Daniel 1: The Captive

In the year 605 BC, a great warrior king named Nebuchadnezzar led his army through the Grand Ishtar Gate of Babylon and struck out westward on a mission of conquest. After defeating the Egyptian army at Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar turned his attention to Jerusalem. The Babylonians besieged and plundered the city, looting the temple and carrying off many of the sacred golden vessels. Daniel, a young prince, was captured and with the cream of the city's youth he was carried off to Babylon as a war hostage, where he remained in exile for the rest of his life. The life of a hostage isn't easy, it's fraught with danger. There were trials, tests and persecution. He was threatened by death at every turn. But for 70 years Daniel not only survived, but thrived in the most difficult circumstances, through an adventure of faith, intrigue, tyranny and miracles. By a remarkable turn of events, Daniel the hostage became Daniel the Prime Minister of Babylon and the king's most trusted advisor. In fact, he prospered under the How did he do it? How did he survive? And what's the secret of his inner courage? What kept him going year after year, separated from his home and family? Well today we're going to take a closer look at this young hostage in the Middle East who managed to survive 70 years of captivity and his secret of inner spiritual strength will provide us with the key to surviving the challenges of modern life and more importantly, the end time. On the 7th of March 1984, Jeremy Levin's world was turned upside down. He was kidnapped by Shiite Muslims while walking to work in Beirut, Lebanon. A gun was shoved into his waist and he was forced into a car. He was threatened with instant death if he opened his eyes. Jeremy was the Beirut bureau chief for CNN. He was blindfolded, beaten and interrogated in a local apartment. Then he was gagged, wrapped from head to foot in packing tape and driven from Beirut to the Bekaa Valley several hours away. There he was kept blindfolded and chained to a wall in a tiny unheated room. He never saw another human face for 343 days and the only time he had contact with another human being was when he was escorted blindfolded to the bathroom once a day. He felt isolated, helpless and afraid. Crouched in the corner of a windowless room, hour after hour, month after month, Jeremy desperately needed to talk but he was afraid that if he just talked with himself, he'd go crazy. So he considered the idea of talking to God. At first this made him feel uncomfortable. Although he was the grandson of a rabbi, Jeremy had decided long before that he would believe only in concrete things, things he could touch and feel. He had rejected his Jewish religious heritage but there was so little to touch and feel in that lonely cell that Jeremy eventually reached out to God and he began talking. Soon he realised that he was having a meaningful two-way conversation. He tried hard to remember the bit of religious instruction he'd picked up in his youth. He also remembered hearing about the teachings of Jesus and finally everything began to fit together and make sense. He realised that Jesus Christ was truly exceptional and that's when Jeremy faced a big choice. He'd made the leap of faith, now how was he going to live? Well Jeremy decided as he later wrote. You can't play games by assuming the external trappings while holding back from total acceptance. This tough newsman, a former atheist, said I decided it was necessary to accept it all. It had to be all or nothing. And it was all for Jeremy Levin. His life was changed. Eventually he managed to escape his captors and was reunited with his family but he'd already experienced an even more significant reunion. Jeremy didn't just survive the ordeal, he came out a new man, a new man in Jesus Christ. Now you and I may never be held hostage by terrorists like Jeremy Levin was but each of us faces difficult and discouraging situations of our own. How can we successfully endure the challenges we face? Well to understand more specifically how we can survive and even thrive in the midst of trials, let's go back and take a look at another Hebrew hostage, a young man held captive in Babylon. The challenge this hostage faced was rather different from Levin's experience. It wasn't a meagre diet or primitive living conditions that threatened to wear him down, it was the very opposite, a table absolutely loaded with the best Babylon could offer. Daniel's captives were trying to win him over to their side, this is how it all began. When the young Hebrew walked through the splendid gates of Babylon as one of a trail of captives following behind victorious King Nebuchadnezzar, he heard this kind of mockery, if your God's the true God, why is Jerusalem in ruins? Why couldn't he protect you from us? Why did he allow you to go into captivity anyway? These must have been extremely difficult questions to answer, after all the Babylonians had sacked Jehovah's sacred temple and brought its precious vessels to this heathen city, it seemed as if the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob couldn't even defend his own city, Jerusalem. I believe these questions are very relevant for us today. We're living in a world in which religious values and secular values increasingly clash and all too often the secular values are winning, the spiritual seems more and more crowded out by other voices, other images and yes, sometimes our culture seems almost hostile to religion. In some ways those with religious principles seem like aliens in a strange land, it's my conviction that this tension, this conflict will increase not decrease as time goes along, in fact I believe it will soon come to a tremendous climax as we're near the end of earth's history. The astounding biblical prophecies of Daniel and Revelation predict that God's people will face captivity and even imprisonment in earth's last hours, so the question of how to survive as a hostage is very relevant to anyone interested in surviving in the time of the end. Everyone will have to face that challenge, where is your God? If he's so powerful how come you're in so much trouble? Why can't he defend his people in the real world? The book of Daniel contains some remarkable prophecies about how history will come to a climax, it gives us a picture of last day events but it does more, I believe this book shows us how to live in the end time, the stories of the book of Daniel reveal the character qualities of faith, courage, prayer and perseverance necessary for living just before the coming of Christ. Nebuchadnezzar had a special strategy to win the allegiance of these Hebrew captives, it included a process of re-education or brainwashing, we read about it in Daniel chapter 1 verses 3 to 5, here the scriptures state it succinctly, listen to this in Daniel chapter 1 and verses 3 and 5. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility, they were to be trained for three years and after that they were to enter the king's service. Nebuchadnezzar wanted to turn the best of the Hebrew young men from hostages into civil servants, they were to be educated in the customs, practices and principles of Babylon, they were to study its science, its religion, its philosophy and finally when they'd been thoroughly indoctrinated and brainwashed, they were to be sent back to their nation to rule for Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar didn't place Babylonians as rulers over conquered territories, that would only encourage rebellion, instead he selected native peoples from these places to be trained and brainwashed in Babylon so they would rule their own captive cities as his puppets of course. Surprisingly enough, this is the situation many of God's people will find themselves in as we near the close of time, Satan, the enemy of God is bent on world conquest, his kingdom is in mortal combat with the kingdom of God, it's a war between the forces of good and the forces of evil, in an attempt to destroy our inner longings for God, Satan attempts to capture our thoughts through the senses, he's working to submerge our world in a thoroughly secular culture, we see it everywhere from the agnosticism of much of Europe to the growing materialism of Asia and to the erosion of spiritual values in the western world, including Australia and New Zealand, we are being indoctrinated in a secular worldview, a secular philosophy, a secular way of life, so how do we resist this pervasive influence? How do we stand for the kingdom of God in the midst of a culture that's often hostile to it? Well amazingly enough, Daniel succeeded in doing exactly that against all the odds, he thrived in a hostile and secular environment, after all the attempts to reprogram him, his faith was still standing, his values were still standing tall and I believe that this young Hebrew has a lot to tell us about succeeding spiritually in a secular environment. Watch as Daniel, a captive in a strange land, gives us the important first clue, as soon as Daniel and his companions reached Babylon the pressure to conform began to build, we can see that in the new names given to these Hebrew captives, when a Hebrew mother named her child, the name most often stood for character qualities she desired the child to have or some significant aspect of Hebrew history, the name constantly reminded the child of his allegiance to the true God, Daniel's name in means God is my judge, this young man was continually reminded that he lived before the God who sees all things, but the head of the eunuchs in Babylon gave him a new name, Belteshazzar, this name means may the goddess Bell protect the king, his friend Hananiah, whose name means the Lord is gracious, was given the new name Shadrach, meaning inspiration of the sun, Mishael, whose name means godlike, was now called Mishak, meaning like the god Aku and Azariah, whose name means God is my helper, was given the name Abednego, meaning servant of Nebo, Nebuchadnezzar wanted these Israelites to forget their God and their Hebrew heritage, so he gave them names representing the gods of Babylon, we can see from this that Nebuchadnezzar was bent on fashioning loyal Babylonians from those vulnerable young hostages. Now we come to the first great challenge, Daniel and his companions were ushered into the banquet hall of Nebuchadnezzar, the table was spread with a rich variety of Babylonian delicacies, candlelight shimmered and danced off the golden bowls, the guests were seated and invited to partake, that's when Daniel faced a choice, there were two problems with the food, first it had been offered to idols and Daniel believed that to eat it would be to participate in the worship of those idols, something that he was continually being pressured to do, secondly according to God's clear instructions, much of the food was unclean, it was not to be eaten, staring at this tempting feast, Daniel must have felt a tremendous urge to just go along with the crowd, the glories of Babylon dazzled his senses, the finest wines of the land beckoned him, why keep hanging on to his religious scruples, surely a few rules could be just winked at in this foreign culture, for a hostage who'd seen the land of the true God desolated, it would have been very easy to cast his lot with the new power, the new dominant culture of Babylon, but this young captive made a remarkable decision, it's recorded in Daniel chapter one and verse eight, but Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way, Daniel resolved, what a story is contained in these words, here is a decision that would reverberate through history, its lessons would echo and re-echo throughout the centuries, Daniel made his choice, he would be faithful to the Lord of heaven and earth, even as a captive to another monarch, he would honour God in all the details of life, even while surrounded by a heathen culture, it might cost him his life but nevertheless he would be faithful to God, remember Daniel resolved, he determined to be faithful to God long before the test at the banquet, he resolved ahead of time, he had made up his mind that he wasn't going to sell out in order to have it easy in Babylon, he wasn't going to sell out his conscience cheaply, he was going to remain a child of the living God, he was not going to let this heathen culture take away his faith piece by piece, that's how it usually happens you know, the enemy typically doesn't try to overwhelm us all at once, he just tries to chip away at our faith a little at a time, this practice isn't so important, he says, or you can live without that belief, listen, I think it boils down to this, people who flourish in the end times will be people who know who they are, people who are secure in their relationship with God, if Daniel had been embarrassed about his identity as a Hebrew, if he tried to hide his religious scruples, then he probably would have given in and disappeared into Babylonian history, but he wasn't embarrassed, far from it, Daniel was confident that his Lord knew best, people who survive at the end time will be people who know and love God's truth, they would rather die than bring dishonour to God, when Daniel voiced his objections to the food at the banquet, the official was worried about what King Nebuchadnezzar would say, he feared that Daniel and his companions would start looking rather scrawny if they didn't eat the delicacies spread before them, but here's where Daniel showed his confidence, he made the following proposal recorded in Daniel chapter 1 verses 12 and 13, please test your servants for 10 days, give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink, then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food and treat your servants in accordance with what you see. Daniel believed that the principles God had laid out in scripture were for the benefit of mankind and he was bold enough to propose an experiment, a 10-day test, he and his Hebrew friends would be fed the simple Judean diet, probably of fruits, nuts, grains and vegetables, the others would have the rich spicy diet, heavy with meats, this must have been the world's first comparative dietary study and scripture records the results, it says that at the end of 10 days the Hebrews looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food, and so Daniel was able to continue abiding by the principles of God's word, he continued being faithful in the details, why? Well not because he had compromised, but because he had boldly issued a challenge, he offered to demonstrate that God's way was best, he was confident in the principles of his faith, that's the kind of godly boldness we need in our times, are you committed to God's truth? Are you convinced that there's no better way to live? How is it in your life right now with the little things? When someone makes a racist slur or an obscene joke, do you just go along? When you're offered alcohol or maybe some drugs, do you just try to conform? What's filling your computer screen? What are you feeding your mind with? You cannot develop spiritual thoughts if you feed your mind with the world's agenda. Daniel was a hostage with a mission, not just to survive, but to be faithful to God, Daniel resolved, Daniel decided ahead of time, no matter where, no matter when, God's way is best, you know in the time of the end great pressure will be brought to bear on every man, woman and child who attempts to serve the true God. Have you decided in your heart that the only thing that really matters is not what other people think, but what God thinks? Have you resolved to be faithful to him unconditionally? Daniel made that decision and for him that turned disaster into triumph. The book of Daniel opens with a great disaster, the destruction of Jerusalem, the defeat of God's people, but soon through the faithfulness of a few Hebrews we see a hint of God's triumph, listen to what happened when they were brought before Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel chapter 1 verses 19 and 20, the king talked with them and found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, so they entered the king's service in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. The four Hebrews were still held in Babylon, they were still surrounded by an alien and secular culture and they were called into the king's service, but here's the difference, they didn't go in as Babylonians, they didn't go in as idol worshippers, they went in as representatives of the God of heaven and earth and as such they would have a tremendous influence in that great kingdom, they retained the unique wisdom that has as its source the fear of God. These men could never have been used for good if they started discarding their faith piece by piece, they would never have stood head and shoulders above all the magicians and enchanters of the whole kingdom. Daniel and his companions show us how to stand in the end times, they resolved ahead of time to be faithful to God no matter what, they determined to choose God's principles over a secular culture and they were confident that God's way is the best. Daniel chose not to indulge in the king's delicacies because he was looking forward to another table, another banquet. The book of Revelation tells us about the marriage supper of the Lamb which will be celebrated when God's people are welcomed into heaven, all God's faithful children will sit down with him to a great feast, it'll be like a family reunited at last, gathered around a table of love. That banquet is worth waiting for, it's worth being faithful for, will you determine in your heart to be there for that banquet no matter what? It's so important to have a strong purpose, to be able to stand alone, force is a building in our world that will soon bear down on all those who want to be loyal to God, we need to determine in our hearts ahead of time to be faithful to him, to demonstrate that his way is indeed the best and we can have confidence that he will make us Daniels, he will help us to be overcomers instead of just conformers, he'll enable us to stand, will you dare to be a Daniel? Why not make that decision right now as we pray, dear heavenly father, thank you for giving us the example of Daniel in the courts of Babylon, thank you for your promise to stand by us as we face the challenges of life, we want to trust you more completely today, our aim is to please you and always stand true for you, accept our commitment now in the name of our saviour Jesus Christ, amen. The story of Daniel the captive has encouraged and inspired people all over the world, he lived in a high-pressure environment, a hostile, very secular world, yet he rose to incredible heights in an alien land and he did it by remaining faithful to his values and principles and above all, faithful to God, we can feel overwhelmed when struggling with the challenges of life in a hostile and secular world but if you're looking for ways to live a better life and find inner peace and true happiness, if you'd like to get closer to God then I'd like to recommend the free gift we have for all our viewers today, it's the free Bible reading guide on the Bible book of Daniel, this is our gift to you and is absolutely free, there are no costs or obligations whatsoever, so make the most of this wonderful opportunity to receive the gift we have for you today, here's the information you need, phone or text us at 0436 333 555 in Australia or 020 422 2042 in New Zealand or visit our website www.tij.tv to request today's free offer and we'll send it to you totally free of charge and with no obligation, so don't delay, call or text 0436 333 555 in Australia or 020 422 2042 in New Zealand or visit our website to request today's offer, write to us at GPO Box 274 Sydney New South Wales 2001 Australia or PO Box 76673 Manukau Auckland 2241 New Zealand, don't delay, call or text us now. If you've enjoyed today's journey to ancient Babylon and our reflections on the life and times of Daniel then be sure to join us again next week when we will share another of life's journeys together, until then remember the ultimate destination of life's journey, now I saw a new heaven and a new earth and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.