Daniel's Faith

Daniel’s Faith

Daniel 1:8-21

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.

9 Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials,

10 and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king.”

11 But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,

12 “Please test your servants for ten days and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink.

13 “Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; 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 their appearance seemed better, and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food.

16 So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink and kept giving them vegetables.

17 As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.

18 Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar.

19 The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so, they entered the king’s personal service.

20 As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.

21 And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king. (Pray)

What is faith? What does faith look like on a practical level, and how is faith proven in our life?

The book of Daniel teaches us about faith. What we see in Daniel’s life and in the life of his three friends is what true faith looks like.

The world defines faith as believing in something, anything and putting your confidence in that. While the bible uses words like trust, confidence, and conviction to describe faith it never speaks of blind faith. It never speaks of believing in belief itself.

Our faith is in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the bible refers to as saving faith. It is a faith that justifies man before God.

James 2:19 tells us you can even believe in God and not have saving faith, because the demons believe in God, and yet they are not saved. So, faith in its simplest definition is to believe God, but it is also to obey Him.

How do we know we have saving faith? A couple of ways really. And we see them right here in the book of Daniel. For example, faith is proven when it is put to the test. Like being thrown into a lion’s den or being put in a fiery furnace. Trials and persecutions will teach us what we believe about God.

Most of the time faith is proven when there is no reward. In other words, when no one is watching, and you obey God anyway. Is your faith important then? Is your faith important when no one cares what you do?

Faith is proven when we experience suffering in life. I think about Job and all he went through. I think about how his wife told him to curse God and die. And I am sure there was a part of Job that wanted to do just that. Yet he didn’t. He obeyed God through his suffering. That’s faith.

Faith believes and obeys God even when it feels like He is absent in our life. Think about Daniel and his friends. They were teenagers that were carried away to a foreign land. Who would criticize them for eating the Kings food and drinking his wine? No one would expect them to obey God now, what would you do in similar circumstances?

So, what we see here is that faith is proven in the small things. We tend to think of proving our faith on a grand scale, like Moses parting the Red Sea or David slaying Goliath. We think of proving our faith in a way that everyone will notice. But the question is will you prove your faith when no one notices.

Because that is what makes a Christian powerful. A Christian who will obey God in the little things, is a Christian who can change the world.

Think about the story of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler of the world who invaded God’s people and took their children back to Babylon. Meanwhile, God used these children as witnesses to the Gentile world.

What made Daniel and his friends so powerful in the hands of God is; they believed God and they obeyed Him, and that’s what we learn from this passage. It is in the little decisions we make everyday to believe and obey God that have a long term affect on our life.

The first thing I want you to see in this story is Daniel’s Decision. Daniel’s faith began with a personal decision. He decided not to eat the king’s food or drink the king’s wine. Why? because Lev. 11 & Deut. 14 told him not to. So, Daniel is determined in his heart, and he makes a decision of faith.

Notice 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.”

This is a personal decision by Daniel. He stands up for what he believes in. He wants to remain pure and holy, and undefined. He is taking God at his word. God says this; therefore, I must obey. That is what faith is.

This was a personal decision by Daniel, but it wasn’t a prideful decision. He is trusting God. He believes if he follows what God’s Word says, his circumstance will turn out according to God’s will.

The same thing is true in our life. Many times people will say to me, “I know what the Bible says, but this is what I want to do.” And we need to come to the place in our faith where we say, “I know what the Bible says, so that is exactly what I am going to do.” We reap what we sow and if we are sowing the Word of God, we are going to reap the will of God. We are going to reap the good things God has instore for our lives.

Notice Daniel’s decision was a public decision. It always is. Anytime you decide to do something for God it is going to be tested by the world. Eventually, what we believe in our heart will come out in our life.

Notice he asks for permission from the chief of the officials. Daniel is not protesting; he is not acting out of a rebellious heart. He wants to remain pure, and holy, so he must go public.

There is no way around it. No one who wants to live a life of faith can keep it private, because you will eventually have to act on what you believe. You will eventually be called to stand up for truth in a world that is opposed to truth.

That’s what happened to Daniel. He is put into a position where he must violate the Word of God unless he goes public with his faith and that’s what he does.

Daniel’s decision was powerful. Think about the impact this had on Hananiah, Mishaal, and Azariah. They are going to follow Daniel in Babylon. They are going to stand up for what they believe in. They are going to hold onto their faith as well.

It was also powerful in another way. Everything we read about in the book of Daniel hinges on this first decision. If they are not faithful now, they are doomed in the furnace and in the lion’s den. What seems like a small insignificant decision became a powerful testimony to the living God.

James Montgomery Boyce writes, “It is in the small matters that great victories are won. That’s where decisions to live a holy life are made—not in the big things (If we neglect the little things, we fail when the big things come).

If Daniel had said, “I want to live for God in big ways, but I am not going to worry about this little matter of eating and drinking the king’s food,” he never would have amounted to anything. But because he started out for God in small things, God used him in great ways.

And the same thing is true in our life. If we want to live a life of purpose. If we want to make our life count, we must live for God in the little things. That’s what Jesus teaches us in Luke 16:10, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who in unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.”

So, as we look at Daniel’s faith, we should evaluate ourselves and ask in what areas of my life do I say, “That’s no big deal.” “God doesn’t really care about that.” (Letter to the IRS).

it is in the little decisions we make every day to believe and obey God that have a long term affect on our life.

The next thing I want you to see in this story is Daniel’s request. What began as a decision of faith we now see play out in his life. Daniel began by seeking permission in Vs. 8, now notice Vs. 9.

“Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials.” Just as God gave Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar in Vs. 2, He now gives Daniel favor with Ashpenaz the commander of the officials.

What we see here is God is in control of everything. He is in control of all human history. He was in control of what was taking placed in Israel and now He is in control of what is going on in Babylon.

It reminds me of the story of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt and everywhere he went he found the grace of God. And Gen. 39:21 tells us what takes place when he is sent to prison. It says, “But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.”

The word “favor” in the Bible is always synonymous with grace. What we see here is the Lord is sovereign over the lives of His people, and He extends them grace, no matter where they are.

Notice, even though the commander of the officials likes Daniel he is not about to disobey the king. Notice Vs. 10, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king.”

In other words, Daniel I would love to grant your request, but the problem is, if I do that the king will kill me. Daniel’s faith has just hit a wall. He has a head on collision with an obstacle to his faith. We need to understand that any decision of faith will run into obstacles in the world.

We tend to think when we are doing something meaningful for God that everything is going to be easy. Remember we serve a Savior who died on a cross for the sin of the world. Nothing about faith is easy, but the rewards are out of this world.

1 Cor. 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” Everything we do for God is worth the effort.

So, Daniel’s faith hits a roadblock, but he doesn’t give up, he comes up with a plan. He by-passes the fearful commander of the officials and go to the next man in charge, and that’s what we see in Vs. 11-13. Daniel asks for a test.

Notice Vs. 12 he says, “Please test your servants for ten days.” He isn’t making demands he is seeking permission. That is important for us because God never calls us to be rebellious, even when the authority we are under is oppressive. We are to be submissive to authority as long as we can remain submissive to God.

See as Americans we have this mindset of revolution everywhere we go. We are entitled. No one is going to tell us what to do or when to do it. But that’s not what we see from Daniel. Daniel is determined to live for God. He is not going to give up on his faith. But he is going to do it the right way.

The idea of this test taking place for ten days was because it doesn’t put anybody in jeopardy. Daniel says, “try this for ten days and you tell us what you see.” And essentially, he is asking them to test his God. Watch what He can do.

And Vs. 15 tells us that at the end of the ten days their appearance was better, and they were fatter than all the other youth their age. And what we have here is the beginning of the fad that became known as the Daniel diet.

It swept across our nation like the holy grail of health and wellness. Which is interesting because it wasn’t the water and vegetables that made their appearance better, but it was God.

God was supernaturally blessing them and providing them favor, and He will do the same thing in your life. Not because you only eat vegetables and drink water but because you are faithful in the little things.

God blesses those who honor their mother and father. He blesses those who listen to their teachers. He blesses those who faithfully love their husbands and wives. If we live by faith and obey His Word we will live without regret in the blessings of God.

The next thing I want you to see in this passage is Daniel’s reward. But understand the reward wasn’t just Daniel’s, God rewarded all four of these Hebrew teenagers.

Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China said, “Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith.” He said, “we should expect great things from God.” And that’s what we see from Daniel and his friends, they are fueled by faith and God honors their devotion.

Notice how God blesses them mentally, Vs. 17, “As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom.” For the third time in this chapter, we see the phrase “God gave.”

We see it in Vs. 2, “God gave Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. We saw it again in Vs. 9, God gave Daniel favor with the commander of the officials and now we see it again in Vs.17, God gave them knowledge and wisdom. The point is God is sovereign in the lives of His people, and He is at work behind the scenes making all of this happen.

Vs. 20 tells us just how extraordinary God gave. It tells us when Nebuchadnezzar consulted them, he found them ten times better than everyone else. This is hyperbolic language, but the point is; these teenagers stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Of course, Nebuchadnezzar and the commander of the officials are going to take credit for how brilliant they are. I mean after all, they educated them. But Daniel and his friends knew who deserved the credit. The question is who do you give credit to in your life? Are you thankful for your blessings from God, or are you responsible for them?

Notice God blessed Daniel spiritually, Vs. 17 says, “Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.” Daniel was given a gift from God that was going to prove valuable the rest of his life.

What is interesting, and important to this story is; later on when Daniel begins interpreting dreams and visions, all of the education he received in Babylon, the literature, astrology, and sorcery was of no help to him. In fact, it was worthless, none of the magicians or conjurors can interpret any dreams, but it was God Himself who gave Daniel the insight and the ability to do it.

Finally, we see God blessed Daniel with a long life, Vs. 21, “And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.” Vs. 21 seems almost like a footnote. It doesn’t do justice to the long, extraordinary life Daniel lived.

He lived through the entire Babylonia period and continued through the reign of Cyrus the Persian king. That means Daniel outlived his Babylonian captors.

John MacArthur writes of the impact Daniel had on the world.

“Daniel served in a position of influence for seventy years. His integrity and character had far-reaching results, for when I see the wise men coming from the East, I think of the impact Daniel had.

God gave him the influence that I believe led to the decree of Cyrus to send the people back to their land … influence that led to the rebuilding of the wall under Nehemiah and to the reestablishing of the nation of Israel … influence that eventually led the wise men to come to crown the King who was born in Bethlehem.

Daniel was behind the scenes of the history of the Messiah as well as the Messiah’s people. Daniel had unlimited influence for through his prophecy he brings honor to the one who is the “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS”

Conclusion

What an example Daniel and his friends are to us. Think of how many times a day we are tempted to compromise our faith. Yet Daniel and his friends stood strong. They were faithful in the little things. They believed God and they obeyed Him, and when you combine that with sovereign grace anything is possible.

God sent them on a journey to a foreign land to be a witness to kings and to the Gentile nations. In the same way, 600 years later God would send His Son to be a witness to the world.

Jesus is the greater Daniel. Because He came into the world, and embraced are sin, and refused to be defiled even once.

Isn’t it ironic that Daniel stood on faith and refused to eat the Kings food and Jesus when He was tempted in the wilderness overcame Satan by refusing to eat the bread?

He is our champion. He is the object of our faith and all who put their trust in Him, receive the grace of God. Just like He did for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. But it all began with one little act of faith.

it is in the little decisions we make everyday to believe and obey God that have Long term affects on our life.