With that, we're going to jump right in. We are starting our series in the book of Daniel this morning.
And the book of Daniel tells the story of a man named Daniel who lived as an exile in Babylon.
So he's a faithful Israelite, but he's living in a foreign land.
And this book takes place near the very end of the 7th century BC and then during the majority of the 6th century BC.
And it's going to teach us many things, but there's going to be two primary themes that I want you guys to see.
As we come to this book, it is going to both remind us and it's going to instruct us.
It's going to remind us that no matter how bad circumstances may seem around us, God is in control.
God rules and reigns over the nations.
It's not just going to remind us, however, it's also going to instruct us.
It's going to give us Daniel as a model and instruct us how we live faithful lives in a foreign land.
In other words, how do we live faithfully as God's people surrounded by a culture and a world and a nation that does not honor God?
And so it's with that that we are going to begin with Daniel chapter 1.
I should also mention that Daniel provides its own summary of the book in chapter 11, verse 32.
And it tells us the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.
And it's our hope and our prayer that as we go through the book of Daniel, we would grow in knowing our God and we would also be able to stand firm and take action.
We're also continuing what I've been working on since 2018, which is establishing for us a strong theology of suffering.
We started that in the book of Ruth in the summer of 2018 in July.
And then you'll remember in fall of 2019, we went through the book of 1 Peter, finishing that in the spring of 2020.
That also had a heavy focus on suffering.
And now we're in the book of Daniel.
It's going to complement those themes.
And so we're going to jump into Daniel chapter 1.
I invite you to open up your Bible with me.
Of course, you can also find it maybe on your phone or on the Internet.
And we're going to be asking this question.
Where is God in the midst of suffering?
Where is God when it feels like the world is pressing in on us from every side?
And there's a complementary question to that.
For many of you, it might be a little bit more exciting than that first one.
And it's this.
When do we disobey the government?
And if we disobey the government, how do we do it?
When do we disobey the government?
How do we do it?
And so it's with that, we're going to jump right in.
I invite you again to turn with me.
No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us that his word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
Which means that he has not left us to stumble alone in the dark.
But instead, he's given us his word to show us the way to go.
And so it's with that that we read now.
Starting in Daniel chapter 1, verse 1.
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 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.
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,
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.
Verse 5.
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.
Among these were Daniel, Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.
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.
Verse 6.
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.
And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.
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 were of your own age?
So you would endanger my head with the king.
Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
Test your servants for ten days.
Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
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.
So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.
Verse 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.
So the steward took away their food and wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.
Verse 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.
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.
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.
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.
And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you again for your word that can go forward,
whether there's snow or there's sun.
And we thank you that you've allowed us to gather together virtually this morning
to look at Daniel chapter 1.
We ask that you would help us.
You'd help us if we experienced technical glitches.
You'd give us patience.
Father, we ask that you would help our minds,
that we'd be able to pay attention with all the distractions around us.
And most of all, that you would speak clearly through your word to us,
that we would be able to see Jesus Christ.
And we ask these things,
knowing that we haven't earned them,
but instead we ask them in his name.
Amen.
For those of you who are kids,
or maybe those of you who have been kids at some point in time,
I want you to imagine with me for a second
that your parents have given you clear instructions
about what you should and should not do.
And not only have they given you these clear instructions,
they've also outlined for you
what's going to happen if you disobey.
They've told you in advance
what the punishments are going to be.
And so you have a lot of clarity.
You can choose one way or the other.
This is similar to the way God often works with his people,
especially in the Old Testament.
He gives them blessings and cursings
based on whether they obey or disobey.
And this is what we find ourselves in the middle of
in Daniel chapter 1.
The prophet Jeremiah has been prophesying
for some time to Israel,
warning them about their sins.
He's been telling them about the fact
that they've been worshiping other gods.
In fact, it's gotten so bad in Israel
that they're in some places practicing child sacrifice
in the same way that the pagans are.
They're breaking God's Ten Commandments,
not just one or two of them, but many of them.
And so Jeremiah predicts what's going to happen.
He predicts the fall of Jerusalem.
And so we see at the beginning of this book
the fulfillment of what God has been telling his people
through his prophets for years.
We're told, verse 1,
this is the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim.
Jehoiakim's one of the kings
that Jeremiah has been coming and prophesying to.
In fact, in Jeremiah chapter 25,
in Jeremiah chapter 29,
he tells them that there is going to be this exile,
that they're going to be taken by Babylon.
And so that's what we see here in this passage.
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,
comes as God's agent in some ways
and does what God has promised for years.
We're seeing the very beginning of the exile
of God's people from Israel to Babylon.
And this is an exile that happens in multiple stages,
so it doesn't happen all at once.
If you're someone who does dates,
you probably remember the exile is beginning in 586.
What we're looking at here is actually 605 BC.
So a number of years before the exile is finalized,
we see the very first step.
And the very first step is this,
and it's devastating.
Nebuchadnezzar comes and he takes a variety of things.
We see verses 1 and 2,
he takes Jerusalem, the city.
Verse 2, he takes an affront to God himself
by taking away the vessels of the house of God.
This is a way of showing his God's dominance over Yahweh.
And then in verses 3 and 4,
we see, and this sets us up really for the rest of this book,
especially chapters 1 through 6,
that he takes Israel's best and their brightest.
He takes the royal family,
the end of verse 3,
and the nobility used without blemish.
So these are the cream of the crop here.
They look good, they're handsome,
and they're really smart.
There's skill in all wisdom,
endowed with knowledge, understanding,
learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace.
He does sort of a brain drain here on Jerusalem.
He steals their smartest and their best
to be trained, not as Israelites,
but to become good Babylonians.
And so kids, I want you to do another thought experiment with me.
Not that you have disobeyed your parents this time,
but in fact that you're a faithful son or a faithful daughter.
You've done the best you can,
but suddenly you're taken away.
You no longer live with your parents.
You've been put in a boarding school,
which is a place where you live and eat and sleep
at your school, not your home.
And in addition to that,
not only are you at a boarding school,
you're at a boarding school in a different country.
So you've been taken from the United States.
Maybe you're in a boarding school in France or Germany.
It's a place where they speak a language that you don't speak.
And so there's a variety of ways
in which you are a fish out of water here.
That's what's happening for Daniel and his friends.
And I mentioned you kids
because Daniel at this time is a youth.
We're told the very beginning of verse four,
these are youths without blemish.
Many people think that they were young teenagers at this point.
So we're talking maybe someone who's in eighth or ninth or 10th grade
being taken away,
separated from their support structures
and put into an entirely different education system.
And it's with that that the king of Babylon
begins his indoctrination plan for them.
He has a multifaceted plan here.
First of all, verse four, he's going to teach them
the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
Now, this would have not been innocent.
This would have included him teaching about the gods of Babylon.
He would have been teaching them potentially about divination and astrology.
And so they're going to be educated,
not in the way of the Israelites,
but the way of the Babylonians,
not in the way of their God,
but in the way of pagan gods.
He doesn't leave it just at education, though.
He's going to allure them with the good life.
Verse five, they're going to have wonderful food.
They're going to have this daily portion
of the meat and wine that the king eats.
They are going to eat well.
They are going to have the good things in life.
They are going to see how wonderful it's going to be
to be a part of Babylon.
This education program, verse five,
again, it's going to last for three years.
It's going to be long enough to change them
and indoctrinate them.
And then we see something equally insidious in verse seven.
He's going to change their names.
Now, of course, we know how important
and fundamental our names are to our identity,
how we think about ourselves as people.
And what's going on here is not just a name change,
but a fundamental identity change.
The names that these youths have when they show up,
their Hebrew names,
are all names that say something about God,
about Yahweh and their trust in him.
Now, we don't know the meanings of all the new names,
but the ones that we do point not to Yahweh,
but they point to the gods of the Babylonians.
And so they are being given here pagan names,
names that point not to trust in the God of Israel,
but trust in the God of Babylon.
And so the point is this,
their attempt by Nebuchadnezzar here to brainwash them.
He wants them to forget Israel.
He wants them to forget the land they've come from.
He wants to give them this new identity.
He wants to make them into wonderful, good Babylonians,
people who value what they value,
people who no longer love and value
what the God of Israel loves and values.
It is a full frontal assault here
on these youths from Israel.
And so it's at this that we see
part of the reason we're studying this book,
which is it's not that foreign from us today.
We also live in a culture
that looks to shape and educate and transform us.
We have a culture that looks to see our identity
as something other than people who love and worship God.
It wants to take us,
our hearts captive with a good life.
While we may not all be young people
who are transferring countries and schools,
we are people who live in a place
where we feel the pressure of the world around us
to conform us to its ways,
its ways of thinking,
its narratives,
what it loves and what it values.
We see this in a variety of ways.
We see this in the way the culture speaks to us
from shows and media.
Last week, I used the illustration of The Queen's Gambit,
which is a Netflix show.
So obviously, I think there are good things on Netflix.
There are also things on Netflix
that are an absolute abomination.
There are things that celebrate
and delight in what God hates and despises.
There are things that are meant to take our hearts
and cause them to value
and to love what God warns us about.
There's all sorts of stories being told
that tell us things that are different
than the story God wants to tell us.
There are all sorts of values
that we're supposed to adopt
that are different than the values
that God wants us to adopt.
And so while we may not be taught
the language and literature of the Chaldeans,
we are constantly being taught
the language and the literature
of Western secularism.
We, like Daniel and his friends,
are under pressure.
And we don't just see this in our movies,
in our media.
We also have it in our education system as well.
We have, on the one hand,
some schools that hold up
a high value of morality and ethics.
And yet that's all it is.
It ends up being this dead morality.
It's moralism where we're meant
to be good people for the sake of ourselves.
And then there's schools, on the other hand,
that teach something equally dangerous.
Maybe they teach us to value
scientism above everything else.
They want us to forget the fact
that even that has certain types
of faith commitments.
Even that involves
unexamined assumptions
and operating principles.
And so we feel the conflict
just as Daniel feels the conflict.
We also live in this kind of pressured world.
And so just like Daniel,
we're also going to come in
to places of conflict.
If we are living in a world
where there's tension,
there's ultimately going to be
conflict and opposition.
And so that's what we see next
in this story.
We've been set up in verses 1 through 7
for the problems of this world
that Daniel finds himself in.
And now he gets into direct conflict
with what he's being asked to do.
Verse 8,
Daniel resolved that he would not
defile himself with the king's food
or with the wine that he drank.
And so in the midst of this pagan world,
Daniel wants to retain
his distinctive faith,
his identity.
And we're not told in this passage
exactly why it is
that this meat and this wine
would defile him.
That's not spelled out for us.
And so it's actually become
a matter of great debate
what exactly is objectionable about this.
There are probably two general camps.
I won't drag us down
into a bunny trail here,
but I'll give you a broad overview.
Some people are convinced
that Daniel's being asked
to do something
that would break the law of God,
whether it's violating kosher laws,
whether this food
has been sacrificed to idols.
There's something about it
that would cause him to sin.
So that's one camp.
There's another camp that argues,
no, there's not anything sinful
about this meat and this wine,
but we see that it's associated
so closely with the king
that Daniel wants to make
a statement to himself
that he relies on God.
He doesn't rely on Nebuchadnezzar.
Between those two,
I'll just simply say,
I lean to believing that Daniel
here is being asked
to violate the law of God.
And I believe that for two reasons.
First, in verse eight,
we see the word defile twice.
Remember that repetition
is very important in the Bible
and defile here is a strong word.
It's hard for me to believe
that Daniel would believe
he's defiling himself
unless it was something
that was very sinful.
So that's one reason I believe
that's the way this passage is leaning.
The second reason I believe it is this,
Daniel's taking an incredible risk.
Many people believe
Daniel's risking his life
by doing this.
And so it would seem a strange thing
for him to pick this
of all the things
to risk his life over
unless he believed
he had to do this
to honor God.
And so it's with that
we're going to head into this tension.
Daniel's being asked
to do something
that would violate his conscience
and he puts together
a strategy.
First of all,
he goes to the chief of the eunuchs.
Remember we met this man
in verse three.
His name is Ashpenaz.
And he goes to him first
asking if he can avoid
this food.
Now we find out
verse nine
that God has given Daniel
favor in the eyes
of this man.
But even that
is not enough.
Verse 10,
the chief of the eunuchs
says to Daniel,
I fear the Lord my king.
I fear Nebuchadnezzar.
I don't want
anything bad
to happen to me.
And it could be dangerous,
right?
Verse 10,
why should he see
that you are in worse condition?
So you would endanger
my head with the king.
In other words,
I could get killed
if I do what you ask.
Which underscores also
the threat for Daniel.
Of course,
we think he could get killed
as well for asking this.
If the king finds out
that he's not willing
to eat his food.
So the stakes are very high.
Daniel doesn't have success
here though.
Although his favor
does help him.
Verse nine,
he has that favor.
And so this eunuch
does not go and tell
on Daniel.
He doesn't help him.
He also doesn't hurt him.
Daniel, however,
continues to be persistent.
Also note,
by the way,
verse 10,
there's this emphasis
on the eunuch
fearing Nebuchadnezzar.
The implication is
the eunuch fears
the king of Babylon.
Daniel fears Yahweh.
Daniel fears his king.
Daniel fears God.
Daniel's not going
to give up though.
He keeps pushing.
Verse 11,
he moves down
the pole here
of authority.
He moves down
the chain of command.
The eunuchs told him no.
Okay,
we're going to go
ask the steward.
Verse 11,
he goes to the steward
and asks him
for this test.
Give us these vegetables
to eat
so we don't violate
our consciences.
And the steward here
agrees to the test.
He allows them
to be tested
for 10,
for 10 days.
And I wanted to stop here
and I want you to notice
for a second,
this is something
we're going to come back to
again in the book of Daniel,
that when it comes
to navigating
these difficult situations,
Daniel has a wide
repertoire of approaches.
He has different strategies
for different situations.
Not everything
has to be handled
in the same way.
And so there are
some Christians today
when they talk about
our conflict with the culture,
they make it sound like
there's only one way
to deal with conflict.
It's to be very loud
and aggressive about it.
We've got to stamp
our flag in the ground
and let everyone know
what we're doing
and why we're doing it.
We'll talk more about that
in a little bit,
but I just want to note
that here.
Daniel actually chooses
sort of an under-the-radar approach.
He chooses an approach
where not everyone knows
what he's up to.
He follows this principle
that I'm going to return to
again in the book of Daniel
from Matthew 10, verse 16
that Jesus gives us.
He tells us,
I'm sending you out
in the world
and so I want you
to be wise as serpents
but innocent as doves.
And that's what Daniel does here.
He's innocent as a dove.
He doesn't break God's law.
He's wise as a servant
or as wise as a serpent.
He's smart about how he goes
about avoiding this meat
and this wine.
Daniel's faithful.
He doesn't compromise.
He's also wise and strategic.
And so that's the opposition
that Daniel finds himself in.
There's this tension
that leads to conflict.
We've named our tension.
We are also going to face conflict.
Sorry, I saw a connection problem there
with the Facebook.
So Daniel's in tension.
We're in tension.
Daniel faces conflict.
If we live in this world,
we expect we're going to face
conflict as well.
We're going to talk more about this
when we get to chapter 3 of Daniel.
But there's a category here
that we need to know as Christians
and that's the category
of civil disobedience.
That's part of what Daniel's
participating in here.
And we find this principle
well articulated in Acts chapter 5.
Peter and the disciples
are preaching.
They're brought before the council here
to answer for what they're doing.
And the high priest tells them,
verse 28,
this is again Acts 5,
we strictly charge you
not to teach in this name.
That's Jesus' name.
Yet here you have filled up Jerusalem
with your teaching
and you intend to bring
this man's blood upon us.
And here's the money verse,
Acts chapter 5,
verse 29,
Peter and the apostles answered,
we must obey God
rather than men.
Daniel chooses to obey God
rather than men.
We also will be put in situations
where we have to choose
to obey God
rather than men.
We'll be put in situations
where we're in conflict
with our government.
And so I'll give you a few examples.
Disobeying the government
when it commands us
to participate in evil.
We have some legislation
going on right now
in our country.
We have a couple ones.
One's called the Equality Act.
One is called the Do Not Harm Act.
And these of course
sound like wonderful things, right?
Who's against equality?
Who wants to harm someone?
The Equality Act's
made its way through Congress.
It's now going towards the Senate.
And it can be used
for a variety of things.
Of people who've studied it,
some people believe
that it could be used
to compel doctors
who don't want to participate
in abortions
to participate in them anyway
if they want to continue
to be doctors.
And so it would do away
with a lot of the religious
freedom protections
that people have right now.
It could be used potentially
to compel Christian businesses
to participate in ceremonies
that they believe
celebrate things
that are evil.
That they would call good
what God calls evil.
It could narrow,
just in general,
our abilities
to have religious liberty exemptions.
And it could be used
to impose upon
some of our freedoms
as a church.
Now I tell you this
not to be alarmist.
We don't know exactly
what's going to happen
in the future.
Of course this could be defeated.
But it's an example
of the sorts of things
that we need to be prepared
for as Christians.
When it comes to suffering,
when it comes to persecution,
I want us to have thought
about it beforehand.
We want to have meditated
on God's word
so that we're prepared
when the challenge comes.
This we can assume
is what Daniel
has been doing, right?
How is he able
to stand so firm
as a 13 and 14 year old?
Well,
most likely he's been
meditating on God's word.
He's been taught God's ways
and God's law.
And so this pressure,
he's not going to cave under it.
Now we'll see later
in the book of Daniel,
we'll have plenty of opportunity
to also talk about
Daniel's prayer life
and the ways
that that fortifies him.
Regardless to say,
there are challenges for Daniel.
There are also challenges for us.
There are times and places
when we're going to have
to say no to our government
in the same way
that Daniel has
because of our allegiance
and our loyalty
and our faithfulness
to Jesus Christ.
And so that's one
of the major questions
of Daniel.
When do we do that
and how do we do that?
How do we survive
in the midst
of this culture
with pressure on us?
I'm going to pause here
for a second.
So we're asking
these heavy questions.
We've seen
the general challenge
and the specific challenge,
both for Daniel
and for us.
And I asked the question
at the very beginning,
where is God
in the midst of suffering?
And so before we talk
about what we need to do,
I want to talk about
what God is doing
and has done
in this passage.
In the midst
of all these problems,
the vessels of the temple,
remember verse 2,
have been taken to Babylon.
It looks like God
and his people
have been defeated.
It looks like
the gods of Babylon
are more powerful
than the God of Israel
and yet,
nothing could be farther
from the truth.
In the midst
of this passage,
throughout,
from beginning to end,
we see that God
is in control.
So I invite you
to look with me
in detail at these verses.
We see in verse 2,
verse 9,
and verse 17,
that it says either God
or the Lord
gave something.
Verse 2,
the Lord gave Jehoiakim,
king of Judah,
into his hand.
Why was Babylon
able to defeat Israel?
Because God
allowed them to.
Verse 9,
God gives something else.
God gave Daniel
favor and compassion
in the sight
of the chief of the eunuchs.
Why was Daniel
not killed
simply for his request
not to eat meat and wine?
Because God
was at work
protecting and preserving him.
God continues
to be active
in this passage.
And then verse 17,
we see God
gives something else.
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.
Why were they so smart?
Why were they so skilled?
Why were they the ones
taken from Israel?
Because God
blessed them.
God was at work
giving them
the skills
they needed
to survive
in this foreign land.
And so before
we talk about
anything else,
before we move forward
in knowing
how it is
that we respond
and stand firm.
Remember,
the people who know
their God
will stand firm
and take action.
The first part
is that we know
our God.
Our God
is at work
no matter
the circumstances.
No matter
what is going
on around us,
God still
rules and reigns
over the nations.
He rules
and reigns
over Babylon
in this passage
and he rules
and reigns
over every nation
today.
God is still
in control.
Now,
it's not just
those three verses.
It's not just
2, 9, and 17,
but we see God
at work in other ways
here.
You'll notice
verse 6,
Daniel is not
sent in alone.
God sends him
with friends.
Daniel doesn't
have to figure it
all out by himself.
He has
Hananiah,
Mishael,
Azariah
to help him
and be with him.
And so that's
God's help
in the general
situation, right?
He's giving favor.
He's giving Israel
over into the hands
of Babylon.
He's giving them
skill and wisdom
and understanding.
God also
is at work
and very powerful
in this specific
challenge
and specific
situation.
We're going to
look again
at this 10-day test
because what
they're asking
is, in a sense,
something reckless.
There is a reason
in verse 10,
the chief of the eunuch
says he believes
they're going to be
in worse condition
if they follow
this diet.
Okay?
There's a reason
Daniel sets the test
for only 12 days
and the reason
is this.
Vegetables
won't make you
strong.
Vegetables
are not going
to make you fat,
as controversial
as it may sound.
Now, there are
many Christians
who take this passage
and they say,
oh, we can see
from this passage
this is dictating
our diet to us.
If we can just
eat vegetables
like Daniel,
we will be honoring
God.
Now, that does
a couple things.
First of all,
it ignores Daniel
chapter 10,
verse 2,
where we find out
later in Daniel's life,
he did have a diet
of meat and wine.
It also does
something else.
It forgets
some of the historical
background of this passage.
There are scholars
who've looked at art
from Mesopotamia
and they see men
depicted in two ways.
It's from this book here,
How to Read Daniel.
And he tells us
about the two different ways
that men are depicted
in art.
One of them,
the warrior class,
are bristling with muscles.
That's what he tells us.
On the other hand,
wise men,
like Daniel and his colleagues,
are pictured as bald,
big-eyed,
a symbol of intelligence,
so they have these huge eyes,
and chubby.
That is the look
that Nebuchadnezzar
was going for.
In other words,
Daniel and his friends,
after eating vegetables
for 10 days
and water,
are fat.
God has performed
a miracle.
He has made people fat
from eating only vegetables
and drinking only water.
God is at work
in this situation
doing the impossible.
He is showing
his power
and protection
and control
even in the small element
of Daniel's diet.
And so,
all throughout this passage,
explicitly
in what we're told
God gives,
implicitly
in the miracle
we see him perform,
God is at work
protecting,
providing for his people,
even in the midst
of a challenging
and hostile world.
And so,
first and foremost,
what we want
to underscore
is God's work
on behalf
of his people
in Daniel chapter 1.
Remember I told you
at the beginning
we're going to be
reminded and instructed.
And first of all,
we're reminded
that God rules
and reigns.
Second then,
after we understand
that,
we can move on
to the instruction.
How we live
as foreigners,
how we live
faithfully
in a foreign land.
And so,
that's where we turn now.
Of course,
God preserves
his people here.
In this passage,
God is preserving you.
And with that knowledge,
then we ask,
how do we dare
to be a Daniel?
Remember I mentioned
near the end
of our series
in 2 Peter
we were going
to talk about this,
whether we can
follow Daniel
as an example.
This is also
a controversial subject
and I'm going
to tell you,
yes,
we follow Daniel
as an example
but we don't
just follow him.
We follow him
as he has
trust and faith
in God.
It's his faith
and his trust
that we're following
him in.
And so,
the highlight,
the emphasis,
the accent mark
is still on God
and what he is doing.
And so,
how do we live
faithfully like Daniel
trusting in God
and his care?
We've already talked
about one of our principles,
the principle
of civil disobedience.
I'll remind you again,
Acts 5 29
says this,
we must obey God
rather than men.
Just like Daniel,
we choose to obey
God rather than men.
So,
remember our question,
when do we disobey
the government?
When the government
tells us to do something
that God tells us
not to do.
When the government
tells us not to do
something that God
tells us to do.
And it's only
those two situations.
So,
we need to be careful.
If you're going to
claim civil disobedience,
you need to back it up
from the Bible.
There's plenty of people
who run around
claiming that they're
exercising civil disobedience
as Christians
and what they're doing
they can't support
from Scripture.
So,
there's a narrow list
of things.
There's a limited list
of things that we look to
when we're honoring God
rather than men.
Second,
we're going to draw
some principles
from this passage.
Daniel gives us
some practical strategies
here
for how to be wise.
I mentioned earlier
that he's very subtle.
He doesn't stamp
a flag in the ground.
Instead,
he works behind the scenes.
And in fact,
he shows us
the power here
of what we might call
the lesser magistrate
or local government.
Daniel,
in other words,
doesn't go to Nebuchadnezzar.
He goes to someone
lower down
the chain of command
and he handles it
at that level.
Now,
we know this,
especially after this
last year during COVID.
A lot of what mattered
when it came to restrictions,
now I'm not saying
those things
were a religious liberty issue.
I'm just giving you
an example
of how government operates
at different levels.
So,
don't hear what I'm not saying.
What we saw
was that local government
mattered a lot.
No matter what governors
might be saying,
no matter what presidents
might be saying,
what really mattered
was what,
I should say,
mayors were saying,
what governors of towns
were saying.
That's what really mattered.
What local police departments
were saying,
that's what really mattered.
And Daniel recognizes
that principle.
He picks,
now he goes high first,
but he goes down
to the lowest level
to negotiate.
The same is true for us.
There's times when we're
going to need to take a stand.
Sometimes wisdom means
taking the stand
at the lowest level possible
with the lowest person possible.
We don't always have to have
a big public display
of our stand.
Daniel makes that clear for us.
And so we're wise.
We're wise about understanding
who has power,
who has real authority
in a practical situation.
Daniel handles this
with a steward.
No one else really knows about it.
As far as we know,
Daniel,
the steward,
and his friends know about it.
No one else.
It never reaches up
the chain of command.
Daniel handles it
at a low level.
And so that's just
a wise principle
for us to think about
as we go into situations
where we might be called
to disobey the authorities
above us.
How can we be wise?
How can we keep it small
rather than making it big?
At one point,
by the way,
I'll mention,
during COVID,
when we had restrictions,
there was one point
when El Paso County
actually gave preferential
treatment to churches.
Most places across the nation
bundled churches
with movie theaters
and sporting events.
They kind of consider them
all in the same category.
El Paso County
actually considered churches
to be in a separate county,
in a separate category,
and they gave us
looser restrictions
than some of those other venues.
You might ask the question,
why?
There's probably a variety
of reasons.
I can't 100% prove it,
but I believe part of the reason
churches got preferential treatment
in El Paso County
is because for years now,
our local churches
have been working
to establish good relationships
with our local government.
Don't take that for granted.
That is a wise move.
That's a Daniel-like move
to have a strong relationship
with the lesser magistrate.
Low on the chain of command
where the decisions
are actually made.
Nebuchadnezzar's given his command
that these people have
the king's meat,
the king's wine,
but it's actually the steward
who controls what happens
on the ground.
Okay, so we keep that principle
in mind when we think
about civil disobedience.
I also want to give you
another principle,
which is this.
Negotiation is a legitimate technique.
I reminded you before,
Daniel has a wide repertoire
that he uses
when he approaches
these situations.
In fact, if you want to
dig into this more,
there's a wonderful book
called Free to Believe,
and I believe it's chapter 12.
It gives a wonderful overview
of all the different strategies
God's people have used
throughout the Bible
when it comes to
civil disobedience.
Negotiation is one
of those strategies,
and that's the label
he gives to what Daniel
does here in this passage.
So you notice
what Daniel doesn't do.
He doesn't go to the eunuch
and say,
you know what?
I worship Yahweh,
and God is not dead,
so I want to let you know
that I'm here to take a stand.
Daniel doesn't say
anything like that.
He just tells him,
you know,
well, he does say
allow him not to defile himself,
but he has some wisdom
about it, right?
He's not making a big stink.
He doesn't go to Nebuchadnezzar.
He's not posting
on social media
about what it is
that he's doing,
letting everyone know
where he stands.
He's going one-on-one
in a back room
behind closed doors,
and he's negotiating.
He does the same thing
with the steward.
Test your servant
for 10 days,
verse 12.
And he actually appeals
in some ways
to this man's self-interest,
right?
Why is it
that this man is so pleased?
Well,
it turns out
that they look better
than everyone else.
So the steward actually
ends up looking
really good.
Again,
we have our principle
of being wise as a serpent,
innocent as a dove.
We need to think of having
a variety of repertoire,
a repertoire
of a variety of approaches
when we're pursuing
civil disobedience.
So someone who's
innocent as a dove,
they don't violate
God's law.
Someone who's wise
as a serpent,
they figure out
the right approach
for the right situation.
They have a variety
of tools.
Remember that old cliche,
if all you have
is a hammer,
everything's a nail.
The wise person
has more than just a hammer.
They know how to navigate
a variety of situations.
Okay?
I had a mentor
who told me one time,
we pick our battles,
we also pick
our battlefields.
Daniel here,
he's picked his battle
and he chooses
his battlefield.
He decides his battlefield
is going to be
a backroom negotiation.
So he makes
sort of a backroom deal here.
The same may be true
for us, by the way.
If we end up
in a situation
where there are things
our government mandates
that we cannot do
without violating
our conscience,
maybe you're a doctor,
right,
and you're told
you have to do
certain things.
Well,
maybe you're able
to negotiate
a backroom deal.
Maybe you're able
to figure out
in your practice
or your hospital,
there's an understanding
among everyone
that you don't do
certain things
and no one forces
the point
because you're
such a good doctor.
They don't want
to lose you.
Maybe you're
in the military
and there comes down
a mandate
that you need
to do something
that violates
your conscience.
Maybe you negotiate
a deal
with the next person
up in the chain
of command
and maybe no one
else knows about it.
Be like Daniel.
Be wise
in picking your battles
and your battlefields.
I'm going to give you
one more application
here in terms of tactics
for being wise
in our civil disobedience
and it's this.
We see this principle
in verse 9.
Remember,
God's giving certain things.
He gives Daniel favor.
Now,
I'm not going to go
deep into this
but there's various echoes
in Daniel chapter 1
of the Joseph story
from the end
of the book of Genesis.
Joseph is also given
the same word favor
by God
which helps him
in his situation.
And so,
part of the reason
that Daniel's successful
is that God
supernaturally intervenes,
works in the hearts
of the secular pagan people
around him
that they view him
in a good light.
Now,
there's some ways
that Daniel's done this
just by his skill
and his excellence.
I'm going to suggest
one thing for us
is that we can also
pray about this.
It is good
and right
and legitimate
to pray
that God
would give us favor
in our workplaces.
And so,
this is something
that you can do
as an individual.
It's something
you can do
as a family.
Maybe when you gather
as a family
and you pray
at a meal,
one of the things
that you can pray
is that God
would give mom
or dad favor
at their job.
That God
would give them favor
in the eyes
of their boss.
God would give them favor
in the eyes
of the company
they work for.
God would give them favor
in the eyes
of the people
who work for them.
And when that time
comes,
when you have to say no,
that favor
will be what makes
the difference.
And so,
we're people who understand
not just that we are
doing certain things
but we're trusting
and relying on God.
One of the ways
that we trust
and rely on God
as we'll see later
in this book
is in prayer.
Daniel,
we'll see,
has a diligent prayer life.
And one of the ways
we can pray specifically
is that as we walk
in this world
God would give us favor
in the eyes
of those around us.
Even those
who disagree
with our religious beliefs
and commitments.
Because as we see
for Daniel
that is actually
what makes here
the difference
for him
between life
and death.
Finally,
when we talk about
the Acts 5 29 principle
that we obey God
rather than men
we're reminded
that we do it
because of our
trust in God.
We obey God
because we trust
in God.
We see that dynamic
in this passage.
Daniel's learned
about the God
of Israel
and Daniel
exercises that knowledge
and we see
the God of Israel
delivering.
He shows up.
He's the one
giving favor.
He's the one
giving learning
and skill.
He's the one
performing a miracle
so that Daniel
can get fat
on vegetables.
The same,
brothers and sisters,
is true for us
and even more.
We also
see God's provision
and his intervention
in our lives.
We see it
even more
in Jesus.
We are told
in the New Testament
that it's not just
that God rules
and reigns
over the nations
but Jesus,
because of his
victory by his
resurrection,
also rules
and reigns
over the nations.
We're told this
in Ephesians chapter 1
that God,
by the working
of his great might,
this is Ephesians 1 19,
that he worked
in Christ
when he raised
him from the dead
and seated him
at his right hand
in the heavenly places,
far above
all rule
and authority
and power
and dominion
and above
every name
that is named,
not only in this age
but also in the age
to come,
and he put
all things
under his feet.
In other words,
Jesus
has all authority
and control
in heaven
and on earth.
He sits
over the nations
just like we see
God,
even as he
hands his people
into exile,
having all authority
and control
over the nations.
We're also told
in Colossians chapter 2,
God,
Jesus disarmed
the rulers
and authorities
and put them
to open shame
by triumphing
over them in him.
That's God then
disarming the rulers
and authorities.
And then Jesus
also shows us
God's presence
and his care.
John chapter 16,
I have said these things
to you,
that in me
you may have peace,
in the world
you will have tribulation,
but take heart,
I have overcome
the world.
If you've been
with us some time,
you know that I
emphasize bookends
and we have bookends
in this passage.
We're told
a date
on the first verse
and a date
in the last verse.
In the first verse,
we see this is
the third year
of the reign of Jehoiakim.
And we see
in the last verse,
Daniel was there
until the first year
of King Cyrus.
That is,
he was all the way
there until 539.
In other words,
God preserves Daniel
from beginning to end.
He sees him
all the way through.
He outlasts
Nebuchadnezzar.
He is able
to make it all the way.
Daniel serves God
faithfully.
God protects
and preserves Daniel.
So it is for us.
We serve God
faithfully.
God preserves
and protects us
no matter the culture
that we find ourselves in,
no matter the challenges
that present themselves.
in the very end
of the Gospel of Matthew,
Jesus' last words,
the last words
of the last verse
of the last chapter,
he says this,
and behold,
I am with you always
to the end of the age.
Brothers and sisters,
because God is with us,
because he controls
everything,
we can serve
and follow him faithfully
no matter the circumstances.
because he tells us,
behold,
I am with you
even to the end
of the age.
I invite you
to pray with me.
Our Father in Heaven,
we thank you
for this encouragement
from your word.
We ask that you would
give us both the strength
to stand strong
and be faithful
no matter the circumstances
that face us,
and you'd also give us
this trust
and confidence
in you.
You'd remind us
that you're at work
and you are the one
who reigns
and rules over the nations.
We ask you these things
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thanks to all of you
for joining me
this morning.
I hope to see you all
very soon,
and as we end
our time together,
we will continue
our tradition
of ending our time
with a benediction.
And so I invite you,
even as we're separated,
to hold up your hand.
I will hold up my hand
to send out God's blessing
on you,
and you hold out your hands
to receive God's blessing.
And so hear now
God's good word
from 1 Thessalonians 5.
Now may the God of peace
himself sanctify you
completely,
and may your whole spirit
and soul and body
be kept blameless
at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who calls you
is faithful.
He will surely do it.
Amen.
Thanks for joining us,
and I hope to see
all of you very soon.
Bye-bye.