Daniel: Exile & Faith
Daniel • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 31:55
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· 78 viewsStarting our series in Daniel, we look at chapter 1 and how God is there in the midst of their exile. Apologies for the poor audio! We'll work toward fixing this in the coming weeks.
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Intro
Intro
Does your trust in God fade when the world seems to be against you?
How do you respond when you are serving a boss or government that is against your religion?
What do you do when God sends you out of his presence into exile?
We’re kicking off today in Daniel. Where do you start with a book like this?
It’s so famous and well known for the stories like “Daniel and the lions den”, yet, it’s also known for being somewhat mysterious and the source of a few disagreements about the meaning of the prophecies and end times.
The book is neatly divided into two parts, the Sunday School stories and the crazy visions. I’m being a little silly I know, but it highlights the difference between the two different parts. The more sensible way to describe it is “Two genres characterize the book of Daniel: court narrative and apocalyptic prophecy.” (Longman and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, 384.)
Despite these two different parts to the book, and the fact that the book is written in two different languages, the book of Daniel has a clear and unified message to God’s people, both those of his own day, and us here some 2500 years later.
We’re going to spend the rest of this year working our way through this book, and I hope that you will agree with me that, while all scripture is is good and important for Christians, we may find this book especially comforting and helpful to us, due to it’s message and themes that remind us of the place we find ourselves in history.
The book’s name-sake is of course “Daniel” - and he is understood to be, if not the author, at least the source of everything in the book. There are stories about him and records of the prophesies he gave.
As is usual for just about every book in the Bible, there are scholars who think that the book couldn’t have been written by Daniel, or that even Daniel was made up for the sake of telling the story. But for every scholar who doubts the authenticity of Daniel, there is another who defends it.
I’m not going to get into all the arguments, because as a preacher my main goal is to let the text speak for itself - which will in turn reveal Jesus Christ! However, I will say this much: Don’t be afraid of discussions about the textual history of the Bible.
God didn’t just drop the Bible out of heaven. He worked through real human people, with all their character and shortcomings in the midst of their historical context. We believe the the Bible was inspired by the HS and is the very Words of God to us, but that doesn’t mean that when the authors sat down to write various parts of the Bible that they went into some kind of trance and the quill danced across the pages of it’s own accord...
God used parts of what authors wrote, preserving them through history. God used editors and copyists to have His words to us compiled and transmitted.
It seems to those who have spent a lot of time studying Daniel that the text that we have before us may have had some tweaks along the way. But that’s ok. When you pick up a book off the shelf, it has been through many iterations before it was ready to publish. Rarely does a first draft of something ever get published. And sometimes even when a book has been published, they may chose to make some tweaks and release a new edition. Daniel has some signs that it had some tweaks, but that shouldn’t make us doubt the authenticity of the Bible - it should remind us of how amazing it is that God managed, even through a hugley complex process of writing and editing and preservation - to get His word compiled and out to His people.
Setting the scene (v1-2)
Setting the scene (v1-2)
But enough Talking about Daniel the book. Why don’t we start to look at it’s content. What’s in there? What does it mean?
Well we’re in chapter 1 this week and this chapter sets the scene for the historical context of the book, with a story that introduces us to Daniel in his early days in his government job.
Lets look at the first two verses:
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.
Ok ok. SO, from the outset we have date for the contents of the book, and the location, it’s in relation to Babylon after they attacked Jerusalem.
SO that would put these events around 6th Century BC - more precisely 605-530s BC. This is in the last days of Judah & exile (587) and the NK of Israel was long gone.
God’s people Israel (not the modern nation of Israel, we’re talking the ancient people group descended from Abraham), God’s people Israel were given the land of Canaan as a gift.
There were people who lived there before Israel, but they were so sinful and rebellious that God judgment was kindled against them, and he had them wiped off the map.
Then God gave the land to Israel so that they could live there with Him in peace and prosperity. They had to live in accordance with the laws that he gave them, otherwise God said that he would have to kick them out. They agreed to the terms, the people said “Yes, we’ll do it”!
Unfortunately, God’s people Israel didn’t keep up their side. They didn’t remain faithful, but they kept worshiping false God’s and rebelling against God.
So God brought His judgement against them. Because they we stubbornly rebellious and refused to repent, he exiled them to foreign lands.
The book of Daniel kicks of in the midst of one of Judah’s downfall. While technically, when this story starts Judah was still standing, they were effectively defeated. They were a vassal state to Babylon, and many of the tools that they used for worship were taken off to a foreign country.
So v1 & 2 line up with what we read in Kings and Chronicles - during Jehoikim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem, won, and took off with the precious tools of worship.
What a blow to God’s people. You imagine, i know it’s not a great equivalent, but just imagine that we were attacked by a foreign country and they confiscated all our Bibles. How would you be?
So you could still practice your faith, a bible isn’t necessary to be a Christian, but man, you’d be so cut. You’d be devastated! You’d feel like you couldn’t practice your faith to the full.
Add to this the other devastating words here: “the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God.” Da 1:2.
“the Lord delivered”
It was no accident that God’s people were overrun and defeated. It was God’s hand.
He brought his righteous judgment to bear on his People. But in a strange metaphor, this is what was already happening with the people of Israel and Judah. God was making a realty what had already happened physically: Just like the temple instruments, which we dedicated to serving God were taken away to the temple of other gods, The people of God, who were meant to be dedicated to him in service and worship were far from God; serving other gods.
God gave them what their hearts wanted - a life without Him, under the thumb of other spiritual forces. They may not have realized what they were getting themselves into - rarely do we understand the full extent of our sin. What seems harmless and gratifying now turns into oppressive slavery in the long run.
So, God’s people in Israel are more or less finished, they’re on their last legs. God gave them over. The objects dedicated to the Lord God have been taken away to live in the home of other gods.
The Problem & Proposal (v3-14)
The Problem & Proposal (v3-14)
So what happens next?
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.
Nebuchadnezzar want some smart and handsome Israelites on staff. This is for a few reasons -
one, it shows his own authority “look at all this people of noble blood, they are my servants”
two, it ingratiates them into the local culture - if you want to subdue a group of people who think you’re their oppressor, bring them in and honor them and give them prestige and connect them to your own culture & community.
three, it helps bolster the kings staff - he can have the best of the best working for him, for his own benefit.
SO as part of this process, they would get the honor and privileged of eating from the kings table. The kings food is going to be the best that you could get, and pretty much guaranteed to be excellent all of the time. They didn’t have menulog and uber eats and supermarkets full of foods from around the world. Normal fare for the average person would have been fairly bland, but these fellows were going to be eating and drinking the same stuff that the king did. The best food and drink money could buy!
So these smart, high-class blokes were being selected for a privileged position,. They were essentially going to be put through a 3 year uni degree so that they would be ready to serve the King. They’d have to learn the language, the processes, the systems.
So who get picked?
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.
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.”
Right, so here we see the problem arising.
The food would undoubtedly be scarified to false gods, and not be “clean foods” that Jews were required to eat under God’s law.
Daniel has resolved, he has vowed that he will not eat this unclean food. He would be defiled. He would be disobedient to God, and ceremonially defiled.
This is a big flashing light to say: Daniel is a faithful Israelite. Daniel is devoted to the Lord, even though he is in Babylon, figuratively in the temple of other gods. He will not be defiled even though he’s exiled - far from home.
But here’s the problem for the guy who job it is to look after them, he wants to through Daniel a bone, but he needs to follow orders. He doesn’t want to loose his job, or his head, because of Daniels dietary requirements!
But God caused him to have compassion! God was a work in the heart of this guy!
SO Daniel proposes a solution:
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.
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
Wow! See how they came through?
Daniel gently negotiated his case and gave them an opportunity to prove that they could be faithful to God and still good members of that community.
We’ll see in coming weeks, that it was not always possible for Daniel to remain faithful to God and follow the rules of the land, but it this case he could.
This is not a argument for becoming vegans - this was a miraculous work of God, that despite the food they were eating being “bland” and lacking protein, their physical condition was better than their classmates. This was a grace of God to them, that they could eat only veggies and water and be in better condition than those who had a more balanced diet.
The Outcome (v15-21)
The Outcome (v15-21)
And that brings us to the outcome of this episode -
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.
God was still at work, even when they seemed to be under the power and authority of people who didn’t serve God. God was still faithfully caring for his people, and rewarding those who remained faithful. They were obedient to the laws God had given them, and he helped them live by those laws with a clear conscience.
Through Daniel’s gentle word and God’s kind providence they were free to obey God’s laws in a land that didn’t care for their God. This wouldn’t always be the case, but while they had the chance they took it.
They remained faithful, and God remained faithful. Despite being in exile, God was right there with them. The overthrow of Judah would have looked like a defeat of their God, they were completely surrounded by a culture that was opposed to God, and uninterested in Him, yet the youths who remained faithful were rewarded:
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.
Now, it’s not a magic formula that if you tick enough boxes on your spiritual to-do list then God owes you a good job or that you’ll be best in your field or have the most money. But there is a clear theme running through scripture, and it is the implication of this passage, that God rewards the righteous faithful believers!
Christian, our rewards are stored up in heaven. You may be blessed with earthly blessings, but do not put your hope in these things, set your sights higher!
Here God blesses the faithful few, showing that God’s people can be the best in their field without conforming to the pattern of the world. God gave them learning and wisdom.
The world says to get on board their train - sell out, or perhaps compromise a little, cheat a bit to get a head, use underhanded ways to make progress, yet here is an example that God's people can faithful to Him, and shine as the best. God’s chosen ones are like stars in the night sky, shining forth in the darkness to bring light.
And the we get that fantastic little quip to end this introductory chapter: “And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.” Da 1:21.
Despite the fact that Daniel was taken captive, and instrument dedicated to God in the realm of the profane, despite the fact that Nebuchadnezzar tore overtook Judah, despite the fact that Daniel was a servant in the house of a pagan king, Daniel would endure.
Daniel would outlast not one, or two or three, but four kings (technically more!). He would have a staying power that through God’s grace made him live longer.
And even now, looking back on the course of History - Nebuchadnezzar is a famous dude who feature is history books, but he is not honored, nor is his life held up as an example of faithfulness to God - but Daniel’s is. In God’s providence Daniel is the one who had the privileged of being a conduit for God’s word to His people.
God remains faithful to his people, even in exile. We must remain faithful to him!
How do we respond?
How do we respond?
Jesus as a better Daniel
Despite the circumstances - be faithful!
Be instruments of worship in exile!
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Be purified - you have been defiled by the world, but we can be purified!
Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.