Marcus Mecum - New Day, Old Demons - Part 1
Daniel 2, Daniel 2. I’m gonna read several verses. Let’s look at verse 1, «In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams: his mind was troubled and as a result, he could not sleep. So the king summoned magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed». Of course, they failed. And so, they reached out to Daniel. Let’s look, pick up in verse 19, «And during the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. And Daniel praised the God of heaven and said, 'praise be the name of God for ever and ever: wisdom and power are his». Verse 21, «He changes the times and the seasons,» you might wanna underline that. «And he deposes kings and raises up others».
You might wanna underline that as there are gonna be some points I’ll make. But the bottom line is you would maybe think this is an ancient civilization that was destroyed 2,500 years ago, and that is true. The geographical, physical location of Babylon was destroyed. However, Babylon represents something bigger, we talked about last week. It shows up in Genesis, we see it all the way into the Book of Revelation. So, Babylon is a concept, it deals with a spirit. Particularly the very first way we see satan not only try to influence the heart of an individual, but how the enemy works on influencing society. And so, he works through government, through policies, through laws, through world leaders to enslave a society or a generation. And Babylon is the concept that the scripture points to for us to understand how the enemy works.
In the New Testament, you might hear it referred to as «The world,» that we’re in the world but we’re not of the world. Well, Daniel is in Babylon, but he’s not of Babylon. So yes, we live in a new day, but we’re dealing with old demons. People change, demons don’t. Nations change, demons don’t. And the same spirit that was at work in Babylon is at work in our nation today because spirits don’t die. Babylon is a spirit, and it’s important that you understand that spirit. Daniel begins to walk us through not only was Babylon the enemy, an influence in Babylon but the generation that came after that would have been the Persian empire, then the Greek empire, then the Roman Empire. That’s the one that killed and executed Jesus.
Then the Bible actually goes on to say that that empire, that Babylonian spirit, that same spirit will be revived in the last days. We could go back a few generations and you could see the same exact spirit, but now it’s not called Rome or Babylon, it would be called Marxism. Today, that spirit would be called wokeism. But it’s anti-God, it’s anti-family, it’s anti-freedom, it’s anti-Israel. And so, that is what we’re looking at and why it matters for you to identify that spirit. The story that we’re looking at right now, they’re three years into being in Babylon.
So, they are in Babylon, Israel has been defeated, Jerusalem, the walls have been destroyed, Solomon’s Temple has been destroyed, Daniel’s family and all of his thousands of other young people’s families, their moms and their dads would have been murdered right before their eyes, they would have been taken hostage, taken to Babylon. The second they showed up in Babylon, we talked about it last week, they would have been castrated, sexually mutilated. They would have become eunuchs in service to the king’s court. You can primarily see this emphasis where they served with the chief of the eunuchs in the king’s service. And so, now they’d been there for three years.
So, it appears as though Babylon did not just win a temporary victory, but that the victory is here to stay. It appears as though God’s people are defeated, and that they’d been conquered from here on out by Babylon. But the Bible says in the third year, God began to do something. Have you ever noticed in your Christian walk with God that there are times when it seems like the other side is winning? I’m not talking about the other side is like just personally think about it. Someone lied, or they cheated, or you watch that they hurt people, and they’ve done everything they can to create havoc and chaos, and you look at their life and it’s like they’re carefree. They succeed and they prosper. And as a result, you’re like, «God, what are you doing? What’s happening? Why are you allowing that to happen»?
And that’s what Daniel is facing. He’s watching all of this destruction, all of this death, watching all of these wicked things begin to prosper and succeed. But watch it, in the third year, God began to do something. God does not send an army, he does not raise up a military force. There are no weapons that are needed. God just decides to start Messing with king Nebuchadnezzar’s mind. God gives him such a nightmare that he wakes up and mentally, he’s troubled. He’s trembling, he can’t sleep, he’s walking the floor, his nerves are shot, he’s losing it mentally, he’s losing it emotionally, he has all the wealth imaginable but no peace. He has everyone surrounding him, all the fame you would ever want, but he’s all alone. He has great power but yet he’s fearful.
All that the world would say anyone could ever want, he has it at his disposal, yet here he is, empty and not satisfied. And God finds a way to get to someone like that and begins to speak to him. It’s important that you note that God knows how to speak to the unrighteous. God begins to deal with king Nebuchadnezzar, who they would have thought was untouchable. The most powerful man on the earth. This evil and corrupt dictator. He’s got it all. He’s proud, he’s arrogant. Full of himself. Yet, in the third year, God began to do something. God said, «Alright, I’m gonna take this man that everyone thinks is invincible, and I’m gonna teach him a lesson. No armies needed. I’m going to personally go down there and mess with his mind».
It is important to remember that the devil is never going to establish victory indefinitely. That the problem you’re seeing right now in your life, in your family, in your personal life or in our nation is not going to reign forever. Manmade empires do not reign forever. In the third year, everybody say, «The third year». God started to do something. God will have his time. So, this king is having nightmares, he can’t sleep. He reaches out to the magicians, the astrologers, the soothsayers, and he asks them for help. Babylon is who invented astrology.
So, when you read Gemini, Capricorn, Libra, whatever yours might be. Some of y’all had to read it before you could come to church today. This is what this king had to do. He had to call together his psychic friend’s network, they got their crystals, they’re humming, they’re chanting, they’re reading the horoscopes, they got their rabbit’s foot, their tarot cards, their crystal balls. They’re trying to figure out, what do we do in this desperate situation? No matter who they call on, no matter what level of evil they lean to, there’s no answers, there’s no solutions, the king’s issues, his fears, his problems continued.
And so, someone says, «Maybe we should reach out to this man by the name of Daniel. Daniel,» they say, «Serves a God who reveals the secrets». In other words, «Hey king, there is a point that we come to that we realize that». Light has a way of shining on the devil, and that he has limits. There are things he cannot do, places he cannot go, and things he cannot reveal. And in the end, the real truth has to be revealed, and that real truth, you have to go to God to get. The one who knows the beginning from the end, the one God who holds the future in his hands. All of this psychic, magic, astrology, demonic stuff will not have your answers. And so, the king is so desperate, he’s wicked but he’s desperate. And so, he sends an invitation out to Daniel. Daniel shows up in the king’s court and he begins to pray. As he prays, he begins to sense that he’s going to need a little bit more time in prayer.
And so, he requests that time, which is an important thing to notes that what do you do when you’re facing a regime that’s evil, that’s being demonically influenced? You pray. You take time to pray. He’s not getting caught up in the emotion of the moment. There’s death threats, there’s literally an execution date for Daniel. All of his friends, all of them are facing eminent death. He’s not caught up in any of that stuff. He just simply says, «I need to spend some time with God, and I need to pray». Because that’s all the child of God really needs to win the battle. Give 'em a little time to pray, and without question, at some point, they’ll turn things around and they’ll win.
Now, I love what Daniel prays. He says, «God reveals secrets». He knows what’s done in the dark places, he knows what’s done in the hidden places. So, God gives him a dream, he shows him what the king’s issues were. He gives him inside information. Let’s just take a moment and acknowledge God has the inside scoop. He has the inside information. This person says this is going on behind the scenes, and this person says this is going on. Whether we will ever know or not, God knows what’s going on in the dark places. God knows what’s going on in the hidden places. And we don’t have to be uninformed whether we know the details or not because we can go to God. We can pray and he reveals secrets. I don’t have to listen to the news, I don’t have to listen to popular opinion. I can shut all of that down, go and get with God, and he can speak to me in my spirit and I can immediately know.
Now, that’s not right. That’s not true. You can pick up on a lie and who the father of that lie is. The enemy has always worked through deception, he’s always worked through mistruths, he’s always worked through agendas and slants and all of those kind of things. And so, we can get with God, and the Bible says, «He reveals his secrets to those who fear him». God can give you the inside scoop. I love this because the next thing that happens makes a lot of people uncomfortable. The government calls on a preacher to get a solution. We hear things like separation of church and state. That is a very great law that is in place specifically to keep the state out of the church. Because that’s why we left England. A state enforced religion. You are to be free to worship however you want to.
That is the freedom of religion. That is absolute, that is what you and I have been given. But separating the church from the state is almost an impossibility once you know who God is. In the world’s mind, that God stuff is just a Sunday thing you attend and you leave it at home. But we would know, wherever God’s people are, God shows up. Wherever we are involved, God is involved. So, that means you can’t stop God from being involved in a school system, you can’t stop God from being involved in politics, you can’t stop God from being involved in every aspect of our lives because wherever God’s people live, God lives. And Daniel’s a great example. He doesn’t show up arrogant, he doesn’t show up angry, he doesn’t show up bitter. He shows up respectful, he shows up humble, he shows up with a heart filled with compassion and love for this wicked ruler. But yet, he is clear to call out the sin.
«King, you’ve reached out to the astrologers, you’ve reached out to the magicians, you’ve reached out for all of this wicked stuff, and none of those things could help you with your troubled mind, none of those things could help you get rest and sleep». And so, the God of heaven, I wanna make clear, is the God who can help you with these issues and these problems in your mind and in your heart. So, Daniel shows up and he begins to talk with the king. Now, the Bible says, «You render unto Caesar what’s Caesar’s, and unto God what’s God’s».
So, in America, this is how we would break that down. The government is we, the people. Everybody say, «We, the people». Now, America’s one of the last free nations on earth, but as of this moment, it is we, the people. And so, every four years, you have a chance to vote. And that’s been given to you by, I believe, God has given you that power. And so, when you go vote, you can vote however you want. You don’t have to think about government, you don’t have to think about how they feel, you don’t have to think about any of that stuff. You can go and say, «Okay God, this is something you’ve given me. How do I honor you in this? How do I honor you? What do you love? What is clear in your word»?
And not who is the person, not who is the platform, not who is the personality, not who is popular, not who is politically correct. But what policy do I know you love? What’s whoever is elected is elected, our job is to pray, our job is to seek God, our job is to do everything we can to pray for those who are in authority. But for this moment, you don’t give the government what’s God’s. You don’t throw it away. You don’t leave it somewhere in a drawer. You make a decision to say, «I’m gonna render unto God what is God’s. I’m gonna take this and I’m gonna please him with the vote. At the end of the day, what else happens, happens».
God has given you and I that power. Don’t give up that power. Once the vote is done, you remember before Babylon there was God. Before a king Nebuchadnezzar, there was king Jesus. Before there was one nation on this earth, he was the God of the universe, and he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But there’s nothing wrong with being involved, there’s nothing wrong with taking your faith, and your prayers, and the scripture, and your convictions, and considering who it is that’s closest to the scripture when you vote. Daniel pulls away and he goes to his prayer place. When he comes out of his prayer place, he reveals several things that we’ll look at. One is there’s a reason for the season. The second thing, he begins to let us know that God is in control of who is in control. And then, finally, we see that God always has the last word.
So, let’s look at these. He shows up and he says, «Hey, listen king, God changes the times and the season». So, seasons are God’s idea. They’re under his control. He created the seasons and there is a spiritual side to seasons. When we don’t understand the reason for the season, when we’re confused by the season, then we can actually end up missing what God is trying to teach us in a season. Luke 12, Jesus said, «You can look at the sky and you can see that it’s gonna rain, how is it that you can’t discern the time and the seasons»? Speaking about what was spiritually happening.
So, to everything, there is a season. Seasons create strange responses in people. When we don’t like the seasons, we say God cannot be in this season. When we love the season and God’s blessing us, where’s like, «Oh, look. Look at what God is doing». But if the season changes into something we don’t like, we doubt him, we doubt what he’s up to. But God is in charge of seasons. Hell is not in charge of seasons. Hell cannot prolong a season. Hell cannot change a season. A season is set up by God to run its course. You can avoid it, you can fight it, you can be insensitive to it, you can ignore it, but a season is set. You can go and try to wear a tank top in January, it does not change the season.
So, God not only orders our steps, he orders our seasons. Seasons are God’s servants. They’re sent to serve his people. They have a purpose. There’s a reason for the season. When it’s harvest, we love it. When it’s not harvest, we don’t love it, right? But you cannot have spring without winter, and you cannot have resurrection without winter.
So, God sends seasons to accomplish his purpose, but God sets the clock. God sets the beginning date and the end date. God says it’s a season, it’s a chapter, it’s not the whole book. Find the reason for the season. Why? Because there’s no other way to get through it. You must go through the season. It’s grey, it’s cold, it’s stormy, it’s something you don’t desire and you don’t enjoy, and you think there’s no way God is in this, the sun isn’t shining, the birds aren’t singing, the flowers aren’t blooming. But yet, God said, «If it’s a season, make no mistake, I made it. I created it. I control that season».
You don’t have to jump up and down, you don’t have to act excited about it, but you have to get with God and say, «What is the reason? What is going on? What are you up to? What’s your point? What’s the purpose of that»? Knowing there’s a divine purpose for every season. Once you find out the reason, guess what happens, you can produce fruit in season. If you’re not in season, you cannot produce the fruit that’s needed. The Bible says that, «The sons of Issachar knew the times and the seasons, so they knew what Israel ought to do». You might be suffering, you might be in defeat, you might be looking at your life and say, «Man, for years I’ve been in a place that’s heartbroken, it looks like I’m losing the battle». But God said, «Let me be clear, I am in charge of seasons in your life».
The devil’s not in charge, evil is not in charge, the unrighteous and the ungodly are not in charge. The attack and the adversity will have its season, but God said, «I’m the one that changes the times and the seasons». So, know the reason for the season. Daniel comes out of prayer, he’s like, «Okay, we have to know the reason. We’re here in Babylon, we’re not in Jerusalem. We’re not in a place where God’s people are flourishing. We’re in Babylon». There’s gotta be a reason for the season. We’re in the world but we’re not of the world. We gotta know the season, right? That’s what salt is, it’s something that preserves. Here we are, we gotta know the reason for the season. What’s the reason you placed us on the earth in this time, in this moment?