Let me tell you something. In this day and age, when we're so squishy about so many things,

when commitment is the last thing we want to do, the last thing we want to make,

God is looking to raise up Daniels and Daniels that are resolute in purpose,

that as young as they are, determined, I want to serve my God.

And I don't want to be indoctrinated by all the things of this world where I'm torn away. In the glorious name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, everybody say hallelujah, amen.

You may be seated.

Please turn with me if you haven't already to Daniel chapter 5.

And I'd love to give you a little bit of background so that you'll know where we are landing on the page.

So we are seeing words that were written from a place called Babylon during the time of the 70-year captivity of the children of God,

the Jews, those who had lived in Judah, the southern kingdom, the southern part of Israel.

They had been warned over and over again by God, by prophet after prophet.

If you do not turn from your evil ways, from your idolatries, from your injustices,

from all the ways that you have turned away from your God, if you do not turn back to me and repent, I am going to allow you to be taken

captive by another kingdom that will hold you away from your home for 70 years. And he followed

through exactly like he said he would, and they should have known because the northern kingdom

had already, the century before, been taken captive by the empire that was Assyrian.

So he keeps his word.

That's exactly what he did, following through.

And King Nebuchadnezzar, the emperor of the Babylonian Empire, sent his armies into Jerusalem.

They completely flatten the city, burned it to the ground.

They tore down the temple, tore down the walls, and completely raised the city.

And so they took with them the cream of the crop from among the Judiites in and around Jerusalem

...