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00:00Prepare your heart for the Thanksgiving season with Season of Gratitude by Dr. David Jeremiah.
00:07Grow in gratitude with inspirational devotionals, readings, and scripture that will help you focus on God's blessings to you.
00:15Request yours for a gift of any amount.
00:18Plus, get a four-pack of Season of Gratitude or the complete Seasons Collection boxed set when you call or go online today.
00:30Welcome to the Hall of Prophecy.
00:57From this hall, we have a bird's eye view to the world, the past, present, and even the future.
01:05More importantly, we see the world through the lens of scripture.
01:10Though most people believe that biblical prophecies about the cataclysmic final days of the earth
01:16can only be found in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation,
01:21you may be surprised to know that end-time prophecies are found in the Old Testament as well,
01:27recorded hundreds of years before John's revelation.
01:32It's true. New Testament prophecies were foreshadowed by Old Testament prophecies,
01:37given centuries before the birth of Christ.
01:41In fact, if we travel back to the 6th century BC,
01:46we will discover one of the most remarkable glimpses into the future of this world.
01:52The first look at the end of days came from the ancient land of Babylon.
02:16In 587 BC, Jerusalem was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar's army.
02:39Afterward, he took many Hebrew hostages to serve as slaves in Babylon.
02:45One hostage, a godly young teen, was torn from his world and exiled to Babylon.
02:52And in this new world, he discovered a foreign godless culture,
02:57one in which he would live the rest of his life.
03:57Though at first his story appears hopelessly daunting,
04:27we will discover otherwise.
04:30The biblical account of the young Jew in Babylon and his three companions
04:35will encourage us that even today, we can stand up in a culture of godlessness
04:41and remain faithful to God even in the most trying of circumstances.
04:48So who was this Hebrew hostage living in a hostile world?
04:54Daniel, an agent of Babylon.
05:09What does God expect from His followers living in today's culture?
05:13How can we stand up for Him?
05:16In Dr. David Jeremiah's book, Agents of Babylon,
05:19you'll find that the answer can be found in the life of one of Scripture's greatest heroes, Daniel.
05:24Why Daniel? Because the culture of his day is surprisingly similar to the culture of today.
05:30And he not only survived, but thrived by standing up for God in the midst of it.
05:36Discover how you can also reflect God's grace and love
05:39as you live for Christ in today's culture in Agents of Babylon,
05:44yours when you give a gift of any amount.
05:46If you give $70 or more, Dr. Jeremiah will send you the Agents of Babylon DVD study set
05:52containing the Agents of Babylon book, complete teaching series on DVD,
05:56correlating study guide, and the stand-up bookmark.
05:59Plus, a bonus DVD containing Dr. Jeremiah's live reading of the Agent of Agents
06:04and the Agents of Babylon highlight episode,
06:07including the opening Hall of Prophecy segments you've seen on Turning Point Television.
06:13Order the Agents of Babylon book or study set when you contact Turning Point today.
06:32Historians record that Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in 605 B.C.
06:40And it also tells us that the king deported Jewish hostages from Jerusalem to Babylon,
06:45leaving Jerusalem in ruins with only a few of the poor,
06:49aged, and infirm still in the land.
06:52For 70 years, they were in captivity
06:55because they refused to do what God called them to do.
06:58And God got the Babylonians, the most wicked nation in the world,
07:02to carry out his judgment.
07:05The Bible says this was ordained of God.
07:07It's interesting.
07:08This is really ironic.
07:10God turned evil against evil to accomplish good.
07:13He took the Babylonians to punish the Israelites to get good out of it.
07:19After the Great Defection, there was a Great Deportation,
07:22verses 2 through 7.
07:24Here we read that the Lord gave into Nebuchadnezzar's hand
07:27some of the articles of the house of God,
07:30which he carried into the land of Shinar,
07:33which is another name for Babylon,
07:35to the house of his God,
07:37and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his God.
07:41He took the chalices and the vessels
07:44and all of the beautiful utensils that Solomon had put into the temple
07:49to enhance the worship of Almighty God,
07:51and he took those vessels and he carried them to Babylon
07:54and put them in the temple of an idol.
07:57Because you see, in that day, when you defeated a nation,
08:01it was thought that you also defeated that nation's God.
08:04And to take those implements and put them in your temple
08:08was a reminder to anyone who knew it
08:11that the God Marduk had defeated the God of Israel.
08:17It was a short-lived victory, as you know.
08:20So now, Nebuchadnezzar has the articles of the temple
08:24in his idol's house,
08:26and he has some of the choice young men of Israel in Babylon,
08:30and he's about to put them through some training
08:33so that they can become his representatives in the kingdom
08:37where there will be many other Jewish people.
08:40In order to be a part of Nebuchadnezzar's program,
08:44you had to meet the conditions for selection,
08:47and we read about this in verses 3 and 4 of Daniel 1.
08:50The king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs,
08:54to bring some of the children of Israel
08:56and some of the king's descendants
08:58and some of the nobles,
09:00young men in whom there was no blemish
09:02but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom,
09:04possessing knowledge and quick to understand,
09:07who had ability to serve in the king's palace.
09:10The elite of Judah's young men were brought to Babylon,
09:14and they were inspected with the view
09:17to becoming servants of Nebuchadnezzar in his palace.
09:22And here were the tests they had to follow.
09:25First of all, the physical test in verse 4.
09:28They had to be young men in whom there was no blemish,
09:32and they had to be good-looking.
09:34This is about the only place in the Bible
09:36where I've ever read that good-looking matters,
09:39but here it mattered.
09:41These young men had to be the finest,
09:43the choicest of the men in Judah.
09:45In fact, the word for young is the original language
09:49refers to someone who's between 14 and 17 years of age.
09:53They were young enough to make the adjustment to a new place,
09:58and they were old enough to learn
10:00what was going on there.
10:02So they brought these young men into Babylon.
10:05And then they had to pass an intellectual test.
10:08Verse 4 says, they had to be gifted in all wisdom,
10:11possessing knowledge and quick to understand.
10:14In addition to their physical prowess,
10:16they had to have a high IQ.
10:19Those who were to serve the king must be highly intelligent.
10:22They must be knowledgeable, and the Bible says
10:24they must be quick to learn, a quick study.
10:28Not only physical, intellectual, but a social test
10:31was added to the list in verse 4.
10:33Young men who had ability to serve in the king's palace.
10:38In other words, the king expected these men
10:40that he chose and would ultimately train
10:43to be young men of poise and social grace
10:47and winsome personalities because they would have to function
10:50in a royal setting without causing the king embarrassment.
10:57So, the physical test and the intellectual test
10:59and the social test.
11:01Now, along with the conditions for their selection,
11:03there was a curriculum for their schooling.
11:05Verse 4 says, whom they might teach the language
11:09and literature of the Chaldeans.
11:12Nebuchadnezzar had a three-year training program
11:15that he designed for these young men
11:17who came into his kingdom.
11:19And then we're told that along with the schooling
11:22that Nebuchadnezzar was providing,
11:24he also had a sinister desire to seduce these young men
11:29into becoming not just outwardly Babylonian,
11:33but inwardly Babylonian as well.
11:36And the campaign for their seduction is given to us
11:38in verses 5 through 7.
11:41Three things Nebuchadnezzar decided to do.
11:44First of all, he emasculated them.
11:46The book of Daniel doesn't state explicitly that that happened,
11:50but we know it happened from the writing of Isaiah.
11:53The prophet Isaiah predicted that the Babylonians
11:56would come and carry off the riches of Judah
11:59as well as its sons.
12:01They shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
12:06So Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego became eunuchs.
12:10The king did not want them to have any other desire
12:14except for him.
12:17Then he obligated them.
12:19The Bible says that he appointed for them
12:21a daily provision of the king's delicacies
12:24and of the wine which he drank,
12:27making them dependent upon the king's kitchen,
12:30the king's bounty, giving them food that was so rich
12:33and elegant that they would never think about
12:35going back to their old diet.
12:39And then, most important of all, he assimilated them.
12:43Verses 6 and 7 tell us that the chief of the eunuchs
12:46gave names to Daniel and to Hananiah and to Shadrach.
12:51To Mishael, Meshach, and Azariah.
12:53Now, watch what he did.
12:55He changed Daniel's name, which means in Hebrew,
12:58God is my judge, to Belteshazzar,
13:01which means, Bel, protect his life.
13:04Bel was a pagan Babylonian god.
13:08He changed Hananiah, which means,
13:11Yahweh is gracious in Hebrew, to Shadrach,
13:15which means, the command of a coup
13:18after the Babylonian moon god.
13:22And he changed Mishael, which means in Hebrew,
13:26who is what God is, to Meshach,
13:29which means, who is what a coup is.
13:33And he changed Azariah, which means,
13:35Yahweh is my helper, to Abednego, servant of Nebo,
13:41in honor of the second greatest Babylonian god, Nebo.
13:47You see, Nebuchadnezzar wanted his three young friends
13:52and Daniel to forget Jerusalem, to forget their god,
13:57to forget the temple, and everything related
14:00to their Jewish heritage and their culture.
14:03But Daniel and his friends did not forget,
14:06because how many of you know you can change a man's name
14:10but that doesn't change his nature?
14:12And 70 years later, you see Daniel still in Babylon,
14:16bowing down toward Jerusalem
14:18and remembering the god of his youth.
14:22The great defection and the great deportation,
14:26and now the core of the passage, the great decision.
14:32In Daniel chapter 1, verses 8 and following,
14:36we find out why Daniel was a stand-up guy.
14:42For we read in verse 8 these words, his resolution.
14:46Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile
14:51himself with the portion of the king's delicacies,
14:54nor with the wine which he drank.
14:58Now, notice, Daniel didn't wait until it was offered to him.
15:01He didn't wait until the moment of temptation.
15:04The Bible says long before that,
15:06Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not violate
15:10his faith by eating and drinking food
15:13that had been offered to an idol.
15:16Could I just pause for a moment and say that
15:18every major conviction we have
15:20is a conviction we need to make long before it's tested.
15:24I used to tell young people when I was a youth pastor,
15:26I was thinking about it this week,
15:28that the place to make up your mind about your morality
15:30is not the back seat of your boyfriend's car.
15:34That's not a good place to make that decision.
15:36You will make the wrong decision if you do that.
15:39So, you gotta make the decision.
15:41You've got to resolve to do what's right.
15:43The reason Daniel was so strong was he resolved
15:45to do what's right.
15:47In his heart, he decided, I will not violate my faith.
15:52But he did it in an interesting way.
15:55He didn't get in the face of Nebuchadnezzar or Ashpenaz
15:58or the steward.
16:00He didn't rail against Babylon.
16:03He didn't write a paper on why you shouldn't eat food
16:06that's offered to an idol.
16:09Notice how he handled himself.
16:11Verses 8 and 10.
16:13Daniel requested of the chief of the eunuchs
16:16that he might not defile himself.
16:19And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel,
16:21I fear my lord the king who has appointed your food and drink.
16:27For why should he see your faces looking worse
16:30than the young men who are your age?
16:32Then you would endanger my head before the king.
16:36So, Daniel requested of the chief of the eunuchs
16:39that he might not defile himself.
16:43Daniel's refusal to follow the king's instruction
16:47didn't get him in the king's face
16:50but made him ask a question.
16:53He said, look, if you're gonna try to make me eat this food,
16:55I'm not gonna eat this food, but before you go off on this,
16:58let me give you another idea.
17:00Just why don't you test us?
17:02Why don't you let us eat our food?
17:04Please test your servants for 10 days
17:07and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.
17:10Then let our appearance be examined before you
17:13and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion
17:15of the king's delicacies,
17:17and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.
17:21Daniel said, look, your way is not my way.
17:24Let me tell you what my way is and let us prove to you
17:27that my way is God's way and the best way.
17:30Give us 10 days to eat food
17:33that doesn't come from the king's table,
17:35and at the end of the 10 days, you examine us
17:37and see whether or not we're better
17:40than those who ate the food that was offered to the idols.
17:44What happens in verses 15 and following in the first chapter
17:47is the great demonstration.
17:49This is my favorite part of the story.
17:51The result of Daniel's dietary experiment
17:53was conclusive.
17:55At the end of 10 days, he and his three friends
17:58came out totally superior to all of the other hostages
18:02in every category that you could measure.
18:05First of all, they had greater impact.
18:07Verse 15 says, at the end of 10 days,
18:09their features appeared better and fatter in flesh
18:12than all the young men who ate the portion
18:14of the king's delicacies.
18:16When Daniel and his friends stood up
18:18at the end of their 10-day dietary trial,
18:22the Bible says they had better skin,
18:24better skin color, better general alertness,
18:27stronger physique.
18:29Their appearance was superior in every way
18:31to those who had indulged in the king's menu.
18:34How could the appearance of these men
18:36have shown such exceptional superiority
18:39in such a short time?
18:41In fact, if this works in 10 days,
18:43we're all starting it tomorrow, right?
18:46I mean, get us some vegetables and a lot of water,
18:48and we're on this diet for real.
18:50So how do you explain that in 10 days
18:52they totally were so much better than all the rest?
18:55Well, the diet wasn't just vegetable and water.
18:58It was vegetable and water and God.
19:01God was in this.
19:03God was allowing them to be more pronounced
19:06in their physical prowess than the others.
19:10God was making this demonstration what it was.
19:14Not only did they have greater impact,
19:16but they had greater intelligence.
19:18Verses 17 and 20 tell us that God gave them knowledge
19:22and skill in all literature and wisdom,
19:25and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams,
19:28and in all matters of wisdom and understanding
19:30about which the king examined them,
19:32he found them ten times better than all the magicians
19:36and all the astrologers who were in all of his realm.
19:39So they had greater impact and greater intelligence,
19:41and they had greater influence.
19:43At the end of the days, verse 18 and 19,
19:46none was found like Daniel, Hananiah,
19:49and Mishael, and Azariah.
19:52Therefore, they served before the king.
19:55They graduated and they were promoted,
19:57and now here we are with these four Hebrew boys
20:01in the palace with a Babylonian king,
20:05in the place where God is gonna use them
20:08to influence things that we're going to see in the future.
20:10He brought these young men out of Jerusalem.
20:14They went through the training program,
20:16maintained their faith in God,
20:18and here they are in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar.
20:22The great testimony for Daniel
20:24is in the 21st verse of the first chapter.
20:27If you don't have your Bibles, look up on the screen.
20:29This is what it says, Daniel 1, 21.
20:32Thus Daniel continued.
20:35Daniel continued in the public eye for almost 70 years.
20:42He outlasted some of the most powerful kings
20:45and kingdoms in world history,
20:48and he lived in a culture that was utterly pagan,
20:51yet there isn't a negative word said about Daniel
20:54in all of the Bible, not one.
20:56He wasn't sinless, but they just never recorded
20:59anything evil about Daniel.
21:01When the leaders of Babylon tried to find something about him
21:04that they could use to convict him,
21:06it says in chapter 6 that the only thing
21:08they could find about him that they might try
21:10to convict him about was his faith in God.
21:13What a testimony for us to follow.
21:16But what about us?
21:18What do we take away from this?
21:20Let me suggest three things.
21:22First of all, Daniel had a life that was steadfast,
21:26and we can have such a life as well.
21:29The preparation for it is more simple than you may think,
21:33and it's in process right now in all of our lives.
21:36What I'm saying is that all of us are in the category
21:38of Daniel.
21:40He doesn't have anything on any of us.
21:42We're all born with the opportunity to become
21:44like Daniel, to become champions for what we believe,
21:47to stand up for our faith.
21:49It starts with the little things.
21:51It doesn't start with the big things.
21:53You know, I happen to believe that most of us in this room
21:56are gonna face some major issues that we have to stand up for
22:00before we go to heaven.
22:03But let me ask you this question.
22:05What's gonna prepare us to do that?
22:07You're just not gonna stand up for the big thing
22:09if you haven't had some small victories along the way.
22:12So, the preparation for a steadfast life
22:14gives us some of the possibilities.
22:16The way you get strong enough to stand up for the big things
22:19is by standing up for the little things,
22:22and I promise you everyone in this room,
22:25including your pastor, will have an opportunity this week
22:28to stand up for something that we really believe is true.
22:32Finally, I wanna give you the promise of a steadfast life,
22:36and I want you to notice that for all of the miraculous works
22:39that God did for Daniel and through Daniel,
22:42listen carefully.
22:44It is important to note that God never took Daniel
22:48out of Babylon.
22:50He left him in that culture for all of his 90-some years.
22:57You see, the message of Daniel is not that God is going
23:00to remove all forms of oppression in our lives.
23:04Sometimes we pray, Lord, make it go away.
23:09But instead, this helps us to know that God has promised us
23:13that we can find success and remain faithful to him
23:17even in the most trying of circumstances
23:20and under the greatest pressure of culture.
23:22We don't have to yield to the pressure.
23:25The same God who could, if he chose to do so,
23:30take us away from this environment
23:32or take this environment away from us
23:34is the God who can help us live like Daniel lived
23:38in a culture that defies the very existence
23:41of the Most High God.
23:43And in order to do that, men and women,
23:45we have to be willing to stand up.
23:49It's not about standing down.
23:51That's cowardice.
23:53It's not about standing aside.
23:55That's compromise.
23:56It's really not even about standing against.
23:58That's contention.
24:00And that's sometimes competition.
24:03It's about standing up.
24:05That's conviction.
24:06And that's courage.
24:08And that's what Daniel did.
24:10And by the grace of God, that's what I want to do.
24:12And by the grace of God, I pray that's what you will do as well.
24:20Dr. Jeremiah will return in a moment
24:22to close today's program right after this.
24:27Revelation is not the only place in God's Word
24:30where end times prophecy can be found.
24:33In his book, Agents of Babylon,
24:35what the prophecies of Daniel tell us about the end of days,
24:38Dr. David Jeremiah travels back to explore
24:41the Old Testament book of Daniel,
24:43teeming with prophetic markers and visions.
24:46The prophecies found therein reveal
24:48not only a glimpse of the future,
24:50but also a full picture of God's power
24:52in the past and present.
24:54Agents of Babylon explains
24:56how the fulfilled prophecies of Daniel
24:58give us confidence to live for God in today's world
25:01and prepare for what is yet to come.
25:04Agents of Babylon is yours
25:06when you give a gift of any amount in support of this program.
25:09If you give $70 or more,
25:11Dr. Jeremiah will send you the Agents of Babylon DVD study set
25:15containing the Agents of Babylon book,
25:17complete teaching series on DVD,
25:19correlating study guide, and the stand-up bookmark.
25:22Plus, a bonus DVD containing Dr. Jeremiah's live reading
25:26of the Agent of Agents
25:28and the Agents of Babylon highlight episode,
25:30including the opening Hall of Prophecy segments
25:33you've seen on Turning Point Television.
25:35Order Agents of Babylon book or study set
25:38when you contact Turning Point today.
25:43And now, with one last word for today's program,
25:46here is Dr. Jeremiah.
25:48As we have seen today,
25:50Daniel is one of the most remarkable individuals
25:53to be found in Scripture.
25:55His story is one of unfailing faith and courage.
25:59Through his time as a hostage in a foreign land,
26:03God gave Daniel everything he needed
26:06to not only survive in a brutal pagan world,
26:09but to thrive as a consistent voice for God
26:13and righteousness.
26:15In our study together in the weeks ahead,
26:18it is my hope that Agents of Babylon
26:21makes the people, the principles,
26:23and the prophecies in the book of Daniel
26:26come to life for you like never before.
26:29And if you have never asked Christ
26:32to be your Lord and Savior,
26:34or you would like more information
26:36about growing in your walk with God,
26:38I have two free resources I would like to send to you.
26:42One is our booklet, Your Greatest Turning Point,
26:45and the other is our monthly devotional magazine,
26:48Turning Points.
26:49They're yours upon request
26:51when you contact us at Turning Point today.
26:55In addition, you can order Dr. Jeremiah's legacy work,
26:59the Jeremiah Study Bible,
27:01a beloved study Bible,
27:03and the culmination of Dr. Jeremiah's decades of teaching,
27:06helping you to answer,
27:07what does the Bible say?
27:09What does it mean?
27:10And what does it mean for me?
27:12Available in multiple translations and formats,
27:15there is a Jeremiah Study Bible for everyone.
27:18Also available for children,
27:19Dr. Jeremiah's Airship Genesis Kid Study Bible.
27:23Order yours today.
27:26Next time on Turning Point.
27:28If he's got the whole world in his hands,
27:30your world's in his hands, amen?
27:33If he can control all that's going on
27:35in the governments of the world,
27:37is it not a reasonable thing
27:40for those of us who claim to be Christians
27:42that Almighty God controls our world as well?
27:46Join us next time for Dr. Jeremiah's message,
27:49The Insomniac,
27:51here on Turning Point.
27:53♪♪♪
28:00♪♪♪
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