Daniel

Over the past few weeks in your reading, you have been seeing signs of the exile that was to come. Essentially, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon lays seige to Jerusalem and God hands Israel over to Babylon. This is because of all the reasons we have been reading about. All of these prophets we have read from, from Samuel on through Jeremiah are talking about this moment of exile where the Israelites would be scattered into foreign lands.

Daniel finds himself taken into Babylonian captivity. Now Nebuchadnezzar was a pretty smart king. He was known for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. He was a fierce military leader, but his construction within the Babylonian Empire is his claim to fame. God actually uses Nebuchadnezzar as a part of His plan to overtake the Israelite people.

Daniel finds himself in a place far from home. He does have friends with him, but everything has just changed for Daniel. The Babylonian exile impacted everything. Daniel lost his home, the place of worship that was so important to him,

Daniel 1:1–7 CSB

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. 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. Among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The chief eunuch gave them names; he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.

Daniel 1:

There are a few things I want to point out here. First, Verse 2 explicitly tells us that The Lord handed Judah over to Babylon. This reinforces the message of the prophets, but it also makes us think about what the Babylonians are thinking. To an extent, the Israelites are working with an idea that if they do what is honorable in the sight of the Lord, then they would be blessed. There is an element of truth to that because God makes a covenant with them and at the end God typically tags on the phrase, if you keep my commands and statutes. However, we know this as the fallacy of the prosperity gospel. We do not obey the Lord because we want good circumstances, we obey Him because we love Him.

1 John 4:19 CSB

We love because he first loved us.

Instead, God desires our hearts. Obedience is a sign of a heart that is for Him, but it is not the only thing. Think of it more as an arrow on a trail. Just because you make the right turn, you won’t necessarily make it to the end of the trail, but continual, steadfast obedience over time is more like the trail itself. You will always get to the right destination. We love God because while we were still sinners, He sent Christ to die for us and He paid the debt that we could not pay.

The next part I want to point out is that Nebuchadnezzar was taking the nobility and royalty into his own house. This is very smart for a few reasons. First, they were leaders. People looked up to them . If they were obedient to the king, others would be too. Second, well, let’s read that description again:

4 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 surrounding himself with the best of the best. When you surround yourself with great people, they elevate you. When you surround yourself with people who behave and act differently than you want to, you will eventually act like them as well...

These guys just experienced great loss in their homeland, but they are in a pretty good spot. They are being groomed to be a part of the palace. They are given the best schooling and food, but those good things are the very reasons that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah didn’t want to be there.

Daniel 1:7 CSB

The chief eunuch gave them names; he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.

Their very identities were challenged and changed. There is a lot in a name.

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 1

Daniel and his friends, whose original names honored the God of Israel, were given other names intended to honor the false gods of Babylon. Daniel (“God is My Judge”) became Belteshazzar (“Bel Protect Him”); Hananiah (“God Has Been Gracious”) became Shadrach (“The Command of Akku”); Mishael (“Who Is What God Is?”) became Meshach (“Who Is What Aku Is?”); Azariah (“The Lord Has Helped”) became Abednego (“Servant of Nebo”).

New names - Are you believing what culture says about you? or what you parents have to say about you? What about that kid at school who you just hate being around? Are you allowing God to define you?

Sometimes we let our circumstances dictate our reality. Daniel could be in worse circumstances. He is at his elite Babylonian academy and he is being taught the Chaldean language and arts, etc. But throughout all of this, the name change, the education, the training, Daniel holds fast to the One who is the source of his hope. He never forgets who his faith is in. Notice I said who, not what. That is a strong difference between Daniel’s beliefs and the beliefs of the people around him.

Names = identity/ownership - part of a family.

Verse 8 is so key to YOU. Daniel and his friends are most likely about 15 years old. They are relatively insignificant in the Babylonian kingdom and they decide they are going to take a stand for what they believe.

Daniel 1:8 CSB

Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief eunuch not to defile himself.

Did you catch that? Daniel determined. He set his heart upon not defiling himself in Babylon.

Over what? Something that no one else thought was a big deal. Over food and wine. But Daniel knew that he would be sinning against God by eating these meats and drinking the wine that had been used in idol worship.

Daniel stayed true to his convictions but at the same time influenced his generation without compromising. You can too!

Daniel stayed true to his convictions but at the same time influenced his generation without compromising. You can too!

Fast forward just a bit to verse 17.

Daniel 1:17–19 CSB

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.

God was with them in the foreign land. God was with them when they made their stand. How do we know that? Not just because God gave then understanding, but He also changed the heart of the eunuch that was in charge of them.

In turn, their faithfulness was rewarded. I want you to understand something significant because for the majority of people, they believe you can’t be a Christian or a Christ follower and win at life. People take advantage of other people all the time, but know this - You don’t have to fight your own battles. Be obedient to the Lord because you love Him, not because you want blessings. Keep your motives in check and live counter culterually and you can change the world.

Let’s Pray.