when you think of the greatest empires in history which come to mind? The roman empire..the golden age of the greeks...babylon-ah babylon. none of these were great eras for the people of God really...but was there anything more oppressive than the babylonian captivity? we could talk about the horror of the holocaust for the jews...but that is measured in years, not decades. there were people who were born in captivity and died as old me in captivity. now I'm not going to try to make the argument that this was the 'worst' time for the people of God, this is just so we have a context in which to view a couple of remarkable achievements of God through His people...
...shall we turn in our bibles to the book of daniel...chapter 1... :o)
by way of introduction, what is the most memorable characteristic of the book of daniel? there are several remarkable stories but, as christians what is the most powerful verse or section? is it when daniel interprets the kings dream of the statue and of the four beasts? that may be our favorites as christians because it gives us an excuse to study eschatology. if you asked a child it would probably be daniel and the lion's den or maybe shadrach, meshach, and abednego and the fiery furnace. all of these are remarkable happenings that all occurred within this time of captivity and within the lives of four friends. but lets look a little a little earlier in the book, before the great feats, signs, and wonders:
in the third year of the reign of jehoiakim king of judah, nebuchadnezzar king of babylon came to jerusalem and besieged it...then the king instructed ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the chaldeans. and the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. now from among those of the songs of judah were daniel, hananiah, mishael and azariah (rack, shack, and benny).....BUT DANIEL PURPOSED IN HIS HEART THAT HE WOULD NOT DEFILE HIMSELF with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank.
....fast forward to chapter 2...
then king nevuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. the king answered daniel and said: 'TRULY YOUR GOD IS THE GOD OF GODS, THE LORD OF KINGS, AND A REVEALER OF SECRETS...
...and further to chapter 3...
nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "BLESSED BE THE GOD OF SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO who sent his Angel and delivered His servants who trusted him and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their ow God! therefore i make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of shadrach, meshach, and abednego shall be cut in pieces
...chapter 5....
belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine..and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. in the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace...the queen spoke saying 'o king, live forever! do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change. there is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. and in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him...now let daniel be called...then belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck and made a proclamation concerning him that he should the the third ruler in the kingdom...that very night belshazzar, king of the chaldeans was slain. and darius the mede received the kingdom...
...one more time to chapter 6...
then king darius wrote: to all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: peace be multiplied to you. i make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom MEN MUST TREMBLE AND FEAR BEFORE THE GOD OF DANIEL for He is a LIVING GOD and STEADFAST FOREVER; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He DELIVERS AND RESCUES, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth...
now flash back again to verse 8 of chapter one:
DANIEL PURPOSED IN HIS HEART THAT HE WOULD NOT DEFILE HIMSELF
in one of the darkest times of the history of God's people...three tyrannical kings were brought to their knees in the face of the living God because He was able to work marvelously through His servants...why? because ....
DANIEL PURPOSED IN HIS HEART THAT HE WOULD NOT DEFILE HIMSELF
these events happened over the course of three kings' reign, several years apart. we do not marvel here at the great feats of daniel, hananiah, mishael, and azariah but rather we marvel at the wondrous way that God can move in the lives of those separated unto Him. these remarkable feats through daniel and his friends happened in the days of their youth when they were first taken into service of the king--maybe teenagers or in their twenties-- spanning the years of their lives. this is because they decided when they were still young, undereducated, and impressionable that they were going to live separately from the world around them-that they would not subscribe the the 'wisdom' and culture of the chaldeans- even in the face of the finest delicacies of the king of one of the most powerful, one of the most perverse eras in the history of men. joel submits and i have to agree that the most powerful verse in this entire book is chapter 1 verse 8 which says (say it with me now)
BUT DANIEL PURPOSED IN HIS HEART THAT HE WOULD NOT DEFILE HIMSELF
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