Daniel: God's Humble Prophet

Welcome to Saturday's edition of Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Today, Dr. Davis begins a fascinating series on the Book of Daniel. While the book is ancient, written in the 6th century BC, the message God gives Daniel is more relevant concerning the age in which we live than the latest headlines in the news. The book is riveting with divine inspiration of God's sovereignty over history, over kingdoms and kings, and his timeline from Babylon to the millennial reign of Christ. While the book is short with only 12 chapters, every chapter and verse teaches God's people how to live in a world that is not their home, and powerful apocalyptic visions of the past, the present, and the future.

Here's Dr. Davis. Daniel, God's humble prophet. Help see the truth throughout our culture and to proclaim the Word of God. We're starting a new series in the Book of Daniel as you look in the series of events that are happening in our nation as well as our world. The Book of Daniel is very pertinent during this time. There are a lot of truths that we can find, so we're going to go through the Book of Daniel. And we'll begin in Chapter 1.

But before we begin in Chapter 1, I would like to just give some historical context as to where this book begins. If you look in 1 Chronicles, we come at the close of David's reign in Chapter 29. Solomon becomes king in 970 BC.

The temple is built in 966 to 959 BC. But in 910 BC, the kingdom divides. Israel becomes the northern kingdom. Judah becomes the southern kingdom. As you're probably aware, Israel, the northern kingdom, fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC. Judah, the southern kingdom, fell to Babylon in 586 BC.

But looking along Judah's history, when Josiah became king in 640 BC, this was the last and greatest revival of the southern kingdom. The Book of the Law was found in 622 BC. And Daniel grew up during this time. So it's not that Daniel did not know the Word of God. He did not know the law.

He did. And because of Josiah's reign and the Book of the Law being found and him living through revival, the Lord was prepping him to go into captivity. As some of you may be aware, the captivity to Babylon happened in three stages. The first phase of exile happened in 605 BC, when Daniel was taken into captivity. The second wave of exile happened in 597 BC, where Ezekiel was taken. And in the third phase of exile, that happened in 586 BC.

But I just want to cover some of the events surrounding captivity. Josiah began reigning in 640 BC, reigned 31 years. But shortly after that, there were a number of kings that came that had very short reigns. Jehoahaz reigned from 609 BC, which he only reigned for three months, and he was jailed, taken to Egypt, where he later died.

Jehoahaz reigned in 609 BC and only reigned 11 years. But if you remember, he burned part of God's Word given to him by Jeremiah. He was a puppet king for Egypt and then Babylon. And all of this is covered in 2 Kings chapter 23 through 24, as well as 2 Chronicles chapter 36.

But that is the setting in which Daniel is living at the time. Again, as I said, Daniel goes to Babylon in the first phase of captivity, and we will begin in Daniel chapter 1. So we'll begin in verses 1 through 2. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiachin, king of Judah, into his hand, and some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his God. Judah's fall to Babylon was predicted by many prophets throughout the Old Testament. Huldah the prophetess prophesied the fall of Judah to Babylon in 2 Chronicles 34, 22 through 28.

And I'm going to read that passage for us. 2 Chronicles 34, 22 through 28. The Bible says, So Hilkiah and those the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom, the son of Tokath, the son of Hazrah, keeper of the wardrobe. She dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter, and they spoke to her to that effect. Then she answered them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man who sent you to me. Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book, which they have read before the king of Judah, because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the words of their hands. Therefore, my wrath will be poured out on this place and not be quenched. But as for the king of Judah who sent you to inquire the Lord in this manner, you shall speak to him. Thus says the Lord of God concerning Israel. The words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, you humbled yourself before me and you tore your clothes and went before me.

I also have heard you, says the Lord. Surely I will gather you to your fathers and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace. And your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants. So they brought the word back to the king. This was 100 years prior to the events that occurred in Daniel. Other places in the Old Testament in which this is prophesied is Jeremiah 25 and 11. Jeremiah 25 and 11 says, And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years. So we clearly show the prophecy hundreds of years prior to as well as Jeremiah the prophet saying that the southern kingdom of Judah would fall to captivity of Babylon. And we see that come to fruition in the first few verses of Daniel.

Moving on to verses three through seven. 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, 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. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine in which he drank and the three years of training for them so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Now, from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. To them, the chief of the eunuchs gave names.

He gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar to Hananiah, Shadrach to Mishael, Meshach and to Azariah a bit ago. Interestingly, I think a lot of us may have missed this point in while reading Daniel, but the king instructed Ashpenaz, who was the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the kings of descendants of the nobles. What we may not have picked up on is that Daniel was made a eunuch at the time that he came to Babylon. This is really a form of indoctrination.

When he went to Babylon, he was to be a wise man and to be in the court of the king, and therefore the king did not want any distractions for Daniel as well as the other men that were with him. Therefore, by making them a eunuch, this really takes away his masculinity or any other distractions that a female may make, therefore ensuring his devotion to the king. And really, you see an indoctrination of youths. They are choosing those that have no blemish. They're good looking, gifted in all wisdom and possessing knowledge and quick to understand. But they are teaching them the language and literature of the Chaldeans.

The king appointed them a daily provision of delicacies in which he drank as well as meat that he ate so that they would be set apart and really indoctrinated into the Babylonian language, schools and culture. Really, a relativism of truth is the same process today. When you look at our schools, whenever we send our Christian students away to universities, that is really what is happening. We are teaching that truth is relative, and we're seeing relativism move in our universities.

That is how we're changing our generations. But I want to move on to verse eight. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not 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.

This is a very important part within this chapter. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. The reason behind the defilement is found in Leviticus chapter 11.

Daniel was very aware that the king or Nebuchadnezzar served have been sacrificed to idols. And in Leviticus chapter 11, that is a sin. So Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself by not breaking the Jewish law. But I really want to say a very important point here is that you can give up your rights all day long, but you cannot compromise your convictions.

I'll say that one more time. You can give up your rights, but you cannot compromise your convictions. I want to say a lot of people have convictions that are not clearly stated in the word. There are clear convictions that are stated in the Bible. Immorality is sin. Adultery is sin. Homosexuality is sin. Fornication is sin. Abortion is murder.

That's a sin. The Bible defines life at conception. But Daniel purposed in his heart to keep the Jewish law, even though he was in the setting of captivity. But when you look at Daniel being in captivity, he was made a eunuch. He was placed under mind control of Nebuchadnezzar.

He had a name change. But interestingly, he was under captivity by God's divine order. So really, if anyone has an excuse to not keep the Jewish law, wouldn't it be Daniel?

If you look at our own situations, even when we get into difficult times, we lower our standards. We excuse our disobedience by stress, I don't have time, or the conditions that I expected to carry out my obedience are not met. Therefore, I think that gives me a pass from God as to being obedient. So if anyone had an excuse to say, Lord, you've put me here. You've made me a eunuch. You've taken away my dreams of ever having a family.

You have even changed my name, and I'm in captivity knowing that you've allowed this. It would have been Daniel. But to show how Daniel's heart was for God, he purposed in his heart not to defile himself. And the important point here is that when God says no, we must say no, even regardless of the circumstance. When God says no, we must say no, even regardless of the circumstance.

But in a single moment, it really takes guts to say no. A lot of people think to be successful, you have to bend the rules. But when we compromise our convictions, we will lose. When we compromise our convictions, we will lose. And Dr. David Jeremiah wrote a book, The Handwriting on the Wall, and everywhere we see compromise in the Bible, we see loss. Everywhere we see compromise in the Bible, we see loss.

I'm just going to read verse 28 out of this book. Adam compromised God's law and fell right in with his wife's son. He lost paradise. Abraham compromised the truth and lied about Sarah. He almost lost his wife. Sarah compromised God's word and sent Abraham to her servant Hagar, who bore Ishmael. We lost peace in the Middle East.

Esau compromised for a meal with Jacob. He lost his birthright. Aaron compromised his convictions about idolatry. He lost the privilege of seeing the Promised Land.

Samson compromised righteous devotion as a Nazarite. He lost his hair, his strength, his eyes and his life. David compromised the moral standard of God and committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah. He lost his child. Solomon compromised his convictions and married foreign wives. He lost the United Kingdom. Ahab compromised and married Jezebel. He lost his throne. Ananias and Sapphira compromised their word about giving. They lost their lives. Judas compromised his supposed love for Christ for 30 pieces of silver.

He lost his entire soul. Is it any different today? The message of our culture is that if you want to get ahead, you've got to break a few rules to do it.

So I just have a few questions at this point. Where in your life are you compromising your convictions today? Deep within your heart, if you are saved that, you know, the Holy Spirit does convict us of sin, where are we ignoring the convictions of the Holy Spirit?

And another question I'd like to have just for you to think about. What have you lost in your life because of compromise? While compromising in certain situations to avoid conflict may be wise, compromising moral convictions and biblical values to please others or yourself is a spiritual flaw that can weaken your Christian character, spiritual growth, and faithfulness to God. Do not let temptation to sin rob you of a close relationship with Jesus or grieve the work of the Holy Spirit within you.

Sin can taste sweet for a short time, but the rewards of being faithful to God are eternal and exceptional in giving purpose and living a victorious life free of sin. If you have found yourself compromising your biblical values to please others or yourself and would like prayer and spiritual counsel, Dr. Davis is available to help you. You can reach her by email at Cheryl Davis at ProjectTruthMatters.com or connect with her on Facebook at Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis, or you can write to her at The Truth Project, P.O. Box 159, St. Paul's, North Carolina, 28384. Please join us again next Saturday at the same time for Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. We are a ministry of The Truth Project, where biblical truth truly matters.