THE TEST FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD

Name: Micky Donald K. Bani Text Daniel 1:3-7 3 Then the king commanded his palace master Ashpenaz to bring some of the Israelites of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 Young men without physical defect and handsome, versed in every branch of wisdom, endowed with knowledge and insight, and competent to serve in the king's palace; they were to be taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the royal rations of food and wine. 6 They were to be educated for three years, so that at the end of that time they could be stationed in the king's court. Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, from the tribe of Judah. 7 The palace master gave them other names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. INTRODUCTION Praise be to our God who keep us from harm and dangers even though we are in the midst of this pandemic but our God is so faithful to us. I give thanks to God for enable me to stand here once again and share His word among you all. Also I give thanks to the chapel committee for giving me this privilege to preach the word of God. Lastly I greet you like what the Apostle Paul greet to the Corinthians Church I give thanks to God for all of you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind. BACKGROUND This book has been written by Daniel. And he lives in the 6th century B.C.E before the birth of Jesus Christ. This Book has been divided into two sections, the first section is about the history of Daniel i.e. from chapter 1-6 and the second section is about the prophecy or the vision of Daniel i.e. from chapter 7-12. Daniel started to prophesied after he was held in captive to Babylon. Therefore, the prophecy of Daniel is different from the other Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah. Most of the time when we read from the prophecy of Isaiah and Jeremiah we will see they will start with these words "Thus says the Lord" but Daniel prophecy are through dreams and visions. Hence, in the personal history of Daniel (chapters 1-6), we find three different times of difficulty: the testing of the four HebrewsDaniel,Hannaniah, Mishael, Azariah when they arrived at Babylon (Dan.1:1-21); the fiery furnace (Dan.3:1-30); and the lions' den (Dan.6:1-28). In each of these experiences, Daniel and his friends won the victory, but the very first victory was the foundation for the other victories. Because these Jewish young men were faithful to God while they were yet teenagers, God was faithful to them in the years that followed. CONTEXT The Book of Daniel opens with two concise statements about the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. The first describes the event in terms of secular history, the second in terms of Biblical theology. These two perspectives are woven together throughout the book. Man is active in history: "Nebuchadnezzar ... came to Jerusalem and besieged it" (v. 1). Yet God is also active in the same historical events: "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim ... into his hand" (v. 2). Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, it can be understood that the time in which Daniel and his friend's lived was a time that was full of evil. It was a test and a challenge for them to remain faithful and holy in the midst of the evil society. As we read from the Bible in the Old Testament will always see that kings are the one who will lead people in God's way and kings are the one who will lead people into evil way. Therefore, Jehoiakim as a king he lead the people of Judah into evil way until it make the Lord angry, hence, it is really a test for Daniel and his friends. THE TEST FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD There is a story about a family that attended Covenant seminary a few years before. "The wife worked as a quality control inspector at a pharmaceutical company in order to pay the bills while her husband attended seminary. One day, through mistaken procedures, a major order of syringes was contaminated and would not pass inspection. When the wife... reported the contamination to her boss, he quickly computed the costs of reproducing the order and made a "cost-effective" decision: ship the order. He ordered her to sign the inspection clearance despite the contamination. She refused. Because of government regulations, she was the only one that could sign the clearance. So the syringes did not ship that day. The next day, a Friday, the wife got a visit from the company president. He said that he would give her the weekend to think it over, but if the forms were not signed on Monday, her job would be in jeopardy. In fact, much more than her job was in jeopardy. Because the wife's job was this couple's only means of support, the husband's education and ministry future were also in jeopardy." She was conflicted... she wanted to be faithful to God, by doing the right thing, but she realized that her faithfulness to God could be very costly for her family. As she wants to be Holy and stay faithful to God she denied to sign that inspection clearance, because for her it's better to lose her job and stay faithful to God rather than having a job and have to denied the fact about God. 1. THE TEST TO BE HOLY IN THE MIDST OF UN-HOLINESS (V-3-5) 3 Then the king commanded his palace master Ashpenaz to bring some of the Israelites of the royal family and of the nobility, 4Young men without physical defect and handsome, versed in every branch of wisdom, endowed with knowledge and insight, and competent to serve in the king's palace; they were to be taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the royal rations of food and wine. The king ordered that some of the nobility of Judah be brought to Babylon to be trained so they could serve as leaders when Nebuchadnezzar would take all of Judah captive. Ashpenaz, described as chief of his officials, literally means "chief of the eunuchs." Since by this time the word had come to mean "royal official," most likely Ashpenaz was not a eunuch, nor did he make Daniel and his friend's literal eunuchs. Although Daniel and his friends were called youth, the Hebrew word literally means "children" or "boys." Here it probably refers to teen-agers of around age fifteen. The Judean captives were to learn the literature and language of the Chaldeans, a reference to an ancient university-style education in Sumerian, Akkadian, and Aramaic. They were also to be given the King's choice food and wine, indicating their privileged status as counselors in training, despite being captives. After Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian king captive the Israelite people, he ask his people to find young men without physical defect. The word "physical defect" here means there is no defect in their body, and at the same time they don't have any bad reputation in the society as well. They must be pure and handsome. Nebuchadnezzar already had a plan to pick up these young Hebrew and trained them as a leader and trained them in Babylonian style. They were sent to training school for 3 years to prepare them for work in the court of the king. They were fed and housed as part of their training. In fact, they were fed the same food and wine as the king. This was a time of preparation. The plan of Nebuchadnezzar through these three years of training for these four Hebrew boys is to give them new food, new lifestyle in Babylonian way so that they will deny their faith in God and also they will become a full Babylonian. The king was having them schooled in the ways of Babylon. He also, wanted them to know what was required of them in their duties. He might even use them as interpreters to communicate with the captured Hebrews. These young men after their training would easily serve as liaisons between Babylon and Judah, or even as hostages to keep Judah's kings submissive. Therefore, as what Nebuchadnezzar desire it is really a test for Daniel and for his friends because the society in Israel during those time are very bad and they are not pleasing God anymore and at the same time there is no more holiness among people during those time. To live holy in the midst of un-holiness is a challenge for Daniel and his friends. It is because of the evil way of the Israelite people during this time that God had given them in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, as we read from the Bible about the history of the Israelite people we will always find that God judge them by giving them into the hands of their enemies. The question for all of us here is do we remain holy in the midst of un-holiness? Do we consider ourselves holy regardless the things that surround us? My beloved brothers and sisters in terms of doing assignment and some others things here are we honest to ourselves, to the teachers and most importantly to Our God. When it comes to activities and responsibilities here in Nichol's Roy Bible College are do we maintain holiness? we live in a world today that people are full of hatred, especially we live in a community like this I know for sure that there will be many things will be a hindrance to us. So also my beloved brothers and sisters as we stay here as well it is a test for us to remain holy in the midst of un-holiness. 2. THE TEST TO BE FAITHFUL (V-6-7) 6 They were to be educated for three years, so that at the end of that time they could be stationed in the king's court. Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, from the tribe of Judah. 7 The palace master gave them other names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. When looking at these two verses the test for these four Hebrew boys is to be faithful. In verse six it shows that Nebuchadnezzar had given and order to change the name of these four Hebrew, after they enter into the training place their name has been change and the meaning of it. Therefore, to assimilate the Judean captives, the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel. The name of Daniel meaning God is my judge has change to Beltheshazzar which mean Bel's Prince, Hannaniah meaning Beloved by the Lord was changed to Shadrach which mean Illumined by Sun god, Mishael meaning who is as God was changed to Meshach which mean who is like Venus and Azariah meaning the Lord is my help was changed to Abednego which mean servant of Nego. These new Babylonian names replaced their Hebrew names exchanging those that referred to the true God of Israel with others that referred to the false gods of Babylon. Because after He take them to Babylon Nebuchadnezzar wants to change their identity, and their whole life. Therefore my brothers and sister how do we remain faithful to God in a foreign land? As Daniel and his friend even though Nebuchadnezzar has try so many ways and mean to change them and make them to denied God, but he cannot change them. In the first place, they were isolated from the influences that would mould their lives and characters in the ways of the Lord. In Babylon, they were separated from the regular public worship of God, from the teaching of the word of God, from the fellowship and wisdom of the people of God, and from the daily illustration what it meant to be a citizen of Jerusalem. Moreover, Daniel and his three friends stay faithful to God and the king could not change their identity. Likewise, the text has clearly mentioned to us, how Daniel and his friends stay faithful to God even though the officials of the king has change their name and the meaning of it, but they can't change the identity of Daniel and his friends because they have been taught in the way of the Lord. We can remain faithful to God by understanding the aspects of this story. No amount of outside influence was able to change or alter the identity of Daniel and his friends as God's chosen people. Increasingly Christians feel out of place in our culture. Like Daniel, we live in a culture that is hostile to Christianity. Like Daniel, our culture is trying to mould us into its image. Like Daniel, our society will not settle for anything less than total world view transformation. In such a culture that we live in, let us learn to be faithful to God, let us not lose our identity as Christians. CONCLUSION When we look at this passage my brothers and sisters, faithfulness often has to do with small things in private place, for us we stay in this community are we faithful in the small things that we do? Or are we negligent in being faithful in small things? We see how Daniel and his friend remain faithful to God even in private place they stand for the truth. They did not lose their identity as God's chosen people in a foreign land. We like to imagine ourselves taking a large stand in a public place. But that is usually not what happens... Will you be faithful to God in the small things first? When we are faithful in the small things we are strengthening our faithfulness muscles for the big things... Daniel would face much greater tests later in this book. This was a small test preparing him for a much bigger test. The time will come for every Christian to take a stand for what is right and this stand may be very costly. In these moments it helps to know that God rewards faithfulness... 1