Daniel 1:1-2
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia
Daniel is a book of prophecy.
The Goal of Prophecy
- Build Up Faith
- Provide Hope
- Declare God’s Will and Purpose
- Reveal God’s Love and Jesus Christ
Prophecy Definition
: an inspired utterance of a prophet
: the inspired declaration of divine will and purpose
: a prediction of something to come
Two Types of Prophecy
1. Future Telling- God reveals through an inspired prophet, that which will happen. God knows the end from the beginning, and will make his knowledge known to man, through his mouth-pieces.
- God tells Adam and Eve that a redeemer will come
- God tells Abraham, you will be the father of many nations
- God tells Noah there will be a flood
- God tells Sarah she will have a son of promise
“Daniel is a historicist, prophetic book, that spans the past, present and future”
Often we limit prophetic ministry to future telling.
2. Truth Telling- God reveals God’s divine will and purpose.
Prophetic ministry is more than God simply declaring the future. It is also God revealing His truth, His purpose and His will.
Prophetic Ministry Has 3 Components
- Critiquing The Present Ideology
- Speaking Truth Power
- Where Power Has No Clue, Offer a More Imaginable Solution
God has a right to declare when something is WRONG.
Example: Moses was God’s mouth-piece when he said to Pharaoh “Let my people go!”
If you are a prophetic church, you must declare when something is wrong and give a solution!
Example: “The prophet Nathan’s word prophesying to David”
We discover BOTH future-telling and truth-telling in the book of Daniel, and particularly in Daniel 1:1, 2.
Jehoiakim is the current King of Judah and in his reign, they are invaded by King Nebuchadnezzar and the nation of Babylon.
Consider Daniel 1:1-2
Key Point: The text suggests that the Lord allowed this to happen. The question we must ask is “why”?
In order to understand why the Israelites are taken into captivity, we need to hear from god’s prophet, Jeremiah.
The prophet Jeremiah prophesied to Judah, and made them aware of their evil, and warned them that God was not pleased.
These texts below help us understand God's displeasure with Judah.
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2 “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD.
3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.
4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
5 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another,
6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm,
7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.
9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,
10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?
11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.
12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.
13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,
14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.
15 And I will cast you out of my sight, das I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.
Jeremiah 7:16-19
16 “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
Jeremiah 22:13-19
13 “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well.
Is not this to know me? declares the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.
18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’ They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
19 With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried, dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
The Evil
I. The people had a false sense of security in their temple building. They began to idolize their temple. They believed they could find sanctuary in God’s house after their gross actions towards others all week.
"This verse summarizes the ‘temple theology’ of the false prophets. Not merely had God promised an everlasting dynasty to David (2 Sam. 7:12f.) but he had also chosen Zion as his earthly abode (cf. Ps. 132:13f.). Therefore if God was to be true to himself, no possible harm could overtake his dwelling-place or any who sheltered in it. The false prophets fully believed that, in an emergency, God would intervene directly to save Zion, his sacred mount. For them, therefore, temple worship was little better than a charm for averting evil, and they had beguiled the people into trusting in material buildings, forgetful that God required living persons as his temple (cf. Isa. 57:15; 61:1f.; 1 Cor. 3:16f.).
Before the people can legitimately claim covenant benefits, a thoroughgoing reformation will be necessary. Social injustices must be remedied immediately, and the list given indicates the more important seventh-century offences. The profoundly humanitarian concerns of the Mosaic legislation had long been ignored by Israelite society (cf. Deut. 14:29; 24:19–21, etc.). The innocent blood might refer to such judicial murders as that perpetrated by Jehoiakim (26:23). But the basis of all the corruption was idolatry, with its attendant false values."
R. K. Harrison, Jeremiah and Lamentations: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 21, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 89.
-They worshipped out of superstition, not love.
-Our faith is in Jesus, not religious practices
II. They engaged in gross Idolatry
-The worship of something that is not God, as if it were God.
-Whatever you worship is your God. When you worship the blessing, that’s idolatry.
III. THEY MISTREATED VULNERABLE PEOPLE
- They mistreated the immigrants
- They mistreated the poor and needy
- They did not care for orphans and widows
- They slaughtered and killed innocent people in their criminal justice system
- It is believed that the king built his temple on the backs of poor people, and didn’t pay them a fair wage!
Key Point: God’s sends Jeremiah to declare God’s righteous anger towards them, and impending judgment.
Vulnerable people are at the center of God’s heart, and prophetic ministry speaks directly to power structures that mistreat and harm innocent and vulnerable communities.
- The evil of Judah mirrors the evil of America.
- God’s judgment is reserved for systems.
- The Bible speaks to systemic evil and systemic power.
Key Point: Because they failed to repent, the Lord permitted them to be overtaken into Babylonian captivity.
