The Story Ch 18: Daniel in Exile

The Story for Teens • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Transcript

Cold Open

Hey Dublin Powell youth! It’s so good to be back with y’all again, I missed y’all last week while I was sick, but we are back and it’s time to keep driving forward with our study of the Story that God has crafted for His glory and to save His people! This week we will head into some very well known stories as we follow Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who you might know better as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Today is Sunday, August 8th, let’s get into it.

Intro Videos - with Story Rewind

Intro

So for the last several chapters we’ve been discussing mostly the leaders of Israel and Judah, the kings and the prophets, and we’ve seen how the fate of God’s people is often a result of the faithfulness of their leaders.

This led to Israel and Judah being conquered and the people of God being carried of into exile across the Babylonian empire. This week, we are following the story of Daniel, who was an Israelite taken into the service of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel and his friends were given new Babylonian names, which is when David’s friends were first called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Rising Stars

These four bright young Jews entered training to eventually serve the king, and when they were presented before Nebuchadnezzar at the conclusion of their training, their wisdom and understanding was greater than any of the many magicians and enchanters in all of Babylon.

Then we see a familiar thing play out, remember how Joseph won the favor of Pharoah back in Genesis, and was able to protect his family from the famine by preparing well in Egypt? He interpreted the Pharoah’s dreams that no other advisor could interpret.

Daniel does the same thing for Nebuchadnezzar, who had challenged his wise men to not only interpret his dream but also recite it without being told, to prove their wisdom. When no one was able to do it, the king called for all of his wise men to be killed. But Daniel is convinced that he will be able to interpret the dream, as he says:

Daniel 2:28 NIV

but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:

And Daniel explains Nebuchadnezzars dream to the smallest detail, and tells the king that it is becuase of God that he has this knowledge. Nebchadnezzar is impressed with Daniel and his God, and says

Daniel 2:47–49 NIV

The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

And just like that our young Jewish exiles have become senior officers in the Babylonian government by the power of their faith in God. That faith will soon be tested, however, as they will each have to choose between faithfulness to God and faithfulness to their new country that is treating them quite well.

The Golden Statue

For Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that test came in the form of a massive gold statue, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, of the king Nebuchadnezzar. It was commanded that every person in the province would bow down before the statue in worship at an appointed time, when the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music would announce the time to kneel and worship the king.

However, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could knew they could not worship anything or anyone but the Living God, and when the pipes played and the horns blew, they did not kneel.

Some other advisors of the king came before him and told Nebuchadnezzar that the 3 Jews had refused to worship the statue, and Nebuchadnezzer in his rage demanded the three be thrown into a furnace to burn to death. When they were brought before the king, the three had this to say:

Daniel 3:16–18 NIV

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

You see, they knew that God would be faithful to all those who kept His covenant, and that even if He did not deliver them from the fire, He is worthy of our praise because He is still faithful in the long run, in the upper story.

So the king commands they be burned, and the flames in the furnace were so hot that the soldiers who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego themselves died just from being close to the furnace! Shortly after, Nebuchadnezzar noticed there were four men walking in the furnace that he had just thrown 3 into, all unbound and unharmed by the flames, and the fourth man looked like a son of the gods.

This angel of the Lord protected the three faithful Jews, and the king ordered they come out of the furnace. Once again, Nebuchadnezzar came face to face with the power of the Most High God, and he praised their God.

New King

Nebuchadnezzar had a complicated rest of his life, going insane for a time before he was delivered by God and returned to his palace in Babylon, but soon there was a new king who did not learn about the power of the Most High God firsthand, Darius.

Darius’ Decree

Every the competent administrator, Daniel continued to serve under Darius and so impressed the king that Darius planned to appoint him the administrator of the entire kingdom. However, other officials, jealous of Darius’s favor for Daniel, convinced the king to issue a decree that no person could pray to any other thing besides the king for 30 days, specifically knowing that Daniel, the devoted Jew, wouldn’t be able to not pray to Yahweh.

When the charge was brought before Darius, the king was rather distraught, but bound by the traditions of the kingdom to carry out the promised punishment, to throw Daniel into a lions den.

Daniel was sealed in by a stone, and that stone was sealed with Darius’ own signet so that none would open it. The next day, when King Darius went to check on Daniel he was surprised to find him unharmed! Daniel said to him:

Daniel 6:21–23 NIV

Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

And so it was that the Lord made his power known to yet another king of Babylon, who decreed to the whole kingdom that the people were to fear the God of Daniel.

Hope

Meanwhile, back in Jerusalem, the weeping prophet Jeremiah, who witnessed Jerusalem’s fall, shares a new message of hope with God’s people.

Jeremiah 30:2–3 NIV

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the Lord.”

And so it would be that after the Persians conquered Babylon in 539 BC, just under 70 years after the deportations began, the Jewish people were allowed to return home to Israel. And we will pick up with that joyous return next week.

Closing

Let me pray for us to close out this time of study:

Dear Lord, thank you for giving us your Story, for showing us throughout history how you have been working all things for your glory, and to bring us back to you. Give us the strength of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that we would not conform to what the people around us expect but instead stand fast on the knowledge that you are our God and our source of hope, and that you will always deliver us in the end. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

Thanks for joining me once again everyone, look forward to seeing you all in church next week, grace and peace.