Babylon was a superpower. A vast and mighty Empire, taking in some of the most fertile land of the middle east. The Babylonian empire at it’s height ran from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers up to Turkey through to the bottom of the land of Judah near Egypt. The King of this vast Babylonian Superpower was Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon conquered cultures, and so your King was replaced by a Babylonian puppet King; your riches were taken away, they also added your god to their many. In 597BC the Babylonians swept South through the modern-day Palestine and besieged Jerusalem—the city of God’s people, as we read in Daniel 1:1-2. Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians
“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.”
Not only is King Jehoiakim his family, the nobility, court officials removed, some of the finest and fittest sons that Israel were taken away with them, those with the best aptitude for learning, along with all of the gold implements from the temple that Solomon built to God. So now the future looked bleak for Israel without her temple, they were a nation again in captivity. Where were they to worship or pray? For those taken into captivity the question was “How do you remain captive to God when your captive in a foreign land, when your home, family, and land are suddenly taken away?” Daniel and his friends faced that enormous task of being captives for God as they were to be trained for 3 years in the ways of Babylonian wise men, courtiers which involved being trained to interpret the stars; trained in the languages of Akkadian and Aramaic; able to read incantations; story tellers of all the Babylonian myths and legends; as well as know and use all the scientific formulas for making glass, mathematics and astrology. Daniel was now faced with the conflict of kingdoms, the dilemma of where you turn when a crisis hits. The question asked was how do you assimilate as a captive to God when your captor doesn’t fear God, let alone care about what you believe? It is the same question I’m sure we’ve asked so many times
how do we go about ordinary life as Christians in the world in a culture that is toxic for Christians, where God is so squeezed out of life. Babylon was a pagan empire that not only sucked up other cultures it had a policy of trying to inculcate you with theirs. To the Babylonian people Daniel and his mates were a marginal group who worshipped a strange God. This is where we find ourselves this morning as we begin this new series on Daniel. As Daniel and his friends resolve to be captives for God
that loyalty was tested immediately when they get given new Babylonian names:Daniel becomes Belteshazzar, Hananiah becomes Sahdrach, Mishael becomes Meshack and Azariah becomes Abednego
The ones we’re familiar with from our Sunday School days. What isn’t as apparent is their Hebrew names reflected God in them, like Daniel’s name in Hebrew means “God is my judge”. His Babylonian name means “May Marduk protect his life”. What we see is that loyalty for Daniel and his mates was something more radical than Nebuchadnezzar could ever realise. The question is how do we deal with temptation to give into living the way everyone else lives even when we know it’s not what Jesus would want us to be doing? We live in a culture which says do whatever you believe is OK for you as Jesus reminded us in Matthew 7:13-14
“Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention. (The Message)
For Daniel following God meant that he had to defy his new captor
as we read in verse 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 in this way.
So how could Daniel’s loyalty to God be seen in not eating some food?
how could the simple act of refusing to eat some food be an act of defiance against a King? Are we asking was there something wrong with it? Was it because the food sacrificed to idols? This food was more than just an act of kindness from the king, so to eat the Babylonians King’s food, the food from his table. This was making a statement you were the kings property, like we have a saying “there’s no such thing as free lunch”; so to eat the food meant you were obligated to the king. The food wasn’t the problem. It was a statement about who your King was
for Daniel and his mates as they weren’t prepared to be owned by anyone else except God. It is right here we get an inside look at what’s going on vs. 9 “Now God had caused the official to show favour and sympathy to Daniel” God’s is in control. Now come back up at verse 2 “And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hands” verse 17 “God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning and Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.”
God’s sovereign control in human history is what Daniel trusted in
he would not serve anyone else, his loyalty rested solely on God. The question is “how do you purify your heart? How does a proud heart become a humble heart? Like how do we resolve to be faithful when those tough times don’t make sense? “From God’s side, we escape ourselves by being loved by Jesus Christ through the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit Himself. From our side, we escape ourselves by learning a lifestyle of intelligent repentance, genuine faith, and specific obedience.”[1] We look to Jesus so we might become more like him.
Daniel was a faithful, fearless and courageous servant of God who was forged and strengthened by the tests he endured. This is what we will which see unfold over the coming weeks, as Daniel’s life is a story about God’s reputation on the line. The result of Daniels faithfulness verses 18-20
At the end of the time set by the king for their training, the head of the royal staff brought them in to Nebuchadnezzar. When the king interviewed them, he found them far superior to all the other young men. None were a match for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And so they took their place in the king’s service. Whenever the king consulted them on anything, on books or on life, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his kingdom put together. (The Message)
There was none found equal to Daniel with all of the wise men of Babylon that although the glory may go to him. we know who is in control, that despite the pressure to cave in, that is the pressure to be good pagan Babylonian captives, Daniel and his friends resolved themselves to be captive to God
Daniel and his mates were aliens in this strange land. That question is the same for us today as it was then for Daniel as we see waged around us that struggle between our faith and out culture, we are called to hope in the Lord, so we come carrying our sins in our hands. As we know “Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:2).
The gospel is an action story, not an attitude of acceptance.[2]
How will we resolve ourselves to be captive to God this week
Let’s pray…
David Hassan@ Tamworth Community Presbyterian Church 4/6/17
[1] David Powlinson “Peace be Still p.5. The Journal of Biblical Counseling • Volume 18 • Number 3 • Spring 2000
[2] Q&A p.46. The Journal of Biblical Counseling • Volume XII • Number 3 • Spring 1994