There is perhaps a moment in all of our lives when we feel the need to make a stand – perhaps make our mark on life. Often we feel the moment but let it pass by. The Christian life is not about making one grand statement of intent – although that is essential – it is about the consistent desire to be different in a positive way in order to honour God and reflect the beauty of the love and grace of God. It is about us as a people expressing the work of the Kingdom of God irrespective of what anyone else is doing.
So, to Daniel and his friends. It is strange what they chose to do but they are setting down a marker and laying a foundation for the rest of their lives. How so? What does Daniel hope to accomplish?
Some people argue that Daniel chose to do this because it was a healthier option and that he and his friends wanted to be at the peak of their physical and intellectual power – there is something in that but I doubt that was the point he was trying to make.
Some argue that he probably came from a culture where fruit and vegetables were the most common form of food – but Daniel and his friends were from the elite of Jewish society and there would probably have been meat on the table on a regular basis.
Did Daniel make this decision because he knew that the food that came to the King’s table had first of all been offered to idols – to the Babylonian gods? Did he make this decision because he did not want to have anything to do with this pagan culture?
Maybe this was similar to a Nazarite vow – where people dedicated themselves to God and the sign of that dedication was that they would abstain from alcohol – instead in this case it is the food from the King’s table?
There is merit in all of these as potential suggestions.
Daniel is in the process with his friends where they are at the beginning of their education and being prepared for service in Babylon. Babylon in Hebrew and in New Testament thinking is always associated with ungodliness – see the Book of Revelation:
“Then another angel followed him through the sky, shouting, “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen—because she made all the nations of the world drink the wine of her passionate immorality.” - - Revelation 14
The great city of Babylon split into three sections, and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. So God remembered all of Babylon’s sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath. - Revelation 16
A mysterious name was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.” – Revelation 17
After all this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendour. 2 He gave a mighty shout:
“Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen!
She has become a home for demons.
She is a hideout for every foul spirit,
a hideout for every foul vulture
and every foul and dreadful animal.
3 For all the nations have fallen
because of the wine of her passionate immorality.
The kings of the world
have committed adultery with her.
Because of her desires for extravagant luxury,
the merchants of the world have grown rich.”
4 Then I heard another voice calling from heaven,
“Come away from her, my people.
Do not take part in her sins,
or you will be punished with her.
5 For her sins are piled as high as heaven,
and God remembers her evil deeds.
6 Do to her as she has done to others.
Double her penalty for all her evil deeds.
She brewed a cup of terror for others,
so brew twice as much for her.
7 She glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so match it now with torment and sorrow.
She boasted in her heart,
‘I am queen on my throne.
I am no helpless widow,
and I have no reason to mourn.’
8 Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day—
death and mourning and famine.
She will be completely consumed by fire,
for the Lord God who judges her is mighty.”
9 And the kings of the world who committed adultery with her and enjoyed her great luxury will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains. 10 They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out,
“How terrible, how terrible for you,
O Babylon, you great city!
In a single moment
God’s judgment came on you.”
11 The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods. 12 She bought great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; things made of fragrant thyine wood, ivory goods, and objects made of expensive wood; and bronze, iron, and marble. 13 She also bought cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, wagons, and bodies—that is, human slaves.
14 “The fancy things you loved so much
are gone,” they cry.
“All your luxuries and splendour
are gone forever,
never to be yours again.”
15 The merchants who became wealthy by selling her these things will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will weep and cry out,
16 “How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
She was clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens,
decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls!
17 In a single moment
all the wealth of the city is gone!”
And all the captains of the merchant ships and their passengers and sailors and crews will stand at a distance. 18 They will cry out as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, “Where is there another city as great as this?” 19 And they will weep and throw dust on their heads to show their grief. And they will cry out,
“How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
The ship-owners became wealthy
by transporting her great wealth on the seas.
In a single moment it is all gone.”
20 Rejoice over her fate, O heaven
and people of God and apostles and prophets!
For at last God has judged her
for your sakes.
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted,
“Just like this, the great city Babylon
will be thrown down with violence
and will never be found again.
22 The sound of harps, singers, flutes, and trumpets
will never be heard in you again.
No craftsmen and no trades
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of the mill
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The happy voices of brides and grooms
will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the greatest in the world,
and you deceived the nations with your sorceries.
24 In your streets flowed the blood of the prophets and of God’s holy people
and the blood of people slaughtered all over the world.” Revelation 18
Daniel was not to know it but from this time on Babylon was to be the symbol used of everything that represented ungodliness in the world.
So Daniel and his friends make a decision to do something that will make them distinctive in order that they might attribute their success to God and not to themselves. It will not be the education they receive that will make them stand out but the power of God working in lives that were dedicated to his Kingdom and glory. When Daniel and his friends stand before the King they will acknowledge the source of their powers as coming only from God.
All of this takes us behind the scene. There are two kingdoms – the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel will co-operate with one Kingdom but will belong to another entirely. God will always come first for these men, as we shall see. They will offer wholesome service to this world but through this it will always be because the Kingdom of God comes first and is breaking in through them.
This then is all about authenticity. We shall see that Babylonian Wise Men are compared to these men and not only do they not match up, they are seen as entirely false. I often wonder at the fact in some newspapers a great deal of space is given to astrology – something that is not merely a bit of fun but is an entirely false view of reality in which many put their trust and yet there is little or no space given to the authentic word of God. However this book of Daniel wants to assure us of the following:
!. Despite all appearance God is in control. He is, to use a theological term, sovereign. Powerful figures like Nebuchadnezzar may wield influence but always remember their fate: “In the place of the dead[ there is excitement
over your arrival.
The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead
stand up to see you.
10 With one voice they all cry out,
‘Now you are as weak as we are!
11 Your might and power were buried with you.
The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased.
Now maggots are your sheet,
and worms your blanket.’
12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
you who destroyed the nations of the world.
13 For you said to yourself,
‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
far away in the north.
14 I will climb to the highest heavens
and be like the Most High.’
15 Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead,
down to its lowest depths.
16 Everyone there will stare at you and ask,
‘Can this be the one who shook the earth
and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?
17 Is this the one who destroyed the world
and made it into a wasteland?
Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities
and had no mercy on his prisoners?’ – Isaiah 14
Real power only belongs to the living God. Everything in life serves a deeper purpose under the direction of the sovereign will of God – even the exile of Israel. It is all a question of how we view history. Daniel and his friends point us to God and encourage us to commit ourselves to Him whatever our circumstances. To be authentic and to the lights in this world that shine for what is right and pure and good and wholesome.
Always remember that Kingdome rise and fall but the Kingdom we belong to is forever. Evil raises its ugly head and Daniel encourages us to live in the midst of this world that is hostile and opposed to what is good. Daniel and his friends teach us to live out our faith with dedication and consistency and be fully involved in society always working for the good of other people but to do so in a way that copies the Way of the Master.
What happened to Israel is a warning to us:
“I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that travelled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did.” – 1 Corinthians 10
But it is also an encouragement to be like Daniel and His friends. Israel had failed to be a light to the Nations and had shrunk from its responsibilities through complacency and compromise – Daniel and his friends had to be different – be in that world but not of it. Strive to make an impact but do this with a life dedicated to the glory of God and His Kingdom.
Look at Jonah – a man who was both complacent and disobedient. He was called to go to godless Nineveh He warned the people and they responded and this was to have a long term effect. That act of obedience led to the following – a society that changed. A place where, when the Gospel was brought through the first followers of Christ, there was found to be people who worshipped God and eagerly received Christ – and wonder of wonders, in Bagdad today the Christian Church there is descended from theses early Christians. God works his purposes out through people who hold consistently to a clear path of serve for that other Kingdom.
Our situation – we call it decline – God calls it reality God calls it an opportunity. He calls us to be like Daniel and his friends to make a stand. Live out our faith irrespective of our situation. In a sense how the world is, is not our problem – how we live, is!
Choosing to be distinctive is not simply not doing certain things and thinking we have made a stand – it is choosing – Mercy, forgiveness and love as the core of how we live out our relationships – it is being Christ incarnate in our lives, in our world. Our culture never determines who we are and how we live – Christ alone does that. Let me close with the following translation of Romans 12 by J.B. Phillips:
1-2 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.