Untitled Sermon (9)

Introduction

As we start the book we see there is a king in Judah, Jehoiakim. But he has not been on the throne for very long. See, in 605 BC there was a good king in Judah, his name was Josiah. He had been obedient to God, taken away the idols in Israel, and led the people to worship God alone. But Josiah died and his son, Jehoahaz took over. But within 3 months of his reign Egypt came and conquered him. And, instead of Jehoahaz, his brother Jehoiakim was but on the throne by the Egyptians to essentially serve Egypt. But now we see 3 years into his reign that Babylon comes and conquers Jerusalem. That is because they had already conquered Egypt. And after they had been conquered Nebuchadnezzar deports Jehoiakim and the best of the young men of Israel to be taken to the king’s place around 587 BC.

From the very beginning what the writer of Daniel wants us to know is that God is sovereign over history and over these nations. It says “The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him.” This title of “Lord” is not Yahweh but is adonai. This name for God see’s God as responsible for everything that happens to Israel and to all people. He is owner of everything, He rules, and all things are in His control. Even in terrible circumstances. God didn’t forget about them, God wasn’t unable to help them, but in fact God was perfectly in control over Israel, Babylon, and every character involved in this story.

It says the Lord handed them over which is literally “gave”. It wasn’t that Babylon was so cunning or so strong, but rather God’s will that allowed for Israel to be taken to captivity. We will see throughout this book that this is true. As mighty as Nebuchadnezzar believes he is, as mighty as any ruler believers they are, and are able to control events. In fact, the names of many of these rulers show who they think that they are. Nebuchadnezzar’s name refers to him being the god “Nabu”. And his sons name refers to him being a “man of Marduk.” Even the name “Babylonia” means “land of Shinar”. The place where the tower of Babel was, a place that was a symbol of opposition to God and seeking to take his place. God is the one truly in control over history yet all these other rulers believe they can take his place. Just like we can.

So why were the Israelites given into captivity? They had sinned against God.

2 Chronicles 36:5 “Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.”

But this was not the first evil king. God had given the people chance after chance to follow Him.

As Nebuchadnezzar takes the people he also takes some of the things which were in the temple of God. Things that were meant for God’s presence in the temple. But again, the sins of the people had led to this.

Isaiah 39:2-6 “Hezekiah was pleased with the letters, and he showed the envoys his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say, and where did they come to you from?” Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.” Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.” Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of Armies: ‘Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your predecessors have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.”

Again, we see the consequence of their actions against God.

One day the people, and God’s possessions, will be restored.

Like it says in Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and the rivers will not overwhelm you, When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched and the flame will not burn you.”

The whole book will be a test for Israel, to see how committed they are to the Lord their God.

The importance of friendship

Daniel, and many other young men who are all from royalty and nobility, are taken to Babylon and there they are taught all the ways of this pagan nation. The language, the culture and literature, the religion.

Each of them were about 14 or 15 when they were taken to be trained. They wanted to take young minds, those that could be molded and trained to learn what they wanted them to believe about the world and about their gods. These were bright minds, they could learn quickly, they could soak in information. They knew at least 3 to 4 languages, if not more. They would have learn about religious ideas, about how to summon spirits, astrological texts, mathematical and economic information, literature and historical, and legal texts. Chaldeans were famous for the magic lore, of being enchanters and sorcerers, (Daniel 2:2) .They would be trained to “stand” in the king’s presence and give him advice and to do what he wanted them to do.

At this time religion and education were inseparable. In every country education was to be obedient to the will of your god. This was certainly the case in Israel.

We then learn their names. As we see, they have Babylonian names given to them, but they also have their Hebrew names.

Daniel’s name means “God is my judge”, Hananiah means “Yahweh is gracious”, Mishael means “who is what God?”, and Azariah means “Yahweh has helped” or “will help”.

Each providing to us a picture of how they will trust God through the challenges they will face.

They were given Babylonian names in order to assimilate them to the culture, just like if you go to another country you might take on a new name for that of the culture. But these names were allusions to the pagan God’s. Daniel’s new name meaning “Bel” protect his life”. Shadrach meaning “command of Aku”. Mishael meaning “who is what Aku is?” and Abednego meaning “servant of Nebo.”

Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary b. The Captives Introduced (1:3–7)

These young men from Jerusalem’s court needed to be secure in their knowledge of Yahweh to be able to study this literature objectively without allowing it to undermine their faith. Evidently the work of Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Habakkuk had not been in vain. In order to witness to their God in the Babylonian court they had to understand the cultural presuppositions of those around them, just as the Christian today must work hard at the religions and cultures amongst which he lives, if different thought-worlds are ever to meet.

It would have been easy in this context to get comfortable. To enjoy the luxury and the learning, the nice accommodations.

So we have these young, teenage men, now in an environment that is “unsympathetic to their religious convictions.” This means they had to consider what it meant to hold their convictions in this strange land. To not get confused or mixed up about what they believed.

You all are at the same stage of life. Up until middle school or high school you never are “challenged” with what you believe but accept what you learn at church. But now you are challenged with other thoughts and ideas and you have to make choices and think critically.

So far these boys have accepted all of the changes they have been asked to make. But now they decide to take a stand on food. But why food?

-Many think that it pertains to ritually unclean food. The food may not have been drained of the blood or not prepared properly. It may also have been food they were not allowed to eat like pig or horse. It may have also been food that was used in idolatrous worship.

-It may have also been a moral stance as well. Daniel 11:26 gives us a clue. “Those who eat his provisions will destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.”

To eat this meal was to commit loyalty to the king and dependence on him and not to God who would provide for them. To show loyalty not to God but to this foreign king and support him even when his decisions were against God’s will. This is another reason why this chief of the eunuchs may have wanted them to eat it, to show reliance on the king.

This could have been seen as a treasonous act, an insult to the king, but also difficult when you see what everyone else is eating. Have you ever tried to be on a diet and then sit next to someone eating something you are dieting from? It is very hard!

But we also see that it also provides an opportunity to show that God is the one who strengthens them, not the king and his food.

But as we see Daniel doesn’t yell, he doesn’t get angry, but he shows an ability to be gentle and wise in his response. We see that Ashpenaz showed favor and sympathy to Daniel. This is because Daniel had already shown his character to the point this man had begun to admire Daniel. But he also knew he could be killed for allowing this to occur.

From Daniel and his friends were see several difficult choices they needed to make:

Self control when temptation was in front of them

Peer pressure when everyone else is doing something else

Obedience when accountability isn’t present

“Other people might not know their actions, but God would know, and someday all will give an account”

Compromise and bitterness because it seemed “too hard” to continue

This diet he proposes is that of vegetables, fruits, grains, and bread made from grains.

So what is the result? They were actually healthier than all the other servants. What we see is not that they were healthier because of the diet but that God blessed their obedience and self-discipline.

-This small act of obedience would help them trust God later in even more difficult circumstances. It will help them to have better recognition of God’s plans when others are able to see it, like Daniel with his visions.

-Brad talked about 10,000 choices that we make. 1 small choice can lead to better choices in the future when we see the result. One small step can make a world of difference.

What is shows is that just because the world does it, and just because it is “common practice” even if it may not be a sin may lead to dependence on things other than God. A lot of people will say “I need a drink” at the end of a long day, and by that they mean they need alcohol to help them forget about their problems or to soothe them. Or when things get difficult we might go to junk food, or we might go to a video game, or we might say swear words to help us feel better. We go to the things the world goes to when they are trying to solve their problems. But they are proving that they can trust God who will give them wisdom and will help them in difficult situations.

But they are also proving that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” They are proving that faith in God doesn’t mean you are stupid, or that you can’t be good at math or science or whatever field. But that whatever you do you can do to the glory of God and with success. It wasn’t that they were the smartest that they had success but it was their trust in God that led to their knowledge and understanding. We don’t need to sacrifice knowledge for godliness, these things go together.

We see in Daniel’s obedience that God would use Daniel to show this pagan culture that the God of Israel was over all the nations. But it also shows that what Babylonians felt strongly about, dream interpretation, God’s people could do better than even them.

Especially as these magicians used black magic and demonic forces to do what they wanted. But these evil forces came nowhere close to what God’s people could do when they listened to him.

There are a lot of evil forces that the world trusts, things that they interpret to do what they want to do, but when there are negative consequences they are often confused as to why. But what we see is these obedience, godly men are far wiser than those who trust in black magic. This is why we don’t need tarot cards, or astrology signs, or believe in “superstitions”. God is so much better than all those things.

Daniel ((3) Long Life to Daniel (1:21))

In this chapter believers are shown that those who are faithful to God will reap divine blessings, a truth that should be an encouragement to Christians today. The world with all of its attractions and pressures still lures the believer to compromise (and even to forsake) the faith, but Daniel is a reminder that serving the Lord pays great dividends. Daniel does not mean to teach that believers are always (as in this chapter) granted worldly success as he makes abundantly clear in subsequent passages. Faithfulness is invariably rewarded, but that reward may be in the next life.There is also a message in this story about the believer’s participation in society, particularly in the political arena. Sometimes Christians tend to avoid political involvement, but Daniel exemplifies active service in governmental affairs under divine leadership. On the other hand, the story teaches that there should be limits to one’s commitment to the state. When the believer is asked to commit acts that violate God’s laws, refusing is not only acceptable but a biblical directive. This lesson will be reiterated in later chapters.