Daniel 1
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Introduction
Introduction
Was homeschooled - grew up in Christian home.
Met a pretty girl at church and transferred into public school to get to hang out with her
Remember slowly realizing how different and how of place I was.
I didn’t know the normal way to act
The routines and expectations
The culture
I remember a first time experience I had my first week of school - I witnessed somebody doing something and I thought I would never see and could not believe I was witnessing the act first hand. There were a group of kids talking and hanging out - and they were saying bad words!
I thought I must have mistakingly misheard one of the words one of them said, and I couldn’t believe it but I started to realize they were meaning to say the bad words!
As the week went on I was appalled at the absolute potty mouths at my school. I wanted to really show it to them and ask how they’d feel if their mother heard them talking like that.
Eventually I decided someone has to do something about this. And if no one will - I will be the one to step up and take action. I will tell the teacher on them. Decided I would do it after class, when I couldn’t believe my ears - the teacher said a bad word too!
I realized, I am a stranger in a foreign land.
Similar experience within the first few weeks of starting at Lamar. Visiting friend’s campus dorm. He was sharing a room with a friend of his that was a senior. We were hanging out at his dorm while I was between class, when a girl walked out of his friend’s room. I thought - “someone has broken into your dorm dude!”
Only to realize that his friends girlfriend had stayed the night and that that was a normal thing.
I remember realizing there are parts of this world that live differently from I believe - not everyone has the same values as me and that can be scary.
And we find that in the book that we’re starting tonight - Daniel.
Ch. 1-6 narrative of Daniel and the Boys and their adventures
The rest of the book is prophecies and encounters
But it answers the question: How should a Christian live their life?
The Context
The Context
In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. The Lord handed King Jehoiakim of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.
King Jehoiakim: The King of Judah (609–598 B.C.)
Judah: The southern kingdom of Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital.
King Nebuchadnezzar (King N.): The most powerful ruler of the Babylonian Empire, expanding it into one of the greatest empires of the ancient world.
Military Genius – Conquered nations, destroyed Jerusalem.
Great Builder – Babylon’s walls, temples, Hanging Gardens.
Arrogant & Powerful – Thought he was unstoppable.
Babylon: The capital of the Babylonian Empire, a powerful ancient city known for its wealth and architecture.
Vessels from the House of God: The sacred gold and silver items used in Temple worship in Jerusalem.
“The Lord handed the King of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the House of God.
Even though Babylon was powerful and King N. was known for conquering armies and nations ultimately, God allows this to happen.
The Babylonians win and King N. “carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.”
Judah is destroyed, the Babylonians win, and King N. takes the spoils home with him.
The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility—young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the Chaldean language and literature. The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to attend the king.
Chief Eunuch Ashpenaz: a high-ranking officer in the Babylonian government, overseeing the king’s household, advisors, and sometimes military affairs.
Second in command, in charge of training and raising up young men to be the next people to take over the government.
Chaldean Language: a more advanced, scholarly version of the prominent language.
Most people would have spoke Akkadian or Aramaic at this time, so when it says “language of the Chaldeans” it refers to a more advanced, scholarly version of their language.
Babylon’s method of conquering nations was different from others at the time.
It was distinct because it focused on assimilation rather than just destruction.
Unlike the Assyrians, who were known for their brutality and mass deportations meant to terrorize and scatter conquered peoples, the Babylonians took a more strategic approach.
Babylon didn’t wipe out entire populations but instead took the best and brightest from conquered nations (like we’re going to see) and trained them in Babylonian culture.
This was meant to reprogram future leaders so they would serve Babylon instead of resisting it.
Rather than wiping out a nation’s identity immediately, Babylon sought to absorb it into their own empire, making their rule stronger over time.
King N. tells the Chief to “bring some of the Israelites” back to Babylon
Line them up, and pick the best of the best.
FFA Hog show
What are the specification he gives?
They have to be:
Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility
Young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace. (young, smart, and hot)
Why? able to make the 900 mile journey, but still impressionable enough to be taught a new way of living, and smart enough to take over the government one day.
They are taking the student body presidents of Judah back to Babylon. The chose the best of the young, strong, smart, young men. Why?
He was to teach them the Chaldean language and literature. The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to attend the king.
The best of the best are to be brought to the best and strongest empire to eat the best food and drink the best wine, to learn the most sophisticated language, and to be taught by the best teachers for three years. And at the end, they will attend to the most powerful King in the world. Doesn’t sound like a bad gig does it?
Let’s wrap up the context by meeting our main characters:
Among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
Daniel and the Boys.
So what’s the problem?
What is the conflict that gives this story a reason to be in our bible?
Well, let’s put ourselves in the shoes of Daniel and the boys:
The Conflict
The Conflict
Daniel and the Boys were Defeated, Degraded, and Deported
Daniel and the Boys were Defeated, Degraded, and Deported
They lived in Judah as Israelites - God’s chosen people and lived under their Judean King. And their King that served their same God was defeated and now a pagan King with a pagan God is on the throne.
Their temple dedicated to the one true God was defiled by those who don’t honor God. Pillaged, destroyed, and the king brought souvenirs back home.
They were driven off the land that was given to Abraham on which they were mean to be a light to the nations.
We saw in verses 1 and 2 this exact thing happen.
Think of the pressure Daniel and the boys are under. Again Babylon has a strategic and unique way of conquering nations. Imagine this is you that Babylon is doing this to.
Babylon says we will move you from your home and family and take you 100s of miles away to a new capital city of foreign power.
They say “we’re going to change your literature.” We will teach you the philosophy of Babylon. No more will you read of Moses. We will give you Enuma Elish. No longer will you read Isaiah, we will give you the epic of Gilgamesh. We will give you new mythologies, new origin stories, new ways to understand how the world was made, and how we’re meant to move within it.
We will change your language. No more will you speak and read in Hebrew - now you will speak Aramaic. We will get you to a generation that you can’t even read Isaiah.
You will marry in among our people and be one of us, you will become Babylonian.
We’ll change your diet. Remember verse 5 “The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank”
In the OT the Jewish people had Levitical dietary laws. That what we eat is framed by our honoring of God. And it’s not depravation - they’re getting the best! They’re eating the same food as the king!
We will educate you. We will teach you astronomy and astrology, we’ll teach you the magic of the Caldeans - you will understand how to manipulate the spirits to understand the omens as we come to know the future.
And then we will give you jobs in the Babylonian government. Surrounded by new clothing, new values, new attitudes.
And then we’ll change your names. And with that your identity.
The chief eunuch gave them names; he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.
In the ancient world your name was who you are. It said something essential about you. And these guys’ names were connected to their allegiance to a holy God.
No longer Dan-el “God is my Judge” now Belteshazzar “May Bel protect my life”
No longer Hananiah “Yaweh is Gracious” now Shadrach “Under command of Aku”
No longer Mishael “Who is like our God?” now Meshach “Who is what Aku is?”
No longer Azariah “Yaweh has helped us” now Abednego “Servant of Nebo”
We will erase your cute, Sunday school life, cause you’re in the capital now. And we’re going to make you look like us.
Anyone ever felt that?
Notice in verse 6 it says “among them.” Daniel and the boys weren’t the only ones brought over. What makes Daniel and the boys special? Well, what would most people do in this situation? Conform.
It’s middle school. The pressure to conform. To fit in. And some of you feel that.
You go to church on Sunday mornings and you hear how good God is to us, and you come to Mid-Week on Wednesday nights to hear how he calls us to live differently, maybe you even go to a discipleship group where you have accountability and have spiritual conversations.
But then, for 40 hours a week you’re at school, where you’re expected to leave your Sunday school attitude at home.
The conversations you’re apart of are not the same conversations you have in your discipleship group
The words that are used are not as honest and uplifting as the ones you hear on Wednesday nights
The songs you hear are not the same ones you sing on Sunday mornings
What do you do? How do you respond when it seems the entire rest of the world has a different world view than you? What does a believer do in Babylon? Conform, fit in, sit down? Rebel, rise up against? How is the Christian supposed to navigate a culture that has no allegiance against their king?
In the time we have left we’re going to see what Daniel does in a land that does not have an allegiance to his God. Because from verse 8 through the end of chapter 6 Daniel and the boys become actors on a stage. And we need to see what they do, because you’re meant to do it too.
The Choices
The Choices
Conviction (8a)
Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank.
Courtesy (8b)
So he asked permission from the chief eunuch not to defile himself.
Confidence (9-13)
God had granted Daniel kindness and compassion from the chief eunuch, yet he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and drink. What if he sees your faces looking thinner than the other young men your age? You would endanger my life with the king.”
So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief eunuch had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king’s food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.”
Commitment (14-20)
He agreed with them about this and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king’s food. So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.
God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreams of every kind. At the end of the time that the king had said to present them, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king interviewed them, and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they began to attend the king. In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and mediums in his entire kingdom.
Companions
Among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
