Dare To Be A Daniel

~17 years old (maybe as young as 14)

1. Daniel’s Position

If not a member of the royal family, certainly a nobleman of Judah - influence, respect, privilege

v3 - “certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes”

v4 - “such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace”

Je 27:19–20

[19] "For thus saith the Lord of hosts ... concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,

[20] "Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;”

Intelligent and well-taught, knowledgeable

v4 - “skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science”

History, science, military tactics, geography, diplomacy

Also had a respect and reverence for the Word of God:

Je 26:10–11

[10] "When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord’s house.

[11] "Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.”

Je 26:16

[16] "Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

Willing to stand up against the king and the unfaithful religious leaders (who had abandoned the Scriptures and were trying to gain the king’s favour)

2. Daniel’s Pressure

Defeat of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar in late 605BC

Best & brightest taken captive back to Babylon

~700 miles from home (~N’abbey to Paris)

Foreign language, food, customs, architecture, landscapes

Manipulation

Flattery

Group brought out from the rest, given new Babylonian clothes, brought into a large room, told, “Great King Nebuchadnezzar, may he live forever, has decided to show kindness to you.”

Told of the education you are to receive, the food and drink you’ll be given. You are now a student in the Babylon State University and for the next three years you will be taught and tested and examined, and you’re final exam will be put to you by the king himself.The most powerful man in the world was looking after them

v5 - “…the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat and of the wine which he drank…”

“meat” = delicacies; rich food

“so nourishing them” - maintaining their good health, developing their strength, keeping them sharp physically and mentally

Flattery - leads to pride - leads to independence - leads to godlessness

Dependence

v5 - “a daily provision”

Nebuchadnezzar provided what they needed daily. Had no reason to trust God for their daily bread (humanly speaking).

Trying to separate them from their reliance upon God - destroying their faith with kindness - it has rightly been said that Satan can present himself as an angel of light.

We have the same problem today - materialism

Renaming

Names changed from Jewish names to Babylonian names.

Da 1:7

[7] "Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego.”

Through renaming, Ashpenaz was trying to get them to forget their God.

Daniel & Mishael: -el, The Mighty God

Hananiah & Azariah: -iah > “Yah” - divine title of Jehovah, The Covenant Keeping God

Daniel = My Judge is God

Hananiah = Gracious is Jehovah

Mishael = Who is as God?

Azariah = The Lord is my help

Daniel > Belteshazzar

Bel’s Treasurer / Protected by Bel

Hananiah > Shadrach

Illuminated by Rach (the Sun) / Commanded by Aku (Moon god)

Mishael > Meshach

Who is like Shach (Venus)?

Azariah > Abednego

Servant of Nebo (Nego)

All reference to God removed - aimed to make them forget about God

Humanists & secularists

Want separation of church and state to become separation of church and society, and eventually, separation of God and man

Freedom of religion > Freedom from religion

The world tells us, “It’s okay for you to have your beliefs, but…

don’t preach them in public,

don’t vote according to them,

don’t teach them to your children,

don’t bring them into the workplace,

don’t tell them to others.”

Current attempt to pass a law banning “conversion therapy” - deliberately a broad term including many practices that are violent and abusive, and are actually already illegal.

But also including prayer for and with those who have gender issues; preaching repentance from LGBTQ+ lifestyle - effectively seeking to make the preaching of the biblical gospel illegal.

By the way, one of the things Satan wants to do is separate and divide God’s people. He knows that the more divided we are the less effective we can be.

Lk 22:31

[31] "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:”

That’s one reason why lockdowns are so dangerous, spiritually speaking, and why it’s so important to meet together with other believers as often as possible.

It’s why Daniel was blessed to have three friends who were just as determined as he was to follow God regardless of the consequences.

Make sure your closest friends are believers who will help you be strong for God. Have other friends, but make sure the best friends you have have the same kind of determination to please God in everything.

Re-education

v4 - “whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans”

Chaldeans - elite of Babylonian society; the ruling class

Tutors - members of the priestly caste, of purely Chaldean lineage.

Priests kept the wisdom and learning of the Empire

Philosophy, Astronomy

Mathematics, Natural History, Agriculture, Architecture

Magic, Divination, Astrology

Purifications, sacrifices, incantations to avert evil

Is 47 - Babylon judged because of:

(Is 47:9) “the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments”.

Is 47:13 “… the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators ...”

A land filled with sorcery and magic

Satanic power

Mixed some fact with fortune-telling, science with sorcery, maths with magic, astronomy with astrology.

Satan’s tactics - always been to mix truth with lies

How is this seen today?

I first preached on this passage 8 years ago when the idea of re-education of the public was limited to a subtle manipulation of the school curricula and an unspoken, hard-to-prove bias in the media.

But times have changed.

There are two main opposing views of morality in the West - the progressives and the conservatives.

The conservatives aren’t all Christians, but they tend to support biblically moral views, such as a biological definition of male and female, or opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, supporting freedom of speech & freedom to express one’s faith openly.

The progressives on the other hand tend to strongly promote the LGBTQ+ agenda, abortion (which they dress up as the woman’s right to choose), censorship of conservative voices and opinions, and limiting the expression of faith (and even interfering in the private expression of faith in the home - teaching children). Oh, and they have no problem blatantly lying to your face to get their way.

In America this is easy to see in the conservative-leaning Republican Party, which supported Trump, and the progressive-leaning Democratic Party, which supports Biden.

American lawyer called Michael Beller, who supports Joe Biden, on tape saying:

“Even if Biden wins, we go for all the Republican voters, and Homeland Security will take their children away. And we’ll put them into re-education camps.”

In just the last few months, anyone who says anything that doesn’t fit a particular point of view is in danger of losing their voice.

Facebook and Twitter in particular are actively promoting anti-biblical points of view and trying to silence those who disagree with their agenda.

Apple, Google, and Microsoft are actively involved in helping to eradicate any conservative voices.

Apps that allow freedom of speech such as Parler and Telegram are being removed from app stores.

Parler has even been shut out of the web servers it had relied on.

So big tech companies will allow all kinds of violence and pornography in the name of free speech, but will deplatform an app whose sole mission is to promote free speech!

Given all of these pressures, how would Daniel stay faithful?

3. Daniel’s Purpose

Da 1:8

[8] "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

Could do nothing about what he would be taught.

Could do something about the little things.

He never forgot His name

In the book of Daniel, his Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, is mentioned 10 times in 8 verses, whereas his Jewish name, Daniel is mentioned 75 times in 65 verses.

And when he is speaking about himself directly, for example when he’s reporting about the visions he sees, he only ever calls himself Daniel.

His own name was a constant reminder to him that his Judge is God, and one day Daniel would give account to his God for all of his choices.

All of us are going to give account to God too.

If you’re saved, you’ll stand in front of the Lord Jesus Christ at something called the BEMA. That’s a bit like a referee’s chair or umpire’s chair. It’s a place where people were assessed as to how faithfully they ran a race.

When we stand in foront of the Lord at the BEMA, He will judge all of the things we claim to have done for Him, and He will be able to tell if it was done faithfully or not. Then the Lord will give rewards for faithfulness.

The embarrassing thing for us is that there may be a bunch of things we did for the wrong reasons or with the wrong heart, and we’ll miss out on some rewards because of that. So we need to make sure that we’re living right to please the Lord.

If you’re not saved when you meet God, you’ll not be at the BEMA, the umpire’s chair, but you’ll be at the Great White Throne, which is more like the judge’s seat in a courtroom.

There, you will be judged on one main thing - what did you do with Jesus?

There are two parts to that judgment.

First, there is the part where everything you’ve ever done, said, or thought is brought to light, whether it was public or secret. That will show how much you understood the gospel and how many opportunities you were given to believe it.

The second part is to check if your name is in a special book called the Book of Life. No-one at the Great White Throne has their name in that book. The only names in it are the names of people who repented from their sin and put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

After that, each person is cast out of God’s presence and into the Lake of Fire.

God is the Judge that we all have to meet, so we need to remember that, and make sure we’re ready to meet Him.

He never forgot His teaching

What made Daniel even consider that eating the king’s food and drinking his wine would defile him? Where did the idea of being defiled by food and drink come from?

Le 11:44–47

[44] "For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

[45] "For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

[46] "This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth:

[47] "To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.”

Dietary laws for Jews that set them apart from all other people.

Ex 19:5

[5] "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:”

Christians today are not the same as Israel. We’re not bound by the Jewish law. We don’t have the promise of physical land or an earthly kingdom. But we are to be holy.

We read Le 11.45, where the end of the verse reads:

“…ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy”

Which is also quoted by Peter to believers in:

1 Pe 1:16

[16] "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

If you’re going to stand strong, you need to know God’s Word >>> “it is written” - the final and only authority we have is the Word of God.

He never forgot his priority

His priority was to honour God.

There were a large number of nobles brought to Babylon the same time as Daniel. Yet out of them all, none are remembered except Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, because they are the only ones that didn’t give in.

I love the reply Daniel’s friends gave to Nebuchadnezzar when they were given the chance to recant:

Da 3:16–18

[16] "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

[17] "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

[18] "But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

For Daniel and his three friends, their priority wasn’t to fit in.

Their priority wasn’t to follow the crowd.

Their priority was to be faithful to God, no matter who joined them or went against them, and regardless of the consequences.

That’s the kind of young people God needs today.

Young people who know and understand God’s Word, who will live by God’s Word, who will defend God’s Word, and who will share God’s Word - no matter what the rest of the world is doing.

Making God the priority may mean making time for God by giving up things you enjoy. It may mean giving up relationships that don’t help you walk close to the Lord.

But listen to this encouragement from Paul:

2 Co 9:6–8

[6] "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

[7] "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

[8] "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:”

It’s going to be much harder for you growing up in the world today that it was even for me, but if you make it your priority to honour God and be faithful to Him, what you do will abound and will be blessed by God.

4. Daniel’s Practicality

Finally, what practical ways can you use to help you stand strong for God like Daniel did?

Respect authority

Daniel disagreed with the king Nebuchadnezzar and with Ashpenaz, but he never defied them openly. He quietly spoke to the person who was immediately responsible for them and offered a reasonable test that gave God the opportunity to honour them and bless them - and God did.

Daniel’s respect for authority was given respect in return. Not only did Melzar, Ashpenaz, and even Nebuchadnezzar see the character of Daniel and his friends, but God also blessed them for their faithfulness.

There is no guarantee that things won’t get worse for us, at least in this world, when we take our stand for God. Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego ended up in the fiery furnace, and Daniel was cast into a den of lions, and although God delivered them, there was no promise that He would.

But when we stand for God in a way that is respectful of the powers that be, we’re showing respect for God too, and that can lead us to hearing a “Well done” from God.

Ro 13:1

[1] "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Heb 13:17

[17] "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

Remember to pray

When Nebuchadnezzar ordered all the wise men executed for not being able to interpret his dream, Daniel asked for time, then he and his three friends prayed to God.

Da 2:17–18

[17] "Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:

[18] "That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.”

When the officials who resented Daniel tricked Darius into passing a law that banned prayer to anyone except the king, it didn’t stop Daniel from praying.

But there’s a very importance lesson here.

Da 6:10

[10] "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”

Note those last 4 words - “as he did aforetime”.

Daniel didn’t suddenly start praying because there was a crisis.

People who have rarely sat in a prayer meeting may have attended one over the past year because they were so concerned about COVID. But I wonder if God really pays attention to their prayers.

Daniel already had a habit of praying at specific times in a particular place. He prayed at other times too, but the backbone of his prayer life was the set times of prayer he had three times every day.

How’s your prayer life? Have you got that “backbone” of praying in place in your life? We can’t expect God to be interested in us when we only come to Him in a panic when we’ve been clearly taught in Scripture to “pray without ceasing”.

Read the Scriptures

Da 9:1–2

[1] "In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;

[2] "In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”

By reading the Scriptures, Daniel understood that the the time of the Babylonian captivity was almost over. The first year of Darius was about 66 years after Daniel was first taken into Babylon.

Daniel read the Word of God, understood it, and was able to apply it to his moment.

Don’t let anyone tell you the Bible is out of date!

The Bible recorded scientific truths not discovered or proven until much later - the water cycle, the role of the blood, the emptiness of space, the spherical shape of the earth, and so many others.

But that’s nothing compared to the truths it reveals about things we can’t see with our eyes:

Heaven & Hell

Life after death

The nature of who God is

Standards of right and wrong

The message of the gospel

This book is so fantastic, but so few of God’s people really understand it - not because it’s too difficult, but because they don’t spend time in it.

Even in his eighties in a foreign country, Daniel always made sure he had time to read the Scriptures.

2 Ti 2:15

[15] "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

How important is God’s Word to you?

Important enough to spend 5 minutes doing a Bible reading when you’re about to go to sleep?

Important enough to rush through devotional notes before you get too bored?

Or is it important enough for you to sacrifice something you like so that you can get to know God better by knowing His Word better?

The interesting thing is where he was reading from in the writings of Jeremiah the prophet.

The message Daniel read was first spoken just before Daniel was taken into captivity, in:

Je 25:11

[11] "And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.”

It wasn’t written in a book until after Daniel was taken, and that book was read to king Jehoiakim, who took it and cut it to pieces with a penknife, and threw it into a fire (Jer 36).

God then told Jeremiah to rewrite it and add to it.

19 years after Daniel was taken to Babylon, Nebchadnezzar brought the rest of the princes and noblemen to Babylon as well. By this stage Daniel was second only to king Nebchadnezzar in Babylon and would have taken a special interest in the arrival of these nobles. Remember that these nobles were those who supported Jeremiah and loved the Lord.

It’s not that big a stretch to think that these nobles brought Jeremiah’s book with them to Babylon, and gave it to Daniel when he came down to greet them.

However he got it, he recognised it as the Word of God.