Exiled: Daniel 1

Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 36:5-8

We are Starting a New Series on the Book of Daniel

Titled “Exiled”

In this Series, We Will Learn Some Lessons from the Book of Daniel that are Still Extremely Important for Us Today

As Christians, this Present Age and World that We Live in is Not Our True Home

That Means We are Exiled in a Foreign Land

The Book of Daniel Teaches Us How to Remain Faithful to God in Exile

For Most of the Audience, I can Create an Image in Your Head of a Horrific Event by Simply Saying 2 Numbers - 9/11

Some of You May Have Been Watching When the Airplanes Crashed into the Towers

I was in 2nd Grade and at a Friend’s House After School

I Remember Seeing My Friend’s Mother Cry While We Watched the Clip Being Played Over and Over on the News Station

For Most of My Life, I’ve Heard Rhetoric Like, “We Live in the Greatest and Most Powerful Nation on Earth” and “America is the Powerhouse of the World”

Thinking Like that is Why it was So Hard for Most Americans to Process that We Had Just Been Attacked by a Foreign Nation

We Had to Come to the Realization that We Aren’t Invincible

This is What Happened to the Kingdom of Judah and the City of Jerusalem in 605 B.C.

They Believed that They Were Invincible Because God Would Always Preserve His People, His City, and His Temple

But Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon Besieged Jerusalem on 3 Seperate Occasions

2nd Time - He Took King Jehoiachin, and 10,000 Others of Jerusalem

3rd Time - He Completely Destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple

But in the Book of Daniel, We Want to Focus on the Very First Invasion

This Book Follows 4 Young Men Who Were Taken Captive in that 1st Invasion by Babylon

Daniel 1:1–2 (NASB)

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god.

When a Foreign King Would Take the Treasures Out of a Temple and Place Those Treasures in the Temples of His Own Gods…

That was to Say, “My God is Greater and Stronger than Your God.”

But Daniel Takes that Thought Out of Our Heads Before We can Even Think it

He Says that Judah’s God is the One Who Gave Judah Over to Babylon

This Will be a Theme Throughout the Entire Book, and is a Very Important Lesson for Us…

God is Always Completely in Control

Daniel 1:3–6 (NASB)

Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service. Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

Daniel and His 3 Friends Were Likely Teenagers from the Royal Family in Jerusalem

They Were Without Blemish/Defect

They Were Good Looking, Intelligent, and Wise

Nebuchadnezzar Wanted to Conform Them to the Babylonian Culture and Way of Life

They Were to Learn Their Writing and Language and be Educated in All Things Babylonian for 3 Years

They Were to Eat the Food and Drink the Wine that Came Straight from the King’s Table

They Were to See the King as Their Provider

Daniel 1:7 (NASB)

Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego.

Their Names Were Changed

Daniel (“God is My Judge”) to Belteshazzar (“Bel, Protect His Life”)

Hananiah (“YHWH is Gracious”) to Shadrach (“Command of Aku”)

Mishael (“Who is Like God?”) to Meshach (“Who is Like Aku?”)

Azariah (“YHWH has Helped”) to Abednego (“Servant of Nego”)

All Their God Honoring Names Were Changed to Honor Babylonian Gods

After They Were Fully Conformed to the Babylonian Way of Life, They Would Begin Serving the King as High Ranking Officials in the Babylonian Government

Imagine, if You Can, Being Taken as a Teenager to a Far Away Exotic Country

This Country is Far Away from Your Parents, Family, Friends, and Religious Family (Anyone Who Might Hold You Accountable for Your Actions)

And this Foreign Government Offers You the Opportunity of a Lifetime to Have Whatever You Want

You’re Offered Food and Wine Fit for a King, Money, Power, and Any Number of Other Fleshly Desires You Might Have

How Would You Do in that Atmosphere?

Have You Ever Swam in the Ocean?

Every Time I Have Swam in the Ocean, I End Up Far Away from Where I Started

I Remember One Time that I was Boogy Boarding and When I Finally Looked Toward the Shore, I was 2 Hotels Away from Where I Got in the Water

The Waves Come in at an Angle, Which Slowly Pushes You Down the Shore

A Better Analogy Would be Swimming in a River

If You’ve Ever Swam or Kayaked in a River, You Know How Hard it is to Fight Against the Current

You Can Fight All You Want and You Still Might Not be Able to Remain in the Same Place

Or You Can Just Relax and Do Nothing, and You Will Go with the Flow of the River

This is What Daniel and His Friends are Now Facing

They are Thrown into this River of a Foreign and Pagan Culture, and They are Expected to Go with the Flow of the Current

Going with the Flow Would be Much Easier and Will Probably Have More Immediate Benefits

Christians Today and Throughout History Have Faced the Same Difficulties

We Belong to the Kingdom of God, but We Still Live in the Kingdoms of Men

Many People Choose to Conform to and Embrace the Worldly Culture in Which They are Surrounded

Some Try to Fight it, but Eventually Give Up Because of Temptation and Encouragement from the World

And Then a Few Fight Against the Current with Everything They Have in Order to Stay Faithful to Jesus

Being a Christian Isn’t Easy When Exiled in the Kingdoms of Men

And if We are Honest, We Could All Say that We’ve Gone with the Flow at Points in Our Lives

Let’s See How Daniel and His Friends React to this Strong Push Toward Conformity

Daniel 1:8–13 (NIV)

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”

Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.”

Daniel Resolved (Set His Heart) Not to Defile Himself with the Food and Wine of the King

There are Several Theories as to Why He Did this:

So He Wouldn’t Eat Unclean Foods

But Wine was Not Considered Unclean, so Why the Change to Water?

Because the Food and Wine Could Have Been Dedicated to Idol Gods

But So Would the Vegetables

To Set Himself Apart from the Luxurious Temptations of Completely Conforming to the Babylonian Culture

This Might Have Been to Remind Himself to Rely on God During this Time of Temptation and Testing

At the End of the 10-Day Testing Period, God Blessed Their Faithful Endurance by Making Them Healthier than All the Others Who Ate the Protein-Rich Diet

So the Official Kept Them On Their Vegetable Diet

Daniel 1:17 (NASB)

As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.

God Not Only Blessed Them Physically, but Mentally as Well

And this Verse Sets Us Up for Future Chapters Where Daniel Will Begin Interpreting Dreams and Seeing Visions

After the 3 Years of Assimilation Training was Completed, They Appeared Before the King

The King Found Daniel and His 3 Friends to be Head and Shoulders Above the Rest of the Young Men Who Were Trained

He Even Found Them to be 10 Times More Wise and Understanding that All His Current Royal Wise Men

Nebuchadnezzar Gave All 4 of Them Jobs in His Royal Palace

Daniel Worked for the Babylonian Government for Close to 70 Years

Applications

Recognize That You Are An Exile

As a Christian, You Do Not Belong to the Kingdoms of the World that You Currenlty Find Yourself in

Philippians 3:20 (NASB)

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ

Only When We Recognize that We are Exiles in this Present World Can We Have the Fortitude to Faithfully Swim Against the Current

No One Ever “Eagerly Waited” for the Full Culmination of the Kingdom of God While Simultaniously Feeling at Home the Kingdoms of Men

Recognize The Ethic Of A Faithful Exile

In Almost Every Way, Christianity is about Balance

If You Lean Toward Extremes, You are Likely Doing Something Wrong

Some Might Have Looked at Daniel and Said, “I can’t believe that traitor! He conformed and assimilated right in with the wicked Babylonians. And now he even works for the enemy!”

And Others Might Have Said, “Daniel, come on man, just eat the food and drink the wine. It’s not a big deal, and besides, it will make things easier for you.”

Living as an Exile Isn’t About Conformity, Nor is it About Rebellion

Daniel Could Have Chosen to Conform and Live Just Like the Babylonians

But that Would Have Been Wrong

Romans 12:1–2 (NASB)

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Daniel Could Have Chosen to Rebel Completely Against the Babylonians in an Attempt to Overthrow Them

But that Would Have Been Just as Wrong

Romans 13:1–2 (NASB)

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

Did You Notice How Both of Those Passages Came from the Same Letter (Written to Christians in Rome) and How They are Less than 20 Verses Apart?

Christians, Like Daniel, are to Submit Ourselves to Our Earthly Rulers, Regardless of How Wicked and Immoral

We are Not to Rebel Against Them, but We Also Aren’t to Conform to Their Wicked and Immoral Ways

And When the Kingdoms of this World Demand Conformity, We Respectfully, Kindly, Gently, but Boldly Resolve to Live According to the Ethics of Our True Kingdom

That is the Ethic of a Faithful Exile

That is the Ethic of the Kingdom of Jesus

Live in the World, but Not of the World

Even When Under the Power of the Kingdoms of the World, We Trust that God is Still in Control and that He will Reward Our Faithfulness at Jesus’ Return