Coming Out of Babylon

Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Dallin. I've got another Duncan McClanigan in the making here.

Appreciate that. Always good to hear a lovely piece. Dwight Longnecker wrote something a couple of years ago that captures the world in which we live today. I've used it before, but he wrote, first we overlook evil, then we permit evil, then we legalize evil, then we promote evil, and then we celebrate evil, and then we persecute those who still call it evil. We are certainly at that point in our country today and in the world. How do we stand up to the evil around us? An evil that we know is only going to get worse. Revelation 18.4. I'm just going to read one verse there where Christ reveals to John, He said, I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, Babylon, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, that you receive not of her plagues. I've titled my sermon today, Coming Out of Babylon. To come out means you were once in it, and it often rubs off on you. Some of us were born in the church and didn't have to come out as much as others who didn't have that chance. But we know ahead of us in Matthew 24 tells us there's many challenges that we're going to face that have began after Christ's death and has continued to the very end. When He warns them in verse 4 of Matthew 24 to take heed that no man deceives you, that many would come in His name, saying He's Christ. And there are a lot of different Christian denominations today that do deceive many. They believe in the truth. Again, are we versed enough in God's Word to know what the truth is and to not be deceived? Verse 6, He says, we'll have wars and rumors of wars, but that be not troubled. Are we troubled by the wars? Of course, if you're living there, it's often difficult to avoid it. But He says for us not to be because it's just part of what's going to happen. Verse 7, nations shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, the famines, pestilence, earthquakes in diverse places. These are the beginning of sorrows. Just last night in Morocco, they had a 6.8 earthquake that killed hundreds of people. Those things are happening. He says, then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and kill you. You shall be hated of all nations for my namesake because you're willing to call evil evil.

But we're told to endure to the end. Verse 14, the gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all the world as a witness, and then shall the end come. Certainly through the internet now we can reach the whole world like the apostles couldn't, none of the prophets of old could. In verse 21, at the end time, it says, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time known or ever shall be. There have been a lot of holocausts, a lot of troubles over the centuries in this world, and this is going to be a time this worse. How will we handle those events to come? How will we come out of Babylon? I teach a personal and family finance class at ABC and before that at Ambassador College, and I try to tell them how to handle money, what the rules are, how the system works, and how they can navigate it to their advantage. The world wants you to believe you need everything now, that you're worth it to get into debt. I want them to make God first as their partner. I want them to plan their lives. I want them to be disciplined in their financing and to be able to enjoy life without creating many of the stresses that come from the wrong way. I've found over the years that those who discipline themselves in one section of their life often can discipline themselves in other sections of their life, more particularly in their spiritual life, which is sometimes much harder, in effect, to be able to survive Babylon, to come out of her. So how do we handle this as the present world nears its end? Well, we're told in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11 that all these things happen unto them, for examples.

Examples that are written for our admonition upon the ends of the world are come. We are near the end of the world. And so we need to use those examples, and today I'd like to go to one of those examples. A time when most of the world was upside down. A time when it was very difficult. The story of the captivity of Judah, the rise of Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon, and of course the story of Daniel and his friends, and see if we can't learn some things. See, Nebuchadnezzar ruled 43 out of the 70 years of Babylon's empire. A short time compared to the others. Each one got a little bit longer. Nebuchadnezzar defeated the fiercest of enemies, the Assyrians, which had conquered Israel some 120 years before, and nearly conquered Judah. And that was at the time of Hezekiah when he turned to God. And with God's intervention, he was saved. Now around 605 BC, Judah had aligned itself with Egypt, as they often did instead of trusting in God, which was a losing venture, as always. And Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at the Battle of Karshomish. The story of Daniel comes before Nebuchadnezzar, though, before the captivity. Daniel, in essence, did come out of Babylon. He wasn't a partaker ever since. So we can learn from this setting of 2600-some years ago. I'd like to set the stage for this beginning in actually about 30 years before Daniel in 2 Kings 22, because in reality, the story of Daniel begins at a time of one of the few good kings of Judah, Josiah. Now Josiah's background, if you draw back to chapter 21, verse 1, we learn that Josiah's grandfather was the evil king Manasseh, who ruled 55 years and did all sorts of terrible things. He's the one that's supposed to cut Sondah, Isaiah, in half. Verse 19, we see Josiah's father was Ammon, also very evil. He only ruled two years when he was assassinated, and when they killed those that assassinated him, Josiah was then made king. In 2 Kings 22.1, we read about Josiah. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Jedidiah, and the daughter of Adilai, or Adai, and Bousgath. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. Josiah, at eight years old, was doing something his father and grandfather didn't do. Beginning at eight years old, I would say more than likely he was taught by one of the priests that still maintained some of the recognition of God, and he reigned 31 years. I find it interesting, often the people in the Bible start their righteous life out early. If they're trained well, that's why God says to teach your children. They can take in a lot. Psychologists say that a lot of times character is built into a child by the time he's four or five years old. And I always look at the mothers that are mentioned of these kings. Each king, their mothers mentioned. Was Josiah's mother a God-fearing mother? Perhaps in Israelite, when perhaps the other kings of lies may have come from foreign gods? We don't know, but probably seen the way Josiah acted. Verse 3 of 2 Kings 22, so they came to pass in the 18th year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, the son of Massulam, the scribe to the house of the Lord. So Josiah is only 26 years old at this time. Josiah tells the priest to collect money, give it to the workers to repair the temple. He wants to put God back in first place. I love verse 7. Verse 7, it says, Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them that carried the money, that was delivered into their hand because they dealt faithfully. Oh, that's a rare thing in the world, but there are always some faithful people and honest with God.

Verse 10, Shaphan and the scribe showed the king, saying, H'okiah the priest delivered me a book. He brought this book to me, and he read it to the king. When the king heard the words of the book, he ran his clothes. He read the Pentateuch. I'm sure he ran into the blessing and cursing chapter. And he recognized that Judah, somewhat like Israel had before, had become like Babylon, and they had suffered for it. Did he recognize that? And he commanded H'okiah the priest, Anakin the son of Shaphan, and Aecor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe. And his servant the king, saying, Go inquire of the Lord for me, for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us because of our fathers. They have not hearkened to the words of this book, according to the things which are written concerning us. If you do well, you're blessed. If you don't, you're cursed.

He knew what had happened to Israel. Was Judah next?

Chapter 23, verse 1, he sent and gathered all the elders together. The king went up to the house of the Lord, all the men of Judah, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, the priests, the prophets, all the people, small and great. He read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord, like the millennium when all the people are gathered and taught the right way. The king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord to keep his commandments, his testimonies, his statutes, with all their hearts and all their soul to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant, kind of like H&Israel with Moses when they said, we'll do it. And they did for a while, but not very long. He wanted Judah to come out of idolatry and just like us, we make a covenant of baptism to come out of Babylon, to change. Then Josiah destroys the high places, he kills all the false priests, and he burns their bones. The king commanded in verse 21 the people, keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as is written in this book of the covenant. And surely there was not held such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in the days of the kings of Israel, nor the kings of Judah. But in the 18th year of King Josiah, when this Passover was held to the Lord, about halfway through his kingship.

And then he gets rid of the familiar spirits and the wizards, and he puts them all away. Josiah did all he could to try to take Judah out of Babylon. Are we doing all we can? Are we all in like Josiah? Verse 25, liken to him was no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his might, according to the law of Moses, neither after him or rose any like him. He did what Christ said, love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. It was a type of the first love when we more diligently tear down the altars in our life and the images. This is our start of coming out of Babylon. But it didn't last. As usual with Israel, the two kings that follow him went back into Babylon. Now is the time for the prophecies against Judah to come true. The things are written in the book. Josiah's son, Jehoias, only reigned three months and was taken captive to Egypt. They met Jehoiachan, another son of Josiah, the king, and three years into his reign was the first siege of Babylon of Jerusalem. There were three sieges over a 20-year period. Daniel was carried away as a young man in this first captivity. He was a teenager, a young teenager, when he was taken. And this was only four years after Josiah's death, a little less than four years. If you do the math, then Daniel was born during the last 10 years of Josiah's reign. He was born in those more righteous years where they had some priests and righteous teachers for him. Daniel was a royal bud. So he was taught. His formative years of training undoubtedly would have been taught at the time of Josiah when they were serving God with a whole heart. Something was built into him as a young man. Perhaps these teachers were chosen by his mother. We don't know. And I often ask, would there have been a Daniel if there hadn't been a Josiah and the teachers of the law? Daniel now goes into the first captivity to Babylon. Would Babylon overcome him? Or would he be able to come out of Babylon while living in Babylon? Babylon was rich and beautiful, the most advanced society of its day, a society unlike what we live in as far as advancement and comparison. Inscriptions and documents and letters written during that 43 raid of Debbie Knezor give an idea of the power and the wealth of Babylon. According to Herodotus, the historian, and he had a Monaetha with the two main historians back in those days, in book one, page 178 to 186, and about roughly 450 BC, about 100 years after Debbie Knezor, he writes about Babylon. He says, the city was in the form of a square, 14 miles on each side, of enormous magnitude. It'd be 196 square miles. Pretty good-sized city. The brick wall was 56 miles long, 300 feet high, 25 feet thick. They had chariot races on top of the walls of Babylon. 75 feet behind the first wall was another wall. This wall extended 35 feet below the ground, so you couldn't dig under it. They weren't going to let anybody take this city. There were 250 towers that were 450 feet high. That's one and a half football fields, and that means there's about five towers per mile. Outside the main wall was a wide and deep moat that encircled the city. Boats could race in those moats. He writes, it was filled with water from the Euphrates River, which flowed through the middle of the city. To enter the city, there were ferry boats and a drawbridge one and a half miles long. These were closed at night to protect the city. The hanging gardens were one of the wonders of the ancient world. Water from the river was raised by hydraulic pumps to water those gardens.

Eight massive gates led to the inner city and a hundred smaller brass gates. The streets of Babylon were paved with slabs three feet square, not like the bricks that we see in the roads of our cities.

Herodotus writes, there was a great ziggurat tower and another 53 temples, including the great temple of Marduk, and 180 altars to Ishtar, so it was full of idolatry. There was a solid gold image of Baal and the golden table, both weighing over 50,000 pounds. There were two solid gold lions and a solid gold human figure that was 18 feet high inside the city. Certainly Nebuchadnezzar's palace was considered the most magnificent building ever erected on earth. It was impressive. The city was a magnificent fortress. This is what Daniel and the captives were brought into in that first siege. Their world had fallen apart and they were taken to pure splendor and wealth with a king who obviously liked good things and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Would Daniel be swayed? You know, in James 1 13 it says God doesn't tempt us, but he does give temptations sometime and puts us in situations where we must make that choice between good and evil, between siding with Babylon or coming out of Babylon. The final conquest of Judas saw the evil king Zedekiah taken and his sons. And to show an example to anyone else who might rebel, his sons were killed before Zedekiah's eyes. And then he put it at the Ka'izaz out, so the last thing he saw was his children being killed and he was led blind into Babylon. Babylon was ruthless in its conquest. Nebuchadnezzar was a man of superlatives. He conquered Assyria and Tyre and Moab and Ammon, Eden, Judah and Egypt. This is the king that Daniel would serve. You didn't want to upset him. How would one remain faithful to God in this setting? How would Daniel not be overcome by the pageantry and the surroundings about him? Let's go to Daniel 1 and read a bit of what he went into and how he overcame Babylon. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and besieged it. And he gave Jehoiakim into his hand. And with part of the vessels of the house of God, they took the first wave of treasury in that, carried it to the land of Sharnah, to the house of his gods, and the treasure house of his gods. And he spoke to Ashmenes, the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the prince's. This puts Daniel and his friends as royal seed, who would have been educated, children in whom was no blemish, well favored, skillful in all wisdom, cunning in knowledge, understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace. So Daniel obviously was well schooled, in whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And as a young man, he could learn those things fairly easily. And the king appointed to them daily provisions of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank. So nourishing them three years, at the end of that they might stand before the king. This was the indoctrination into Babylon. Three years, learning the language, the culture.

It's easy to give up when all seems lost, when there's no hope of returning. Verse 6, we learn of the children of Judah. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, under whom the prince of the units gave names, Daniel, named Belshazzar, Hananiah, Shadrach, Mishael, Mishach, and Azariah, Abednego.

Verse 8 says, But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, or with the wine which he drank. And he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Have you purposed in your heart not to defile yourself? We see the splendor in the world today. He saw the splendor of Babylon. What do you think the food was like there? He had the best chefs in the world. He was offering them these things. Would you turn it down? Would you offend this king and pay a price, one who was so ruthless?

Would you partake of Babylon? If you give in, then you're not coming out of Babylon. Verse 9 says, God brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. When God sees your heart, he does those things for you. God helps if your heart is right. In verse 10, the prince of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who appointed me meat in your drink. Why would he see your faces worse than the other children, which are not of your sort?

And you'll make me endanger my head to the king. What do you like, Daniel? Let him talk to him. Are you willing to be endangered? Because that would be a danger for Daniel as well. The king got mad.

And if you look at the position of Daniel and Melzar in this, I mean, they're giving them the best food they can. Of course, a lot of it's unclean, prepared differently. In the 1980s, I was in Kuwait, and we went to Oman to meet the sheikh there.

Now, if you're the honored guest, we were there for lunch, and they always gave you the delicacies. And when we were there, they gave me the delicacy and lamb's eye. I don't like food that looks at me. But when I entered the palace, I remember seeing these guys.

They look like they're out of Aladdin, the baggy pants and these big broadswords. And I asked somebody coming in, I said, are these people just for decoration? And they said, oh, no, no. He said, you defend the sheikh, and he'll kill you. So I ate it. It was a clean animal, anyway. And I didn't chew it. I pretended to and just swallowed a whole like a pill. That was kind of my way out of it. So I really don't know what they taste like, but one of those things.

So I understand Daniel's position. In Daniel 1 verse 11, then said Daniel to Mezhar, whom the prince of eunuchs has set over Daniel, and his friends said, prove your servants for 10 days. Let them give us pulse to eat our vegetables, clean things, water to drink, and let our countenance be looked upon, and compare that with the countenance of the others who are eating the king's meat. And as you see, then you can deal with us.

If we look unhealthy, fine. And you can send it and prove them 10 days. Now, to me, at the end of 10 days, their countenance appeared fairer and fatter than in flesh than all the children which would eat the portion of the king's meat. Now, again, that had to be a miracle. I don't know any 10-day diets that do that for me. But God does miracles when you choose to come out of Babylon. How did they come out spiritually? They used their teaching from Jerusalem. They trusted God. They chose to obey Him, just as we must. But this was just the beginning of the tests in the book of Daniel.

In Daniel 2, we read about Nebuchadnezzar's dream. In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he dreamed dreams, and his spirit was troubled. His sleep broke from him. He probably woke up in a cold sweat. And he commanded all the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, the Chaldeans, to show him the dream. And they came and stood before him, and the king said, I've dreamed a dream. My spirit's troubled to know this dream. And he spoke to them.

The Chaldeans said, well, live forever, king. Tell us the dream, and we'll show the interpretation. King answered to the Chaldeans, it's gone for me. I can't tell what I was, but it was bad enough. I'm still scared. If you will not make known to me the dream with the interpretation thereof, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses made it dung ill. He didn't mince words. But if you show me the dream and the interpretation, you shall receive gifts from me and rewards and great honor. Therefore, show me the dream and the interpretation thereof. The world often offers you things to go along.

Do you accept them? And they answered again, let the king tell us the dream. We'll show the interpretation. Tell us what it was. We'll make up something. We don't want to die. The king said, I know certainly you would gain the time because you see this has gone from me.

You're playing me. But if you will not make known to me the dream, there's one decree for you. For you have prepared a lying and corrupt words to speak to me till the time be changed. Therefore, tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me the interpretation.

It reminds me of Mr. Armstrong asked me to find something Jesus said to someone about something. Sometimes you don't know. And the Chaldeans answered truthfully and said, there's not a man on the earth that can show the king's matter. Therefore, no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. And it's a rare thing that the king requires this. There's none that can show this before the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh. It was a cop-out. They want him to tell the dream, we'll make up something, and it'll sound good, and you won't know the difference. And they told him, no one can tell you the dream. Verse 12, the king was very furious. He's angry. Kill him! This king was not someone to mess with. And I thought Mr. Armstrong was a hard boss. Verse 13, the decree went forth, and the wise men should be slain, and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. We've had decrees recently. This decree was not about wearing masks or getting vaccinated, and ours in the future won't be either. We prepared for those decrees. And Daniel answered the council to Ariak, the captain of the king's guard. And Ariak told the king. Told Daniel what happened, why the decree was so hasty, what was happening, and the rage, I'm sure, of the king.

And Daniel went in, verse 16, desired of the king that he would give him time, that he would show the king the interpretation. This is the definition of faith. Hebrews 11, 1, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Daniel was counting on God to tell him. He did not know the dream, but he told him that he would give me some time, and I'll tell it to you. This was something Daniel had not seen. Where do you go for the answers? Well, like he did. God, that's the right place. That's where we must go. We want to come out of Babylon. Verse 17, Daniel went to his house, made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishehel, and Azariah, his companions, that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning the secret, and Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. So he did what we do. We ask our friends to pray for us, to pray that we can understand that. It doesn't say how long it was, but in verse 19, it says the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven. He answered and said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and light are his. He changes the times, he changes seasons, he removes kings, he sets them up. He gives wisdom to the wise, knowledge to them that no understanding. He reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the dark darkness, and the light dwells with him. I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers, who has given me the wisdom and might and has made known to me now what we desired of you, that you have now made known to us the king's matter. Do we praise God the way Daniel did? I'm sure their prayers were fervent. I'm sure there were sweating bullets. And he praised God for letting him know what the dream was. Do you want to come out of Babylon? Thank God, bless God, praise God. Therefore, Daniel went to Ariach, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men, and said to him, destroy it not the wise men of Babylon. Bring me before the king, and I'll show unto the king the interpretation. I wonder what Ariach thought when Daniel told him that. He had seen the king's rage. He'd seen the astrologers talking to him and saying, it can't be done. Ariach goes in and says, I've found a man of the captives of Judah that will make known unto the king the interpretation. And the king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was built to Shazzar, are you able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen and the interpretation of it?

And Daniel answered in the presence of the king, the secret which the king has demanded, can't the wise men and the astrologers and musicians and the soothsayers show it to you? They're all the smart people in the kingdom. No one else can tell you. Neither can I. But, verse 28, there is a God in heaven that reveals secrets and makes known to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, what shall be in the latter days. Your dream and the vision on your head upon your bed are these. As for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind on your bed. What should come to pass her after? And he that reveals secrets is making it known to you what shall come to pass.

But as for me, the secret is not revealed by any wisdom that I have more than any living thing.

Again, the humility. But for their sakes, those you're going to kill, I'll make known the interpretation to the king, that you might know the thoughts of your heart. It's not wrong to say who told you. God did. It's not wrong to tell him you work for God. You put in a good word for yourself, but without arrogance.

Do we say it can't be done when something happens? Or do we go like Daniel and pray, regardless of how he answers it? We know the dream, the head of gold, the arms, just in arms of silver, and the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron. I'm not going to go into that today. I'm sure the wise men could have come up with some interpretation. Had he told them that, they probably could have said, well, king, you're royal and you're rich. And then there's leaders under you that are not quite as rich. And then there's those down there. And then there's peasants, the clay. I mean, they could have made up something that pretty would have sounded good, I suppose. For those who try to say that Daniel's inaccurate because it was written so thoroughly. They want to say it's inaccurate because it's so accurate. And therefore, God doesn't do this. So therefore, he had to write it later. It's interesting that Josephus, in his writings, tells of Alexander the Great when he came to Jerusalem to conquer it. He conquered other cities and plundered them, and his soldiers wanted to plunder Jerusalem. And as he came to Jerusalem, the high priest dressed in his full garb had gone out with all the city and stood out in the gate. And when Alexander saw him, he remembered a vision he had back when he was young. And it was this man in this uniform with people around. And he thought, wow, this must be of God. And so he didn't conquer the city. He talked to them. And Josephus says that they showed him the book of Daniel and said, this is you. You're going to take the world and quickly.

At that time, 200 years before Alexander, how would anybody know? Greece was just a city-state, if that, at the time. One of the proofs, one of the things that proved that it was written before that, that God did give this vision. Again, let's go back to Nebuchadnezzar's response in Babylon, verse 46. King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and worshipped Daniel. Wrong thing. He commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors to him. And the king answered Daniel and said of a truth, it is that your God is a God of gods. The Lord of kings, a revealer of secrets, seeing you could reveal the secret. But it was temporary. The king made Daniel a great man, gave him many great gifts, made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. It's not wrong to have nice things if you have the right attitude toward them, which obviously Daniel did. Daniel requested of the king that he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon, that Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

I remember the supreme patriarch in Thailand stating to Mr. Armstrong, or he was talking to some other people actually over there, says Mr. Armstrong is to the world what Buddhism is to Thailand. If everyone did what he taught, we'd have peace. He said this because of the example of our students in the projects over there, some of whom worked in the monasteries, and the supreme patriarch had been told of their behavior in Thailand. Does your example and your beliefs change people's ideas about what is good and what is evil? Do you bring your friends along with you? Do you give opportunities to others? Well, I've always pushed for the projects from the time I was young. I went on the dig my junior year and had students in Sri Lanka and Thailand and Israel and Jordan over those years. You need to give opportunity. Do you pray for your friends? Do you help them come out of Babylon? They pass the test, but a test is only a test, and there's never just a single test. A test is a lifetime. As good things happen, you can count on other things that may not be so good. God is never through with you after a single test. And then we have Daniel 3, chapter 3, verse 1. We read of the image of gold that was set up, three score cubits, the breadth of six cubits, 80 by 9 is bigger than the one Harada has talked about. He set it up in the plain of Dura. Verse 2, he's dedicating it. He tells everybody to come together for this dedication. Verse 3, the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar set up, and the herald cried out, Hear ye, hear ye, it's commanded, O people, nations, and languages, when you hear the music, fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar set up. Hear ye, if you don't, you'll be cast in the burny fiery furnace.

Verse 7, it says they all did it. All the people, all the nations, all the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar set up. But at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. Is there jealousy here? They had positions. They wanted to turn them in. They had been given positions that I'm sure those Chaldeans wanted. Verse 9, they spake and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live forever, flattery, flattery, you king have made a decree that every man shall hear the music, shall fall down and worship the image. And who doesn't fall down, that he should be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. And there are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded you. They serve not your gods, nor worship the golden image which you set up. They just don't do what you command. They're making him angry on purpose. A tactic with Satan. Does that work on you? I've seen people get angry. With anger, it seems logic goes out the window. If it works on you, then perhaps you haven't totally come out of Babylon. COVID and the vaccine recently created anger in the world, even anger in the church at times. Regardless of what you did, the judging was sad. In verse 13, because they worked him up, says Nebuchadnezzar in a rage and fury commanded to bring the three men to him, and they brought him to the king. And he spoke to him, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image which I have set up? And then verse 15 basically says, Okay, guys, I like it. Let's try it again. When you hear the music, just fall down and worship my image, and we'll forget all this. But if you don't, we're going to catch you under the fire.

He was giving him a chance. And he continues, Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

He expects compliance. Nobody wants to burn. Will they come out of Babylon or give into Babylon? What would you do? I love it when they challenge the true God. They can call me names all they want. Just challenge God, and then I'm a lot safer. Verse 16, they tell him, We're not careful to answer you in this matter. Not afraid.

Verse 17, the most famous lines in the Bible, If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. And he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, king, we will not serve your gods, worship the golden image which you have set up. That's the best answer. Is that your answer in a bad situation? If not, then you have to ask if you come out of Babylon. Verse 19, Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and for him his visage was changed against Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego, and he asked him to heat the furnace seven times hotter. He liked them. He gave them a chance to change their mind, and they wouldn't, and that made him really mad. That happens. Some have faced challenges with their jobs, not death, but the same principle. Are you willing to be fired to obey God, pun intended?

And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind them and cast them into the fire. Again, he didn't like being challenged after being so nice, and they quickly bound him, and the fire was so hot that when they tried to throw him in, the fire jumped out and killed his mighty man. He lost his mighty men to the fire, which I'm sure annoyed him as well. But then, verse 24, the king Nebuchadnezzar was astonished. Evil is always surprised and often scared when their power is negated, and they stand up to a bully. He says, didn't we throw three men in the fire? I see four, and one looks like the Son of God. I always wonder why he said that. Did one of them brighter than the other ones? I'm not sure exactly why he came to that conclusion, but he realized he was fighting God. And once again, he came to his census for a short period of time, and he calls out Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, come out, and they walk out, and everyone saw it. Verse 27, The princes, the governors, the captains, the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, and not a hair of their head was sinned, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of the fire passed on them. They had that force field around them. And Nebuchadnezzar spoke. And once again, he figured it out, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel and delivered the bodies that they might not worship any God except their own God. The same one he said before, What God is going to save you? Well, now he found out. And he makes a decree that every people, nation, language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces. Their houses made a dung hill, because there's no one God other that can deliver of this sort. Do you get the idea that Nebuchadnezzar was a bit impulsive? All in, all out. And he promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Do you create that kind of example where people can respect you?

If you do, you're coming out of Babylon. We had ABC students some years ago who went to work at one of the local stores here and did such a good job at the end of the year. The manager said, if any ABC student applies, hire him on the spot. That's the kind of example that we should be setting in the workplace, in our homes, in our neighborhoods. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were alight. But a question I always ask myself since I was a little kid reading the story for the first time, where was Daniel? I mean, you know Daniel wasn't bowing down to the image. Where was he? Obviously, he wouldn't bow down. And sometimes we're very strong around other people. Some people ask and said, well, you must have been really good to work, Mr. Armstrong. And I said, well, I'd be stupid not to be good standing next to Mr. Armstrong. Nobody does anything foolish around their boss. Character is what you choose to do in the dark. You know, no child takes the cookie out of the cookie jar while mom's standing there. God wants to know. I wonder if this was actually a test for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to see whether they would do it without Daniel. Think about it. Would you only come out of Babylon if you have your leader? The one who already delivered you with the dreams? Will you do it with your friends, but not by yourself? Will you run off and follow a new king, as has happened in the church at times with various splits? Now in Daniel 4, we have another dream that Daniel has to interpret. And this time the king tells it to his wise men, and they can't tell what it is.

And he calls Daniel, verse 9, "'O Belteshav'sah, master of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you. Tell me the visions of the dream I've had." And the interpretation and the dream, of course, about the great tree that feeds all the files of the air and the animals in the shade, and then it's cut off and bound for seven seasons. Daniel gives the interpretation to Nebuchadnezzar, but he's worried. He faces a dilemma. Do you really want to give this king bad news? He doesn't seem like bad news.

And Daniel says in verse 19, His thoughts troubled him. And the king said, Don't be troubled by the dream. And he answered and said, My Lord, the dream is to them that hate you and the interpretation to your enemies. But he gives him the interpretation that he would become like an animal, that that human spirit in him was probably removed. And he became just a normal mammal for seven years. But he warns the king to humble himself. King, don't be so vain. Don't, don't, you know, it's not you. God does this. But Nebuchadnezzar didn't last usually when he saw things that happened that were of God. He would bless God, but then he would go back to his old ways. The way you say things is important. It has to be in humility. Babylon is for pride. God looks at humility and praising him. Babylon, again, looks for self and pride. I learned this work from Mr. Armstrong. When I became his aide, I had to tell him a lot of things that were done in the 70s that other people wouldn't tell him. And he didn't want to hear them, but he needed to.

And I got fired a few times for it, but he always hired me back because he couldn't work without me. That's an advantage of having someone who can't see and can't hear.

But one of the greatest compliments he ever gave to me when he charged me to tell Mr. Dukats when he was wrong, I said, Mr. Armstrong, you're asking me to tell my future boss when he makes a mistake. He said, you did me, which I consider the greatest compliment that he gave me because I was very honest with him. I just had to say it respectfully, but often there were not pleasant words which you'd like to say. It's never easy to give bad news, but to come out of Babylon is bad news to those who live in Babylon. Sometimes you have to, and they often don't really want to listen. Verse 29, at the end of 12 months, Nebuchadnezzar walks in the palace, and he spoke, Is not this the great Babylon that I have built for the house of my kingdom and my might and my power and the honor of my majesty? Whoa! While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from you. And for seven years he became as an animal, and his kingdom came back. Daniel given him a warning that bad news was ahead. You know, the prophets and us today have to give the world some bad news, and they're not going to want to hear it, because we call it evil.

Are we like Nebuchadnezzar? We only bless God like he does after he comes up. He blesses God again.

He never came out of Babylon. He wasn't destined to, though he saw glimpses of what God did throughout his lifetime. Are we like Daniel? Out of Babylon by being close to God for all of our days, our commitment. Daniel 5 tells of the handwriting on the wall. The story I'll shorten. The fall of Babylon, like father, like son. This is Belshazzar. He sat smug in his city, his big party going on, calling the vessels from the house of Lord to drink out of the things dedicated to God, like his father. A hand appears on the wall. Everyone's spooked. You don't see a hand on the wall. Carving something is scary.

That's from God. It's not man. He doesn't know what to do with it. No one can interpret it that's there. And an older woman, probably one of Nebuchadnezzar's wives that may have been in court when Daniel told him the things. Tells the Belshazzar, hey, there's Daniel. He used to do this for your father. Why don't you call him? And he was brought in. Verse 13 of chapter 5, it says, Daniel was brought in. He said, are you that Daniel of the children of the captivity of Judah that my father brought? Are you him? I've heard of you. And the wise men, the astrologers, they can't understand this. And I've heard of you that you can do this. Will you make it known? Will you make it known? Verse 16, I've heard of you that you can make interpretations of dissolved doubts if you can read the writing and make known to me the interpretation thereof. You shall be clothed with scarlet, have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be third ruler in the kingdom. Again, gifts from Babylon. Daniel answered and said, let your gifts be to yourself and give your rewards to someone else. I will read the writing unto the king and I'll make it known the interpretation. Your kingdom is about to fall. To come out of Babylon, we have to see clearly, desire what God promises you. To see there's really nothing that Babylon has to offer you that Babylon promises. The Achilles heel of Babylon was arrogance and pride, trusting in themselves their own intellect, their own riches. Like the unsinkable Titanic, which they wrote in the paper, not even God could sink her. Yeah, really? It sank. And so did Babylon. That night the Medes and the Persians diverted the water of the Euphrates. The moats emptied. The armies went under the gates of the city. Those big walls, those deep dug-in walls, the water around it didn't help them. Pride and arrogance as they had that party. Babylon was taken down. Their arrogance, often used by Satan to destroy. To come out of Babylon is to see with heart, mind, and soul that Babylon offers nothing permanent to you, not even the head of a kingdom. This was offered to Christ by Satan. Daniel got there. He demanded nothing. And Daniel shows the importance of preparation from your youth and all through your life. The training before any trial to get you through the next trial. Knowing the scriptures, knowing the stories, character has to be built inside of you.

But one more point. God is about relationships. Daniel loved his God. He loved his people. He even loved Nebuchadnezzar and even Darius later on. God's about love and relationships. We have to love people but not their actions, not the evil. We don't celebrate it and we call it evil.

But one more story showing you have to come out of Babylon. This is about Daniel in the lion's den. He's older at this time and it's still about jealousies. But it shows you how to come out of Babylon. It's a story of jealousy over position and power. Daniel had it. Others wanted it. The story in the sitting of Daniel, they wanted him permanently removed. He wouldn't be in their way. But Daniel, it's a story of knowing the law, knowing what would happen if you didn't do what the law said, yet doing what's right before God regardless of the outcome. That's where we need to be. In this world there'll be jealousies. People will be jealous of the things you do and have. It's happened in the first century of church of God. It's happened in the last century, church of God, through human weakness and human desires and hopefully unintentionally. Although in my history in the church, I've seen too many people who want a position and were too willing to divide the body of Christ to have what they wanted. And when it happens, it hurts. It hurts all of us. I cry for them and for the division it causes. But I hope it can be said of you what was written in Daniel 6, verse 5 to be able to come out of Babylon. Daniel 6, 5, it's he says, then said these men, talking about Daniel, trying to get rid of him, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. If this can be said of you and they can find nothing against you except to be concerning the law of your God, then you have indeed come out of Babylon. Trouble is here and it's getting worse. The world is celebrating evil while we're getting ready to celebrate the feast and the hope, God's solution. We have a hope that the world doesn't know. We don't have to worry. We know what's beyond that and it gives us peace of mind. I ask all of you to use the feast coming up to be motivated, to come out of Babylon, to be separate. Michelle and I leave Tuesday to go to Europe. I wish all of you a good feast. Think of it for what it is, a shadow of the promises of the good news that's yet to come, a time of peace for all mankind who will eventually come out of Babylon. May God give you strength and safe travels.