My pastor recently finished a sermon series using text from the book of Daniel. Although the text was a familiar story to me I spent two weeks reviewing the entire book of Daniel to have a refreshed contextual soaking to better listen to the series. Studying any part of the Bible fascinates me because there is always fresh insight and revelation. Only God-breathed and inspired words could remain relevant and fresh throughout time and culture. This fresh soaking in Daniel once again made my head spin with new vision and teaching.

The book of Daniel has twelve chapters and to me breaks evenly into Daniel, part one (chapters 1-6) and Daniel, part two (chapters 7-12). Part one of Daniel has all the famous stories in it and has the main characters of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and King Nebuchadnezzar. Part two of Daniel deals with dreams, visions, prophecy, and eschatology (end-time events). My mind is still cooling off after the study of the second part of Daniel. The accuracy of the prophetic images boggle ordinary logic. I am in no way ready to put my thoughts into words on that part of Daniel. My Spirit-given observation from this time of study is a wide-angle picture of the first half of the book of Daniel.

When Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel were exiled to Babylon, they weren’t alone. Each time the Babylonians took prisoners from Judah there were hundreds and sometimes thousands taken captive. Some research claims that all told about 20,000 Jews (about 25% of the population of Judah) ended up in Babylonian captivity. The two most famous stories from Daniel are about a fiery furnace and a lion’s den. The broad strokes of the two stories are actually the same – not bowing down to the gods of the earth and culture have consequences but those consequences are not bigger than the One True God. If you haven’t ever read those stories or if it has been a while I encourage you to read them! They are supernatural wow stories!!

That isn’t what struck me this time though. What poured into me was that only Sadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood in the fiery furnace story and only Daniel stood in the lion den story. Only four stood for their God and refused to bow down to false idols and false gods. At the minimum there were hundreds of other Jews experiencing those very same moments. Where were they? They were on their knees. Only four stood for their God and King. When that thought entered my mind I could have been knocked over with a feather. I guess I had never thought about anyone else except our heroes in the stories and imagined them and what would happen to them and how God would rescue them but this time I saw all the others on their knees with their heads bowed low and in my mind’s eye I couldn’t distinguish them from the Babylonians.

At the end of any meaningful Bible study we always have to look for the application, i.e., what does this mean for me and my time, and my world. Well this application is crazy scary accurate. We live in Babylon – no, not geographically but philosophically. Babylonian and present-day American culture believe “its all about me and I’m going to do everything I can to get everything I want.” And all through this land are Christ followers. And all through this land the assimilation process is taking place. If anyone was looking at us as a whole with a wide angle lens would they see us all knelt down together worshipping whatever our society said was politically correct right now? Would they see our dirty knees as we are trading in God’s truths for enlightened modern thinking? Let’s not be naive enough to think that society has no influence on us. We live in the midst of it so don’t be blind to how it influences us. Just let Jesus and His truth as He said it influence us more. Jesus’ every thought, word, intention and action was perfect truth in love. Truth without love doesn’t work. Love without truth doesn’t work. If you swing to all truth then you bow to legalism and if you swing to all love (and man’s unenlightened definition of what it means) then you bow to man. But right in the middle is truth and love together – always together. If a believer in this Babylon culture can see the real Jesus (truth in love always and forever) we will rise to our feet and face whatever consequences come.

You and I are here right now to live in this world. We aren’t called to run away and live in a commune. We are supposed to be “in it”. Like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel we are supposed to be leaders and involved. But we are not supposed to be “of it”. We are supposed to be different. We are going to be misunderstood and mocked. The fourth man in the fire and the one who shut the lions mouths was misunderstood and mocked. Shadrach never knelt. Meshach never knelt. Abdnego never knelt. Daniel never knelt. Jesus never knelt. Arise my loves! We may be a few among many but with arms linked we can brush off each other’s knees and stand for the One True God and King. And glory will fall upon Babylon and America.