Daniel Chapter 1
Notes
Transcript
Babylon or Bust… Daniel and his faithfulness.
Babylon or Bust… Daniel and his faithfulness.
Good evening, i hope you are doing well today.
I am thankful people are joining me tonight as we begin a new study, one that will prove to be very good for us over the next few weeks.
So this evening we are going to begin in the book of Daniel and see what the Lord is doing in and around his people as they are in captivity.
But my friends, just because they are in captivity, do not think God is not at work. God is always at work..
Even in the days you do not sense him, or the days you believe are the hardest, He is there, He is faithful and He calls us to be the same...
So lets open and look at Daniel chapter 1.
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, 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 placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.
So, lets talk about a little background. 605BC is the year. The northern 10 tribes have been in captivity for over a 100 years, they are gone.
This is the southern kingdom, Judah and Benjamin. are all that exist in Israel now. But as their unfaithfulness continues, they face captivity.
From our study in Isaiah, remember God gave them the opportunity to repent but they failed and now Nebuchadnezzer as been raised up and and has led his armies to conquer Israel.
So verse 1 says he came to Jerusalem the holy city and besieged it. He surrounds it as best possible and begins to the task of breaching the walls and gates.
But verse 2 really tells us all that we need to know about this, The Lord gave Judah and their king into the hands of Babylon, namely Nebuchadnezzar.
Now we know that the Lord had promised in Lev 26 that exile would befall the people if they were unfaithful in terms of the covenant.
33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
39 And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.
And after many of years of disobedience, the Lord acted and kept his promise. 605 BC is their first invasion and by 586, the last of the people are carried off, the acting puppet king’s family was killed and Zedekiah who was the puppet king was blinded and marched to Babylon with the rest of the people.
So the end of verse 2 tells us that not only is the city invaded, many things, vessels etc were carried off from the temple of God and placed in the temple to the house of His God. Most likely this is Moloch. We know in the excavations of the city, that temple has been found…
Sadly, some of the Israelites before the captivity even worshipped Moloch and offered their children as sacrifices to this false God.
Now lets look at verses 3-5 Dan 1:3-5
3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.
So the first captives to leave the land of Israel and make the journey to Babylon were the members of the royal family and nobles, the youth that were strong, healthy, without spot of blemish etc, they were brought back to the land
These smart and talented youth were brought back for the sole purpose of being educated and trained in the ways of Chaldeans, or Babylonians. They would be responsible to help lead their own people in the days to come as Babylon has now expanded their kingdom to most of the known world.
Now for these youth, which were all male by the way, they were treated well. They were assigned the same royal food of the king. Listen, this is the best food in the land, and it was theirs along with the wine of the kings cup.
Ashpenaz was given charge over these youth, he hand picked them, he would ensure they were well trained and or course well fed each day so they could remain healthy.
So the king had plans for these youth, train them, indoctrinate them and use them to be the task masters over their own people. It is easier to led people when they follow their own...
Now lets look at verses 6-7 Daniel 1:6-7
6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
So we are told plainly who some of these captives were...Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah
Now notice this, how do you indoctrinate them, you take away their names and give them Babylonian names.
Verse 7 again tell us that they are referred to as : Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
So take them captive, teach them, indoctrinate them and change their names… this was the recipe for success.
And my friends, please note that even though while some on the nation were unfaithful and that lead to their captivity, but not all were unfaithful.
There were faithful people, who loved God and followed God… these 4 are such people. They were faithful and even in difficult times, God would be with them and bless them.
True Israelites, true Jews are not defined by a nation or a name, but by their faithfulness to God. These 4 were those type of men.
Now as we start verses 8 to 16, we see the spiritual test before Daniel and the others with him, namely the three Hebrew children.
Verse 8 Daniel 1:8
8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.
This verse tells us of the decision Daniel made, he was resolved. I like that… He had made up his mind and there was no way he would do anything different.
He would not defile himself… Many of the meats of the Babylonian court would have been unclean according to the law of Moses and most certainly prepared according to Jewish law, like having the blood drained from the meat. To eat these food would have been a sin and a person would be unclean in front of God.
Also, this meat and wine might have been involved in the Babylonian worship, and thus eating these foods would have been prohibited.
First century Christians, faced a similar dilemma, but that time was under a new covenant. Daniel and his friends, would have been under the old covenant.
Here is what is impactful, Daniel and his friends were not Babylonian, they were in a strange land but they would not all distance to influence their decisions. Pressure from others there would not affect his ability to stand from God.
There comes a time my friends, that no matter what we face, we must have already made the decision to stand with God.
Verse 9 Daniel 1:9
9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,
Ashpenaz was not a follower of YHWH, but he was impressed with Daniel, and knowing that God gave Daniel favor and compassion in Ashpenaz sight, we know that God is the one who is in control of the situation at hand.
The word “favor” the OT word was (hessed), which suggests goodwill, sympathy, and a tender feeling.
Ashpenaz had genuinely grown to admire and feel affection toward these Jewish captives. One person, Stephen Miller says “...God’s common grace, is exemplified here as it operates in the hearts of unbelievers.”
Verse 10 Dan 1:10
10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.”
Ashpenaz was skeptical here, it wasn’t so much that he doubted Daniel, I think he really wanted to help Daniel.
But in reality he feared the King which he served under. If something happened to these young men, it would be HIM who would be held responsible.
He could lose his life.
He was afraid, looking at it logically, from a natural standpoint that water and vegetables, in place of meat, wine and other things would leave them skinnier and looking poorly.
Verse 11-12 Dan 1:11-13
11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
Daniel offers a plan, I am wondering if God gave him the idea or just godly wisdom but in either case, a test would tale the tale.
10 days feed us vegetables and water, and the others the kings table and then see who has fared the worse...
It was a reasonable proposal… David had faith that God would honor is determination and desire to keep his commands and not defile himself nor have others defile themselves as well
Ashpenaz could see the results for himself if he took on the challenge.
Verses 14-16 Daniel 1:14-16
14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. 16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
Ashpenaz listened to Daniel, remember God had given him a heart to show Daniel favor.
So he tested Daniel and the 3 for 10 days...
And at the end of the 10 days, these people looked healthier and better nourished. So they looked better than those other youth who ate the King’s richly prepared food.
So in an effort that all the captives who were being trained to look and be their healthiest, the chief here, Ashpenaz took away the King’s food from everyone and gave them Daniel’s diet.
Now, even today there is a program of sorts I think that is called Daniel’s diet… one of many type diets on the market
He knew that is in just 10 days these 4 looked so good, all would be better if they remained on this diet plan
Now there is one last session, verses 17-21
17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.
What I want you to see here, God gave these youth gifts… All their abilities and gifts come from the Lord. God is the source of all blessings. James 1:17
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
These 4 young men received the gift of keel intellectual ability and Daniel had a special gift that the others did not, Daniel had the ability to interpret all visions and dreams.
Now verse 18 skips ahead to the time, after all the training had been completed, remember it was a 3 year training period, these people were presented before the King.
The king spoke to them but found that none were as special as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.. and they entered the King’s service.
They were placed in the Kings service, in various leadership positions.
It is noted that even those magicians and enchanters did not fair in comparsion to these 4 godly men.
These magicians and enchanters are like those who serve Pharaoh during the days of Moses.
And Daniel is there until the first year of King Cyrus, this is looking ahead to the future, 539BC.
Cryus would be the next kingdom to control the area after the Babylonians fall much later… this is more than 50 years that Daniel services,
Remember is a old man by the time of Lions den story much later in chapter 6.
Now that is the conclusion of chapter 1.
I hope you enjoyed it.