Daniel and His Three Trials of Faith

To begin with, I brought one of my wife's pearl necklaces. And, of course, they're not all. They're not the most expensive ones, but they help illustrate something. And that is that, just like the pearl necklace has very similar pearls. So, in the Bible, all the men and women of faith, you can compare them to each one of these pearls that God had been working on. And He is adding to this pearl necklace all the time. All of them are part of what the Bible describes in those 66 books, 49 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. And so, as you look at these, God is developing jewels. And a pearl is a type of a jewel. That God is calling us to be part of this pearl necklace, in the sense of all of these men and women of faith.

Now, it might sound far-fetched, but God does call us jewels in the future. And one type of jewel has to do with pearls. Let's go to Malachi chapter 3, because sometimes a person is discouraged. They have tests. They have trials. They might think, well, God isn't listening to me, or I'm going through different trials in the home or at work. Notice what God said in Malachi 3 verse 16.

It says, "...then those who feared the Lord," which means deeply respected the Lord, "...spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them. So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on his name." These are the people that truly put God first in their lives, that they meditate on God's Word. And then it goes on to say verse 17. God answers and says, "...they shall be mine," says the Lord of hosts, "...on the day that I make them my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves them." There's that relationship of family. And so God is in the process of creating out of human beings something very special, very treasured, what he calls his jewels. And it's also interesting that God uses the term pearls to let us know that to him those that he's calling to his kingdom, to be part of his jewels, also have to preserve what he calls the pearl of great price, which are his precious truths. Notice in Matthew chapter 13, Matthew chapter 13 verse 45. He's giving parables about people coming into the truth of God and the kingdom of God, which is something that a person will enter.

He says here in Matthew 13 verse 45, he says, again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls who, when he has found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Because in those days, a pearl of great price was worth a fortune. And he found one that he was able to say, boy, if I am able to purchase this, it's worth far more than anything that I have. And so in order to become part of God's jewelry, of this necklace of biblical men and women, we have to keep that precious pearl of great price. We cannot give it up because without God's precious truths, we're not going to be part of this necklace.

And all of these men and women of faith had that vision of being part of God's kingdom and of being part of that first resurrection, which is when Christ comes back. And they held on to these precious truths of God to the very end. Let's go to the faith chapter, Hebrews 11.

Hebrews 11.

In verse 6, it tells us what faith is. Hebrews 11 verse 6, it says, but without faith, it is impossible to please him.

If a person doesn't have that faith, and it explains more what it is, for he who comes to God must believe that he is the term he exists, that he is real, that he is personal, he wants a relationship with us, that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. He is not passive. He's not a God who is out there not intervening. He listens. He intervenes. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

That's why we can never give up. We have to continually seek him. As different trials come in life, we cannot give up. We cannot think that he's not going to listen. He always listens, and he can intervene at any moment. It depends on, do we diligently seek him or not? Or do we just do it once in a while? Is he in second or third place in our lives? Because he doesn't like to be playing second fiddle to anyone, to be in second or third place. And so, I want to talk about one of these pearls, one of these persons of faith, to give you an illustration of what that Hebrews 11 6 is all about. What does it mean to diligently seek him?

And so, there is one person that I want to focus on, and the three great trials of faith that he went through. And to encourage us, because believe me, none of us have ever gone through such terrible trials as he ever did. None of us can compare, and yet he had that simple faith. He gave us an example of what to do under certain circumstances. And that person is a personage in the Old Testament named Daniel. He's got a book named after him. He's known as Daniel the prophet, but here was this young man who was taken to Babylon as a slave and a captive. And he had to face an enormous trial right at the beginning of his life, and it's in the first chapter of Daniel. Let's turn to Daniel chapter 1. Daniel chapter 1.

And I'm going to read that first section, because it gives you a good background what had happened at this time. Daniel chapter 1, in verse 1. We can go back to that time.

This was in Babylon. It says, This was around 605 BC. And the Lord gave a Jehoi king of Judah into his hand. In other words, God knew the evils that were going on in Judah at the time. He had sent warning through his prophets. They had not paid attention. And so God allowed Judah to be conquered at this time by King Nebuchadnezzar. But it wasn't because King Nebuchadnezzar did it on his own. The Lord gave him into his hand with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God. And he brought the articles into the treasure house of his God. So God allowed it. Some of these holy objects that were in the temple. And God said, you people are not worthy of keeping these. And you're going to be punished. And this is going to be taken away from you. And this king of Babylon is going to take all of these treasures from you. And what else? It says, verse 3, Then the king instructed Espenaz, 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, in whom they might teach the language and the literature of the Chaldeans. So the king took some of these captive young men, the best among that whole group, and he brought them to instruct them so that, you know, he would put them over his kingdom, especially dealing with Judah and such. So they needed to learn the Babylonian language. They needed to know the culture, the arts, notice the training. 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. So almost a college education they received there in Babylon. Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah. To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names. He gave Daniel the name Belshisar, to Hananiah, Shadrach, to Michelle, Meshach, and Azariah, Abednego.

But Daniel, purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies, nor with a wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. So here Daniel was a young captive, probably around 16 years old, and yet he said, I'm going to continue obeying God's food laws. I'm going to continue with what God has taught me in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. All of these areas, because this was a pagan king, and they ate pork, and they ate fat, and they ate shellfish, and all kinds of things. And so this is what they presented him, and he just said, I'm going to put God first. And of course, what chance did he have? Some people would say, well, you just go along. God will understand. Go ahead and eat these things. But he said, no, I am determined not to do so. So the first trial that Daniel went through had to do with biblical foods, whether he was going to give in or not. And so what happened? He says, verse 9, Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. So God was working in the background, giving Daniel and these other three teenagers goodwill.

And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my Lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see you your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king. If he saw that you guys were looking so thin, emaciated, weak, he would have taken me and I would have been executed. So here's this man saying, Daniel, you're risking my life and you're risking your life too, because you're a captive here. You don't have rights. How many would have just said, well, you're right.

Yeah, I'm just going to eat lizards and pork and whatever they serve there, just give in.

No, he didn't, because he asked God for wisdom. So if we want to have faith, we have to first put God first and help him, help for him to intervene in our lives. Many times we really don't have the wisdom that Daniel knows exactly what to do. What did he do? He said, I am not going to defy myself with this food. Now, God has to work out things.

Like I have commented, do you think God up there says, oh my, Daniel's trusting in me. What can I do against this king of Nebuchadnezzar? What can I do? Is God there kind of figuratively biting his finger? He's actually trusting in me. Of course not. God is saying, okay, Daniel, you're going to see my intervention. You're going to see how I will solve this for you. And that's exactly what happened. Notice in verse 11. So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah, please test your servants for 10 days and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Now what happened here? Well, a king in those days, they got all kinds of these delicacies. I mean, they got squid, they've got pork, they've got all kinds of blood and fat and everything else. And the wine was fortified. So it wasn't just typical wine you drank. This was fortified. This was liquor, hard liquor. And so Daniel said he wasn't going to take that as well. And he says, then let our appearance be examined before you and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies.

And as you see fit, so deal with your servants. So here, walking by faith, Daniel had to have the wisdom to say, let's test this out. Because he would have said, we're not going to eat it. Okay, to the gallows. And that would have been the end of Daniel. But God put it in his mind how to solve the problem. So he said, okay, I'm going to eat biblical foods. And the rest of these are eating all kinds of things.

And after 10 days, we'll see whose appearance looks best. Verse 14, so he consented with them in this matter and tested them 10 days. That's where God intervened. They said, okay, let's do it. And at the end of 10 days, their features appeared better and fatter in the flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies. So of course, along with the vegetables, you got beans, which have proteins and other things.

And we know water is better than all of the liquor that you're drinking. And so it was a very healthy diet. And it says, at the end of the days, their features appeared better and fatter in the flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies. Thus, the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink and gave them vegetables.

And what did God do? He blessed these four men for their faith. As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now, at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, that's three years, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Michelle, and Azariah. Therefore, they served before the king.

And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were all in his reign. Thus, Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus. So we're talking about basically 70 years, because Daniel did what? He had faith. He walked by faith. See, one thing is the theory. It's knowing what you should do. The other thing is putting it into practice. That's a lot harder, because Daniel put his neck on the line.

And he, of course, it wasn't about him abstaining from meat or food. It was abstaining from the king's unclean animals and foods that there are. You can see that, because in Daniel 10 verse 2, Daniel 10 verse 2, it says, In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

So this is kind of a partial fast, but it showed that he normally ate meat. He could eat things as long as they were biblically acceptable, biblically authorized by God. But here, he had to begin with that. Now, all of us have had to go through this period in our lives where we read in the Bible, these are the foods that God says we should eat.

And Christ never ate pork. His disciples never ate pork. The apostle Paul never ate. In fact, nobody in the entire Bible that followed God's way ever ate unclean foods, pork or shellfish or anything else. They were all following the same example. In Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ ate lamb. He ate beef.

And he could drink wine. But again, intoxicating wine, that's something you have to be far more careful about. Just like Daniel, he didn't want to get intoxicated like many of the other ones. And so, don't ever underestimate these tests and trials that we go through. Because there are three great trials when we come into the faith. One has to do with the Sabbath day.

Secondly are the feast days and the third are the food laws. Now, I remember when I was 17, and all of you have your own example. I'm just giving it because that's what I know. But we were Latins living in North Carolina at that time. And so, my mother would cook some of these Spanish dishes. And they had either shellfish or one of the favorite ones was pig's feet. And I enjoyed it the way she cooked it. And she knew that was one of my favorites. And when I came into the church and learned, she went ahead and said, well, I'm going to prepare his favorite dish. And I bet he's going to eat it. And here I was in the house, powerless, because my dad, my mom, my sister, my other brother, and little sister, they were all there. And here's my mom. She brings them big bowl and with pig's feet. And it had rice and all this. And she says, oh, look, I brought you this. And I looked at her and I said, Mom, I can't eat this. And I was ready to get whacked. I thought that she was going to whack me over the head. And I just kind of, I just humbled myself as I can't eat this. And, and basically, she had to take it away. And if I needed to get whacked over the head, I would have gotten whacked over the head. If she would have opened my mouth forcibly, I would have closed my mouth. I was just not going to do something against God's will.

Now, you have to prove these things. But I saw in the Bible that there's no place where God says you can eat all of these foods. And look what it says in Isaiah 66. This is when Christ returns.

It's a description. It's the last two verses of, or three verses of the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 66. And I had read these, I had read these scriptures. And I felt I was responsible now for this truth of God. Isaiah 66. It's a little before here. Let's see, Isaiah 66. Yeah, in verse 16, it says, for by fire and by his sword the Lord will judge all flesh. He hasn't done that yet.

And the slain of the Lord shall be many when he comes back to the earth. Verse 17, it says, who are the ones going to be slain? Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go to the gardens after an idol in the midst, eating swine's flesh, that's pork, and the abomination, that's shellfish, and the mouse shall be consumed together, says the Lord. So when Christ comes back, we're not going to be eating unclean food because God is going to insist on it. So if he's going to do that when he comes back, he doesn't want us to do it right now with the people that he's preparing to reign under Jesus Christ. Can you imagine being resurrected when Christ comes back and he says, well, you're going to be in charge? And that person says, oh, yes, but I eat pork. You don't mind, do you, if the city that I'm taking care of, if they eat pork?

Of course that's not going to happen because we're going to do things God's way, not ours. There's no excuses. So we see here this first great trial that Daniel went through. Now let's go to the second. Daniel chapter 2. So he was able to save his neck because of the faith that he had. Daniel chapter 2. Here's the second great trial he went through. It says in verse 1, Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the saucers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king, and the king said to them, I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream. Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king and Aramaic, O king, live forever, tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation. The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, My decision is firm. If you do not make known the dream to me and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore, tell me the dream and its interpretation. And so they go on and say, well, let us know what it is. And he says, no, no, part of this is you have to know what I dreamt about, because he really couldn't remember very well. And so he said, if you're connected spiritually to your gods, well, let the gods tell you. And so what happened? In verse 10, it says that Chaldeans answered the king and said, There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter. Therefore, no king, lord, or ruler, has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. For this reason, the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men, and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them. They were among these men that had been trained. It was almost like Nebuchadnezzar had this fit of anger, and he was willing to get rid of this upper class of all the best educated, because they couldn't tell him what the dream was or its interpretation. So here they come to Daniel's house. He's there with his three companions, and the order is to kill them. So again, if you're faced with this, what do you do?

Do you have the presence of mind to ask God for guidance? Daniel did. Notice.

Then with counsel and wisdom, Daniel answered Ariok, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. He answered and said to Ariok, the king's captain, Why is the decree from the king so urgent? Then Ariok made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time that he might tell the king the interpretation.

Then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to his three companions that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning the secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision, so Daniel blessed the God of heaven. So again, Daniel did not panic.

He said, give me time. I'm going to go to God about the solution.

And Daniel received that vision. Did he know what it was beforehand? No. He had no idea, just like all the others, but he knew what to do. And so remember that faith has three main ingredients. First is putting God first in your life. Putting God first. Secondly, obeying God's holy laws through God's grace. Obane God's holy laws through God's grace. See, nobody does it perfectly, but we've got God's grace that will help, forgive, help us to get up again. But this is a way of life. So Daniel knew that this was a very unreasonable request, but he couldn't change that decree. But he could get God to answer it. There are times in life when you have to just get down on your knees and ask God to intervene. And he will. He will listen. And thirdly, about faith, is don't ever give up. Don't ever quit. You persevere to the end. Whatever the costs, whatever the difficulty, you remain in the faith. It's like crossing the finish line. You might run well. But if you don't make it to the finish line, all of that was a knot. It would not serve anybody because you have to finish faithfully, as David did.

And so the rest of the chapter 2, Daniel, rather, tells King Nebuchadnezzar what the dream was in interpretation. And of course, after that, Daniel was exalted and his three companions. And those wise men that survived were so thankful because that killing was stopped. And then we come to the third great trial of Daniel in Daniel chapter 6. Daniel chapter 6. Now, these other trials took place, these two others, while Daniel was very young. A young man, been trained, would have been about three years, 19, when he finally graduated and began. So he probably was in his early 20s when this dream of Nebuchadnezzar happened. But now, now we go to the Persian period. So you have a period of around 70 years. And now, Daniel is over 80 years old. But he's still serving. Verse 1, it says, it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, or governors, to be over the whole kingdom and over these three governors of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them so that the king would suffer no loss.

Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. Here he would have been the prime minister under the king over the Persian Empire, which is the greatest empire at that time that there had been. But what happened? That provoked jealousy and envy from all of these other governors. All they didn't want was Daniel, this Jewish guy, to be in charge. And so it says, verse 4, so the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom. But they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful, nor was there any error or fault found in him. He was a faithful administrator, wise. He had God's spirit in him working. Then these men said, we shall not find any charge against this Daniel, unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God. See, it's only his religion. That's the only way we can find some fault. And so what did they do? They said, well, we know Daniel is dedicated to his God, the God of Israel, and that he prays to him several times a day. So they came up with this idea. Well, let's go to the king and say, oh, king, you are so great, and let us make a statue of yourself. And for 30 days, we don't want anybody praying to any God. We want them to be praying to this statue and to you. And they got the better of the king's vanity.

And the king went ahead. It says, verse 8, now, oh, king, establish a decree and sign the writing, so they cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which does not alter. Therefore, king Darius signed the written decree. And so for 30 days, you couldn't pray to any other God. They wanted exclusive worship of this king. And remember, Daniel was sort of like next in line. And yet, you think Daniel changed? He could have said, well, look at this. It's a threat. So I'm just going to postpone praying to God for 30 days. Why risk it? And all of it. No, Daniel was one person. He did not change his mind as far as praying to God. He'd already been threatened with the food. He'd been threatened with the dream. And now he is threatened because of this king setting up a statue for 30 days. Verse 10. Here's what Daniel did.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, and by the way, it says here in verse 7, that whoever petitions any God or a man for 30 days except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. And those are hungry lions. They don't feed them for days. And you get thrown in there. They're not going to last very long. It's a horrible, horrifying death.

But Daniel said, I'm going to continue worshiping my God. He said he went home, and in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he wasn't closing them so nobody could see him, he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as was his custom since early days. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. According to the Bible in basic English translation, it says, then these men were watching and saw Daniel making prayers and requesting grace before his God. And so, of course, they were tattle-tails. They told the king what Daniel had done. Verse 12, and they went before the king and spoke concerning the king's decree. Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any God or man within 30 days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, the thing is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter. So they answered and said before the king, that Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day. And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. He realized he'd been tricked, and his vanity had gotten the better of him. Now he was very sorry that he had signed that, but they couldn't alter it.

And so, verse 16, so the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. Now that den of lions was like a large well, a large well that had been dug into the ground. And they were probably four or five lions. And the lions couldn't get out of there, and so they didn't feed them for several days. And anything they dropped, it was completely devoured in seconds. And so Daniel was thrown into this den of lions, and then there was a seal, a cover, so that nobody could jump out. That was sealed, so the lions could kill the person.

And so then, it says, then, verse 17, a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring, and with the signet of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed. Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no musicians were brought before him. Also, his sleep went from him. He was really tormented because he realized, these guys tricked me. They wanted to get rid of Daniel. This was a political plot, and I fell for it. So he felt so bad, but then the king arose. Well, let's read verse 16. It says, so the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, your God, whom you serve continually, he will deliver you. So Daniel had the king's respect. Verse 19, then the king arose very early in the morning, around 6 a.m., and went in haste to the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice, like, what am I doing? This guy has been torn to shreds and eaten up. And he said to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? Then Daniel said to him, O king, live forever.

My God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth. So there were several lions there, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before him. And also, O king, I have done no wrong before you. Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and they brought him out. And guess what? The king said, bring all those guys who had accused you. And he took the wives and the rest of the family, and they threw them all into this lion's den. And it says, verse 24, the king gave command, and they brought those men who had accused David, and they cast them into the den of lions. Them, their children, and their wives, and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den. Lions were that hungry. And again, Daniel had a God that intervenes. Daniel trusted in God.

And so, Daniel is one of God's precious pearls that we have in the Bible to encourage us to give us strength, because that same God is the one that's working today. And he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Let's go to Revelation 21, because God's precious pearls are also in the memory of God when he comes back in that New Jerusalem. Revelation 21, in verse 10, it says, And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, her light was like a precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal, it's like a diamond. And she had a great and high wall with 12 gates, and the 12 angels at the gates, and the names written on them, which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. So you see, God never forsakes what he promised Abraham, and that, as we read in Galatians 3, 27 through 29, that he, when you are baptized into Christ, that you become part of Abraham's descendant, that we are the spiritual Israel of God. Those are the people that he is working through. Those are the ones that are part of this pearl necklace. Each one has his own story of faith, of fighting your own spiritual battles. And it says that all these, where you enter into that holy city, you're going to be a spiritual Israelite at that time, along with your faithful through all this time, all those that are part of that first resurrection. And later on, at the end of the second resurrection, those that are resurrected at the time, they will enter the city of God. And then it goes on to say in verse 21, The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each individual gate was of one pearl, and the streets of the city was pure gold, the street like transparent glass. Yes, that'd be a wonderful scene to one day be part of. And so, just like this pearl necklace that I have brought about, brought to show, we can all be part of it if we are faithful. As Daniel and all the rest did, they had a living faith. It wasn't just theory, it was practice. It was putting it into practice or action. So we need to examine ourselves. How is our faith doing? Are we doing our part? Remember the three parts of what Daniel and the rest gave us an example. Putting God first, obeying God's holy laws with God's grace, and never giving up, persevering to the end. Let's all be part of God's pearl necklace.