Daniel 1: Exile Ps 137; Dan 1:1-21; 1 Cor 10:7-21; John 6:41-59

Introduction https://youtu.be/qAsNijA7pfU

The situation described in the first chapter of Daniel is, for the average Australian[1], virtually unimaginable. To begin with, we need to ask for divine help to understand what it must have been like for a teenager growing up in Jerusalem to see the nation he loved invaded by the wicked ruthless pagan idolatrous Babylonians, and worse than this, witness the temple of God which where he loved to worship the God of Israel burned down to the ground[2]. We forget almost all the sermons we hear, don’t we!, but one I recall one from around 1980 when I was studying in [Ridley College] Melbourne[3] describing the destruction of Jerusalem in terms of walking down Swanston St [one of the city’s main thoroughfares] seeing all the buildings in ruins and then looking at the charred hulk of the massive St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral[4]. From our Psalm today it is clear that the mass of the population forcibly deported tom Babylon fell into deep spiritual and natural despair and depression.  We find no trace of this in the early chapters of Daniel[5], and there are hints as to why at the start of the book.

Exposition

vv. 1-2 Sovereign Lord

The first two verses inform us that whilst Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, it was “the Lord (who) 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[6], to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god”. The victory of the pagan king of Babylon ultimately came at the hands of the Lord of heaven and earth[7]. Such a fate had first been prophesied long before by Moses, “The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away… They shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land…. If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God” (Deut 28:47, 52, 58). Much later, the victories of Nebuchadnezzar were predicted repeatedly by Jeremiah[8] because of the insidious idolatry of the Israelites. But no one in power ever listened to him. The Lord however always has a chosen minority who hear his hard words. Difficult as it must have been, the youngster Daniel must have accepted the goodness of the will of the sovereign Lord and looked to him for success in Babylon, as Jeremiah had counselled[9].  By taking the vessels of the house of God[10] i.e. the Temple into the house of his god, the king of Babylon symbolically declared their victory over the God of Israel. All looked lost, but the Lord is never mocked[11]. Since Satan knows such things, he employs a highly successful strategy to deflect the majority of God’s from walking the straight and difficult path of the Lord. He isolates believers from godly influences, indoctrinates them into worldy ways of thinking, and leads them into compromise through the riches of this world[12]. We see all of this operating against the holy devotion of Daniel.

vv. 3-7 Brainwashing

In order to thoroughly transform Daniels covenant worldview into a pagan one[13], The Babylonian state infiltrated “the graduates of the top universities”[14], and separated the brightest of the Jews from the regular teaching of the Law and the worship and prayers of the Temple[15]. In teaching them “the literature and language of the Chaldeans” the locals were training the minds of Daniel and his friends, this is commonly called “indoctrination” or “brainwashing”[16]. I remember many stories of keen Christians going to university and coming out as non-believers or going to a theological college and turning from a Bible-believer into a “liberal”. Making the Jews “eat the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank”[17] was part of an exercise of enforcing total assimilation to another way of living than the one God had ordained for Israel. Faithfulness to God’s Word[18] was on trial. [Contrary to popular explanations, many of the Old Testament laws cannot be explained as based on science e.g. no eating pork products (Lev 11:7-8), which is allowable in the new covenant (Mark 7:29; Rom 14:14),] An excess of high-living is likely to have led many nominal Jews in the company of Daniel away from the Lord, even as it had earlier back in the Promised Land[19]. Finally, the names Daniel, which means “God is my Judge”, Hananiah meaning “God has been gracious”   Mishael= “Who is what God is?”  Azariah = “God has helped” are all theophoric names reminding their bearers of the one true God of Israel who had chosen them and their people, [20], whereas[21] the new names, Belteshazzar “Bel protect the king”, Shadrach “”command of Aku”” Meshach “”who is what Aku is?”” Abednego “servant of Nebo” are all names relating to the worship of false Babylonian gods.

What was happening to the young Israelites was quite profound; and perhaps too deep for us who have grown up in a “Christianised world”[22] to appreciate. The way we think about God, ourselves, others and the world determines the way we live. Through reading the Bible, prayer, Christian fellowship, the Lord’s Supper etc. our minds are constantly renewed (Rom 12:1-2), and in worshipping the Father in “Spirit and truth” (John 4:24) the faithful believer is increasingly conformed to the image of God fully revealed in Christ (2 Cor 4:4; Col. 1:15; Phil. 2:6; Heb. 1:3). Unfaithfulness in these devotional disciplines allows space for the fallen image-makers of our world[23], human or demonic, to sustain and deepen our corrupted images of the Lord our God. The story moves on from what was being done by the pagan world to brainwash Daniel to the active resistance by faith of Daniel and his companions to the darkness into which they had been immersed.

vv. 8-16 Resolved

verse 8 is a key to the character of the man who dominates the rest of this book. “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank….”.  This simple decision is not an act of angry rebellion[24], for whilst rebellion is always wicked[25], Daniel exercises free subordination to the higher authority of God for the service of his kingdom. As we will see, over the years, whether in fiery furnaces or lions’ dens, this was a resolution nothing could sever. Paul’s words spring to mind, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:35-39). Resolution is indispensable to spiritual development. As a teenager and for the sake of his growth in godliness, the eighteenth-century Puritan Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) set down 70 resolutions to be read and prayed over weekly[26], in time he became the most brilliant theologian in American history and the preacher who saw several powerful nation-shaping revivals.

A couple of simple resolutions in my own life come to recollection, one many years ago, which under the influence of the Spirit and Word of the Lord I have sustained, that come hail or sunshine I will walk and pray for the first hour of my day, and much more recently, to radically cut down on what my doctor called, in Jesus’ name, “rubbish food”, or take illegal shortcuts through road works. Having shared these examples, I would be at grievous fault if I failed to testify to the resolved mind of…..Jesus. We read in Luke 9:51, “As the time approached for him to be taken up [to heaven][27], Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” We are the fruit of the fact that Jesus never slackened in this resolve to go on to death and resurrection, despite the opposition of even his closest companions.

How are we different today form those young Jews in ancient Babylon what is swamping the true identity of the Church in Australia? Every time I speak to the people in Myanmar I am embarrassed by their practice of fasting (cf. Rom 14:17). Sloth and laziness are an epidemic amongst us (cf. Matt 25:26). In one sense these are all symptomatic of the idol of “ease of life”[28], which is the highest goal of so many of us in the “lucky country”[29].

Daniel refused to be intimidated by the fear that surrounded the court of Nebuchadnezzar (1:10) and so in faith put God to the test[30]. We must note however that even though the Lord backed the faith venture of Daniel and his three friends with favour (1:11-16), they were always a minority, even amongst the youth taken captive with them. This seems to be a rule with the Lord, if you want to go ahead with God, others will count you as “foolhardy”[31].

vv. 17-21 Honoured

The chapter ends with the little contingent being exalted in status above the rest of the youth, serving the king, the wisdom God gave them in Babylon was ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in all the kingdom” (1:20). The secret of their success was that success was not their highest ambition (James 3:13-18). The very last verse of the chapter tells us that Daniel survived far longer than the rule of Babylon (1:21). He was in fact needed to pray into fulfilment the prophetic promise that the exile would come to an end (Jer 25:11-12; Dan 9:2ff.).

Conclusion

Years ago, a biography titled “No Compromise” was recommended to me because someone thought the life story of Keith Green reminded them of me. However true or untrue that may/may not have been then, I am sure it is truer now than then. We compromise not so much in how we act, but how we think. Most of us spend too much time fruitlessly (Matt 6:27) filling our minds with issues about family, comfort, health, money, politics…. instead of meditating on the kingdom of God and Christ (Rev 12:10).

Many Christians are troubled by the ever advancing[32] anti-Christian sentiment in our society whereas genuine Christianity has always been a minority. One reason we are immature weak and often spineless in our faith is that we have taken very few risks for Jesus. Forget about the double standard of expecting a certain level of prayerfulness, Bible knowledge and devotion of the “priest”[33], and something less for the “lay people”. There is no evidence that either Daniel or his companions were priestly[34], they were simply ordinary men who with the help of an extraordinary God achieved extraordinary feats. In this way they were like….Jesus. C. S. Lewis once said, It’s not a matter of great faith in God, but faith in a great God.”

Time to sing: “I have decided to follow Jesus…”[35]