In a hostile world, God's people are not alone. Daniel ch. 1
- A Real Life Drama!
- 3 scenes; each tells us 2 things about God -
- Scene 1 - verses 1-7 God is NOT defeated & God GAVE judgment
- Scene 2 - v8-16 - God is NOT absent, & God gave favour to His people
- Scene 3 - v9-21 God is NOT out-witted & God gave great knowledge and wisdom to His obedient people
- See the seeds of mercy that God plants here in Daniel.
- An Old Rhyme & a Map
A Real Life Drama!
Stage is Babylon the Great; with its 20km wall that was 40m thick, its famous hanging gardens (one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world), the Tower of Babel, the Temple of Marduk, and the palace of Nebuchadnezzar with its vast throne room. Centre of wealth, power, science, art and false worship.
- Characters - Nebuchadnezzar, Ashpenaz, Daniel & his friends
- Producer - God Himself
- Cautions -
- characters are not puppets, with God pulling the strings, but real people with hopes and fears and wills
- not a play, but real life
- not for brief applause, but for eternal life
3 scenes; each tells us 2 things about God -
- something God is NOT
- something that God GAVE
Scene 1 - verses 1-7 God is NOT defeated & God GAVE judgment
Daniel 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family 1 and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. (quoted from the ESV Bible)
God is not defeated! (theological/technical word is omnipotent, meaning all-powerful). Israel was defeated by the Babylonians but Israel's God was not.
God gave judgment on His sinful people. v2 "the LORD gave Jehoiakim ... into his (Nebuchadnezzar's) hand". Why? Because of repeated sins of Judah, His people (see the books of the Kings for the whole sorry tale; for all their advantages, they kept on rejecting God who made them and adopting the religions of the pagans around them, even to sacrificing their own children in the fire).
Given to Nebuchadnezzar; many slaves taken, King J. becomes a puppet king. Treasures of the Temple are taken from those who trusted in them
(Jeremiah 7:4 Do not trust in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, The temple of Jehovah ...)and given in judgment to the temple of the false gods of Babylon.
- Cream of Judah's young men taken captive - young (enough to make them into Chaldeans) handsome (to better show-off the splendour of king Nebuchadnezzar's court) and bright, to serve his government. (See that judgment affects the godly too, for God's own wise and good purposes)
- 3 year's free training in the best university, all expenses paid, and with the best food laid on! (like trainee Astronauts!) and with top government jobs waiting if they did well at the final exams.
- Ashpenaz gives Daniel & his friends new names, to show they belong to Nebuchadnezzar & his gods now. (`Bel must be greater than Jehovah, as He could not keep His people safe'), and the better to move them from their own religion:-
Daniel ("God is my judge") becomes Belteshazzar ("Keeper of Bel's treasures" - Bel was one of the chief Babylonian gods)
Hananiah ("Favoured of God") becomes Shadrach ("Inspired by the Sun")
Mishael ("Who is like God?") becomes Meshach ("Belonging to Shach")
Azariah ("Helped by God") becomes Abed-Nego ("Servant of the Shining Fire")
Scene 2 - v8-16 - God is NOT absent, & God gave favour to His people
Daniel 1:8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. 9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king. 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see. 14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. 16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. (quoted from the ESV Bible)
God is NOT absent (not far away - theological term is omnipresent, ie, in all places at once)!
A time of testing (by God, not Nebuchadnezzar) - will they obey God, even if it offends the king?
- The problem - king's meat & wine - forbidden animals, blood, and sacrifices to idols; God's law for Israelites says NO! (Deuteronomy 14:3-21, Genesis 9:4, Exodus 20:3-5). Note: no objection to serving king, nor to the training in all arts and science, nor even to a new and idolatrous name, but only when obedience to king crosses obedience to God.
- Daniel, for fear of defiling himself & offending God, risks offending the king ("What! - not good enough for you!"). Though he has a new name, he is a servant of God still.
- Courteous request to Ashpenaz - not spoiling for a fight nor threatening a hunger-strike, but humbly seeking to follow God with a good conscience.
God gave favour to His faithful people - v9
- Gave gave Daniel favour with Ashpenaz - see God is not absent, left behind in Judah; He is here too, already preparing a place of love & respect in Ashpenaz's heart. It is not wrong to have the world's favour, when it is from obedient, loyal, reliable, courteous, trustworthy behaviour - in fact, a problem if not; but never at expense of obedience to God.
- But, a problem "I'll lose my head if king sees you looking thin & underfed."
- Daniel offers, again with great courtesy & wisdom, to take a test - try us 10 days, on vegetables and water. Accepted! (its only a short time) They pass (in fact, at the top of the list for obvious health and strength).
- What defiling dangers do we face in C21 Australia? Here are some:-
- No respect - flippancy has replaced so much real humour (devoid of any genuine humour, fun and joy; flippancy is really the lowest form of wit) and cynicism says "trust no one and nothing; rubbish everyone and anything".
- "Anything goes" - If its right for me its OK. God says differently; if its right its right for all, and if its wrong, its wrong for all.
- Dishonesty - big crooks abound, but so do little ones who cheat on their income tax. Many think the only fault is to get caught.
- Sex-mad - "like photographic film, ruined if over-exposed" - now sex and the pleasure it gives are not bad. They were both invented by God, not by the devil or by men, not even by Hollywood. But God has set the boundaries, and these not only say when and with whom, but promise true and lasting joy and pleasure.
- Entertainment soaked - mass market entertainment has turned us into a nation of entertainment junkies. Relaxation with a good book or a good movie is fine, but they should not rule our lives nor our wallets. How many dollars and hours now go into "home entertainment"?
- Greedy consumer society ("Shop till you drop", "I am what I consume" - how pitiful! The Shopping Mall has become for many the Temple).
- How did Daniel keep himself clean in corrupt Babylon? He had God's word in his heart, and he kept it! ("only" food laws, but...). A dimmer light than we have in the New Testament, but just as much God's word, and just as true. (Hebrews 1:1,2). The food laws were done away with after Jesus rose to life again (see Acts 9:9ff, and Colossians 2:20,21), but God's character, holy just and good, has not changed.
- We MUST do the same - Ph. 2:15 "that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ..."
- 2 ways before us; 2 choices - #! john 2:15 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 desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. ESV
Scene 3 - v9-21 God is NOT out-witted & God gave great knowledge and wisdom to His obedient people
Daniel 1:17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. (quoted from the ESV Bible)
God is NOT out-witted (theological term is omniscient, knowing all) & God gave great knowledge and wisdom to His obedient people
- Examination Day! The 4 young men pass with honours and University Medals, topping the class by a huge amount - 10 times better!
- Nebuchadnezzar finds them even better than the veteran wise men of his court. (those who are wise in God must always be wiser than dumb astrologers and magicians - helpless helpers indeed).
- How can this be? "Old" and wise heads on young shoulders? Verse 18 - "God gave them knowledge and skill...".
- See how God delights to honour them who honour Him (He always will, though not always openly in this world - "Come in, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you ... " Matthew 25:34).
- See His great knowledge - He only has to give a few drops to Daniel & friends, and youths are wiser than the wisest (but see how it makes them humble and lovable, NOT proud and prickly - this is wisdom from above - James 3:17 and it always produces this lovely character).
See the seeds of mercy that God plants here in Daniel.
- A prophet to teach Israel (despite the way they abused all the prophets before).
- A friend in high places (for so, like Joseph, he became; head of Babylon's government under the king).
- A future full of hope, for God revealed to Daniel more of the Christ's coming into the world - He Who is the true and living hope. Isaiah told us of the suffering servant Messiah to come, but Daniel tells of also of his power and glory as Lord and King of Kings (but that all comes in the later chapters!).
An Old Rhyme & a Map
An old rhyme goes:-
How many miles to Babylon?
Three score miles and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
If your heels are nimble and light,
You may get there by candle-light.
70 miles and return is a long night's walk, but as you can see from this map it was a lot further from Jerusalem to Babylon. Probably 700 miles was more like it; a long walk for a young captive, and he never was to see his home and family again. A great affliction, but this did not stop Daniel from getting and being God's blessing.
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