Role Models- Daniel

Daniel 1:8

What do we know about Daniel?

Which is easier, to serve God in a nation that serves God or in a nation that does not?

What does persecution do to our relationship with God?

Trends in our country show that overtime, our culture has become less God-focused and more me-focused. In times past, when people chose not to serve God they might act awkward when asked about church, because they know they should go and do not.

Now, the mindset about God and church attendance has shifted so that many people have convinced themselves it is no longer necessary to have a relationship with God or meet with other believers.

In 2021 Gallup showed that church attendance has consistently decreased over the past eight years.

Since 2019, church attendance has increased among Millennials/Gen X (those born after 1965) and decreased among Baby Boomers (those born before 1965).

But, with all of these statistics, the majority of our country does not make church a priority.

What happens to our lives when do not prioritize church?

What happens to our spiritual walk with God when we stop coming to church regularly?

As our world becomes less focused on God, immorality and ungodliness increase. Today we will study the life of Daniel and see how we can actually grow closer to God when the majority of people ignore Him.

Daniel’s Commitment to God

Daniel 1:3-6

Because of Jerusalem’s sins, they fell into captivity to the Babylonians. To ensure the loyalty of Jerusalem, he took hostages, about seventy of them. Who did he want, he wanted to brightest, smartest, best looking young who had wisdom and understanding.

Upon arrival to Babylon, the king placed these seventy men into training or a Babylonian school.

Why did he do this?

What would this do to a teenager, taken from home and forced to a foreign nation?

He wanted to take Judah’s best and most brilliant and train them in the ways of Babylonian society. It is likely between Daniel and his friends were 14-17 years old.

In this three year training program, the king wanted them to learn the language and the literature of the Chaldeans/Babylonians, one of the hardest languages to learn.

He also emasculated these seventy young men by making them eunuchs. In other words he changed them from bulls to steers. He wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be distracted in their service to the king.

The king wanted them to look Jewish but think and act Babylonian.

None of this was enough to cause Daniel to speak up, being emasculated or being assimilated, but what caused Daniel to take notice was when he was told to eat the king’s meat.

Daniel requested that they have permission to refuse the food of the Babylonians and only eat fruits and vegetables for ten days. They refused to consume the king’s meat or drink the king’s wine.

What does their refusal say about their trust in God?

Daniel 1:16-17

Their commitment to God caught His attention. He gave them supernatural wisdom and skill. He also enabled them to interpret dreams and visions.

What can we learn from Daniel’s commitment to God?

Was it hard for Daniel to stay committed?

Daniel’s Communication with God

What is the most famous story about Daniel?

Daniel 6:10

When Daniel was a young man, he stayed committed to God. He became a prophet who worked with the kings of Babylon, interpreting their dreams and giving them wise counsel.

God continued to promote Daniel. Even after the Babylonians fell to the Medes and Persians, Daniel remained in a position of power.

Jealousy and envy set in the hearts of those working under Daniel. He was blameless, but their motives were not.

They attempted to devise a plan to get Daniel into trouble, but they struggled. He was honest with money. Being a eunuch, he was pure and never had any adultery scandals. So they decided only if they could cause him to break the law to worship his God.

And they did, Darius signed the decree that placed a thirty-day ban on prayer in the kingdom, except to Darius. It was signed and as the Law of Medes and Persians it could not be changed.

The Medes and Persians looked to their kings as infallible, without fault, so if he decided something, there was no way to change it, because he was in essence perfect and he would not have made a mistake in the first place.

Why didn’t Daniel follow the king’s law?

The king threw Daniel in a den of lions. He did not want to, but he had to because of the law he signed.

Daniel 6:18-22

The king could not sleep all night, but Daniel was just fine. We do not know all that took place the night Daniel spent with the lions. We do, however, know the next morning King Darius rushed to Daniel, who declared that God protected him.

Why is this story so famous?

Why did God shut the mouths of the lions?

What can we learn from this story?

1 Peter 5:8 NKJV

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

We do not face lions, but we do have an adversary. When we commit and communicate with God, He will answer and help us!

Daniel’s Closeness with God

Daniel 12:1-4

By this point Daniel is near the end of his life, but he stayed close with God all of the years he was in captivity. Most of the young men who left Jerusalem with him long forgot about God.

But Daniel chose to stay close to the Lord regardless of what happened to him.

What benefits come with being close to the Lord?

God chose to speak to Daniel and show him secrets he did not tell others. Right before the end of his life, he had a prophecy about the future.

The Lord promised a day would come where the enemy would face defeat and those who died would rise to meet their eternal destiny.

Daniel did not fully understand what all this meant and God did not explain it all to them. But because he was close to God, the Lord used him as the mouth piece so that future generations would have hope in the future.

Daniel 12:9;13

What do you think God meant by, “go your way”?

He encourages Daniel to continue to stay commited to Him, to keep on communicating with Him, and to stay close to Him.

How do we show our commitment to God?

How do we communicate with God?

How can we stay close to God?

Regardless of what society holds, we need to keep moving forward, staying close with God.

Application

The world continuously turn their backs on God.

Has the world ever been as bad as it now?

How does Daniel’s life mirror ours?

Like Daniel, we have to make a choice, even though the majority of people around us are disinterested in God, when we take a stand, God will meet with us and help us.

Daniel did not feel he was superior than everyone else, but he did choose to separate himself from blatant disregard and contempt his peers showed toward God.

2 Corinthians 6:16–18 NKJV

16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

2 Corinthians 7:1 NKJV

1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

How did Daniel separate himself from his ungodly society?

How does God want us to separate ourselves from our ungodly society?

Being separate does mean we are superior. We need to show kindness and compassion to the lost. But like Daniel, we cannot let the attitudes and morals of the world dictate how and when we will serve the Lord.