Follow God and Not the Crowd
Scripture Reading: Daniel 1:3-20
3 Then the king instructed 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, 4 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, and whom they might teach the language
and literature of the Chaldeans. 5 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. 6 Now from among those of the sons of Judah were
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7 To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave
Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-
Nego.
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the 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. 9 Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of
the eunuchs. 10 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.”
11 So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to
eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of
the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your
servants.” 14 So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days.
15 And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young
men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. 16 Thus the steward took away their portion of
delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
17 As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom;
and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
18 Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of
the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 Then the king interviewed them, and
among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served
before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined
them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his
realm.
These were the best of the best. Good looking, smart, gifted and now, all slaves.
Jerusalem had been overthrown and the people had been taken away to Babylon (the
Chaldeans). So, the king wanted these young men, boys, to be trained to see if they
would be worthy to serve before him. Three years of intensive training where they
would learn the language and literature and just basically be cultivated to serve at a
very high level. Daniel ask the steward to let them just drink water and eat vegetables
for ten days. You may wonder why he would ask this. Well, he was Jewish and the
king's delicacies were not kosher. There may have been some things they could
have eaten but because they didn't know how things would be prepared they perfered
to not eat them. Some people look at the fact that Daniel included the wine and think
that means there was a problem with them drinking wine but thay wasn't the case.
Jews drink kosher wine that is prepared a certain way so because the king's wine
wouldn't have been prepared that way, they prefered not to drink it. Verse 6 says
'now from among the sons of Judah' when it mentions Daniel and his three friends.
This tells us that there were more sons of Judah there, more Hebrews besides the
four that are mentioned here. Why is that an important part of the story? Why didn't
any of them think to ask for the same test to be given to them? They had just been
defeated and carried away to a strange land. They had likely just been castrated
considering the fact the seemed to be under the control of the chief of eunuchs and
when you consider that kings often want the men that will work closely around him in
his household to be eunuchs. So, they had had a very bad few days or months.
Some of them probably thought that the God of Moses that had led them to the
Promised Land had foresaken them. You've heard the old saying 'When in Rome, do
as the Romans do'. It would have been much easier to go with the flow, to not make a
stand for the Almighty God that may have seemed very far from them right now. But
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah chose to follow God even when it wasn't
popular. Even when it was very difficult, and they were blessed because of it. At the
end of their training when they were brought before the king there were none found
like them. The king found them ten times better than even those who were already
serving in his realm.
Daniel 3:14-25
14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that
you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready at
the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of
music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship,
you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will
deliver you from my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we
have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to
deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not,
let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image
which you have set up.”19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face
changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat
the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he commanded certain mighty
men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into
the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans,
and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore,
because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire
killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 23 And these three men,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his
counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”
They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt,
and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
This passage tells of a time when Daniel's three friends got into some trouble. The
king had decided that it would be nice to put up a statue of himself and tell all the
people that they had to worship it when this certain music played. But again, these
guys were not about to follow the crowd. They were going to do what God said no
matter what. And this no matter what was a pretty serious what. They were about to
get thrown into a furnace yet they told the king that they didn’t even need to answer
him because God can deliver them from the fire and even if He doesn’t they still
wouldn’t serve any other god. Wow! Now that was a difficult thing to do. Many would
have just feigned worship and said within themselves, ‘I’m worshipping the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Again they chose the difficult route and were blessed
because of it. They ended up being promoted even higher and more importantly the
king praised the True God.
Daniel 6:10-23
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with
his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed
and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.
11 Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
12 And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a
decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be
cast into the den of lions?”
The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians,
which does not alter.”
13 So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah,
does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his
petition three times a day.”
14 And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart
on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 15 Then these
men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and
Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”
16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But
the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” 17
Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own
signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be
changed.
18 Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought
before him. Also his sleep went from him. 19 Then the king arose very early in the morning and
went in haste to the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting
voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God,
whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent His angel and shut the lions’
mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king,
I have done no wrong before you.”
23 Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out
of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him,
because he believed in his God.
Now, in this passages, there’s a new king. In fact, this is the second new king since
the Hebrew slaves have come. This king also holds them in high esteem. He likes
Daniel very much. It was those around him that don’t like Daniel and want to be rid of
him. They knew they weren’t going to catch him doing anything wrong unless it had
something to do with the law of his God. So, they convinced the king to make a stupid
decree that for thirty days no one could petition any god but the king. Daniel had a
custom of praying toward Jerusalem out his open window three times a day. They
knew that so immediately they went, saw him praying, and went to tell the king. Now,
an important part of this instance is that Daniel knew the decree had been signed. He
could just as easily have closed his window for thirty days and still prayed to God, but
he refused to let the world around him dictate how he would worship God. The king
was beside himself and couldn’t even eat because he was so troubled. There was
some kind of law in the Medes and Persians that a decree could not be altered. We
saw that in the book of Esther. So the king’s hands were tied. He had said that the
offender would be thrown into the lion’s den so that had to happen. God was faithful
and brought him through the trouble (you don’t even want to know what happened to
the bad guys and their whole families). So again, he was blessed and God ended up
being praised. Darius, the new king, wrote a decree that anywhere in his kingdom
men must tremble before the God of Daniel because He is the true God. Now you
understand why those wise men from the east were looking for the signs of the Jewish
Messiah’s coming. Daniel had made prophesies and they were still watching and
waiting hundreds of years later.
James 4:7
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
For the past two weeks we have been looking at this scripture. Two weeks ago we
spoke about our basic training of submission. Submitting to those God puts over us
and to each other so that we would be able to submit to God. Last week we spoke
about getting into God’s Word through submission to it so that we could not be
deceived. Today the focus is resisting the devil. How do we resist the devil? We do
what is right no matter what. We set ourselves apart from the crowd. We do the
difficult thing instead of taking the easy way out. You see that these four Hebrew
boys consistently resisted by choosing to do the right thing from the beginning. And if
you look at it, they went through their own basic training. They started small with
something extremely simple; the food they ate. You can’t expect your flesh to resist
the devil on the big things if you don’t first teach it to resist on the small things. Joyce
Meyers talks about taking the shopping cart back. She does a whole sermon on how
God dealt with her on that. Every little thing you do strive to do as the Lord would
have you do it and before you know it you’ll be able to handle your own fiery furnace
or lion’s den.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: June 4, 2006