THE
LORD WHO RULES (DANIEL 1)
The foundation of courageous faith is the
sovereign faithfulness of the Lord God.
Trouble
in this world? Here's a promise of Jesus
to everyone who follows him "In
this world you will have trouble." (Jn. 16.33)
Here's a promise of the apostle Paul to everyone
who follows Jesus “In
fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”
(2 Timothy 3:12)
Brothers and sisters, these are not encouraging
promises at all are they? But they are very important promises. And I feel
quite foolish bringing them to you, my brothers and sisters here in India for
you know the reality of these things far more than we do in Australia. The Lord
keeps you in our hearts and our prayers. The reality of the trouble we have in
this world as followers of Jesus, The reality of the persecution that everyone
must face who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus is certain regardless
of anywhere in the world you live in.
That reality is what makes the book of Daniel so
precious and powerful to us. Because Daniel is a book that explores powerfully
& creatively how the people of God live under opposition. It’s a very
realistic book it doesn't cover over the difficulties of living in the midst of
hostility but it’s a book of hope, real & genuine hope because it reminds
us of the reality of the Lord's rule in this present age, indeed in every age and
his ultimate victory in the age to come. In the book of Daniel we learn that to
survive as Christians we need courageous faith. We meet models of such
courageous faith that we can imitate. We meet fantastic examples of godly faith
and godly conduct in the face of ungodly opposition and evil.
More importantly what is revealed is the
foundation of such courageous faith which is the Lord himself. In the book of
Daniel, It's not the human characters that are the stars or it’s not the human
characters who are the ultimate heroes but it’s the Lord himself. It's good to
remember that in reading the Bible we must focus our attention on the Lord God,
his words, his actions and his character. To focus too much on the human
character can lead to error and bad biblical interpretation and almost
inevitably to moralism and salvation through good deeds. To avoid such terrible
error we must focus on the Lord God and ask ourselves what do we learn of him
and so respond to him in worship and thanksgiving. And so as we look at Daniel
chapter 1, we are going to be reminded that the Lord we serve is the Lord who
is sovereign, he is the Lord who rules.
1. THE LORD RULES IN JUDGEMENT
(VV1-2)
The Lord's people
1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of
Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. Whenever
we turn to a passage in the Bible, in particular the Old Testament, It's always
important to remind ourselves where this passage fits in the overall timeline
of the Bible.
Where does this passage fit in the story of God
redeeming the world to Himself? In Daniel we find in a dark time in the history
of God's people. Its 605 BC, It’s some 400 years since the nation of Israel was
at its most glorious under King David & Solomon and since then it’s been
largely a story of disappointment and decline. Under King Rehoboam, the
kingdom divided, Israel in the north, Judah in the
south. There's been a succession of kings in both the north & the south but
all of them except a couple evil in the eyes of the Lord. And then in 722BC, little
over a 100 years before our passage, before the time of Daniel the northern
kingdom of Israel was conquered & dispersed under the Assyrian empire. Leaving
Judah small & isolated at the mercy of whoever the current superpower. Firstly
Assyria to the north but then Egypt to the south until then the mighty Babylonian
Empire under King Nebuchadnezzar emerged. Here's a map of the
Babylonian Empire at around the time we find ourselves in. [MAP] in
605BC on his way back from a huge victory over the Egyptians.
1:1
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
Nebuchadnezzar and his fierce, successful and
powerful armies surrounded the small city of Jerusalem cutting off supplies, Cutting
off all chance of help and sealing its doom. As a result of this siege, King
Jehoiakim gave his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. Judah became a possession of
Babylon and to make sure everyone knew who the boss was. Nebuchadnezzar took
hostages from among the Jewish noble families including [v.6] Daniel, Hananiah,
Mishael and Azariah. And not only did he take people [v.2] he took “... some of the articles from the temple of God. These he
carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house
of his god.”
These are disastrous times for the Lord's people Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael & Azariah, and eventually thousands of other Jews find
themselves in a foreign country under a hostile authority where their beliefs are
misunderstood & mocked. The reason Nebuchadnezzar took the articles from
the temple of God was not so much because he liked the look of them. It wasn't
because they were financially valuable, rather he was demonstrating that the
Babylonians gods whom he served were more powerful than the God of the Jews and
that's why he put this temple articles in the treasure house of his god. In
Nebuchadnezzar's eyes the beliefs & practices of the Jews were misguided
and foolish, the gods of Babylon were far wiser far more powerful than the God
of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.
Terrible times for the Lord's people and the
challenge for them was how to live now in this new situation. How do you live
as the people of the Lord when the authorities, the government, the people in
charge do not believe in the Lord God? Mock the Lord God! Hate the Lord God? That
of course has been the question that the people of God asked for hundreds and
hundreds of years.
·
That is the question of every Jesus’ follower in
India?
·
That is the question of every Jesus follower in
Australia?
How do you live as the people of the Lord God
when the people in charge hate him? That's the question the book of Daniel
helps answer. For the people of Daniel's day they were wondering whether they
should continue to serve the Lord. They were wondering if Babylonian gods were
more powerful than him. They were wondering if the Lord was as powerless as
their circumstances made it appear.
The
Lord: That's
why it’s worth reading once more the opening 2 verses of the book of Daniel. Particularly
the first few words of v2, Can you see them?
1:2
And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some
of the articles from the temple of God.
Very important words those are easy to miss out. And
the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of
Judah into his hand. Right from the very beginning, we are to
understand that something bigger is happening than merely a military victory
& defeat. Nebuchadnezzar was certainly a mighty warrior with a powerful army
and successful empire. But the only reason he defeated Jehoiakim, the only
reason he carried off articles from the temple, the only reason he was able to
take hostages was because the Lord delivered them into his hands. That's a
remarkable truth. It’s one that is going to be reinforced in this chapter and
throughout this book.
The Lord rules in the big & the small. Nothing
takes God by surprise. Nothing happens that is outside his will and purpose. The
Lord rules! It wasn't an accident that Nebuchadnezzar stumbled into Jerusalem. He
came as the servant of the Lord, He just didn't know it! Nebuchadnezzar and the
Babylonian gods hadn't defeated the Lord. He was an instrument of the Lord's
judgement on his people for their unfaithfulness to him. The Lord is utterly
sovereign. Even in the midst of invasion, destruction and exile. The Lord rules!
He rules even in judgement. To know that to know the Lord in all of his
sovereignty is the foundation of courageous faith. And we can see such
courageous faith in what we read next as we are taken into the royal court in
Babylon.
2. THE LORD RULES IN EXILE (VV3-20)
The
Lord's people
1:3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court
officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal
family and the nobility 4 young men without any physical defect,
handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to
understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace.
It must have been a scary time for these young
men. Babylon would have been an impressive city, Massive and prosperous it
really was the centre of the known world. And these men were to serve the King
who seemingly ruled that world. [v. 5] we discover that they were to undergo 3
years training! And the training was a sort of indoctrination, assimilation
into the Babylonian culture. Firstly [v. 4] they were to learn the language and
the literature of the Babylonians. This would have included philosophy and
astrology, Babylonia was renowned for its magic, omens and incantations along
with mathematics and medicine. Lots to learn there, that's why they had to be
quick to understand! The second part of their assimilation was to tempt them
with luxury.
1:5
The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table.
The best food and drink available in the whole
world would be theirs. They were to be privileged and pampered. The third part
of their assimilation was especially shrewd.
1:6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah:
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new
names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael,
Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
Names matter especially in the ancient world. My
name is Paul, which means small and insignificant! I think my mum and dad got
it pretty right?? For the men from Judah their names reminded them of their
identity as the Lord's people.
·
Daniel means “God is my judge.”
·
Hananiah means “The LORD is gracious.”
·
Mishael means "Who is what God is?"
·
Azariah means "The LORD is a helper".
But the new names they were given Belteshazzar,
Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego[i] all those new
names include the names of Babylonian gods. See the point! This was just
another part of Nebuchadnezzar's plan to impress on these men and to declare to
everyone that the Babylonian gods were superior to the Lord God. And so their
names were changed. We're only 7 verses in and we've got vessels from the
temple in the house of the Babylonian god and we've got the key men of Judah
bearing names of the Babylonian gods. Nebuchadnezzar's goal of assimilation is
advancing nicely. But here is where things get interesting.
1:8 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.
Daniel draws a line in the sand. He learns the
language & the literature of the Babylonians, he gets the new name but he
won't eat the King's food. It was a courageous and risky decision. He was
standing up to the King of the world! In v.10 the official is anxious that
Daniel's decision might lead to his own execution. He might have suggested, “You
don't go against Nebuchadnezzar lightly!” It’s a significant decision that
Daniel is making. [v.8] Daniel resolved
not to defile himself with the royal food and wine. It’s a strong word
describing a weighty decision (The word
“Resolved” often used for committee / General Body meetings to say a strong
decision by a group of people that has huge weight in it). But you may be
wondering why he has to draw the line at food & wine?
- Some people suggest that it may have been offered
to idols but that's not stated anywhere and usually wine wasn't offered like
that in any culture, and he ends up eating vegetables which may be offered to
idols as well.
- Others suggest the food was unclean according to
the OT food laws. But again wine wasn't unclean in the Law.
- It seem most likely to me that eating the King's
food & drinking the King's wine was seen as committing yourself to being
dependent on Nebuchadnezzar. To eat the King’s food and to drink the King’s
wine was to bind yourself to the King.
It was throwing your lot in with Nebuchadnezzar. There's
no such thing as a free lunch. In fact later in Ch 11 (v.26) people who eat the
King's food are seen as loyal to the King. But Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael &
Azariah their loyalty is to the Lord. They may be in another country far from
home surrounded by pagan customs, but their loyalty is to the Lord. It may
appear that the Lord has been defeated and it may be far easier to just to
completely blend in. But they resolve to set themselves apart from everyone
else. While everyone else is happily
munching on rich foods, fancy deserts and expensive wine, they ask for
vegetables & water for 10 days. Its courageous faith! Daniel is humble
about it [v.8] he asks permission and suggests the 10 days as a test.
In America and Australia some people suggest that
everyone should follow Daniel's example and eat just vegetables and water. It's
called the Daniel diet! People suggest that big course we see it here in Daniel
chapter 1 great blessing will come to you (including a smaller waistline) If
you follow Daniel's example. I am not against eating vegetables and drinking
water. Although I must tell you that I love eating meat! But that is a terrible
way to read the Bible. You can eat vegetables & drink water if you want but
that's not the point of these verses at all! This is not about resisting rich food;
it’s about resisting a foreign king. This is not about physical health, but
spiritual health! It’s about making sure that your loyalty above all to the
Lord God. And these 4 young men are a great example to us in that! They are
teenage refugees and they're making a stand of faithfulness to the Lord God
that has echoed down through the ages.
There are many ways in which we'll be offered the
royal food and fine wine of our age. And the question is, will we have the
courageous faith to draw the line & say "My loyalty is with the Lord, in
spite of anything go wrong in my life"? In Australia one of the important areas that we need to draw the line
in at the moment is in the areas of sexuality and gender and marriage. In
Australia traditional marriage between a man and a woman is no longer very honoured.
Same sex marriage has been legalised and homosexuality is not just accepted as normal
but as right & honourable. Influential people are even undermining the
truth that there are just two genders Male and female. The school teachers are
being forced to teach about sexuality & gender in a way that is contrary to
the Bible. Health care workers are given what is called diversity training to
educate them out of old fashioned ideas that there are only 2 genders. As time
goes on Christians are being more pressured to give up being faithful to the
Lord's teaching on such things. It’s becoming harder and costly to draw the
line and resolve to serve the Lord faithfully.
Here in India of course you have even greater and
more dangerous struggles and challenges. Like Daniel and three friends, we find
ourselves in exile facing tough and costly decisions. Decisions with
consequences, the question is, will we have the courageous faith to draw the
line and say "My loyalty is with the Lord, come what may"? That
sounds hard which is why we need to keep remembering the main lesson of this
chapter.
The
Lord: The 4 young men are definitely great examples but
again the focus of our passage is not so much on their faith but on the rule of
the Lord. And we can see the firstly in v9, “Now
God had caused the official to show favour and compassion to Daniel”
The men may be alone in Babylon exiled, in the
royal court, at the mercy of Nebuchadnezzar but the Lord rules in exile. And
his rule is both big & small, Not only does he bring invading armies, but also
he works in the heart of Babylonian officials. Isn't that encouraging? The Lord
exercises his complete rule in both the big and the small in the hearts of
government officials, and neighbours. Whenever we feel alone and outnumbered, whenever
we feel powerless and afraid. We do well to remember that the Lord who ruled in
Babylon and worked in the heart of a Babylonian official, he rules now here and
everywhere you go.
And you know that he can work in the hearts of
everyone you talk with? So stand firm. Don't compromise. Don't be afraid to be
loyal to the Lord. For he rules; he rules India; he rules the school your
children go to; he rules over your neighbourhood; he rules over your churches;
he rules over your families and his rule is powerful! The Lord's sovereignty is
the foundation of courageous faith. Of course it may well take some wisdom for
you to know where to draw the line in each circumstance. We'll need to pray
about and keep learning the word of God in the Bible; we'll need to help each
other figure it out. Sometimes it won't be straight forward; we’ll need to
decide whether we can go along with what's happening like Daniel & the
others seemingly accepting the name change, but at some point we'll need to
take a stand like they did with the food. And it will be risky we'll need
wisdom and courage. And the fuel for such courage is to be convinced that the
Lord rules in our situation. That's the encouragement of what happens next in
this chapter.
1:15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and
better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the
guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them
vegetables instead.
Isn't that terrific! I figure it must have been
the Lord because there's no way that vegetables alone could have that effect? I
can't believe that! But the Lord rules in exile! And the Lord didn't just look
after their health.
1:17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and
understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could
understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
That's going to be really important in the rest
of the book, but notice again “God gave”. If you'd been there in the royal
court you would have assumed that the boys were just really good learners but
unseen, it’s the Lord at work. The Lord who makes everything works out
according to his plan. And then after 3 years, the moment arrives; the boys
come before the King.
20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which
the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians
and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
The Lord rules! In fact notice that it’s the
defeated Israelites who were ten times (10x) better than all the Babylonian
magicians & enchanters. The Lord rules and He rules in power. It’s a simple
lesson that is repeated throughout this chapter (in fact throughout this whole
book). But it’s the fundamental lesson that we need to learn in order to live
wisely in this hostile world. But of course our chapter doesn't end in v20. There's
one more verse left. And we can easily skip it or think that it doesn't matter
very much, but actually this last remaining verse has one final very important
lesson for us concerning the Lord's rule.
3. THE LORD RULES IN FAITHFULNESS
(V21)
21
And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
It seems like quite an incidental thing at first.
Just another historical detail in the chapter, but in fact that short seemingly
ordinary sentence proclaims the Lord's sovereign faithfulness! For King Cyrus
was the Persian King who defeated the Babylonian Empire in 539BC. Babylon which
seemed so strong and invincible ended just like every other human empire. And wonderfully
in the same way Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was the Lord's instrument of
judgement on his disobedient people.
King Cyrus of Persia was the Lord's chosen
instrument of rescue. Under Cyrus, the exiles returned to Judah and the temple
was rebuilt. Long before it happened, the Lord had promised it all. Hear the
Lord's promise through the prophet Isaiah preaching some 100 years before the
exile “I will raise
up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild
my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty.”
(Isaiah 45:13)
Friends, the Lord is not just sovereign, he is
faithful to his promises. The Lord is not just all-powerful, he is good, he is
trustworthy. And so after the 70 years of exile promised through Jeremiah, the
Lord brought down the Babylon Empire through his instrument Cyrus. The Persian
Empire and Daniel lived through it all, He begins a teenager and he is an
elderly man now as he watches Babylon fall. Daniel is the symbol of the truth
that the Lord rules in faithfulness. And the Lord's sovereign grace is the
foundation of the courageous faith that is required to live for the Lord in the
midst of hostile authority. That was the courageous faith of Daniel. It must be
courageous faith too, which perhaps sounds quite daunting. Perhaps you have
difficulty imagining yourself courageously taking a stand like Daniel did
before Nebuchadnezzar.
Well let me give you one final breath taking
encouragement. The very same sovereign faithfulness of the Lord that used Cyrus
to achieve his purposes for his people led Jesus, the Son of God, to leave
heaven and to come to earth and experience the very hostility of this world
towards the Lord and His people. Jesus was handed over to die because of our
sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. If you want to be
convinced that the Lord is powerful and good; Sovereign & gracious look
ultimately to the cross & resurrection of Jesus. And Jesus is our ultimate
model of courageous faith.
Hear these words from 1Peter 2:23 “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not
retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself
to him who judges justly.” Friends, the same courageous faith we see in
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael & Azariah we see perfectly in Jesus. And Jesus in
his death & resurrection defeated the evil one who stands behind every
expression of opposition to the Lord and his kingdom on his people. The Lord
Jesus is risen and reigns, He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords! That
promise of Jesus that I began with from John 16 I left off the end of the
promise “...
In this world you will have trouble." (Jn 16.33)
Do you know what Jesus says next? “...But take heart! I have overcome
the world.” (John 16:33) And through faith in Jesus
we are connected to that courageous faith, his Spirit dwells in us growing
within us such courageous faith so that like him we too might entrust ourselves
to the sovereign Lord who judges justly. The Lord is sovereign, the Lord is
good, trust him, give him your loyalty, and take your stand. May God Bless You!
[i] Daniel's absence
from the tale of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego suggests that it may originally
have been an independent story. The Hebrew names of Daniel's friends were
Hananiah (חֲנַנְיָה
Ḥănanyāh), "Yah is
gracious", Mishael (מִישָׁאֵל
Mîšā’êl), "Who is what
El is?" and Azariah (עֲזַרְיָה
Ǎzaryāh), "Yah has
helped", but by the king’s decree they were assigned Chaldean names, so
that Daniel became Beltheshazzar (בֵּ֣לְטְשַׁאצַּ֗ר Belteshazzar), Hananiah became
Shadrach (שַׁדְרַך Šaḏraḵ), Mishael became
Meshach (מֵישַׁ֖ךְ Mêšaḵ) and Azariah became Abednego (עֲבֵ֣דנְג֑וֹ ‘Ǎḇêḏ-Nəḡō). Shadrach's name is possibly derived from
Shudur Aku "Command of Aku (the moon god)", Meshach is probably a
variation of Mi-sha-aku, meaning "Who is as Aku is?", and Abednego is
either "Slave of the god Nebo/Nabu" or a variation of Abednergal,
"Slave of the god Nergal." The Chaldean names are related to the
Hebrew names, but the name of a heathen god has replaced that of Yahweh. The
word "Dura" (where the statue is erected) means simply
"plain" or "fortress" and is not any specific place; the
Greek historian Herodotus mentions a golden image of the god Bel in Babylon,
but the gigantic size of this statue might suggest that its origins lie in
folklore. The statue's dimensions (6×60 cubits) are linked intertextually with
those of Ezra–Nehemiah's Second Temple (60×60 cubits), suggesting that the
king's image is contrasted with the post-exilic place of worship for faithful
Jews like Daniel.
Credit: The Devotion was delivered by Rev. Paul Sheely @ PTC Trainers’
Training in Carmel Conference Centre, Salem on June 21, 2019.
