1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,800 He was one times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus. 2 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:28,800 All right, we're in the book of Daniel this morning. Our plan is to be here for about the next 10 weeks. I want to just begin by sort of centering ourselves and giving us a sort of a brief overview of this book, 3 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:39,000 not necessarily in terms of themes or stories, but in terms of sort of the importance and what we are going to learn from this book. 4 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:48,400 So I want to begin with sort of what the center of this, what we just sang, is this vision that Daniel has in Daniel chapter 7. 5 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:57,600 "I saw in the night visions and bold with the clouds of heaven. There came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the ancient of days and was 6 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:07,600 presented before him, and to him was given dominion and glory in a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting 7 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:17,600 dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed." And what's interesting about Daniel, and if you're familiar 8 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:26,400 with this sort of section of the Old Testament with the major prophets and the minor prophets, most of the prophets in the Old Testament are bad news 9 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:34,560 bringers. You have messed up severely, and now you are in trouble. And in some cases, God is going to send an enemy 10 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:39,200 nation, and he's going to come, and he's going to defeat you, he's going to destroy your cities, and he's going to drag you 11 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:46,560 into captivity. And so for most of the minor prophets, what you find is sort of this repetition of failures, of 12 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:55,200 brokenness, of judgment. And in them, there is also hope that God receives and redeems. But Daniel stands different, because Daniel is a 13 00:01:55,200 --> 00:02:05,120 prophet of good news. And what we find throughout this is that God reigns, whether you are facing judgment in 14 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:12,880 Babylon, whether you are in opposition because you refuse to pray to the false gods, or whether you pray at all with 15 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:20,000 Daniel in the lion's den. When you see the writing on the wall in Daniel chapter 6, God is in control of 16 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:26,080 kingdoms that rise and fall, and as we see in those prophetic visions, sometimes very difficult to 17 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:31,680 understand, sometimes filled with imagery that is strange to us, you see that God is not just in control 18 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:37,440 of the past and the present, but he's in control of the future as well. And so Daniel is a book of 19 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:42,800 good news. And one of the things that Daniel does that is so wonderful is he sort of shines a light 20 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:48,560 on how God works in our world. And there's sort of three perspectives, especially in these first six 21 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:54,240 chapters that we'll see. One is the perspective of the Babylonians, right? They come in, they destroy, 22 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:59,520 they take, they impose their will in a lot of different ways. And in fact, the picture of the 23 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:06,240 Babylonians is one of pride. It says in Daniel 1:2 that they took them back to Shinar. Some of your 24 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:12,960 translations will say Babylon, but the original term there and the term that is used and that we'll be 25 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:20,400 using is Shinar. And what that is is actually the location where the Tower of Babel was. And by using 26 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:26,560 that term specifically in Daniel 1:2, it's calling back to the pride of those who thought they were above 27 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:34,480 God themselves. And so you see the pride of Babylon. We'll see it a little more when Nebuchadnezzar has 28 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:39,360 a vision from God and ends up in his pride taking credit for everything and suffers the consequences 29 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:44,560 of that. So on one hand, you have a group of people who think they're undefeatable and greater 30 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:50,320 than anyone else. And then you have these Hebrew captives who have been torn from their homes and 31 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:56,880 their families. Some people think they're as young as like 14 or 15 years old. Daniel, Mishael, Hananiah, 32 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:03,040 and Azariah. They're Jewish names. These are not guys who have been to seminary and are in their 40s 33 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:07,680 and they're able to stand up. We're talking about, in many cases, likely what we see in Daniel 1. We're 34 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:12,560 talking about teenagers. And we see them in the midst of this sort of darkness and brokenness, 35 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:19,200 and they're able to stand for their faith. And so we see the perspective of the pride of Babylon, 36 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:25,120 the obedience of these Hebrew captives. And behind it all, what Daniel does is shines a light on how God 37 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:32,320 works. That Daniel and his friends are able to stand firm because their God is the Ancient of Days. He's 38 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:38,720 on the throne, and he's in control of all things, from the deportation to Babylon, to the hand of the 39 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:46,800 king's steward, to their wisdom they demonstrate before Nebuchadnezzar. And so most of all, what we 40 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:53,360 see is we see this book directing us both to God's greatness, to how he is at work, sometimes even 41 00:04:53,360 --> 00:05:01,120 behind the scenes. But most of all, it directs us to Jesus. In fact, we'll see that literally in Daniel 42 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:08,960 chapter 3, with the fiery furnace. But more than that, one of Jesus' favorite ways to refer to himself, from 43 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:16,400 both Ezekiel and Daniel, was this term, "the Son of Man." In fact, one of the places where Jesus has one of the 44 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:22,160 greatest controversies is he refers back to the book of Daniel and says, "the Son of Man." We'll see that in 45 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:29,920 Daniel chapter 7, this picture. And Jesus says, "Hey, that's me." And so this book very clearly directs us to Jesus. 46 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:36,320 So this morning, what we want to try to answer is this question, "How can I stand firm when it seems as if 47 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:42,640 everything is out of control?" And what we will see as we move through this chapter is that God is in control 48 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:49,760 of all things. And we can be unshaken in him even when everything falls apart. So I'm going to go ahead 49 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:58,720 and pray, and we will dive right into what we're doing this morning. Let's pray. Father in heaven, 50 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:04,640 we thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your grace. We ask this morning that like Elisha's 51 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:12,320 servant, she would open our eyes to see your work in this world, that we would be attuned to what you 52 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:17,440 are doing, that we would trust you deeply, and that we would be able to live courageously, not because 53 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:23,840 we're strong, but because you are strong. So encourage our hearts this morning. Bring us to repentance in 54 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:31,200 those areas where we have compromised, and help us to be encouraged by this book. It's in Jesus' name 55 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:39,280 we pray. Amen. So I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Montgomery Wards or Ward Plaza 56 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:45,520 here in Winchester on Valley Avenue. Since I have lived here in 2004, it's been a fixture. Montgomery 57 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:51,840 Wards has been empty. The roof has been falling in for years. I got my first haircut in Winchester 58 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:56,080 in that plaza, probably the most awkward haircut experience I've ever experienced. I rented a 59 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:02,400 U-Haul truck in that plaza, and if you were to drive by it today, what you would see is just a giant field 60 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:08,160 with some piles of dirt. And it seems like they just barely started tearing that down for the new 61 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:13,920 development, and all of a sudden this Winchester abandoned landmark has gone from a bunch of 62 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:19,840 buildings and parking lots and some traffic and some stores and some people to now it's just a 63 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:29,600 completely flat piece of dirt. All the debris from the buildings has been removed and not much is left. 64 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:36,720 And there are times in our lives where it feels like everything that we have tried to belt and 65 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:44,640 everything that we have experienced can just fall apart into nothing. And it seems like sometimes it 66 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:52,320 can happen so fast that we're left wondering where did everything go wrong? And as we begin Daniel 67 00:07:52,320 --> 00:08:00,640 chapter 1, we see that is the story of God's people. As we begin in these verses, everything is broken. 68 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:10,080 Everything has fallen apart. What was once a thriving group of God's people are now defeated and many in 69 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:16,640 exile? So I want to just walk through as we begin the brokenness that we find in our text this morning. 70 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:21,920 So let's start in Daniel chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of 71 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:29,040 Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king 72 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:34,000 of Judah, into his hand with some of the vessels of the house of God, and he brought them to the land of 73 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:40,560 Shinar, to the house of his God, and placed them into the treasury of his God." And so I want to just 74 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:47,520 walk through the destruction that is wrought upon God's people. The first of all, what we see is that 75 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:54,640 there is this massive political destruction. And what has happened in the words, in the time period 76 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:59,600 leading up to this, and if you want to read some of this history, you can pick it up in 2 Kings 23 and 77 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:08,400 2 Chronicles 35, is that there is a king by the name of Josiah. He becomes king at eight years old, 78 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:16,080 and he is a godly king who serves God. But for whatever reason, seemingly in opposition to God, 79 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:24,720 we see this in 2 Chronicles 35, in an attempt to gain politically, he goes out and he seeks to fight the 80 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:31,040 nation of Egypt, even though Egypt says to him, "Hey, we're not fighting you, and God has told us to go 81 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:38,800 fight this battle, and here you are trying to stop it." And so almost in opposition to what God has said, 82 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:48,080 the godly king opposes God, and he is killed in that battle. And as a result, his son becomes king. 83 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:56,400 And it's only just a few months while his son is king, because the Egyptians, insulted by his desire 84 00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:04,640 to interfere, they come in, and they depose his first son, and they add his other son, Jehoiakim, to the throne. 85 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:11,280 And it's about this time Babylon shows up, they defeat the Egyptians, and sort of in defeating Egypt, 86 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:19,680 they've also defeated the vassal state of the southern nation of Israel, Judah. And so now Babylon 87 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:29,120 controls Judah. And things seem okay for about three years, until Jehoiakim says, "I'm done giving money to 88 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:36,880 Babylon," and he raises up an army, and he begins to rebel. And so Babylon shows up, and this is where 89 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:44,640 we begin. The king of Babylon comes, Nebuchadnezzar, comes to Jerusalem, besieges it, conquers the city, 90 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:53,120 and takes and plunders its wealth and its people. The second thing we see is that there is a 91 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:59,120 spiritual devastation that happens. Not just that the city is attacked and destroyed, and there is war, 92 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:06,560 but God's temple is desecrated, and it says Nebuchadnezzar will take some of the vessels of 93 00:11:06,560 --> 00:11:11,760 the house of God. We'll see this again in Daniel chapter 6. It's sort of foreshadowing of some things 94 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:17,600 that are going to happen in Daniel chapter 6, but God's vessels are taken and taken into Babylon, 95 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:24,880 and this is not a small thing in that culture, because what the Babylonians would have thought 96 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:33,120 was that, "Look, not only have we defeated the nation of Judah, but we have defeated the God of the nation 97 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:38,080 of Judah." And so one of two things has happened. Either he now serves our gods, 98 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:46,960 or he has been defeated and he is no longer in power. And you have to remember, too, that for many 99 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:53,040 people, they thought of God sort of regionally. There's gods in Babylon, there's gods in Israel, 100 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:58,160 and so some of these people who are struggling and who will be deported will think, "Well, we've left 101 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:06,560 God behind in Israel." So not only is there sort of a broken politics and your city has been plundered, there is a 102 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:15,440 spiritual issue. And then we begin to see in the next verses that these captives who are taken, their 103 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:22,560 names are changed and they're sort of forcefully assimilated into Babylonian culture. And you're 104 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:27,840 going to have the chief eunuch, and we're going to begin to focus on four of these captives: Daniel, 105 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:32,880 Mishael, Hananiah, and Azariah. And what is going to happen is they're going to be brought into the 106 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:38,400 Babylonian court, and they are going to be the best and the brightest. And so not only is there 107 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:44,800 political and physical devastation, there's spiritual devastation, but the reason Babylon takes the best 108 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:52,160 and the brightest, right, is it strengthens Babylon, but it also weakens the nation of Judah because all 109 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:57,760 of their best people are gone. But there's also sort of an unspoken threat hanging here because some of 110 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:03,200 these families are left behind. Babylon will install a puppet king. And so by taking some 111 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:10,160 of the royalty and the nobility into Babylon, you have some hostages that if you guys don't obey, 112 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:16,000 if you guys don't listen, will kill the people who are in Babylon. And these people who are taken in, 113 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:21,680 and as we begin to zoom on, we find into these four people, they are beginning to be immersed in 114 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:27,600 Babylonian culture. They're going to have to learn all of the different things that need to be learned. 115 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:33,680 They're going to learn the literature and the language of the Indians. They're going to eat the food that 116 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:39,200 the Babylonians eat. And probably one of the biggest things, their names are going to be changed. And 117 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:46,880 biblically, names are more than just names, right? They picture hope, and they talk about God. In fact, 118 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:56,240 Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, their names all point to the God of Israel. And they're given new 119 00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:04,320 names that point only to the Babylonian gods. So their names are taken away, their home is taken away. 120 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:15,600 Remember, these are not old men. We're talking 14, 15 year old people. And so here you find 121 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:24,640 that there is sort of this insult added to injury. There's political devastation, 122 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:31,840 spiritual devastation. The best and brightest are taken away. And it's not necessarily because the 123 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:38,400 Babylonians are great, but it's because God's people have disobeyed. If you remember from Isaiah 39, 124 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:44,640 several weeks ago, Isaiah will say to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of hosts. Behold, the days are coming when 125 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:49,040 all that is in your house and which your fathers have stored up till this day shall be carried to 126 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:54,560 Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord, and some of your own sons who will come from you, 127 00:14:55,040 --> 00:15:00,960 whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of 128 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:05,680 Babylon." Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good, for he 129 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:13,120 thought there shall be peace and security in my days." And so everything has fallen apart, and not 130 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:21,520 only that, it's their own fault. And it seems like if you were simply to judge by outward appearances, 131 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:29,200 it seems like God has lost all control. That is, people politically, spiritually, physically 132 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:36,800 are taken away from His land. And maybe you've been there, maybe you are there, maybe you will be there 133 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:43,920 in the future. And the question is, how do we respond when it seems like everything has been turned into 134 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:50,960 rubble? How do we respond when life collapses? Sometimes we respond with anger, right? We get 135 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:57,520 very, very angry. And I was listening to a guy speak about this a couple of weeks ago. His name 136 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:02,640 is Victor Marks. You can look him up on YouTube. He has a remarkable story, but he said this about anger. 137 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:08,960 He said, "Anger is not the problem because God says in your anger, do not sin." It's how we deal with 138 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:13,680 anger. There's a right time to be angry. There's a wrong time to be angry. But for many of us, we don't 139 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:20,400 know how to deal with anger. And so what we do, it's like a grenade. We either swallow it and become bitter 140 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:25,360 angry inside or we start throwing it on other people. And you and I have probably seen this and 141 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:31,280 maybe experienced it to people who have, or in our case, if we have experienced great loss and struggle 142 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:40,640 and a bitterness and an anger that eats us up inside and just tears down other people. So sometimes we 143 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:47,680 become angry. Sometimes we become discouraged and just sort of sit down and say, "I can't go on." Sometimes 144 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:53,760 it's complaints and comparison. Why is this happening to me? Why isn't it happening to them? They're far 145 00:16:53,760 --> 00:17:02,080 worse than I am. But most frequently what we try to do is we seek to compromise as we look at the rubble 146 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:08,480 of our lives and say, "Is there an easier way to go through this pain?" And so we've seen what happens 147 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:14,560 here when everything falls apart. And we've seen that sometimes we respond angrily, sometimes with 148 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:21,680 discouragement, sometimes with compromise. Let's see what happens in Daniel chapter 1. We're going to 149 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:33,200 pick it up here and beginning in verse 8 of Daniel chapter 1. "But Daniel resolved, he would not defile 150 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:38,480 himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to 151 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:44,480 allow him to not defile himself." Now this sounds like in all the places you could have taken a stand 152 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:50,400 for righteousness. This seems like a strange place to take a stand, right? It's the food you have a 153 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:55,200 problem with, right? Not with the fact you've been torn from your family, taken into a foreign land. 154 00:17:55,200 --> 00:18:02,880 Your name has been changed. Some commentators think because of Isaiah 39 and because Daniel only deals 155 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:07,040 with the chief of the eunuchs, that not only were these guys captives, but they also became eunuchs in 156 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:14,400 the service of the king, right? And Daniel is choosing to argue about the food, right? You need food to 157 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:21,680 live. They've just been through a highly traumatic event, and it seems like the only perk that they 158 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:28,400 will get from this job is the food, right? The same food the king eats. And the king doesn't eat bad food. 159 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:35,280 He doesn't drink bad wine. And he says, "Hey, I'm going to share with you guys," and Daniel guys, "No, no, 160 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:43,440 this is where I draw the line, right? At the steak, the potatoes, and the wine." It might seem strange to us, 161 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:52,640 why would Daniel reject this food? I think in part, it may be in part because of Jewish dietary laws, 162 00:18:52,640 --> 00:19:02,400 maybe in part because the food was sacrificed to idols, likely. But I think it goes much deeper 163 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:06,960 than that. And the reason I think it goes deeper than that, than just following the Levitical law, 164 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:12,640 although Daniel does do that, is because later on in Daniel chapter 10, he's eating the rich food. He's 165 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:20,080 drinking the rich wine. I think in this moment, Daniel takes a stand here for the same reason that 166 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:28,800 Abraham does as he follows God. For he was looking forward to a city that has foundations, who designer 167 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:35,200 and builder is God. Or as it says a little further in Hebrews chapter 11, Moses, rather than enjoying the 168 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:42,080 pleasures of sin for a short time. And it seems like cleanliness and of the food and idols may 169 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:48,480 play a part, but it seems like that if Daniel is saying that if we give in to this culture, if we 170 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:57,600 bend on this point, we lose everything about who we are. And by accepting the food, Daniel is accepting 171 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:05,840 the king's provision. He's accepting the king's authority. And Daniel simply says, "I'm not going to do it." 172 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:11,520 We might say, "Well, just try it. It's not that big of a deal. It's good food. Why wouldn't you eat it?" 173 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:18,080 And Daniel says, "No, it's not just food. It represents something much deeper." And we might 174 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:24,160 dismiss this stand of Daniel's. Refusing to eat the food is something small, but here's the reality. 175 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:31,360 Small things turn into big things very, very quickly. And Daniel chooses to trust God rather than compromise, 176 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:37,760 no matter how small we think those compromises are. And this is a big deal because angering the king 177 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:44,000 doesn't just get you in trouble. It gets you dead. And I want you to see not just that Daniel and his 178 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:50,880 friends stand firm, but I want you to see how they stand firm. And as you read through these verses, 179 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:57,200 you find it's with wisdom and reasonableness. And we often think that taking a stand means we need 180 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:04,960 to be abrasive. Now, sometimes, right, we have to be very clear and very firm, but notice what it says. 181 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:10,160 Daniel resolved he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank. 182 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:17,440 Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him to not defile himself. And God honors his 183 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:23,360 faithfulness, gives him favor with the steward, and they find that they thrive under God's care. 184 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:31,280 This is such an important thing. You see, standing firm doesn't mean we are able to control everything 185 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:37,760 that surrounds us, but it means that we trust in God and we stand firm because he enables us to in the 186 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:45,120 midst of the storm. We trust the God who controls all things, and we'll see in a few moments that he can 187 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:53,040 even make you fat eating vegetables. What happens next is I want us to see how God's hand has been 188 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:59,840 moving through all of these things. The brokenness, and then Daniel and his friends as they stand firm. 189 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:08,720 Let's see how Daniel and how this happens here. In these four youths, God gave them learning and skill 190 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:12,320 in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions. At the end of the 191 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,720 time when the king commanded they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before 192 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:23,360 Nebuchadnezzar, and the king spoke with them. And among all of them, none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, 193 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:28,400 Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king, and in every matter of wisdom and understanding 194 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:34,240 about what the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and the 195 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,960 enchanters that were in his kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Sirius. 196 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:47,760 Cyrus, we've seen the brokenness. We've seen Daniel and his friend's faithfulness. Let me show you this. 197 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:55,680 There is a phrase that's repeated three times in this text. In Daniel chapter 1, we find 198 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:01,360 Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar comes and besieges Jerusalem, and look at what it says at the 199 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:10,800 beginning of verse 2, "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand." Daniel 1:9, "God gave Daniel 200 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:16,080 favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs." And in 1:17, "As for these four youths, 201 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:23,840 God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom." And Daniel had understanding of visions 202 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:34,720 and dreams. One of the keys to understanding Daniel 1 is this theme that God gave. In judgment, 203 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:41,840 he gives Judah and Nebuchadnezzar's hand. He gives to Daniel and his friends favor and compassion. He 204 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:47,200 protects them, and he gives them learning and skill and equips them. We don't just see God, though, 205 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:54,880 working behind the scenes. We see a miracle in Daniel 1. Remember, Daniel is asked to eat only 206 00:23:54,880 --> 00:24:00,160 vegetables and to drink only water, and the chief of the eunuchs says to Daniel, "I fear my heart of 207 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:05,040 the king, beside your food and your drink. Why should he see that you are in worse condition than 208 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:10,080 the youths who are of your own age? You would endanger my head with the king." As Daniel asks for different 209 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:15,520 food, the chief eunuch says, "It's going to kill me." Not just because it's going to be a struggle, 210 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:21,440 but because the king could literally chop off my head. Now, we have to explain this just a little 211 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:28,240 bit because in our thoughts, healthiness means that we're skinny, we have muscles, we're able to do a 212 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:37,680 lot of work. In Babylon, for warriors, that was true, but for people in the educated class, the magicians, 213 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:43,840 the guys who are learned, who can interpret dreams, Daniel's group, you find in Babylonian art that these 214 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:50,720 guys are always depicted as very, very plump guys. And so part of this is you're going to be a wise 215 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:56,400 man in the nation of Babylon, you got to look the part, so let's fatten you up. And then four of your 216 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:01,680 dudes show up and go, "Hey, we're only going to eat vegetables." And the chief unit goes, "Well, if you 217 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:06,080 only eat vegetables, you're going to be skinny, you're not going to be fat, and I'm going to get my head cut 218 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:12,080 off." So Daniel, I think in the wisdom and provision of God, poses a challenge. Ten days. 219 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:18,560 Daniel said to the steward, the eunuchs who had been assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and 220 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:23,360 I was right, "Test your servants for ten days, and let our appearance and the appearance of the ewes 221 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:28,320 who eat the king's food be observed by you. So deal with your servants according to what you see." So he 222 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:34,960 listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. Look at what happens. At the end of ten days, 223 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:41,360 it was seen they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the ewes who took and ate the king's 224 00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:48,000 food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables. You 225 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:52,240 see the miracle that is happening here? These guys are getting fatter while eating vegetables. I was 226 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:59,280 reminded a couple weeks ago that probably ten or so years ago, I was asked to judge a barbecue competition 227 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:05,520 at a church in West Virginia. So after our church got done, I ran over there, and we tried all the food, 228 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:10,560 and the judges we conferred, and they gave me the opportunity to be spokesmen. And so I have all the 229 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:14,400 plates out in front of me, and I get up and I say, "Well, you know, this was really good. They did good 230 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:21,040 really here." And this guy over here put vegetables on the plate, so we're just disqualifying him completely, 231 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:28,080 right? And so here is the steward, and he's doing the opposite, right? Get rid of the meat. Get rid of 232 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:34,880 all of the good food. Get rid of the wine. Everybody is on celery and water, and somehow Daniel and his 233 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:44,000 friends are getting fatter. The only way this works is if the hand of God is happening. And then can you 234 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:49,600 imagine how annoying? Like Daniel and his friends are now like the kids who are like, "Hey, you forgot to 235 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:55,600 give us a test today. Are you going to make sure you send home homework with us?" Because now everybody 236 00:26:55,600 --> 00:27:03,200 is on celery and water for the rest of this three-year period. But what I want you to see is even in the 237 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:12,720 darkest exile, God rules, He gives, and He accomplishes His purposes. That is, Daniel and his friends are 238 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:18,080 taken from their home when they find themselves in a strange place with everything about them being 239 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:29,200 changed. God rules. So for us, often in the middle of darkness and difficulty, we look specifically at our 240 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:37,920 problems, and we try to find our own solutions. So I want to encourage you this morning to look again, but 241 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:45,440 not at the problems and the struggles, but to look at the reality that God is in control, to look closely 242 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:53,680 and more deeply. The psalmist says, "Lift our eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?" And what will 243 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:58,720 you do when you find yourself in these situations? You see, without a foundation of the fact that God is 244 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:07,280 in control, it's so easy for us to complain and to compromise, to compare, to become angry. 245 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:14,960 And so the call in this text is for God's people to trust Him, that He's trustworthy even in the darkest 246 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:20,560 moments. And we'll see this later in face of the fiery furnace, in the face of lions and political 247 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:28,240 opposition and strange visions about the future. God is trustworthy. And we'll see 248 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:37,360 as we proceed. This trustworthiness is reinforced by knowing Him more deeply, by prayer, by fasting, 249 00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:46,480 by worshiping together, by obedience. And I want to encourage you to trust God in the small decisions. 250 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:55,680 We're tempted to say sometimes that's not that big of a deal. Notice how Daniel sets the tone for what happens 251 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:02,800 by being faithful in what he eats. He becomes faithful in all the other things. Don't discount those small 252 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:11,200 decisions that we face every day. We see here that God is sovereign over both our losses and our gifts. 253 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:19,360 So I want to call you this morning to lay down your burdens and to trust in the sovereign God who rules 254 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:28,960 over all things. To rest in the truth that God who gave his Son for you, he is in control 255 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:37,040 of all things, even in those moments of darkness. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you 256 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:45,520 for this book. And as we begin to dive in and to study more deeply, may you encourage us in your 257 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:54,320 sovereignty over all things. May we not be people of compromise. May we seek to serve you even when 258 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,760 our lives are on the line. It's in your Son's name we pray. Amen.