Sermon Tone Analysis
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Daniel chapter 1 gives us a historical marker for the context of the story.
Daniel would have been alive in the historical period of 605 to 539 B.C.
The first chapter also reminds us of the theme for the entire book: God is in control.
God is sovereign over the affairs of man.
Even though the people of Israel are in exile, they can still remain faithful and can be prosperous.
1.
The Fall of Judah (Daniel 1:1-2)
A. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, conquered Jerusalem (Daniel 1:1-2)
B. Nebuchadnezzar plundered the Temple in Jerusalem.
(Daniel 1:2)
Nebuchadnezzar was victorious over the kingdom of Judah and as a symbol of his dominance, he took some of the vessels from the defeated nation and put them in the temple of his god.
C. It is God, not Nebuchadnezzar, who is responsible for the fall of Jerusalem.
(Daniel 1:2)
The Lord gave King Jehoiakim over the Nebuchadnezzar.
Nebuchadnezzar was simply the tool God used to chastise the people of Judah for their disobedience.
The word for Lord is adonai and denotes the control and ownership of God.
2. The beginning of the captivity (Daniel 1:3-7)
A. Nebuchadnezzar orders Ashpenaz to begin training some of the Israelite young men for service in his administration.
He wanted the cream of the crop to serve in his administration.
You have to ask, “Why?”
Why would Nebuchadnezzar want young men from Israelite nobility in his service?
To understand his political motivations, we need to remember that although Judah had been defeated, Nebuchadnezzar was trying to control Judah without actually taking it over completely.
He had put Zedekiah, a political puppet, on the throne of Judah.
By taking some of the best and brightest of the young men of Israel into his service and training them in Babylonian ways, he was essentially making a 5th column.
They would, hopefully, fall in love with the Babylonian way of life and be propagandists, and maybe even be sent back to rule over Judah while supporting the Babylonians.
Nebuchadnezzar was a pragmatist.
His rapidly expanding empire needed people who were supportive of the Babylonian government and administration.
He couldn’t met all of the needs through his own people.
He had to enlist the service of native populations he had conquered.
B. The captured Israelites would receive the best Babylon had to offer.
(Daniel 1:5)
C.
They are given new names to symbolize their new allegiance.
(Daniel 1:6-7)
Daniel - God is my judge becomes Belteshazzar - May a god protect the king
Hananiah - Yahweh has been gracious becomes Shadrach - a reference to the god Marduk
Mishael - Who is what God is? becomes Meshach - a reference to the god Marduk
Azariah - Yahweh is my help becomes Abednego - servant of Nabu
Basically, they took the names from them which associated them with Yahweh and gave them name to associate them with Babylonian gods.
They wanted to completely transform their identity and allegiance.
They would be trained, some may say brainwashed, for 3 years.
3. Staying faithful in Babylon (Daniel 1:8-16)
Up to this point, Daniel and Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah provided no resistance to the assimilation into Babylonian culture.
They submitted themselves to their new situation.
However, there was a line they could not cross.
A. The young men refuse to defile themselves with the Babylonian diet.
(Daniel 1:8)
There are multiple possibilities for why the young men refused the king’s food and wine.
It could be that the diet of the Babylonian violated some kosher laws, but that wouldn’t explain the wine because wine was not restricted.
It could be that the food and wine was offered to the Babylonian gods; however, they did not avoid all of the food.
They would eat the veggies.
It could be that they viewed the king’s provisions as an acceptance of the sovereignty of the king over them.
However, again, he accepted the veggies.
I think this is about who they wanted to attribute their success.
If their minds and bodies are fed by the Babylonians, they Babylonians could take credit for their success.
If they refused the best stuff, only a miracle of God could help them.
B. Daniel proposed a test.
(Daniel 1:9-14)
I want to make a note here because this was a recent fad.
The Daniel Diet is not a pattern for us to follow in our diets.
That was not the purpose.
The purpose was to show who was in control of their prosperity and success.
This was a temporary thing.
Daniel would enjoy the Babylonian foods later in life.
(Daniel 10:3) Also note that the diet was private, not public.
Only the guard and the young men knew what they were doing.
Not even the chief eunuch knew.
C. God miraculously gave Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah success.
(Daniel 1:15-16)
They had no food strikes.
They asked for permission to engage in the activity.
The chief official declined to allow them to do what they requested.
Daniel chose another strategy to accomplish the goal.
God brings them success.
They literally are eating for the glory of God.
3. Their faithfulness to God is rewarded (Daniel 1:17-21)
A. God gave the four young men prosperity and success (Daniel 1:17)
B. They are presented to Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1:18-20)
They had gained wisdom.
Not because of their education, but because God had given it to them.
They had grown physically, not because of their diet, but because God had caused it.
4. Daniel’s length of service (Daniel 1:21)
Daniel would span the entire Babylonian captivity and outlast those who brought him into exile.
In all of these stories, we are going to struggle because we need to caution against running out and doing exactly what these 4 young men did.
They did take a stand against their culture and we should too.
The questions is how to properly take a stand.
They had to draw a line and trust in God.
Jesus called for wisdom in these matters.
Many of the situations we are going to be faced with in life are not clear cut.
Take for example the questions of education.
Public, Private, Homeschool.
What movies and shows are appropriate.
How about interaction on social media?
What our culture permits does not mean it is right to engage it.
We have to realize that we are not in the same situation or context as these 4 young men and yet we are philosophically connected.
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