Neither Lions Nor Men

What would you do if a wild animal escaped from the zoo and was roaming around your neighbourhood?

Actually the scenario isn’t so difficult to imagine.

Three months before the Singapore Zoo was opened, 2 sun bears escaped on 5 Mar 1973

One was recaptured immediately,

the other was shot dead 2 days later,

That bear was shot dead while looking for “Twiggy” the black panther who had escaped the same time.

Residents living in the nearby Sembawang Hills Estate was naturally worried.

Wah, first bears, now a black panther!

Back then there were still kampongs.

Of course you would close your shops and houses

Schools also shortened their teaching hours.

And students were warned to keep away from Seletar and Peirce reservoirs.

Twiggy was found nearly 11 months later on 30 Jan 1974 at the Singapore Turf Club

They had to flood the drain the panther was hiding in, after failing to smoke it out

If you think that was cruel, let us not forget the vicious nature of wild animals.

Because on 13 Nov 2008, a 32-year old man was mauled to death by Bengal white tigers,

when deliberately jumped into their exhibit in the zoo and challenged them to attack him.

Such graphic imagery reminds us of the immense danger Daniel had when he was thrown into the lions’ den

These were not the kind of cats you would want to play with in a cat cafe.

But as you could hear from the Bible passage today,

before Daniel’s accusers even reached the bottom of the den,

the Bible tells us that they were overpowered,

and their bones were broken into pieces.

This was literally a life-or-death situation that Daniel faced.

You and I might not be facing such an extreme situation like Daniel today.

But our circumstances might not be that different.

People being jealous of you because the boss seems to like you more.

People trying to make life difficult for you because of your belief in God.

People who seemed to have the power to take away your life.

Those of us who like to watch Taiwanese and Korean drama might be very familiar with these situation.

But what do we do when we face such situations?

How can we look to God as we face the wild animals and people in our lives?

The title of my sharing today is “Neither Lions Nor Men”

Our first point is:

Be Excellently Faithful through the Different Seasons of Life

Daniel had to live through many changes in his life:

First, his people were captured by a foreign country.

A big foreign country, like Russia, invaded their capital city, Jerusalem.

They were forced out of their homes,

Forced out of their religion,

And forced to adjust to life as political refugees in the land of Shinar

Because they were nobles from the royal family,

Rich, upper-class people,

And they were good-looking and clever youths with a good future,

they were specially headhunted to learn the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

Of couse, they did not only mean that they had to wear the clothes of Babylon.

They had to eat their food and drink, many of which we not kosher,

That’s the Jewish equivalence of halal,

And they were even given new names that honoured the Babylonian gods.

But Daniel and his friends didn’t take these circumstances as the reason for them to wallow in self-pity,

Nor did they just do the bare minimum, while trying to sabotage the Babylonians while they could.

No, from the first chapter of the Book of Daniel, we can see that Daniel and his friends remained excellently faithful to God and to their Babylonian masters EVEN when they were cast in a bad season.

So much so that they impressed King Nebuchanezzar, who appointed them to high positions.

And at the end of chapter 5, just before we open our chapter, we see that Daniel and his friends remained excellently faithful even through changes in adminstration.

They remained faithful when King Nebuchanezzar passed the throne to Belshazzar.

And they remained faithful even when Darius the Medo-Persian took over the Babylonian kingdom.

Even though Daniel could have used the chance to escape, to demand terms of freedom, or to negotiate his people’s freedom.

But he chose to be faithful.

So much that v3 tells us that “an excellent spirit was in him.

And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

Even his colleagues recognised that.

vv4-5 tells us that “they could find no ground for complaint nor any fault,

because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.

And they resolved that the only way to could get to Daniel was to sabotage him “in connection with the law of his God”.

Now you and I might not be as charming nor educated as Daniel and his friends were, when the Babylonians selected them

But can we be excellently faithful through the seasons of life?

Like Daniel and his friends, we might not have landed in the most ideal situation of our lives right now.

What we’re doing now might not be the most ideal job nor work that we’d have dreamed about.

The situation back home can definitely be much better,

if there weren’t so many problems we have to go back to at the end of a long tiring day at work.

And when a friend I haven’t met for a long time asks, “How are you?”

Can I honestly say, “Fine, thanks?”

But God has called us to be not just faithful in doing the things we do,

But to be excellently faithful.

And to be excellently faithful, through the different seasons of life.

How, you might ask, can I do that?

How, when already feel so “punctured”, so exhausted?

Even trying to smile is already so difficult

Actually, there is no secret.

The answer is surprisingly easy.

By ourselves, no matter how much positive thinking we practise.

How much mindfulness, meditation, or de-stress methods we try, we can never get there.

For a person to do his/her best excellently, he/she needs some motivation or fuel to drive his/her engine.

Like when I was chasing my wife, I would try to do everything possible to let her know how much I notice her.

I would buy her flowers when I see them, try to speak to her and ask about her day, and so on.

But for situations like Daniel’s, I can be excellently faithful through the different seasons of life,

My motivation then is not to please the people I am serving,

But of the God, who gives me hope,

The God, who is in control of all things,

And the God who I look to every day,

Even when I face the shadow of death.

That leads us to our second point:

Be Earnestly Faithful through the Shadow of Death.

V10 tells us that “When Daniel knew that the document”

That is, the document the king had signed, under pressure by his other officials,

to punish anyone who prays to any other god or man, other than the king,

When Danel knew that the document had been signed,

What did the Bible say he do?

“He went to his house where had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem”.

He didn’t do this in secret

His windows were open and everyone could see what he was doing.

“He got down on his knees”

Not one time, not two times, but three times a day.

And prayed and gave thanks before his God,

as he had done previously.

So when these men came by agreement,

naturally it wasn’t very hard for them to find faithful Daniel making petition and plea before his God.

And now they’ve got something to attack Daniel for.

You really got to admire Daniel for his boldness, his guts

Cos I don’t think many in this room,

myself included,

would have the courage to stand up against the decrees of the king,

but continue praying to God.

Make no mistake:

I’m not saying that we should be fighting against the government when they force you to do things or get punished,

Like making people wear masks or take two shots of vaccine during the Covid time.

No, here Daniel is not against the government.

But Daniel knew that there was a higher law,

A higher God, whom he really served.

Whom he was earnestly faithful to,

even when faced with the shadow of death.

Because like what I’ve said before:

What drove Daniel,

that is, Daniel’s motivation,

wasn’t about being excellent for the sake of getting high marks from the king.

Daniel wasn’t motivated to have a high position for the sake of overthrowing the king so that his people could be free one day.

No, what motivated Daniel was his earnest faithfulness to the God he worshipped and served.

What made him get up from bed every day was his faithfulness to the God that he knew from the Jerusalem he faced every day.

What made him excellently faithful in the different seasons of life was the trust he had in his God.

And nothing was going to stop him from praying 3 times a day.

Not even a death decree by the king.

Of course you and I might not be as brave as Daniel.

But it might be helpful if we look at it another way.

Most of us here have families of our own.

It would be safe to say that you and I would not even hesistate nor blink to put our lives on the line for our families.

IF a car came rushing at your family member, you will not even think of your own danger,

but will likely put yourself at danger to get your family member to safety.

Similarly, if your husband is in critical condition in the hospital,

And he needs an organ transplant.

You will not hesistate to offer your own,

Even if the doctor says that the operation will be dangerous to you.

And why would you and I do these things?

Because of our love for our family.

Because of our family are one of those important things in life that motivates and drive us.

That’s why we show faithfulness to our family.

So in the same way, Daniel could be earnestly faithful to his God even through the shadow and threat of death.

He could get down on his knees every day and pray and gave thanks to God,

because that was the way he stayed faithfully connected to the God in whom he placed his trust and hope in.

He could earnestly pray 3 times a day,

because he recognised how dependant he was on God,

when the seasons change in life,

when the kings change,

when the world moves from Obama to Trump, to Biden, and back to Trump again.

What about you and me?

Can we be earnestly faithful to God even through the shadow of death?

When you’re so confused by what’s going on in the world.

When you need a sure and steadfast rock to anchor yourself to in the storms of life.

When you need something, someone, unchanging, unmovable, in this life.

Someone more trustworthy than the chances of striking 4D or Toto.

Someone more reliable than job change, family change, or government change.

Someone you can earnestly cry out to and will listen.

Will you find God through it all?

Because once we’ve found God, we recognise that not even the schemes of men nor the claws of animals are that scary.

And we can:

Be Entirely Faithful to God through the Schemes of Men

Not even the threat of King Nebuchadnezzar to kill all the wise men for failing to intepret his dreams,

Nor his fiery furnance that failed to destroy Daniel’s friends,

Nor the decree of a new king from another part of the world stop Daniel from being faithful to God.

Just last weekend, a 37-year-old man stabbed a Roman Catholic priest.

The next day, patrols were stepped up around churches.

If because I fear that anytime there is going to be a person who is going to run up to me with a knife,

I would have ended up hiding in home after hearing that piece of news.

And that person’s scheme would have been accomplished,

which is to divert our just fear of God to the unjust fear of death.

If every day I turn up and work,

And I’m constantly worried about how my boss and my colleagues look at me,

I do not have a fear of God - I have a fear of man!

The fear that Twiggy the black panther is out there, waiting to pounce on me.

Fear that I would be punished by this god or that person if I do something wrong.

Then my whole life will always be lived in fear.

But if, like Daniel, I’ve found God.

And not just any god that a king can have the power and override.

Not just any god who might only give me benefits if I give them a little corruption.

But the God who created the heavens and the earth.

The God who knows how all things will end up.

And the God who is powerful and in total control,

Even over helpless kings, cunning officials, and wicked men.

How can I not be entirely faithful to him?

And even if we are cast into the pit of lions, so to speak,

God can save us.

But even if we are not saved in this life,

We have, as the author of Hebrews tell us, a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

So that at the end of it all, through our faithfulness to God, his purposes will be done.

Through our faithfulness in doing our work excellently through the different seasons in our lives,

people like King Nebuchadnezzar can see and recognise that God’s Spirit lives and works in us.

So that through our earnest faithfulness to God even through the shadow of death,

people like King Darius can see and recognise that we are servants of the living God whom we serve continually.

And through our entire faithfulness to God through the schemes of men,

v25: ALL the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth can tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,

the God of those who have been faithful to him,

“For he is the living God, enduring forever,

his kingdom shall never be destroyed,

and his dominion shall be to the end.

He delivers and rescues;

he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth,

he who has saved Daniel,”

he who has saved you and me,

“from the power of the lions.”

And from the power of whatever might threaten our present and future.

And this Daniel, and we who like him, are faithful to God,

prospered during reign of the current king and into the next,

and in all the different seasons of our lives,

and in the shadow of death.

Because of the faithful God we believe in.

We need fear neither lions nor men.

Let us pray.