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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 gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. 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. (Daniel 1:1-2 ESV)
Let me ask you a question. Do you understand your girlfriend or boyfriend? What is your answer? Some might say it assertively, “Definitely!” Some might mutter, “I wish!” Understanding your loved ones might be not too difficult, but do you understand the times that you live in?
Daniel was a captive in Babylon. His times were really unusual. Amazingly, Daniel survived in his times. What is so special about his times?
Dear friends, do you understand the times that you are living in?
- The Times of Political Decline (Daniel 1:1)
During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. (Daniel 1:1 NLT)
The Bad Times of Daniel
Daniel lived in bad times. Daniel 1 talks about the captivity of the Jews by the Babylonians. They were being captured in the reign of King Jehoiakim. Among the Jewish captives, Daniel was one of them. Daniel lived in a time of political turmoil.
Similarly, we live in an age of political turmoil. As Canadians, we would like to see our country to grow stronger, but in reality, we don’t have many elite politicians in our country.
The Bad Jewish King
King Jehoiakim was one of the bad kings in Jewish history. Strangely, his father was a good king.When his father died, the people made his brother king. However, when the king of Egypt, invaded Judah, he deposed his brother as king (2 Kings 23:33– 34), and set Jehoiakim on the throne. Let’s spend time looking at this bad boy.
Heavy Taxation
35 In order to get the silver and gold demanded as tribute by Pharaoh Neco, Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people of Judah, requiring them to pay in proportion to their wealth. (2 Ki 23:35 NLT)
Jehoiakim committed countless abominations in his life (2 Chr. 36:8), and he was harsh to his own people. One of his many bad acts was heavy taxation. For the sake of building a grand palace, Jehoiakim levied heavy taxes on the Jews (Jeremiah 22:13-17).
Canada’s Overspending
Canadians often complain about heavy taxes, but actually it isn’t too bad if you compare us with other extreme cases. Heavy taxes were one of the signs of political decline.
The Roman Empire was once great and influential. Why did the Romans lose their influence? Overspending was one of the reasons. Also, oppressive taxation and inflation had widened the gap between rich and poor. The ancient Romans overspent, so did the Canadian government in recent years.
Because of the overspending in the last twenty years or so, the Canadian government has to overtax us, and has made us deeper in debt.
Wrong Choices of Politicians
Politicians are just humans. Some of them made good choices and on many occasions, many made bad choices. Among the many wrong decisions that Canadian politicians made, there was a case that they offered a large sum of money to subsidise a giant corporation.
Corrupt Politicians
Some of the politicians are corrupt. Many politicians use taxpayers’ money for their own benefits and enjoyment.
Due to the poor choices and corruption of many governments, many people are suffering a great deal now.
Disrespectful to God
When the prophecy about the doom of Judah was read to Jehoiakim, he was very displeased. He even dared to cut and burn the scroll which contained God’s words (Jeremiah 36:23). In a simple sentence, Jehoiakim disrespected God and His words.
As everyone knows, some Canadian politicians are hostile to Christianity and Christian values.
Tancredo Neves
Many people said awful things about God in their lives. Tancredo Neves, a Brazilian presidential candidate allegedly said that if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from presidency. Although he was elected as president, he was sick and died a day before the presidential inauguration.
Thomas Andrews
Thomas Andrews the principal architect for the RMS Titanic. After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the ship would be. With a mocking tone he said: “Not even God can sink it” In 1912, Andrews boarded the ship for her maiden voyage. On the night of 14th April, 1912, Titanic hit an iceberg. Andrews died in the sinking at the age of 39 years old.
Disrespectful to God’s Servants
Jehoiakim was a merciless murderer who killed Uriah the prophet.
Do you know there are people who are very disrespectful to God’s servants? According to Open Doors, an organisation serving persecuted Christians around the world, states that North Korea is the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. As we all know, Christians are all God’s servants. According to the North Korean ideology, they have to exalt human self-sufficiency, and exalt their current leader, and those who oppose this belief would be considered as the enemies of the state.
Auschwitz, a concentration camp that was used by the Nazis to exterminate a million Jews and other people disliked by the Nazis. Auschwitz was liberated 80 years ago today, but do you know there are labour camps larger than Auschwitz in North Korea? According to an old estimation, 100,000 Christians are still in North Korean labour camps. North Koreans disrespected Christianity and Christians.
The Times of Political Unrest
As you can see, Daniel lived in a time of political unrest. Similarly, we are living in a country and world of political unrest.
Your Actions
As we understand the political situation that we are in, how should we respond? First, pray for our country and politicians. Second, be a good civilian, and vote in the coming election. Third, pray if you have the calling of being a politician. If he or she can be a politician, I think you can run for municipal office. Pray to God if you are called to serve as a city councillor. You can do something for God and humanity as a city officer.
- The Times of Religious Decline (Daniel 1:2; Jeremiah 22:8–9)
8 “ ‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.” ’ ” (Jeremiah 22:8–9 ESV)
Jeremiah’s Rebuke
The Prophet Jeremiah rebuked the Jewish kings that they had led their people away from God and worshipped idols. Jewish kings should be the example of their people, but they failed many of their subjects miserably. Can you imagine that the ancestors of the Jews knew God personally but the bad kings led his people away from God? In a simple sentence, the bad Jewish kings led his people away from Yahweh and trusted in some false gods or unorthodox religions.
Definition of Idolatry
How do you define idolatry? As Christians, we don’t bow before images or idols, is that right? However, there is a more subtle form of idolatry.
Soul Idolatry
An English Puritan called it “soul idolatry”. In his own words, “When the mind and heart is set upon anything more than God; when anything is more valued … anything more trusted, more loved, or our endeavours more for any other thing than God”, then we are guilty of soul idolatry.
Tim Keller’s Definition
Tim Keller, American pastor, defines idolatry in the following words, “[An idol] is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.”
Forms of Idolatry
There are various forms of idolatry that exist in this world. Here are a few kinds.
Greediness
According to the above definitions, no wonder the Apostle Paul called greediness idolatry (Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 5:5).
Extreme Devotion to Someone or Something
According to the Webster Dictionary, idolatry is extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.
Many of us like love songs, but many of these tunes speak of extreme devotion to loved ones. Dear Christians, we don’t consider ourselves as idolaters, but oftentimes, we devote extreme devotion to our wives, girlfriends and boyfriends. From time to time, we devote ourselves more to our work than God. It’s plain simple that Christians can be idolaters in some circumstances.
Self
Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, famous English preacher, suggested that the supreme idol is self. We put ourselves above everything. We live for ourselves. Our existence is all about ourselves. What is that? According to Lloyd-Jones, this is idolatry.
In our workplaces, in our homes, we often say, “I don’t like it,” “I don’t want that” or “I don’t think so”. And that’s why we have iPhone, iPad and iMac! It’s all about me. The “I” has become the many problems in this world. We live in a “me” generation. What do you call it? I call it the time of religious decline.
Despising God’s Verdict
As I have spoken earlier, Jehoiakim despised the verdict that came directly from God. Consequently he cut and burned it. What is the indication of this? As you can see, Daniel lived in times of religious decline. The destruction of Judah was the outcome of religious decline.
The Decline of Religion in the West
Many of you know that Christianity is greatly declining in the West. No wonder the Catholic journalist Damian Thompson speculated that “Anglicanism will disappear from Britain in 2033”.
Canadian Spirituality
Back in 1985, 10% of Canadians declare they aren’t related to any religion, but in 2014, the number has grown to 25%.
Declining Belief in God Worldwide
Two studies indicated that religion is slowly losing its grip on humanity. One of the indications is the increasing negative attitude towards the Bible.
Old Survey
According to an old survey, although 72% of the US population still believes the Bible is the Word of God, only 12% read the Bible daily. The situation in Canada isn’t any better.
The Signs of Religious Decline
What are the signs of religious decline? One of them is the abandonment of God’s Word. Believers in Christ, do you read the Bible on a regular basis?
- The Times of God’s Reign (Daniel 1:2)
King Nebuchadnezzar’s Wisdom
According to the historical records of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar was a wise ruler. He was a brilliant military strategist, statesman and architect. Judah had become a puppet state of Nebuchadnezzar. In order to effectively control the Jews, Nebuchadnezzar used the Jews to control their own countrymen. Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and abducted a group of young elites. He captured this group of people as hostages, so that Judah would submit to his control.
The Lord Was Still in Control
2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. 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. (Daniel 1:2 ESV)
Pay attention to Daniel 1:2. Focus on the following words: “And the Lord gave”Without the permission of God, the Babylonians couldn’t take the Jews as captives. Can you see that the Lord was in control of this piece of history? Although the Jews lost their homeland, the Lord was still in control.
The Lord Took Care of Daniel
Please read verse nine. 9 Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel. (Daniel 1:9 NLT)
Although Daniel was being held as a captive in Babylon, the Lord still took care of him. It illustrates an important truth that God was, is and will be sovereign throughout human history.
God’s Sovereignty
Although we don’t know the source of the following saying, it’s a good understanding about the sovereignty of God. It says, “Either God is totally sovereign, ordaining, ruling, and disposing of all things as he will, or he has no control over anything and faith in him is an utter absurdity.”
No Oops
A pastor wisely said, “With our God there is no ‘oops!’ ”
God’s Providence
At the age of 32, William Cowper (pronounced “Kooper”) was nominated to a position that required a public examination. He grew fearful of that and tried to commit suicide three times—and nearly succeeded. On a foggy night, William Cowper became so depressed that he determined to take his life. He ordered a horse-drawn cab to pick him up at his home and went to the London Bridge. He planned to jump to his death. As it was a foggy night, the cabbie got lost, and Cowper got frustrated. He told the man to stop, got out of the cab, paid his fare, and turned around to discover that he was right back at his own doorstep. In his own home, he drank poison, but he threw up. Then he determined to fall on a knife, but strangely the knife blade broke. Finally, he attempted to hang himself, but he was discovered unconscious. Later he was converted to Christianity in an asylum and became a hymn writer. In one of his hymns, it says, “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.”
By telling you this story, I don’t encourage you to end your miseries by ending your life or to test God in any way. As Christians, we should believe in God’s sovereignty. In Him, there is no oops.
Life Lessons
All of us have to face reality in our lives. At times, we are completely failures. On some occasions, we attain successes. Please remember in the midst of our failures, God is sovereign. He allows us to face our failures so that we can learn our necessary lessons. In the midst of our success, God is in control. As God blesses us with our successes, we should thank Him and glorify Him for that.
Conclusion
Believers in Christ, as we know what kind of times that we are in, we must equip ourselves for Christ and His everlasting kingdom.
Kenneth Thumb Ministry 譚約珥事工 