New Series In Daniel

Daniel 1    Conforming or Transforming

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, 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 placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 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. 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. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

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

 17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

 

Think about your own worldview. What beliefs or assumptions characterize how you view the world? Now think about your culture as a whole. What characterizes the general culture's worldview?

How have you experienced the challenges of isolation, indoctrination, assimilation, and confusion? How did you fight to remain faithful to Christ?

How do these scriptures inform us today of how we should resist the overwhelming pressures of our society to conform?

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 1 Peter 2:12

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 1 Peter 3:15–16

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:5–6

 

What are some of the roadblocks you face in winning the respect and admiration of the non-Christians you rub shoulders with on a regular basis?

What are some of the areas Christians take a stand against in the secular environment that should be secondary issues, thus hindering their witness?

Why do we find it difficult to maintain a proper balance in trusting God to help us resolve problems in our relationships and in trying to work it out in our own strength? What steps have you taken personally to maintain this balance?

Bible Study Tuesday night at 7:30 PM on Zoom

 

Zoom Online Bible Study Meeting Tuesday evening at 7:30   https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2402286476

 

 

 

 

How suddenly life can change. Over several years I have faced some challenges… Twice the fearful spectre of terminal cancer has arisen over these last five years; a specialist diagnosed a 50/50 chance of a jaw tumour being terminal or requiring a 3 month stay in ICU as my jaw was replaced with titanium, thankfully he was wrong and the situation was fixed after several day surgeries over a year. Another time my doctor, in tears, returned a verdict of "bulky prostrate", thankfully after another year of tests and surgeries, the diagnosis was found to be wrong. I got in the habit of reminding those who were concerned for me "Its OK the Lord is Sovereign. God is in control."

How life can change suddenly.  These things may surprise us, but they don't surprise God.

Kenneth Gangel notes that "the Book of Daniel is not about Daniel. Like Abraham, Moses, and Joshua, Daniel was God's vessel, a tool in his hands to accomplish his eternal purpose on earth. In the Pentateuch and historical books, God's sovereignty appears as the backdrop, an assumption about the God of the universe. In Daniel it becomes the central theme, a message to be shouted to God's people Israel and to the pagan nations surrounding them: There is a God, and he is in charge of his world. God knows what he's doing, and he's doing it."

Daniel was a young man who grew up in the traditional family values of the Jewish culture. Then he unexpectedly found himself in a culture that was foreign to everything he had known. His value system, his worldview, his moral compass was challenged repeatedly at every turn. His world evolved into a world of pluralism and paganism. (Hawkins).

 

Daniel begins by telling us when he first went to Babylon in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah. Scholars agree that this was 605 B.C., and we see parallel accounts in 2 Kings 24:1,2 and 2 Chronicles 36:5-7. It helps us to remember that there were three distinct deportations; this first one in 605 when Daniel and a few others were taken captive to Babylon; the second in 598 B.C. when Jehoiachin and the royal family were captured along with Ezekiel and all the treasures of the temple (2 Kgs. 24:10-17); and the third in 587 B.C. when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and Judah ceased to be the Southern Kingdom (2 Kgs. 25:1-21).

The nations of Israel and Judah had repeatedly forsaken God over the centuries. There would be national apostasy and then national crises, and sometimes a return to the Lord. But this time was different.  Israel "did evil in the sight of the Lord," experienced defeat from their enemies, and were taken into slavery.

Dan 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.2 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 Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem, Jehoiakim was king of Judah—the eighteenth king since Rehoboam. Out of all of the kings of Judah, eleven were wicked men—and Jehoiakim was one of the worst. Like his predecessor, Jehoahaz, "he did evil in the eyes of the LORD" (2 Kings 23:32).

Jehoiakim committed one of his most flagrant sins when he not only ignored the word of the Lord that was delivered through the prophet Jeremiah but actually destroyed the sacred Scriptures. He was sitting in his winter apartment one morning when several of his assistants brought the scroll on which Jeremiah had written God's words of judgment, which stated that the king of Babylon would attack Jerusalem and destroy it (Jer. 36:28–29). Jehoiakim sat nonchalantly and listened to his right-hand man, Jehudi, read from Jeremiah's scroll. He then deliberately and systematically cut each section from the scroll as it was read and tossed it into his wood heater. Piece by piece he destroyed the entire manuscript, openly and flagrantly rejecting God's warnings. We read that "the king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear" (36:24). They would have done well to listen to Solomon's proverb: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline" (Prov. 1:7). Jehoiakim and his associates demonstrated that they were definitely fools, and they eventually reaped what they had sown!

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked Jerusalem a second time. This time he captured 10,000 Jews and carried them back to Babylon. The author of 2 Kings records that Jehoiakim arrogantly reneged on his agreement. Consequently, all Judah paid a terrible price.

The relationship between Nebuchadnezzar and the puppet king of Judah continued to deteriorate. Eleven years later, the king of Babylon made his final attack on Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and literally destroyed the whole city—just as Jeremiah had prophesied it would happen.

Jehoiakim chose to "spit in God's face." He scoffed at God and literally destroyed the prophetic Scriptures. Although he had initially cooperated with Nebuchadnezzar and "became his vassal," three years later he rebelled, which led to his untimely death (2 Kings 24:1).

Gangel says "Daniel wastes no time getting to his theme; the sovereignty of God. How was the nation of Israel lost? The Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand. Daniel introduces the primary theme of his book right here. The captivity of 605 B.C. was not a victory for Nebuchadnezzar any more than the crucifixion was a victory for Satan. The God of creation decided that year that a new chapter would open in his personal "world book," so he sent Jehoiakim to defeat, and Daniel to Babylon." When Nebuchadnezzar brought the vessels back to Babylon, he put them in the temple of his god. Daniel tells us that twice in one verse, indicating its importance. He wants us to understand that this is not only a battle between nations but also a battle between deities; God against Marduk, great god of the Babylonians. We have here one historic pinpoint in the battle of the ages, the eternal struggle between heaven and earth, light and darkness, truth and error.

Veldkamp says it well: "Jerusalem versus Babel is the great opposition that has dominated world history throughout the ages. It is the colossal struggle between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, the Church and the world, the Christ and the Antichrist. Whereas John tells us in Revelation of the final battle and ultimate triumph of Christ, Daniel describes one of the many phases in the struggle (Dan. 1:9,10)." (Veldkamp, p. 9).

THE PRESSURE TO SUBMIT

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,⁴ 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.

Daniel and his three friends were chosen, it's clear they were not ordinary citizens in Jerusalem. The Jewish historian Josephus theorized they were from the household of Zedekiah, the third son of King Josiah and the last man to serve as king of Judah before Nebuchadnezzar's army destroyed Jerusalem and set fire to Solomon's temple (2 Kings 25:1–7).

Nebuchadnezzar employs an ingenious technique to control the future dynastic rule of his descendants and the ultimate supremacy of his Babylonian Empire. He employed brainwashing, a deliberate attempt to purge out any earlier religious, sociological, or cultural influences and make these boys, the children of the nobility of Israel, thoroughly Babylonian. He knew he had his hands on gifted young men of royal lineage, the social influencers of their age. Find gifted people, train them, and take advantage of their skills! That was his plan! These boys were the cream of the crop, the royals of their own nation. And he was going to capture their minds and hearts. According to Plato 'the education of Persian youth began in their fourteenth year,' and it is reasonable to assume that the Babylonians commenced the training of young people at about the same age of the Persians. Daniel then would likely have been about fourteen or fifteen years of age when he was taken into captivity and began his training." (Miller, p. 60).

 These young students were also to be far above average. Physically, they were to be outstanding—free from any defect whatsoever (Dan. 1:4). They were smart: showing "aptitude for every kind of learning." They were to be "well informed" and "quick to understand." Socially, they were to be "qualified to serve in the king's palace," which means they were well adjusted psychologically with outgoing and appealing personalities. Daniel and his three friends measured up in every respect. 

Nebuchadnezzar's purpose was to inculturate the students. He was going to Babylonise them. Much as our Australian Universities today seek to secularise the university students, or perhaps Marxise them.

He changed their language

The language of normal communication in multi-racial Babylon was Aramaic, written in an easily learned alphabetic script. (NIV Study Bible p.1300). Parts of the book of Daniel were originally in Aramaic, other parts in Hebrew.

He changed their literature

The king sought to fill these young minds with Babylonian philosophy, Babylonian science,

Babylonian astrology, and Babylonian religion. His goal was to re-educate them away from the roots of their previous belief system and all of its traditional values.

 

he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.⁵ 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

He changed their lifestyle.

Nebuchadnezzar not only set out to change their language and literature but also their lifestyle (Dan. 1:5).  He appointed daily provisions of his own delicacies. In other words, these boys were provided with gourmet delights straight from the King's table. Now remember these boys were Jews and lived by a strict kosher diet. Nebuchadnezzar's intent here was far more than simply introducing them to new food, he was about the business of seeking to change their very lifestyle. Not only did they learn letters, they learnt manners. He insisted that these young men eat the best food and drink the best wine in the kingdom. Their daily allotment came directly from the kitchen; they ate and drank from the same menu as Nebuchadnezzar. It also included changing their names to Babylonian names.

Nebuchadnezzar also sought to change their loyalty (Dan. 1:7).

He did this by changing their names. All four of these young men's names spoke about who they were and from whence they'd come.

We don't often get the point of them having their names changed. In the ancient world, it went to the heart of their personal identity, the core of who a person was. It was intended to confuse these young men and reorient them away from Yahweh and toward the pagan gods of their new home. Nebuchadnezzar changed their names to speak praise to his gods.

● Daniel: "God is my judge" → Belteshazzar: "Baal protects the king"

● Hananiah: "God is gracious" → Shadrach: "Under the Command of Aku (the moon god)"

● Mishael: "There is none like God" → Meshach: "There is none like Aku (the moon god)"

● Azariah: "God has helped me" → Abed-Nego: "The Servant of Nebo (the Babylonian god of wisdom)"

Criswell says, "The attempt is made to wipe out every memory of the God of their fathers. In each new heathen name a favorite god in Nebuchadnezzar's pantheon of idols is exalted." (Criswell, p. 16).

He wanted to train these young people to handle Jewish affairs of the exiles and then rule over the people once they were back home in Jerusalem. They had tremendous leadership abilities. His goal was clear. He set out to change their very way of thinking and their very loyalties. (Hawkins) This was Neb's end game!  Change their loyalties!

Our brightest young minds here in Australia are being re-educated and retrained by humanistic philosophy.  Many Universities give preference to employing Marxist lecturers. Is it any wonder we see concerning social changes?

It is about Indoctrination (1:4) and Assimilation (1:5)  Converting these followers of Yahweh into patriots of Babylon required a total immersion into the world of Babylon. While changing their minds, the Babylonians also sought to change the Hebrews' lifestyles. Each was to eat like a Babylonian and drink like a Babylonian.

These world conforming processes are generally undetected. Did you know that most people approved of slavery prior to the 19thCentury? They felt that reformers like Lord Shaftsbury and John Newton were stirrers who were set to upset the economic and social structures of a Christian world.  The culture had approved of and endorsed the wickedness of slavery. And many approved it in the name of Christianity! How does this happen?

THE POWER TO STAND

Though Daniel and his friends went through the classes, they resisted the pressure to change their thinking. This can be seen through the historical accounts of these young men in the chapters to follow. The pressure on Christians to change their thinking today comes from the print media, movies, and television as well as from teachers. For example, we have all experienced the pressure of our society. There was an advertisement running last week on Channel 9's Nine Plus from the Sydney Morning Herald. It showed a man reading his bible. The threat of the ad was "We are watching you and we are going to get you!" In other words the Sydney Morning Herald was saying that they are targeting Christians for persecution.  They made no bones about it. I notice that ad only ran a few days.

What advice does Daniel have for us today?  He says four basic things to us.

First,  "Don't get led on, be vigilant."

Geoff Thomas wrote "Nebuchadnezzar wanted them Babylonians in heart and spirit, body and soul. He wanted them alienated from the Lord, and utterly marinated in Babylonian ideals, assimilating the culture's whole way of life and values, forgetting all their past. What they laughed about, and what they would lay down their lives for would henceforth be Babylonian. "The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table." It was at this issue of the food that Daniel drew a line. When he was being trained in "the language and literature of the Babylonians" (v.4), he didn't protest. And when they were given new names (v.7) he didn't protest. But when Daniel was put on a new diet (v.8) he would not conform.

Daniel didn't protest when they called him 'Belteshazzar' even though it was a name of a Babylonian idol.

Is this a hill to die on? That is the question that needs to be answered. I note that Daniel accepted the name change forced on he and the other three young guys in the normal course of work. But it appears that they probably used their own old Hebrew names when they weren't in the presence of the pagans.

Revelation 2:14 says, "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols." In Daniel's day, eating food sacrificed to idols was a sin against God.

He saw the food as simply an outward sign of an anti-Jehovahist system, and that his whole way of life was being radically transformed and replaced. The menu wasn't accidental. The meals were presided over by the priests of Babylon and whenever you had a meal thanks was given to the gods who provided this food. Young Daniel recognised the challenge, "What fellowship do we have with Belial? What agreement is there between the temple of Jehovah and idols ?"

There was danger in that dining hall.

There in Babylon is this crowd of teenagers and they all have fallen into line and tuck into Babylonian food: "You've got to give and take, haven't you ?" they say. "Why be awkward ? Don't rock the boat Daniel. We have to keep our heads down. Don't antagonize them. We are on their turf.

I am reminded of old Bishop J C Ryle. He stood out against the anglo Catholicism that was creeping into the Anglican church.

Many, said Ryle, would argue that it is not a Romanizing move­ment, but simply a desire to introduce more ornate ceremonial. 'I have no sympathy with that opinion at all.' Ritualism is a Rome-ward movement and leads to popery. It is proved by the writings of the leading Ritualists of the day. 'I believe that Ritualism has done and is doing universal damage to the Church of England, and that unless it is checked or removed, it will prove the destruction of the Establishment.'

At the conclusion of this paper he declares: There can be no real peace while our church tolerates and fosters popery. God forbid that we should ever sacrifice truth to a love of peace. What others think I do not know. My own mind is made up. I have come to one decided conclusion. I say, give me a really Protestant and evangelical established church or no established church at all. When the Reformed Church of England renounces her Protestant principles and goes back to popery her life and her glory will have clean departed, and she will not be worth preserving. She will be an offence to God and not a resting place for any true Christian.

Ryle', says Marcus Loane, 'marked out a path for evangelical churchmen in days when much of the Church of England was drifting on the tides of liberalism and Tractarianism'.

Every denomination has the tendency to downgrade, to compromise because of threats from the culture. Don't compromise.

"Don't give in…be resistant." Heart Decisions

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.

Tolerance the key word of the post modern age. But the bible still says John 14:6, Acts 4:12. True tolerance accepts that religions are mutually exclusive.

Hawkins wrote: He knew what he believed.  One of the reasons so many of us fall into our own world culture is that we do not know what the Bible says and thus we compromise and assimilate ourselves into the culture with no real convictions. Seldom do we "purpose in our hearts" … we need to purpose in our hearts well before the testing times, so that when that time comes and we have to make a decision, we've already made the right decision in our heart and mind. "Decisions regarding our careers, our marriages, our friends, our habits, even decisions of trusting Christ are made when we are young. Daniel had made his decision long before he got to Babylon. He "purposed in his heart" to stand upon the Word of God."

An old Sunday school song had these words: "Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone, dare to have a firm purpose, and dare to make it known!"

Daniel says to us "Don't give up…be consistent."

Our tendency is to become so overwhelmed by a culture around us that we simply want to give up even trying to hold on to biblical principles in the marketplace. If Daniel is saying anything to us today it is this: don't give up, be consistent.

His personal choice of holiness had a powerful influence on three areas

of his person (1:15-17, 20).

At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

Hmmm Vegetables.. only.. couldn't they muster a little meat every now and again? I mean I survived on broccoli juice for 9 months. Yuk.   No meat.  But these guys had to remain consistent. As long as they were in Babylon, veggies only!

"Don't give out…be persistent."

Daniel 1:21, thus Daniel continued. Daniel was in it for the long haul. He finished strongly. He was persistent. It took time but he won in the end and his influence made an incredible difference. The Book of Daniel is speaking to our modern world today. Daniel's words are not simply theoretical. They've been beaten out on the anvil of personal experience.

Daniel's body "looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food" (v. 15). Second, his spirit was in tune with God, who gave him a special ability to understand visions and interpret dreams of all kinds (v. 17). Third, his mind was sharp. "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" (v. 20). They were only teenagers beginning their career, and already they were head and shoulders above grown men. God does bless his people in a unique way in body, mind, and spirit when they dare to be Daniels, walking in holiness and refusing to compromise. And this obedience to God continued for another 70 years! It was a "long obedience in the same direction." And very far from boring.

THE PRIVELEGE TO SERVE

God Honoured their Decisions.

1 Samuel 2:30 Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, 'I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever'; but now the LORD declares, 'Far be it from Me--for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.

John 12: 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

God Honoured them With Spiritual Revelation

Daniel 1:9 says, "God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel."

17 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 Honoured them With Royal Elevation

¹⁸ Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar.¹⁹ The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's personal service.²⁰ As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.

God Honoured them With Personal Continuation

²¹ And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king. This has covered a span of 70 years!

Daniel remained in the palace until the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia. He and his friends had an influence on Nebuchadnezzar II (606-560 B.C.) in the first three chapters of Daniel. He had an influence on Nebuchadnezzar III (555-539 B.C.), also called Nabonidus, whose pride was broken and who surrendered to the Lord in Daniel 4. Then he influenced Belshazzar (553-539 B.C.), who saw the handwriting on the wall in Daniel 5. Daniel was there to interpret the writing and give the message to the king. Daniel had a powerful influence on these three Babylonian kings, even though the kings were in authority over him.

He left a legacy.

Jesus will be persecuted." His personal holiness had an influence on his three friends (1:7, 8).

The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. 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.

All four young men were given new names, but it was Daniel who first resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine. And Daniel's three friends followed his lead. Not only that, but two chapters later in this book we will see these three young men standing all by themselves in front of a fiery furnace facing death. Daniel is nowhere to be seen. Remembering the resolve that Daniel had alone and how he brought them into the test, they then stood firm without compromise before a powerful king in a test bigger than the first.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (3:16-18)