Knocked around but not owned
Title: Knocked around but not owned
Introduction: I want to be like….
Did you ever want to be someone that you know like a star, a sports person, your boss, colleague, or friend? In the course of my lifetime – I’ve wanted to be all sorts of people: pro basket ball players, tennis players, singers or even actors and stars. Although growing up I relised that most of these people were pathetic models to Godly Christian behaviour, these people lived for themselves and sometimes on the expense of others. Is it wrong to want to be like other people – ‘no’ but you have to pick the right people to model upon. After spending time reading Daniel I want to be like Daniel: to have strength in my worldview of God and his world. Let me tell you a little history:
Daniel was young bloke in the period of 605 BC he was about 14-17 years old when the Babylonian empire swept through the nations. Assyria once a powerful nation now weakened and joined with Egypt in the hope to stop the Babylonians becoming stronger. That next year the Babylonians crushed the Egyptians and subdued the territories surrounding it including Judah. Nebuchadnezzar secured the throne and took a small band of hostages and some vessels from the temple of the Lord. Some of these hostages included Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
The opening verses in Daniel 1 raise huge questions regarding the nature of God and of his future purposes, both in the world in general and among his people in particular.
Da 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
Da 1:2 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.
Da 1:3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—
These few verses set the scene and the historical context of our passage. These events occurred in history to suggest the exile really happened meaning that Daniel and his friends were people who lived during this period. Bringing to my first point today ..
Point 1 – The program of Assimilation into society
The Borg are without question one of the most fearsome and relentless forces in the Milky Way Galaxy. A massive society of cybernetic automatons abducted and assimilated from thousands of species, the Borg Collective is intent on achieving "perfection" by spreading its influence into every corner of space, consuming technologies and individuals without conscience, destroying entire civilizations in its wake. The Borg isn’t supposed to have individual identities. When drones are assimilated they quickly become integrated into the whole and become part of the Hive Mind. Any remaining sense of self is mostly eliminated by the nanoprobes injected into each victim and the technology fused into their bodies.
But for all their might, Borg methods of assimilation don't always completely work. An essence of "self" seems to remain in drones in spite of the best efforts of the Collective and the Borg Queen.
Nebuchadnezzar’s plan was a great plan; he was a great king in charge of a great kingdom. So he was no pansy king. Nebuchadnezzar’s plan involved a program of assimilation of the Israelites. The fist stage involved picking the right people to train.
Da 1:4 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.
The second stage involved throwing these young men into the world of the Babylonians or Chaldeans for three years training. Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.
This world of the Babylonians was renowned, a world of priests, magicians, astrology, philosophy and the best literature in the world. Daniel and his friends were to study this literature and become masters of it.
The third stage in assimilation – they were given special privileges and honour reserved for a chosen few.
Da 1:5 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.
What was happening to Daniel and his friends was not unique. Other Hebrew’s in the OT were often found at the court of foreign kings. Joseph had been there in Gen 41-48, and Nehemiah would serve in a pagan court later. Jews often had political and social orders imposed on them. They believed that the world is God’s world it was a place to be involved in rather then avoided. For a Jew who believed in a creator God training in a pagan king’s palace was all right. There is nothing wrong with being there. So don’t ever feel there is anything wrong with living in this world and ‘doing worldly things as long as it doesn’t compromise our Christian values.
Finally stage four of assimilation dealt with more of their personal identity.
Da 1:7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
The king took names composed of the names of God (El or Yahweh) and he turned them into names that either included the names of the Babylonian gods or meaningless. This final stage meant that Israel at this point had lost all distinctiveness. These young men had been completely assimilated into the Babylonian collective just like the Borg. This whole passage till now if we look on the surface we see God’s kingdom losing. It looks as though God is being owned by this earthly nation. In the first two verses the vessels of the God of Israel are found in a pagan temple. In the next four verses we see that the sons of Israel are found under the names of the gods of the nations. No we find that the people of God are being assimilated into this pagan nation. Will the people of God be fully assimilated or will they stand?
What about your world view? Are you assimilated into this society, have you taken in the values of this community, impose them on your families, have you become part of the rat race of this world rather then being set apart with God’s worldview.
Don’t lose your saltiness as Jesus teaching in Mathew put’s it:
Mt 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Mt 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Mt 5:15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
Mt 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven
We live in evil times, be a light and live in the world but take hold of your heritage and be distinct in who you were created to be.
This goes to my second point.
Point 2 – There is no such thing as a free lunch
Daniel and his friends were no doubt afraid but bold in their approach to stand up for all that they believed in. Daniel learning from other stories, like Abraham, Joseph, Moses and David was aware that there was nothing wrong with being in a pagan court and learning pagan things but there were dangers to avoid. Daniel must not act out of his own best interests, merely to preserve his life.
So what is Daniel’s response?
Daniel hung onto his belief in God. He was going to preserve his faith and maintain his integrity. He decided to say ‘no’.
Da 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 had accepted deportation, re-education and a name change, but he would not bend on this issue. He went against the graciousness of the king and what could possibly be wrong with food and wine?
The first thing that could be wrong is that the food is offered to idols and Daniel turned it down for this reason, very unlikely. The Babylonians offered every kind of food to their gods, including vegetables. Another thing that explains the food is that according to OT food laws it was permissible for Jews to eat only certain meats. Although this doesn’t explain why reject the wine!
The only explanation I’ve been able to consider is found in another part of Daniel:
Da 11:26 Those who eat from the king’s provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle.
It is clear that those who shared the king’s table also entered a covenant relationship with him. By eating his food they committed themselves to a friendship and so accepted that they had an obligation to be loyal to him.
If one businessman asks another out to lunch and offers to pay there is often a sense of obligation such as when the businessman comes round a week later and asks for a favour it is hard to turn him down. There is no such thing as a free lunch!
The food and drink would defile Daniel in the sense that it challenged his freedom to be God’s person. He wanted to say a clear ‘no’ to assimilation and to being a lackey for the king. By eating vegetables he showed that he and his friends were a distinct and special group. They were God’s people first, no matter the cost.
There are a lot of things we can say ‘yes’ or ‘it’s cool to do that’ but sometimes to stand up as God’s people we need to say ‘no’ and maintain our integrity. For instance going to a dance party – there is nothing wrong with dancing or parties. There is nothing wrong drinking alcohol responsibly when you’re at the correct age. However you need to work out when to say ‘no’ or when to ‘stop’ especially if people offered you ‘recreational drugs’. Will you stand up and maintain your integrity or will you just give in and do what your friends do.
There is nothing wrong with a decision to go to Uni, Tafe, and Bible College or own a business or just go and work fulltime for someone else but if any of these things stop you from being God’s person in God’s world then you need to say ‘no’, and change your lifestyle. We are representing not ourselves but Christ, when we go to church, or school, or uni, or work, or a party, or out with friends. Everywhere we go, we represent Christ.
Will you stand like Daniel and say ‘no’ where it counts.
In the end God is in control of all things and he acts in his timing and this brings me to my last point..
Point 3 – God acts and owns all situations
Da 1:10 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.”
The official wasn’t the only one afraid, Daniel would have been petrified. He was stepping on unknown ground. If the king was displeased he could have both their heads. We are told that God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel. The official agrees and co-operates with this strange request.
Da 1:12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.
Da 1:13 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.”
Da 1:14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
Daniel had stepped out and took a risk that God would supersede his efforts and it happened:
Da 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.
Da 1:16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
Verse 17 provides us with another reference that God is active:
Da 1:17 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.
Through God’s mercy and action these young men won over assimilation.
The real point here is that – God’s reputation had been on the line. These young men represented God and it was he who gave them success. He gave them physical health and intellectual abilities. God preserved his people. The hero might have been Daniel but the power to do it was God’s. God doesn’t need us to do his work, so for instance if Cam had to leave, Simon had to leave, and I had to leave to go elsewhere to serve in a different ministry, this church will continue to function – with difficulty and hardship but it will function because God is sovereign. He is in control and he owns all situations. God works through us like Daniel to fulfil his purposes. God put’s people in places so that they can serve others.
We can also live in this way and stand out like Daniel by the grace of God and if we trust in him.
Conclusion – Daring to be Daniel
The Daniel we saw in this chapter was someone we often wish we could be and he had something that we often wish we had, I know want to be like Daniel. He was secure in his trust in God and was therefore unlike many in his time who thought the only way forward in the exile was to withdraw into a cave and struggle to preserve a cave-like faith, separated from any contact with polluting Babylonian life. Nor was Daniel like those who gave into Babylon, and said that history had suggested that the Babylonians were the way ahead. They had the knowledge, learning and culture. They were wealthy and powerful. Daniel’s security reflected neither of these positions. He knows the benefits of the world and its dangers. However Daniel did not retreat nor was he owned. He was an agent for God in bringing others to know God. Daniel confronted the world head on and did not withdraw from it, in the hope that God would work through him to transform and change him. He is a model for us in our attitude to the world in which we live. The message of this chapter is that this world is God’s world. It will present us with many challenges to which we are going to say ‘yes’. At the same time it also warns us that there will times where we need to say ‘no’. Daniel reminds us as Christians in today’s world that because Jesus as already paid the price for us on the cross by his precious blood, we must not allow ourselves to be bought by another at any price. We must live for Christ.
Daniel 1 tells us it is possible to operate as a person controlled by the kingdom of God in a world dominated by petty human kingdoms. This possibility depends on the grace of God and our trust in him.
Amen.