Remaining Holy in a Hostile World--Daniel 1: Not in the Promise Land Anymore
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed. You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. “Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone. And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life.
These are the words of warning that God gave by the mouth of Moses to the people of Israel before they entered the Promise Land. In Deuteronomy Moses spoke to the second generation and instructing them in the words of the LORD. In the final chapters he tells them what will happen if they obey the LORD and follow after Him and then what will happen if they disobey. As the verses we just read state, they will b e exiled. In Deuteronomy 30 we see the choice put before them. Deuteronomy 30:15-20 ““See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them.”
Over the past two Sundays we have been looking at the lead up to the Exile of the Kingdom of Judah into the hand of the Babylonian forces under the control of King Nebuchadnezzar. We also looked at the background and revival that took place under King Josiah a few years before the Exile that was a foundation for the four young men we are going to be studying. Today we will get into the text of Daniel and look at it in more detail.
Daniel 1 (The Exile)
Daniel 1 (The Exile)
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god. Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.
Verses 1-2
Verses 1-2
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.
So from our study two weeks ago we learned about Jehoiakim. He was the son of King Josiah who did all the reforms, but he didn’t walk in his father’s footsteps nor did his older brother Jehoahaz follow in his father’s footsteps. His older brother was captured and taken to Egypt before Jehoiakim was made a puppet king for the Pharaoh, then Nebuchadnezzar came to town took out of Pharaoh and Jehoiakim. When it rains it pours, but it is all part of God’s plan. Remember, God wants His people to be holy and they have not been. They have rebelled and gone against what God had commanded them. King Josiah knew they were on the brink of Exile after hearing the book of Law. The people knew they were on the brink of Exile after Josiah had the book of the Law read to them, but few listened. They had hardened their hearts and it was going to cost them. God was going to send in a powerful force.
Jeremiah 25:8–9 (NKJV)
“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Jeremiah 27:6 (NKJV)
And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him.
Jeremiah 43:10 (NKJV)
and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them.
When God wants to get our attention to correct us, He will many times use very ungodly people as His servant. Nebuchadnezzar did not know he was working for God, but God would use him to try to wake up His people.
Jerusalem, the city of God, the city of peace was encircled and under siege.
The LORD gave Jehoiakim, King of Judah, into King Nebuchadnezzar’s hand. God gave it to him.
It reminds me of the story often attributed to Abraham Lincoln when a general came to him in the Civil War. The general said, “Let us pray that God is on our side.” Of which Abraham Lincoln replied, “No let us pray we are on God’s side.”
Jerusalem, Judah, and Jehoiakim were not on God’s side at that time, Nebuchadnezzar was. God handed it over to him.
Not only that God allow the articles from the temple to be carried away to Babylon.
Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’
“Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord. “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
God had told them not to put their trust in the Temple. There was a place in Israel, Shiloh, where the Ark had dwelt for a time. It wasn’t there anymore. You are putting your faith in the wrong thing. You are committing adultery and idolatry. I was listening to Chip Ingram on Friday and he had a guest speaker who paraphrased a quote by Henry Blackaby (I couldn’t find the exact quote), but that an “idol is anything you turn for help, when God told you turn to Him for help.” Judah had turned many other false gods. Jeremiah 2:13 ““For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Now they were seeing the items from the Temple being taken to Babylon. They were taken from the temple in Jerusalem to the land of Shinar (Genesis 11:2 “And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.”) He puts them in the treasury of his god, Marduk or sometimes called Bel Marduk. The name Bel will play a role a bit later on.
Daniel 1:3-5
Daniel 1:3-5
Not only was King Nebuchadnezzar collecting the gold, silver, and other precious items from Jerusalem and the temple, but he was collecting people.
Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.
Instructed Ashpenaz, the chief or master of the eunuchs (castrated servants of the King). There was a task to find certain people
Nebuchadnezzar wanted:
Some of the King’s Descendants (So descendents of the line of David (some that would be in the Messianic line)
Some of the Nobles
They are young men (not kids- but what we would consider teenagers or there about) Between the ages of 10-16
No blemish but good looking (same Hebrew word used when talking about lambs being sacrificed in God blemish)
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 1
Ideal physical specimens. In addition to being handsome and healthy, these young men possessed intelligence, a teachable spirit, and poise. The training they received due to their royal heritage gave them great capacity for service in Babylon.
7. They are to be gifted in wisdom
8. Possessing knowledge
9. Quick to understand / learn
The goal is so that they could serve in the King’s palace.
They would need to learn the Babylonian language and writings.
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 1
teach them the literature and the language Indoctrination was the key to successfully integrating captives into their new homeland. In addition to learning the history of their overlords, captives would also learn their language and religious practices. The incorporation of political, cultural, and religious education made captives look favorably upon those who conquered them. They could then be used by their overlords to spread Babylonian ideologies and propaganda.
This was going to happen for 3 years and they would get food from the king.
these youths would be served the same kind of food as that which was served to members of the royal household.
For three years this training would take place so that the end goal as stated above that they would be serving before the King in his palace.
This is the world that Daniel and three friends were brought into, but first they would have to take a journey as Babylon is not exactly next door to Jerusalem.
Today it would take around 10 hours to get between the two cities. It is around 618 miles taking modern roads. It would have taken them weeks or months depending on the journey to go to babylon.
Daniel 1:6-7
Daniel 1:6-7
Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.
So the next thing we learn about is these four young men from Judah.
Daniel - name means God is my judge. When you see a Hebrew name with “el” at the end it is shorten version of the Hebrew Word Elohim “God”
Hananiah- Yahweh has acted graciously / the LORD has been gracious.
Mishael - unclear meaning, but some believe means “Who is what God is”
Azariah - Yahweh has helped /the LORD has helped
These are their Hebrew names. They are their identities. These are the names they were given on the day they were circumcised on the 8th day. These are the names they had been called. Yet all that would be changed.
They had been taken from their land, their families, they had to endure a long journey to this foreign city where they didn’t speak the language and everything was different.
Then they were given different names.
Daniel became Belteshazzar - Bel protects the prince
Hananiah - becomes Shadrach (unsure of the meaning)
Mishael - Meshach
Azariah - Abednego (Servant of Nabu - another god of the Babylonians)
All this change had happened. The question is: what was going to be their response. They were not the only ones taken into captivity. They were not the only young men in training from Judah. Were they going to just turn from the God of their fathers and just take the easy road or were they going to be holy as God is holy? Next week we will continue to see what happens.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I pray that none of you have been in a situation like what Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah went through or that you will have to experience it. But put yourself in their situation. What if one day the United States was ransacked and the Capital burned (like I opened with two weeks ago with the War of 1812). Our government crumbles and you are taken to a foreign country where you don’t know the language or the culture. Maybe you are put into prison or maybe you are put into schooling. How do you respond? Would you feel like God had forsaken you or would you chose to continue to follow Him as best as you could? As we talked about King Josiah last week and his reforms. Those decisions were made by Daniel and his friends before the captivity took place. We need to continue to seek the LORD and say for ourselves and our households (each day if needed) we will serve the LORD and continue to serve Him.