PREPARING FOR THE COMING TRANSITION
I. THE WINDS OF TRANSITION
A. The world was in transition. The prophecies of Isaiah (702 B.C.) and Jeremiah (627 B.C.) were coming true. Isaiah
prophesied of Israel’s exile to Babylon, and in the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign Jeremiah began prophesying that the
time of Isaiah’s prophecy was upon Israel. The Lord judgments against Jerusalem were coming from the north. Daniel
grew up hearing Jeremiah prophesy. The world was in transition, and in one moment the landscape changed and the
prophecies concerning Hezekiah’s royal household and an exile were coming true.
Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did they come
to you?" So Hezekiah said, "They came to me from a far country, from Babylon." 4 And he said, "What have they seen in
your house?" So Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I
have not shown them." 5 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 what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon;
nothing shall be left,' says the LORD. 7 'And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom
you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'" (Is. 39:3-7)
Then the LORD said to me: "Out of the north calamity shall break forth On all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold,
I am calling All the families of the kingdoms of the north," says the LORD; "They shall come and each one set his throne
At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, Against all its walls all around, And against all the cities of Judah. 16 I will utter
My judgments Against them concerning all their wickedness, Because they have forsaken Me, Burned incense to other
gods, And worshiped the works of their own hands. (Jer. 1:14-16)
B. How does one prepare for and live in the transition. The power base of the earth is presently changing. How does
one live when the power base is wicked? When wicked men and women are put into power, how does one carry their
heart? You came to the Passion for Jesus Conference, but passion for Jesus is lived out in a historic context. Presently,
the earth is in transition.
C. The winds of heaven are blowing over the great sea of the nations and the rumbling and shifting can already be
felt. The jostling for power is emerging. Will globalization and a moderate, tolerant global village emerge or will a modern
Islamic coalition form with an impressive banking system and nuclear capabilities? What role will Russia play? Is
communism really dead? All these questions are on the table as America prepares for one of its greatest financial and
moral shakings.
D. Daniel is still speaking to us today, shouting from the roof tops, “The shifts come quickly. You must be found
ready.” Abraham Lincoln once stated that “those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” Daniel survived two massive shifts
in world history and became a prophetic voice to not only his generation but to all those who would follow.
II. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD – DAN. 1:1-2
A. Daniel begins by ascribing the cause of the transition to the sovereignty of God. God initiates the transitions. It is
God who brings Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem. Three times in Jeremiah God calls Nebuchadnezzar, “My servant.”
God gives Jehoiakim into the hand of his enemy, Nebuchadnezzar, and initiates the exile of Israel. Now, Israel would
experience the exile in three waves (605, 597, & 586 B.C.). The sad news is that Israel failed to recognize her great crisis
and moral poverty through all three. It was not until her land was destroyed, her city ruined, her Temple burnt to the
ground, and her sons and daughters dead that she was humbled.
B. Though Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, Dan. 1:2 tells us it was the Lord who gave Jehoiakim into
Nebuchadnezzar’s hand. In the very year of Babylon’s besieging of Jerusalem, Jeremiah (Jer. 25:1-12) prophesied of the
exile and their seventy year captivity. The Lord alone is sovereign over Israel’s destiny. This verse forces us to come to
terms with the jealousy of God. He is the God who loves us so much that He will delivers us into the hand of our enemy.
Why? To purify for Himself a holy people.
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their
preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they
might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; (Acts 17:26-27)
C. God strategically opposes our sin and pride by allowing our enemies to plunder us and exile us for a season. In
His great kindness He hinders us from growing bold in our sinfulness by allowing our effectiveness to be stolen and our
strength to be broken. The Bible calls this chastening, pruning, purifying, refining, the tender discipline of a good Father,
and the allowing of our faith to be proved genuine. God’s judgment to exile Israel is truly His kindness towards them.
Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for
seven years, (Judges 6:1)
Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of
Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they
forsook the LORD and did not serve Him. 7 So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the
hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon. (Judges 10:6-7)
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and
adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend
of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in
us yearns jealously"? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the
humble." (James 4:3-6)
What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20 Rather, that the things which
the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table
of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? (1 Cor. 10:19-22)
D. When you find yourself in the transition, when you are besieged and all is crumbling around you, when the
shaking occurs, you must understand who initiated it and who is in control so that your heart does not fail from the fear
of the expectation of things to come. Daniel emphasizes at the outset of the book the sovereignty of God. When the
shaking comes at the end of the age, do not lose heart! Strengthen those hands that hang down and make firm the
feeble knees, for God in is control of the shaking and your redemption draws near.
Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not
fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you."
(Isaiah 35:3-4)
Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
(Luke 21:28)
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? . . .
9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily
be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to
them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the
present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been
trained by it. 12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, (Hebrews 12:7-12)
See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more
shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now
He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." 27 Now this, "Yet once more,"
indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be
shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by
which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:25-29)
E. Daniel will later tell us (Dan. 11:33-35 & 12:7-10) that God allows an adversary to arise in order to purify and
refine the people of God. God separates the wheat from the chaff among His people through pressure and adversity.
Who are those who love God’s name and ways? Who are those who value His Word, humbling themselves before God
and turning from the wickedness which surrounds them? It is precisely out of this refining process in which God brings
forth prophets, deliverers who declare God’s Word!
III. THE FOUR-FOLD BABYLONIAN ASSIMILATION – DAN. 1:3-7
A. Incorporation of the young Jewish males into the eunuch system was the first step of assimilation.
B. The second approach to assimilate the newly arrived slaves was to give them new names.
1. Daniel – “God is my judge”
Belteshazzar – “Protect his life,” a prayer to one of the Babylonian gods
2. Hananiah – “Yahweh is gracious”
Shadrach – “Command of Aku,” the moon god
3. Mishael – “Who is what God is?”
Meshach – “Who is what Aku is?”
4. Azariah – “Yahweh has helped/will help”
Abednego – “Servant of Nebo,” Nebo is a reference to the second
mightiest god in the Babylonian pantheon, Nabu.
C. Third, the slaves were given the daily provision of the king’s delicacies and wine. They were entreated with the
fine things, the best food and drink of the day.
D. Fourth, the slaves were trained for three years in the language and the literature of the Chaldeans. They were
acculturated into the wealthiest city of the day.
IV. THE FOUR-FOLD PURPOSING OF THE HEART – DAN. 1:8-16
A. Daniel’s early years are not presented in the book but two assumptions can be made about his life before the
exile. He displayed the fruit of a focused life and had a history of prayer.
1. Focused Life – Dan. 1:4 tells us that Nebuchadnezzar was looking for young men whom were gifted in all wisdom.
Daniel passes the Babylonian king’s interview process, displaying a faithfulness in his studies as a boy. Ignorance is no
help to anyone, and an undisciplined life.
To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice,
judgment, and equity; 4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion -- 5 A wise man
will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, (Pr. 1:2-5)
Wise people store up knowledge, But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. (Pr. 10:14)
The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor. (Pr. 12:24)
2. History of Prayer – Dan. 6:10 refers to Daniel’s early prayer life. Three times day from his childhood Daniel prayed
facing Jerusalem. Daniel was raised in a godly atmosphere of prayer and biblical instruction that enabled him to endure
in the day of calamity. Ask yourself the question, “What would happen to your child’s faith if he or she were taken from
you and carried to a foreign land with foreign gods?”
The Necessity of Houses of Prayer on the Earth at the End of the Age – Word of the Lord from Habakkuk at the
Evangelism Conference.
B. We must return to doing the simple things well! There are no short-cuts! We must take time to train our children.
We must teach them the wisdom of the Lord. God is giving us a great gift in this time. Perhaps, the stripping of our
confidence and urgency of the hour will be enough to shake our households from the grip of the spirit of the age. X-Box,
Wii, and Netflix don’t seem so gratifying when the earth is shaking, the job is gone, the house is foreclosed, and little
Johnny wonders if the draft will be reinstated. We must build altars in our homes right now! This is an urgent call. It may
seem sensational in some ways. The sad part is that sensational will not change most right now in America, and our sons
and daughters may be the casualties.
C. V. 8 – Daniel purposed it in his heart not to defile himself with the king’s delicacies. The battle ground that Daniel
chose was food. Dan. 1:17 informs us that he studied all the literature and wisdom of the day, including other religions
and their ceremonies, yet Daniel chose food as key the battleground. Why? Daniel remembered the prophecy of Moses
concerning Israel’s future and what would lead them to be exiled in Deut 32. Food was a key issue for Israel and will be a
key issue at the end of the age. Overeating and self-indulgence will leave many in a spiritual state of dullness and
leanness. This over-consumption on the spirit of this age and under-nourished in the Word disposition will leave many
unprepared for the trial coming upon the whole earth.
"But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him,
And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; With
abominations they provoked Him to anger. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods they did not know, To
new gods, new arrivals That your fathers did not fear. 18 Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have
forgotten the God who fathered you. (Deut 32:15-18)
But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and
that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:34-36)
D. Jesus lays out the five escorts into spiritual growth and vitality in Matthew 6 – righteous acts/servanthood,
generous giving, prayer, forgiveness, and fasting.
1. Fasting reminds us that one’s spirit, soul, and body is connected and cannot be separated. Humans are physical
beings forever. We are not trying to escape our bodies. As Christians we look forward to the day when our bodies will be
resurrected in glory.
2. Fasting quickens our spiritual appetites, sharpens our spiritual discernment, combats our trust in our own strength,
and weakens the cravings of our flesh. Overeating and overindulgence causes the spirit to grow dim and dull. Spiritual
sharpness is diminished, and spiritual discernment wanes (i.e. what you watch on television). My first experience of
extended fasting and the realization that physical hunger and desire/craving were separate realities. Paul informs us
that a war is raging inside of each one of us.
For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the
law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who
will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (Rom. 7:22-25)
3. Daniel wanted his spiritual discernment to be strong as he entered his Babylonian enslavement. He needed all of
his spiritual wits about him in such a Yahweh absent culture.
E. Fasting tenderizes our hearts, softens us to the ways of God, and sharpens our discernment to recognize the
difference between the holy and the unholy. In fasting we refuse to satisfy our souls with our usual comforts which drain
our strength and hinder us from moving forward in the grace of God. Fasting is the great detox of our soul. We starve
ourselves from our usual spiritual dietary poisons, and as we give ourselves to fasting, God increases true spiritual
hunger and expands our capacity for intimacy, revelation, and spiritual discernment.
1. In fasting we embrace voluntary weakness in order to embrace God’s strength as our solution. Increasing our
spiritual clout before others is not the purpose of fasting. In fasting, we place ourselves weak before God asking for a
breakthrough in His strength. His strength becomes our true hope and ultimate solution to our problems.
2. Quote from Mike Bickle - Fasting is essential to the Christian life and is not optional if we want to experience the
fullness of the grace of God. It is absolutely mandatory for wholeheartedness. We cannot face the crisis that is coming to
our nation and to the earth without the protection of wholeheartedness expressed by a lifestyle of prayer and fasting.
The grace of wholeheartedness makes us a gift. A gift of God to one another, a gift of God to the city we live in and a gift
of God to unbelievers. Though fasting is an odd message in America, where self-indulgence is nearly esteemed as a
virtue, it is a familiar message through the Word of God. The grace for fasting is available to everyone. We begin by
asking the Lord for this grace. We ask Him to help us desire it. We start off with fasting-prayer 101, which is “Lord, make
me want to want to fast.” The Lord esteems this kind of prayer as valid and if we continue to pursue Him in it, we will
desire to fast. We pray for His strength and His grace in fasting, and He really does cultivate it within us.
F. How could Daniel participate in the very delicacies of the kingdom which had invaded the holy land and would
eventually destroy it? Daniel knew the prophecies of Jeremiah and refused to join in with the eating of the delicacies of
a wicked ruler, who was seeking to destroy the very people and land which Daniel loved.
in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (Eph 2:2-3)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all
that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the
world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
G. My Dream Concerning Fasting and Fasting Teams. We see in the life of Jesus an embracing of voluntary fasting
in order that He might have discernment in the day of severe affliction. God is going to make fasting front and center
again in the Body of Christ. We will embrace a lifestyle of voluntary fasting in order to provide leadership in a day when
involuntary fasting abounds.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name
Immanuel. 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Is. 7:14-15)
It shall be in that day That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep; 22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk
they give, That he will eat curds; For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land. 23 It shall happen in that
day, That wherever there could be a thousand vines Worth a thousand shekels of silver, It will be for briers and
thorns. (Is. 7:21-23)
H. The Wisdom of Joel.
"Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." 13 So
rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger,
and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. 14 Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing
behind Him -- A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a
fast, Call a sacred assembly; (Joel 2:12-15)
I. Daniel took his stand in the context of friendship. He sustains his heart with the comfort of three others -- iron
sharpening iron. This is no time for false sympathy and false compassion. You will get what you choose. Your
friendships and your fellowships will either strengthen you and catapult towards faithfulness, or they will dull your spiritual
senses and keep your spiritual life in a subdued state unprepared for the crisis around the corner.
As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. (Proverbs 27:17)
Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his
companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. 11 Again, if two lie down
together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two
can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Eccl. 4:9-12)
Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to
him, "Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to
you. Even my father Saul knows that." 18 So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David stayed in
the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house. (1 Sam. 23:16-18)
V. KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, AND UNDERSTANDING – DAN. 1:17-21
A. God rewarded their faithfulness and diligence with revelation and knowledge. They each received skill to
understand literature and wisdom, and Daniel received an added understanding in all visions and dreams. God rewarded
their consecration with the ability to perceive. The rarest commodity of all is perception – an understanding of reality and
of the day in which one lives. It is the gift that God gave the sons of Issachar – knowing the signs of the times, knowing
what God was doing in a specific generation. These four friends receive from the Lord both perception of the hour and
wisdom in all matters.
B. Within a short period of time God will exalt Daniel as a prophetic voice before the world’s most powerful man.