WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.259 Our scripture reading today is from the book of Daniel chapter 1. That's 21 verses of chapter 1 in the book of Daniel. 00:00:10.259 --> 00:00:10.740 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.460 And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his God. 00:00:36.340 --> 00:00:57.320 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both the royal family and of the nobility, youth without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Sheph Chaldeans. 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:03.640 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:08.980 They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. 00:01:10.340 --> 00:01:14.879 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 00:01:15.620 --> 00:01:17.680 And the chief of the eunuch gave them names. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:26.240 Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:31.839 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank. 00:01:32.539 --> 00:01:36.199 Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:41.619 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:44.060 And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, 00:01:44.060 --> 00:01:47.719 I fear my lord the king who assigned your food and your drink. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:52.079 For why should he see that you are in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:56.000 So you would endanger my head with the king. 00:01:56.620 --> 00:02:03.219 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 00:02:03.800 --> 00:02:05.659 Test your servants for ten days. 00:02:06.520 --> 00:02:09.120 Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:14.640 Then let her appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you. 00:02:15.140 --> 00:02:17.400 And deal with your servants according to what you see. 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:21.500 So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. 00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:29.099 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were in better appearance and faster in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. 00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:33.780 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables. 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:39.640 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. 00:02:40.219 --> 00:02:42.819 And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 00:02:43.420 --> 00:02:47.939 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought into the chief of the eunuchs, 00:02:48.500 --> 00:02:50.219 brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:52.280 And this king spoke with them. 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:57.120 And among them all, none of them was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 00:02:57.819 --> 00:02:59.259 Therefore they stood before the king. 00:02:59.259 --> 00:03:03.599 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, 00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:09.299 he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:12.739 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. 00:03:17.060 --> 00:03:17.780 Let's pray. 00:03:18.739 --> 00:03:22.519 Lord, you promised to speak through your word. 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:24.219 So we ask today that you would do that. 00:03:24.219 --> 00:03:29.539 And you say in Isaiah 55 that whenever your word is preached and goes forth, 00:03:29.659 --> 00:03:31.219 that it never returns empty. 00:03:31.379 --> 00:03:33.680 It never fails to do what you want it to do. 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:35.639 So we recognize that truth today. 00:03:35.979 --> 00:03:39.579 And we pray, Lord, that you would open our hearts and speak to us. 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:44.340 Help us to believe that the word of God really is what you say it is, the word of God. 00:03:44.740 --> 00:03:45.879 So we ask for your help. 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:47.460 We pray that in Jesus' name. 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:48.000 Amen. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:48.080 Amen. 00:03:51.139 --> 00:03:53.680 We start today looking at the book of Daniel for the semester. 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:59.520 And Daniel has six of the most memorable stories in the whole Bible. 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:04.659 And it also has six of the most difficult chapters to read in the whole Bible. 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:11.199 And so when you read even this first chapter, you recognize very quickly this is a very ancient text. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:15.759 It's a context that is so far away from us and so different from us. 00:04:16.420 --> 00:04:23.980 And yet at the same time, I hope you'll see today how relevant the book of Daniel is for us, especially in our moment. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:27.939 So we're going to focus on just verses one to seven mainly today. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:31.219 And we'll start with the stories next week. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.939 So the first story of Daniel and his friends coming to Nebuchadnezzar's table. 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:36.120 That's next week. 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:42.699 So today, let's just look at the first seven verses and try to understand the book of Daniel, especially as a whole. 00:04:43.220 --> 00:04:49.379 There are three little moments in these first seven verses, three words or little phrases, 00:04:49.939 --> 00:04:57.860 that if you get them, the whole book will open up in a way to understand what it's saying and also understand how relevant it is. 00:04:58.699 --> 00:05:01.180 And here's the three phrases, the three words. 00:05:01.220 --> 00:05:02.160 I'm going to give them to you now. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:05.960 Now, the first one is in verse two, and it's the land of Shinar. 00:05:07.180 --> 00:05:08.840 What is the meaning of the land of Shinar? 00:05:09.700 --> 00:05:16.280 And then secondly, in verse seven, it says the chief eunuch gave Daniel and his three friends new names. 00:05:16.940 --> 00:05:17.920 And that's very important. 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:24.860 And then the last one is in verse two and nine and 17, this threefold chorus refrain, 00:05:25.379 --> 00:05:27.020 and the Lord gave. 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:34.099 So if we get those and open those up a bit, you'll see the whole point of the book of Daniel, 00:05:34.419 --> 00:05:36.099 and it'll help us for the rest of the semester. 00:05:36.359 --> 00:05:37.899 So let's look at it together. 00:05:38.060 --> 00:05:40.819 First, the meaning of this little phrase, the land of Shinar. 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:49.539 We know, you don't have to be a Christian today or have grown up in the church to know some of the stories from Daniel. 00:05:49.540 --> 00:05:52.160 You probably know about Daniel and the lion's den. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:56.580 You probably know about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace. 00:05:56.920 --> 00:05:58.240 These are very famous stories. 00:05:58.980 --> 00:06:04.680 But when you read Daniel very carefully, verse by verse, and really look closely at the words, 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:06.320 there are depths to Daniel. 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:13.000 Daniel's the writer, and he's connecting us to all sorts of other parts of the Bible as he writes 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:16.320 and uses very particular words and phrases to do that. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:23.259 But here in verse 1 and 2, we learn that this is the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:29.540 And King Jehoiakim was the king in Jerusalem, in Judah, in the southern part of Israel. 00:06:30.899 --> 00:06:34.639 And the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim was not his best year. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:36.939 Okay, so what happened? 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:44.899 This great, powerful king named Nebuchadnezzar, who was the king of the power of the world that had risen, 00:06:45.100 --> 00:06:52.420 defeated Assyria, the previous great empire, and gone in 605 and defeated Egypt, the other great world power. 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:59.939 This king, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, he comes after beating Egypt at the Battle of Carchemash. 00:06:59.939 --> 00:07:06.120 He goes up to Jerusalem to take care of this tiny little city relative to everybody else. 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:09.120 And when he goes there, he does not destroy it. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:14.439 So you may, if you know much about Old Testament history at all, you may know the year 587, 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:20.139 that famous year when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple, Solomon's temple, and leveled Jerusalem. 00:07:20.819 --> 00:07:24.740 But Nebuchadnezzar had actually come to Jerusalem a couple times before that as well. 00:07:24.740 --> 00:07:29.840 And the first time he comes is in 605, and he doesn't destroy anything. 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:41.220 Instead, he goes and he ransacks it a bit, but he takes the professional class, 10,000 people in Jerusalem, 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:43.420 and he ships them off to Babylon. 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:48.639 And then he also, we learn here, takes the gold and the silver from the temple of the Lord himself 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:52.180 and takes it to the temple of Marduk in Babylon. 00:07:52.180 --> 00:07:56.620 And so he goes and he takes people and he takes property, and we'll come back to why in just a minute. 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:02.300 But when this writer, Daniel, describes this event in verse 1 and 2, 00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:06.759 when these 10,000 people are taking into Babylon, including Daniel and his three friends, 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:13.939 the word that he chooses to use is that he brought them, Nebuchadnezzar brought them to the land of Shinar. 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:17.720 You could translate that as into Babylon. 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:20.540 But he doesn't say Babylon. 00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:22.640 He says Shinar, and that's important. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:25.660 And it's because, it's important for this reason. 00:08:26.260 --> 00:08:28.400 This word Shinar is an archaism. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:29.800 It's a very old word. 00:08:31.140 --> 00:08:35.960 And it'd be like going to JFK in New York to fly to Edinburgh. 00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:38.220 Maybe some of you have had that experience. 00:08:38.580 --> 00:08:40.820 And you go up to the front desk and you say, 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:42.800 I'd like to get a ticket to Caledonia, please. 00:08:43.460 --> 00:08:43.639 Right? 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:48.720 Now, some of you, I can tell, don't understand that because maybe you're not from here. 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:53.879 Caledonia is the old Roman word for this area, for Scotland. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:54.580 Right? 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.039 It'd be like going and saying, I'd like to fly to Caledonia. 00:08:58.059 --> 00:08:59.659 Maybe you will know this a little better. 00:08:59.740 --> 00:09:02.919 It'd be like in tea and coffee coming up to somebody and saying, 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:03.840 Good morrow, sir. 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:05.819 How fair thou. 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:06.439 Right? 00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:09.439 That's Middle English for normal everyday greetings. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:12.280 But if you say that to somebody today, it would be weird. 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:17.160 In the same way that this choice to say Shinar is strange. 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:21.620 And the reason he doesn't say Babylon, he will later, but he says Shinar. 00:09:21.960 --> 00:09:24.280 If you're a reader of the Bible, you may know why. 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:28.580 You may remember where this phrase, the land of Shinar, shows up. 00:09:28.640 --> 00:09:29.900 And it shows up in the book of Genesis. 00:09:31.220 --> 00:09:35.460 And in the book of Genesis, we have this moment in Genesis 11, verse 1 and 2, 00:09:35.680 --> 00:09:36.460 where it says, 00:09:36.460 --> 00:09:39.660 The whole earth had one language and the same words. 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:45.600 And as a people, they migrated to the east, and they found a plain in the land of Shinar. 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:48.840 And they settled there, and they said, 00:09:49.379 --> 00:09:51.660 Come, let us build for ourselves a city. 00:09:52.680 --> 00:09:57.400 And let us build its towers to the heavens and make a name for ourselves. 00:09:57.820 --> 00:10:00.379 And that, of course, is the Tower of Babel, Tower of Babel. 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:03.960 And the Tower of Babel was placed in the land of Shinar. 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:08.379 And the writer here is connecting us to that and trying to get us to remember that. 00:10:08.500 --> 00:10:08.700 Why? 00:10:09.259 --> 00:10:13.080 Because Babel in the land of Shinar is proto-Babylon. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:15.759 It's the first great city of Babylon. 00:10:16.500 --> 00:10:22.240 And here we're reading about the way Babylon, Babel, developed over the centuries into this great empire. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:28.879 And the reason I think that Daniel is using the word Shinar is because he knows that every Old Testament reader, 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:35.899 and then if you read the rest of the Bible, you start to realize that Babel or Babylon becomes a great symbol throughout the whole Bible 00:10:35.899 --> 00:10:43.659 for the reality of the human heart set against the city of God. 00:10:43.659 --> 00:10:52.679 From the time of the Tower of Babel all the way to this moment, Babel or Babylon becomes this great symbol for the truth of what's going on in the human heart. 00:10:53.839 --> 00:10:55.199 And that's why he uses this word. 00:10:55.259 --> 00:10:58.879 He's trying to contextualize it spiritually and tell us where we are spiritually. 00:10:59.699 --> 00:11:05.779 And over and over again in the Bible, Babylon is used in this way, Revelation 18, 17, for example. 00:11:05.779 --> 00:11:15.600 It's a symbol that says every single human heart ever since Genesis 3 has desired to build towers up to the heavens 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:22.259 in order to save ourselves and actually slay God and bring him down. 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:24.779 That's the meaning of the Tower of Babel. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:30.039 They wanted to make a name for themselves, and the goal was to build a temple all the way into the heavens 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:34.919 to actually kill God, the real God, where creature would become creator 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:37.439 and creator would be cast down. 00:11:38.179 --> 00:11:43.879 And ever since then, in all the Bible, Babylon becomes a symbol for that reality in the human heart. 00:11:46.099 --> 00:11:49.379 Babylon was one of the great cities, one of the greatest cities that has ever existed. 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:53.779 And, you know, there's more myths about it than truths that we really know, 00:11:53.939 --> 00:11:58.279 but Rome is one of the other great cities that existed and still exist. 00:11:58.279 --> 00:12:06.600 And in the year 410, one of the great events that really shapes who we are today happened. 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:13.159 The Visigoths came and sacked the city of Rome in the year 410, August 23rd and August 24th. 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:16.120 And this guy named Alaric led the Visigoths. 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:21.120 And people had believed that Rome was going to be this eternal city that never went away. 00:12:21.699 --> 00:12:23.539 They had thought Rome is the hope of the world. 00:12:23.539 --> 00:12:27.599 And Alaric comes in with the Visigoths and he sacks the city. 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:32.019 And the scariest part about it is that when he did that, he came for three days, 00:12:32.980 --> 00:12:39.079 two full days, three nights, and he plundered a bit, but he didn't set himself up as the emperor. 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:42.099 Instead, he sacked the city and he just left. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:45.679 And he left all the Roman citizens behind. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:50.419 And one of the things that got said about that was the nobility of Rome said, 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:53.099 the reason that this has happened is because of the Christians. 00:12:53.819 --> 00:12:58.699 See, ever since Christianity came to Rome, people have stopped worshiping all the gods. 00:12:58.899 --> 00:13:01.319 And they're not paying tribute to the gods like they're supposed to. 00:13:01.599 --> 00:13:04.439 And so the gods are condemning us and judging us through the Visigoths. 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:12.740 But then the Christians also were afraid because the Christians at that time thought Rome was going to be the hope of the world. 00:13:12.839 --> 00:13:17.179 They thought, surely Jesus is going to turn this place into the city of God itself. 00:13:17.179 --> 00:13:19.839 And we're doing our work to make that happen. 00:13:20.359 --> 00:13:20.959 That's what they thought. 00:13:21.059 --> 00:13:26.659 And so St. Augustine, Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, he comes and writes this very famous book, 00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:34.120 thousand pages that you probably only ever read if you take some great text class in university or something like that. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:39.759 And he had a thesis and he said to the nobles in Rome that were blaming it on the Christians, 00:13:40.219 --> 00:13:41.819 saying Rome is the hope of eternity. 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:45.260 And to the Christians who were saying Rome is the hope of eternity, 00:13:46.160 --> 00:13:54.760 Augustine said there is no city of man, no city in this world, no nation that will ever be the city of God. 00:13:55.540 --> 00:13:56.580 No great kingdom. 00:13:57.520 --> 00:14:02.920 And to believe that is just to inhabit the truths of Babylon, to have a Babylonian heart. 00:14:03.540 --> 00:14:06.560 In other words, a Babylonian heart is when you say, 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:12.219 I'm going to take something in this creaturely domain, something that was created by the real God, 00:14:12.419 --> 00:14:19.659 and I'm going to elevate it and build for myself a tower with it that will get me to the heavens and will save me. 00:14:20.299 --> 00:14:25.539 And another way to say it is the Babylonian heart or the Babylonian captivity that we all come into this world with 00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:27.959 is just the good old-fashioned word idolatry. 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:34.240 And Babylon becomes the great symbol throughout the whole Bible of the truth of what's going on in our hearts 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:36.259 and in every city, including our city. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:41.560 That idolatry is at the center of every city of man, at every society, 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:46.540 and that it will always be that way until the Lord brings the city of God. 00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:49.460 There's no hope in Babylon, there's no hope in Rome, and there's no hope in Edinburgh either. 00:14:50.820 --> 00:14:52.360 Every city is a city of man. 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:56.220 And that means that the Bible comes and tells us, 00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:00.060 if you're a Christian today, Hebrews 3 and 4, 1 Peter 1, 00:15:00.340 --> 00:15:02.159 we are all in exile in this life, 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:07.300 living in the city of man, awaiting, longing for the city of God to come. 00:15:07.779 --> 00:15:12.840 And so the reason that Daniel, the writer, says Shinar is because of all that. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:17.100 Because at the heart of every city, at the heart of every human is idolatry, Babylon. 00:15:17.580 --> 00:15:20.779 We have Babylonian captivity in our hearts and in our lives, 00:15:20.779 --> 00:15:22.339 and that's what's going on here. 00:15:22.939 --> 00:15:23.740 I need to move on. 00:15:23.959 --> 00:15:27.220 But at the very center of this book, 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:31.240 I think probably the most important moment to explain this book is in Daniel 4, 00:15:31.579 --> 00:15:34.779 when Nebuchadnezzar comes out onto his terrace, 00:15:34.899 --> 00:15:36.620 and he looks out at the city of Babylon, 00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:37.679 and he says, 00:15:38.319 --> 00:15:43.379 Look at this great city that I built with the might of my power 00:15:43.379 --> 00:15:45.039 and for the glory of my majesty. 00:15:45.579 --> 00:15:48.039 And then, of course, Nebuchadnezzar is cast down like a beast. 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:51.939 And he's saying at the heart of every human being is that attitude. 00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:55.959 And the attitude that, the pride that says, 00:15:56.379 --> 00:15:58.519 I can build my own salvation. 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:01.159 And we'll come later to Daniel 4, 00:16:01.219 --> 00:16:02.699 and we'll learn that it's beast-like. 00:16:02.860 --> 00:16:03.579 It's beast-like. 00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:07.360 Secondly, the new names here. 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:10.419 Now, let's focus in a little more tightly. 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:11.319 That's a broad look. 00:16:11.799 --> 00:16:13.719 More focused here on Daniel himself. 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:18.120 In verse 7, we learn that the chief of the eunuchs 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:21.920 gave Daniel and his friends new names. 00:16:22.519 --> 00:16:25.360 So here, Daniel and his friends are now in Babylon, 00:16:26.259 --> 00:16:28.820 and they're at Nebuchadnezzar's table in his courtroom. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.040 And if you just look for a second at the new names that they're given, 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:37.820 it really helps explain what's going on really precisely in this book. 00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:40.560 Daniel's name is a Hebrew name, 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:43.019 and it means God is my judge. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:46.199 But here, he's named Belteshazzar. 00:16:47.259 --> 00:16:50.359 And in Babylon, they spoke the language Aramaic. 00:16:50.819 --> 00:16:54.439 But in the court, they would often study in Akkadian, 00:16:54.599 --> 00:16:56.000 or use the Akkadian language, 00:16:56.299 --> 00:16:58.839 just like academics in Edinburgh for centuries and centuries 00:16:58.839 --> 00:17:00.459 use Latin more commonly. 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:01.359 And in the same way, 00:17:01.699 --> 00:17:03.899 so Daniel here is given an Akkadian name. 00:17:03.899 --> 00:17:07.299 And his Akkadian name means, 00:17:07.619 --> 00:17:09.039 Bel protects the king. 00:17:09.500 --> 00:17:12.500 So he's actually named after one of the gods of Babylon, Bel. 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:14.460 And then Hananiah, 00:17:14.740 --> 00:17:16.339 his name is Yat means in Hebrew, 00:17:16.500 --> 00:17:18.240 Yahweh is gracious, the Lord is gracious. 00:17:18.639 --> 00:17:20.160 But he's renamed Shadrach. 00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:23.799 We probably know these guys far better by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:25.440 than their original Hebrew names. 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:29.099 Shadrach means commanded by Aku, 00:17:29.660 --> 00:17:32.119 which is the moon god of the city of Babylon. 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:36.619 And Mishael, his name is translated something like, 00:17:36.979 --> 00:17:38.059 who is like God? 00:17:38.679 --> 00:17:39.779 Who is like the real God? 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:40.379 Nobody. 00:17:41.139 --> 00:17:45.919 But he's renamed in Akkadian to the name Meshach, 00:17:46.199 --> 00:17:47.839 which is just who is like Aku, 00:17:48.539 --> 00:17:50.139 who is like the moon god Aku in Babylon. 00:17:50.299 --> 00:17:51.519 And then lastly, Azariah. 00:17:51.919 --> 00:17:54.479 His name means Yahweh is my help, the Lord is my help. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:56.919 And he's renamed to Abednego, 00:17:57.479 --> 00:18:00.179 servant of Nebo, one of the other gods of Babylon. 00:18:00.180 --> 00:18:09.120 Now, Nebuchadnezzar's plan was not to go to Jerusalem and to devastate it. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:12.600 It was not to go to Jerusalem and ransack it and plunder and kill everybody. 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:16.580 Instead, his plan was to dominate the world. 00:18:16.779 --> 00:18:17.039 How? 00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:19.820 Annihilation by assimilation. 00:18:19.819 --> 00:18:22.579 The goal was not to kill everyone. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:28.819 Instead, the goal was to assimilate Judah and Jerusalem into Babylonianism. 00:18:30.159 --> 00:18:32.099 And here's his great plan. 00:18:32.579 --> 00:18:35.639 In other words, the danger here for the people of God, 00:18:36.379 --> 00:18:40.200 the danger here in Babylon in the ancient world and for us today, 00:18:40.419 --> 00:18:44.439 is not so much being excluded by the city but being far too included. 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:50.120 It's not so much being pushed away to the margins as we often think about it. 00:18:50.320 --> 00:18:54.180 The danger that's being told about in the book of Daniel is being so included 00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:58.100 that you assimilate and eventually lose your faith. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:18:59.680 And so that was the goal. 00:19:00.360 --> 00:19:02.600 Renaming in the ancient world was so important. 00:19:02.860 --> 00:19:06.480 And they're renaming them at the beginning of this three-year educational process 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:11.259 into the magic occult of Babylon, hoping that they can assimilate them, 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:14.740 send them back to Jerusalem, and capture all of Jerusalem 00:19:14.740 --> 00:19:16.819 through this process of assimilation. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:20.160 And that means that when you come to this book, 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:23.960 boy, this is where we see how relevant it is. 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:26.180 This book is asking the question, 00:19:26.360 --> 00:19:31.500 how can a believer in the Lord remain faithful in Babylon? 00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:35.240 How can a believer in the Lord, the true God, 00:19:35.299 --> 00:19:38.019 remain faithful in a culture of assimilation, 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:40.880 acculturation in the midst of a Babylonian city? 00:19:41.059 --> 00:19:42.400 That's the question of the book of Daniel. 00:19:43.180 --> 00:19:47.420 And they were surrounded by polytheism and pluralism 00:19:47.420 --> 00:19:49.400 and idolatry of all kinds. 00:19:50.019 --> 00:19:51.619 And you can look up today, and if you're a believer, 00:19:51.779 --> 00:19:55.019 you can clearly recognize we are surrounded by polytheism 00:19:55.019 --> 00:19:57.059 and pluralism and idolatry of all kinds. 00:19:57.059 --> 00:20:02.440 And the question is, how can you remain faithful as an exile in the city of man 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:05.799 until the city of God comes, just like Daniel and his friends? 00:20:07.139 --> 00:20:09.879 Scotland, just like many other places across Europe, 00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:11.759 we know we say this all the time, 00:20:12.879 --> 00:20:16.819 Christianity used to be right at the center of most of the institutions of our culture. 00:20:17.419 --> 00:20:20.679 And, of course, now Christianity has been pulled to the margins of our culture. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:25.339 And Christians, Bible-believing, gospel-believing, resurrection-believing Christians, 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:28.179 are a tiny minority in our population. 00:20:29.179 --> 00:20:30.659 And, boy, is this book not relevant. 00:20:30.779 --> 00:20:31.899 It comes and asks you the question, 00:20:31.980 --> 00:20:34.279 how do you stay, how do you live as a Christian 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:37.699 in a pluralist, polytheistic context 00:20:37.699 --> 00:20:40.079 where idolatry is actually at the center of the culture? 00:20:40.980 --> 00:20:42.959 But one of the things it's also telling us here 00:20:42.959 --> 00:20:45.899 is that living in exile, living in exile, 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:49.279 back to Hebrews 3 and 4, back to 1 Peter 1, 00:20:49.819 --> 00:20:52.179 where Peter looks out and says to every person, 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:53.240 every person that's a Christian, 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:56.220 you're in exile until the city of God comes, 00:20:56.259 --> 00:20:57.920 you're living a life of exile. 00:20:59.880 --> 00:21:01.259 Living in exile for us, 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:03.299 we need to, boy, we need to hear this, 00:21:03.420 --> 00:21:08.900 living in exile is not a time or season in our lives. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:10.900 It's the whole of the Christian life. 00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:13.680 It's not to look out at the culture and say, 00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:16.039 well, boy, things used to be so much better than they are now. 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:19.079 The Bible actually says that living in exile 00:21:19.079 --> 00:21:22.740 is not a season in which culture is not healthy. 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:25.779 Living in exile is the whole of the Christian life. 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:27.619 There is no golden age. 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:30.480 There is no time when things were great. 00:21:31.379 --> 00:21:34.099 Idolatry is always at the center of the city of man. 00:21:34.460 --> 00:21:37.579 No matter how much Christianity gets into the institutions, 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:39.220 it's still not the city of God, 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:41.019 not the city of God that is to come. 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:44.099 And so this book comes in whole 00:21:44.099 --> 00:21:45.160 and tries to say, 00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:47.819 how do you live with wisdom and hope and faithfulness 00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:49.960 in the midst of a lifelong exile 00:21:49.960 --> 00:21:51.799 that you've entered into as a Christian? 00:21:53.799 --> 00:21:56.240 One of the things to see that's really important, 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:57.799 I think, about how to read the book of Daniel 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:00.559 is that in the Old Testament, 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:03.259 before it was translated to English, 00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:05.220 it was in slightly different order, 00:22:05.299 --> 00:22:06.599 the books of the Old Testament were. 00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:08.980 And Daniel shows up, 00:22:09.059 --> 00:22:11.119 not in the prophets like we have Daniel 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:13.159 here in our English Bible, 00:22:13.299 --> 00:22:15.059 but in the Hebrew Bible, 00:22:15.159 --> 00:22:15.779 the Old Testament, 00:22:15.939 --> 00:22:17.500 before it was rearranged a little bit, 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:19.839 Daniel shows up amidst the wisdom books. 00:22:20.179 --> 00:22:22.699 And it shows up right next to the book of Esther. 00:22:23.419 --> 00:22:24.699 And so what you have in the Old Testament 00:22:24.699 --> 00:22:26.439 is Daniel and Esther, 00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:27.980 a man and a woman, 00:22:28.899 --> 00:22:31.799 showing you how to live a life of faithfulness, 00:22:31.859 --> 00:22:33.259 hope, wisdom in the midst of exile. 00:22:33.439 --> 00:22:34.459 These two great examples. 00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:36.740 So Daniel is ultimately a wisdom book. 00:22:37.620 --> 00:22:38.340 And week by week, 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:39.519 we're gonna see the wisdom 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:41.480 of what it looks like to live in faithfulness 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:43.299 and hope and wisdom in wisdom 00:22:43.299 --> 00:22:45.380 in the midst of this exilic life 00:22:45.380 --> 00:22:46.200 that the Christian leads. 00:22:46.600 --> 00:22:47.400 So let me finish 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:51.180 by giving you the first principle of wisdom 00:22:51.180 --> 00:22:53.920 that this chapter gives us. 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:55.180 And we'll look at two more next week. 00:22:56.200 --> 00:22:58.120 And so the first is found in verse two, 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:00.360 verse nine, verse 17, 00:23:00.980 --> 00:23:03.079 three different times in this passage. 00:23:03.079 --> 00:23:04.079 It says, 00:23:04.299 --> 00:23:06.919 the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, 00:23:07.419 --> 00:23:08.599 into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. 00:23:09.939 --> 00:23:13.939 So God, if you're a Bible reader 00:23:13.939 --> 00:23:15.559 and you've read the book of Esther, 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:17.879 you know that God is not mentioned 00:23:17.879 --> 00:23:19.299 across the book of Esther, right? 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:21.039 In the same way in the book of Daniel, 00:23:21.179 --> 00:23:22.659 God is not mentioned very often. 00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:24.779 So after chapter one, 00:23:24.899 --> 00:23:26.859 we don't see the name of God hardly at all. 00:23:27.299 --> 00:23:28.379 And there's only one time 00:23:28.379 --> 00:23:29.399 in the whole of the book of Daniel 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:31.660 that the covenant name, Yahweh, 00:23:31.840 --> 00:23:33.460 the name from Exodus three of God 00:23:33.460 --> 00:23:34.620 shows up in Daniel's prayer. 00:23:34.740 --> 00:23:35.140 That's it. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:36.340 No other time in the whole book. 00:23:37.280 --> 00:23:38.200 And for that reason, 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:39.580 when you come to chapter one 00:23:39.580 --> 00:23:41.780 and you see the Lord gave, 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:42.740 the Lord gave, 00:23:42.860 --> 00:23:44.800 the Lord gave in the first story, 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:46.780 and then very little mention 00:23:46.780 --> 00:23:48.620 of the Lord or God after that, 00:23:49.040 --> 00:23:50.200 the writer's trying to say, 00:23:50.280 --> 00:23:51.060 pay attention to that. 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:52.420 This is setting up something 00:23:52.420 --> 00:23:53.820 that you need to be aware of, 00:23:54.140 --> 00:23:55.100 the great principle 00:23:55.100 --> 00:23:56.220 throughout the whole of the book. 00:23:56.220 --> 00:23:58.360 And here's the first principle. 00:23:58.819 --> 00:24:00.740 When you open up this first story, 00:24:01.860 --> 00:24:06.140 it looks a whole lot like God 00:24:06.140 --> 00:24:07.539 and his people have lost. 00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:11.440 His people have been scattered, 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:12.600 taken into exile. 00:24:12.839 --> 00:24:14.500 They're being annihilated by assimilation. 00:24:14.860 --> 00:24:15.819 But even more than that, 00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:17.200 and only an ancient reader 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:18.559 would really catch this, 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:21.579 it says that Nebuchadnezzar 00:24:21.579 --> 00:24:23.319 took the silver and the gold 00:24:23.319 --> 00:24:26.159 from out of the temple of the Lord 00:24:26.159 --> 00:24:26.659 in Jerusalem, 00:24:26.779 --> 00:24:28.319 and he brought it to the temple 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:29.399 of his God, Marduk, 00:24:30.139 --> 00:24:31.859 a very evil deity in the Old Testament. 00:24:32.899 --> 00:24:34.740 And in an ancient person's mind, 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:35.460 when they read this, 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:36.599 what they think is, 00:24:37.879 --> 00:24:40.500 if a culture, a civilization, 00:24:41.059 --> 00:24:42.859 that follows a certain God like Marduk 00:24:42.859 --> 00:24:44.839 goes and defeats another culture 00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:46.039 that follows a different God 00:24:46.039 --> 00:24:46.659 like the Lord 00:24:46.659 --> 00:24:48.819 and takes and plunders their temple 00:24:48.819 --> 00:24:50.579 and brings back the things 00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:51.639 that were devoted to the Lord, 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:52.960 to the temple of Marduk, 00:24:53.320 --> 00:24:55.220 it's saying Marduk has won, 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:56.420 Babylon has won, 00:24:56.700 --> 00:24:57.620 Nebuchadnezzar has won, 00:24:58.120 --> 00:24:59.480 the religion of the Israelites 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:00.840 is lost. 00:25:01.620 --> 00:25:01.940 It's gone. 00:25:02.020 --> 00:25:03.340 It looks so much in this book 00:25:03.340 --> 00:25:05.480 like God's people 00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:07.120 and God himself have actually lost. 00:25:08.520 --> 00:25:10.220 And three times in chapter one, 00:25:10.300 --> 00:25:11.640 it comes in the midst of that context 00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:13.600 and says it's the Lord that gave, 00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:14.580 the Lord that gave, 00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:15.600 the Lord that gave. 00:25:15.860 --> 00:25:17.180 And that means the very first principle 00:25:17.180 --> 00:25:18.780 of wisdom in a life of exile 00:25:18.779 --> 00:25:21.359 that this book is asking you to see 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:24.279 is that it is the Lord 00:25:24.279 --> 00:25:28.059 that puts his people into exile. 00:25:30.779 --> 00:25:34.019 It's the Lord that put you, 00:25:34.420 --> 00:25:35.700 Christian person here today, 00:25:35.859 --> 00:25:38.079 into a city that doesn't largely, 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:39.559 for large measure, know Jesus. 00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:42.779 It's actually God that gave us this. 00:25:44.399 --> 00:25:45.319 So in other words, 00:25:45.379 --> 00:25:46.740 it's asking us not to say, 00:25:46.740 --> 00:25:49.460 oh, the culture and lament it. 00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:50.640 There's truths there. 00:25:50.759 --> 00:25:51.660 We should do that 00:25:51.660 --> 00:25:52.579 and can do that in a way. 00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:53.400 But instead, 00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:54.539 this is asking us to see 00:25:54.539 --> 00:25:56.160 it is actually God 00:25:56.160 --> 00:25:57.500 who has brought the culture 00:25:57.500 --> 00:25:59.079 to the place where it is. 00:26:00.120 --> 00:26:01.120 And he's in control. 00:26:01.460 --> 00:26:02.680 And he's the one that's 00:26:02.680 --> 00:26:03.759 raising up the nations 00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:04.680 and casting them down. 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:06.700 And he brought his people to Babylon. 00:26:06.859 --> 00:26:08.279 And he put Nebuchadnezzar on the throne. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:10.620 And he's doing something in that 00:26:10.620 --> 00:26:11.620 that we don't understand. 00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:12.740 And so he's asking us 00:26:12.740 --> 00:26:13.579 not to sit around 00:26:13.579 --> 00:26:15.059 and merely lament the culture, 00:26:15.059 --> 00:26:16.460 but instead to realize 00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:18.740 God gave this to us 00:26:18.740 --> 00:26:19.839 and gave us to it. 00:26:20.679 --> 00:26:21.720 He gave us to this city. 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:23.859 And we're here for this place. 00:26:24.579 --> 00:26:25.460 And he has us here, 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:26.299 what did Esther say, 00:26:26.359 --> 00:26:27.579 for such a time as this. 00:26:28.220 --> 00:26:29.299 Whatever he may be doing 00:26:29.299 --> 00:26:30.460 in the midst of a time 00:26:30.460 --> 00:26:30.980 where we say, 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:32.379 we wish Christianity 00:26:32.379 --> 00:26:33.799 was the heartbeat of Scotland. 00:26:34.899 --> 00:26:36.259 But this is where God's put us 00:26:36.259 --> 00:26:36.839 in this moment, 00:26:36.919 --> 00:26:37.399 in this time. 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:39.119 And he's given this to us. 00:26:39.179 --> 00:26:39.899 Now, let me give you 00:26:39.899 --> 00:26:41.119 two things to do with this 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:41.599 and we'll finish. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:46.539 This little phrase, 00:26:46.659 --> 00:26:47.279 the Lord gave, 00:26:47.339 --> 00:26:48.339 doesn't just show up here, 00:26:48.459 --> 00:26:50.079 but if you read across 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:51.099 the Old Testament, 00:26:51.219 --> 00:26:51.939 there's lots of places 00:26:51.939 --> 00:26:53.619 to read about the Babylonian exile. 00:26:54.639 --> 00:26:55.579 Ezekiel is one. 00:26:56.379 --> 00:26:57.719 Isaiah talks about it, 00:26:57.799 --> 00:26:58.539 prophesies it. 00:26:58.980 --> 00:26:59.980 But one of the places 00:26:59.980 --> 00:27:01.159 is in the book of Jeremiah. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:03.179 And in Jeremiah 28, 00:27:03.939 --> 00:27:05.159 we have this moment 00:27:05.159 --> 00:27:07.279 where lots of the people 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:08.899 who had been exiled to Babylon 00:27:08.900 --> 00:27:10.680 are all sitting around 00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:11.800 the Kabar Canal. 00:27:12.300 --> 00:27:13.000 You read about this 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:14.900 in the beginning of Ezekiel as well. 00:27:15.460 --> 00:27:16.200 And the Kabar Canal 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:16.800 is this canal 00:27:16.800 --> 00:27:18.320 just outside of the city of Babylon. 00:27:18.980 --> 00:27:19.759 And there they are 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:20.519 and they're waiting 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:21.580 and they're lamenting. 00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:22.680 In Psalm 137, 00:27:23.060 --> 00:27:24.700 how can we sing the Lord's song 00:27:24.700 --> 00:27:25.820 in this place? 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:27.120 He's taken everything. 00:27:27.180 --> 00:27:27.900 Nebuchadnezzar has taken 00:27:27.900 --> 00:27:28.880 everything from us. 00:27:29.180 --> 00:27:30.280 How can we survive this? 00:27:31.740 --> 00:27:33.000 And so this prophet, 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:33.840 Hananiah, 00:27:33.940 --> 00:27:34.740 back in Jerusalem, 00:27:35.720 --> 00:27:37.200 he goes to the people 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:37.720 in Jerusalem 00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:38.759 and he says, 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:41.079 the Lord has spoken to me 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:42.140 and the Lord told me 00:27:42.140 --> 00:27:43.640 that in two years, 00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:44.640 Yahweh, 00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:45.640 the real God, 00:27:45.700 --> 00:27:47.460 is going to destroy Nebuchadnezzar 00:27:47.460 --> 00:27:48.740 and break his back, 00:27:48.900 --> 00:27:49.319 it says. 00:27:49.420 --> 00:27:50.620 And he's going to bring 00:27:50.620 --> 00:27:51.559 all these exiles 00:27:51.559 --> 00:27:52.319 back to Jerusalem. 00:27:53.100 --> 00:27:53.500 And so he says, 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:54.079 what we need to do 00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:55.360 is we need to write a letter 00:27:55.360 --> 00:27:57.059 to the citizens in Babylon, 00:27:57.220 --> 00:27:58.079 the people who have been exiled, 00:27:58.160 --> 00:27:58.500 and say, 00:27:58.799 --> 00:27:59.799 just wait where you are, 00:28:00.279 --> 00:28:01.180 stay at the Kabar Canal, 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:03.920 don't get stuck in, 00:28:05.220 --> 00:28:05.579 he says, 00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:06.940 because it's only two years. 00:28:06.940 --> 00:28:08.460 And then the Lord 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:09.220 will fix all this. 00:28:09.420 --> 00:28:10.519 He will bring the city of God. 00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:12.299 And Jeremiah, 00:28:12.740 --> 00:28:14.039 in Jeremiah 28, 00:28:14.220 --> 00:28:14.820 the prophet Jeremiah 00:28:14.820 --> 00:28:16.180 comes to Hananiah 00:28:16.180 --> 00:28:17.080 and he stands before 00:28:17.080 --> 00:28:18.120 the elders in Jerusalem 00:28:18.120 --> 00:28:18.580 and says, 00:28:18.779 --> 00:28:19.860 this is a false prophet. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:22.019 And Jeremiah says, 00:28:22.120 --> 00:28:22.420 no, 00:28:22.580 --> 00:28:23.740 the Lord has spoken to me 00:28:23.740 --> 00:28:24.279 and said, 00:28:24.539 --> 00:28:25.840 the Lord gave, 00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:28.120 the Lord delivered us 00:28:28.120 --> 00:28:29.740 into Babylon. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:31.880 And then he gives 00:28:31.880 --> 00:28:32.960 this very famous, 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:34.920 he gives us 00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:35.680 our marching orders. 00:28:36.120 --> 00:28:36.279 Okay, 00:28:36.539 --> 00:28:37.200 very famous, 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:38.180 Jeremiah 29, 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:39.019 what does he say? 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:40.480 For such a time as this, 00:28:40.740 --> 00:28:41.860 to all the exiles 00:28:41.860 --> 00:28:43.920 whom I have sent 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:44.720 into exile, 00:28:45.820 --> 00:28:46.259 so that's where 00:28:46.259 --> 00:28:47.380 Christians do today, 00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:48.620 from Jerusalem 00:28:48.620 --> 00:28:49.400 to Babylon, 00:28:49.820 --> 00:28:50.539 build houses 00:28:50.539 --> 00:28:51.320 and live in them, 00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:52.400 plant gardens, 00:28:52.580 --> 00:28:53.259 eat their produce, 00:28:53.700 --> 00:28:54.240 take wives, 00:28:54.320 --> 00:28:55.220 have sons and daughters, 00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:56.420 take wives for your sons, 00:28:56.800 --> 00:28:57.680 give your daughters away 00:28:57.680 --> 00:28:58.160 in marriage 00:28:58.160 --> 00:28:59.160 that they may bear 00:28:59.160 --> 00:28:59.860 sons and daughters, 00:29:00.300 --> 00:29:01.039 multiply there, 00:29:01.240 --> 00:29:02.019 do not decrease, 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:03.300 seek the welfare 00:29:03.299 --> 00:29:03.819 of the city, 00:29:03.980 --> 00:29:04.460 seek the peace 00:29:04.460 --> 00:29:04.919 of the city 00:29:04.919 --> 00:29:06.019 where I have sent you, 00:29:06.419 --> 00:29:07.119 pray to the Lord 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:08.000 for Babylon, 00:29:08.579 --> 00:29:09.419 for in its peace 00:29:09.419 --> 00:29:10.700 you will find your peace. 00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:12.000 What does he say? 00:29:12.779 --> 00:29:13.599 How do you live 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:14.259 in exile? 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:15.019 How do you live 00:29:15.019 --> 00:29:15.619 in a city 00:29:15.619 --> 00:29:16.879 dominated by unbelief? 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:17.519 How do you live 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:18.419 in the city of man 00:29:18.419 --> 00:29:19.299 where idolatry 00:29:19.299 --> 00:29:20.039 is at the very center 00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:21.159 of most of the things 00:29:21.159 --> 00:29:21.799 that we're all about 00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:22.319 in our culture? 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:23.859 He says, 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:24.940 the Lord is in control, 00:29:25.259 --> 00:29:26.339 the Lord has sent you here, 00:29:26.659 --> 00:29:27.619 don't stay away 00:29:27.619 --> 00:29:28.460 at the K-Bar Canal, 00:29:28.879 --> 00:29:30.019 get stuck into 00:29:30.019 --> 00:29:31.220 the lives of the city, 00:29:31.339 --> 00:29:32.240 the lives of the culture. 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:33.120 In other words, 00:29:33.140 --> 00:29:33.620 he's giving you 00:29:33.620 --> 00:29:34.960 this two-fold spirituality 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:36.720 and he says, 00:29:37.339 --> 00:29:38.059 don't separate, 00:29:39.380 --> 00:29:40.559 instead seek, 00:29:40.900 --> 00:29:41.700 go to the very heart 00:29:41.700 --> 00:29:42.059 of the culture 00:29:42.059 --> 00:29:42.460 of the city 00:29:42.460 --> 00:29:43.120 and be there 00:29:43.120 --> 00:29:44.000 and be a part of it 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:45.059 and on the other hand, 00:29:45.140 --> 00:29:45.839 don't assimilate. 00:29:47.500 --> 00:29:48.460 Neither separation 00:29:48.460 --> 00:29:49.200 nor assimilation. 00:29:49.380 --> 00:29:50.660 So don't give your heart 00:29:50.660 --> 00:29:52.460 to idolatry 00:29:52.460 --> 00:29:53.099 at the heart of the city 00:29:53.099 --> 00:29:54.460 but go and be there 00:29:54.460 --> 00:29:56.079 and know 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:57.339 and you should have 00:29:57.339 --> 00:29:58.880 lots of non-Christian friends. 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:00.279 That's what he's telling us 00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:01.380 and you should be right there 00:30:01.380 --> 00:30:02.500 at the heart of what's going on 00:30:02.500 --> 00:30:03.400 in our city. 00:30:04.600 --> 00:30:05.840 In verse 7 and 8, 00:30:06.460 --> 00:30:07.320 in verse 7 and 8, 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:10.360 the ESV has veiled this 00:30:10.360 --> 00:30:11.040 just a little bit 00:30:11.040 --> 00:30:11.860 but in verse 7, 00:30:12.020 --> 00:30:12.380 it says, 00:30:12.520 --> 00:30:13.280 the chief eunuchs, 00:30:13.860 --> 00:30:14.580 in Hebrew it says, 00:30:14.840 --> 00:30:15.900 set the names 00:30:15.900 --> 00:30:18.440 of Daniel and his friends. 00:30:18.740 --> 00:30:19.680 And then in verse 8, 00:30:19.880 --> 00:30:20.300 it says, 00:30:20.420 --> 00:30:20.980 but Daniel, 00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:22.180 not resolved, 00:30:22.340 --> 00:30:24.640 but set upon himself 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:26.080 that he would not defile himself. 00:30:26.660 --> 00:30:27.120 In other words, 00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:27.540 it's saying, 00:30:27.539 --> 00:30:29.059 as soon as Babylon 00:30:29.059 --> 00:30:31.579 tried to assimilate Daniel, 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:32.740 he was there, 00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:33.680 he wasn't going anywhere, 00:30:34.019 --> 00:30:35.680 but he set his heart. 00:30:36.299 --> 00:30:37.779 He was given a new name 00:30:37.779 --> 00:30:38.720 so he gave his heart 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:39.539 back to the Lord again. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:41.440 So as soon as the culture 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:42.379 tried to assimilate him, 00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:42.680 he said, 00:30:42.759 --> 00:30:43.639 I'm not going anywhere, 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:45.639 but I'm going to give my heart 00:30:45.639 --> 00:30:46.220 to the Lord 00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:47.119 while I'm here 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:47.720 in the midst 00:30:47.720 --> 00:30:48.420 of the heart of Babylon. 00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:49.859 This twofold spirituality, 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:51.480 neither separation 00:30:51.480 --> 00:30:52.440 nor assimilation. 00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:54.640 And it's coined 00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:56.539 in a very famous phrase. 00:30:56.900 --> 00:30:57.740 What is the Christian life? 00:30:58.080 --> 00:30:59.080 Be in the world, 00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:01.140 but not of it. 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:02.380 Be in the world, 00:31:02.460 --> 00:31:02.960 but not of it. 00:31:03.940 --> 00:31:05.039 Go into the heart 00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:05.500 of the culture, 00:31:05.700 --> 00:31:06.940 but do not be of the culture. 00:31:07.320 --> 00:31:08.120 Neither separation 00:31:08.120 --> 00:31:08.860 nor assimilation. 00:31:09.420 --> 00:31:09.980 And that's really 00:31:09.980 --> 00:31:10.440 at the heartbeat 00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:11.779 of the Christian life 00:31:11.779 --> 00:31:13.220 that we're being talked about here 00:31:13.220 --> 00:31:14.120 in the book of Daniel. 00:31:14.220 --> 00:31:14.900 Daniel's a blueprint, 00:31:15.140 --> 00:31:15.600 in other words, 00:31:16.320 --> 00:31:16.880 for us. 00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:17.960 Esther's a blueprint. 00:31:18.220 --> 00:31:19.279 Boy, did Esther go 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:20.200 into the heart of the culture, 00:31:20.640 --> 00:31:21.279 the king's court, 00:31:21.460 --> 00:31:22.420 marrying the king himself, 00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:23.880 right? 00:31:24.120 --> 00:31:24.420 Do you, 00:31:24.820 --> 00:31:25.279 friends, 00:31:25.559 --> 00:31:25.820 today, 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:27.000 Christians in this room, 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:30.460 are you in a state 00:31:30.460 --> 00:31:31.220 in your Christian life 00:31:31.220 --> 00:31:31.680 right now 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:33.900 of either separation 00:31:33.900 --> 00:31:35.680 where your life 00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:36.220 is all about 00:31:36.220 --> 00:31:37.380 protecting yourself 00:31:37.380 --> 00:31:38.580 from the city, 00:31:38.660 --> 00:31:39.180 from the culture, 00:31:39.380 --> 00:31:40.420 from non-Christians? 00:31:41.539 --> 00:31:41.980 Or, 00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:42.840 on the other hand, 00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:43.460 are you struggling 00:31:43.460 --> 00:31:44.220 with assimilation? 00:31:45.600 --> 00:31:46.380 Are you in one 00:31:46.380 --> 00:31:47.140 of those two spaces? 00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:48.000 And if you are, 00:31:49.080 --> 00:31:50.340 Daniel's invitation to you 00:31:50.340 --> 00:31:51.220 is to come this semester 00:31:51.220 --> 00:31:52.279 and see how you can 00:31:52.279 --> 00:31:52.779 rearrange. 00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:53.700 Now, we're going to get 00:31:53.700 --> 00:31:54.599 into specifics, 00:31:54.819 --> 00:31:55.039 okay? 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:55.599 Not today, 00:31:55.660 --> 00:31:55.960 don't worry, 00:31:56.819 --> 00:31:57.859 of how to do that. 00:31:57.940 --> 00:31:58.819 What does it look like 00:31:58.819 --> 00:31:59.660 very specifically 00:31:59.660 --> 00:32:00.539 in a city like ours 00:32:00.539 --> 00:32:01.059 to do that? 00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:02.440 That's coming later. 00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:03.660 But this is a blueprint. 00:32:04.259 --> 00:32:05.019 And I just want to say, 00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:06.460 say it like this. 00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:07.879 Do you know 00:32:07.879 --> 00:32:08.720 how much 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:10.519 God wants to change you, 00:32:10.660 --> 00:32:11.279 change your life, 00:32:11.399 --> 00:32:12.059 renew you 00:32:12.059 --> 00:32:13.779 by sending you 00:32:13.779 --> 00:32:14.519 into the heart of Babylon? 00:32:15.339 --> 00:32:16.119 He wants to actually 00:32:16.119 --> 00:32:16.839 change your heart, 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:17.619 change your life, 00:32:18.119 --> 00:32:18.859 renew your soul 00:32:18.859 --> 00:32:20.159 by getting stuck 00:32:20.159 --> 00:32:20.599 into the heart 00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:21.059 of the culture. 00:32:22.099 --> 00:32:23.240 And in doing that, 00:32:23.299 --> 00:32:24.039 at the same time, 00:32:24.179 --> 00:32:25.740 is he not maybe 00:32:25.740 --> 00:32:26.659 using us 00:32:26.659 --> 00:32:28.799 as one tiny little expression 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:29.919 of the city of God 00:32:29.919 --> 00:32:30.339 on earth 00:32:30.339 --> 00:32:31.139 to renew 00:32:31.139 --> 00:32:31.979 our great city, 00:32:32.119 --> 00:32:32.699 the city of Edinburgh? 00:32:33.299 --> 00:32:33.839 That's exactly 00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:34.279 the paradigm 00:32:34.279 --> 00:32:35.379 that we see here. 00:32:36.339 --> 00:32:37.259 How can you do that? 00:32:37.439 --> 00:32:37.759 Secondly, 00:32:38.219 --> 00:32:38.979 second takeaway, 00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:39.879 the last one, 00:32:40.299 --> 00:32:41.459 how can you do that? 00:32:41.459 --> 00:32:41.559 But, 00:32:41.559 --> 00:32:41.459 how can you do that? 00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:43.740 The only way 00:32:43.740 --> 00:32:44.359 that we're going to be able 00:32:44.359 --> 00:32:45.039 to do this today, 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:47.399 to be in the world 00:32:47.399 --> 00:32:47.980 but not of it, 00:32:48.059 --> 00:32:48.859 to not separate 00:32:48.859 --> 00:32:49.639 nor assimilate, 00:32:49.740 --> 00:32:50.619 neither one, 00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:52.859 is if we are willing 00:32:52.859 --> 00:32:53.700 to go out 00:32:53.700 --> 00:32:54.559 into our city 00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:55.399 and our culture 00:32:55.399 --> 00:32:56.700 in contemporary Scotland 00:32:56.700 --> 00:32:58.619 and never have an ounce 00:32:58.619 --> 00:33:00.000 of moral superiority. 00:33:01.339 --> 00:33:02.460 Never have an ounce of it. 00:33:03.079 --> 00:33:03.519 In other words, 00:33:03.659 --> 00:33:04.799 the only way we can do that 00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:05.720 is we've got to look today 00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:06.200 and say, 00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:07.299 yes, 00:33:07.420 --> 00:33:08.639 the culture is Babylonian, 00:33:08.759 --> 00:33:08.940 yes, 00:33:09.019 --> 00:33:10.399 idolatry is at the center 00:33:10.399 --> 00:33:12.180 of so many of the things 00:33:12.180 --> 00:33:14.240 about our contemporary nation. 00:33:15.500 --> 00:33:16.599 It's always been that way. 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:18.920 But we've got to go 00:33:18.920 --> 00:33:19.639 and say first, 00:33:19.899 --> 00:33:21.740 the greatest problem 00:33:21.740 --> 00:33:22.619 that I need to recognize 00:33:22.619 --> 00:33:23.159 and deal with 00:33:23.159 --> 00:33:24.480 is there's a Babylonian 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:25.500 captivity in my heart 00:33:25.500 --> 00:33:26.460 and if the Lord, 00:33:26.740 --> 00:33:27.460 Jesus himself, 00:33:27.579 --> 00:33:28.240 did not come 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:29.779 and rescue my heart 00:33:29.779 --> 00:33:30.460 out of Babylon, 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:32.000 I would be in exactly 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:32.759 the same place. 00:33:33.399 --> 00:33:34.899 Never moral superiority. 00:33:35.420 --> 00:33:35.659 Instead, 00:33:36.019 --> 00:33:37.159 always on an equal footing, 00:33:37.319 --> 00:33:37.920 always saying, 00:33:38.359 --> 00:33:39.359 it is all by grace. 00:33:40.879 --> 00:33:41.259 We, 00:33:42.259 --> 00:33:43.639 in our Babylonian hearts, 00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:45.660 we build our little 00:33:45.660 --> 00:33:46.720 towers of Babel, 00:33:46.860 --> 00:33:47.759 we take things 00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:48.780 in this creaturely life 00:33:48.780 --> 00:33:49.880 and try to build our towers 00:33:49.880 --> 00:33:50.440 to the heavens 00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:51.680 and slay God. 00:33:51.900 --> 00:33:52.160 That is, 00:33:52.600 --> 00:33:53.740 I know that's in my heart 00:33:53.740 --> 00:33:55.500 if you're able today 00:33:55.500 --> 00:33:56.000 to say it, 00:33:56.060 --> 00:33:56.800 that that's in all 00:33:56.800 --> 00:33:57.360 of our hearts 00:33:57.360 --> 00:33:59.820 and as soon, 00:33:59.980 --> 00:34:02.520 as soon as humanity 00:34:02.520 --> 00:34:04.420 tried to build 00:34:04.420 --> 00:34:05.080 little temples 00:34:05.080 --> 00:34:06.180 to reach the heavens 00:34:06.180 --> 00:34:07.160 to kill God, 00:34:08.539 --> 00:34:09.740 God the Son 00:34:09.740 --> 00:34:10.480 decided, 00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:12.760 we tried to 00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:13.699 usend to the heavens 00:34:13.699 --> 00:34:14.360 so what did he do? 00:34:14.420 --> 00:34:15.420 He condescended. 00:34:16.460 --> 00:34:17.579 We tried to go up 00:34:17.579 --> 00:34:18.280 and kill God 00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:19.059 so what did he do? 00:34:19.340 --> 00:34:20.460 God came down 00:34:20.460 --> 00:34:21.639 and he put the knife 00:34:21.639 --> 00:34:22.280 to his own throat. 00:34:23.900 --> 00:34:25.559 We tried to build towers 00:34:25.559 --> 00:34:26.460 that would reach him 00:34:26.460 --> 00:34:27.619 so he laughed 00:34:27.619 --> 00:34:27.960 and said, 00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:29.019 I'll come to you. 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:31.099 And Jesus, 00:34:31.500 --> 00:34:31.820 you know, 00:34:31.860 --> 00:34:32.780 how do we protect ourselves 00:34:32.780 --> 00:34:33.500 from ever thinking 00:34:33.500 --> 00:34:34.639 we are morally superior 00:34:34.639 --> 00:34:36.079 because we look at the cross 00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:36.639 and we say, 00:34:37.059 --> 00:34:38.219 Jesus Christ died 00:34:38.219 --> 00:34:39.619 for my Babylonian heart, 00:34:39.819 --> 00:34:41.000 my Babylonian captivity. 00:34:41.919 --> 00:34:43.139 Never morally superior. 00:34:43.579 --> 00:34:43.899 No. 00:34:44.339 --> 00:34:45.199 All by grace, 00:34:45.399 --> 00:34:45.879 through faith. 00:34:45.919 --> 00:34:46.219 And we say, 00:34:46.319 --> 00:34:47.119 that's what I want 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:47.799 for my city, 00:34:47.899 --> 00:34:48.599 to know that. 00:34:49.259 --> 00:34:49.879 To know that. 00:34:51.099 --> 00:34:52.199 This is a book of wisdom. 00:34:52.339 --> 00:34:52.619 It's a book 00:34:52.619 --> 00:34:54.119 that just gives perspective. 00:34:54.339 --> 00:34:54.539 And so, 00:34:55.279 --> 00:34:56.519 the last word 00:34:56.519 --> 00:34:57.500 I'll give to Daniel, 00:34:58.439 --> 00:34:59.259 in verse 21, 00:34:59.899 --> 00:35:01.259 the writer here says 00:35:01.259 --> 00:35:02.659 about Daniel, 00:35:02.739 --> 00:35:03.399 verse 21, 00:35:03.400 --> 00:35:06.400 and Daniel was there 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:07.619 until the first year 00:35:07.619 --> 00:35:08.480 of King Cyrus. 00:35:10.119 --> 00:35:10.519 Okay. 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:11.840 Daniel came. 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:12.940 He's 15 years old 00:35:12.940 --> 00:35:13.800 when he comes to Babylon 00:35:13.800 --> 00:35:14.720 in 605. 00:35:15.240 --> 00:35:15.980 But then the writer, 00:35:16.099 --> 00:35:16.880 the first chapter says, 00:35:16.980 --> 00:35:17.619 but he was there 00:35:17.619 --> 00:35:18.360 until King Cyrus. 00:35:18.539 --> 00:35:20.160 That's 539 BC. 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:22.180 That's 66 years later. 00:35:23.300 --> 00:35:23.980 What is it telling us? 00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:24.800 It's telling you to see 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:26.960 wherever God has put you today 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:27.720 and your life 00:35:27.720 --> 00:35:29.099 in the midst of this exiled life 00:35:29.099 --> 00:35:29.619 that we're living, 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:31.880 you may be in a very tough place today, 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:32.780 right now. 00:35:32.780 --> 00:35:33.680 I don't know where God's 00:35:33.680 --> 00:35:34.540 put everyone in this room, 00:35:34.640 --> 00:35:35.080 but right now, 00:35:35.140 --> 00:35:35.960 he's given you 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:37.780 to something that's not easy, 00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:38.220 right? 00:35:39.400 --> 00:35:40.920 And it says here 00:35:40.920 --> 00:35:41.720 that Daniel 00:35:41.720 --> 00:35:43.820 outlasted Nebuchadnezzar. 00:35:44.120 --> 00:35:46.340 He outlasted Babylon. 00:35:46.720 --> 00:35:48.800 He saw multiple kingdoms 00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:49.720 come through this place. 00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:51.019 And here's a bit of eschatology 00:35:51.019 --> 00:35:52.519 that we all need today. 00:35:52.700 --> 00:35:53.400 And here it is. 00:35:55.560 --> 00:35:56.980 It may seem at times 00:35:56.980 --> 00:35:57.600 in our lives 00:35:57.600 --> 00:35:58.680 like the kingdom of God 00:35:58.680 --> 00:35:59.120 has lost, 00:35:59.200 --> 00:35:59.980 like the church has lost, 00:36:00.060 --> 00:36:00.760 like the people of God 00:36:00.760 --> 00:36:01.220 has lost. 00:36:01.600 --> 00:36:02.620 The kingdom of God, 00:36:02.619 --> 00:36:03.199 the church, 00:36:03.299 --> 00:36:04.139 the people of God, 00:36:04.299 --> 00:36:05.639 the believer will endure. 00:36:06.739 --> 00:36:09.139 No matter how small it looks, 00:36:09.299 --> 00:36:10.940 no matter how lost it looks, 00:36:11.259 --> 00:36:12.079 we will endure. 00:36:13.019 --> 00:36:14.579 Daniel saw multiple kingdoms 00:36:14.579 --> 00:36:15.119 come through. 00:36:15.279 --> 00:36:16.159 That's an eschatology. 00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:16.759 That's a vision 00:36:16.759 --> 00:36:17.859 of how God is going 00:36:17.859 --> 00:36:18.539 to orchestrate 00:36:18.539 --> 00:36:19.440 the whole of the end. 00:36:20.179 --> 00:36:21.159 He will endure 00:36:21.159 --> 00:36:22.099 his people to the end. 00:36:23.099 --> 00:36:23.480 Faithfulness, 00:36:23.799 --> 00:36:24.000 wisdom, 00:36:24.139 --> 00:36:24.519 and hope 00:36:24.519 --> 00:36:25.839 in the midst of exile. 00:36:26.139 --> 00:36:26.619 Let's pray. 00:36:26.619 --> 00:36:27.239 Lord, 00:36:28.059 --> 00:36:30.839 we need your help 00:36:30.839 --> 00:36:31.779 to be faithful 00:36:31.779 --> 00:36:33.380 and not assimilate 00:36:33.380 --> 00:36:34.480 and give our hearts away 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:36.079 to the city of man, 00:36:36.519 --> 00:36:37.679 the idolatry 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:38.319 that's at the heart 00:36:38.319 --> 00:36:38.920 of our city 00:36:38.920 --> 00:36:40.299 because it's at the heart 00:36:40.299 --> 00:36:41.099 of every human heart. 00:36:41.299 --> 00:36:43.179 And so we look again 00:36:43.179 --> 00:36:43.739 to that today. 00:36:43.859 --> 00:36:44.699 We recognize it. 00:36:44.779 --> 00:36:45.679 We think before you 00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:47.440 of ways we've assimilated, 00:36:48.119 --> 00:36:49.079 of ways we've given 00:36:49.079 --> 00:36:49.900 our hearts away 00:36:49.900 --> 00:36:50.639 to sin 00:36:50.639 --> 00:36:52.400 and to little idols 00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:53.079 and little gods 00:36:53.079 --> 00:36:54.380 and to a culture 00:36:54.380 --> 00:36:55.420 that's driven us away 00:36:55.420 --> 00:36:56.019 from the truths 00:36:56.019 --> 00:36:56.500 of the Bible. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:58.539 And so we pray 00:36:58.539 --> 00:36:59.400 for this whole semester 00:36:59.400 --> 00:37:00.719 as we look at that truth. 00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:02.340 Would you rescue us today? 00:37:02.420 --> 00:37:03.599 Would you rescue someone today 00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:05.699 from Babylonian captivity? 00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:06.940 Set us free. 00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:07.799 Liberate us, 00:37:07.900 --> 00:37:08.299 oh Lord, 00:37:08.440 --> 00:37:08.900 we pray. 00:37:09.259 --> 00:37:10.059 And we ask this 00:37:10.059 --> 00:37:10.659 in Christ's name. 00:37:11.119 --> 00:37:11.380 Amen.