Our God Reigns

As we begin to study this incredible book of Daniel, I want us to pause and think about the world situation. Iran just sent drones to attack Israel. The attack failed and the drones were successfully shot down. We live in incredibly difficult times. We need to be reminded of the truth that Israel is still God’s chosen people. Paul, writing after the cross and after the resurrection and ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, reminded the people of God in Rome that the Lord still had a work to do among the people of Israel. He would redeem a remnant for himself at the conclusion of the “time of the Gentiles.” Specifically, because God has promised to redeem a remnant from Israel, we need to pray for their protection. At a time when there is a rise of antisemitism in our world, we need to pray for God to watch over his people. At the same time, we also need to pray for the protection of all lives, for an end to the war, for the Lord to stop the evil that seeks to destroy lives, and for all hearts and minds to be opened to the truth of God’s word, so that they might see there is more to this life than the physical reality we see around us.

Let’s pause right now and pray.

Daniel is such a helpful book, especially right now. We are dealing with wars and trying to understand how it is going to impact our lives. We are in the middle of an election year as a nation, and we all know that process will only continue to bring unrest, animosity, hatred, and tension. If you turn on the news at all, it appears that evil is having a field day, and that anything good is just slipping away.

That leads me to my first reminder:

1. Make sure to see life through a biblical lens.

There is a worldly viewpoint for certain. If you look at life through the world’s lens, it could very well look like evil is winning the day. We are being bombarded every day with false ideologies. World rulers rise with no consideration at all about governing according to God’s righteous standards. Culture is being taken over by a pervasive sexual onslaught of “anything goes.” Truth has been taken captive by feelings and now you can lay claim to your own individualized truth—in essence culture has once and for all declared that there is no such thing as objective truth.

If Daniel had chosen to see life from a worldly viewpoint he might have felt the same way:

Dan 1:1-2 (ESV) 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.

In 605 B.C. Nebuchanezzar came against Jerusalem and brought Jehoiakim, king of Judah into submission. Along with vessels from the house of God, he also took some of the youth of the nobility into captivity in Babylon. From a worldly viewpoint evil is winning. Jerusalem has fallen. God’s house has been ransacked. Some of the people of God are carried into exile.

But ask yourself—is that really what’s going on? Who is really winning? There are three kings mentioned in these opening verses, not two. We must learn to see life through a biblical lens.

• The Lord gave Jehoiakim into Nebuchadnezzar’s hands. The Lord was fulfilling his word. 3 times in this chapter Daniel emphasized that God gave, showing that God was at work in the affairs of man. God is the ultimate. He is the Almighty God who moves kings, defeats cities, grants favor in the face of enemies, and empowers and equips for service.
• Isa 39:6-7 (ESV) Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. [7] And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
• Deu 28:15, 36, 49-50 (ESV) [15] “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you…[36] “The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone… [49] The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, [50] a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.
• We also need to see that in Judah’s apparent defeat God was advancing the truth of who he is to a pagan nation. Yes, God was sending his people into exile as a punishment for their sinfulness, but at the same time he was bringing the truth of the One and only God to a nation that “represented opposition to God” since Genesis 10.

That leads me to my second reminder:

2. Be aware of the enemy’s strategy.

• Isolation:

Dan 1:3 (ESV) 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,

• Take them away from the influence of godly family and worship of God.

• Indoctrination:

Dan 1:4 (ESV) 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.

• Indoctrinate them in the culture and the religion of the Babylonians.

• Compromise:

Dan 1:5 (ESV) 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.

• Win them over to the loyalty of the king through the pleasures of the king’s plate.

• Confusion:

Dan 1:6-7 (ESV) 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.

• All of the names of Daniel and his three friends referred to God and his work in their lives. The Babylonian names also very possibly referred to Babylonian gods. This was an attempt to create confusion in the minds of these young Israelite men.
• By renaming them it was a way to get them to think that they were citizens of Babylon rather than citizens of Jerusalem. Where is our citizenship? Whose name do we possess?

That leads me to my third reminder:

3. Be resolved to not conform.

• Daniel was prepared.
• Dan 1:8-13 (ESV) 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.”
• Remember, these four young men are probably around 15 years of age. They knew God’s command for holiness. They were courageous enough to stand according to God’s word. They were bold enough to ask for permission to not go along with the king’s plan for their indoctrination and compromise. This would have been a risky move. It could be taken as a refusal of loyalty and allegiance. They could have lost their lives.
• This may have seemed like a small thing to eat the king’s food. After all, the other youths that had been taken captive were compromising. Faithfulness to the Lord doesn’t start with the big situations. Faithfulness is refined in the little actions of holiness and perseverance.

• Daniel was trusting.
• Dan 1:14-21 (ESV) [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.
• Implied in the test is that Daniel believed that God would help them to stand in faithfulness to his word. Daniel had to recognize that God had given him favor with the chief of the eunuchs. The fact that he treated Daniel, an exiled foreigner, with kindness and compassion, was evidence that God was at work.
• Rom 12:1-2 (ESV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

What is it that enables the follower of the Lord to stand for the Lord in the midst of crisis and culture? What gives him that kind of confidence to serve the Lord his entire life in a culture that is opposed to God?

Learning to see all of life through the lens of the biblical viewpoint.

The Lord gave Jerusalem into Nebuchadnezzar’s hands. He didn’t do it in his own power.

God gave Daniel favor with those in charge of his exile.

God gave Daniel the success and the abilities he needed to serve and to make an impact that would live hundreds, even thousands of years beyond his lifetime.

Believers today are still encouraged to live for the Lord and to long for the completion of their promised future.