Daniel 1:1-21

Even in Babylon

A sermon by Pastor Joe Haynes

Preached on January 1, 2017 at Beacon Church

The book of Daniel was written a little over 500 years before Jesus was born, but not from the Roman provinces in what today we call Israel. Daniel was a long way from there. In what today we call Iraq. The Roman Empire wouldn’t even begin to rise for another 3 ½ centuries. Daniel grew up in Jerusalem when Jerusalem was more or less free. It was the capital of the Jewish Kingdom of Judah. The Kingdom of Judah at that time was almost twice as old as the United States is today, and had only recently begun to depend on bigger powers like Egypt. And then the Babylonians invaded. And Daniel was taken from his family, and his home, probably a teenager at that time.

But when he wrote this book, he had been living in Babylon for about 65 years (although parts of it were written down earlier). By that time he had become one of the greatest prophets in Hebrew history. Even God numbered Daniel as one of His three most righteous servants up until that time (Eze 14:14). But Daniel didn’t become the great Prophet Daniel overnight. And although over half of this book is filled with prophecies about the future, they are written down as part of Daniel’s whole life-story.

The autobiographical parts of the book and the prophetic parts fit together for the author’s purpose. And they give a whole picture of what Daniel’s life was like in far away Babylon that we need if we are going to make heads or tails of the unusual prophecies. (Well, heads, tails, wings, and horns!) So Daniel begins his story with how an upper class Jewish kid found himself living in the foreign, pagan, wicked, superstitious, seductive, seething city of Babylon. This morning I want to walk through this chapter by asking 3 questions: How did Daniel not drown in Babylon? How did Daniel rise in Babylon? And what did Daniel believe about God in Babylon?

(v6) How did Daniel not drown in Babylon?

This question should also be personal for us: how much would you say you are identifying with the culture we live in? In what ways does our culture affect us and our values? As we look at what happened to Daniel and his friends, think about this: I think if we lost everything dear to us, most of us would probably find ways of numbing our pain even if it meant compromising our beliefs and values. We just aren’t that strong. And neither was young Daniel. He was just like any of us. So his faithfulness demands an explanation.

He lost everything 

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.  2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.  3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility,  4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.  5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.  6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.  7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. (Dan. 1:1-7 ESV)

Look what happened to his world: the kingdom had fallen—but even worse, the symbol of God’s favour and protection over Israel, the holy Temple, had been desecrated and robbed by pagan soldiers! "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god," (Dan. 1:2 ESV). Some people sort of believe in God as long as it works—as long as their idea of god is successful. As long as God seems to be winning. But now, for the Jews, the sacred vessels from Yahweh’s Temple were now in the treasury of a Babylonian god. Didn’t this mean that the gods of Babylon were stronger? The Babylonian conqueror, King Nebuchadnezzar, didn’t stop at conquering the Jews and their God. He took the best of the next generation to make Babylon stronger. [read vv3-4] Every bit of their Jewish culture was to be erased and replaced with Babylonian cuisine, culture, and concepts [read vv5-6]. More like a three-year bootcamp than a university degree—this was their whole life for three years. Graduation was to be tested by the King himself. It wasn’t just their Grade Point Average at stake: they were studying for their lives. The Babylonians were ruthless conquerors, and very good at it. It’s pretty likely that these captives were emasculated, made into eunuchs according to the custom, and indicated in Isaiah’s prophecy to Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:18).[i] Taking away even the names of their captives was about destroying their religion. These Jewish boys had names that reminded them of the God they believed in: Daniel (God is my judge), Hananiah (Yahweh has been gracious), Mishael (Who is what God is?), and Azariah (Yahweh is a helper) were given new names from Babylonian gods: Belteshazzar asks for help from the wife of the god Bel; Shadrach is about obedience to the god Aku; (where Mishael declared, “Who is what God is?”,) Meshach asks “Who is as Aku is?”, and Abednego promises to serve the god Nebo.[ii] Verse 4 tells us that part of their education was to teach them the Chaldean language. Which explains how Daniel was able to write half of this book in Chaldean instead of Hebrew (you’ll have to wait a little longer though to find out why he switches from Hebrew to Chaldean and back to Hebrew!). The purpose of all this was to completely assimilate these captives, get rid of everything Jewish, and make them thoroughly Babylonian. How did Daniel not “drown” in Babylon?

He did not lose his way (vv 8-16)

He didn't want to be assimilated "But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself," (Dan. 1:8 ESV). “Defilement” for Daniel wasn’t about kosher laws. Notice he includes not just meat but wine as well.[iii] Dan 10:3 implies that Daniel eventually came to eat meat again. So it seems here he was trying to find a way to maintain discipline, and not give in to the whole indulgent way of life that was designed to seduce his fellow captives. If you have a really bad day, you’re likely to indulge yourself a bit. If you lose everything that matters to you in this world, the temptation will be much stronger. And a little indulging easily leads to more indulging—especially when we feel like our hardships make us deserver it. So Daniel asked for the chance to be trained in discipline rather than indulgence: starting with, temporarily, a vegetarian diet.[iv] His request was made to the Chief of the Eunuchs, the guy in charge of all the eunuchs in the King’s court. 

And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,  10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king." (Dan. 1:9-10 ESV)

The answer wasn’t “no” but it wasn’t quite “yes” either. And Daniel didn’t give up. The Chief’s surprisingly compassionate response focused on his concern that their physical condition should not suffer. After all, he would answer to the king himself for the condition of the new eunuchs. So Daniel went to a lower-ranking official, who was in charge of the food for Daniel and his three friends. And he asked to test their physical appearance and condition after a trial of vegetables and water: 

 11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,  12 "Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.  13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see."  14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.  15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food.  16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.  (Dan. 1:11-16 ESV)

That ten-day trial turned into a three year training period that now, on top of language classes and academics in all the higher learning of Babylon, included a strict diet that removed a bit of their temptation to fall for the seductive attractions of that great city and culture. Daniel and his friends held strong—we can assume they strengthened and supported each other—during their training. And verse 11 might imply that they kept using their Jewish names (even Nebuchadnezzar [4:19] and then his son [5:13] later on still call him "Daniel"). So Daniel and his friends together did not give up their integrity, or their identities during their training period as royal eunuchs in Babylon.

In their book, How People Change, Lane and Tripp share the powerful insight that no matter how much we suffer, nothing is "outside the circle of God's grace."[v] (p48) As long as they kept using their Hebrew names, these boys were reminded that Yahweh is gracious, and Yahweh is their Helper. Their captivity, mutilation, and suffering were still inside the circle of God’s grace. But the names Daniel and Mishael—God is my Judge, and Who is What God Is?—were continual reminders that nothing happens outside of the circle of God's total rule. Even in Babylon. A note in the ESV Study Bible says, “…they continually reminded themselves, in this time of testing, that they were the people of God in a foreign land and that they were dependent for their food, indeed for their very lives, upon God, their Creator, not King Nebuchadnezzar.”[vi]

What do you think "meat and wine" are for you? Are there things that are part of our daily lives that make it harder to resist being seduced by a culture that has no room for belief in God, sin and judgement, salvation through Jesus, and holy obedience? What are your "vegetables"? What are mine? I’m humbled by the biographies of missionaries who’ve actually suffered for the chance to spread the Gospel. Who endured hardships. But I’m amazed by these four Jewish teenagers who might have had their masculinity stolen, but who received divine grace and strength to become legendary men of God. I’m such a child compared to those boys. We are too soft aren’t we? I wonder what God could do in us, how He could sharpen us, make us more effective for the sake of the Gospel in our own culture, if we learned to practice self-discipline—if we spent less time pursuing comfort and more time pursuing holy integrity?

(v18) How did Daniel rise in Babylon?

Paul says in 1 Tim 4:7, “train yourselves for godliness”. That’s what Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah did. And God blessed them. When graduation time came, they would find out where they would be assigned to serve for the rest of their lives. Not many eunuchs ended up at the top levels of government. But these four did. And it was because of how God gifted them to be valuable to King Nebuchadnezzar: 

18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.  19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. (Dan. 1:18-19 ESV)

 “Therefore they stood before the king.” That was their new place from then on. They served in the royal court. They survived. And they became important to the King. Status. Honour. Who could have imagined Jews in high office in the government of the Babylonian Empire? Around the same time, the Prophet Ezekiel took notice of Daniel’s reputation—a young Jew highly valued by the King? He became a legend among his sad and beaten fellow-Jews. Their intellect, understanding, and wisdom set them apart from all their peers—far apart: [read v20]

(v21) What did Daniel believe about God in Babylon?

I mentioned earlier that much of the Book of Daniel contains prophecies about the future. And I’ve been fascinated by the study of those prophecies for 30 years. Some would say that kind of study is a waste of time, that there are better ways to spend our waking hours than poring over ancient predictions. But take Daniel for example. In all his learning, during the years he spend becoming familiar with the literature of a foreign culture, he kept studying the Hebrew Scriptures as well. In spite of all that happened to him, Daniel kept believing God is in control and is trustworthy. Daniel alludes to 3 biblical prophecies in chapter one that apparently reminded Him to keep hoping in God.

In verse 2, Daniel recounts how the Babylonians captured “some of the vessels of the house of God”, an odd detail to include in his very brief account of the fall of Jerusalem, except that it had been specifically predicted 100 years earlier. In 2 Kings 20:16-18 we read that the prophet Isaiah warned the Jewish King Hezekiah that because he had pridefully shown off all of his possessions to important visitors from Babylon, even showing off the vessels in the Temple of God, that “the days are coming” when they “shall be carried to Babylon…” along with some of his descendants as well, to become “eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon”. And sadly for him, Daniel lived to see that God’s Word came true exactly.

But there are two more prophecies alluded to in chapter one. "And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus," (Dan. 1:21 ESV). The significance here is that King Cyrus wasn’t a Babylonian king; He was the Persian Emperor whose armies conquered Babylon in 539 BC, 65 years after the beginning of Daniel’s story in chapter 1. That means Daniel the captive Jewish boy outlasted the whole Babylonian Empire and lived to serve the next ruler that came afterward: the Persian King Cyrus. Mentioning this as a post-script to chapter one was a reminder to his Jewish readers about a prophecy in Jeremiah 25:12 famously called “the seventy years prophecy”. That after 70 years God would punish Babylon for their sins.

Finally, mentioning Cyrus by name reminds readers familiar with Isaiah that this was a king God had promised to raise up and use to help the Jewish people—a promise God had made through Isaiah 200 years before Cyrus the Persian was even born.  [“Thus says the LORD…] who says of Cyrus, ‘he is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’, saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’” (Isaiah 44:28). Seeing these prophecies from God’s Word fulfilled in front of his eyes taught Daniel to see the hand of God always at work, always for ultimate good, and always leading toward the ultimate promise of a Messiah and Saviour. Themes that dominate the rest of this book.

Knowing God was the Lord of all history, even of events in foreign lands, as the Lord in Heaven who rules over even the mightiest kings on Earth, this perspective affected the way Daniel told his own story. What we really believe about God always shines through in the way we tell our own stories, as it did for Daniel. In verse 2, Daniel doesn’t just say King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, he says, "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god," (Dan. 1:2 ESV). In verse 9, Daniel doesn’t just say that the Chief of the Eunuchs had sympathy on him, he says, [read v9]. In verse 17, Daniel doesn’t just say that he and his friends were skilled in literature and wisdom of the Babylonians, he says, "As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams," (Dan. 1:17 ESV). The Lord gave. God gave. God gave. Among literary genres, Daniel chapter 1 is a “hero story”. But the hero is not Daniel. The hero is God. The glory is God’s. Even in Babylon. But if we've been eating the culture's meat and wine too long maybe we aren't yet able to see God like Daniel saw Him? So maybe 2017 is the time for vegetables and water, simpler living and self discipline? For the sake of clearing our hearts and minds of some things that lure us away from Jesus instead of drawing us to Him. God can give you a new story this year.