The Plight of Man and the Power of God

Date 28 10 01? Text Daniel 1 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We looked the other week at Daniel 1. I want to look again at this wonderful book concentrating this morning on Daniel 2. Daniel 1 tells us about the 6th Century BC and how, in God’s Providence, following Jerusalem’s fall to the Babylonians, Daniel and his three friends (then aged about 14) were deported from Judah by Nebuchadnezzar and brought to Babylon to be educated in the University of Babylon. Even in an alien environment these young men took a strong stand for the truth, refusing to eat food sacrificed to idols. They were also diligent students. Nebuchadnezzar was very impressed with them indeed. In Chapter 2 we learn how, having begun to work in the Babylonian civil service, Daniel, though still a young man, rose to a position of great prominence. It followed his interpretation of a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had that was a revelation from God about the future. By looking at the dream and interpretation and the circumstances surrounding it we can learn several things.

1. Understand the plight of man

1. God reveals himself to man but man is perplexed and seeks answers

1 God reveals himself to man in various ways but man is perplexed by these revelations

Verse 1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. He was a great king but he was a very troubled man. His dreams disturbed him. We all know what it is to have a restless night’s sleep for one reason or another. It’s not known why we dream but it is said that we do it whenever we sleep, though most of us usually don’t remember what we dream. Dreams are often more vivid and easier to remember when we sleep lightly. It would seem then that in the midst of a troubled night of sleep Nebuchadnezzar had the dream recounted in this chapter. One gets the impression it was a recurring dream. From time to time in Scripture God uses dreams to reveal things to individuals – think of Pharaoh in Genesis, Joseph in the Gospels, etc - and that’s what happens here. Even in the Bible it is an unusual way for God to speak and to what extent God speaks through dreams today is debatable. What is undeniable, however, is that God has revealed himself to men. In various providences – dreams, illnesses and similar circumstances, through strange experiences. Also in creation itself – the heavens and the land, the sea and the air, etc, all testify to the Creator. God has especially revealed himself in the Bible and through the preaching of the message of the Bible in various ways through various media.

However, just as Nebuchadnezzar was perplexed and confused by his dreams so it is the norm for men and women to be puzzled and mystified by God’s revelations. All the providences in their lives point them to God and creation itself continues its mute witness to his eternal power and divine nature. The Bible and the preaching of the Gospel go on, yet so often people remain unchanged. Why? Not so much because the revelation is unclear but because of their own shortsightedness and blindness. Like Nebuchadnezzar, they know the privilege of God himself speaking to them but they don’t understand. They are like people in Jesus’s day who heard God himself speak from heaven but convinced themselves that it had simply thundered. Is that you? You listen to preaching but it simply leaves you perplexed? So often people say they don’t believe in God because they have no reason to. Yet God is speaking to those people – sometimes very loudly. Have you ever thought of it this way? The problem is not that God’s not speaking but that people are not listening.Think of someone pulling out the plug on their phone and saying no-one rings or plugging up the letterbox and saying no-one writes. God is speaking. Day after day he pours forth speech, night after night he is not silent. Your problem is not that you have no reason to trust in God, your problem is that though God speaks you don’t by nature understand what he says. It’s like the caricature of the Englishman speaking with a foreigner. He assumes they cannot communicate because the other man is either stupid, deaf or he is not speaking clearly. He never allows for the idea that the man is simply using a language other than English. God is speaking – the only problem is that you are either not listening or you have failed to take into account the fact that he is speaking a language with which you are unfamiliar. And when he speaks it troubles you. It’s frightening to come face to face with your future.

2 Man instinctively turns for help to those who are wise in this world’s eyes

It is not that people do not try to understand what God reveals. Like Nebuchadnezzar they do look for answers. But where do they turn? Like him they instinctively look to other men, to those considered to be wise according to this world’s standards. Verses 2, 3 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers {Chaldeans} to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means. Today people turn to various so-called experts looking for answers scientists and psychiatrists, to mediums and to astrologers, to therapists and other specialists of various sorts. People are looking for answers. They look to philosophy and to psychology, to religion and to science, to human wisdom ancient and modern, they look east ands west, high and low. They are desperate for someone who can make some sense of their world, who can explain their dreams or tell them who they are, who can show them how to find peace or teach them how to live. They want to know where they cam e from , why they are here and what the purpose of life is. They want someone to explain their experiences to them and show them a better way forward. Sadly, like Nebuchadnezzar, for the most part they turn to those who dispense only human wisdom and although human wisdom is not to be despised entirely – it can teach us many things that are right - the truth is that human wisdom on its own will never enable us to make proper sense of anything. APP Is that your problem? You’re scratching around looking for human answers to the things that perplex and puzzle you? If you look only to men you’ll never get an adequate answer.

2. Men claim to know the truth but are limited and devious (4-6)

It would seem that Nebuchadnezzar knew his wise men well and was aware of a certainty tendency towards mendacity in them. That is to say that they did not always tell him the truth. Being a wise ruler himself he saw that if he simply told them his dream and then waited for their interpretation then they could tell him more or less anything and he had no way of knowing whether they had some deep insight into it or not. And so as a test he declared that he would not tell them the dream. If they really were as expert as they claimed then they would be able to work out what the dream was as well as the interpretation. Nebuchadnezzar’s extreme statement If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble suggests a certain frustration with these experts. He felt that they had been stringing him along with false information and lies in the past. He was not going to be fooled again. And isn’t this the way it is so often with human experts? They are very grandiose in their claims about what they know and how they can prove this and that but when you look a little more closely then you see that things are often much less convincing than they seem to be. Many claim to know the future but look out for words like probably, possibly, experts believe, scientists are reasonably sure, etc. So often what are trumpeted as the assured finding of modern science or ancient wisdom that has helped many in the past is in fact a tissue of lies. We must not be gullible. While not running to the extremes of the tyrannical Nebuchadnezzar, we must emulate his steely determination not to have the wool pulled over our eyes. To many people are willing to be fobbed off with half-baked ideas that do not stand up. Get real. Think about what the experts are saying. See how circumstantial their so-called evidence is. Don’t let them sell you a false dream. Don’t believe a lie.

3. The world always has an excuse why it cannot understand.

Of course, the worldly wise always have excuses as to why they cannot provide the information you require.

1 They need more information (7-9)

Once more they replied, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it. Then the king answered, I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realise that this is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me the dream, there is just one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me. Why can’t atheists show there is no God? Why has no-one ever been able to disprove one verse of the Bible? Why has evolution never been proved? The world will tell you that they just need more time. Give us more time, they say, and we will show that what we are saying is true. If we just had a little more information we could prove it to you. But they have had thousands of years and still they have got nowhere. Do not believe the ‘more information’ lie.

2 It is impossible to know certain things that are, in fact, knowable (10, 11)

The astrologers answered the king, There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No-one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men. This is another popular tack. You cannot prove whether there is a God or not. You cannot prove whether the Bible is true or not. You cannot prove creation or the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. What they really mean is you cannot prove it according to our principles and rules. Like these men here they say it is impossible, too difficult. And when you say but with God nothing is impossible they say that he does not live among men. They are very dismissive. They will not accept that line of argument.

4. Have the right attitude to those who falsely claim to know the truth

In  verses 12, 13 we read that This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death. On the one hand, one sympathises with Nebuchadnezzar in his fury and frustration and yet we immediately recognise that this is unfair. It is just in the sense that these men were claiming to be very wise and able to solve every problem but it was a complete lie. On the other hand they really were in ignorance and were not trying to be obtuse. They really did not know what Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed. Perhaps this teaches us what our attitude ought to be those who claim to be wise but are in fact anything but. Yes, it should make us angry, righteously angry, that such lies are perpetrated, that people are so proud and self-sufficient. Yet, on the other hand, there ought to be a great deal of compassion towards them too. They really don’t know. For all their apparent confidence, they are in the dark. They haven’t a clue. For all their upbeat talk they know in their hearts what ignorance is theirs. It comes out sometimes in their dying words. 

Eg Oscar Wilde ‘I am dying, as I have lived, beyond my means.’

Robert Ingersoll, life’s like a valley between peaks ‘We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud and the only answer is the echo of our wailings.’

Esward Gibbon ‘All is dark and doubtful.’

Often, they are condemned because of their ignorance as men become fed up with their lies and announce their demise. Death is their end certainly unless God intervenes.

2. Understand the power of God

1. How to react to man’s hopeless situation

1 With wisdom and tact seek opportunities be salt and light

So all the wise men were to die and that included Daniel and his friends. On hearing the news from Arioch, commander of the King’s guard, Daniel, we read, spoke to him with wisdom and tact asking the reason for the harsh decree. He then very bravely went into the king and asked for time. There are no obvious parallels between Daniel’s situation but we can expect the same suspicion and opposition that is shown to experts to be shown to us. People who are suspicious of religion are understandably suspicious of us; people who are suspicious of those who claim to be wise will be equally sceptical about us. Often we cannot even get a hearing. People often do not reject the gospel but what they think is the gospel. What can we do about this? All we can do is use what wisdom and tact we have to secure a hearing for the gospel. That means being ready for what opportunities come. There are certain times when people are more willing to listen to us, eg certain times of the day or week, certain times of year, certain stages in life, following a bereavement, etc. We must be awake to these opportunities. Be cautious and ask for time; be bold by promising that we do have the answers.

2 Seek fellowship in the truth and pray earnestly

Although we work on our own, we need to share with others in this work. 17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Especially we need to urge others to pray. Daniel did not think to himself ‘Well, I’m the one God will use there’s nothing the others can do.’ No (18) He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. It reminds us of how in the Book of Esther although she was the one to go into the King she wanted everyone else to fast and pray or how when Peter was in prison everyone else was praying for him in John Mark’s mother’s house. I preach, yes, but it is important that we all pray; only you can speak to those in your family who are unbelievers or your neighbours but we must all pray for one another. We often underestimate the power of prayer. This chapter teaches us not to. Are you praying for the advance of the gospel?

2. Look to God to reveal mysteries and praise him that he does

1 God alone can remove the mystery from his revelations

In verse 19 we read that During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. All God’s revelation contains a measure of mystery and without his aid we will never understand it. As we’ve said, the problem is not the clarity of the revelation but our failure to see as we ought to. Like a clearly printed book that a person with poor eyesight can’t be read until they put on spectacles. The one who enables us to see is, of course, the Holy Spirit. He is the one who revealed the truth to Daniel. He is the one who makes clear what the Bible says and God’s witness in creation and providence. You may wonder why it has to be this way but in this story you can see how God used it for his own glory. The same is true today.

2 Give praise to God that he does

Daniel’s reaction to this answer to prayer was great rejoicing and praise to God. It wasn’t just that his life would now be spared – God himself had spoken. Part of his praise is informed by what he learned from the revelation, as we shall see. 19b-23 Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king. Wisdom and power those are the two things Daniel give thanks for. God is all powerful and all wise. We see this when we read the Bible and understand what it means. Even though we know this we do not praise God as often or as much as we ought to.

3. Tell people the truth, giving all the honour to God

So we who are believers, we know the answer, we have the truth. Like Daniel we must tell it to others. 24-26 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him. Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means. The king asked Daniel, Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it? Notice especially the way Daniel answers (27, 28) No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. He gives all the glory to God. We must do the same. That is what true Calvinism is all about. We will leave the detail of this dream and the interpretation to another time but basically it says that although there have been and will be many great human powers yet God himself has his own kingdom. It began in the time of the Romans with the coming of the Lord Jesus as a little baby in Bethlehem. Since then it has grown and grown and increasingly dominates this world. No human kingdom can stand against it. The implication is clear - trust in Christ and not in man. Enter his kingdom and do not live merely to serve a human empire.

4. The best sort of reaction we can expect

Now when we tell others about the kingdom of God we will meet with various reactions. They will often be impressed with the way we know their innermost thoughts. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say that they came to church with a friend and got really annoyed thinking that their friend had told the preacher all about them and that the sermon was just for them. Like the Samaritan woman they are amazed how much the preacher can know about them even though they have never met. This is because divine wisdom is not like human wisdom. It does not depend on mere human knowledge. You do not have to tell me your dreams for me to interpret them for you. In a sense I know all about you. I have read about you many times in the Bible. The reaction otherwise is not always positive but it often can be. Here it certainly was. 46-49 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honour and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. The king said to Daniel, Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery. Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court. Basically, Nebuchadnezzar gave great honour to Daniel, and for his sake, his three friends, and he confessed the greatness of God. (NB Daniel did not forget his friends who had prayed with him). We cannot be certain that Nebuchadnezzar was then converted. That is probably to go too far but he was certainly impressed and at least at that moment bowed down to the true God. That is the sort of reaction we long for – for God to be praised and believers to be honoured once again as they once were. We long for this. If we are faithful in speaking out the message of God to men’s hearts that is what will happen.

Making a stand for the Lord

Date 12 10 01 Text Daniel 1 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

I want us to look this evening at the Book of Daniel and at the first chapter. The most famous incident in the whole book is Daniel in the lions’ den. It’s a story many of us know from when we were very young.

In the den, in the den, fears could not alarm him,

God had shut the lions’ mouths so they could not harm him.

That incident comes in Chapter 6. It occurs during the time of Darius the Mede when Daniel was an old man. That fact is sometimes forgotten. He didn’t gain the courage to make the stand he made overnight. No, it all started many years before when he was a teenager. The background is found in Daniel 1, a brief and straightforward chapter that sets the scene for the rest of the book. It is a wonderful chapter full of good things to say, especially to those who are young and new students in particular. It has lessons for all of us, however, things we all ought to know.

1. Learn something about the Providence of God

The book begins by explaining to us how Daniel and his three friends who also feature in the book came to be in the land of Babylon. There are three things to note:

1. Realise that all events are under God’s control

First, we have some historical detail. God had brought the Jews up out of Egypt where they’d been in slavery and settled them in the Land of Canaan. Following the reigns of David and Solomon there had been a split between the 10 northern tribes and Judah in the south. Eventually, for their sins, Israel was taken into captivity by Assyria in 722 BC, leaving only Judah. However, In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, the leader of the super power of the day Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia {Shinar} and put in the treasure-house of his god. The Jews had thought this could never happen. But it did. Not because things had spun out of God’s control but because the people had put their faith in the Temple instead of in God himself and so, after many warnings, he chastised them. It was he who brought this terrible judgement on them.

It is important to note that phrase in verse 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand. One of the lessons of the Book of Daniel is that everything that happens in this world happens because God decides. We often refer to it as his Providence. All things that happen, whether good or bad, happen by his holy will. Man is responsible for his actions but God is in control. This is a great comfort to the believer. We are not in the hands of men or in the grip of fate but in the hands of Almighty God. American theologian B B Warfield once used an illustration to bring it home. It is the story of a Dutch boy who was told repeatedly by his father not to go near the windmill because it was dangerous. One day he was near the windmill, nevertheless, and suddenly he felt himself being raised into the air and felt something battering him.  He thinks to himself ‘Oh no, I’m caught in the windmill’s arm. No hope for me.’ However, it turns out that it is not the windmill but his father who has caught hold of him and started to give him a smack for his disobedience. What a relief!

It is especially comforting to remember that in this present crisis. We often don’t know why things happen but we do know thatGod is in control.

2. Recognise that what happens in the cosmic realm often has repercussions for individuals.

From 605-582 BC in four phases Nebuchadnezzar completed his subjugation of Judah. Being a wise ruler he recognised that as his empire grew it would not be possible to keep all his new subjects under control by force alone. He needed to convert them to Babylonian ideas and ways of thinking so that they could play their part in future government. Nebuchadnezzar was especially eager to capture the minds of the young and gifted among those whom he had conquered. The poorer people could stay just where they were. We read in 3 how he ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, (Head of the civil service) to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility. This is how Daniel and his three friends ended up as exiles in Babylon therefore. They would only have been around 14 at the time but, young as they were, the developments in the macrocosm of near eastern politics was having a direct and radical bearing on their every day lives.

It is important to recognise this. I read an interesting article this week tracing some of the affects of this current crisis. For example we know that sales of gas masks are up but also CDs and possibly engagement rings. Sales of the Bible and the Koran are also up. This is one reason why when we pray we want to pray not only about the smaller things – healing from sickness, accommodation, jobs, success in exams, blessing on meetings, harmony in the fellowship, etc, but also about greater things such as the decisions of governments, nationwide revival and the worldwide spread of the gospel. National and international events inevitably affect the lives of individuals – government decisions about grants, etc, and developments in different academic disciplines affect individual students; or think of activities of terrorist groups and developments in weapons technology and the way they affect us.

3. We must recognise that God may well ordain that we spend part of our lives in scenes very different to those we know and love, especially if we have gifts.

Imagine these young boys. They were (4) young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand and qualified to serve in the king’s palace – Israel’s elite, the cream of that society, the nobility of their day. They had expected, perhaps, to live out their days as very privileged leaders in Israel with all the advantages of wealth and religion. But now they find themselves far from home in Babylon of all places! Homesickness, fear of the unknown, bewilderment at the sudden change – all these feelings must have come over them. Some of us can identify.

I certainly can – I honestly thought I would spend my days in Wales where I was born and grew up but I’ve been living in England for 20 years now, nearly half my life. Some of you have lived in London for a much shorter time. Don’t be surprised if, in God’s providence, you end up settling here. On the other hand, some of you were born and bred here. You know no different. Do not assume that you will spend the rest of your life here. The needs here are great but I would particularly urge on you the needs elsewhere. There are places crying out for the gospel. Who will go? Are we willing to leave behind us familiar places and familiar faces and learn a new language and new ways for the sake of the gospel? Parents – are we willing to let them go if that is God’s will?

2. Learn something about how to make a stand for the Lord in this world

1. The world wants you to conform, especially if you are young.

In verse 4b we are told that the reason why Daniel and his friends were taken to Babylon was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians {Chaldeans}. The king wanted to indoctrinate them in all the learning of his Empire. Up until that time the four had lived in Israel and spoken Hebrew. All that they wore or ate or said or thought was shaped by their Hebrew background. But now they were removed to a different place and had to learn a different language (Aramaic), wear different clothes and learn about different subjects. In some ways they were rather pampered – no squalid bedsits for them, no beans on toast and pot noodle! No (5) The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were not to worry about anything but their studies. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.

In verse 6 we are told that Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. These are good Hebrew names – two with an el (God) component and two with iah or Jah based on God’s own covenant name. God has judged, Yahweh has been gracious, Who is like God and Yahweh has helped. But they were not to be known by these names in Babylon. Rather (7) The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar (Keeper of the hidden treasures of Bel); to Hananiah, Shadrach (something about Marduk); to Mishael, Meshach (something about a mother goddess); and to Azariah, Abednego (Servant of Nebo). It is clear that the Babylonians were very eager to acculturise them in every way to the Babylonian culture. They had been deliberately chosen not only for their undoubtedly good qualities but also because they were young and impressionable. Nebuchadnezzar was desperate to form their minds to be sympathetic to Babylon and a great asset to her – which they were, although not in the way he had intended it.

No doubt the four friends were perfectly aware of what was happening to them. Yes, in some ways it was a wonderful opportunity, a marvellous chance. Yet, no doubt they knew they were on dangerous ground. The world is constantly trying to squeeze believers into its mould. It especially likes to work on the young as there is more hope there and if they are successful the results will last longer. It likes especially to take those who are bright and get them to conform to worldly ways of thinking. Now, Daniel and his friends did not take the view that going to college in Babylon was in itself evil. They were happy to learn the Aramaic language, its literature and its science for that matter – even where it ran counter to Scripture. They did not agree with all they were taught, of course, but they made use of the knowledge they gained nonetheless. If you study in a state school or university, you will inevitably find things taught that run counter to the Bible. The sin is not in finding out about these things but in believing them. Do realise what the world is aiming at. This is why some believers choose to begin with home education – a tough choice but eminently sensible.

2. Nevertheless we must make a firm stand for the Lord in the pagan world.

The focus of this passage, however, is on the stand that Daniel and his friends took at this time. They drew a line in the sand and said ‘No further’ and having made that decision they stuck with it. Note several things:

• Choose your ground carefully. Verse 8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine. The problem was not wine as such or the fact that they could not be sure the food was kosher. It is much more likely that these young Israelites were painfully aware that in that pagan city every piece of meat they saw, especially what was on the king’s table, would have first been offered to an idol. They knew that the very reason the Israelites had been thrown out of the Promised Land was their inveterate idolatry. How could they then, there as exiles in a strange land, have anything to do with idols? As with all Jews from this time they were completely done with idolatry. It would never have the place in Israel’s life that for so long it had held. Idolatry was over and they wanted nothing to do with it. Learning a foreign tongue including the names of countless idols; learning about beliefs that ran counter to Scripture; even being beckoned by names of false gods – all this they let pass. But eating food offered to idols. On that point they took their stand. We all have to choose where we will make our stand. I would suggest that you do not do it by saying ‘I will never read a book or listen to a piece of music by anyone who is not a Christian’ or ‘I will never let anyone swear in my presence’ or ‘I will never ever let alcohol pass my lips’. Rather we need to see where the real issues are today and make our stand. ‘Where are they?’ you say. Well, I don’t think there are any simple answers. But a stand has to be made. Christians who belong to denominations have to say ‘If they do this or that I will resign – eg approve of women preachers or accept homosexuality’. You can’t just keep shifting your ground. Christian students must settle in their minds what they are willing to do or not to do before the time comes. It is the same in all our lives. Are you willing to work on a Sunday? If so when and why? What are you going to do about invitations to pubs or parties, the office raffle, blue jokes, etc. There was a woman in my home church, a commercial artist, who lost any number of commissions because she refused to portray nudity. Would you do the same? If not why not?
• Be firm but courteous. Notice too how Daniel went about this. It says and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way. There was no confrontationalism. Daniel and his friends didn’t say ‘There’s now way we will eat that stuff anymore’ or ‘If we have to eat any more we’ll down pens.’ No he simply asked the man in charge to give them permission not to eat this defiling food any more. ‘A little politeness never hurt anyone’ is the saying and we ought to remember it. I think sometimes we get a little nervous and uptight about things and say things that are not helpful. Instead of just saying ‘My child won’t be able to come to the party next Sunday’ we are tempted to add something may be like ‘You shouldn’t be having it then anyway’. I remember hearing the story of the great John Elias crossing on the ferry from Bangor to Anglesey. Although others realised who was on board, the ferryman did not and he cursed and swore profusely. Some were surprised that Elias said nothing to him. However, when they reached the other side Elias did speak quietly to him about it and, so it was said, he was never heard to swear again. Tact and courtesy are so important we need to practice them, especially when we take a stand on something. They may hate us for our stand but let it be for that not because we are obnoxious people.
• Expect opposition. 9, 10 Now God had caused the official to show favour and sympathy to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men of your age? The king would then have my head because of you. The official was understandably cautious. He had already taken a shine to Daniel. God had made sympathetic to Daniel – no doubt that was because of the way Daniel conducted himself. Nevertheless he was not about to put himself at risk by agreeing to Daniel’s request. As courteous as we are there will often be opposition when we decide to take a stand. Pressure will be brought to bear on us to toe the world’s line. We watched recently Chariots of Fire the film about Eric Lidell and his remarkable Olympic win in Paris in the 1920s. Originally he had been due to compete in the 100 metres but pulled out when he found the heats were in a Sunday. There is a scene in the film where the Prince of Wales himself tries to persuade him to run. Whether it happened quite like that I don’t know – but that was the sort of pressure he was under. Yet he made his stand and God blessed him.
• Be reasonable and tactful. At this point Daniel does not blow his top or issue ultimata, etc. Rather he is reasonable and tactful. He understands the position that Ashpenaz is in and so he says (11-14) to the guard whom the chief official (Ashpenaz) had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, Please test your servants for 10 days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see. Verse 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for 10 days. What could be fairer than that? Surely no harm could be done on either side. There would be some who would have said that Daniel was a great compromiser for making such a suggestion but surely not. By his reasoned and tactful approach he won his point even when it looked almost lost.
• Be self-denying. Of course, living on a strictly vegetarian diet involved, no doubt, some self-denial on the friends part but it was small price to pay for such an important principle. We also must be willing to practice self-denial.

3. Be assured that the Lord will honour those who honour him

In verse 15 we read At the end of the 10 days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. Of course, knowing what we do know, it is no surprise that the friends looked more healthy than their fellow students but at that time it was not such a foregone conclusion. The point is, however, that we can be sure that just as God honoured those who honoured him all those years ago so he will honour those who honour him today. Again, it may be fictitious but in the Chariots of fire film just before Liddell runs in the 400 metres an American gives him a piece of paper with that text on it – Those who honour me, I will honour 1 Samuel 2:30. Perhaps Daniel knew it and thought about it too. God is no man’s debtor and if we make a stand for him we can be sure that he will bless us.

3. Learn the principle that we must first be faithful in a little if we are ever to be faithful in much

1. All wisdom is God given

In at least three places in this chapter God’s controlling of all events is underlined – verses 2 and 9 and then in 17 we have To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. How did they get through their courses? And how did they do so well? Simple it was God’s work. He gave them this knowledge. We may not believe it but in all knowledge, from arithmetic to zoology, from architecture to Zulu, if we are going to get anywhere in any subject we have to receive it from God. He is the one who gives us our native talents and he is the one who enables to use those gifts in a way that enables us to learn. Without his help, we can do nothing. Interestingly there is the additional note that Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. This anticipates what we find in the rest of the book. Daniel’s clearly spiritual gifts were also very much God’s gifts. The point though is that all of these gifts come from the Lord.

2. At times, even the ungodly cannot help but recognise the wisdom of the faithful

And so after three years they had to sit their finals. As used to be the case at one time (and still is sometimes) their exam was viva voce 18-20 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. They were not just honours graduates, not just magna cum laude as the Americans say, not just top of the class, but streets ahead of the others. Why? All because of the goodness of God. Without that early stand who knows what might have happened to these four. Even Nebuchadnezzar could see that they were amazing students.

3. Early success can mean lasting future influence

The chapter ends with the note that Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus. After Nebuchadnezzar came a series of some four kings and then Cyrus who came to power in 538. Thus during the period 605-538, a period of over 60 years, Daniel was there in Babylon maintaining a faithful witness. He is the one constant. Probably none of that would have been possible had he stumbled at the first fence. How important that we begin well and go on well to God’s glo