This morning, I want to begin to study a new, start a new study, and we’ll be looking at the book of Daniel. And so this morning, if you have your Bibles, refer with me to Daniel chapter 1. Those of you who have been with us on Wednesday night and Sunday afternoons, as we’ve been going through the book of Jeremiah, are aware of the circumstances that are surrounding Israel, and Judah, and Daniel at this particular time. Jeremiah, as a prophet, came on the scene when Josiah was king.
Josiah was the grandfather of the current king at the time of Daniel. Daniel was a young man, probably in his late teens, when all of these events were going on. Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon had become the new power in the Middle East.
The old powers of Assyria and Egypt were fading. And those of you who have been with us understand that one of the problems that God was allowing Nebuchadnezzar to come against Israel was because of their lack of obedience to God’s word, their lack of trust in the Lord, their lack of love of the Lord. And they kept looking to Egypt as their deliverer.
And Egypt could never deliver them. And if you look at the scriptures way back at the time that Jacob had taken his family down into Egypt, Egypt was viewed in scripture as being a symbol of the world. And when God delivered them out of Egypt by His power bringing ten plagues against the gods of Egypt and allowing His people to be set free, what He had done is He delivered them out of the world and He was bringing them into a new land.
Really what Jesus has done for every one of us, we’ve been brought out of a worldly system that had enslaved us just as the Egyptians had enslaved Egypt. And when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, receive the gift of salvation that is found in Him, you are delivered from being enslaved to this world system to being a new creature in Christ with a new heart, a new life, a new perspective, a new vision. As the people had been delivered out of Egypt by the Lord, the amazing thing is they often looked back to Egypt.
They said they, on more than one occasion, when pressure came first from the Assyrians, then from the Babylonians, they, instead of looking to the Lord, looked to Egypt. Daniel grew up in that culture, but Daniel also had experienced the tail end of the revival that had occurred during the time of Josiah. And he had seen men that believed in God’s Word and believed in the God of His Word.
Daniel had been trained, along with his friends, to be one who would be faithful to serving God apart from his circumstance. And what we’re going to be looking at today is Daniel being introduced into Babylon, a totally different culture than what he’d grown up in, a totally different belief system, a system that worshiped pagan gods, false gods, a system that based its whole existence upon power and worldly wealth, where what Daniel had been taught in was the Bible. Let’s just read from Daniel chapter 1 this morning.
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
2 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 his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes;
4 Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful 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.
5 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, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.
6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the 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.
9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.
10 And the prince of the 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 liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.
11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.
14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.
16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.
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.
18 Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.
20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.
21 And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.
Daniel 1:1-21
Father, as we come before you this morning, Lord, I pray that you just speak to us through your word. Help us to understand the importance of standing on your principle, your character, trusting in you and that you will be there to give us strength and courage and wisdom and deliver us. Lord, I pray that you would just be with us as we look at the life of these four young men. And Lord, help us to understand that no one here has ever even faced what they have faced. That Lord, help us to have the faith that they possess. Lord, speak to us through your word, this we ask in Jesus name. Amen. Prayer by Pastor Glenn
I want you to understand just a few things about what was going on. This was not just I’m going to go to Babylon to get my education.
This was Daniel and his friends seeing everything that they’d known as true and what was true being destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. This was the first invasion of Nebuchadnezzar on Jerusalem. And when he came this time, he took what he took selectively of the people from Jerusalem.
But before he did that, the scriptures tell us that he came and besieged the city. Daniel and his friends had grown up and hadn’t had to be retained within the city walls, hadn’t been under siege from a foreign power. But now they experienced it.
Under the leadership of Josiah, which was Jehoiakim’s father, that Josiah had led the nation of Israel into a period where they turned back to the Lord or appeared to on the surface. But there were many of the priests that did and many of the Levites did. And they gave their understanding back to God’s word and let God’s word direct their paths during the time of Josiah.
But the minute Josiah died, ungodliness rose up. Jehoiakim had taken the place of his brother who had been taken away to Egypt. But the reason Jehoiakim was being attacked by Nebuchadnezzar is he was also trying to make alliances and shake off Babylon’s control.
And if you were with us during the study of Jeremiah, Jeremiah constantly is telling the people God is judging Israel or Judah and Israel, what’s the remnant of Israel, because of their sin. And Nebuchadnezzar is the tool he’s using and do not fight against it, but rather give in and go with Nebuchadnezzar. Those were the words of Jeremiah to the people, but they constantly ignored his words.
These four men saw all of this happen. They saw their city being besieged. They saw the temple being ransacked and elements of the temple being carried away to Babylon.
Now, what people would do, kingdoms would do, is they viewed the fact that when they could go into the temple of the one that they had conquered and take parts of the elements of the worship that they had used, in this case, it would be instruments of the worship that had been created to worship God in the temple, and take them back and place them into their temple. It would prove that their God was more powerful than the God of the people they had conquered. That was Nebuchadnezzar’s mindset as he came and took these things back to Babylon.
But Babylon had a unique thing, and what they did is they would take the best and those that appeared to have leadership qualities and abilities from the nations they conquered, and they would take them back to Babylon, and they would turn them into Chaldeans, and it would give them another way of showing the people they conquered, we are more powerful because look, we have your princes, we have yours that come from the royal families of your countries, and now they are Chaldeans. They speak the Chaldean language, they eat the Chaldean food, they serve the Chaldean gods, and so it would bring the people into submission quicker that had been brought into captivity. But not only that, then Daniel and his friends were taken away from everything that they’d ever known into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.
Everything had been destroyed that they knew. How would you respond? Oftentimes people would say, well, just do what you got to do to get along. What’s it going to hurt if they want to put you in their school system? What’s it going to hurt if they want you to eat their food? What’s it going to hurt if they want you to serve their gods? It doesn’t matter anyway, you’re not in Israel anymore, you’re not in Jerusalem, you’re not in Judah.
But that wasn’t Daniel and his friends. I want you to see that it didn’t take long for them to try and convert Daniel and his friends because the eunuch that was in charge of them changed their names. Daniel, which means God is judge or Yahweh is judge, was changed to Belteshazzar, which means Bell protected his life.
Bell was one of the chief gods of the Babylonians. Hananiah means Yahweh is gracious. Shadrach means command of Aku, Aku is another one of the gods of the Babylonians.
Mishael means who is what God is. Meshach means who is what Aku is. Azariah means whom Yahweh helps.
Abednego means servant of Nebu, another Babylonian god. What they did is they changed their names so that they would not have that which reflected the character of the god that they serve and showed how that God is the God who is not only the creator, but is the one who oversees and judges all things. That was revealed in their names and now they were given the names of gods of the Babylonians, which said those gods are your protector.
Those gods are the ones you serve. These gods are your gods now. Well, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah didn’t go along with the Babylonian plan.
Why didn’t they? This is something that if you’re looking at having a job in the world or if you’re a college age and looking to go to school and college, you’re going to face this world belief system on a daily basis and you have to make a choice. What enabled those four young men to stand against the powers of Babylon and the most powerful king in the earth, a deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ that had transformed their heart and their understanding of who is ultimately in control and who is the one that I really must serve. And it’s not my circumstances that dictate what my actions shall be, but is what God tells me to do that will dictate how I live.
Most colleges today, and sadly to say even a lot of Christian colleges today, will come and challenge the very foundation of the beliefs of this book. And if you’re sending your young person to college, how do you prepare them to go and face this? Well, number one, they have to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. They’ll never be able to stand.
Secondly, they have to have a growing relationship with the Lord. They have to believe and trust in him and look to him and say, I believe even in spite of what is around me. As Daniel and his friends saw Jerusalem pillaged and destroyed, the king left away, kept taken away into captivity in Babylon, the religious system attacked by the Babylonians.
Was that going to be the destruction of their faith? Or did they believe that God was bigger than the circumstances that lay before them? There’s a lot of people that when difficulty comes, they want to run away from God instead of embracing him more strongly. These four young men were given new names. Now they were brought into the school of the Chaldeans.
And in the school of the Chaldeans, everything around them was to be taught and expressed the way that the Chaldeans did. Number one, they were to lose their Hebrew language. They were to gain the Chaldean language.
One of the things that the Hebrew language is unique is it has really a lot of phrases that are tied to the Hebrews belief in God. Just as you saw their names, their names had meaning. And they took their names and they wanted to erase them and replace them with Chaldean names to give them a new meaning to life.
But were these young men going to allow that to occur? The answer is no, because there was something deeper in their hearts than just their physical name or the attempt to take away their language. And that was their relationship with Jesus Christ. They had been told ever since they were growing up that there were certain dietary laws that they were to observe and they had observed them throughout their whole life.
The Chaldeans came and they wanted them to violate not only the dietary laws, but violate everything about their relationship with God. Do you realize how much courage and boldness it took for them to say, I’m not going to allow that to happen? Can you can you imagine having this meat placed before you and you saying, no, I want pulse. Now, pulse would be vegetables and fruits and water.
And that’s all we’re going to eat. And at the end of the period of 10 days, see how we look compared to the others. That was their faith and trust in that God would be true to his word.
And if they would continue to follow the diet that they had been given and that they would do what God had commanded them to do, that he would come through on his word. And he did. But if you imagine what the head of the eunuchs and the man that he placed over them must have felt when these young men said, we won’t eat that, but we want this.
And they’re looking at the fact you’re going to look terrible and it’s going to be my head because you’re going to have to go before Nebuchadnezzar and you’re going to have to give an account of why you look the way you do and what you’ve eaten. And I’m the one that’s responsible. They had to assure him that their God would come through.
Now, I want you to understand something, the attitude of these young men in the presence of those that had responsibility over them as their captors, they didn’t treat them with disrespect, nor did they mock them, nor did they do anything like that. But it says that they were of such high character. It’s given in scripture, the evidence of high character that they admired and respected these four young men.
And they never could have gained their trust without gaining their respect. Oftentimes, do we not act properly as God’s people with our character in the face of difficult circumstances? Do we respond wrongly so that people don’t respect us as being one who is following Christ and reflecting Christ’s character and instead view us as just like them? Well, as these young men come and they take this food, the amazing thing is that they begin to gain weight, not lose it. They look healthier, not sicker.
And so when they are brought into the eunuch’s presence that must present them before Nebuchadnezzar, he’s amazed. And it gives them opportunity to witness of why they are that way. And that is because of the God they serve, who is the true and the living God.
And he is enabled to be with them. And he’s instructed them to do these things and they do what he tells them to do. And it results in the things that he sees.
Now, when they come before Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar is not only amazed at their appearance, but he’s also amazed at their knowledge and wisdom. It says that they have greater knowledge and wisdom than his sorcerers, for better word, or those that would be the instructors of the Chaldeans that would come to him and give him knowledge, they’d answer his questions. These young men had greater wisdom and science and everything else.
Now, why would they? What was the base of the foundation of the Chaldeans belief system? It wasn’t God. It was false gods that were really demonic gods, it was really Satan. And if you look at if you go back in the history of the Chaldeans and Babylon, you will see that at the foundation of that was came out of the Tower of Babel where man was exalting himself to godhood.
And we see that Nimrod wanted to be worshipped by the world as God. And he perceived that he was God. That was the foundation of the Chaldean belief system.
And it all went back to the Garden of Eden where man rebelled against God. And when you rebel against God, you grow in greater wisdom or do you grow in greater error? The answer is really quite evident because God is the one who created all things. God has always been here.
God can reveal to us the foundation of his creation and he can show to us through his knowledge and wisdom how not only are we to live, but he reveals to us things about his creation that otherwise we wouldn’t know apart from his revelation. It’s interesting if you look at the Bible, did you know that before they determined that there were different pathways in the ocean, the Bible speaks of it. It talks about the pathways of the sea.
It talks about the fact that the sun and the moon, before we really understood completely and when Copernicus began to put together the solar system and begin to look at that they were revolving around the sun. You know, one of the things he used was the scripture as his teaching. You look at some of the scientists back in history, Newton, one of the great scientists and mathematicians of the world was a devout Christian.
A devout Christian who believed the Bible was literal, and believed everything it said, he looked at the fact that there was coming a second coming of Jesus Christ, he looked at the fact that there was coming a new heavens and a new earth, he believed all that was spoken of in the book of Revelation, and he gave us more mathematics than any other scientist, and he gained his knowledge from God. It’s not surprising that men who were placing their trust in horoscopes and stars and different things like that would not have the insight and knowledge of Daniel and his friends who placed their trust in the Lord, the one who is the author and oversees all of his creation, knows the intents and hearts of every man and woman that’s ever lived and will ever live, and has known, and if you stop and think about his wisdom and knowledge, put all things together. And if you stop and just think about it sometime, how different things function, and even the human body, how it functions, and that God put this all together with a spoken word.
The wisdom and knowledge that he possesses, his understanding, is beyond our ability to comprehend. Daniel was willing to trust in that, not the Chaldean gods. And so as they come before him, his wisdom and knowledge is shown, and the wisdom and knowledge of these young men is revealed to Nebuchadnezzar, and he stands amazed.
These young men who he’s brought out of captivity are different than any other men he’s ever brought out of captivity. They’re even different than the other Jewish young boys that he brought out of Jerusalem. And the difference is their heart.
I remember a number of years ago we were in Israel, and we’d gone over to Jordan to Petra to look, and as I was walking back, I was talking to our Jordanian guide, and I said, you know, because he was talking about how the Nabateans had really built Petra, and that they were the ones that ended up conquering the Edomites, because the Edomites trusted them, and nobody could conquer the Edomites from the outside, but they were conquered from inside. And we were talking about some of that, and then we were talking about some of the things happening in the Middle East, and I said, why is there such conflict? I said, in essence, you’re all relatives, you’re all cousins. You’re all descendants either of Abraham, or you’re descendants of Isaac, and so consequently you’ve got relations either through Ishmael or Esau.
Why is there all this conflict? And he went like this. It’s the heart. The heart is different in the Jewish people, because the Jewish people, even though the majority of Jews today are not saved, they’re not believing in Jesus as Messiah, and many of them aren’t religious Jews, they still have God’s place in their heart, an understanding of who He is, and they are a different people.
If you look at the Jewish people, Israel today, when there’s an earthquake, and they need help, and they can’t find, the people are buried. You know that Israel is one of the first nations on site with their teams that have trained dogs, and have the ability and tools to try and find living people in earthquakes? Israel will respond to that. What’s happening even right now in Gaza? Israel could be in total control of Gaza two years ago.
If they had the military might, they could have gone in and leveled it. But they didn’t, because they hold human life in value, because God has placed that in their hearts, and they understand, even though many of them don’t worship God, God placed it in their hearts, the value of life. Daniel and his friends, not only had those values, but they had a relationship with God, and they walked with the Lord.
So as you look at going out into the world, if you’re a young person getting ready to go out in your job, or if you’re looking at going to school, or if you’re older, and you’re in the world, and you’ve got a job, I want you to know the world is going to constantly try to mold you into its character. And they’re going to constantly try to get you to deny your God. And the difference of whether you will yield or not is your relationship and understanding of who God is, and your walk with Him, and your trusting in Him that He is greater than your circumstance.
And no matter how difficult it may seem, God will be there to use you in a way that you will not even understand or perceive. Daniel’s a teenager. He didn’t know that he was going to be in the leadership of the kingdom of Babylon, and the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians.
He didn’t know that he was going to be chief counselor to Nebuchadnezzar. He didn’t know that he would be chief counselor to men like Cyrus. All he knew is that at that moment he had to make a choice.
To obey God and to live according to God’s principles and word, or to disobey God so that it became easier on him at that moment, so that it would take the pressure off and not make him try to conform him to being a Chaldean. The same things are true with us. We don’t know where God’s going to use us, but He uses us by how faithful we are today.
If Daniel had caved in to the Chaldeans and said, well, my God must be dead because they’ve got instruments from the temple in Jerusalem, and they’re sitting in the temple of Baal in Babylon. Where’s my God? But Daniel worshipped his God in spirit and truth. And he knew that his God was greater than just the instruments of the temple, nor the city of Jerusalem.
But his God could deliver in the most difficult of circumstances. And so when it came to choices, he would choose God. So when it comes to choices in our life, who do we choose? Do we choose God or do we choose the world? Do we believe God or do we believe the world? Because I want to tell you, the more you believe God, the greater things He has in store for you.
Now in the world’s eyes it may not seem like anything, but in God’s eyes it may be tremendous. Because none of you really know the impact that you can have with your life for people, on people with the gospel. Daniel and his friends, his three friends didn’t know there was going to be a day where they’d be asked to bow down before an idol of Nebuchadnezzar, when the music played, to worship Him as God, and they wouldn’t bow.
They didn’t know that there, but I can guarantee you, it would have been a lot harder for them to stand had they not stood here. Had they not stood up to the world and said no to the ways of the world and yes to God. But when that day came, they stood.
And the amazing thing is, they knew that God could deliver them, but they didn’t know if God would deliver them. And sometimes that’s the situation in our life. We know that God can meet a specific need, but we don’t know if God will meet that specific need, because there may be something else that He has in mind that we can’t see.
But as you know from the account later on, that they were cast into the fiery furnace, and all of a sudden, Nebuchadnezzar said, I thought we cast three in there, but I see four, and the fourth is as if the Son of God. And I believe that Jesus Himself, it was a pre-incarnate appearance of our Lord, where He was there with them in the midst of that fire. And when they came out, they didn’t even smell the smoke.
The power of God is only limited in our lives by our lack of obedience. And for us to see God work in our hearts and lives, it begins with obedience and trust. We sing the song, Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
And as we trust and obey, we see God’s hand at work, just as these four young men were able to see the power of the Lord. Let’s just close in prayer. Lord, I pray that You would just help us to be like these four young men, Daniel, Hananiah, Meshael, and Ananiah.
And Lord, I pray that You’d just help us to walk in obedience in the face of difficult circumstance, where pressure is on to conform to the world, and realize that people are watching. Just as the eunuchs that were in charge of them were watching, how are they going to respond? What’s going to happen? Is their God able to deliver them? There are people watching in our lives as well. Help us to act and respond properly, to honor and glorify Your name, and not to conform to the things of this world.
This we ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.