Daniel 1:8 (KJV)
But Daniel purposed in
his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat,
nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the
eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Daniel lives among a
group of people who are very unique indeed.
Of Daniel, nothing
negative is written.
That can’t be said of:
· King David
· Abraham or even
· Moses
One of the indications
of the trustworthiness of the Bible is that it doesn’t hide the flaws of its
greatest heroes.
Try to find anything
negative written about
· Mohammed in the Koran or
· Buddha in their sacred writings
Jesus, of course, is in
a class by Himself. The Bible not only says nothing negative about Him, it
actually says He did not sin.
That the Bible does not
record any of Daniel’s sins does not mean he did none.
It does put Daniel in an
elite class of spiritual persons we may learn from.
Daniel’s uniquely
spiritual character is seen in a prophecy by Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 14:14-20 (KJV)
Though these three men,
Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by
their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
If I cause noisome
beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate,
that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
Though these three men
were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor
daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
Or if I bring a sword
upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and
beast from it:
Though these three men
were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor
daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.
Or if I send a
pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off
from it man and beast:
Though Noah, Daniel, and
Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son
nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
· Noah couldn’t prevent the world from being flooded
· Job couldn’t prevent his children from being killed and
· Daniel couldn’t prevent Jerusalem from being captured[2]
The presence of
righteous people can only influence others for right – we cannot make them do
the right!
Interestingly, Daniel
and Ezekiel lived at the same time, though in different places.
· Daniel ended up a captive Jew in the palace of
Nebuchadnezzar
· Ezekiel was among the captives encamped by the river Chebar
It is estimated that
Daniel must have been in the service of the Babylonian king fourteen years by
the time Ezeziel was given this prophecy.
Daniel’s example ought
to be an influence to us.
Notice with me first of
all, Daniel’s
I. PURPOSE IN
YOUTH
Daniel 1:3-8 (KJV)
And the king spake unto
Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the
children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;
Children in whom was no
blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in
knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand
in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of
the Chaldeans.
And the king appointed
them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so
nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before
the king.
Now among these were of
the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:
Unto whom the prince of
the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and
to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of
Abednego.
But Daniel purposed in
his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat,
nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the
eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
We don’t know anything
about Daniel’s parents except that he would have been of royal/leadership
blood.
The king wanted children
of “the
king’s seed and of the princes.”
Also, he must have been
young. The king wanted children.
Best guesses are that he
was between the ages of 12-15 years.
That would be:
· Old enough to have demonstrated some character traits and
· Young enough to still be moldable
Imagine the situation he
finds himself in:
· His parents might have been killed. At the very least he
isn’t going to see them again
· His hometown has been conquered and destroyed
· His childhood is gone forever
He has some choices to
make – probably the easiest one would have been to fully comply with his
captors, and compromise everything his parents had taught him.
· His parents will never know
· His culture has been completely changed anyway and
· His authorities wanted him to change
But Daniel purposed in
his heart that he would not defile himself…
He’s a kid and sometimes
kids do rash things like demand they will never change this or that. Buy they
don’t really mean it. Time and fear generally wears them down.
Daniel, on the other
hand, stayed true to his purpose.
One of the clear lessons
I think we see here is the ability of relatively young persons to accept
responsibility and perform to high standards.
I think one of the
reasons 12 year olds act so much like 12 year olds in our world today is
because we don’t expect them to act any differently.
You will never find
anywhere in the Bible that teaches parent to keep their children childish as
long as possible.
I do believe we should
keep them innocent as long as possible, but not childlike.
Our children need to be
given responsibilities at a very young age. They should be expected to keep
those responsibilities. They should be taught how to work and be expected to do
their work.
They should be taught
right and wrong and be expected to do right, not wrong.
Daniel was purposeful in
his youth.
Notice secondly,
Daniel’s
II. WISDOM IN
LIFE
Daniel 2:12-28 (KJV)
For this cause the king
was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of
Babylon.
And the decree went
forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows
to be slain.
Then Daniel answered
with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was
gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
He answered and said to
Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then
Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
Then Daniel went in, and
desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the
king the interpretation.
Then Daniel went to his
house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his
companions:
That they would desire
mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his
fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Then was the secret
revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Daniel answered and
said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are
his:
And he changeth the
times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth
wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
He revealeth the deep
and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with
him.
I thank thee, and praise
thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast
made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known
unto us the king's matter.
Therefore Daniel went in
unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he
went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in
before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
Then Arioch brought in
Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of
the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
The king answered and
said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto
me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
Daniel answered in the
presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot
the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the
king;
But there is a God in
heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what
shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy
bed, are these;
Notice first of all that
Daniel is included in the king’s wise men.
They were his counselors
– men who had demonstrated an ability to understand the times, and had been
trained in how to use that understanding for the king’s benefit.
Some of them were
thought of as magicians – master of dark arts.
Probably what they were
was just smart enough to see where certain decisions would lead. They had
probably capitalized on their ability not to foretell the future but to predict
the outcome of certain decisions, and convinced the king that they were more
supernatural than they really were.
In this case it came
back to bite them.
The king asked them to
do something they could not.
The king wasn’t s
superstitious as they maybe thought he was and he planned to execute them all
for their deception.
The thing was, this king
had a wise man who was tapped into supernatural wisdom.
What I want you to see
is
A. Daniel didn’t try to solve this problem
alone.
The wisest people know
they cannot be wise on their own.
· They may have a voice and an audience
· They may be the one people are talking about[5]
· They may be the one who God uses to write a book of the
Bible
But they are keenly
aware that they need the counselors and prayer warriors of their own.
Nowhere in the Bible is
this “rugged American individualism” supported.
God puts people together
It’s not good that man
should be alone so he makes him a helpmeet, and what God has joined together
let not man put asunder.
God used Abraham – but
he would have been pretty helpless without Sarah
God used Moses – but he
had his brother Aaron
God took one man,
Abraham and built from him a nation of people.
Jesus took twelve
disciples and from them built bodies of believers organized into local
churches.
There is no such thing
as the lone Christian.
We operate in bodies or
we do not function well.
Daniel’s the man to
bring the interpretation to the king but Daniel first brought the problem to
his companions.
Secondly,
B. He did not take credit for his wisdom
He quickly told the king
“…there
is a God in heaven.”[6]
No wonder Nebuchadnezzar
eventually declared:
Daniel 2:47 (KJV)
The king answered unto
Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord
of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
It didn’t happen right
then, but I believe Nebuchadnezzar was a converted man before he died.
Daniel 3:28-29 (KJV)
Then Nebuchadnezzar
spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who
hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the
king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship
any god, except their own God.
Therefore I make a
decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against
the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their
houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver
after this sort.
This passage was after
the king had Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown into the fiery furnace.
Remember what he saw in
the flames?
Daniel 3:24-25 (KJV)
Then Nebuchadnezzar the
king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his
counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered
and said unto the king, True, O king.
He answered and said,
Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no
hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
At this point:
· The king has heard the witness of Daniel
· He has watched the faith of the three and
· He has seen the hand of God in their trial
There is still one more
act before he comes to faith on his own:
Just after hearing the
pleading of Daniel to repent,
Daniel 4:27 (KJV)
Wherefore, O king, let
my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness,
and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening
of thy tranquillity.
God humbled
Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel 4:30-32 (KJV)
The king spake, and
said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom
by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
While the word was in
the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king
Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
And they shall drive
thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they
shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until
thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it
to whomsoever he will.
Once this humbling was
finished the Bible says,
Daniel 4:37 (KJV)
Now I Nebuchadnezzar
praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and
his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
A spiritual man always has companions – he is a part of a
local church and
He always points glory to God, taking none of it
for himself
Notice finally, Daniel’s
III.
FAITHFULNESS IN AGING
Daniel 6:1-10 (KJV)
It pleased Darius to set
over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole
kingdom;
And over these three
presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto
them, and the king should have no damage.
Then this Daniel was preferred
above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and
the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
Then the presidents and
princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they
could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was
there any error or fault found in him.
Then said these men, We
shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him
concerning the law of his God.
Then these presidents
and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King
Darius, live for ever.
All the presidents of
the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains,
have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm
decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days,
save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
Now, O king, establish
the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law
of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
Wherefore king Darius
signed the writing and the decree.
Now when Daniel knew
that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open
in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day,
and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
Daniel was between 12-15
years old when he was taken into Babylon.
He lived there for the
better part of the entire 70 year captivity.
During which time we are
told that Daniel served:
· Nebuchadnezzar
· Belshazzar
· Darius and
· Cyrus
History tells us that
there were three kings between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar[7]:
· Evil Merodach, Nebuchadnezzar’s son who was assassinated by
· Neriglissar (Evil Merodach’s brother in law) followed by his
son
· Laborosoarchod who was followed by
Belshazzar.
So Daniel served the
court under seven kings AND three empires:
· Babylon
· Media and
· Persia
Daniel is an older man
by the time Darius conquers Babylon.
Wisely Darius, instead
of killing Daniel, retained him and even promoted him.
Good leadership
recognizes good help!
The key to this passage
is that, when Darius promoted Daniel, his enemies knew there was only one way
to set Daniel up for a fall – with his faith.
Through all of the circumstances
of Daniel’s life, he had never waivered in his faith.
What he had purposed in
his heart as a teenager, he was faithful too as an elderly man, maybe seventy
or eighty years old.
One of the things I have
learned over the years is that elderly men don’t always end the way they began.
More people than I care
to count started out going one direction for the Lord but changed courses along
the way – often it happens when they get older.
One preacher I know of,
a powerful preacher in his younger years, compromised terribly as he grew
older. I heard his assistant pastor tell me that when he asked him why his
response was, “Ron, I just got tired of
the fight.”
Moses sort of did that.
He served God so well
for so long – but then, just before they had made it to the Promised Land,
· He got tired of the fight.
· He had enough of the people murmuring and complaining and
· He did what God did not give him permission to do
And he did not go into
the Promised Land because of it.
It does matter how you
start
But it matters also how
you end.
Conclusion
A spiritual person lives
with:
· Purpose
· Wisdom and
· Faithfulness
He or she unites with a
church of like-minded believers and he stays there until the day God calls them
home.
[1] Romans 3:10
[2] Adam Clarke
[3] Elsewhere known as
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
[4] Daniel 2:17
[5] Ezekiel referencing him
in his prophesies.
[6] Daniel 2:28
[7] My history here comes
from Adam Clarke. I know that there are other histories with other names. What
is relevant for this message is that there were other kings between
Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar.
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