Here are the opening two verses of Daniel chapter 1:
“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 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 and put in the treasure house of his god.” (Dan 1:1-2 NIV)
It sounds terrible! God’s holy city, Jerusalem, has been taken over by the Babylonians. They’ve taken all the bling from the temple of God and carried it off to the temple of Babylon’s gods.
Where is God? Is he still in control? Does he still rule? Or has he lost his power?
One of the main themes throughout the book of Daniel is that, despite appearances, God is still in control. Human kingdoms come and go throughout the book, but “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.” (Dan 2:44)
As we go through the book of Daniel, we’ll meet the man Daniel and his friends as they seek to live as God’s people in a foreign, sometimes hostile, land. They have some wild adventures with lions, fiery furnaces and some crazily vivid visions & dreams.
The world of Daniel is not unlike our world. As we see the hostility (and even the impressiveness) of the world around us, our belief in God can easily be challenged.
My hope is that this series on Daniel 1-7 will help teach us to live wisely, while we wait for the return of our King Jesus and his kingdom that will never be destroyed.