Sunday, we left Daniel entering the den of lions. The king says to him, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” Will God deliver him? You know that he does. God shows up and prevents the lions from harming him, demonstrating that the God whom Daniel lives “before” is the “living God.” As Darius says in response, “I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever.”

But there is more in the text than simply God’s amazing rescue. Daniel is set up by the Satraps who judge him for being an exile from Judah, a Jew. The law Darius signs forces Daniel violate the kings law in obedience to God. But the world’s evaluation of him is not what guides Daniel. His name tells the story; it means “God is my judge.” Not only does God rescue Daniel, but he makes a statement about his authority. Notice what Daniel says, “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”

Living “before” God means that Daniel rejects the world’s judgment, entrusting himself to the true Judge. Again, God makes a statement about his authority: God is mankind’s judge and his people’s defender. Great themes we’ll discover Sunday!

This week we move into chapter six, where Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den. The stage is set by the new king, Darius, who is preparing to set Daniel over the regional leaders of his kingdom. These leaders are unwilling to have a Jewish exile rule over them, so they work to expose his corruption to prevent him from taking this role. They launch a research team to dig up dirt on Daniel, but they can’t find anything. Realizing they have nothing they target his religious practice of regular prayer. The plan they hatch is to get a law passed that makes Daniel’s religious practice illegal. It works, the king signs a law-making prayer to anyone but him illegal for a month. The trap is set! The Satraps move in and catch Daniel praying to God, facing Jerusalem where God put his presence. They report this to the king who is bound by law and political pressure to escort Daniel to the lions.

 There is an important message for God’s people. Even while living in exile, apart from Jerusalem, they need to live humbly before the Lord. But they need to recognize that living out their faith in the world, will bring persecution. Peter says it well, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation,” (1 Peter 2:12).

 It’s not only a message of warning, but a call to faithfulness, a call to live humbly before God no matter the consequences. Join us Sunday as we worship the Lord and pursue his grace.

As we continue in chapter five, Daniel’s words to the king are important for God’s people. Daniel recounts the rise, fall, and renewal of Nebuchadnezzar. He was given everything, but failed to humble himself before God, so God mercifully humbled him so that he could know the Lord. Then Daniel says, “And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven.” (vv22,23) What does this say to Israel? Well, put Israel in the place of Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar. “Israel, you have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this. Israel, you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven.”

Two lessons come from Daniel’s words. First, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Israel all share the same sins. Israel can’t stand in judgment of these pagan kings for they had followed them into idolatry and all the sins of paganism. God had been generous to each of them, but they lived separately from him, exalting themselves, worshipping the created things rather than the Creator. The drama with these kings carries a message for God’s people. Israel is in Babylon because of their idolatry.

The second lesson concerns God’s mercy. Two kings, Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, one was shown mercy, while the other faced the judgment of God. Which would Israel be? The clue is that Israel is being humbled not destroyed. God could have destroyed them like Belshazzar, but in faithfulness to his commitment they are shown mercy. The question remains, how will they respond to God’s merciful humbling? Join us Sunday as we consider this text.

This week we move into Daniel five where the new king, Belshazzar, holds a great feast for his nobles. As they feast, an army of the Medes and Persians is moving toward the Babylonian city. The nobles have fled their territory for the security of the massive city walls. Together with the nobles, the king believes his gods have not only created the great Babylonian state but will protect them from the invading army. As they party, Belshazzar celebrates the victory of his gods by drinking from the sacred instruments of Israel’s God, which his father (or grandfather) Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. While he toasts his gods a hand appears, writing a mysterious phrase on the wall, digging into the plaster. Hands were often taken from the bodies of conquered enemies. It’s an ominous sign. The conquered hand of the Jewish God is writing on the wall of the king’s palace. Was God defeated?

As Daniel writes to God’s people, he recalls the supernatural events, reminding them of God’s sovereignty over Babylon and the invading armies of the Medeo-Persian empire. He reminds them that Babylon did not defeat him. In the midst of this grand celebration of power, God would bring Belshazzar and the Babylonian empire to its fateful end. Join us Sunday as we consider God’s message to his people.

This week we’re staying in chapter four where God humbles king Nebuchadnezzar and brings him into a knowledge of himself. Again, we don’t know if Nebuchadnezzar becomes a “believer”, but we do know he experiences some level of renewed understanding of God. Why does Daniel communicate this story to Israel? Remember that in chapter three, Nebuchadnezzar gives Israel some religious protection under the law of Babylon. In this chapter, God re-engages the king and humbles him. At first glance the reader might think Nebuchadnezzar is getting what he deserves, but the twist ending is that he humbles himself before God.

While an amazing story, we must remember who this person is and what he did to Israel. Nebuchadnezzar ravaged Judah and destroyed the temple of God. He killed thousands, took their treasure, and carried many of them away to Babylon, forcing them to scrape together a living in a foreign land. He persecuted them for their faith and demanded their assimilation. Now, God is engaging this brutal, arrogant king with mercy.

There’s an important message for God’s people in this narrative. It’s a message of God’s sovereign grace. Join us Sunday as we consider the lesson of God’s mercy to sinners

Sunday we will consider Daniel’s statement to Nebuchadnezzar, “Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may be a lengthening of your prosperity” (Daniel 4:27). While Daniel communicated that to the king, he records it so that Israel will hear the call to repentance. For the Jew living in Babylon, the language of Daniel would sound eerily familiar to God’s prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Ezekiel, all use the same language to address God’s people. Israel was worshipping Baal and adopted the values and lifestyle of Baal, specifically oppression.

Daniel urges Nebuchadnezzar to repent and adopt two practices: righteousness and compassion to the oppressed. These two issues apply the last six of the ten commandments, or what’s called the second book of the law, which focuses on how we treat each other. That doesn’t mean Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t need to follow the first book of the law, or the first four of the ten commandments, to worship the LORD alone. His comments follow a similar prophetic pattern of using behavior as evidence of what is being worshipped. In other words, “The gods you worship allow and encourage your current behavior. Turn to the LORD and follow his ways.”

In urging the king to practice righteousness and compassion to the oppressed, Daniel is urging him to worship and serve the Lord. By recording his counsel to the king, he is reminding Israel of God’s ways. Just as Israel went into a season of correction (Babylonian captivity), Nebuchadnezzar will have a seven-year time out. What’s the message to God’s people? Come Sunday and let’s consider the call to repentance.

Sunday we move into Daniel chapter four. Here Daniel relates God’s direct engagement with Nebuchadnezzar. The king has a dream about a magnificent tree that reaches to the sky, supplying for the creation. This tree is cut down but not removed. Daniel interprets the dream for the king, “You are the tree.” In short, God is going to humble Nebuchadnezzar for his pride and oppression, but he gives him an opportunity to repent, and even the hope of restoration after his humiliation.

The message is directed at Nebuchadnezzar, but the lesson is for God’s people. The first major lesson of the text is that God calls his people to turn from their sins and live humbly before their God. Their failure to walk humbly before God is why they are in Babylonian exile to begin with. This exposes the challenge that believers encounter with “grace.” God is good and generous to his people, blessing them even when they don’t merit his goodness. As he blesses his people, their hearts begin to turn from loving the Giver to loving the gifts that he gives. This turn in affection is all too common and easy. The problem is not with God’s goodness, but with the darkness of the human heart.

In his mercy, God has humbled his people by removing his gifts and sending them into exile. This is mercy, because full life is found in the presence of God not the gifts of God that we enjoy. God is calling his prodigal children home. Join us Sunday as we consider God’s message to his people.

This Sunday we consider the fiery furnace incident in Daniel 3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego challenge the gods of the King, refusing to bow down and worship, knowing it will cost them their lives. Nebuchadnezzar rages, heating the furnace to its max. He doesn’t care that his own men die, his bloodlust consumes him. He throws these servants of God in the furnace fully clothed and bound. Suddenly, he appears, God! In Nebuchadnezzar’s own words, “I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” (Daniel 3:25)

 Nebuchadnezzar had asked the right question, “And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” (3:15) Well, now he knows, the God of the Jews! Notice the testimony these men garner from Nebuchadnezzar, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.” (3:28) What a testimony to the watching world!

But what’s the message to the people of God living in Babylonian exile? Join us Sunday as we consider this moment in history.

As we continue in Daniel, we come to a familiar story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing to worship the statue Nebuchadnezzar erects. As readers, we ask, “Why is Daniel sharing this story with the people of God who are in Babylonian exile?” These three servants of the Lord represent humble servants who remain committed to God as the world mandates they worship the gods of their invention. It’s a call to faithfulness for God’s people; it’s a presentation of courage; it’s a statement of what’s important and true; and it’s a testimony of God’s power and presence.

As God’s people, exiled in a world that is not our final home, we need this message. Every day the gods of this world are being presented to us and increasingly we are being threatened if we don’t assimilate. The primary god being promoted today is the modern view of the self. The real you is the inner you, how you think and feel inside. Reality is not the construct God reveals in his word, for that would make God our authority. Reality is inside you and the construct is changing to allow for its expression. If you resist, you’re part of the problem and will be resisted.

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah present us with the challenge of living in God’s reality. Join us Sunday as we explore this text together and worship the Lord.

For Christians, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is no small event, it is the critical event in God’s gracious rescue plan. Of all that God has committed himself to do for his people, all of it is meaningless apart from his promise of new and eternal life. God has offered to atone for our sins through His one and only Son, but what benefit is this payment if we don’t get to live? God has promised forgiveness through that atonement, but how does that help us if we don’t enjoy a life reconciled to God? God sends his Spirit to enable us to walk in righteousness, however imperfectly in this life, but to what end if only for a few short years? God has provided a future for us in a world without suffering, but how empty a promise if he cannot generate life beyond the grave? God can promise the world, but if he can’t give us life, his promises are cruel illusions and our hope, fanciful dreams in our life of death.

The resurrection of Christ gives us hope that all God has promised through Christ will be realized in Him. Our hope is a “living hope.” Our hope is alive because he is alive. Peter, like Daniel, writes to people who are facing intense suffering, persecution, and hardship. They face the threat of depravation and death every day, but they face it with confidence in the eternal life God has promised. Join us Sunday as we worship the living Christ with living hope.