The Monday Memo from John Stanko

920: Influence in Babylon

We move on this week to Daniel 4 where Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, told us his own story of his encounter with the "Most High God," to use his own terminology. So far, we have seen that Nebuchadnezzar was the king who conquered Judea and brought Daniel and his friends to Babylon. While he was at it, he conquered much of the known world at that time as well, and he acted like a man who was used to getting his own way on his terms. We have read about his dream, Daniel's interpretation, the golden statue, and the king having Daniel's friends thrown into the fiery furnace (and surviving). Nebuchadnezzar played a central role in all these stories.

In chapter four, we read the following account from the king:

King Nebuchadnezzar, to the nations and peoples of every language, who live in all the earth: May you prosper greatly! It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. (He is called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him) (Daniel 4:1-8).

Let's examine that passage more closely.

GOD TALK

As I have pointed out, Babylon was a place where there was what's called a mixed bag of spirituality. There were lots of gods, philosophies, religious and spiritual practices, and idolatry. The name Babylon is used five times in the book of Revelation, and always to denote spiritual uncleanness and wickedness: "With a mighty voice he shouted: “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal" (Revelation 18:2). Yet God transferred Daniel and his friends to this wicked city and idolatrous ruler to bear testimony to God's supremacy.

We will delve more deeply into Daniel 4 in future weeks, but this week, I want you to see what it took for Daniel to be successful in Babylon. Daniel had to be content with influence, for he was not going to "convert" the king to Judaism. Instead, Daniel introduced the king to Daniel's god, which unbeknownst to the king was also his God. God partnered with Daniel and worked to bring the king to a place of humility and revelation. Even when that happened, the king's God talk was a mixture of his knowledge of the true God coupled with his devotion to his personal Babylonian god.

THE MIXED BAG

I mentioned that Babylon was a mixed bag when it came to spirituality. God has His witnesses there, but they functioned in the midst of wise men involved in all manner of forbidden spiritual practices Jehovah had forbidden. Yet that did not keep God from revealing Himself. Notice that the king referred to Jehovah as "the Most High God" in verse two but then referred to his personal god, Bel, in verse eight when he referenced Daniel's Babylonian name, Belteshazzar. It appears that the king accepted Daniel's god as the chief God while clinging to the worship of what he considered a lesser god.

Daniel's role in Babylon was to influence those around him, and the same is true for those of us called to serve in modern Babylon. When I worked with inmates, we urged them not to feel like a failure if their witnessing fell short of conversion and baptism, for God's purpose may be something beyond individual salvations. God also wants to help His people influence those around them to make godly decisions and live more holy lives. We saw corrupt guards begin to change their behaviors and inmates influence (fro the good) prison policies and practices.

While we have the same objective as God's "who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4), we must at times be content with doing what Daniel did: standing for the truth even though most will either ignore or oppose it. In Daniel's story, the one who was least likely to be influenced was, and he became the first Gentile author in God's inspired word when he wrote what is now Daniel chapter four.

Are you in a place of influence even though you are in a spiritual environment that is a mixed bag of philosophies and practices? Are you content with influence while allowing God to use that influence to touch lives at a deeper level? Are you willing to sow seed and allow God to oversee the seed in the hearts of others, bringing it to harvest long after you are gone from that harvest field? You need to have the right goal if you want to be successful in Babylon and that goal should be influence as an ambassador for the truth of God in Christ. If you do your part, then God will do His, and no king, not even the great Nebuchadnezzar, can withstand the grace of God when He decides to pour it out on any underserving soul. Have a blessed week!

919: Fired in Babylon

The story of Daniel's long and successful career in Babylon is important for us to study, for he modeled how to be faithful to the Lord in a hostile spiritual environment, something believers must learn to do in our world or risk retreating into a spiritual ghetto where it is safe but cut off from the people who desperately need to hear about and know the Lord. This week, let's move on to Daniel 3, which contains the famous story of Daniel's three men and their encounter with the fiery furnace. I suggest you read the story before you go on.

FIRED

Even though he was only the head of gold in his dream, the king ordered a huge statue of gold be made of himself and further commanded all his subjects to worship his image. If there was one thing that was abhorrent to a Jew, it was idolatry, so it is not surprising that Daniel's friends refused to bow down before the statue, and let their refusal be known to all. Their rivals, seeing a chance to knock the Jews from their leadership roles, reported this to the king, who was filled with rage:

Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (Daniel 3:13-15).

When the three men stood their ground, the king decided to "fire" them on the spot by throwing them into a blazing furnace. What was the purpose for this furnace? The Middle East is a hot place, yet there was a furnace that the king ordered to be heated seven times hotter than usual. I would assume this furnace was for sacrifice, and I would also assume the three men were not the first to be thrown into that fiery grave. This then became a confrontation between the God of the three men and the idols of Babylon, something akin to the meeting between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18.

SUBMISSION, NOT OBEDIENCE    

The three men submitted to the king, which we are commanded to do as believers, but they did not obey the king--and there is a difference. Submission is an attitude and the three men were willing to submit to the consequences of their decision. They did not scream at the king or threaten him with divine retribution. They simply said, "You have the authority from God to do what you are going to do. We recognize your authority and will submit to it, but we cannot obey you." 

When we taught these principles in a prison setting, we urged the men and women to maintain a respectful attitude and submit to the authorities without obeying them if they gave an order that was contrary to God's will. If they were ordered to lie or cheat, they could not obey but then had to submit to the consequences for their choices with a godly attitude--just as Jesus did when He was condemned to death. He submitted to Pilate and the authorities, all the while obeying the Father, who was a higher authority.

What happened to the three men? Even though they were "fired," they met the Lord in the midst of their flames. Not only that, but the things that had bound them were burned off and they were free to walk around in the fire. It is of note that when they got free, they did not run out of the furnace. They had to be called out by the king and when they came out, they did not even smell like smoke. 

Are you serving in Babylon? Are you being asked to compromise what you know is righteous but are afraid to disobey because you may lose your job or reputation? Are you giving in to peer pressure to be like everyone else in your Babylon? Is the king's anger intimidating you and causing you to obscure your faithful witness? If you have asked the Lord to be closer to Him, is it possible that you must enter your own fiery furnace to meet Him there? 

Babylon has many fiery furnaces and many kings with an anger problem. I urge you to focus on the King of kings and determine to be faithful to Him while the many other kings in Babylon vie for your heart and affection. If you remain faithful, you will be a worthy servant of the Most High even if you get "fired" for your righteousness. Have a blessed week!

918: Leadership in Babylon

This week, we continue with our Success in Babylon series as we study Daniel's recipe for success in a hostile environment. Last week, we saw that Daniel was given a chance to serve with God's help in Babylon, which tried to assimilate him and his friends into their culture for their own purposes. God had His own reasons for sending Daniel there, and He revealed Himself and His will in a setting where the Jewish people would never have chosen to be. Let's look at that more closely, for you also may be in a place where you question God's assignment for you at this time.

THE KING'S DREAM

Nebuchadnezzar was not a God-fearing or God-worshiping man, yet God chose to put him on the throne:

“This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold" (Daniel 2:36-38).

Daniel clearly understood that God had put Nebuchadnezzar in charge, and Daniel's role was not to oppose him, but rather to serve him. Daniel has no ego that drove him to be the main leader, and he was humble enough to submit to God's choice, even though the king was not part of his culture. When I worked in prison settings, I tried to help the prisoners recognize and submit to authority, not because the authority was perfect, but because God had placed them there. 

I learned this lesson once when I had a job and was placed under a man who had serious moral issues. I was young in the Lord, and not aware of my attitude, but God knew. When my finances dried up and I sought the Lord for the reason, He revealed that my lack was due to my lack of respect for my supervisor. I cried out to God, "I am serving You. Why are you picking on me? My boss it he one with the sin problem!" Yet God taught me that how I served that boss was an indication of how I would serve Him, using 1 Peter 2:18 to admonish me: "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable" (NASB). The NASB version has a footnote by the word unreasonable that indicates another acceptable translation is the word perverse. My overseer was perverse but God wanted me to serve him because God had sent me to my own Babylon. Daniel came to the same conclusion concerning his Babylon.

GOD SPOKE TO HIM

Not only did God place Nebuchadnezzar where he was, but God spoke to him and used Daniel to do so: 

Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these" (Daniel 2:27-28).

If Daniel had received the dream, no one would have paid attention to it or its meaning. Because God works through leadership, however, He gave the king the dream and then the supernatural interpretation through Daniel so the king would know God had spoken to him. God not only assigns your purpose but where you will fulfill and express it. My purpose is relevant anywhere, but it is the most effective when I am in Africa. We taught the inmates to assume that they were to fulfill their purpose in prison instead of waiting until they were released to serve God. God wanted to use them (and you) to reveal His will to Babylon, and He doesn't need permission or doesn't have to explain His reasons for using anyone to do so.

When I realized that God has sent me to the place with the "perverse" supervisor, I surrendered to His will, asked Him to help me adjust my attitude, and determined I would stay there the rest of my life if that was what He wanted. Lo and behold, that job and that supervisor were my springboard to ministry. When God adjusted my perspective on leadership and His role in it, He was free to promote me to other situations where I could serve His purpose not just for the church, but also for the world at large.

Are you in Babylon? Are you chafing under the leadership of someone who is ungodly? Do you resent being there, and are holding back your gifts and purpose? If you see that God has assigned you where you are, you can thrive and prosper even in the worst of environments. When you see that God wants you to serve the leadership where you are, you are free to be used to speak to those leaders on God's behalf, and who knows, God may reveal His mysteries to you in a place not of your choosing while He works out your purpose after the fashion of His will. Have a blessed week.

917: Promotion in Babylon

This is our eighth week in our Success in Babylon series, in which we have been examining the reasons for Daniel's success after his exile to Babylon. If you missed any of the series, you can access them all here, but for now, let's go back and reexamine Daniel's promotion to be the chief of all the wise men and see what lessons we can learn for us today.

MODERN BABYLON

We have entered a world that is similar to Daniel's world in Babylon, which is the reason we are studying his life to see how we can survive and thrive in a spiritually-hostile environment like he was. Babylon was a magnificent city and culture. It had massive buildings, a strong economy, and because of its military conquests, a diverse culture made up of the many people Babylon had conquered. When Daniel arrived, he had come from a culture where everyone thought, worshiped, and worked the same. In Babylon, Daniel was only one voice among many, and that is the situation the church finds itself in today.

There was a time when the church was the dominant and main, if not the only voice, in Western cultures. Now that's changed, and believers don't quite know what to do. In a sense, the church and its members have retreated, hoping and waiting for a revival or reversal that may never come so they can regain their dominant voice. That is why we as individuals, and the church in general, needs to study how to survive in a spiritually-hostile world, and that is why Daniel is the perfect role model. We must now be content with influence because there are many voice vying for the hearts and minds of people.

We passed over rather quickly that after his interview with the king and then his interpretation of the king's dream, Daniel was promoted to be over all the wise men of Babylon (see Daniel 2:48). Think about that. Daniel has responsibility to oversee the soothsayers, necromancers, magicians, sorcerers, and conjurers in the realm. What were those business meetings like? "We will now hear a report from the sorcerers in south Babylon to hear what they are conjuring up these days?" This was nothing like what Daniel had grown up with in Judea. 

A CHANCE TO SERVE  

When no one could interpret the king's dream after first telling the king what his dream was, the king ordered all these wise men to be put to death, including Daniel and his friends. Daniel's attitude could have been, "Good. They are all a bunch of sinners doing things Yahweh forbids. I didn't want to be here in the first place, so if we all die, we die." Instead, Daniel intervened and saved all their lives. He was not bitter and did not have victim's mentality, or an attitude that said, "Uh, this is not in my job description and is above my pay scale. Sorry."

This is the reason we chose Daniel when we taught inmates, for their prison environment was similar to Babylon. We encouraged them not to sit out their sentence playing cards or pool. We urged them not to just to survive but thrive by finding opportunities to display excellence in their work and behavior. Many of the guards harassed them, but we taught them to submit to unfair treatment with joy and patience. Some of the inmates were promoted to positions of significance and trust because they learned how to exist and prosper in their Babylon. It may be time for you to do the same.

If your purpose is expressed and fulfilled in the church, that's great and you have important work. Most people's purpose and creativity, however, are not expressed in church but in the spiritually-neutral (or worse) spheres of business, education, the military, or social work. If we learn to do what Daniel did and, more importantly, be who Daniel was, then we will be promoted in Babylon, just like he was: "The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom" (Deuteronomy 28:13).

THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S

The Lord was the one who orchestrated Daniel's relocation to Babylon, just like He did Joseph's to Egypt. And there is a good chance God has you where you are for a purpose, and it's not just to work out something in your heart. God wants you to give the best of who you are and who He made you to be to Babylon because He loves all His creation. He has sent you because He is reaching out to the Babylonians and is taking care of His creation: "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters" (Psalm 24:1). God cares about Babylon and because He does, He assigned you a place there. You are not to tolerate that position, you are to celebrate it and represent the Lord well.

Good took some of His best and gave them an assignment in Babylon, where there was great danger and risk. They accepted their lot and God was with them. They were never totally in sync with Babylon and faced harassment and persecution their entire stay, but God preserved them and they continued to excel and stay true to their values. The same may be true for you, and it will be important for you to keep your eyes on the prize of the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant" as you serve your time in Babylon, not because you have done something wrong, but because God had a purpose for you being there. Have a blessed week.

916: Worship in Babylon

In case you are just tuning in, I began a series titled Success in Babylon in response to a challenge from friends who heard me talk about teaching this series years ago when I was doing prison ministry. I accepted the challenge and intend to convert these entries into a book when we finish at year's end. While some of these messages were delivered to an audience of inmates, they are relevant for anyone who is serving the Lord in a spiritually-hostile environment and there will be many new messages I have never written or spoken about before.

Last week, we saw Daniel's faith in asking the Lord to reveal to him the king's dreams along with their interpretation. No other wise man in Babylon thought this possible, but Daniel knew that his God majored in the impossible, so he did not hesitate to ask, expecting an answer: "At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him" (Daniel 2:16). All the wise men were granted a reprieve from the king's death edict, and Daniel and his friends went to work.

DANIEL WORSHIPED

Even though Daniel expected God to answer his request, he was still overwhelmed with joy and gratitude when He did. His first response was worship:

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king" (Daniel 2:20-23).

It is one thing to worship God for who He is, and we should do that with intelligence and eloquence because He is a great God if He never does another thing for us. It is quite another thing to worship Him because of what He does for us, and we should be asking and expecting God to do marvelous things, even if we are serving Him in Babylon. One time, i was on a board of directors for an organization whose finances were a mess. I offered to take the records and try to make sense out of them. The board agreed, so I took all the records, spread them out over a large table, and prayed, "Lord, You know where the money is and where I need to go." Immediately, I found the trail of the missing money. Guess what I did after that? I worshiped the Lord, thanking Him for His help.

Then I took my report to my fellow board members and they were all pleasantly surprised to hear what I had to say (there was no criminal activity; just bad record-keeping). Someone asked, "How did you find all this out so quickly?" My response was, "I prayed." The members looked around at each other nervously and repeated, "He prayed. Yeah, he prayed," and then one person yelled out, "Well, praise the Lord!" and everyone laughed. That is exactly what happened when Daniel gave his report. 

THE KING WORSHIPED

When the king heard someone tell him both his dreams and their interpretation, he was amazed. What was his response? He worshiped:

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery" (Daniel 2:46-47).

When God sends us to Babylon, He desires that we represent Him well so that others will know and worship Him. Therefore, our goal in Babylon is worship (both personal and corporate) from both those who know Him and those who don't. When is the last time someone worshiped your God because of the job you did in Babylon? The same thing happened when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon. Like Nebuchadnezzar, she was blown away by what she beheld from one of God's servants and said, "Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness" (1 Kings 10:9). This praise in or from Babylon is not only to be for who God is, but for what He does. They will only see what He does when they behold the work we do and the attitude of joy we have as we represent Him--no matter how tough things get.

Are you in Babylon? Is your goal survival and self-preservation, or is it worship? Are you expecting the impossible and then worshiping God when He delivers it? Are you serving the heathen "kings" in your assigned sphere and causing them to think about and maybe even worship your God? I hope you are, but it's not too late if you're not. Simply change your mindset from that of being a prisoner to being a servant of God who is free (even if you are bound and chained) to do His will. When you do, God will enhance your worship and that of those around you when you show forth the glories of His love and grace in the work that you produce. Have a blessed week.