Daniel's Trust in God:

Recap:

Last week we looked at the introduction to The Book of Daniel

Writen by Daniel - or Beltshazzar

Written in 537 B.C. 1 year before Daniel’s death

Daniel was span across 3 different empires

Daniel aslo intersects timewise with Jeremiah and Ezekiel

This book of prophecy is a key part of our understanidng of eschatology (The Study of the end times)

And as we said last week, with so much confusion and conspiracy theories out there, we wanted to seek and know what the Scriptures speak to.

Without presuming to know what things mean but appraoching the Scripture with an open heart and mind to see what God says to be true!

Letting Scripture define our theology not our theology defining what the Scriptures say!

In Daniel 1:1-7 we saw that with the Nation of Israel there was a lot of not good going on!

King Jehoiakim was evil and did evil in the sight of the Lord

The people of Israel were doing what was right in their own eyes

So the result was that in 605 B.C. God sent Nebuchanezzar to come and besiege the city and in the first attack he took the best and brightest of Israel back to Babylon with Him

Daniel 1:3–4 ESV

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.

So after a quick name change and being made into Eunuchs Daniel and his friend were ready to serve in the kings court

They would be given a portion of the kings food and wine

They would be educated for 3 years

So as to know the customs and language needed to serve Nebuchanezzar.

But what we know of Daniel is that his first priority was not surving this captivity but as a faithful servant of God his first priority was to remain faithful to God.

Introduction:

What does it mean to have convictions?

having Convictions means that you are convinced of the truth, morality, or purpose of something.

Now when we look at our lives with Jesus they have to be lived as people who have convictions:

we are convinced of the truths of scriptures

We are convinced of the reality of those truths lived out in our lives

We are convinced that what God says is best for our lives.

Now what we also note here that our convicitons are based upon a couple of important things!

Turst in the person and character of God

Trust in what God says in His Word as good and beneficial for His children.

Convictions matter!

Convictions shape our life choices

Convictions can determine your morality

Convictions can shape our entire life

Really what it comes down to is what will you stand upon in your life?

Your convictions based upon the truth of God’s Word

Or will you stand upon the opoinons and viewpoints of a culture and world that wants nothing to do with God?

Purpose In Your Heart:

Daniel 1:8 ESV

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 here is based upon Daniel 1:5

Daniel 1:5 ESV

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.

These young men when they were brought into the kings court they were assigned a portion of the kings food!

Why?

They were being trained in the ways of the Chaldeans

In Agriculture

In Architecture

In Astronomy

In Astrology

In Law

In Mathmatics

And the national language

They were being assimilated into a culture that wasnt theirs!

Because the king wanted them to advise him, to be loyal to Him and the empire!

So it makes sense that if they were being assimilated for service to the king then it is safe to assume here that the food that they were given fit into that regime and training!

Daniel Resolved in His Heart:

Or as Daniel recorded he purposed in his heart before the kings food ever came around not to defile himself with the kings food

At the core of who daniel was there was a conviction!

He was inclined

He was determined

He was convinced that there was only one way to live that woudl bring glory to his God, Jehovah.

There was a deep seated, in the core of who he was, understanding that God was Holy and that he was called to live a holy life before God!

This meant trusting God

This meant obedience to the Word and Commands of God

This meant that Daniel Put God first, above all else

When we fundementally understand this we know that these are the things that God desires for us as His children today:

To Trust Him

To obey Him

To seek and follow Him above all else in this life!

Before we can stand for God we first need to purpose in or hearts, the seat and core of who we are as people to not follow anything else in this life!

Becasue there is coming a time in this world where we may be required to stand upon the truth of Scripture

In obedience to Him, even though it may cost us everything

Daniel was putting it all on the line:

Daniel 1:8 ESV

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.

What’s the big deal with the food anyways? Right?!

Under the Law of God (613 Commandments) there were very strict dietary laws that the Jewish Nation was to follow.

To accept aned eat the food from the king meant surely that it would go against God’s law, and therefore would defile daniel and his buddies if they ate!

This is kind of hard for us to wrap our minds around here today because we are not under the law:

Romans 7:1–4 ESV

1 Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. 4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

We are in Christ and not under the law as Daniel woudl have been.

So you and I can eat pork chops and bacon and shrimp and a lot of things we love to eat.

But for Daniel it was a no go!

So he put it all on the line for the glory of God!

To go against the king meant that he could be put to death

But to Daniel it was better to die standing upon the truth and commands of God then to live knowing you disobeyed and defiled yourself before God!

Remember you are accountable ultimately to God, to whom you will give an account!

So standing firm with God Daniel approached the chief of the Eunuchs with a compromise:

“ Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.”

This was no small ask:

He was seeking permission to defy thet king

He was asking someone trusted by the King to allow him to go against the king

Thereby bringing the Cheif of the Eunuchs into potential civil disobedience

All if which bore the penalty of death!

Make no mistake there was no court system, there was no jury, there was just Nebuchadnezzar, who if he wanted you dead, you died!

God’s Got Your Back

Daniel 1:9 ESV

9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,

This reminds me of Joseph in Egypt:

Where God took care of Jospeh as God had a plan and purpose

With Potifar

With the jailer

With Pharoah

The whole time God had Joseph’s back!

And so it is with Daniel!

Daniel is sticking his neck out, and the next of his friends

But we see that God gave Daniel favor with cheif of the Eunuchs

That is he was well liked and well recieved

He had a good testimony

He wasn’t a rebel

He wasn’t disobedience

Even in his request he was respectful and considerate!

Big Concerns with Daniel’s Request:

Daniel 1:10 ESV

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.”

Concern # 1: I fear the King

And rightly so! nebuchadnezzar wasn’t one to take being defied well!

Concern # 2: What if your healtth declines

If they didn’t eat the kings food and they looked worse off then the rest of those in training then there was a real problem

First because he was responsible

And if they were not cared for well then it would fall on Him

And then it was off with his head

Concern # 3: Why should I put my life on the line for you

Daniel’s Solution:

Daniel 1:11–13 ESV

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 said let’s put this to a teste shall we?

***Notice that Daniel did so with respect and honor, this goes a long way with our testimony and helps gain favor to pave the way for an opportunity to show the goodness of God!***

10 Days:

Daniel proposed that for the next 10 days they would eat only vegetable and water to drink

I will say this doesn’t sound very appealing to me

I would be, well I guess I am starving!

But Daniel looked at what they could eat and proposed that they would eat veggies and drink only water and then at the end fo the 10 days they would compare the two groups

Seems pretty simple and straight foreward!

10 days

Vegan diet

Whatever happens I will defer to you.

Now we have to remember that there was a lot riding on this solution that Daniel was presenting to the Cheif of the Eunuchs

If it failed it could cost the young men their lives (Ultimatley because Daniel would still stand firm)

If it failed it coudl cost the Cheif of the Eunuchs his life

So really it wasnt just let’s try it out and if it fails oh well

Daniel was trusting the God who had protected him, gone before him giving him favor with those over him, who was in control of all things!

Daniel didnt know the final outcome here:

Yet he leaned into God

Yet he completely trusted that if he remained faithful to God that God would remain faithful to Him

The intersection between faith and action:

There are going to be situations that we find ourselves in where God is going to allow our faith to be tested:

To measure the content of our faith (that is where our faith lies)

To measure and weigh the depth of our faith (How deep and far our faith runs)

To see how steadfast our faith is in God really is!

There are those moments in life where our faith is tested so that we can see that God is faithful even when it hard, uncomfortable, or down right unbearable.

Sometimes we need to walk through the trials so that we can see him faithful!

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 ESV

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

God’s Great Provision:

Daniel 1:14–16 ESV

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.

10 days came and went and so it was now time to check the results of the experiment!

So Cheif of the Eunuchs lined everyone up:

On one side they had the youths who were eating the kings food

On the other side were the youths given only vegetables

But the results were crystal clear: The youths eating only vegetable won!

They were better looking in appearance

This was probably their skin tone and conplextion

They were fatther in the flesh

They had clearly gained weight and looked healthier as a result

The point is simple and clear!

Trust God and He’s Got your back:

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 1:15–16

Though God did not prohibit eating meat altogether (cf. Gen. 9:3; Rom. 14:14; 1 Cor. 10:25–26), the vegetable diet was superior to the king’s food. Also this shows that God blesses those who obey His commands and prospers those who trust Him. This incident would have been a lesson for the nation Israel. God had demanded obedience to the Law. Punishment came because of disobedience but even during a time of discipline, God protects and sustains those who obey Him and trust Him for their sustenance.

Trust and Obey:

This is the messag that the nation of Israel failed to understand and now they are under the judgment of God

Howevever this principle is still one the believer should live by daily

Trust God:

Trust in the Person and Character of God

Trust His Word to be true and Good

Trust that He has a perfect plan for your life!

Obey God:

Know His Word and Follow It!

Obey Him when it doesnt play well with a secular world

Obey Him when it’s easy so you can obey it when it gets hard

Trust and Obey:

Trust And Obey

Trust and obey

For there's no other way

To be happy in Jesus

But to trust and obey

Verse 1

When we walk with the Lord

In the light of His Word

What a glory He sheds on our way

While we do His good will

He abides with us still

And with all who will trust and obey

Verse 2

Not a shadow can rise

Not a cloud in the skies

But His smile quickly drives it away

Not a doubt nor a fear

Not a sigh nor a tear

Can abide while we trust and obey

Verse 3

Then in fellowship sweet

We will sit at His feet

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way

What He says we will do

Where He sends we will go

Never fear only trust and obey

Conclusion:

So as we draw to a close this morning I want us to contemplate a couple things as we bring the Word of God home and back into our personal lives.

Even if it cost you everything being obedient to God is always gonna be worth it in the end!

God is Sovereign - He knows the plans he has for your life!

Trust is more than a word - it is a call to action in our lives with Christ

Trust means that we move where God moves

Trust means that we look at where we are and what we are facing as God’s plan

Trust means that we look past ourselevs to one who is infinitely able, gracious, kind and loving to lead our lives instead of ourselves.