Daniel's Stand

Daniel 1:1-8

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a leader of the church in Germany during the second world war. When the church was silent as the Nazis began to commit atrocities against the Jews, Bonhoeffer spoke out. When the Nazis took over the churches of Germany and forbid anyone who was not a descendant of the Aryan race to be ministers, Bonhoeffer took the church underground.

And even though he was a pacifist, he became a central figure in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. because he saw this as the only way to bring an end to the war. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a man that refused to compromise what he believed in, and he took a stand for Christ.

All around the world there are brothers and sisters in Christ who have their faith put to the test, because they stand up for what they believe in. It is estimated there are 100 million persecuted believers around the world. These are people who are living for God in a hostile environment.

And there are no rewards from the world for being true to your faith. But the Bible tells us there is a crown of life in heaven waiting for those who faithfully live for God.

There is no better example in the bible of someone taking a stand for the Lord than Daniel. He was a man that lived an uncompromised life in a compromised world. But it is important we understand that Daniels faith didn’t begin in Babylon. He was a young man who was living for God in Israel. He had Godly parents who had trained him well and prepared him to take on the world.

The question is are you prepared today? Are you ready to meet the challenges we face in this life? What we learn from this story is we must prepare our hearts to stand with Jesus. (Read)

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

2 The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along 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 he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god.

3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles,

4 youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

5 The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service.

6 Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

7 Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego.

8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. (Pray)

In our passage this morning we see that when King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem and took some of the vessels of the house of God, he also took some of the children of Israel with him as well. There are two reasons why he would do this. First, he wanted to make sure the leaders of Israel would think twice before they ever rebelled against him. After all, he had their children in captivity. And second, he saw these children as commodities. They could be used in the royal court to serve the king.

What we learn from this passage is Daniel was prepared in advance for the adversity he was going to face. His relationship with God was strong before he ever got to Babylon, and he was ready to meet the challenge.

In fact, Ezekiel tells us that. Ezekiel was a man who lived with Daniel and he testified of his character. Ezekiel 14:13-14 says, “Son of man if a country sins against me by committing unfaithfulness and I stretch out my hand against it, destroy it’s bread, send famine against it, and cut off from it both man and beast, even though these three men Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves declares the Lord God.”

And then Ezekiel repeats himself in Vs. 20, he compares Daniel to Noah and Job. Ezekiel was a man who knew Daniel personally, and he knew Daniel was righteous, even when he was a teenager.

I say all of that because I want you to see Daniel was ready for Babylon. He was prayed up, studied up, and living for God, and he was ready to take his stand. And the same thing must be true in our life. We cannot wait until we find ourselves in persecution to become men and women of faith. We must prepare our hearts to stand for Christ. We do that by living faithfully for God today.

The first thing I want you to see in this passage is the Kings Plan, Vs. 3-7. King Nebuchadnezzar had a definitive plan for the children of Israel. He had a strategy for remaking them into Babylonians.

The first part of his strategy was to isolate them. Notice Vs. 3, “Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of the officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and the nobles.” This is the only time in the book of Daniel that the name Ashpenaz will be mentioned. From here on out he is referred to as “The chief of the officials, or the chief eunuch depending on your translation.”

But the phrase, “bring in some” means to arrest some. To bring bring them back to Babylon. The king’s plan was to isolate these children from their family, friends, and their God. He wanted to take the best and the brightest and immerse them into the Babylonian culture.

We see a similar strategy from Satan taking place in the world today. Parents naively and sometimes willingly send their children off to secular universities like lambs led to the slaughter. Once they are isolated from their families, their church, and their Christian friends, they are seduced by the so-called intellectual elites, who teach them to walk away from Jesus.

Now I am not saying we shouldn’t send our children off to places of higher education. What I am saying is we need to appreciate the danger that exists. We need to prepare our children for the challenges they will face. We can only do that by being a Godly example at home. We need to teach them the truth and live the truth before them, or they will never recognize the truth for themselves.

Notice the King had a specific selection process. There were certain qualifications they had to meet before he would take them. Look at Vs. 4 they were to be “youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had the ability for serving in the king’s court.”

So, these children had to be healthy, physically attractive, and smart. They had to have both worldly wisdom and spiritual discernment. They had to be the cream of the crop, able to learn and benefit from the knowledge they were going to learn.

These were the straight A students in Israel. These were varsity letterman and the homecoming king and queen all rolled into one. And they were also of the royal families. That means they were poised to serve the king. They were already familiar with royal etiquette, and ready to serve.

The second part of the king’s strategy was to indoctrinate them. Once he had them in Babylon, he had a method to train them. Notice the end of Vs. 4, “He ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.” A Chaldean is just another name for someone living in the region, it is like we are Americans living in the United States. They were Chaldeans living in Babylon.

The point is Nebuchadnezzar wanted to brainwash these children. They were to be emptied of their past and remade in the Babylonian culture. It would begin with them being taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. This new literature in many ways was religious in nature. It had to do with the art of magic and divination. It had to do with the worship of their gods.

According to Daniel Akin, “the university of Babylon would give them a first-class secular education in Babylonian language, philosophy, science, history, and astrology. They would have been taught about the greatness of Marduk. And how to do dream interpretation and omen reading.”

When we look at their education, we see that the New Age movement today, (people praying to crystals and tarot card readings) is nothing really new. It is simply the Old Age wrapped up in a different package.”

The third part of the King’s strategy was to become their provider. Notice Vs. 5, “The King appointed for them a daily ration from the King’s choice food and from the wine which he drank.” This is meant to have a two- fold effect,

First, it would have a physical effect. They would become dependent on the King. He would be the one providing for them, feeding them, and taking care of them. This is meant to produce loyalty and faithfulness to the King.

Second, this would have a psychological effect. In essence, he was spoiling them. He is taking care of them well and this is meant to produce acceptance and cooperation. I mean after all, look how good they got it. Life is better in Babylon than in Israel. So, they are given this new provision that is meant to make them depend on the king.

Also, they are given a new purpose. Look at the end of Vs. 5 it says, “and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the King’s personal service.”

So, just when they thought their lives were over. They had been captured and taken to Babylon; they have this new exciting future. They are going to school for three years and then they will serve the king.

So, we see they are being taught a new language and literature. They have new provisions from the King, and they have a new future. All they have to do is cooperate and become Babylonians.

That brings us to the fourth part of the Kings strategy which was to change their identities, and we see that in Vs. 6-7, where we are told they are given new names. But why?

Well today in America a person’s name really doesn’t mean all that much. We chose our names on personal preference and popularity, but in the ancient world a person’s name represented their character, family and their identity.

That is important because these Hebrew teenagers were named after their God. They had beautiful names. For example, Daniel means “my judge is my God.” But they change his name to Belteshazzar, which is the name of a Babylonian god, and it means, “may bel protect his life.”

Hananiah name meant, “Yahweh is gracious.’ And his name was changed to Shadrach, which means “the command of Achoo,” Which was a Samarian moon god.

Mishael, his name meant, “who is what God is.” And his name is changed to Meshach which means, “Who is what Achoo is.” Isn’t that interesting? It’s kind of a play off his old name. Then finally, Azariah means, “Yahweh has helped. His name is changed to Abed-nego, which means, “servant of Nebo.” Again, just another Babylonian false god.

So, what we see here is there is a lot of pressure put on Daniel and his three friends to conform and to be immersed in Babylonian culture. They are given a new identity, a new way of life and a new way of worship.

I can’t help but think about how we are living in a time when there is a lot of pressure to make us conform to a new culture. There is a culture war taking place in America and it is all orchestrated by the prince of darkness, and it all begins with the reeducation of our young people.

Listen, I want you to understand I am not politically motivated. I don’t care who you vote for, I only care about your relationship with God through Jesus Christ. But woke ideology is taking over our country. It is amazing how much it reminds me of Nebuchadnezzar’s plan to indoctrinate and change the identity of Daniel and his friends. Satan wants to change our identity.

If you would have told me ten years ago that men would be using women’s bathrooms, locker rooms and competing in women’s sports, I would have said, you’re crazy. If you would have told me ten years ago that children who are not old enough to vote would be encouraged to have life altering surgery to change their gender, I would have said you’re crazy. (hung up on personal pronouns instead of truth)

But here we are. We have come to a time when everything is racist. And we call what’s right, wrong and what’s wrong, right, and it is not going anywhere. In fact, it is only going to get worse.

But we need to understand we are Christians first, and Americans second. Because America is a post- Christian culture that is hostile toward God. But we are citizens of heaven, and our hope is not in politics, but in a Savior, Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the light of the world and the only hope of the world because He is the one who can change the hearts of men.

But how are we supposed to respond to a world that is trying to make us conform? Well, that brings us back to Daniel. The next thing I want you to see in this passage is Daniel’s determination, Vs. 8. “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.”

Verses 1-7 of this passage are very fast paced. They give us a broad overview of what is taking place in Babylon. Now in Vs. 8 everything slows down and the emphasis is on Daniel and his thoughts. The story comes to a halt and we are given a picture of Daniel’s heart and mind.

We are told “Daniel made up his mind.” In other words Daniel had made a determination in his heart, he was resolved about something. Now we know Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are going to follow him and they are resolved as well. But, the emphasis in Vs. 8 is on Daniel’s personal determination.

But what was he determined about? He was determined “not to defile himself.” That tells us this is a matter of cleanliness, holiness, and personal purity. That tells us this is a matter of religion. This is a decision that has been made between Daniel and God.

It also tells us there was something about the kings food and wine that was unholy. Because notice nothing else bothered Daniel. He didn’t have a problem learning the Babylonian literature and language. It didn’t bother Daniel to be trained to serve the king. He didn’t even care that they changed his name. But he draws the line at eating the King’s food and drinking his wine, why?

Because this was a direct violation of the Word of God. The king’s food must have contained pork or other animals that God forbid the Hebrews to eat. The king’s food and drink would have certainly been offered to idols of Babylon. All of this was to much for Daniel and he draws the line.

Notice the word “defile is used twice in Vs. 8. The emphasis is on purity and remaining holy. So, Daniel takes his stand against eating the kings food and drinking his wine because this breaks the law of God.

Now it’s important we understand that by taking this stand Daniel is risking his life. Vs. 8 tells us “He sought permission from the commander of the officials.” If the commander tells the king Daniel is done. Any rebellion against the king means certain death.

But notice Daniel sought permission anyway. That’s important for us. Daniel has drawn the line; he has set his heart not to do this. Even so he seeks permission. He is not rebellious or confrontational. He is going to do this, and he is going to do it in the right way.

Listen, there is no point in a Christian standing up for what they believe in with a rebellious heart. When we fight for what we believe in with a rebellious heart it portrays a poor witness to the world, and God is not going to honor that.

Paul teaches us this in 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, “for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” (NKJV)

Notice we don’t fight in the flesh, yet our weapons are powerful. We fight in our mind taking captive every thought to the obedience of Christ because our battle is with Satan and ourselves and our war is against sin in our own life. That is what Daniel went to battle against. He was fighting to remain holy. Our battle is not against people. It is not against a government. But it is against ourselves, we are fighting to obey the Word of God.

You see in America we have freedom of religion; no one is trying to force you to break the laws of God, we do that willingly. No one is threatening our life for not obeying His Word, at least not yet. The problem is we think that taking a stand for Christ means standing up for our rights under the constitution. But Daniel didn’t have a constitution, he didn’t have any rights, yet he took his stand because he was determined to live for God.

What are you determined about? Because the only one preventing you from living the Word of God is you. No one is preventing you from spending time in prayer or in God’s Word. There are no laws that prevent you from serving in the church or witnessing to a neighbor. So, what are you determined about?

Today, it is in the Lord Jesus Christ we need to be determined about. Because He is the one who was determined for us. He is the one who took on hell and death and defeated Satan so that we could stand. It is in Him that we overcome sin and temptation in this world. He is our champion. And when we are in Him we have a reason to stand and we have a strength to stand.

The Bible says, “If any man is in Christ he is a new creature, The old is gone and the new has come.” If you are in Christ today than you have been empowered to live for God. Because you have been saved, forgiven, and redeemed.

Without Christ there is nothing in the world worth standing for. Anyone can look at this world we live in and see it is on the decline. But we are citizens of heaven, who are waiting the return of a Savior, who is going to usher in the Kingdom of God for all who believe.

So when we take a stand in this world, we need to make sure we are standing with Jesus.