Daniel chapter 1 starting at verse 1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim the king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand. with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of God, to the house of his God, and brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes. children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years, so that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Meshel, and Azariah, unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names. For he gave unto Daniel the name Bel-teh-shazar, and to Hananiah of Shadrach, unto Meshel, Meshach and unto Azariah Abednego. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now, God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of eunuchs and the prince of eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord, the king who hath appointed your meat and your drink. For why should he see your faces worse likening than the children which are of your sort? Then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. Then Daniel said to Melzar, who the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Meshel, and Azariah, prove thy servants I beseech thee 10 days and let them give us pulse to eat and water to drink. And if you're wondering what pulse is, it's a combination of beans and peas. Not exactly the most delicious meal, but that's what they wanted. Verse 13. And let our countenance be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children eat of the portion of the king's meat, and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this manner and proved them ten days. And at the end of 10 days, their countenance appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus, Melzar took away the portion of their meat and the wine that they should drink and gave them pulse. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill and all learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding and all visions and dreams. Now, at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, this would be at the end of the three years, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king communed with them, and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Thus is the reading of the word of God. What I'd like to do is take a few moments and kind of set the historical backdrop of this particular book before we really start diving into this chapter. So if you would, what I did is I looked up the last several kings of Judah, and let me list them for you. Let me even back up further than that. As you remember, shortly after Solomon's reign ended, King Solomon, There was a split, Israel split. And the 10 tribes, the 10 northern tribes, they kept the name Israel. And the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, formed a new nation, and they called themselves Judah. That was shortly after the days of Solomon. And what happened was, is Israel was cursed with very wicked kings. Nearly every single one of their kings were wicked. And God kept on saying, if you keep on ignoring me, I'm just going to take my hands off and let the enemies just overrule you. And about 700 BC, that's exactly what happened. Well, Judah, unfortunately, didn't learn their lesson. And what happened was they had kings too, and with them it was about 50-50. I would say about half their kings were God-honoring, and about half of them were very wicked and evil. And it was kind of like this roller coaster that we just went through in the book of Judges, where they had good kings and they had bad kings, they had ones that followed. So here are the kings leading up to the setting of the book of Daniel. Now, it turned out Judah did fall too, about a hundred years after Israel fell. Got it? Okay. That's the historical backdrop. Now, the 12th king of Judah was a man named Hezekiah. He was pretty good king. The 13th king was a king named Manasseh, and he was worst of the worst. And we will talk a little bit about him in a second. And he reigned for 55 years. Then there was a man named Ammon who only ruled two years. Josiah, which was a pretty good king, ruled for 31 years. Jehoiah has only ruled for three months. And then there's Jehoiakim, the man we're talking about right now, we just read in Daniel one, he is the one. And what happened was is they were carried off into bondage, and for 70 years, they were in this bondage. And then after that, pretty much the reign of kings ended, and it became the reign of priests that were the leaders. So you remember when we were back just a few weeks ago, there was a reign of judges for about 400 years. And then there was a reign of kings for a while because Israel said, we got tired of judges. We want a king like all the rest of the nations. And God said, I'll give you a king. And then the kings turned up to mess it up. And then he said, the priests are going to rule you. And that basically happened until the time of Christ and the new church came and was ushered in. Okay, so that's the historical backdrop. We are dealing with Jehoiakim, but I wanna show you what's going to happen in the Book of Daniel was because of that 13th King Manasseh. Manasseh, see that? Okay, Manasseh was the worst of the worst. He was evil in every single way. If you have your Bibles, you'd wanna go with me. We wanna go to 2 Kings 21, and I wanna show you some of the things that Manasseh did. Now remember, his reign was 55 years. Let me read this. I'm in 2 Kings 21. I want to read one through seven. One through seven. Look at all the wickedness that he did. Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem and his mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. For he built up again the high places, which Hezekiah his father destroyed. And he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, and did as Ahab. Ahab was one of the wicked kings of Israel. He worshiped all the hosts of heaven, and he served them. And he built altars in the house of God, which the house said in Jerusalem, I will put my name. And he built altars for all the host in the two courts of the house of God. And he made his sons pass through the fire. He offered babies as burnt sacrifices. And he observed times and he used enchantment, he used magic. and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards, he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven image in the grove that he made in the house, of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, in this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I put my name forever." So basically what he did is he just thumbed his nose at God. And he did that for nearly 55 years. And God said, enough's enough, okay? Enough's enough. Let's go to the curse. I'm still in 2 Kings 21. Let's jump down to verse 10, verse 10. And the Lord spake to his servant, the prophet, saying, because Manasseh, king of Judah, had done these abominations, and we just read all those things that he did, and had done wickedly above all the Amorites, which were before him. And he made Judah also sin in these idols. Let me skip down to verse 14. And he says, I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance and deliver them into the hands of their enemy. That's Daniel one. Got it. And he says, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies because they have done that which is evil in my sight and provoked me to anger since their fathers came forth out of Egypt even to this day. Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much till he hath filled Jerusalem from one end to the other. Wow, that's pretty serious stuff. Now again, this is just not a historical account. This stuff really happened. If we don't learn from history, we're cursed to repeat it, right? So the whole time we go through this, I'm asking the question, what applies to modern day America? Okay? So as we read this, we see that God said I had enough. He says, I'm gonna curse you, I'm gonna overrun you. Now, that's not something new. If you remember, that happened quite a few times in the book of Judges. Judges would get close to the Lord, and all of a sudden, they'd get full of themselves, and they'd start ignoring the Lord, and an enemy would come and would put bondage over them, and they would cry out, Lord, please help us, and the Lord would help them, and they would have some more good years, and they just kept going through this cycle over and over again. So this is not something new. And then we saw the exact same thing happen to Israel 100 years earlier, and now we're at the point where Manasseh's king, and he says, Judah, you messed up, that's it, I had enough of you. But I want you to know something, okay? Remember these kings? The curse was done during Manasseh's reign. But along comes Josiah, which was a good king, and for 31 years, he honored the Lord. But you know what? The sentence was still passed. The guilt was still found. See, the obedience of Josiah didn't wipe out the sentence. You know what it did? It delayed it. That's it. So once Josiah was gone and the evil began, the sentence was carried out. And that's what the book of Daniel's all about, okay? Let me read this in 2 Kings 24. This is where it's actually gonna happen. Now, I guess the best way to say this, the Book of Kings is a historical account of all of Israel over time, and the Book of Daniel is kind of like going out a chapter book right there in the middle, and it's really blowing up this one section of time, okay? So this is the historical backdrop of the Book of Daniel. In his days, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up and Jehoiakim became a servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. So, Nebuchadnezzar came and he came to Jerusalem and he conquered the city. And he was ruling over it. But about three years into it, Jehoiakim says, I'm tired of this. And he rebelled. And Nebuchadnezzar put the hammer down. Boom. And this is what happened. And he takes it and he destroys the city. He plunders the city. He takes the temple and he tears it apart person by person or brick by brick. And he carries out the best of the best of the young people away. OK. Verse two, and the Lord sent against him bands of Chaldeans, that's really the Babylonians, and the bands of the Syrians, and the bands of the Moabites, and the bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it according to the word of the Lord. And he spake by his servants, the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah to remove them out of his sight for the sins of Manasseh according to all that he did. Now this is a curse that's happened during Jehoiakim, king number 17, but the sentence was passed during king number 13. Got it? And also for the innocent blood that he shed and he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon. Got that? God can pardon some sins, but those babies being burnt on an altar, that's one thing that he cannot pardon, okay? We got it? Okay, let's go to Daniel 1. I'm gonna make some comments. Now, I've read the entire chapter, now I'm gonna double back through and I'm gonna make a few comments. My goal is to make this as relevant to today as possible, okay? You know what the bottom line of chapter 1 is? My title was The Assimilation of Our Teens, okay? When someone has to come in and conquer a nation and they want to convert that nation, what they do is they go after the young, right? You can't crate dog an old dog. You crate dog a puppy, yes, right? Well, that's what happened. So he's gonna go into this nation and he's gonna take these guys, and I'm not sure how old they were. I heard guesses if they're anywhere from 14 to 16 years old is what Daniel and his buddies are, okay? And think about it. You want to brainwash. You want to indoctrinate. You want to assimilate a group of young people into your culture. What are you gonna do? Well, the first thing you do is you separate them from their parents. You cause about as big a division as possible, right? And then you indoctrinate them. You get them to think differently, right? And then you manage their culture. Got it? You manage their culture. You flood them, what they watch on TV, the music they listen to, the literature they read. You just inundate them. Got it? Does that sound like modern day America? Yeah? Okay. Daniel 1. Let me read 1 and 2 and then I want to make some comments. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, we just read that in 2 Kings 24, was that 2 Kings 24? Yeah, 2 Kings 24. Remember he was ruling over them for about three years, but then he rebelled, and then at the three year, this is when, I had enough. This is gonna wipe you out, okay? And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand. Now, I have no doubt that Nebuchadnezzar thought that his gods helped him conquer Judah. Wrong, right? Jehovah God helped him conquer Judah. Notice what it says, the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand. My friends, God is sovereign, right? It kind of reminds me of that scene where Jesus was being interrogated by Pilate. Remember what Pilate said? He said, don't you know I got the power to crucify you? And he says, you don't have any power, only but what God gave you. God is sovereign, and he's sovereign over Nebuchadnezzar. And I'm so excited as we go forward, because I love this Nebuchadnezzar. He starts off as a rascal, but we're going to see him come around, okay? And he also took the vessels of the house of God. Now, remember those kings? Hezekiah was a pretty good king, but at the end of his reign, he did something pretty dumb. Remember what he did? It was pretty dumb. He was having a reign, and this envoy came from Babylonia, and he was just feeling a little full of himself too, and he took this envoy into his treasury, and he says, look at all these prizes. And the envoy went back to Babylonia, And they came back and they conquered, and he says, we heard about this storage chest. He says, we want all that stuff. So that was just a thoughtless move by King Hezekiah a while earlier. And he carried them to Shinar, to the house of the God, and he brought Brussels into his house, okay? So we've got our thoughts right there. Okay, let's go, and let's keep on going in Daniel one. Let me read the next section right here. And I want to read three through eight. This is the indoctrination of the young. Now I want to ask the question, does this sound familiar? The king of Israel spake to Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel and of the king's seed and the princes. And the children, no blemish, they're well favored, they're skilled for a wisdom. He got the best looking, He got the healthiest. He got the smartest. Young people, you know, the best of the best. But notice what happened. He took him and he gave him to the prince of eunuchs. My friends, there's no doubt about it. He turned Daniel and his three friends into eunuchs. The goal was to make them loyal and docile and subservient. That was the goal. Okay. Now, Daniel, after having that done to him, had every right to pitch a pity party and just throw in the towel. But he didn't. We're gonna find out that he continued in a straight, this is what the whole book's about. A man needed to have these terrible, ripped from home, ripped from mom and dad. And I don't know, this is speculation. I have no doubt that they probably killed his parents. Don't know for sure. But some people were allowed to stay. They took the best of the best, cut the family ties, they indoctrinate him. Basically what they did is they put him in a dormitory. And they had someone over the dormitory, and then they had a RA, a hall monitor, speaking in modern day language. And they kept tabs on these guys to make sure what they ate, what they thought, what they read, who they interacted with. They managed every part of their life. And I'm thinking about it, and I'm thinking three years, we think, you know, Four years. Four years is a college education. But if you take off summers, guess what? It's 36 months. It's really about the time of a college education. Amen? Okay. Because I'm sure Nebuchadnezzar didn't give them the summers off. Children in whom there's, I'm in verse four, but well-favored and skillful in wisdom and cunning in knowledge and understanding science and such has that ability to them to stand in the king's palace. So what they did is they taught them the language. And again, that's not wrong. That's exactly what happened to Joseph. Joseph went to Egypt. He became a slave and then he became bonded in prison and then he became the right-hand man And what he did during that whole time is he learned the language. He learned the culture He assimilated into the culture, but you know what? You can change his name. You can change his diet. You can change his friends But they couldn't change his heart And that's what happened to Daniel. They couldn't change his heart. Got it And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and the wine, and he drank. Okay, and now among these were the children, were these guys, and that's where they were at. Okay, so that's three through seven. Let's go on now to eight. You with me so far? Let's read a couple verses in eight. Now Daniel said, I can't eat this stuff. Now, the Bible didn't say exactly why he couldn't eat this stuff. I don't know if they were giving him pork chops, okay? You know, the dietary laws of the Jewish, and they couldn't eat pork. Maybe it was pork, I don't know. Maybe it was food that was offered to idols. And they said, we've sacrificed this, and after it's offered to idol, here, you wanna eat it? And he says, no, I can't. I don't know what the problem was, I just know there was a problem. Anything else would be speculation. And he says, I can't eat that. And I can't drink this wine. I don't know what Daniel's problem with the wine was. I don't know if he was afraid that he was looking around and he didn't want to be addicted to it. He didn't want to have his senses dulled. He didn't want to be clear hit. I don't know what it was. But he says, I don't want to eat that. I don't want to drink that. And the guy that's the RA, I'm using modern college terms, saying, no, if you don't eat this food and you come up looking sick, my head's on the line. My head's on the line. Now, what I want you to notice is that Daniel and his three friends They had bad stuff happen to them. They were ripped from family. They were taken from home, taken about 700 miles away. And they were made eunuchs. And they still kept their faith. Isn't that something? They still kept their faith. And you know what? God blesses them physically. He blesses them socially. The eunuch fell in love with him. God's still sovereign. He put the right guy in the right position at the right time with the right attitude. And he blessed them mentally. Do you see how God blessed these three? Now they had every reason to throw in the towel and say, forget it, life is horrible. But he didn't. They kept plowing forward. And they became influencers. Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. Look what God did. Isn't that amazing? God's still sovereign. But this is such a bad situation. But look what Manasseh did. He's just, and he's righteous, and he's holy. There's a place where he says enough is enough in sin. There was a guilt, there was a sentence, there was a trial, there was a guilt sentence. The sentencing was given. Took him about 40, 50 years to carry it out, but it was finally carried out. And the people that are in this situation are still obeying, that are still honoring the Lord. Even if something as simple as a dietary restriction is still honoring God, and God honors him. 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30, them that honor me, I will honor, this says the Lord, okay? So, and the prince of the eunuchs says, I fear my Lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink, for why should he see your faces worse, likening to the children which are of your sort? In other words, this dormitory had a lot of kids. And you four are not going to eat my food. And if you come up sick, I'm the one to blame because I'm a steward. I'm in charge of you. You know what Daniel was doing? By not eating this food, he was risking his life. He was risking his apprenticeship. Instead of being in the dormitory in a college of learning, he could be out there splitting rocks. I don't know, he risked his apprenticeship. He was risking the life of his friends. But he did it anyway. He was risking the life of this prince of eunuchs. But notice what he does, okay? So Daniel says to Melzar, the prince of the eunuchs, verse 12. He says, prove thy servants I beseech thee 10 days and let them give Paul's to eat and water. He says, you know, I understand, okay? I understand your life is on the line. My friends, this is respect. Authorities can ask you to do ridiculous things and this prince who actually had a genuine affection for Daniel, he's showing sympathy, he's showing apathy, he's showing empathy. We can do that for our oppressors. And this is what he said. He says, okay, I understand. I said, if we come up sick, you're gonna die. I don't want that to happen. So I'll tell you what, let us eat this beans and peas for 10 days. And if we come up looking, even our health goes down a little bit, I'll do whatever you want. I got trust in my God to take care of me. I'm gonna honor my God, my God will honor me. I'm going to do this. And whatever happens, happens. And the prince was of a mind, he says, well, that sounds fair enough. Now, he could have got a prince that says, no way, you eat this stuff today. But God put the right man in the right position at the right time with the right attitude, and they worked this out. So Daniel and his three friends eat this pulse for 10 days, and at the end of 10 days, they're healthier looking than the whole lot. Let's read this. Verse 14, and he consented them in this manner and proved them 10 days. And after the 10 days, their countenance appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus, Melzar took away their portion of meat and their wine, which they should drink, and gave them pulse and water. Pulse and water, okay. They resisted what was evil against God's command. They did their reasonable service, which includes, I believe, the royal law. And then finally, God was involved, providence. He provided what they needed. 17. As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. My friends, don't ever misunderstand that God is the source of wisdom. And his truth is right, and it's always right, and it's timeless. So as they were learning the culture, they had the foundation of God's word, it doesn't surprise me that they would outshine. I can go with something as simple as my background in a national bank where we worked in a trust department and we managed trust funds for very wealthy individuals. This was before my conversion. They were meant, I mean, when I say very wealthy individuals, these are guys that started companies and sold them like for 50 and 60 million dollars. And back in the 90s, 50 and 60 million dollars was 50 and 60 million dollars. I'm making fun of inflation. Okay, but it meant something. And I would talk to these guys. And I'd ask, what did you do and how did you do it? I'd pepper them with questions. And I was unconverted at the time. And they were telling me the principles that they lived their lives by. And then I got converted and started reading my Bible in Proverbs and I thought, wow, they're doing everything in Proverbs. God's truth is true no matter where it is. And some of them were doing it just because it was truth and it was sound principles. Some of these guys were Jewish. They didn't know anything about the New Testament, but they knew the book of Proverbs. And this is what they lived their lives. This stuff is true. So you get Daniel. And you got his Babylonian counterparts, and he's learning this science and this stuff, and undergirding all his knowledge is the word of God. No wonder why he shined. It's not that he memorized the periodic table quicker and faster than the other guy, that's not what happened. He had God's word underlining it. I can't tell you, you young people, When you go to write your school papers, when you go to look at certain principles, God's word is true and I guarantee you when you do this and you use the principles like even in a simple book like Proverbs and you use that to push forward, your papers will shine well above. I'm debating whether to share this or not. I'll share this, because Emery knows exactly what I'm talking about. I was at a high school, and one of the things they do at the end of the year for the seniors is they give this great big thesis, and they have to defend their thesis. And it is a Christian school, and I'm gonna generalize, and I'm not gonna name any names, but if a person did their thesis, and it was truly based on the word of God, And then you take another student that did their thesis, and they did all the research, and they said, oh, by the way, I got a clue to a Bible verse in here. Did that ever happen? I heard them. I heard five years worth. OK, everyone, give me a Bible verse for this. Mr. Painter, can you give me a Bible verse for my thesis? I don't think that's the way it was supposed to be researched. I think it was supposed to be girded in truth. And you could tell the difference. It was like night and day between the two. God's Word is true. And you look at some of these verses. God invented wisdom. And He's the author of it. And Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had those things undergirding. They shined. Verse 20, and in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them and he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and the astrologers that were in all his realm. You just think that's true of a king looking at some young people coming through college, graduation? It's true when you go pick out a spouse, right? You want a good spouse, husband or wife? You get one whose foundation is undergirded with the word of God. That's the spouse you want. You got it? In matters of work, in matters of finance, in matters of child training, keeping a house, self-discipline, controlling emotions, interaction with people, forgiveness when you're the knucklehead. You understand? When they're founded, That's the kind of spouse you want. Verse 21, and Daniel continued under the first year of King Cyrus. You know what he's doing at chapter one? He's telling you that Daniel, this teenage boy that impressed the king, was put into high office and he maintained a high office for nearly the entirety of Judah's captivity. He endured eight kings and two kingdoms. Isn't that amazing? There's something about this teenager that was stripped from family, carried from home, made a eunuch, that carried himself in a way that eight kings put him in a high position. You know when a new king comes in, what do they do? They clear house and get a whole new cabinet. Seven times he maintained his position, including going from Babylonia to the Meadow Persian Empire. He even made it through a kingdom switch. How do you do that? He was so impressive. Do you remember the time, and the whole time he's going through, he's got all these princes and these politicians that got him in his crosshairs. They're just waiting for him to slip up. There's even a time we're gonna read later on, they looked for something to find a chink in his armor, and they couldn't find one. You can't say that about me, but they could say it about Daniel. He was dedicated, he was disciplined towards the word of God, and God took care of him from this, okay? So that's Daniel. He lasted for nearly 70 years. He was an influencer. He was around when Cyrus finally gave the decree to rebuild the temple and let the people go back home. He was there influencing the whole time. I'm sure glad he didn't pitch a pity party and throw in the towel. Amen? Okay, a couple points. Number one, God gave Judah to Nebuchadnezzar but he also gave social, physical, and mental prosperity. He's sovereign over the good, and he's sovereign over the penalties. Number two, the tactics of conquerors are predictable. They separate, indoctrinate, and saturate the young. However, the responses of the four young Jews were uncommon. They were grounded, convicted, disciplined, and respectful. Notice that respectful. Number three, Daniel maintained a high office during eight kings and two kingdoms, beside having been in the crosshairs of many jealous princes and politicians. He lived long enough to see, understand, and influence the end of seven years of Babylonian captivity. And I'm gonna close with this. Two verses in Psalms, Psalm 119. Verse 100. I have more understanding than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. You ever hear those people that say, do what I say, don't do what I do? They're liars. Don't, okay? The second thing is, I have sworn, this is in 106, and I will perform it, that I will keep the righteous judgments. I've made a commitment to God, I'm going to keep his word, I'm gonna keep his paths. and we're gonna see some tremendous trials. And the thing that gets them through the trials is they keep on looking past the trial to God Almighty, and they say this time and time again, if this is my end, so be it. Think about it. I love the martyrs when you read the account, and death is on the line. And they go, are you gonna threaten me with glory? looking past the trial to the Lord of heaven where they're going to be. This is his outlook on life. And our teens are gonna be targeted and they're gonna be trying to make a division between parents. They're gonna be indoctrinated. They're gonna be saturated with the culture. Now you understand how we get saturated now, Instagram, YouTube, all that stuff, just bombard it 24 hours a day, bombard it, get you thinking right, like everybody else. Real quick clips. I was talking to Brother Mike Ivey a couple of years ago at a singing school, and he was talking about the internet and all the information that's available on the internet. And he said, it's like a lake that's miles wide and miles long, but it's only about an inch deep. He says, you got absolutely no depth whatsoever. And we got the shallowest thinker possible. Well, we got to do right the opposite. We've got to go in there. We don't want our kids that shallow. We want them to have roots. We want them to be deep. We want them to be grounded. And that's what these young men were able to do. And I go back to the time when I was a teenager, I went right with the flow. Meat and wine, give me a second portion. But these guys stood up to it because they were grounded in the word of God. May the Lord help us read this book of Daniel, not from just some historical account that's really interesting, because there's some cool stories in the first five or six chapters. There really, really are. But they're more than cool stories. They're applications now. I want my kids grounded so they can see through the crazy definition of equity diversity. I want them to be able to look at the definitions of something called social justice and see exactly what it is and compare it to the word of God. Those words sound good on the surface, but if you see the way folks are defining them, compare it to the word of God, I want them grounded to see that doesn't line up. May the Lord bless us, thank you.