Ideas do the same thing. Especially errors. And so we find ourselves in a place that seems kind of familiar. Many people look at the world today and see parallels to the situation of the faithful Hebrews in Babylon. I think that’s fair, so I intend to mine the book of Daniel for insight into our situation.
This is the beginning of a series of Lessons from Babylon. Rather than digging into an expository study of the book, I intend to highlight some repeated themes or messages we see.
As an introduction to the topic, we should consider where Daniel was coming from. We often contrast Israel and Babylon, the holy nation and the pagans; in reality, there wasn’t a lot of difference. Daniel was fortunate to grow up during Josiah’s godly reign, but after Josiah’s death, Judah went back to their usual immorality. Bloodshed, idolatry, and sexual immorality were the norm rather than covenant faithfulness. So the move to Babylon was probably less of a shock to Daniel and the other Israelites than we sometimes think. In a lot of ways, they’d always lived in Babylon.
In a similar manner, we haven’t stumbled into anything new. We have always lived in Babylon. We just managed to get comfortable enough to forget. The Church in the world is always surrounded by sinners and forces that oppose everything we (are supposed to) stand for. But sometimes they hide it better. Sometimes they focus on sins we’re more comfortable with.
And sometimes Babylon gets religion for a while.
That’s the first of our lessons from Babylon. Sometimes Babylon looked like they were going to change for the better. Sometimes the world seems like they’ve found Jesus. For a while.
Judah had their periods of revival under a couple of godly kings, but it never lasted. In Babylon proper, there were occasions when it certainly seemed like Nebuchadnezzar was going to turn to the Living God. After Daniel interprets his dream, he acknowledges YHWH as “God of gods and the Lord of kings” (2:47). Then he puts up a giant idol. After “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego” survive the furnace, he outlaws blasphemy against YHWH (3:29). Then he blasphemes and is forced to live like an animal for seven years. After that experience he praises “the Most High God” saying, “His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation” (4:3). And the next scene is pagan revelry in Babylon. They talked a good game, but it didn’t stick.
The allegedly-Christian West and especially the United States have talked a good game for years. We’ve had our reformations, great awakenings, and revivals, but in the end the new boss is same as the old boss. Change is, at least on a national scale, superficial and temporary.
So before we look for guidance on living in an ungodly culture, we need to stop and take stock. We’ve always lived in an ungodly culture. It’s just finally gotten bad enough to get our attention; the sins that are in vogue now are more jarring than the ones we grew up with.
But God will see us through. His word and his Spirit will help us to live in the world but not of the world. He will help us to be faithful and to shine his light into the darkness around us.
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