Beyond Today -- Living in Modern Babylon

the Bible shows us that our modern world is a cultural Babylon that stands against God's eternal purpose and plan for us in the book of Revelation the Apostle John gives a vivid prophetic vision it says Babylon is fallen that great city is falling she has become a home for demons she is a hideout for every foul spirit for all the nations have fallen because of the wine of her passionate immorality the kings of the world have committed adultery with her then John records a voice of warning from heaven come away from her my people do not take part in her sins or you will be punished with me what does God mean when he says to you and me come away from her from this Babylon join us today as we look at the life of a man of God the prophet Daniel who actually lived in the original Babylon the Book of Daniel is not only about kings and horns and beasts we're going to narrow it down and look closely at one particular challenge Daniel faced when confronted by King Nebuchadnezzar it's a challenge that's very relevant to you and me today Daniel story reveals keys for your life so you can grow in faith today even while living in modern Babylon join our host Darris McNeely and his guests as they help you understand your future on beyond today we all want a brighter more prosperous future there are keys to living successfully and making a positive impact in a culture that is working against God's Way God says to his people today and anyone wanting to live righteously to take a look around at the culture and of the times and to make a decision to live differently to live with a positive hope based on his truth and word god labels this current world and the developing system as Babylon the prophecy in revelation 17 is talking about a global culture that develops in the time before Jesus Christ returns to this earth it's a modern political economic and religious system and its roots reach deep into the ancient world of Babylon the great empire that was centered in what is now the country of Iraq the city and state stands throughout the Bible as a symbol of any system political cultural or religious that opposes God his plan and his people to God Babylon personifies defiance and rebellion to his perfect will no one wanting to live a godly life wants anything to do with Babylon and it's lifestyle Babylon the Great the ancient world was the Nemesis of Israel and Judah under its most famous King Nebuchadnezzar its armies came against Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in the city and deported its citizens we're told the story and the kings and the prophets notably jeremiah and daniel babylon itself this vast empire eventually fell as do all large empires yet babylon is different its influence reaches into our world today in many ways significantly the bible tells us of a coming world system based on the spiritual attributes of greed spiritual deception and human exploitation in Revelation it's described in symbolic form as a woman riding on a beast this woman is called a great Charlotte who sets on many waters with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication who is this woman to wield such extraordinary power obviously not a real person like the Beast she is symbolic and goes on to say on her forehead a name was written Mystery Babylon the Great the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth and the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth here is described a return of Babylon not just a city this time but personified as a fallen woman who seduces and influences the destiny of the world here is described a system that is yet to arise in its fullest out of a global world system that we are watching form before our very eyes how we how do we then come away from or out of this modern Babylon that is right now forming in the present global secular world of prosperity and glamour it's in the story of Daniel there we find the keys to coming out of our modern Babylon the prophet Daniel was a young man educated in the wave as native people of Israel the nation of Judah he was among a large group transported to the great city of Babylon the best of the brightest of the men were chosen to be used in the court of the King Nebuchadnezzar Daniel and his closest friends made an impact on those in the court and all the way to the king his story leaves us key lessons to use in a strategy whereby we can live successfully and godly in today's world let's take a look at this remarkable life and let's learn in Daniel chapter 1 one of those prophets on those major prophets of the Old Testament we begin to read the story let's begin reading in verse one says that it was in the third year of King Jehoiakim reign in Judah when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon declared war on Jerusalem and besieged the city the master handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him along with some of the furnishings from the temple of God and Nebuchadnezzar took and furnishings to the country of Babylon the ancient Shinar there he put the furnishings and the sacred Treasury it goes on to say the king then told ashpenaz head of the palace staff to get some Israelites from the royal family and nobility young men who were healthy and handsome intelligent and well-educated good prospects for leadership positions in the government perfect specimens and indoctrinate them in the babylonian language and the lore of magic and fortune-telling the king then ordered that they be served from the same menu as the royal table the best food the finest wine after three years of training they would be given positions in the king's court for young men from judah Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah were among those selected the head of the palace staff gave them Babylonian names Daniel is named Delta Shazzer and Aniyah was named Shadrach and michelle was named at me Shak and Azariah was named Abednego but Daniel determined that he would not defile himself by eating the King's food or drinking his wine so he asked the head of the palace staff to exempt him from the royal diet the head of the palace staff by God's grace liked Daniel but he warned him I'm afraid of what my master the King will do he's the one who assigned this diet and if he sees that you're not as healthy as the rest he'll have my head but Daniel appealed to a steward who had been assigned by the head of the palace staff to be in charge try us out he said for 10 days on a simple diet of vegetables and water then compare us with a young men who eat from the Royal menu make your decision on the basis of what you see now let's stop there for a moment let's consider what we've read you know many feel that the food that was involved here on the Kings table would have been either foods designated by God to be unclean which means they did not meet special dietary laws prescribed in the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy in the Bible such foods as pork or certain kinds of fish like lobster clams or shrimp would be included it could also be that the foods on the Kings table would have been offered to pagan idols whichever of the two Daniel determined in his mind he would eat it he would not eat it and become defiled if he did he felt he would become unfit before his God now this is a really critical point Daniel and his friends determined to be faithful to their heritage and it went so far as to include the food they ate they would not eat certain foods because it dishonored God can you imagine that today in our Western world you know we're very conscious about organic food there's a great emphasis on the quality of our food and the diet you know we like Whole Foods and many want to eat healthy for good reasons we'll pick up a food package at the grocery store we'll read the contents and we'll determine how many calories and how much fat it contains it has too much sodium we'll put it back on the shelf and we'll buy a low-sodium version all this is good but consider something else how about eating for our spiritual health could it be that God's dietary laws clearly revealed in the Bible teach us something about a spiritual relationship with God you see Daniel understood that his life was a part of a bigger spiritual picture he knew he was part of something bigger than himself he knew he was caught up in a bigger story God's heavenly kingdom was real to him how about you what are the little things on which you might compromise spiritual integrity and sacrifice to a personal Idol of life compromise always start small but in time can consume our life Daniel would not turn his back on what he had been taught from God's Holy Word Daniel and his friends refused to compromise on God's food laws possibly putting their careers at risk they didn't know how this would turn out did it pay off well we'll see in a moment but I'd like to ask you another question how is it that you understand this prophetic of Daniel and the many other books of prophecy in the Bible you see many people think that Bible prophecies cannot be understood they have no meaning for us today to you don't be too quick to dismiss Bible prophecy because of attacks made by liberal scholars and don't be put off by the false prophets who from time to time make wild predictions about the end of the world or the tribulation or when Christ will appear you can understand Bible prophecy as God intended you can read the Bible from a fresh perspective when you understand the prophecy speaks to our world today and how you should live within this world our booklet the book of Revelation unveiled will take you through the story of Babylon and Bible prophecy and help you understand but some seem to feel is a complicated topic you can request your free copy of the book of Revelation unveiled by calling one triple eight eight eight six eight six three two or you can go online to beyond today TV and here's something for you who have ear eaters like the Kindle this booklet is available for download via the amazon website just do a search for the book of Revelation unveiled on their site and you can download it for free direct to your e-reader it's the quickest and most direct way to get the book now let's pick up the story of Daniel and his friends we left them hanging with a test before them of obedience or idolatry they had asked to be exempted from the food of the Kings table in this testing process of young men in training for the service to the court of Babylon let's go back to Daniel 1 in verse 14 it says the steward agreed to do it and fed them vegetables in water for 10 days at the end of the ten days they looked better and more robust than all the others who have been eating from the Royal menu so the steward continued to exempt them from the Royal menu of food and drink and serve them only vegetables God gave these four young men knowledge and skill in both books and life in addition Daniel was gifted in understanding all sorts of visions and dreams at the end of the time set by the king for their training the head of the royal staff brought them to Nebuchadnezzar when the King interviewed them he found them far superior to all the other young men none were a match for Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah now let's pause again let's consider this obedience to God we're told brings wisdom understanding and knowledge that's what this story tells us Daniel had a skill that says in both books and life to be sure these men had real sharp minds and they likely had high IQs but God added to their native intelligence and he enhanced it because they put him first here's a living law it's taught in the book of Proverbs and we see it in this living example with Daniel and his friends it's this obey God and he gives knowledge and wisdom you want to succeed in school you want to succeed in your job in your life or are you struggling to figure it all out and put it all together you know there's all sorts of programs and books and plans that you can follow to find success and the knowledge of life today and you know there's a big need for that and there's a market for all of all of this today because something has been lost in our modern world where we're once we had certain values and understanding about what life was and that was passed on within a family or within a larger religious community it seems we've lost a lot of that today societies fragmented families are shattered religion has lost its place as a cornerstone of life people today cast about looking for understanding about finance about marriage about romance and about relationships they don't often find it because so much has been lost I read recently about a college coach who really chastised his players because they were they were skipping school classes they were making bad grades they were even skipping basketball practice and as a result they had a losing record and in one of those postgame interviews the the coach just really lambasted his players they said you're not learning life skills you're going to take these same skills you're going to go out into life and you're going to be failures just as your failures on the basketball court you know what happened he got immediately phone calls from other coaches lauding what he said he got phone calls from parents saying I want my son to come and be taught by you and to worked and to play for you and your school I want you to teach him the things that he needs to learn a lot of that knowledge has been lost and we see it all around us today here in Daniels story we see that the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge insist just such knowledge as life itself put God first and seek Him don't compromise and bow to a modern Idol that you can find how to live and to succeed with let's go back to Daniel 1 and verse 19 it says this so they took their place in the King's service whenever the King consulted them on anything on books or on life he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom put together Daniel and his friends passed the job interview they rose to key positions in the government they got the corner offices their challenges were not over but they had arrived in a place and God was with them now here is what this story of Daniel really means it's more than an old story from the Bible put in there for people to puzzle over argue about and speculate over the Book of Daniel tells the amazing story of a man who lived at a very dangerous time his nation his City and his way of life was destroyed by an invading army he became a prisoner and was deported to a strange land with strange customs in speech nothing in Babylon was familiar to him in Babylon he was selected for an elite training program that would put him in a key position at court while there was no there was opportunity there was also great peril you see if he made one misstep he could have caught lost his life life at this level in any government has risks in Babylon which was a despotic system Daniel would not have been guaranteed any type of liberty or rights everyone existed in that court to serve the state and one man was the state provoked his wrath and his word was law no review and no second chance Daniel was a captured foreigner to many who would have been jealous he would have been a subject of intrigue and entrapment at any time his life would not be worth the price of his execution and Daniel understood this but he was not afraid something within Daniel caused him to determine to stand his ground and remain true to who he was at whatever cost I think Daniel had been mentored by someone who made a very deep impression on his character a parent a family member a teacher maybe a priest maybe a devout mother who feared God and was a student of Scripture somewhere along the way of his young life he had training that kicked in when he was pushed out of his comfort zone and thrust into an alien environment while many others gave into the new life in its culture thinking that it was better and convenient to do so Daniel and his friends made a compact to remain true to their God and the way of life they knew Daniel was among those who saw the vision of the kingdom of God and embraced it he knew that being an Israelite descended from Abraham opened a door to understand what life was about his life had meaning within context of the world he knew while others bow to idols of stone and wood worshiping strange images of God shaped in the form of animals or weird human forms the faith of Israel did not go that way Daniel understood God was not bound by any physical law no no form no shape though he God controlled all the elements the Sun Moon and stars when water and fire he was not identified with any of them he had no fixed place to dwell yet he was a moral and just God who controlled all especially the history of man he was the one true God who summoned a man to obey Him in a relationship of grace this was a God who could and did deliver his people from their enemies who could bless them with all abundance and then when they disobeyed without remorse could be delivered and kept into captivity with all national sovereignty stripped from them Daniel's God was not vengeful or angry he understood that man could have a relationship with the Creator and worship him in truth we're not done with this topic today the beyond today panel is coming on and we're going to get their insight into the subject you're going to want to hear what Steve Myers and Gary petty have to say about living in a modern Babylon first let me tell you about our new and expanded good news magazine on every program we offer you a free subscription to what we call our flagship publication and it is if you've never asked for a subscription to this magazine then now is the time you want to do so we've expanded the magazine in size to 48 pages now you've got more information to help you understand the Bible and its application to today's living challenging the existence of God in the face of science is continually wearing down our world and moving us into a secular Babylon if you have children or grandchildren learning evolution in school you'll want to read and want them to read articles on that topic in some of our issues of the good news magazine challenged them and yourself with evidence and proof there is a God and believe his word the Bible can be trusted when you call and request today's booklet offer on Revelation we'll also send you a free subscription to this unique magazine six issues a year every issue includes articles on prophecy Christian living and Bible teaching your knowledge of God the Bible and his great plan for your life is going to grow with each issue you can receive this magazine free by calling toll free number one triple eight eight eight six eight six three to get your free copy of your subscription that's one triple eight eight eight six eight six three - or go online at beyond today dot TV and get your subscription in addition I really encourage you to visit our website we are now producing daily video commentaries on breaking news and important topics join us throughout the week for BT daily and get additional material to help you better understand life and your commentary and analysis on News I'm joined now with the beyond today panel fellow host Steve Myers and Gary petty when we look at the subject of living in modern Babylon how is today's world with all of this glitz and glamour like a modern Babylon you know really Western societies is an extension from what ancient Babylon was an attempt to be ancient Babylon was the empire that attempted to bring all these different cultures together really under one economic system in one world government and so in very many ways we trace Western society back to the time of ancient Babylon and so we are an extension of it in more ways than most people realize it's also interesting these days it seems that the government is taking care of more and more people doesn't seem to be wherever you live that seems to be the case so people look to government for security and actually it exerts a control over their lives and that's that's the interesting connection I think we get into here the control that government has over people no matter what the political bit debates a day what the Bible describes it revelation as a a coming system exerts far more control than I think what anybody imagines from any current political governmental the reason why is it's it's so universal the babylon is going to come has massive power on many of the nation's and much of the trading and much of the economics of the world so it's going to be massive it'll be bigger than anything that we can even really begin to imagine we see it developing around us today in our global commercial secular culture than we've got when when God says come out of her don't be a partaker of her sins what exactly does that mean what do we learn from Daniels life to kind of apply that to a person today in this world what does it mean to come out wait no Daniel is such a great example of a man who had a belief in faith in God and that belief that faith was more important than his own comfort even his own life and we see a man in a system where everything around him takes him away from God and really what Babylon is what all human systems are an attempt to control things and attempt to make ourselves the center of attention instead of God and he was in a world in which the God was outside the system and he had to obey God and live God's Way inside that and for the coming Babylon all true Christians gonna have to face that you know when you look at a life like Daniel it demonstrates a great deal of courage and it's almost too more courage than any of us really want to imagine that we need but Daniel was forced to step outside the system that he was being encased in yeah he was a slave and yet he purposed in his heart not to disobey God it in a way that passage is telling us he had already decided long before that there was no way he was going to compromise he was not going to give up on his true belief his true obedience to God and so when you look at the system it was taking control of everything and he said no I'm not going to do that no matter what you do to me I would have stick to the faith that I have in God and obey Him the type of courage that you're talking about today that he had to resist that system is it really possible to have that to live godly in today's present world not only is it possible it's required but it's already possible what we do what you just said that we're prepared we have a relationship with Almighty God we have a relationship with his son Jesus Christ and that is the center of our lives and we're willing to understand that there's a cost for that you know to be a disciple of Jesus Christ to obey God in this society there's a cost Daniel understood that we have to understand that too to have that same kind of courage because we get it from God we get it from that relationship to come to that it's pretty scary of frightening for us to imagine that we may not have it but we know that we're going to need it in the world is going to be coming on shortly we don't have it now the good times what's it going to be like in the hard times yeah yeah remember our free offers today the booklet on the book of Revelation unveiled and our free by monthly magazine the good news you can call right now the number on your screen one triple eight eight eight six eight six three two two request your free coffees and a subscription to the good news magazine one triple eight eight eight six eight six three two or go online at beyond today dot TV but the Bible says about Babylon is very sobering perhaps the most sobering message of warning in the Bible Babylon in ancient times stood against God and His plan the modern Babylon that is here and will arise in full force before an unsuspecting world will be one final effort to thwart God's eternal plan it will not succeed but what God wants to know today is whether you will wake up and to come out of this developing culture and system that God hates God's command to come out of her and not take part in her sins should move you to action like it did Daniel Daniel resisted the temptation to give in and go along he remained faithful and true to God and the vision of his kingdom you can as well we'll be right back with one final comment after this two men ran through the streets of the city each trying to be the first to discover it or cell they turned the last corner and arrived at the tomb they both stopped one leaned over and looked into the space and noticed a neatly folded pile of linen cloths he was astounded and backed away not believing what he saw Jesus was not there he had risen from the dead all things had changed Christ came to earth with a central message of the kingdom of God what is the kingdom of God most have never heard or understood what Jesus actually taught on this subject the United Church of God is hosting free seminars held simultaneously around the world that kingdom is coming to earth that was the message of Jesus Christ it's not a kingdom that's off up there in heaven but it's a kingdom that's Christ is going to establish right here on this earth go to kog seminars org for details to find one near you kingdom of God Bible seminars giving the message of hope for tomorrow beginning today sign up to attend these Bible seminars today and watch our program again here next week and remember to join us in praying thy kingdom come for beyond today i'm darris mcneely for the free literature offered on today's program go online to beyond today TV please join us again next week on beyond today you

Channel: BeyondTodayTV

Views: 26,549

Rating: 4.7917809 out of 5

Keywords: Beyond Today, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of God Bible Seminars, Bible prophecy, Revelation, Babylon, Daniel, Christian living, Bible study

Id: bWIY0I8vaPo

Length: 28min 14sec (1694 seconds)

Published: Thu May 03 2012