2024-02-04 - Daniel 1:1-7

The Brainwashing Begins

Intro: My dad had a cousin that became a Navy Seal. He eventually was captured during a mission. He was then brainwashed by the enemy and eventually released. My dad says he was never the same again.

Link: We too can become brainwashed, sadly enough to some extent we all have been. But this is what King Nebuchadnezzar was planning to do to the young ment that he had selected and brought to Babylon for his cause. What we find though is that Daniel and his 3 friends, they knew their Bible and they loved God. Although they learned and did what the King wanted them to do, they did it all except what was against God.

“The Bibel makes you fit for life and prepares you for eternity.”

Daniel & his 3 friends knew this, applied this and they were not conformed to this world.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Review:

Last week we talked about the 4 covenants in the Bible and that how the Mosaic or Sinai Covenant was a conditional covenant, when the Jews in Judah broke that covenant with God, they were going to have a consequence, that being an exile to Babylon.

Daniel got caught up in the “Cause and Effect” of the countries punishment for their sin of idolatry.

We looked at the book of Daniel and how it is divided into 2 sections.

Let’s pick up today where we left off:

Daniel 1 (NKJV)

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah (605 BC), Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

Jehoiakim was the 18th of 20 kings that Judah had once they were known as just Judah.

If you include Saul, David & Solomon then Jehoiakim would be king # 21 of 23.

Jehoiakim was a vicious, cruel, selfish, rebellious, and irreligious man that encouraged idolatry.

Judah was the southern kingdom of the divided kingdom.

Judah the southern kingdom consisted of the tribes of Judah & Benjamin

At this point they had been divided since the end of Solomon's reign in 930 B.C.

So this would have been 325 years later.

Israel had already ceased as a nation around 722 B.C. some 180 years prior to this.

Nebuchadnezzar’s name means “Nabu has protected my inheritance.”

Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful of the Babylonian kings.

Babylon was situated on the banks of the Euphrates River, a little more than 50 miles south of modern Baghdad. Because of its ideal location, Babylon was an important commercial and trade center in the ancient world. The nation was also brimming with paganism.

The Lord used the Babylonians as His whipping rod to chastise the people of Judah for their unrepentant sins. This was prophesied in Jeremiah 25:9 “behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations.”

2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar (Babylon) to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.

Application #1 Let me ask a question, What would have happened if the people would have done what 2 Chronicles 7:14 says? “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” God was patient with them, He is longsuffering, if the people would have repented God would have forgiven them. They were warned. Just like they were warned, we are also. If there is something in our personal lives or in the life of our local body that is not right, God is warning us today too. Humble ourselves before God, turn from our wicked ways. God will forgive us and lift us up. Just like He wants to do that to you, to us today, He so longed to do that for the Jews for almost 350 years.

Looking back at Vs. 2 we see the phrase, “And the Lord gave…” Daniel recognized that God gave Jehoiakim, king of Juda into the hands of the Babylonians.

The items taken from the Temple, they were sacred, the temple was the heart of Jewish worship for the kingdom of Judah, it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. B/C of the Jews sin.

The seizing of the sacred items of the Temple of God was seen by the Babylonians as a victory of their gods of God.

Little did the Babylonians know that it was actually the one true God of Judah who handed His own people over to the Babylonians for chastisement.

Deuteronomy 28:64 “Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone.”

Jeremiah 25:8–14 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, 9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation. 13 So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations.” 14 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also.” 

3 Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles,

4 young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.

Qualifications for Jews to be trained in affairs of state included being:

1. Physically free from bodily blemish or handicap and handsome, i.e., a pleasing appearance in the public eye;

2. Mentally sharp; and

3. Socially poised and polished for representing the leadership. The ages of the trainees was most likely fourteen to seventeen.- John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Bible Commentary

5 And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.

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

7 To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

A key factor in the “brainwashing” process of the Babylonian training was a name switch. This was to link the inductees with local gods rather than let them continue to support their former religious loyalty.

In the ancient world, a name was not a mere label, as it is today. A name was equivalent to whomever or whatever bore it. A person’s name could indicate his or her character, personality, or allegiance. Knowing a person’s name therefore amounted to knowing a great deal about him or her.

Hananiah (1:6): His name means “Yahweh has been gracious.” Note that the iah ending (or yah) is an abbreviation for God’s name Yahweh.

Mishael (1:6): His name means “Who is what God is?” Again we see the EL ending, a Hebrew name for God.

Azariah (1:6): His name means “Yahweh has helped.” Again, the iah ending (or yah) is an abbreviation for God’s name Yahweh.

Babylon influenced Daniel and his friends very little. Instead, they greatly influenced Babylon by remaining faithful to the one true God. - Rhodes, Ron. 40 Days Through Daniel

Conclusion:

Application #2 Again if the Jews would have just did what God had told them in the first place, or if they would have turned from their wicked ways, God would not have sent them into the Babylonian captivity. Likewise, we today sometimes suffer unnecessarily. The NT warns us that some of us are sick or have died b/c we have taken of the Lord’s Supper with unconfessed sins in our lives. We must realize that God will be patient and long suffering but we must also realize God will not put up with our unconfessed sins forever.

Unsaved: Maybe you have never humbled yourself at all to the God. You have never come to a point in your life where you have said, I know and confess that I have sinned. You have never recognized that you need Jesus as your Savior to forgive you for your sins. If God is speaking to your heart today, don’t leave w/o making that right with Him.

Saved: Friend, if you have come to Christ and admitted your sin to Him and that you need Jesus to save you that’s great but know that we will still sin, it won’t keep us from heaven but it will keep you from a right relationship with God. YOU MUsT REALIZE THIS TOO, “A failure to repent brings God’s discipline. A failure to repent of sin always brings God’s discipline in the life of a believer. Recall that this is what happened to David following his sin with Bathsheba (Psalms 32:3-5; 51). It can happen to us today too (Hebrews 12:5-11). Never forget, “If we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way” (1 Corinthians 11:31 NLT).”

----- Left off here 02-04-2024 ------

8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

9 Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.

10 And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king.”

11 So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,

12 “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.

13 Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.”

14 So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days.

15 And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.

16 Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

17 As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

18 Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.

19 Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king.

20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.

21 Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.