197; Trust: Sovereignty; Daniel 1
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· 20 viewsA big part of trusting God means my responses to life's difficulties are determined less by how I feel and more by who He is.
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Intro
Intro
A big part of trusting God means my responses to life’s difficulties are governed by his character and rule.
A big part of trusting God means my responses to life's difficulties are determined less by how I feel and more by who He is.
Intro
Intro
Sooner or later, we all hear that question; where was God? I’m all alone in this.
Have you ever noticed that some of the most difficult times in our lives seem like the times when we are most alone? Where was God?
How does one trust in those times? Does it even matter?
We sing songs like Cornerstone or, when I was a kid we sang, Tis So Sweet. We claim to trust Jesus and proclaim marvelous truths ,but then struggles happen and we respond like we’re in the struggle alone. We think - that’s a good idea but this is the real world and... Have you been there?
Intro Daniel - trusting that God is who he is when I don’t understand why things happen or how things will work out.
How many
Transition
Transition
Open to Daniel
Daniel was living one of those sitiations
Historical setting:
Canada, US, and ISIS,
Egypt, Israel, and Babylon
The people are in theological shock. Sure we stopped going to church, sure we like to party in the temples of the gods of the other cultures, sure we don’t like some old-fashioned rules that make us look weird, but this is crazy! Where is YHWH? Hepromised! And now it appears he is gone. This is the world of Daniel.
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Text
Text
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 delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with 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.
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 delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with 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.
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—
It’s easy to read along in your Bible and keep a certain set of “Sunday School” paradigms in order, but then you come to Daniel and it’s like a cold cup of water in the face!
Does Daniel really say the Lord delivered…? Did the Lord do this?
We are being introduced to the primary character/hero in the book of Daniel. It’s not Daniel, or his friends, or Nebuchadnezzar, it’s God.
Noticed the way Lord is written. It’s not the word YHWH, its Adonai.
But even that is shocking! We tend to look at the world through a simple lens; if it’s good, it comes from God, and if it’s bad it comes from the devil.
Not everything that seems good ends up being from God and not everything that seems bad comes from the devil. As a matter of fact, sometimes I’m just as much my enemy as the devil is. Explain.
Here we see an important reality; sometimes God is willing to send difficulties into our lives in order to grow us in areas like dependence and holiness. How you live and trust God, matters to God.
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—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. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
Explain process
Stalin’s chicken
Remove them from their religion - remove them from their families - remove their ability to have a family.
They are each given new insulting names (Names in scripture indicate ownership). We are given the names of four.
Daniel (God is my judge) is called Belteshazzar (Lady protect his life)
Hananiah (YHWH has been gracious) is called Shadrach (I am very fearful of god)
Mishael (Who is what God is) is called Meshach (I am of little account)
Azariah (YHWH is my help) is now called Abednego (Servant of the shining one)
The idea is that they would forget who they are and become a part of their new culture.
Mention when a young person first moves out.
But there is something admirable about four of these young men. There is something different.
Honestly, we have no idea where they learned about YHWH.
Parents, grandparents, youth workers...
These are the times when it’s most difficult to trust God’s sovereignty. For these young men, their entire world has crashed and burned.
Elizabeth Elliot
What do I know to be true even though my husband is dead: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord...
A big part of trusting God means my responses to life's difficulties are determined less by how I feel and more by who He is.
There is something about these young men.
We don’t know how or where or how these teenage guys learned to trust God. Something someone planted, stuck.
Parent, grandparent, or youth-worker.
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.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
Daniel and crew were willing to draw the line.
Daniel Diet? Food sacrificed to idols?
It doesn’t say why, but something about this brings Daniel and crew to the point of drawing the line. Maybe, probably, they are just brought to the point of saying enough is enough. This is one way they can retain their distinctiveness.
Test us! The idea is there were others that weren’t willing.
A big part of trusting God means my responses to life's difficulties are determined less by how I feel and more by who He is.
Notice something very subtle here in the text. Daniel said test us against the others. They weren’t the only ones - they were the only ones willing. Trusting God isn’t a popular choice when it’s costly.
Respectfully, Daniel comes to the head honcho...
We live in a time where if you disagree with someone or if you need to walk in a different way, it is okay to belittle them or castigate them. That is not the way of the Christian.
A big part of trusting God means my responses to life's difficulties are determined less by how I feel and more by who He is.
Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel,
Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel,
Who is the hero of the story?
Daniel didn’t know! He didn’t have any idea of all the things God was doing in his life. Just because he couldn’t see him, didn’t mean he wasn’t there.
Daniel didn’t know.
The reality is as John Piper put it, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life and you may be only aware of 3 of them.”
You say, “you got a verse for that?” Aside from ?
You may find yourself in prison, and God may be advancing the gospel among the guards, and making the free brothers bold. ()
You may be dealing with an ongoing struggle; God may be making the power of Christ more beautiful in your weakness. () The way you live through the difficulties matters, trust who he is.
You may have lost a family member and be struggling to understand why God didn’t heal them; God may be preparing to show you his glory. () The way you live through the difficulties matters, trust who he is.
You may be dealing with false accusations; God may be preparing you for leadership. () Your actions matter, trust who he is.
You may be dealing with false accusations; God may be preparing you for leadership. () The way you live through the difficulties matters, trust who he is.
You may be struggling with why a loved one who is refusing to believe; God may be preparing a picture of his patience and a powerful Kingdom worker. (; ) The way you live through the difficulties matters, trust who he is.
I’m not even touching the passages about Ruth, Esther, Jeremiah, Mary and Joseph and so on. They didn’t know, Daniel, SMA didn’t know, and neither do we.
You may walk through famine, be driven from your homeland, lose husband and sons, and be left desolate with one foreign daughter-in-law, and God may be making you an ancestor of a King. ()
A big part of trusting God means my responses to life's difficulties are determined less by how I feel and more by who He is.
So how does this passage end up?
You may find the best counselor you’ve ever known giving foolish advice, and God may be preparing the destruction of your enemy. ()
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.
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.
At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 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.
And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
You may be a sexually pure single person and yet accused of immorality,
Daniel and crew made choices based off what they knew to be true about God rather than how they felt. God protected, God gave knowledge. God is the hero. Our task is to trust his sovereignty and live like...
You may be shamed and hurt, and God may be confirming your standing as his child and purifying you for the highest inheritance. ()
Step back from you see a gentle undertow of God’s presence and grace even in the difficulty.
How does the chapter flow? It starts with complete disaster, but God is still there. Terrible things happen and God still gives them favor. They respond in godly ways and God blesses them.
Daniel and crew end up distinguishing themselves among all the wise-men in the kingdom.
And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus. A Persian? Kingdoms come and go, God is forever. Troubles come and go, God is forever. Trust his sovereignty.