Daniel Chapter One

I have used the preacher's outline and sermon Bible commentary as well as the expositor's Bible commentary for preparing the message today. I think to help us understand the very first chapter of Daniel, which we'll be covering, and only that chapter today, I think it's important for us to have the proper understanding of the setting. Here you've got a young man by the name of Daniel. He may be as young as 15. He may be as old as 20. He's obviously a very young man in either way. But his country has been conquered. Thousands of his countrymen have been murdered. Other thousands of his countrymen have been deported to the nation of Babylon, the most powerful nation in the world at that time. When this young man was deported to Babylon, he was ripped away from his family, from all the friends— well, not all the friends, but from his family, just allowed to be with a few of his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the names we know them by. Upon arriving in Babylon as a young man who was ripped from his family, ripped from his country, the process of brainwashing took place virtually immediately. They took young Daniel and they changed his name. We'll get into that in a little bit.

But here is a young man that, despite all that was happening in his young life, stood tall for God. He had every reason in the world to justify ungodly behavior, to justify walking away from the God of Judah, but he did not do so. And because of that, he was able to be used by God for a great many years.

As we talked about last week when we were going through the background to the book, it is thought that Daniel probably lived to be at least in his mid-80s. He may have been as old as in his early 90s. He served under four world-ruling kings, two from Babylon and two from the Medo-Persian Empire. It's interesting when you think about the man Daniel, that he holds a rather singular position in the Scriptures. If we don't think about Jesus Christ who was God in the flesh, Daniel is the only character in the whole of the Bible where nothing evil or nothing wrong is ever said about him. Now, if you can think of somebody else, I can't. If you can think of somebody else in the Scriptures apart from Christ, where nothing is said negatively about him, that says something. Also, brethren, as we go into chapter 1 today, Daniel as a book is largely prophecy, great prophecy. But as we appreciate, when Jesus Christ came to the world, he said that he brought all the words of his Father, which means all the words of the Bible. Christ was the one who inspired the Scriptures. God put together the Scriptures and gave them to us. It's important for us to realize that the book of Daniel is important as it is from a prophetic point of view. Chapter 1 deals hardly, not at all, with prophecy. I think that tells us something about the way God wants us to view prophecy. It's important. About a third of the Bible is prophecy. But we want to put that into proper perspective. When we take a look at the first chapter of Daniel, it helps us to do just that. A number of you have gone through some very severe trials in your life. Those of you who have probably will go through even more. Those who haven't, your time is coming. Believe you may. But if you would like encouragement during very difficult times, when you think the whole world is against you, when you think that you've got very few in the way of family or friends that you can turn to, then you need to study the book of Daniel. You need to not just study the book, but take a look at the personage of Daniel as he moves forward in his life, with God as a guide, with God intervening in his life. So let's turn over to Daniel chapter 1 just yet. Let's turn to the book of Ezekiel. Starting over in chapter 14 here. I may mention about nothing in the Scripture that we have. We're not saying that Daniel was sinless by any stretch of the imagination. That's certainly not the case. But he certainly was a man of outstanding individual moral character. Ezekiel chapter 14 and verse 14. Let's start in Ezekiel chapter 14. So the man, when a land sins against me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out my hand against it. I will cut off its supply of bread, said famine upon it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness, says the Lord God.

I've commented to you a number of times that Daniel is considered one of the most righteous men who ever lived. Here we've got proof of that. Noah, Daniel, and Job. We drop down to verse 19. Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my fury on it in blood, and cut off it from man and beast, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness. By their righteousness, we're obviously talking about the righteousness of God that they were adhering to.

In chapter 1, now we can turn over to Daniel 1. In chapter 1 of Daniel, we see that there is a tremendous need for strong men and women, people of character. We're seeing where the nation of Judah was lacking that moral fiber. The reason why God had them conquered, and they were carted off, in so many cases those who were still alive, lock, stock, and barrel. Only the poorest of the people were left in the land. We'll get to that a little bit later. But let's just jump right into the book and learn some valuable lessons that help us to appreciate all the prophecy we'll be looking at as we get through and go through the book.

Daniel 1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. Now, what we've got here is the year 605 BC. Scholars and historians are pretty much unified on that date. 605 BC. And notice how the book of Daniel starts. It starts in the midst of war. It starts in the midst of something that's horrible, ugly. What is happening in your life?

Are you in the midst of war? Are you in the midst of something that's really ugly? We talk about environment. Daniel didn't have much of an environment that was positive in terms of growing up with this happening, with this nation being ripped away from his family, being such a young man. So, we now look at verse 2. Verse 2. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand, into Nebuchadnezzar's hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar. Historically, the land of Shinar and Babylon are one and the same.

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 here, God said, you know, we had a tremendously beautiful tabernacle filled with all sorts of our temple, filled with all sorts of gold and beautiful things. All of that you had such a hard on. He says, that's all gone now.

That's all going to be taken away because of the sins of the nation. But what we also see, starting here in verse 2, last week we went through and talked about four major Christian living principles we see in the book of Daniel. One of the very first principles we talked about last Sabbath was the fact that the book of Daniel shows God as a supreme sovereign. And only just the second person to the book, we see this. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand. God did this. There was a...

God gives us plenty of rope, gives us plenty of opportunity to repent. But there comes a point where enough is enough. And brethren, as we again talked about last Sabbath, there's duality in prophecy. What we're seeing in this prophecy is going to happen to our nation, unless our nation repents. Now, we have an example of what took place many, many years ago where the city of Nineveh repented before God.

And God changed. He said, you know, he told Jonah, go tell that city they're done. And then the people, they fasted, they prayed, they made their animals fast. I mean, they really got into it. And God knows the real deal when he sees it. These people weren't putting out a show. Nineveh repented and God says, okay, I'm not going to have you go into captivity. Now, that same thing can happen with our nation. Whether our nation is going to do that or not remains to be seen. But prophetically speaking, as we talked about last Sabbath, we are the end-time nation of Israel.

And our nation will be conquered. Our nation will be destroyed. Our peoples will go into national captivity. Those are prophecies we'll talk about as we go through the book. Very sad time. But we hear that by God's hand that this is being done. Verse 3, Then the king instructed Ashkenaz, the master of the 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, assessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had the ability to serve the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and the literature of the Chaldeans.

So we find out a number of things here in these two verses. A man who's going to have a tremendous influence on Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is this man by the name of Ashkenaz. He's called the master of the eunuchs. Some people assume by reading this that he himself was a eunuch. We don't know that for a fact. He might have been. He might not have been. But he was a man who had control over the learning process of these young people that were taken out of their own land and brought to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was a pretty bright guy. And his philosophy is, let's not just kill all the best and the brightest of the lands we conquer. Let's take the best. Let's take the brightest. Let's cart them back to our homeland. Let's brainwash them. Let's make sure they have no desire to go back to their own homeland. And let's use their brain power. Let's use their talents and their abilities for the good of Babylon. And so that was the job of Ashmanaz to be one of the instructors of Daniel, Meshach, and the three fellows there. Notice also, and we talked about this last Sabbath, they were to take some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles. It might well be that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were either the children of nobles or perhaps part of the royal family, connected in some way. In this case, they would have been connected to King Josiah. So we see young men, and the reason why these young men were spared and brought to Babylon is because they probably did have a pretty decent education up to this point in their life. If you will, they were of the more privileged class. Verse 4 says, they were men who were no blemish, and they were good-looking. You want leaders that, at least back in those days for this particular culture, this is what they were looking for. But notice, gifted in all wisdom. These four young men had that as a natural ability given to them by God. We'll talk more about that down the road. Gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge, and quick to understand. You didn't have to discuss something with them five times for them to get it. They were bright. They were very bright. And they had the ability to serve in the king's palace. Now, put a marker here. We do want to take a look at this from a historical point of view. Let's go over to 2 Kings 24. 2 Kings 24. And again, we want to put ourselves into Daniel's sandals here. 2 Kings 24. And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came against the city, as the servants were besieging it. Then Jehoiakim, king of the Judah, his mother, his servants, his priests, his officers, went out to the king of Babylon, and the king of Babylon, in his eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner. So all the royals were taken. Some of them, I'm sure, were killed. And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house. And he cut in pieces all the articles of gold, which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord said. Now, to the typical Jew of his day, this was awful that the beautiful temple had been so desecrated. But that wasn't the important thing to God. The important thing to God is how his people were living, how they weren't living according to his standards. Verse 14, also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem, all the captains, and all the mighty men of Valor, ten thousand captives, ten thousand captives, all the craftsmen and the smiths, none remained except the poorest people of the land.

Now, there's a reason, there's a strategy behind what's significant as there's doing here. And he carried Jehoiachim, captive to Babylon, the king's mother, the king's wives, his officers, the mighty men of the land, he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon, all the Valium, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong in fifth war. These the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

Why was this taking place? Because of the sins of Judah.

And brethren, again, speaking about duality, because of our national sins, our nation has been so greatly blessed. It's not because we as Americans, or those in Britain, or Canada, or the various nations where the British Commonwealth, Australia, New Zealand, it's not because we're just so smart. We were given great blessings because of the promise of the maid to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob.

But, because we have not followed through to be the people God's wanted us to be, the same fate awaits us. This took place right here with Judah. The Babylon had a strategy. As we talked about, they were going to take the best, the brightest for use in the new kingdom, Babylon.

But also, there was another part to the strategy here. We read here, at the end of verse 14, who was left in the land? Only the poorest people were left in the land.

What did Nebuchadnezzar then do? History shows that Nebuchadnezzar took the land that the nobles had, took the land that the royal family had, he took that land and gave it to the poor.

What was the purpose behind that? The purpose behind that was to consolidate the power that Babylon had over that kingdom. Nobody appreciates having their land conquered. But when, at least as a poor person, you now have land, well, it gives you some pause in terms of your thinking about the people who have taken over your land.

They have been good to me. They have given me land. I've never had anything as a poor person. Now I've got land. So, basically, Nebuchadnezzar was trying to win over the people who were left in the country. Now, to the nobles, maybe the nobles there, they were captives in Babylon. Maybe they were thinking that somehow, someday, they can go back to their homes and their property and so forth. Uh-uh. Their homes and their property were given to the poor. They had nothing to go back to. So, basically, Nebuchadnezzar was burning their bridges behind them.

Basically, Nebuchadnezzar was trying to erase what we would call Judah from the history of the earth. That was a horrible time that a young Daniel was facing. Let's go back to Daniel chapter 1 and continue the story.

Chapter 1, verse 5, And the king had put in 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, here we see, you know, things happen very quickly in this book of Daniel.

We see in verse 2 how God gave the nation of Judah over to Babylon. We see here in verse 5 the very first real trial in Daniel's life.

He's only a kid, probably, in his teens.

And yet, we see at the very beginning of his career a clear-cut issue of whether he's going to be faithful and obedient to God or not.

Now, again, think of this brethren.

Think, put yourself in Daniel's shoes.

Your nation has just been conquered by this man who's telling you now what you're going to eat. Your nation has been conquered. Thousands have been murdered. Other thousands have been deported. You've been deported. You've been ripped away from your family.

If you anger the king, he had no problem taking your head off. Because he had plenty of other people, nobles, that he was going to train.

Taking the head off of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have been no big thing.

Now, there have been times in your life where you've had to stand up for the truth.

Go to your boss and ask off for the Sabbath or ask off for the Holy Days.

But the consequence of you doing that wasn't, well, if I say no, then we're going to take you to a room and chop your head off.

That wasn't the consequence you faced. That was a consequence Daniel was facing just because he didn't want to eat certain food.

And you know something, Reverend? There's a lot of people that could reason around that. A lot of justification could have happened there in Daniel's mind. It's just food! It's just a physical thing! I could be loyal to the great God in my heart. But if I'm dead, I can't do anything for the great God. So why shouldn't I eat the king's delicacies?

He wants me to eat moon pies and Twinkies.

He wants me to have that ham sandwich and the shellfish and all those things that shouldn't be eaten.

So basically what we see is a young man, four young men here, who said, you know what? No.

We're going to do exactly what God wants us to do.

And by their refusal to obey the king, which could have cost them their lives, by their refusal to obey Nebuchadnezzar, God said, I can use people like this.

I can use young men and young women who have this frame of mind.

So let's go back to the book here and see how this plays out.

Verse 6, Chapter 1, Verse 6.

Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Those were their real names. We tend to remember Daniel's name, but forget the names of the other three guys. Their real names are their birth names.

Verse 7, To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names. He gave to Daniel the name Belshazzar, Belshazzar. To Hananiah, Shadrach, to Meshach, and to Azariah, Abednego.

Again, the idea is, let's erase from their memory their roots. Let's destroy their roots. Let's have complete control over them. Let's change their name.

Now it's interesting when you take a look at their names, their birth names, and then the names that the Babylonian kingdom gave them. It sounds a lot. The name Daniel means, My Judge is El. The last two letters of Daniel's name are El. In the Bible, in the Old Testament, more than 250 times, we read where the name of God is El. That name means God the Mighty. So basically Daniel's name is, My Judge is God the Mighty.

Daniel was given the name of Belteshazzar. Belteshazzar means, Bell Protects His Life. Bell was a pagan god. Well, Bell wasn't about to protect his life, but the great god was. Hananiah, one of Daniel's three friends, and the last three letters of his name are I-A-H. And of course, if you know and understand Hebrew, you'll realize that this was showing the name of Jehovah. Hananiah's name meant, Jehovah is Full of Grace. Jehovah is Full of Grace. But he was given the name of Shadrach. Shadrach means the command of Eku. Eku was one of the gods of the Babylonians. Mishael, again, his name ended with E-L. His name meant, who is what God is? The true God. But he was given the name of Meshach. And that means, who and what is Eku? And then lastly, Azariah, his name again ended with I-A-H, talking about Jehovah. And it meant, that Jehovah has helped me. Jehovah has helped me. But he was given the name of Abednego, meaning the servant of Nebo. Nebo was one of the gods of the Babylonians. So, by changing their names, they were hoping to change their philosophy. Didn't work. They wouldn't allow that to take place. They were strong. Verse 8. Daniel 1, verse 8. But Daniel proposed in his heart, that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested the chief of the eunuchs, that he might not defile himself. And we're going to see here that God gave this young man. You know, Christ talked about where, when you're brought before kings and rulers, don't worry about what you're going to say. Because God says, my spirit will be with you, and I'll give you what you need to say. That was taking place in young Daniel's life. God was working with him. And he knew exactly what to say and how to say it, to make sure that all those around him respected him. Now, it's very possible that most of the food that Daniel and his three companions were asked to eat was unclean. Very possible that was the case. Very possible that even the wine was used in ceremonies to honor the false gods. Take a look at Daniel 5 and 4. Is there anything wrong with wine? Of course not. But there may have been a bigger issue behind the scenes here. Daniel 5 and 4 says, They drank wine, and they praised the gods of gold and silver and bronze and iron, wood and stone. So here you see where this worship was tied into drink. Israel had drink offerings, if you remember. So it wouldn't be unusual to think that other nations, pagan nations, had drink offerings as well. Daniel said, I don't want any of that. Turn to Romans 14. There's a spiritual reason. Romans 14.

Romans 14.23. But he who douts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith. For whatever is not from faith is sin. Whatever is not of faith is of sin. There was a situation where the apostle Paul dealt with, where people didn't want to eat meat's sacrifice to idols.

That could have been Daniel's point of view. Daniel can simply have thought to himself, you know, first of all, I don't want to disobey God's food laws, but secondly, I want to set a good example to all those around me. I want to be, you know, it says in Matthew 5, he wanted to be a light. He didn't know Matthew 5, but he knew he wanted to be an example.

And because he had that as a mindset, God used him to a great degree with, like I said, four world-ruling kings. We go back now to the first chapter of Daniel, verse 9. God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs, Ash Panaz. We see in verse 11 that Daniel said to the steward, or to his guard, it could be translated guard.

So Daniel said to his guard, whom the chief of the eunuchs had said over Daniel, Hananiah, Michiel, and Azariah, please test your servants. So then we see the guard did that. So Daniel has favor with Ash Panaz and his guard. God gave him the opportunity to have that favor. God moves to help the faithful people in adversity. Are you in adversity right now? Do you want help from God right now? Are you and I faithful to God right now? Questions we can ask ourselves.

Verse 10, chapter 1 of Daniel, verse 10. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my Lord the king, Nebuchadnezzar, who has appointed your food and drink. The king himself, Daniel, has said, this is what you feed these guys. The one who conquered your homeland, the one who destroyed the lives of thousands of your people.

That man wants you to eat this food. Continue on in verse 10. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are of your age? So Ash Panaz says, listen to the words of your peers. Maybe they were buckling. Maybe the other young men of Judah were buckling. Maybe there was a great deal of peer pressure. You know, with just food, let's eat the stuff. But notice the end of verse 10.

Then you went and daved your my head before the king. And so you see where this was no small matter, Ash Panaz and Nagart, their heads literally could have rolled. But Daniel was so used of God that these men gave it a shot. Let's take a look here in verse 11. So Daniel said to the steward, whom the chief of the eunuchs had said over the four men, verse 12, please test your servants for ten days.

Not a long period of time. For ten days, let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Now, some people will use verse 12 as a proof text that we should all be vegetarians. That's not what the verse is trying to convey. The verse is trying to convey that they wanted to eat things that were proper food before God. Not improper food provided by the king of Babylon. Verse 13, 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, deal with your servants.

Let's have a test. We'll eat the food we think is best. You'd feed the other guys the food you think is best. May the best diet win. You know? Verse 14, So we can send them with them in this matter and test them ten days. At the end of the ten days, their features appeared better and fatter in the flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies.

Moon pies just don't get it. You know, you eat a Twinkie, you're going to look like a Twinkie after a while. Right? Thus, the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink and gave them vegetables, gave them proper diet. And you know something? It doesn't say here, but it doesn't appear that they've told the king, you know, can we disobey your word? No, they...you know, God was working behind the scenes. When you're faithful to God, He works behind the scenes to make things happen for you.

That's one...again, we said that one of the main themes we see in the book of Daniel is the fact of the sovereignty of God. And through all this that we've covered so far, we see God's sovereignty, giving the nation into the hands of the Babylonians, giving Daniel great favor, allowing Daniel to have this test. They didn't have to do that, but they allowed that test to take place. You know, God gave those four men, whatever they were eating that was proper food, gave them the best of the proper food, and they looked really good at the end of just ten days.

God is working powerfully behind the scenes here. Verse 17, 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. So you see what we have there in verse 17 about God giving them knowledge and skill. We combine that with what we see over in verse 4, how they were good-looking young men, but they were gifted in wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand. In other words, these young men normally and naturally had certain abilities and talents.

They were of high station in their nation. They had been receiving good education in their nation. And now we're seeing that God's taking that and augmenting that because of their faithfulness there in verse 17. Now, keep that thought in mind. Turn over to Matthew chapter 25.

Matthew chapter 25. Here we've got the parable of the talents. Matthew chapter 25 and verse 15. And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another, to each according to his own ability. And so we see a truth of Scripture here. All of us have certain natural abilities that we've inherited from our parents. God can then take and give us his Holy Spirit that greatly enhances those natural abilities. And that's what he did for Daniel and his three companions, to each according to his own ability. Let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

1 Corinthians chapter 12 is a chapter dealing with spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 starting in verse 4. There are diversities of gifts but the same spirit. There are differences of the ministries but the same Lord. There are diversities of activities but the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.

So Daniel and his three companions were given the use of spiritual gifts to serve the king of Babylon, which was playing into God's hand. It was playing into God's hand. God was working behind the scenes. The book of Daniel needed to be written. There needed to be an understanding that if we're faithful to God, even under the most severe circumstances, that God can bless us, protect us, take care of us. That's exactly what happened. 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 10.

1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 10. As each one has received a gift, ministered to one another as a good steward of the manifold grace of God. Daniel, Hananiah, and all the other three fellows, they were recipients of the manifold grace of God. They were God's servants in an ungodly land, and God used them very powerfully. We go back now to Daniel chapter 1.

Daniel chapter 1 started here in verse 18. Now, at the end of the days when the king had said they should be brought in, in other words, remember we saw earlier in verse 5 that they were to be taught for three years. They were to be given what we would call today a university education, three years' worth. At the end of the days, at the end of these three years, the king had said they should be brought in.

The chief of eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. That might tend to loosen somebody's loins. The guy who has control of your life, if you don't look quite right, if you don't act quite right, if you look a little like you're a dunce, you know, off with your head. We don't need that sort of, you know, Nebuchadnezzar doesn't need that sort of ridiculousness.

Verse 19. Then the king interviewed them. The king interviewed them. You know, I don't know how many of you know Mike Wallace. Remember Mike Wallace from 60 Minutes? His son, Chris Wallace, is a commentator on Fox News. I remember one time Chris Wallace was talking about what it was like growing up with Mike Wallace as your father. He says, can you imagine what it was like coming home late on a date and you've got an answer to Mike Wallace?

That's kind of what these guys were going through. Now, Nebuchadnezzar had more power than Mike Wallace, although Mike Wallace in his time was a very powerful man, pretty much in many ways ran the CBS, at least the news division. But the king, Nebuchadnezzar, interviewed them, and among them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Michiel, and Azariah. Therefore, they served before the king. These young men, God had blessed, put his spirit on them.

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 in the realm. He found them ten times better. And, you know, I'm betting that they were taught the various classes of astrology and what have you. But when it came time for interpretation of dreams, how many times did Daniel say, let's go check the horoscopes? Never did it.

Didn't need it. It wasn't any good. He relied upon God to tell him what was true and not true, what was going to happen and not happen. Verse 21, Thus Daniel continued until the first year of the reign of Cyrus. Now, from an historical point of view, this verse is very important, Cyrus was a king of the Medio-Persian Empire. So what we see in verse 21 is that Daniel lived through the whole seventy years of the Babylonian captivity, lived through that whole time period under the rule of the Babylonian kings, two of them, and now he's into the reign of the kings of Persia.

I want to, you know, last time we looked at four major Christian living lessons learned. I want to draw, if you wouldn't mind, some lessons learned from chapter one. Lessons learned from chapter one. The first lesson that I see, and there may be any number of lessons here, I see three different lessons I'd like to just briefly outline here for you. Lesson number one is that Daniel is an example of conviction and commitment. An example of conviction and commitment.

In an atmosphere where, you know, he was given the opportunity to shine, he did shine. Because he followed God. He did the things that would allow him to be there and be a light to the people around him. He didn't compromise. In our life, how many times have we compromised? When we go through this whole... I'm going to ask a few questions here. Think about our life and think about what Daniel was going through. How often did Daniel compromise with the culture around him?

He didn't. Have you and I compromised with the culture around us? Have we compromised with what we watch on TV or the kind of movies we go to or the kind of books we read? What language we use? Have we compromised with this world? In Daniel's life, how often did he compromise with the luxuries of Babylon? Did he let the luxuries of Babylon sidetrack him from his walk with God? Brethren, have we allowed the luxuries of the world we live in to sidetrack us from our walk with God? Have we allowed TV watching?

I didn't get my prayer in today or my study. Why didn't we get our prayer study in today? I was too busy watching Gunsmoke or whatever it was that we were watching. Too busy watching the TV set. Too busy... It could be something that's not simple. I've got a hobby. I like to repair cars or restore cars. Nothing wrong with that. But if that ends up all the discretionary time you have and you've got no time for God, you basically schedule God out of our lives. Have we been guilty? Have we compromised by scheduling God out of our lives?

Let's take a look at Ephesians 6 for a moment. Ephesians 6. Bob Dunham has given a two-part series on this topic, but I just want to take a look at one verse here. Ephesians 6 and verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Daniel was strong in the Lord. Yes, he was a sharp young man. Maybe he was a brilliant young man, but he didn't rely upon his brilliance.

He didn't rely upon his pleasing personality. He didn't rely upon the things that were his physically or mentally. He relied upon the great God. And as we go into the book of Daniel further and further, people are praising him, saying, Daniel, you know all these secrets and all. And there were plenty of times he could have said, yeah, I'm really pretty good, aren't I? I mean, I really got my stuff together here.

But Daniel didn't do that. He continually said, no, I'm nothing. What I've gotten, I've gotten from the great God. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. To be strong in the Lord, it means we appreciate the fact that our God has unlimited power. Who would think that a young boy, maybe only 15 years of age, would become one of the greatest men in these world-ruling empires?

Daniel was one of the great men. We'll look at the Scripture here. Well, let's take a look at it right now. Let's go back to Daniel 6. How great was this young man? Daniel 6. Verse 1. And it pleased Darius. Now, we're into the Persian Empire here. It pleased Darius and said over the kingdom, 120 state traps to be over the whole kingdom. So here we've got a world-ruling kingdom.

There's 120 guys who are running the whole show. 120 of them. Over those 120, there were three governors. So under the king, there's three men who are more powerful than anybody else in the empire, of whom Daniel was one. That the state traps might give account to them, and so the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and state traps.

So under the king, there wasn't anybody who was better and thought better of under the king than Daniel. He basically occupied the position of a prime minister of a world-ruling kingdom. Mr. D., I can't get my prayer, and I can't get my study, and I'm too busy.

Daniel was prime minister of a world-ruling kingdom. David was the king of Judah. Kings could be pretty busy, but he meditated. We love the Psalms because of what David wrote. He found time. Abraham was a man who commanded his own army. He had time for God. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and the state traps because an excellent spirit was in him. You know, brethren, every Passover we come together, and on Passover evening, what is the thing that binds us?

Why are we at Passover service? We are at Passover service because there is an excellent spirit in us. That excellent spirit is the spirit of God. An excellent spirit was in him, and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. You know, the king probably would have done that. But probably the other guys who were peers to Daniel, they may have been native-born sons. There probably were political reasons why the king thought he couldn't do this.

But in his heart, the king said, boy, I really would like to have Daniel just under me in authority. So Daniel had to realize that God's power, he was sovereign, and because of God's power, God put him where he was. And he needed to use that power wisely. So one of the lessons we learned from the chapter 1 is that Daniel, and if I were to just give a chapter heading in my own mind to Daniel chapter 1, I would say, chapter 1, Daniel, a man of conviction. Daniel, a man of conviction. The second large lesson we learn in chapter 1 is how God blesses the faithful.

How God blesses the faithful. No matter how much pressure was brought to bear on Daniel, on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they didn't bend, they didn't break. They were faithful. And they didn't know what God had in mind for them. Maybe God wanted them to be martyrs.

You know, in the course of the study of the book of Daniel, we'll get into the fiery furnace incident. Remember that story? How the three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they wouldn't worship the image of the king. And so the idea was, well, we're going to have this furnace, and we're going to stoke it, and stoke it, and stoke it so hot, then we're going to throw these guys in there alive.

And as the soldiers were taking the three men, to throw them into the furnace, then that fall could have killed them. But the heat was so great that the soldiers that were escorting the three men to the top where they were going to throw them in, they were dying. The heat was so strong, so great. And yet, what did those three men say? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They said, you know what? Our God is able to deliver us, and we've got faith that He can do that. On the other hand, maybe God doesn't want to deliver us.

Maybe His desire for us, His will for us, is that we die as martyrs. In either case, we're not going to bow to a false image. We're not going to worship a false God. We are going to be faithful. Now, did God stop the trial right there and then?

No. God didn't stop the trial right there and then. They were thrown into the fiery furnace. Sometimes some of you have asked, why is God allowing me to go through this right now? Well, do you feel you've been thrown into the fiery furnace? Yeah. Well, so were they. They were thrown into the fiery furnace. But do you know the interesting thing about that story?

As they looked into the fiery furnace, they said, you know, we threw three guys in there. But there's four guys we're seeing in there. Jesus Christ was in there with them. When we're going through the toughest trials in our life, if we're faithful, Jesus Christ walks with us. He walks with us. Let's take a look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 58. We know this chapter is the resurrection chapter.

1 Corinthians 1558, Therefore, my beloved brother, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Remain faithful. Don't go off the path. God blesses the faithful. The last lesson that we learned here, that I want to talk about here anyway, is that God can use you anywhere. God can use you anywhere.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could have been great leaders in the nation of Judah. But God didn't want Judah to continue any longer. They were going to go into national captivity and slavery. Daniel and his three companions were carted over to Babylon. Was that the end of their life?

Was that the end of their usefulness before God? No. God used them where they were planted. They grew where they were planted. Maybe you're someplace you don't want to be right now. Maybe you're in a job you don't want to be in. Maybe you live in a neighborhood you don't want to be in. Maybe you've got relatives you don't want to have. I had a phone call from a relative just this last week, and I thought, Oh, I don't know.

Every family's got its black sheep, and the blacks of sheep gave me a phone call this last week. But you know what? Who cares what we want? It's what God wants. Maybe God wants you to be in the position you're in, so you can be a light to the people you work with, or to your next-door neighbor, or to your relatives who give you nothing but a hard time in life, or whatever your situation is.

God can use you wherever. Last scripture for today is found over in Philippians, Philippians 4. Philippians 4, starting in verse 11. Philippians 4, 11-13. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. To be content. Brethren, isn't this one of the biggest problems you and I have at times? Contentment. Remember when we had our dog Teddy? Teddy was a chow. Big dogs. 65-70 pounds worth of chow. He was definitely an alpha dog. If anybody picked him up, a 70-pound dog that's going to squirm, that's hard to pick up.

But I remember whenever I picked Teddy up, he wasn't feeling well, we're taking him to the vet, I'll just pick him up, take him to the car. Man, he was squirming, and he didn't want to be in my arms at all. He was not content. He wanted those paws on the ground. That's where paws belong. On the ground. About an old dad's arms there. In so many times, aren't we the same way?

In life, God puts us in a certain position for His reasons and for our betterment, but we aren't content with where God puts us. Paul had learned. He says, Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned that whatever state I am to be content, I know how to be abased, I know how to abound, I know both ends of the scale. Everywhere and all things I have learned, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

I know it all. I've seen both ends of the spectrum. And notice what he says as a concluding thought to this whole idea. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. If Christ puts me in a place where I am abased, I can deal with that. If Christ puts me in a place where I just won the Powerball, I just won $900 million. $900 million! Well, that gets your mind to working, doesn't it?

That can mess with your mind. Of course, I doubt that many of us play lotteries or buy lottery tickets. I know I don't. I think I'm running ahead by not buying any of those things. You go buy a story and see people buy those things and think, $900 million. That would do wonders to my checking account. $900 million. But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Even the good times. Sometimes the biggest trials people have are the good times.

They're the good times. When everything is going well, and you've got your health, and your family's got their health, and so many... One fellow basically said, Well, why do I need God anymore? I've got my health. I've got everything I need. Why do I need God? God's for when you're needy. I'm not needy. Well, we know better than that. You might say that when you're 21 years of age, and you're young, and you're vibrant, and then everything in your body starts to fall around your waist.

You can't hardly remember your own name. You wake up in the morning, you sit on the edge of the bed, and you kind of check yourself to make sure everything is still attached. Everything is still working. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Okay, brethren, that's going to be the end of the study of Daniel for today. Next week we'll talk about the demon influences in our world and what we need to know about that and how we need to respond to that.