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Daniel 1

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8/25/1991
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Daniel 1
Daniel 1
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27 Daniel - 1991

Daniel is a book of history as well as prophecy, and it contains one of the most awesome and detailed predictions in the entire Bible. Skip Heitzig examines the backbone of Bible prophecy.

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Daniel 1

"In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, the King of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, the King of Judah into his hand with some of the articles of the house of God which he carried into the land of Shiner to the house of his god. And he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god."

Daniel, as a book, is among the writings of the Hebrew Bible known as the Writings. The Hebrews divided their Bible up into three sections. Now, when I'm speaking of Hebrew Bible here, we're thinking in Old Testament terms.

But the Hebrews divided up their Bible into the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Or as the Hebrews say, the Torah, the Nebi'im, or Prophets, and the Ketubim, or the Writings. Daniel was not considered among the writings of the Prophets though he prophesied, simply because his position was not that of a prophet to the nation of Israel.

He had a royal official position in the court of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Hence, he wasn't seen occupationally as a prophet. But that's all right, Jesus called him a prophet.

And he was in every sense of the word a true prophet. For Jesus said, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place-- if you're in Jerusalem, split. That's a free translation. But he called Daniel a prophet.

Daniel is one of the-- here's another term-- apocalyptic books. Apocalyptic doesn't just mean end times. It literally means to unveil. Revelation is called the apocalypse of the New Testament. Daniel is called the apocalypse of the Old Testament.

There are other prophecies that are apocalyptic, some of Jeremiah's and Isaiah's prophecies, the book of Zachariah, is an unveiling. And often times in history when the times were very dark and bleak, God would show his people behind the scenes what he had planned to give them encouragement, to show them what the real situation was like. And so the book of Daniel is one of those books.

It's a book of history. And it's a book of prophecy. We hear a lot about kingdoms and nations in this book, kings and rulers. And Daniel was one of the prime influences of some of the greatest kings in history.

Daniel gives to us a sequence of Gentile nations, starting from Babylon, moving into the Medo-Persian Empire, Greek Empire under Alexander the Great, and finally, the Roman Empire. And even predicts not only the times of the Gentiles but how they would end and what the final reign of Jesus Christ would be like. So he kind of covers the scope of history in his prophecy.

The Time of the Gentiles is a key prophetic phrase. In fact, you really won't understand revelation until you understand Daniel. It's a book that is necessary for understanding prophecy.

Now, some of you may be scared on prophecy. You think, I've heard enough of it. I've heard a lot of it. I don't understand a lot of it. I don't like it. I wish Christians wouldn't talk so much about it. Some of them are so heavenly minded, they're no earthly good.

But the truth is, you have to rip out 1/4 to 1/3 of the whole Bible if you don't like prophecy because that's how much of it is prophetic. And it's written for our hope.

And I tell you what, for me, it is a hope. As I look around at the world today, there really is no hope. I don't see any hope on the horizon in this scheme of things. The only hope I see for this world is for Jesus to come back and set things right. And that's what we're looking for.

And Daniel chapter 2 verse 44 is the highlight of the whole book. When after the vision is seen by Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted by Daniel, a stone cut without hands comes and smashes that image to pieces and it becomes a nation, a kingdom that will reign forever and ever. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords comes to reign in his kingdom forever.

Prophecy has become a hungered-after subject. There's a lot of writing on it today. And there has been for the last 20 years. Almost every bookstore and newsstand will include something in terms of biblical prophecy because it's a popular subject. And yet, it's a subject that is given to a lot of imbalance.

There's a lot of books, but there are a lot of false and quickly drawn conclusions made by limited observation to the extent that some people have set the date to when Jesus will come. Even though Jesus said, no one knows it.

For some reason, we've tried to skate around that. And said, well, I know Jesus didn't know it, and angels don't know it. But I know it. And I'll tell you so that you'll know it. And it's easy to become imbalanced.

I see this with a lot of Christian churches and movements. It's easy to focus on one truth in the scripture. And then you neglect the rest of it.

And some group will come up with the idea of, wow, Jesus is coming soon, the rapture, the second coming. And that's all they'll talk about exclusively.

And then another group will get really turned on to the gift of tongues and prophecy and movement of the Spirit and God will fill them with His Holy Spirit. And there's a great move of God, but that's all they do. And you could cite hundreds of imbalances. That's why the important truth of covering all of the Bible keeps you away from those imbalances. Because you get God's revelation in God's context.

And then as the Spirit of God speaks to your own heart about some area that's slacking or needs improvement or something, and there are countless numbers of those areas, I hope, that God is speaking to you on, then your life will change and bring balance in all of those areas.

And keep something in mind as we cover prophecy in any book of the Bible, the subject of prophecy is Jesus. Not the times of the Gentiles, not the Jewish people, it's Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, it says in the book of Revelation.

"Lo I come. In the volume of the book it is written of me to do your will, O' God." Jesus said that. He said to the Pharisees, "You search the Scriptures for in them you think that you have eternal life. But these are they which testify of me."

And how did Jesus reveal himself to the two who were walking on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus? Jesus came along and did he say, hey, you guys, watch this, and perform a miracle? He could have. But he didn't.

Instead, he chose to reveal himself through prophecy. Beginning at Moses and all of the prophets, he expounded all things concerning Himself. He is the center of prophecy.

I heard a story how that when Charles Spurgeon used to preach, no matter what text he was speaking from, Old or New Testament, he could always show how it referred and pointed to Jesus Christ.

And he always had a beeline from any text in the Bible straight to Calvary in every text. Because all of the Bible, every book of the Bible, ultimately, relates to Jesus Christ.

The setting of the Book of Daniel, you can see just from the few verses we read, is the captivity of the Jews, or called in the Bible, the servitude of the nation. God warned the Jews that if they strayed from his commandments that they would go into captivity. He warned them.

That's why it should have been no surprise to the Jewish nation when Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged Jerusalem, God warned them. Deuteronomy 28 is a fascinating chapter. God says, here are the blessings if you obey me. And here are the curses if you disobey me.

And God predicted that a nation stronger than them of fierce countenance that doesn't speak their language would come in, who wouldn't respect their children or the elderly, besiege the walls of Jerusalem and take them captive if they disobeyed. God even gave them a song. Deuteronomy 32, the whole chapter, some 43 verses is one song that Israel sang. And in the song is predicted the captivity if they disobey.

But as happens so often, people forget sermons and songs that they sing. They didn't listen and their hearts strayed from Jehovah. And they were taken captive for two reasons, first of all, idolatry.

Judah and Samaria, after the nation had split up into two kingdoms, worshipped the Baals, which were Babylonian deities. A lot of their worship surrounded the giver of life, whom they called Baal. And they worshipped him sexually.

That's why many people fell into the worship system. It was quite attractive to people. It fulfilled some physical desires that they had. And they could do it in the name of God. And so they entered into a depraved worship system.

They fell into idolatry. One of their kings, Jeroboam, you remember, setup two golden calves, one at Dan, the altar is still there today. If you go to Israel, we'll point it out to you. And one in Bethel, we can't go there. It's the West Bank. And we could have rocks thrown at us.

But nonetheless, golden calves were set up in these areas. And the children of Israel fell away from God and worshipped these tangible images. So idolatry was one of the reasons that Israel was led into captivity.

By the way, after the captivity, it seemed to cure them for a while. And there wasn't a lot of rushing to worship false gods. They remembered well their lesson.

Secondly, they were taken into captivity because of how they treated the land, the physical dirt itself. You see, the land of Israel was sacred in one sense. God said, it is my land. It will not be sold forever.

God gave them a pattern. He said, OK, farmers, get out there and work the land that I have given to you. And I will bless you. I'll send rain from heaven. You will produce crops in abundance if you obey, if you submit to my laws.

But when you sow your crops, you are to plant your farms and harvest them for six years. The seventh year, you hang loose, man. You don't do a thing. You just kick back, and whatever grows of itself, you pick and you eat. And you let the poor have it.

Six and one was God's pattern, just like days of the week. You work six days, the seventh day you just cruise-a-matic. I think that's a pattern we ought to follow, by the way. I think we should spend a day, and I'm preaching to myself right now because times get pretty busy. But you need to just hang out and have fun and do nothing.

Well, that happened with the land. You plant for six years. The seventh year is a year of rest. You let the land lay fallow. God says, that is your pattern. And you do it seven times, which would equal 49 years, 7 times 7 is 49.

Is that right? Yeah. The 50th year was called the year of Yobel. The trumpet, the sounding of the trumpet, the year of jubilee and celebration.

Israel sinned. And they thought, you know, I know God gave us this pattern. But hey, we can make a few extra dollars if we just work hard that year. And so instead of letting the land lay fallow for one year, they worked the land and sold the crops. They did that for some 490 years, which means they deprived the land from its rest for 70 Sabbath years.

And so God in the captivity is saying, for 490 years, you have abused the land. You owe me 70 years where the land can rest. And so Israel was taken from the land, put into Babylon for 70 years of captivity to give the land its rest. The last chapter of the book of Second Chronicles outlines that.

In fact, I'll read it to you. It's a prophecy. In fact, you could turn to Second Chronicles 36. Yeah, it is the last chapter. Verse 15, "And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them. Because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people and there was no remedy. Therefore, he brought against them the King of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young men or virgin or the aged or the weak.

He gave them all into his hand. All of the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon.

And then he burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all of its palaces with fire and destroyed all of its precious possessions. And those who escaped from the sword, he carried away to Babylon where they had become servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbaths to fulfill 70 years."

So Israel sinned for 490 years. They owed God 70 years of rest. God took it out on them. But you've got to admit something, God was patient. I mean 500 years, come on. How can anyone shake their fist to God and say, you're not fair.

I'm not fair. I sent you messengers for 500 years and you shine me on. God is very patient by the way. And oftentimes people mistake God's patience for God's blessing on their sinfulness. They say, hey, you know, I've gotten away with a lot of sin lately. I guess God doesn't mind it.

What you don't realize is God just happens to be very patient. But there comes a time when His patience ceases. And for Israel, it came for the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC when the Assyrians swept down on the capital of Israel, Samaria, and besieged it, and took the people captive.

Judah should have learned, but she didn't. And so 100 years later, Nebuchadnezzar came three successive times to besiege the city and take captives. And finally in 586 BC, he destroyed the temple with fire, as we just read in Second Chronicles.

Now, I might as well tell you that the book of Daniel is a tough pill for people to swallow, especially liberal scholars who don't believe that the Bible was written by God but that people made it up. And they have a hard time when they get to Daniel because it's so accurate.

And so they've come up with a theory called late dating. And they say that Daniel wasn't written by Daniel. It couldn't have been because it's too accurate.

And there are so many things in the future that Daniel wrote about, nobody could possibly know that and be that accurate and write it. So it must not have been written by Daniel. But it must have been written during the time of the Maccabees, during the time when Antiochus Epiphanies, the Syrian King was in charge.

Because Daniel speaks about a succession of kingdoms that would come, that hadn't come yet. He predicted the fall of Babylon, the rise of Medo-Persia, the fall of Medo-Persia, the rise of Alexander the Great coming into Jerusalem and sweeping the known world.

He predicted his fall. He predicted the four generals who would succeed him and conquer that part of the world. Then he predicted the rise of the Roman Empire, its demise, and then eventually another kingdom that would yet come and still will yet come.

People read that and think, he couldn't have written it. It's just too accurate. And if you're liberal, and your presupposition, historically, is that God can't do those things, it doesn't happen, you've got to come up with some weird explanation.

But Daniel defies them. And it's easy to get around that type of thinking. First of all, the Septuagint version of the Bible, which is the Old Testament translated into Greek by scholars in Alexandria, Egypt around 285 BC includes the book of Daniel. Why is that important? Because 285 BC predates the time of the Maccabees. The Dead Sea Scrolls also include the book of Daniel, which also predates Antiochus Epiphanes and the Maccabees.

By way of historical significance, you might find it interesting. Josephus, the Jewish historian, recorded that when Alexander the Great came into Jerusalem and was ready to just completely wipe it out, Joseph said a high priest by the name of Jaddua came to him and showed him the scroll of Daniel. And pointed out where Alexander was prophesied, very plainly.

It so blew Alexander the Great's mind that it said that he wouldn't besiege Jerusalem. In fact, it's recorded that he went into the temple to offer worship. It blew his mind.

But the argument should be laid to rest with the words of Jesus. Because he gave Daniel the credit. Again, Matthew 24, "When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet--" not by an impostor during the Maccabean period.

So if you have trouble with Daniel being accurate, you might as well throw Jesus out. And don't you call him your Lord and Savior because he said Daniel wrote it. And that should lay the argument to rest.

And why is it so hard for God to be pinpoint in his accuracy. He knows all things from the beginning. That's his calling card. He told the prophet Isaiah, I will speak things in advance so that when they happen and they come to pass, you'll know that I am God. No one else can pull that off, he said. That's a trick that no idol can perform, no false god.

That's why the prophets of Israel had to be 100% accurate. If they were 95% accurate, they got stoned to death. That would mean Jeannie Dixon and Edgar Cayce wouldn't last long.

Edgar Cayce is 88% accurate. Well, that's pretty good. But he's not 100% accurate. He'd never make the grade as an Israeli prophet. Because when you speak for God, if God really does speak to you, you better be right when you speak in the name of the Lord.

Now, I said that the key verse was chapter 2 verse 44. You might want to jump ahead to chapter 4 for just a minute and look at verse 29. "At the end of 12 months, Nebuchadnezzar was walking about the royal palace of Babylon," which by the way is the palace that Saddam Hussein has now restored.

The King spoke saying, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?" Nebuchadnezzar had really brought Babylon to the peak of glory. And he was pretty proud of what he had done.

He looked at it and thought, you know, I'm kind of a great person. Look what I've done. And I did it for myself because I am such a wonderful person. Now, of course, we know in this story that got humbled him. And at the end, he gave praise and glory to God because he knew that nobody's is as great as God. That's basically what he says at the end.

But he was remarking on something that archeology has also commented on. Babylon was the pride of the Chaldean empire. It was one of the seven wonders of the world. In it were the Hanging Gardens of Nebuchadnezzar.

The walls of Babylon where 60 miles altogether, 15 miles on each side, square. Numerous gates surrounded the city. The river Euphrates went through the middle of the city.

The walls of Babylon were 80 to 85 feet thick. 300 feet tall with 250 watchtowers around its circumference, each exceeding the height of the wall by another 100 feet. On top of the walls suspended 300 feet high, they held chariot races. Now we think we do good in modern architecture. We think, wow, what an impressive building. You ought to see this place.

Now, for the last 20 years, Saddam Hussein, who sees himself by the way as Nebuchadnezzar's successor, has put 60 million bricks in place to restore and rebuild Babylon and to unite the Arab world against Israel and against the Western decadent nations. And he's still trying to do that. And still trying to swing that. And I don't think we've heard the last of it. But anyway, that is the basic history of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar.

We might just think back to the book of Genesis, its origins, when we were with a man by the name of Nimrod, the Hunter, who defied God. And he set up a tower called Babel, which means the gateway to God.

And he exalted himself and exalted man. And it was there that God confounded their languages and spread men over the face of the earth. He tried to make himself great. God confounded him.

Abraham, who came from that area was a man that God chose to make his name great and start the Jewish nation. But Babylon has become the cradle for every weird and satanic, cultic doctrine. The zodiac originated in Babylon. Idolatry originated in Babylon.

If you were to trace the roots of the New Age Movement, you'd end up in Babylon. And so it has some weird spiritual overtones to it as well. Well, we read that Daniel-- let's go back to chapter 1-- finds himself taken captive by this fella, and he's in his court. That was his environment, idol worship all around him.

It says, "It was the third year--" verse 1-- "Of the reign of Jehoiakim, the King of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it." Now, I hope I have my facts right. But as I remember, there was a godly King who sat on the throne of Israel who brought revival to the nation. Remember his name? Josiah.

And he tried to undo 57 years of idolatry that his dad and his grandfather messed up on. And he brought revival. He brought the law of God out. And it was read to him, it was read to all of the nation. He rebuilt the temple that was burned down. He encouraged people to worship God.

But he had a couple of kids that were rotten. One was named Jehoahaz. Jehoahaz sat upon the throne. And he was on the throne until Pharaoh Neco, the King of Egypt had him taken off and replaced with a guy by the name of Jehoiakim which we read about in verse 1.

Jehoiakim became the vassal King to Nebuchadnezzar when he came against Jerusalem the first time. The first time Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem he took captives. Among the captives were Daniel and his three friends. They were probably teenagers, anywhere from 12 to 17 years of age.

But they had some outstanding features that we read about in this chapter. At that time, Jehoiakim died. And he was replaced by his son Jehoiachin.

Jehoiachin did OK until he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar had to come against the city the second time and take more captives. He took Jehoiachin captive, his mother. He took Ezekiel the Prophet captive, brought him to Babylon. And in his place was his uncle, Zedekiah, Jehoiachin's uncle, Zedekiah.

Zedekiah did fine until he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar came against Israel the third time. At that time, he burned the temple, knocked down the walls, took Zedekiah outside of Jerusalem, out toward Jericho, took Zedekiah's sons, stood them in front of him. And as Zedekiah looked, he killed his sons in front of him. And then he blinded Zedekiah by putting out his eyes. You wouldn't want to mess with Nebuchadnezzar.

So there were three deportations. The third one was the time when the city fell at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. So uncle Zed was the last person. But notice verse 2, it was the Lord that gave Jehoiakim, the King of Judah into his hand. God was in the captivity because of the sin of his people.

"And then the King instructed--" verse 3-- "Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the King's descendants and some of the Nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish but good looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the King's palace, whom they might teach the language and the literature of the Chaldeans."

Now verse 4 sounds like a wish list for a young woman in looking for a husband. And I don't want much, just someone who's perfect looking, no blemish or flaw in them, just very brilliant and has all the wisdom and learning within him.

It was Nebuchadnezzar's policy, when he took a nation captive, to select the finest young men out of every culture and let them serve in his own court so that he would have just a primo staff. And he selected the best.

They had to be young so that they could be molded. They had to have a high IQ. They could have no physical or mental blemish. And they had to be schooled and learned in a variety of topics.

And then he would bring them to himself. And then he would train them and brainwash them, really was the idea. And that's what we see that he tries to do here, that he might teach the language and the literature of the Chaldeans.

Now, what was it? Paul the Apostle made an interesting comment. He said, "Notice brethren, how that after the flesh there are not many wise or noble who are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise." I love that scripture. That's my life's verse. I bank upon that.

Anytime God calls me to do a work or anything, God, I don't have the wherewithal. How could I do it? God reminds me, I've chosen the foolish things of this world to confound-- all right, great, I can do it. Thank you, Lord. You can use any one. Use me.

But there are exceptions to that rule. Daniel was an exception. It seemed that he was brilliant. He had an incredible IQ, learned in a variety of subjects, had an aptitude for learning. Paul the Apostle was another one, though he wrote that scripture under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

He could argue with the Athenian philosophers, as well as street talk, as well as go into the synagogue and share the Old Testament with the Jewish nation. He could become all things to all men.

Years ago when the Jesus Movement started and I was contemplating going to college, I had a lot of people tell me that it was of the devil. Or at least, it was not listening to God because they thought Jesus is coming too soon. How could you waste the years of your life in school when you could be serving the Lord before he comes?

And yet I felt committed. God wanted me to do this. And I loved medicine. And I was drawn to radiology, and I received training, and I went to college and I went to school for a number of years.

And yet, there was the idea that God couldn't use people who were schooled. And yet, I think that just as valid as going off to the mission field, or going into the ministry, is being in the ministry in whatever profession you are in.

I pray that God raises up Christian doctors, lawyers, businessmen. People who are great in their discipline, serving the Lord, fully committed to the principles of the Bible, and yet very renown in the business community. They have a lot of clout.

Daniel was like that. He was young, powerful, had wealth. He was sort of like an ancient yuppie who worked for Nebuchadnezzar. And God used him.

How dare we limit God and say that God can only use this one kind, or that, if you do this, you're not doing God's will.

I have a lot of people who are contemplating an education that think, am I going to waste my time? People tell me I'm just going to waste my time?

Hey, if God has laid it on your heart, you go for it. You can serve the Lord effectively at college as well as anywhere else. You can be a witness in college. And look at it this way, after a few years, it's over, man. You never have to repeat it again.

And there's a lot of people who don't do it, and later on think, boy, I wish I had gone to school. Now, I'm not saying that school is the will of God for every person. But I'm saying that you should leave yourself open to the possibility. And I think Daniel is a good case in point.

For we read that he had to study the language and the literature of the Chaldeans. And the King appointed for them a daily provision of the King's delicacies and of the wine which he drank and three years of training for them. So that at the end of that time, they might serve before the King.

It was like graduate school. He had to get his master's degree in Aramaic, in the Arcadian language, the official court language of the Chaldeans. He had to learn the literature, the philosophy, the religion, the magical arts.

All of the demonism, he had to learn it. It didn't mean he had to believe it. But he was forced in that court to learn it. And yet, though that was his environment, he refused to compromise.

Now, from among the sons of Judah were Daniel, which means God is my judge. Hananiah, which means God is gracious, Mishael, which means, who is God, or who is like God, and then Azariah, which means, the Lord is my help.

Part of the brainwashing was to change the names so that you wouldn't identify with your spiritual heritage. So he renames them and gives them pagan names. It's very effective. You know, the most private possession a person has is his name given to you by your parents at birth.

I heard that in Albania one of the techniques that was used was to change the names of the population, taking their private possession, their own name, and giving them names, because the Bible is outlawed there. And if you had a name like Ruth or Mark, you might someday wonder, hey, where does my name come from?

And you might trace it back to the Bible, the forbidden book. And so that you wouldn't do that, their names were changed. That was sort of the idea that Nebuchadnezzar had, change their way of thinking, immerse them in Chaldean religion and philosophy, change their identity because Hebrews were monotheistic, they worshipped one God-- Babylonians were polytheistic-- so they re-educated them.

To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names, to Daniel the name Belteshazzar, which means, protect the King, O' Baal. Daniel was named Belteshazzar. To Hananiah he gave the name Shadrach, which means illuminated by the sun god.

To Mishael, he gave the name Meshach, which means, who is like the moon god? And then to Azariah, he gave the name, Abednego, which means servant of the shining one. So they changed their names. And it was a form of brainwashing.

Now, I want you to apply that in spiritual terms. Nebuchadnezzar's plot was to take godly people and brainwash them so that they could think like he thought. That is exactly what POWs have done to them.

If you've ever heard testimonies of POWs from Vietnam or other wars, propaganda, re-education, is constantly blared over loudspeakers. Literature is given to them, pep talks, even beatings, to change their thinking, to brainwash them.

Now that is the method of Satan. In a sense, your captive in this world. And unfortunately, the response of Christians through the ages in seeing the wickedness of the world is to go get cloistered somewhere, hide yourself away so that you're not then tainted with the cooties of this world.

That's not the biblical method. Jesus prayed in John chapter 17, I don't pray that you take them out of the world, but you keep them from the wicked one while they're in the world. That's God's method.

But Satan tries to brainwash you. And his messages are playing all the time in this world through music. You hear it every day. There's messages in those songs. Through the media, there are messages in the media. They're saying, sex is OK. If it feels good, do it. Everyone has their own standard. Everyone is their own god.

Colleges are brainwashing you. Be careful as you go to college. Is tomorrow the first day? Though God may call you there, may God protect you there so that you become catalysts. And you stand up to those professors. Honor them, respect them, but stand up to them. Give them a run for their money. Challenge them.

Now, when you do that, you'll be ridiculed. But what a wonderful opportunity to suffer shame for the name of Christ. This the last opportunity you'll get is here on earth. In heaven you'll never get to suffer shame for his name. You'll never pass out one track in heaven. So do it now.

But like Daniel who is in the midst of this godless society being brainwashed by those around him, he didn't compromise. He stood tough. He stood on his own two feet.

Look at verse 8, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would defile himself with a portion of the King's delicacies nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."

There was an inner conviction that Daniel had, which could prove fatal any time you don't go along with the King's wishes. You know, it's kind of an insult. You know what, I don't want his delicate food. I don't want his wine. I won't do it. It could have meant death.

But notice the way Daniel approached it. Not only did he refuse, but at the end of verse 8, "Therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."

And then Daniel has a plan here. He offers a solution. He goes, listen, I don't want to eat that, but if you would just give me a different kind of a diet and let's just see if this works before you throw the baby out with the bathwater.

It's important that when we make the decision to follow Christ, and we decide to stand up against the godless society in which we live that we become separate but not obnoxious. Some people flaunt their separateness in this world. I'm a Christian, and you're going to hell.

Well, thank you very much. You've just won my heart. Daniel was separate because he was Hebrew. And the diet of the Chaldeans was not kosher. He kept levitical law. He was raised right. He had firm convictions of what he could eat and couldn't eat.

Also, the meats that were given in the court of the Chaldeans was first offered to idols, pagan gods, like Ishtar and some of the other gods, Nebo. The drink, the wine was first given as a libation offering to the gods. And so it was partaking of sort of a spiritual worship, Daniel refused that.

But look at verse 9, God had brought Daniel into favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my Lord the King who has appointed your food and drink for why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the King.

So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, please test your servants for 10 days. And let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink."

Now, this is kind of amusing to me because he's a teenager asking for vegetables instead of delicacies. You know, it's hard for me to get Nathan to eat vegetables. It was hard for me to eat vegetables.

Here's Daniel saying, look, I don't want the delicacies, the great food. You keep the filet mignon and the lobster. I just want veggies. But it shows his commitment to God. He was willing to keep kosher law.

"And then let our countenances be examined--" verse 13-- "before you and the countenances of the young men who eat the portion of the King's delicacies as you see fit. And so deal with your servants. So he consented with him in this matter and tested them for 10 days.

At the end of the 10 days, their countenance--" that is, the looks on their faces. You know, they would go through some pretty strict examinations. Make sure they're adding a few pounds, they had the right color about them. "Their countenance appeared better and fatter in flesh than all of the young men who ate the portion of the King's delicacies."

Thus the Steward took away their portion of delicacies and wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables so that whole diet of the place has changed. I'm sure that the rest of them didn't appreciate it.

"As for the four young men--" I love this-- "God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom." I love that. They're going to school. They're going to go to graduate school. And it says that God gave them knowledge and skill in literature and wisdom.

When I was going to college, I decided to do it. I was determined my first year that I would not let my education get in the way between me and my Lord. That's hard to do when you have to put in extra hours, do lots of paperwork, lots of studying, lots of commitment.

It was an internship program in radiology. I was working during the day taking classes in the afternoon, studying all night, sometimes pulling a double shift of call. But I was determined. You know, I'm just not going to let it get between my relationship with the Lord.

I'm going to still study the word every morning, every night, I'm going to read Christian literature. And I'm going to just devote myself to the Lord. I'm not going to let anything steal that time.

And I said, Lord, that's the commitment I'm making to you. Now, I'm either going to pass or I'm going to fail. But I pray that you'd give me wisdom and annoint me to be able to learn these secular subjects quickly and thoroughly so that I don't have to spend extra time.

And I did devote myself to study, of the word and of my medical classes. I studied. I studied hard. But at times when others were studying, I just said, Lord, listen, I don't have enough time to study. Because I was involved in a church too. I was involved in ministry. I was leading worship, teaching Bible studies on high school campuses.

And toward the end of my program when we were taking some state medical boards at UCLA, and there was a lot of studying that would go into it, people were spending months in reading mock exams and quizzing each other and going to classes on how to take the exams, quite lengthy.

I did not put the time into it that I should have. I did study. I didn't sluff off. But I did study. But I didn't put as much time as others. And people would say, Skip, you know, you've been doing other things. You better crack down and study.

I took the test. And I walked into this huge classroom with wooden seats and benches. And went down to UCLA and I sat down in my chair and I thought, Lord, this is kind of like D-Day. It's either going to make it or break it.

Now, I've prayed for wisdom. I've applied myself. Lord, for your glory, just let me get a great score on this test. The exam took all day long, a full day. I went home, I felt pretty good. I said, Lord, it's in your hand.

When the test results came back, they called me in and they said, you are among the few that received the highest score in the entire nation for this year that the test was taken, perfect score. I say that not to show that I did something great but God honored the commitment that I made.

And God was glorified in the commitment. I looked at that, I can't believe it. That has got to be God. It's got to be the Lord. But God can give you wisdom in the subjects that you take, especially when your heart is solely committed to him. And like Daniel, you refuse to compromise. You dare to be a Daniel. And God can give you that wisdom.

"Now at the end of the days when the King had said they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the King interviewed them, and among them all, none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Therefore they served before the King. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the King examined him, he found them 10 times better--" I love it-- "than all the magicians and the astrologers who were in all his realm. Thus Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus. That's so great.

I wish that universities-- let me rephrase that, I wish that even Christian universities would stress excellence in education but underscore the whole thing with devotion to the word of God. You know, what a great combination that would be.

You know, the Ivy League schools, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Amherst, all of them were set up principally to train ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ to evangelize the eastern seaboard. That's their purpose statement. Boy, have they come a long way. Have they fallen a long way.

It's hard to find an evangelical Christian believing the Bible back there. And they went to stress education, and they throughout the Bible. Daniel succeeded in his graduate work, but he had a great undergraduate experience. He was trained by his parents in Jerusalem.

Daniel brings up that lesson. If we are trained in godliness, and we have deep convictions, you can stand up to anything. You can stand up to anything in this world.

Now, when you go out with your convictions into this world, they're going to be challenged. You won't be popular. Daniel wasn't popular, but God showed him favor. He was wholly committed to the Lord.

It shows us that first of all, we need to approach this life with firm commitments. Second of all, we need to prepare our children with those same convictions. Daniel was a teenager, a very vulnerable age. It's the time when you're searching, when you're looking for meaning. And you can go in a million directions.

But Daniel was raised with godly parents in Jerusalem under the reign of King Josiah, before Jehoahaz hit the throne. And so he had the godly background of a leader who loved God and led the nation, and parents who taught him the scripture. And Daniel was miles ahead.

He had great undergraduate training. And when he hit grad school, he just excelled because he never lost sight of his foundation. We've covered Daniel 1. Next week we'll cover Daniel 2, and we'll get into some of the prophecies of the future.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that in your word you have given freely to us those things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us. Lord, we see Daniel, a man in a pagan society, a light in darkness.

Yet, he did not adjust himself to the standards of the world. But he was a bright and shining light in the midst of, no doubt, ridicule. And you showed him favor. You gave him wisdom. But he purposed in his heart not to defile himself.

Lord, speak to our hearts that we might purpose tonight not to defile ourselves with this world. Though we live in it, to not be of it, to not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. Lord, the brainwashing is going on constantly in this world around us. Keep us strong in the midst of it.

Lord, we pray for those who are hitting college tomorrow. I pray first of all that they would set you firmly before their eyes and purpose to serve you and to love you and be committed to you.

And then father, that as they apply themselves, you would give them wisdom and knowledge and understanding. And you would use their lives for your glory. Use them, Father, to radiate your brilliance to other students and to professors. May they not be intimidated nor back down. In Jesus' name, amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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9/1/1991
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Daniel 2
Daniel 2
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9/22/1991
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Daniel 3
Daniel 3
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9/29/1991
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Daniel 4
Daniel 4
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10/6/1991
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Daniel 5
Daniel 5
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10/20/1991
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Daniel 6
Daniel 6
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10/27/1991
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Daniel 7
Daniel 7
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11/3/1991
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Daniel 8
Daniel 8
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11/10/1991
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Daniel 9
Daniel 9
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11/17/1991
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Daniel 10
Daniel 10
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11/24/1991
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Daniel 11-12
Daniel 11-12
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There are 10 additional messages in this series.
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