Introduction: You will be made to care. That has become almost cliche in our day. Why? Because the increasing influence of government over people’s everyday lives is massive. And the religion of the government is overt. There is always a god of the system. Always. It is just a matter of whether it’s the one and only true God of Scripture or if it’s yet another idol. If you get nothing else from this, get this: There is only one true and living God. The fact that government has to force false gods upon people is evidence that its system of pagan idolatry is intellectually empty of the God of Scripture, and forever doomed to fail to redeem a people; it will only enslave them. For redemption to occur, the one true and living God who is the Redeemer must do it. It was the exact same thing in Daniel’s day. Follow me.

Historical context: Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that he could not understand. He ordered the so-called Chaldean wise men to interpret his dream for him. They could not, even under threats of death (Daniel 2). Enter Daniel. Remember now, Daniel was a prisoner, a Jew, a believer in the one true and living God, and Daniel is now being brought into the orbit of the pagan Babylonian ruler, Nebuchadnezzar, to do what others cannot. There will be no gray area here, no nuance. This is straight-up do or die time.

Daniel asks his friends to pray to the one true and living God for him, as Nebuchadnezzar is now looking to Daniel to see if he can interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. And God gave Daniel wisdom, yet again. Daniel’s response was praise: “To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter” (Dan 2:23, ESV).

Because Nebuchadnezzar takes Daniel’s explanation to be one of approbation, the king elevates Daniel to serve in his court and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are likewise given positions of authority (Dan 2:48-49). And one might think it ends well here, but no; it all goes to Nebuchadnezzar’s head. The oldest story in the world occurs. Pride precedes one’s fall.

Nebuchadnezzar has an idol fashioned, and he commands all to bow down and worship it. You see it? The religion of the government, enforced at the point of force. It’s the same old story. You will be made to care, in Daniel’s day and in our day and in each day. The government, when it’s living lies, will force the masses to participate in false religion. Yet God always has a faithful remnant who will not bow. And that, dear reader, is my prayer for our generation: May God raise up a faithful remnant who will not bow to the lies. The fiery furnaces of chapter 3 of this book are sure to come in our day, too, because God tests us. We shall see who stands and who bows to the idols. More to come tomorrow.