LESSONS FROM DANIEL

Think back to those first few days when you left home, perhaps to go to college. Away from your family and friends, in a strange environment, uncertain of the future.

For Daniel it was a hundred times worse. He had been forcibly taken 800 miles away from his home - a very long journey in those days, to be a hostage in Babylon. In this land they spoke a completely unknown language and wrote a different script, so he couldn’t even read their writing.

The date was 605 BC. Nebuchadnezzar, who was the young king of Babylon, is one of those proverbial success stories. Everything he touches seems to go right. He had just defeated the Egyptian Pharaoh at the important battle of Carchemish, up on the Euphrates, and established the supremacy of his Babylonian empire.

The king of the small state of Judah, King Jehoiakin, had been reigning for three years. His little kingdom had no real chance against the might of Babylon - so he surrendered without a fight. The price of peace was that Judah became a vassal state, having to pay tribute money to Nebuchadnezzar, some of the gold items in the temple treasury were given to the victor, and some of the royal family and nobles were exiled as hostages to live in Babylon. We know the names of four of these youngsters, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

Daniel was probably only 15 years old when he was exiled. We know that he was very bright (see chap 1 v. 4), with the equivalent of starred A’s in all his GCSE subjects; he had an excellent curriculum vitae; and he obviously shone in the interview. The result was that his name was on the list of those selected to be trained for top posts in the civil service, to be a member of the most powerful Royal Court in the world at that time. He must have settled down quickly to learn the language, and to write it using a small wedged instrument that was pressed into the wet clay. This way of writing was called cuneiform - from the Latin for wedge which was ‘cuneus’.

Put yourself in Daniel’s position - perhaps homesick, missing his mother, lost in this enormous, successful city of Babylon. He was fortunate in one respect. Nebuchadnezzar did have an enlightened policy about hostages. He realised that if his new empire was to exist for long, he had to gain the support of the leaders of the countries he conquered. Consequently he didn’t keep the hostages under lock and key, but had the brightest of them assimilated into his society. He reckoned that when these leaders were accepted, well rewarded and enjoying life, it would be difficult for them to rebel.

There were certain problems about this policy for the Jews. For one thing the Babylonians didn’t take God very seriously. Indeed they had several gods to whom they gave lip service. Some years later Nebuchadnezzar elevated himself to the rank of God, and ordered that everyone should worship him on pain of death! Nebuchadnezzar thought he was ‘the master of all things’, he thought he controlled the world. What an environment for Daniel to find himself in.

Our Society

Today, 2,500 years later, little has changed. Society is relatively godless, perhaps with some token religion about - ‘power’ is the god of today. As in Babylon, recognition and devotion to the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is rare.

We live in a world that is being plagued by an insidious disease, the spread of “unconscious atheism”. People have not deliberately renounced God, but they have ceased to behave as if there were a God! God has become a voluntary philosophy which is devoid of much practical relevance.

In a recent radio broadcast, 80 per cent said that they believed in God, but the vast majority do not act on this supposed belief. Very few pray regularly, or read the Bible or meet up with other Christians to be encouraged and to encourage. We are facing a crisis - our society feels it can do without God!

Over one hundred years ago a German philosopher, Neitsche, who died as an insane syphilitic, prophesied that in the twentieth century God would be dead. He didn’t mean that he would actually die, but that we would live as if there were no god. We would kill god. When God is dead, then the only person to be worshipped is ourselves!

So when Nebuchadnezzar worships himself and wants everyone else to do so too, he is no different from us.

It is not surprising that when God is not recognised, standards of behaviour in society rapidly slide. Crime, promiscuity and divorce will all increase as will the incidence of anxiety and depression. Society will begin to break down.

Cicero argued,

“Without god, there can be no justice or concord amongst people.”

How right he was.

So, like Daniel, we are living as aliens - aliens in a God-forsaking world. Daniel however managed to overcome this problems and was able to remain faithful to God in spite of the difficult predicament. Let us examine those features of Daniel’s life that helped him to overcome, and see what we can learn from him to help us today.

1) He was personally committed to following God

Daniel was determined to obey God, whatever the situation. It wasn’t just his words, his whole life demonstrated this faith. He recognised that God was his heavenly father and he longed to please him.

I recently took the service in a village Anglican church. After the service the church warden invited the small congregation back to her house for coffee and biscuits. After serving us, she said in front of everyone, “I am not sure I am a Christian.” there was silence for a short while till another lady blurted out, “Of course you are, you are lovely!”

Being kind, well mannered, religious and lovely is no guarantee that a person is accepted by God. Jesus himself stressed this in his parable of the ‘Pharisee and the Tax-collector” in Luke 18 v. 9-14. It was not the upright man who is approved of by God, as none of us are really that, but he who realises how bad he is before God and begs for his undeserved mercy. Daniel understood this, and as a result lived a God fearing life.

What a disaster it is to hear of people who call themselves Christians, and even go to church but who live a contrary life. On ‘Crimewatch’, the television programme that helps the police solve crimes, a nasty murder was described. The victim was a man in his thirties, who was active in his local church, where he was the sacristan. There was some film showing the sort of work he did in the church, such as carrying the cross at church processions. They then described another side of his life that was a total contrast. He was deeply involved in local ‘gay’ clubs and was known to be an active homosexual. God wants our devotion, not just in word but ‘in deed and in truth.’

Sarah was in her late teens. She was a member of her local church youth group, which she enjoyed very much. She did however have a non-Christian boy friend and they were sleeping together. She joined her group on their annual houseparty. During this the speaker explained the Bible teaching that sex is only for married people, and that God does not want his people to be involved with non-christians. This hurt too much so Sarah went up to the speaker and expressed her disquiet. “That is not how people behave today”. the speaker again showed her those passages in the Bible that are very clear on these issues. He then took a piece of paper and wrote on it two words.

NO LORD

He then explained that these two words cannot exist together. If Jesus is my lord I have to say ‘yes’ to what he asks. If I persist in saying ‘no’, then he is not my Lord. “Would you cross off one of those words, Sarah?”

After wrestling with the question for thirty minutes or so, Sarah returned to the speaker with a smile on her face - she had deleted the word ‘No.’

Daniel had faced these issues. He was a true follower of his heavenly father - almighty God. He knew that The Lord would use him for his ends if he lived his way. It is lovely to see how this fifteen year old boy behaves with such grace and tact.

“Please test your servants for 10 days”. (1 v. 12)

When he spoke to Arioch, commander of the Kings guard, who was about to execute all the ‘wise men’ in Babylon, Daniel spoke with “wisdom and tact.”

It was therefore not surprising that he was held in high regard by those who saw him. Thus he was viewed with ‘favour and sympathy’ by Ashpenaz, Nebuchadnezzar’s Chief Official.

Such features as these, whilst not a proof that a person is walking with God, as there are other ways to obtain such skills, should become a feature of the life of someone who is intent to please his Saviour. We should be polite and grateful, and those who write thankyou letters!

Such characteristics do not just happen. they need to be developed. I remember sitting in the toilet at the bottom of the garden on my uncle’s farm in Kenya. On the wall was a calendar with the phrase,

“A man’s character and his garden both reflect the amount of weeding that was done during the growing season.”

2) Daniel was committed to God’s people.

It is striking how Daniel and his three friends keep being mentioned together. When problems arise (v. 17), he goes back and discusses everything with them and they pray together.

There can be a tendency to over individualise the Christian faith. True, it must start with my individual response to God but God’s concern is to have a people committed to him. Jesus said he had come to establish a kingdom. This is why it is vital that all Christians are involved with the local Christians in their area or in their college.

Let us all be careful not to forsake meeting together with other Christians and to all we can to build up others .

John Wesley recognised the importance of local Christians encouraging each other and for this reason he established local meetings. John Wesley asked the leader of one such group what particular gift he felt he had.

“I have sharp eyes to detect the failures of our members.”

Wesley was silent for a moment and then said, “Brother, I do not think the Lord would mind your burying that talent!”

We must encourage and build each other up.

3) Daniel was a man of the Bible.

Daniel was only fifteen, yet he was already steeped in the concepts of the Bible. He had one great advantage - there was no television, that ‘chewing gum for the eyes’, that ‘mind addler.’

It is a fascinating study to see how many of the great godly heroes have been men and women devoted to the word of God. Daniel was no exception.

“I Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.” (Daniel 9 v. 2)

It is likely that Daniel had a great influence on the next generation of God’s people. Ezra must have known of Daniel as he held the post of Secretary of State for Jewish Affairs in Persia, after Cyrus had defeated the Babylonians. It was Ezra who led a large group of exiles back to Jerusalem in 458 BC. What made Ezra so great? It was his devotion to the Word of God.

“Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and Laws in Israel.” (Ezra 7 v. 10)

To study the Bible, to obey it and then to teach it to others - what a brilliant example. This has always been the way of God’s people. In the days of the exodus, after the Children of Israel left their captivity in Egypt, they became hungry. God gave them a special food of small droplets tasting like honey that they collected as it lay on the sands. The Hebrew word for this food was ‘manna’, which meant ‘what is it?’ There was however a special meaning to this manna.

“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from he mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8 v. 3)

To further emphasise the importance of the Bible to God’s people , the Lord insisted that all future kings of his people should be well versed in the Scriptures.

“When he takes to the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left.” (Deuteronomy 17 v. 18-20

I am concerned that today’s Christian youth seem to know more about the plot and characters of ‘Neighbours,’ than about the word of God!

4) Daniel was a man of prayer

When a problem came up, such as his impending execution, his immediate reaction was to go to his friends and urge them to pray - to really pray, pleading for God to intervene (2 v. 19). As a result of their prayers God did act! It is particularly significant however that when God answered their prayers, Daniel returned to God to thank him from the bottom of his heart. (2 v. 20-23) This was not just a flash in the pan approach to impending catastrophe either. Years later Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den because he refused to break his habit of regularly praying to his Father in heaven. (chapter 6)

What a vital secret this is for a man of God, to involve the Lord in everything.

After I became a Christian I became active in the Christian Unions at both my university and at my medical school in London. I was a member of a thrilling church where the Bible teaching was exceptionally good. I was elected President of the Christian Union and we saw some remarkable things happen. A friend and I then went to Uganda to help work in a mission hospital in Uganda. We were well taught and felt we had a lot to offer.

One afternoon my friend and I were strolling up Namirembe hill, in the center of Kampala, when we met a Ugandan Christian coming down on the other side of the road. He had a broad smile with bright teeth, and a very deep dog collar round his neck. “Hello,” he called.

We crossed over the road and started talking. “What are you doing in Uganda,” he asked.

“We are working in Mengo Mission Hospital.”

“Oh, that’s lovely. Does that mean that you are Christians then?

“Yes we both are,” we replied.

“That’s good, but tell me, how are you getting on with Jesus?”

I had never been asked a question like that before, but gave a typical English reply, “Very well thankyou, and you?”

We may have blushed but somehow the Ugandan minister must have seen our embarrassment because he switched the conversation to himself, still with that open smile on his face.

“I became a Christian when I was 29 years old and working as a schoolmaster. I became very active in my church, but somehow, in spite of all my Christian activities, my walk with the Lord was cold. Then I learnt what the problem with me was, I was active for God but he was not closely involved in what I was doing. I then learnt to keep Jesus busy in all I was doing. If I failed him, I learnt to say sorry quickly, when everything was going well I learnt to keep thanking him, when there were problems I learnt to involve Jesus at the beginning. That’s the secret I have learnt - to keep Jesus busy. I must go now, but please don’t forget, keep Jesus busy.” He then disappeared down the hill.

I have no idea who that Christian was, but one day in heaven I will thank him from the bottom of my heart for giving me those five minutes. That is the secret, it is not just obedience that God wants, it is keeping a close friendship with him that is vital.

5) Daniel was open about his commitment to God

When the wise men failed to tell Nebuchadnezzar what dream he had recently had, the king became furious and ordered their execution. Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard told Daniel about their fate. Daniel’s response was to go and see the king and asked for time. It was then that the four youngsters prayed. Daniel then asked Arioch to take him back to the king. Arioch tries to take the credit to himself, claiming that he had found someone who could explain the dream. The king therefore asked Daniel, “Are you able to tell me the dream?”

Daniel’s reply was remarkable. “No, no man could do what you asked, but their is a God in heaven who can!” and he goes on to explain the dream in great detail.

What a risk! Daniel’s priority was that God should have the glory. This is the true mark of a man of god. It was for this reason he was willing to be rather outspoken. There was a remarkable result. Nebuchadnezzar fell to his knees and acknowledged,

“Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries.” (2 v. 46-47)

This was Daniel’s priority - to help others see that the one God who created the world, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob should be acknowledged by all for who he is. There is something lovely when this is done.

When I was training to take my FRCS examination, to enable me to be a surgeon, I attended a week-end course in Orthopaedics. Patients physical signs were demonstrated from a stage in front of the hundred or so students. One patient was General Sir Arthur Smith. He had a malunited fracture of his left tibia (lower leg) that had been present for over fifty years. When we had finished looking at his leg, the General, then aged 92, asked if he could say something to the students, and permission was granted. In a typical elderly officer’s voice he said,

“I was hit by a piece of shrapnel at Ypres - during the Battle of the Somme. My foot was just dangling about. I was taken to the hospital, a Nissen hut, and put in the last bed at the end. Everyone was very worried about my foot, they thought I would have to loose it! I asked them to leave it if at all possible. They patched it up as best they could and transferred me to the base hospital. I didn’t know what would happen. That morning I read in my ‘Daily Light’, which for those of you who don’t know contains portions of God’s word to us - the Bible, by which I lead my life. I read,

“The Lord is thy confidence - he shall stop thy foot from being moved.”

At the base hospital a doctor said it would have to come off. I replied, “Not so.” I still have my leg to this day as evidence that God can be relied upon. I would commend Him to you.”

We were all in hysterics, but it was remarkable that on the journey home everyone was talking about that testimony of the elderly General His Lord obviously mattered to him. More often God will use just a few words spoken to an individual.

Brian was a patient of mine who had just been diagnosed as having secondary cancer in his liver causing him to become jaundiced. He and his wife realised that the outlook was not good. After talking about possible treatment options, I asked Brian, “Do you have a faith that helps you at a time like this?”

He turned to his wife and asked, “Do we dear?”

As there didn’t appear to be much concern about spiritual things I simply said “For me, knowing there to be a God who loves us and cares for us is the only thing that makes sense of problems like this”, and changed the subject.

The following week, however, I met Brian as he sat in the waiting room for a blood test. He said “You know what you said last week, it is strange but my next door neighbour, who is a Christian, asked us if we would like to go to church. What do you think?”

“I think that is lovely, but honestly Brian I wonder if sitting through some hymns, prayers and a sermon is what you most need at the moment. I would guess what you most need to know is “How can I get right with God?””. There was a two second pause before Brian looked up and asked “How do I get right with God?” We arranged to meet up the following morning at his home and there we went over the basics of the Christian faith. After a few days, first Brian and then his wife became a Christian.

Thank God for those few words from Brian’s neighbour, that opened up Brian’s interest.

These five characteristics were features of the young Daniel’s life. They also characterised Jesus’ life. God wants them to be features in all our lives. It is a serious concern that over 50% of students will fall away from their early allegiance to Christ. The prime problem is they do not have that mind-set that will keep their priorities clear, whatever the problems coming their way.

The two problems Daniel faced

1) Disaster

Three years after Daniel’s exile, King Jehoiakin of Jerusalem became fed up paying tribute money to Nebuchadnesser so he rebelled. The Babylonians attacked again, this time with the Moabites, Ammonites and Arameans. The Jews were defeated and this time the penalty was even more severe. All the leaders and all the gold in Jerusalem were taken to Babylon. the gold was again placed in a heathen temple, possibly that devoted to Marduk. Absolute disaster! Yet in all this Daniel could still see that God was in control.

In chapter 1 verse 1, Daniel gives a simple historical fact, “Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged Jerusalem.” It could be that this was because Judah had strategic importance, or possibly because Nebuchadnezzar reckoned he was on a lucky streak. The next verse gives Daniel’s clear understanding. “The Lord delivered Jehoiakin . . . . into his hand.” These were not just empty words, a way of saying it, Daniel knew that God was sovereign over all things. He is even willing to let his people be decimated, in order that everyone should learn to take him seriously.

All of us will face some form of disaster in the future. Friends will let us down, there may be deaths of those close to us, or breakdowns in relationships or employment. It is then easy to think, “I didn’t sign up for this,” and so to let my allegiance to Jesus slide. All such tragedies have been allowed by the sovereign God - so hang in there.

Today there is a tendency to ‘triumphalism’ amongst some Christians. “Everything will be fine for God’s people,” ‘Praise the Lord!”, “No harm can come to us, we are on the Victory side!” Today we have just heard that a devoted Christian’s 21 year old son has been hit and killed as he walked along a country lane. This is real life, it is tough. We do have a glorious future, but that will be in heaven. God will give us many exiting times in this life but disasters are there to remind us that he is the one person who ultimately matters.

Louise was a elderly Christian who had disseminated cancer. She was very weak, lying in a hospital bed. On one ward round when I was accompanied by many doctors and nurses, I was sitting on her bed and talking with her. She asked,

“When am I going home?”

“Well, um, er, er,” I stumbled, “I’m not sure that you are strong enough to go home Louise.”

“No, I don’t mean that,” she smiled, “I mean to go home to be with my Lord in heaven.”

What a great secret she had learned!

2) Seduction

Daniel was far away from his family in a strange environment. It is relatively easy to sing in a big group where you are one of the crowd, but it is quite another thing when you are out there on your own! For some people their security is their church, friends and church rituals, there they feel safe and secure. Move them away from this environment, for whatever reason, and you will then see where a person’s heart is really!

In this new environment Daniel is selected as one of the ‘special ones.’ He is chosen to be trained to be a senior civil servant, one of the king’s court. He is given a top university education, where they studied Babylonian literature and ideas. He is given the chance of eating luxury food, from the king’s table, and probably lived in the royal palace. To complete the break with their past, these young Jewish lads were given new Babylonian names that incorporated the names of the Babylonian deities.

How seductive all this was, living in luxury. Undoubtedly this was all an attempt to control his thinking, the good food, good life and liberal education usually having the required effect. This lifestyle should surely reduce Daniel’s zeal and would help break the irksome conviction that he is different. He and his friend’s were immersed in a society that was teaching a totally different world view from that taught in the Bible.

Have you ever wondered how to boil frogs alive? If they are placed straight into boiling water they will immediately react by reflexly jumping out. However if they are placed in cold water and this is very gently heated, then the frog does not notice the changes, so that it goes into a stupor and is eventually boiled! This illustrates the way so many people are seduced away from going God’s way. Occasionally it is a crisis that causes a reaction, but all too often it is the steady wearing down by things of the world. Non Christian boy-friends and girlfriends, total absorption in jobs, and a primary desire to succeed in the world, whatever the cost, can slowly kill off any spiritual life.

How should Daniel react in this difficult situation. To allow himself to be quietly absorbed in his new world would be easiest, but against God’s word. To withdraw totally and become a total rebel may satisfy his independent streak, but would it give glory to God?

An Essential Decision

He chose to set his mind to cooperate as far as possible, yet without compromising his primary convictions.

In this decision Daniel possesses the mind of Christ.

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world - but that you protect them from the evil one.” (John 17 v. 15)

God wants his people to be in the world, but actively living for him in it. Our society and culture are slowly putrefying, and yet too many Christians still play at Sunday religion. Much of the rest of the week you wouldn’t know we were committed followers of Jesus.

Kate Booth. the wife of the founder of the Salvation Army, General Booth, once said to a group of church people,

“Is this all you do for God, you go to church!”

I was once taking a series of Lent meetings for the local Roman Catholic churches. After the first meeting a smiling Irish lady came up and expressed her thanks.

“I don’t know why everyone is not a Christian,” she exclaimed.

I felt rather pleased, perhaps what had been said had got home! My wishful thinking was soon dashed however, when she said,

“After all, it only takes one hour a week!”

Daniel’s decision was to be outwardly involved in their new culture, but inwardly to remain adherent to the ways of God. They accepted their new names and the liberal university education, but they would not go beyond what the Bible taught.

“Daniel resolved not to defile himself.” (1 v. 8)

God’s law was clear, he could not eat food that was not Kosher, so he and his friends became vegetarians. It may seem to be an apparently trivial stand, but he nailed his colours to the mast. And God looked after them as a result.

Conclusion

The way the mind is set during the training process will control the direction we go when the pressures and temptations come. The Lord wants men and women like Daniel, who are utterly committed to live for the Lord and his people, who love their Bibles and are people of prayer, who love to tell others about their Saviour and Lord. It is not an easy path, but it is the only one which will hold us through the storms and calms of life.

“One ship goes east, one ship goes west,

By the self same winds that blow.

It is the set of the sail, and not the gales

That determines which way they go.”

May I ask all of us where our determination lies? Are we going to be like Daniel?

BVP Swanwick 1995