin? Give it to him who owns it?

Now, whose image is stamped on you?

God has stamped His image on every one of us.(Genesis 1:27). Therefore, “give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” (Romans 6:13).

It is a question of allegiance. Who do you belong to?

Is God absolute in your life? Or is He just one among many?

When Jesus is arrested for what can only be described as anti-state political activism. He’s brought before Pilate and asked if He is a king. To which Jesus responds, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36)

Where does your allegiance lie? Is it to this world and its institutions? Or is it to God, who alone is sovereign?

If you know who God is. You will know who you are. And you will know what to do. You will know your purpose.

Will you give God ultimate value in your life and honor Him as such? Will you submit to His absolutes? Or will you relative Him to justify your life?

The world sees absolutes as dangerous.

Will you live a radically dangerous life?

RETURN TO THE ROOT

That word radical means something different than it used to. I am a person who wants to believe that words have meanings and those meanings shouldn’t change. But I’m beginning to believe that Stultus was right when he said, “words don't have meaning, people have meaning.”

Words are empty containers, and people choose what to put in them. So we have to listen carefully to what meaning a person is putting into their words.

Radical used to mean pertaining to the root. Going back to the root. As was said by Vince Lombardi in 1961, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” And now every preacher since then has put it into a sermon. It's fundamental. Building on the foundation – the root.

Jesus is referred to the root of David and the root of Jesse (Revelation 22:16; Revelation 5:5; Isaiah 11:10; Romans 15:12).

Colossians 2 says, “6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. 7 Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him.”

The only way to fight relativism in your life is by letting all present and future growth be determined by the root of Jesus. Any other way of life is arbitrary and inconsistent. Return to the root. Worship His majesty.

God, His name, and His reputation are sacred. He alone is the Most High God. He alone is the Majestic One, worthy of all honor, and glory, and praise. Worship His majesty!

Will you dare live a radically dangerous life?

CHRISTIANS ARE DANGEROUS

Christians are Dangerous.

Christianity says you have no power over me for I belong to another kingdom and I give my allegiance only to the King. That’s what made Nebuchadezzar so angry about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. That is why so many rulers of this age see Christianity as a threat.

“Christians are ambassadors of another King, and another Kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:20). Not another country, but a Kingdom not of this world. So whenever ideologues demand the same loyalty that only belongs to the King of Kings, then Christians will not obey.”

Christians are Dangerous.

Christianity says that in God is found absolute truth. That Jesus is right. And if Jesus is right, that must mean humanity apart from him is wrong. What a dangerous idea to believe that we as humans could be wrong. To suggest that what anyone believes is wrong. But truth is not relative.

“A day is coming when God will judge the world. Not according to some human ideology, but according to His eternal righteousness. Everyone will be held accountable for how they used the breath that God gave them. Everyone will fall on their knees and indeed their faces before Jesus.”

Christians are Dangerous.

“Christianity says that our ultimate identity doesn’t come from within ourselves, but is given to us by our Creator.” That if you know who God is. You will know who you are. And you will know what to do. You’ll know your purpose.

“25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for the sake of God, you will save it.” (Matthew 16:25)

That’s a dangerous idea.

The question, “which dangerous idea has the greatest potential to change the world for the better?” Was put to the panelist at the “Festival of Dangerous Ideas” in 2013, which is apparently a thing.

British Journalist Peter Hitchens, who is the brother of famed atheist Christopher Hitchens, answered, “The most dangerous idea in human history and philosophy remains the belief that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and rose from the dead and that is the most dangerous idea you will ever encounter. It alters the whole of human behavior and all our responsibilities…

It turns the universe from a meaningless chaos into a designed place in which there is justice and there is hope, and, therefore, we all have a duty to discover the nature of that justice and work towards that hope. It alters us all. If we reject it, it alters us all as well…

It is incredibly dangerous. It's why so many people turn against it.”

THE WRITING’S ON THE WALL

Daniel says to Belshazzar, “You have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! 24 So God has sent this hand to write this message…”

You have been weighed.

You have been measured.

And you have been found wanting.

Everyone loves a good quote from “A Knight’s Tale”.

You have been weighed.

You have been measured.

And you have been found wanting.

How will you be found? Tossing God among some set of treasures that have some value in your life? Or placing Him on the throne of your heart? As absolute. Absolute truth. Absolute value. Absolute good. Absolutely!

Does God hold absolute value in your life?

John tells us, “19 This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight. 23 Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he has given us.”

Set apart the name of God as holy. God is of supreme value. Worship His majesty!

Do not let God lose His glory/majesty in our eyes.

Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-lost-awe-of-majesty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmNppDxpMR4

https://theisraelbible.com/mourning-my-temple-while-we-are-still-crying-2000-years-later/

https://billelliff.org/blogs/news/who-is-god-to-you

https://equipherlife.com/2014/07/10/absolute-god/

https://medium.com/the-philosophers-stone/why-moral-relativism-is-dangerous-9b1e5da62bd7

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/cults-and-other-religions/what-makes-moral-relativism-so-dangerous-today.html

https://reasonsforgod.org/whats-wrong-with-relativism/

https://www.akosbalogh.com/blog/2019/09/02/yes-christianity-is-dangerous

​https://www.gotquestions.org/render-to-Caesar.html

https://phillipjensen.com/resources/the-most-dangerous-idea/

INTRO

Hey Family!

It’s so, so good to be back together.

Thank you to all who have been so faithfully helping and pouring out your life over the past weeks during this recovery from Hurricane Helene. I know sometimes it seems insignificant and like you haven’t done anything, but every little bit truly helps. And there will be much more need over the months to come.

But for now, I know there are also many of you who need this time to refresh and recharge and just be. Just as the Bible continually uses the word “Beloved”, especially in the New Testament. It is so important for us to come together like this, even in the midst of tragedy, and be loved.

We are going to stay in Daniel. We are looking at chapter four and continuing to ask the question, Who are you? Because the book of Daniel is all about identity. And the truth that we’ve been seeing over and over again is, if you know who God is, you will know who you are, and you will know what to do. You will know your purpose.

In chapter 4 we’ll see another truth with regard to identity that has already been introduced, but is even more apparent now. And that is what you look at, you will worship. And what you worship you will become. You become what you worship. And what you worship is determined by where you are looking. Where are you looking?

In Matthew 6, Jesus says, “22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

What are you looking at? Are you looking down at created things, at people, at your own desires and achievements? Or are you looking up? These verses in Matthew have every bit of the reality that what you’re looking at is what you’re trusting in. Where is your faith? Where are you looking?

It is times like these. Times of tragedy. Times of hurt and suffering for so many people that remind us most obviously that we are no longer in Eden. We are outside of the Garden. This is life in exile. We are in exile. It is for this reason we suffer earthly sorrows. But we are not to escape exile, or suffering even for that matter, we are called to stand and work for peace, rest, and the welfare of those around us.

God has appointed us for times such as these.

IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

I know there are some of you have been listening to the Bible Recap with Tara Leigh Cobble. I happened upon an interview where she talked about how, when she entered into full-time ministry, she hadn’t read the Bible all the way through until a pastor friend of hers challenged her to do just that.

By the end of that year, when she had read the whole Bible, and although she had a fuller understanding of the story of who God is, she found herself not liking God.

She says, “I realized that this whole book is true. I believed it was true, cover to cover. I just didn’t like who God revealed Himself to be.” And this was a real problem, because she was in full time ministry and she didn’t like the God she was serving or telling other people they should love.

And so she shared this with her pastor friend who, because he had been walking on this journey with her, immediately knew why. Because when she was reading through the Bible she was looking for herself.

She said, “I wanted God to tell me what I could do so that I could be a good Christian and earn His approval or figure out what promises I could use to back Him into a corner to get what I wanted from Him…” He’s not this transactional God, and that really frustrated her because she wanted the Bible to be about her.

So again her friend challenged her to read through the Bible, only this time, looking to see God more clearly, to know God, to answer the question, who is God?

And that changed everything for her.

She was halfway through the Old Testament that second time, where you would least expect it to happen, and she fell in love with the God of the Bible, the God you encounter through His words. It was the same book, but with a different lens. And she said, “It just absolutely transformed not only the way [she] read Scripture, but the way [she] lived [her] life, the way [she] engaged in [her] relationship with God, the way [she] engaged with the world around [her]…everything was different.”

It’s not about you.

The Bible is a book about God, and we’ve been building a picture of God through these opening chapters of Daniel – the Most High God.

IT’S ABOUT GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY

That’s the way Daniel chooses to refer to God, more than any other way.

The Most High God.

In fact, it happens chapter after chapter. There are these repeated summary statements that clue you into the flow of the story, building a picture of the Most High God – a picture of God’s sovereignty.

As Daniel sings in chapter two, “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. 21 He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. 22 He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light.”

God is in control of all human history. God is sovereign. It means He is in control. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. It’s important to remember that now more than ever.

Nebuchadnezzar makes this confession himself, “7 The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings…” (Daniel 2:7).

Daniel had just said this about Nebuchadnezzar that, humanly speaking Nebuchadnezzar was the king of kings. And now Nebuchadnezzar himself, the king of kings, declares that Daniel’s God is “God of gods and Lord of kings.”

In chapter three, as God rescues Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego through the fire, we see another powerful confession from Nebuchadnezzar, he says in verse 28, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him… There is no other god who can rescue like this!”

He alone is God. There is none other. No one is like our God. There are no other gods in Heaven or on Earth. (Jeremiah 10:6, Psalm 86:8-10)

He is sovereign. It means He is unique. He is solitary. In the words of Sinéad O'Connor “Nothing compares — — — to you”.

Then here in chapter four, we get a final confession of Nebuchadnezzar, written by his own hand, or at least in his own voice, 2 “I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God has performed for me. 3 How great are his signs, how powerful his wonders! His kingdom will last forever, his rule through all generations… 34 His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. 35 All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’”

“Not only is he God of gods and able to rescue, but his kingdom is everlasting.

We are getting a multidimensional view of the Most High God in the height and depth and extent of his sovereignty.

He is God. He does as he pleases. He is sovereign. God of gods. Able to rescue as he chooses. And his power and reign will not expire. His kingdom is everlasting. None can hold him back.”

“The clear implication in all the terms used to describe God is that He is the highest possible object of our worship… (Deuteronomy 27:13; Revelation 9:20).”

“In the title LORD Most High, the Hebrew words are Elohim Yahweh. We describe objects of exaltation as being “higher” than we are: higher in rank, in title, in beauty, in position, or in intelligence. Even authority is referred to in terms of height, from top-level management down to the common worker. Height conveys the idea of superiority in power, strength, and authority. So God Most High or LORD Most High means that there is no god, idol, or created being that should be worshiped or exalted above Yahweh, the LORD, because He is superior in every way.”

He is the highest authority. He is the highest power. He is the highest good. He is the greatest desire. He is the Most High God. Our God, who alone is sovereign.

These are all powerful confessions made, not by some faithful Israelite, but by the seemingly faithless enemy of God’s people, King Nebuchadnezzar himself. Nebuchadnezzar had seen, but he hadn’t yet believed.

This is his testimony from death to life – from pride to praise.

IT’S GOTTA GRAB YOUR HEART

Chapter four is about the sovereign God who makes all things new, who changes hearts and minds, even the heart of the greatest king on earth.

Chapter four is a story about one man’s journey. It’s the testimony of a man who had a life changing experience through an encounter with the living God.

Sure, Nebuchadnezzar had seen God work. He had seen Him move. Nebuchadnezzar had seen, but he had not yet believed. He had yet to look up.

In Job 42:5, Job makes the confession, “my ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.” Nebuchadnezzar had seen many wonderful things. Still he had yet to turn his eyes to God.

In our leader team meetings we have talked about asking better questions. Not just how are you? How was your weekend? But good questions that lead us to God questions. And there is one question that I’ve tried out a couple times and it is amazing the response you’ll get from people.

The question is: “Have you ever had an experience that made you think there might be a God?” I asked some college students this question and they both shared the most amazing story. Now, they had already begun on their faith journey. But it’s amazing the experiences people will have that at the end of it don’t end in belief.

There will be so many opportunities for stories like these in the coming months. Lord, I pray that they will produce faith.

This was not Nebuchadnezzar.

He has had the most incredible experiences. And true, he recognizes God. He gives God props. But he doesn’t surrender his life. He doesn’t believe. To believe is not just to understand, but to respond in faith.

“We have seen the progress of Nebuchadnezzar coming to recognize that God is Lord of all. Daniel has shared the message of God’s kingdom with him, he had interpreted an important dream, and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been miraculously delivered from the fiery furnace. These things got his attention, but not his heart.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was still full of such pride – such – arrogance really.

FROM PRIDE

Two things we know, “God hates pride (Proverbs 8:13). In Isaiah 2:11 God said, “Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment.” God hates pride. And we as a people are so proud. Humans are so full of pride.

I just read a story where a grandfather is writing about his grandchildren. One of his granddaughters grabbed a ski cap and said, “Hey, Mommy and Daddy, watch how well I know our house. I can walk down the hallway without seeing." She took two steps and walked head first into a door jamb. On the second step! Her brothers and sisters thought it was a joke until she started crying.

We are so full of pride.

“But God also loves proud sinners. That’s why he sent his Son into the world to save us from the power and the penalty of our pride.”

Nebuchadnezzar was so proud. And he had good reason to be.

Verse 30 says, “30 As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.”

Greek historian Herodotus wrote about Babylon in the fifth century B.C.E. and his descriptions made the city famous in the ancient world.

“Assyria possesses a vast number of great cities, whereof the most renowned and strongest at this time was Babylon… The city stands on a broad plain, and is an exact square, a hundred and twenty furlongs in length each way, so that the entire circuit is four hundred and eighty furlongs. While such is its size, in magnificence there is no city that approaches to it…”

The hanging gardens of Babylon were so majestic that they are considered to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

During King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in Babylon, there was great wealth and expansion, a great amount of building using around 15,000,000 bricks. Thousands of these bore his name and titles stamped into the clay: "Nebuchadnezzar...the eldest son of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon, am I"

“Pride loves to think of itself as the source (the originator) and the recipient (the object). The origin of great achievement (by my power!) and the recipient of great praise (for my glory!). We have here in Nebuchadnezzar, the essence of pride: the enjoyment of self-sufficiency rather than God-sufficiency and the enjoyment of self-exaltation rather than God-exaltation.

“By my power and for my glory I have built this great Babylon!”

Nebuchadnezzar was so proud. We are so proud. Even if we attain some level of humility we find ourselves proud to be so humble. This is a story about pride, in some ways it’s the old adage that pride comes before the fall. Which is from the Bible, by the way, Proverbs 16:18.

It is a story about pride. It is a story about the eyes. Where are you looking?

Nebuchadnezzar looked at himself and his achievements.

The story of Babel, as Jake connected the dots for us last week. The story of Babel, which is the same city as Babylon (it is Babylon), is a story of people growing tall and looking down.

It’s about the eyes. Where are you looking? It’s about identity. Who do you think you are? Do you think more highly of yourself or of God? Who’s sovereign in your eyes?

Nebuchadnezzar spent his whole life looking down.

Until he was made to be one of the lowly. “Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.” (Daniel 4:33)

TO PRAISE

He thought he was strong but discovered he was weak. He thought he was self-sufficient only to discover that he was utterly dependent on God — for life and breath and everything. When everything was stripped away he had nowhere else to look.

What is the biblical opposite of pride?

Humility – you might say. What is humility?

I can tell you what it’s not.

Humility is not Devine depression. You don’t become more humble by thinking less of yourself. You don’t become humble through self-abasement. Pride has the funny trait of being found at the extremes. If you think too much of yourself you fall into pride. And also, if you think to little of yourself you are simply measuring yourself by the standards of the pride you cannot attain.

Humility is not about being lower. It’s about living in truth and responding in gratitude. “It’s living in gratitude to the one who is with you and who strengthens you and responding in gratitude that overflows into peace and love to the world around you.”

It’s about knowing the depths of your brokenness as well as the depths of your beauty. Knowing who God is and what He has done for you and responding in kind.

Humility is akin to contentment. Contentment is controlling what you can and releasing what you can’t. There’s really only one thing you can control - how will you respond. You don’t have control of your circumstances, that’s God’s domain. You can control how you persist in those circumstances.

Life in exile is not about putting on a happy face and pretending everything is okay. It’s about knowing who God is so that you can correctly assess who you are. So you can answer the question: who are you? And you can respond in gratitude. You can look up.

There are two ways to be humbled. Either you can humble yourself or let God do it. I don’t recommend defaulting to the latter.

Nebuchadnezzar is humbled.

A time passes – and then… Nebuchadnezzar looks up. Nebuchadnezzar finally looks up.

Where are you looking? Nebuchadnezzar looked up and his reason returned to him.

D. L. Moody said, “I believe that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride, selfishness and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts.”

Where are you looking?

“The opposite of pride in man’s strength is praise for God’s sovereignty.”

JUST LOOK UP

Nebuchadnezzar had seen. He had heard. But he had not yet believed.

So Daniel invites Nebuchadnezzar to repent and believe. To answer for himself the question: who will you be? What will your life say about you? Will it demonstrate pride in your own achievements, or will it shine light on the sovereignty of God?

What’s your testimony from death to life?

Here’s Nebuchadnezzar's:

“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was dead in my arrogance and pride, looking down on everything and everyone, but God revealed Himself to me. I looked up and saw the greatness of the Most High God and now I will praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”

It took the loss of everything for Nebuchadnezzar to come to this realization.

He was turned over to his animal passions and found there was no life there.

I can’t help but to see how this story, this testimony, is basically Paul’s words to the church in Rome. I’m not going to read it all right now, but I encourage you this week, read Romans chapter 1 to 3. God does not force Himself upon us. He lets us choose. He releases us to the animalistic desires of our hearts, just like Nbuchadnezzar, desiring at all times for us to see Him through the passions of the world.

1 John 2:15 says, “15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

God wants us to look up. He wants your friends, and neighbors, and coworkers, those whom you love and those whom you’ve just met to look up to Him who is above all.

God wants to be glorified through our lives.

We are to give all the glory to Him through our lives, through our words, through our actions. If we continue to live a boastful and selfish life, God will give us over to the desires of this earth.

OUTRO

Where are you looking?

What does your life say about the Most High God?

Who is God in your life?

A person's life can say many things about their relationship with the Most High God.

Some people look for God in every situation, big or small, and thank him for the people in their lives. Some people pray and include God in their thoughts throughout the day. Some people trust God to lead them and believe that God's will for them is better than anything they could deserve. Some people recognize that God's love for them is greater than anything they could earn. Some people believe that God's greatest desire is to be in relationship with his people and that his purpose for them is to become more like him.

Has God gotten such a hold of your heart that you are willing to share it with everyone?

Daniel four started out with Nebuchadnezzar saying, “I want you all to know (every people, every race, every nation, and every language of the world) about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God

Has God gotten such a hold of your heart that you are willing to share it with everyone?

If not, what is holding you back? Is it pride, fear, shame, selfish ambition?

Whatever it may be, be brutally honest and confess it to Jesus. Then ask for the courage you need to tell others about what Jesus has done for you.

Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/none-can-stay-his-hand

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/believing-god-on-election-day

https://www.gotquestions.org/God-Most-High.html

https://christianindex.org/stories/commentary-who-is-god-in-your-life,86406

https://fcaresources.com/bible-study/most-high-god-humility-daniel-study-chapter-5

https://www.jesuscalling.com/podcast/creating-new-habits-toward-a-better-life-tara-leigh-cobble-dr-jackie-greene/#:~:text=So%20when%20my%20friend%20who's,everything%20was%20different.

https://www.julianspriggs.co.uk/Pages/Herodotus_Babylon

GENERATED TRANSCRIPT

Let's, let's open with a word of prayer,

Father, Your Word is truth, and we want to know you would our affections be turned towards you today, God, we pray for your church across the world that's meeting right now, God in Boone, we pray for the churches in Boone that are meeting together, that we Your body would see you and worship you rightly. Amen. Today, we get to continue this journey through Daniel, and we're continuing this idea of identity. And today we are talking about identity and worship, identity and worship. And so there's a movie, a Soviet era 1979 film called The Stalker. Has anybody seen the stalker? 1979 Soviet era film? Yeah. It's a wild film. Feel free to watch it if you'd like but you will feel like you are seasonally depressed in Russia. But it follows these it's a sci fi film that follows these three men as they travel through the zone, and the zone is this ethereal place, but it's filmed in like a natural setting. So it's it feels like you're just walking through the woods, but you understand that these three men, as the movie unfolds, they're moving towards what's called the room, and along the way, one of the gentlemen says this line. He says, How do I know what I truly want? I say I want to be a vegetarian, but my stomach hungers for a juicy steak. And you're like, Okay, that's kind of a weird one off sentence. But then you realize that this room that they're moving towards, it's actually the place where one's deepest desires are realized. And these three men, they get to the threshold of the room, and I'm going to spoil the movie, so sorry about that. As they get to the threshold of this room, none of the men decide they want to go in. They're either too afraid of what their deepest desires might be, or they realize that they don't actually want what they'd most deeply desire. And so why do I share this odd, sepia toned Soviet era film? Because it's a long, drawn out cultural experience that touches on the core of what worship is. Martin Luther says, whatever your heart clings to and confides in that really is your God, and what is Daniel three? About? Daniel three is about worship. And so I want to open up as we kind of look at the beginning of Daniel three and see what, what is happening. It starts in media, res, as a literature and analyst would say, they'd say this story, it has no conjunctive adverb. There's no like nonetheless, Nebuchadnezzar, even still. Or then Nebuchadnezzar just kind of starts at the beginning of chapter three. And it seems like we're starting in the middle of things, and in a sense, we are right. Nebuchadnezzar had just had this dream about an image and this idol, or this statue, and then he immediately begins to make that statue. This statue is a bunch of different medals. He made his one medal. What medal was that? That was gold? Right? The gold of the head. And so we're not sure exactly what this statue would have looked like, but we know what Nebuchadnezzar was trying to do. He was trying to create a national religion that united His kingdom.

And I think this story in Daniel three, it actually has a lot of it has a myriad of different biblical stories that it plays off of, but we're going to look at one. So if you have your Bibles, if you would open to Genesis 11, we're going to read that together.

This is what Genesis 11 says. We're going to start in verse one. Now, the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there, and they.

Said to one another, Come, Let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They had brick for stone and they had asphalt for mortar, and they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. But Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built, and Yahweh said, Indeed, it's funny, right there. He had to come down to see the tower, right? That's Hebrew humor for you. The tower was so small that God had to come down to see it. And Yahweh said, Indeed, the people are one, and they all have one language, and this is what they will begin to do. Now, nothing that they purpose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let us go down there and confuse their language that they might not understand one another's speech. So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there, over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building that city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. And from there, the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth. So this story, this Genesis 11 is a proto Babylon. Babel is the empire that from which the modern, in Daniel's sense, but ancient in our sense, modern empire of Babylon comes. And when I for years and years, I always thought this story was unique, this tower of Babel, because I thought unity would be a good thing.

I thought that a humanity shaped by one goal would be a good thing, a thing that God would would like, a thing that he would say, this is this is good. I like this. They're working together. But there's a Jewish scholar named Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, and he kind of changed the way that I view this story. And so what he actually articulates is that this is the Hebrews Bible. Hebrew Bible's polemic, their argument against empire, this idea, in verse one, that the whole earth had one language. He articulates that isn't a natural form of language unity, but a an enforced and Imperial unity of language, right? We know that at the beginning of the 20th century, or throughout the 20th century, we have the imperialism that most of Africa was speaking either English or French, right? It's you impose these languages on the peoples that you conquer. And so he articulates that Genesis 11 is this idea of empire. And then he continues that idea with these, this tower that they built. And actually have an image of the tower here. It's likely riffing off of these Babylonian ziggurats, these mount man made mountains. And you can see here that's about 30 cubits high, which is the same as the icon in Daniel three, interestingly. So it's about 100

100 feet tall. And this is, this is what it would this is like a rendition of it. This top here, oh, sorry, this top here is actually a temple. It's a place of worship. And so these towers are not just skyscrapers, right? I like remember going to New York City and thinking, Oh, this is evil because they built towers into the sky, but that's not what it's about. It's about creating a place of worship around which the empire that enforces a language forces conformity around religion.

And so perhaps one of our first ideas that we can be thinking of, one of our first observations is that empires seek forced conformity. And how do we see that? We see in Daniel three, or in the whole of Daniel, these exiles are they come to the Empire of Babylon, and they're forced to speak the same language, read the same literature, wear the clothes and eat the same food and have the same religion. And there's only two places where Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and Daniel disagree, or say we are going to not observe that it's the king's food and and with worship. But there's this idea of empire that's spread throughout Daniel three and Genesis 11.

And if Genesis 11 is a polemic against empire, then then why would that be? What about the Kingdom of God is different? And so I think we could say that empires seek to force conformity. They seek to force conformity around a set of non essential things that they use to create a false sense of unity.

If that's what the kingdoms of the earth are like, what would the Kingdom of Heaven be? The kingdoms of heaven or the kingdom of heaven is about harmonious unity.

And we see that actually laid out in Revelation chapter seven, if you want to turn with me revelation chapter seven, you see in verse nine, the writer says, I.

Yes, after these things, I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could number of all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with right robes and palm branches in their hands, crying out with a loud voice saying, Salvation belongs to God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. So if empires seek this forced conformity, the kingdom of heaven fosters this diverse unity, this harmonious unity.

Scholars talk about how languages, they actually shape worldviews. And so when we see heaven and we see this plurality of languages, we actually are seeing people centered around the Lamb of God, with a plurality of worldviews, all speaking in their tongue, worshiping God. And it's not a forced conformity that says you must have this language and you must have this certain set of ritual expectations, but it's, it's this unity around the Lamb of God.

And so what is harmony? It's two distinct and different entities, two or more distinct and different entities actually working together to create beauty and melody and meaning. And so there's a show in a Broadway show in that used to be in New York called Amazing Grace, and it was the story of John Newton, and he was a slave trader who actually was sold into slavery, and then he became a Christian while in slavery, and wrote the him Amazing Grace. So this show, this Broadway play, follows it, and there's this play ends with them singing Amazing Grace. And I want us to listen to this rendition of amazing grace and hear how it starts in a solitary voice, and then you'll hear voices layered on and then you'll actually there's a part of the song. So don't be alarmed. It'll like switch to kind of an African style music to talk about that part of his or reference that part of his life. And then it'll where we'll end is with everybody singing together about being before the throne of God. And so I want to play this that we might have a an experience of harmony, of what the kingdom of God is like through through a musical encounter. So if you want to play that, the way the show ends, right there is the whole audience actually stands up and sings amazing grace in the middle of New York City. It's it's so moving. You have the the full weight of of the meaning of that song, the idea that when we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first began. When I say that, you're like, oh yeah, that's cool. But when they sing it with their like harmonies and their their their the fullness of their spirits invested in it, there's something that moves in us and moves over us. And so my encouragement to us is, how do we, as the kingdom of God, foster that harmonious unity?

And so we all, we believe that we live in Babylon, or if you don't believe that we can talk about it after and I would argue that we live in Babylon and we live in Babylons. We live in empires that seek force conformity. There are easy others for us to identify. Maybe some of us would be easy for us to say, well, the US government, that's an empire, or the right or the left, or this organization or that corporation, and I think all of those are true, right? I think we can, we can see empires in all of those places. But I think there's also more hidean or more hidden or covert or insidious Babylons that we create.

I think we can create Babylons in our friend groups and our families, or even in our churches, when we elevate non essential attributes, when we require people to look a certain way or talk a certain way, or have certain non essential habits, we are creating Babylons that are seeking forced conformity instead of fostering harmonious unity. And what's what's the issue with this? If we're actually doing good, let's say there are good things that we're creating that we're elevating to the place of essential. Well, I think what happens when we do that? When we create these, create these false empires, it can destroy the value or tarnish the value of the essential. So let's say we have in a church, church, I don't know x, or we can say mountainside, I don't know, but a good Christian does A, B and C, let's say a is they they love God, B is they have a certain evangelistic technique, and C is they have a good sourdough starter, right? Their family has a good sourdough starter, and that's what makes them a good Christian, a good member of our church. Well, when B and C.

Be When, when, when having a certain evangelistic technique and having a sourdough starter are realized as fraudulent essentials, then someone might be inclined to say, well, is the essential thing even essential? And it creates these, this confusion. And so when we create empires, we actually are creating confusion and creating false gods for ourselves.

And so if we have that tendency, if one we live in Babylons, and we need to figure out how to not how to be like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who don't bend the need to the need to the gods of Babylon, but then we also can create our own gods of Babylon. What are we to do about it? Well, I'm glad you asked, because that's what the next part of the story is about. In Daniel three, these three Jewish exiles, they live in Babylon, and they're see and seemingly recently, in Daniel two, they were just promoted because Daniel, if you ever want to know what a good colleague is, look at Daniel, when he gets promoted. He says, Hey, how about my guys over there, right? That's a good colleague, but they just get promoted, and then they have to figure out, what are they going to do in Empire.

And what's interesting is, when I think of empires after that last sentence that we just said about we can be creating empires, and we need to figure how to be subversive. I would think, well, stay the heck out of dodge. Don't have anything to do with an empire. But as exiles Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and Daniel, they offer a different perspective. They actually learn the language, they wear the clothes, they study the literature, and they work for the government. So completely, staying outside of it, isn't it? One isn't necessarily possible, and two isn't what this story necessarily encourages.

But up to this point, all that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and Daniel have done differently in the empire is eat the king's food. But here in Daniel three, the temperature gets turned up and tried a little too hard. I too hard. But when when confronted with the gods of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they refuse to bend the knee. They subvert the kingdom of Babylon, and they shirk their positions of power, these newly attained positions of power. And this is fascinating, and it's so like Christ, if I were in their shoes, I might have the tendency to say, if I was in a corporation that said, if you want to be a good corporate man, you'll do these three things, and your work will become your God, I might say, Well, I was just promoted to a position of power, and I think I could actually do good here. So maybe I'll, I'll bend the knee here and I'll just so I can, like, maybe affect good later, or maybe I just because I crave power.

But these three men, they don't do that. They like Christ. They do not grasp after their power. They give it up knowing that worship of Yahweh is so far supreme to any position that they that it would be worth giving up anything to have that. And this is where, this is where that first movie, The Stalker, that Soviet film, comes back up. The three men. Their deepest desires were not for power. They weren't for comfort, they weren't for safety, and they weren't even for their own lives. Their deepest desires, if they would have stepped into that room, their deepest desires would have been that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would have been glorified.

We see in their response. After they get sold out by their friends, as James highlighted, or their colleagues, they say, oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this way. If this is the case, our God, whom we serve, was able to deliver us from the burning and fiery furnace, He will deliver us from your hand. But if not, let it be known, oh king, that we still will not serve your gods.

They know that their God can save them, but they're not dependent upon the

immediate saving from their immediate persecution, these three men are so confident in the glory and person and character of God that they're willing to lay everything on the lines for it. And so this leads us to to a great question, are we like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, is our deepest desire, the glory of God, or are there other counterfeit gods that we might have elevated? And in Tim Keller, Keller's book, counterfeit gods, he identifies three cultural we could think of Gods of our own Babylon, and he identifies power, sex and money as the big three, and as he is writing, he treats it with greater care and riffs off of Augustine, who says that when we worship anything other than God as ultimate, we are creating counterfeit gods.

Idolatry is not always bowing down to an icon or an.

Idol, it can be having disordered priorities. And CS Lewis, he explores this theme beautifully in his book The Great divorce, and I highly recommend it. Our small group knows that I really have enjoyed this book this year.

It's compact. It really packs a punch, but it's a metaphysical journey to the outskirts of heaven, where people are confronted with their counterfeit gods. One man, he made his theology as God. And CS Lewis says this, you are so concerned with spreading Christianity that you don't care a sting for Christ.

Another man made lust his God.

A wife made her husband her God. But I think the most chilling encounter that we have as we are reading this book is when a mother makes her son her God. Her mother love, which she claims is the purest virtue, has actually become a vice. It's a false religion for her. And after a long conversation, CS Lewis concludes that story with this. He says, There is but one good, and that is, God, everything else is good when it looks to him, and bad when it turns from him, and the higher and mightier it is in the natural order, the more demonetic it will be if it rebels. It is not out of bad mice or bad fleas that you make demons, but out of bad Archangels. The false religion of lust is baser than the false religion of Mother Love or patriotism or art, but lust is less likely to be made into a religion. So the question is, what? What are we worshiping? And I think we all here would actually agree that we all worship, and we want our deepest desires and affections to be for God. But if any of you are out there and you're like, I'm not sure that we worship, I think you can have a life where you live that's not in worship. David Foster Wallace, a notable author from the 2000s he was no longer with us. He's not a believer, but he says this about worship. He says, In the day to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. The compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of God or spiritual type thing to worship, be it JC or Allah, be it Yahweh or a Wiccan mother goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles, is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure, and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you.

On one level, we all know this stuff already. It's been codified as myths, Proverbs, cliches, epigrams, parables, the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up in front of your daily consciousness was Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego teach us is that we worship, and that there are gods of the Babylons that we live in today that crave for our attention, that crave for our worship. And if we're not careful, we can subtly move into these, as CS Lewis puts it, these virtues become vices. And so we want to examine, as the people of mountainside, we want to examine, what are our deepest affections? What do we love most? And Tim Keller encourages us to ask two questions. One, well, he encourages us to ask two questions, because it's so challenging to figure out, what is it that our ultimate loves like that question in the stalker, I want. How do I know what I want? When I say, want to be a vegetarian, but my stomach still hungers for a steak, right? How do we know what our deepest affections are? And Tim Keller says, ask two questions. One, what are the material of your nightmares? And two, what if you lost would cause you to lose the will to live?

These questions, they play off each other that, but they can be helpful for us understanding what we love most.

So how does the story of Daniel three end Nebuchadnezzar? He the three men they come before him, and he gets really mad, and he says, in my translation, he says,

Now, if you are ready to hear the sound of the Horde, the loop, the flute, the harp, the lyre and the psalter, and you will bow down good like that's just good, that's good. But if not, then I will cast you into the fiery furnace in our minds that might conjure up this image of a bunny loving chocolate, Bunny loving cucumber, right? Who wants to throw some veggies onto the grill, but the reality of the story is not near as kind.

It's grotesque and violent. It's PG 13.

Sometimes when we're inundated with these stories, they're the intensity of the stories actually lose their weight. But this is.

Such a severe response. And these three men, they had no idea how the story would end. So they say that they will not bow. And Nebuchadnezzar heats the furnace up seven times hotter, and it says that the image of his face changes, and in his fury, he throws them into the fire. And so just picture you are either Shadrach, Meshach or Abednego, and you have no idea what's happening, but as you're walking, or you're tied up as you're being carried towards the fire, the men around you, these Navy Seals of that day, they're actually being burned alive as they're approaching the fire. And you have no idea what's happening, and you get tossed in and then your ropes burn off, and you stand up, and then in you, with you, in the fire is this Divine Presence, this divine being. And Christians throughout the centuries have interpreted this to be Christ, and I think that's a good interpretation. I'm not a biblical scholar, so people who disagree with that, you probably have good readings on that, but I think it's good and a fair assumption or a fair interpretation for us to see Christ as the one in the fire.

So what is this story telling us? What is the wisdom of Daniel three? Is a story giving us a promise that if we subvert with wisdom and we don't bend the knee to our God, the gods of our culture, that God will will save us from the experience of persecution, that we won't even smell like fire, as Daniel three says.

And I think that's there's you can make an argument for that. But I think the totality of Scripture actually would disagree with that certain conclusion, that if we do it right, then we'll be saved from persecution. The totality of Scripture and the whole of church history actually paints a different story, that when we worship Yahweh, when we have our lives submitted to Christ, we actually will endure persecution. So what is, what is the hope? The hope might be in Matthew five, where Jesus says, Blessed are the persecuted for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and with a little bit of poetic license. So I'm not saying this actually happened. I don't know, but with a little bit of poetic license. What if, when Christ was in the fire and he sees these three Jewish men, he said to them, Blessed are the persecuted for yours is the kingdom of heaven.

And what does that mean? Blessed are the persecuted for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I think that's a whole other sermon that we don't have time to get into today, but perhaps the end of Revelation seven will be instructed for us. So we'll kind of bring it to a close with this. It says,

Then the elders in Revelation seven, verse 13, answered saying to me, who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? And I said to him, Sir, you know. So he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation and washed their robes and made them white and the blood of the Lamb, therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him, day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them.

They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst. The sun shall not strike them nor any heat, for the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to the living the fountain of living waters, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. This idea that, though we will endure persecution, it is Christ, the blood of the Lamb, that washes the robes white.

It is that Christ, who is the great sufferer, the one who is persecuted. He is the One in whom our hope lies. He is the exemplar of our enduring persecution. He entered into the fire. And yet, unlike Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, Christ felt the full weight, felt the full pain of his persecution, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were spared the pain Christ was not yet. He endured it willingly so. Christ our suffering, one who endured the greatest persecution that we might know God.

Yet his was not the final persecution that we know.

It was the fulfillment of it, but it was not yet the completion of it. And we have brothers and sisters today who are actually living in persecution, who have empires around them, be they governments, be they towns, be they families, and they actually really do suffer a very real persecution, and we, in our current social, economic, religious moment, don't actually have such an experience of that. We might hear stories of it, but we have an opportunity to share in the sufferings both of Christ and our brothers and sisters around the world.

And so I.

I want to close today praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who do endure persecution, who, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, are cast into the fire, yet they might be feeling the fullness of the weight of it, and they might have their hope of heaven, of being have having Christ among them and being with him, but in this moment now, they feel the weight and they feel the pain of persecution. And throughout the centuries, Christians have prayed together for the persecuted church.

I would love for us today to gather in groups of two or three with the people around you, and I want us to be praying for the persecuted church, for the church who say we are not going to worship the gods of Babylon, but we're going to choose to worship Yahweh. So there's two points that I want us to pray over. And the first is that's a lot of text, and I should have edited that, so I'm sorry about that, but when, when the three were in the fire, they met Christ. So I want to pray that our persecuted brothers and sisters would meet Christ in their persecution, that they would see him and hear him say, Blessed are the persecuted for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That they would have a real encounter with Jesus as we're praying that we would believe that they would know and experience the nearness of Christ. And then the story of Daniel three, it actually it ends in a really unique way. It ends with the worship of the of Babylon changing. And so the Empire, actually its worship changed, and it wasn't a full change to complete rightness right because Nebuchadnezzar said, If you don't worship this way, I'm going to cut you in half and burn your house down. So that's not what we're going for. That's not the aim, but it's a movement in the right direction, a movement towards the glorification of Yahweh. And so we want, we want to pray together that that the persecuted church, when persecution comes, that we would have our sights set on glorifying the kingdom of God, that our deepest desires and affections would be turned towards God, that we would seek to create a harmonious unity around the essentials.

And so Bree is going to play guitar for a few minutes. These are up there for you. We're going to pray, and then we're going to move immediately into a time of communion. So whoever's doing communion, you can bring it up. And the last note I want to make is when we dip the bread into the cup, or when we take of communion, we are sharing in the sufferings of Christ. We are making his story our own, and we are taking on the story of Christ, and we are being clothed in it. It is our sustenance, it is our source, it is our fuel for our obedience in the kingdom of God, and so we're going to pray, we're going to do communion, and then we're going to worship.