Opening Question
Do we ever see God working in obvious ways through the nations of the world or in secular governments?

Introduction
While every human is individually accountable to and beloved by God, we also see larger groups of people become the object of God’s regard or judgement, nations through which He can work, show His power, or choose as His special possession; or nations that reap the results of God’s wrath for their iniquity. The lesson this week explores the role that the Babylonians played in later prophetic literature, and how the call of and covenant blessings to Abraham finds fulfillment in Christ. For this study guide, we will consider more closely the relationship between Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar as evidence of God’s working in and through the nations, through the rise and fall of kingdoms.

Israel vs. Babylon
Read Daniel 1:1-3. The language is that of territorial warfare where regional gods spar. The unique aspect of this battle, however, is that the loser (Judah) writes about their defeat, yet ascribes it to their God’s will. History is typically written by the victors, and thus few defeats are experienced by the historian’s own people.

The backstory for these verses takes us back to the Deuteronomy 28-29, but more recently, the promise made by Isaiah to Hezekiah in Isaiah 39, “then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts, 6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the LORD. 7 ‘And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “For there will be peace and truth in my days.” (vs. 5-8).

The story of Jehoiakim (also known as Eliakim) and his failures is found in 2 Kings 22-23. We find that as goes the King of Israel, so goes the nation. Israel’s desire for a human monarch was both a blow to God’s heart as their King, and yet used to foreshadow the Messiah’s kingly work. Ultimately, Israel is captured by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.

How does the city of Babylon here in Daniel foreshadow Babylon the Great in Revelation 14-19? Why does God use Babylon for His purposes when they are a pagan nation? (see Jeremiah 25)

Nations and God’s will
As Daniel spends more time in the pagan city and nation of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar is privileged to see more and more miracles and signs of Yahweh’s power. We can track these stories in chs. 1-4.

1. He finds Daniel and his friends fitter and more intelligent than his other trainees.
2. He witnesses Yahweh give a dream, tell him the dream, and provide an interpretation of the future. Daniel’s God is a “god of gods, and a Lord of kings.”
3. Yahweh delivers his faithful servants from the furnace and the King’s own decree. Nebuchadnezzar responds with a hate-speech law.
4. This chapter is a testimony by the king himself. Another dream, this time Nebuchadnezzar experiences a fall from his arrogance, and humbly recognizes the God of heaven as sovereign, accepting Him as his own God.

If we remember the story of Israel, as goes the king, so goes the nation. Without question, Nebuchadnezzar’s conversion led to changes in Babylonian belief systems. His son-in-law Nabonidus may have worked to reverse some of these changes.

Did God put Israel in Babylon for a purpose greater than simply their own chastisement/punishment and reform/repentance? (see Daniel’s prayer in ch. 9)

Revelation describes a two-fold call that Babylon has fallen (14:8 and 18:2), and in ch. 18, it goes even further calling God’s people out of Babylon! What are they doing there? In Daniel, they were sent by God Himself. God’s purpose went far beyond Israel’s conversion; it included being a witness to the nations. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all (the nations) would come to repentance.

However, there was also a time to leave Babylon. God’s people read the prophecies of Jeremiah 29, they were to live in Babylon in peace for a time, but after 70 years, they would return to the land of promise. This occurred under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. Revelation portrays a similar story where Babylon falls (see the 5th and 6th plagues in Rev. 16) because of the drying up of the Euphrates to prepare the way for the kings from the East. In Revelation, the fall of Babylon and exodus of God’s people lead the way for the final kingdom of God and the reign of Christ in the promised land.

Have we been called to proclaim to modern-day “Babylon” the wonders of our God? Are we in Babylon today, or do we believe we are outside of it? Who are those called to “come out of her, my people”?

The visions of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2 and 4) and Daniel (chs. 7-12) reveal the rise and fall of sequential nations from Daniel’s day until the end. God is working with His people and the nations simultaneously. Paul admits that God uses both Jews and Gentiles for His ultimate purpose, to save as many as possible.

Closing Comments
God loves people and works through the nations. Maybe an important question for us today is this: how do we live as citizens of heaven first, while also living as faithful citizens of our own nations? Can we be patriots of earthly kingdoms and heavenly witnesses simultaneously?