July 22, 2018
July 27, 2018
Daniel 1 New International Version (NIV)
Daniel’s Training in Babylon
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
8 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. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 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.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
In c. 605 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took control of Judah and began the destruction of Jerusalem and the southern Kingdom as had been prophesied. At this time he carried away some of the Jews including those who had royal ties.
Daniel was among those taken… But what stands out about Daniel is the strength of his faith in spite of his circumstances, in spite of hardship, in spite of worldly pressure, in spite of compromised religion. Within the court of a pagan king his faith flourished. It stood strong.
In fact, that is why Chapter 1 begins and ends the way it does. Throughout his life (from the age of 15 well past 80) he stood strong
I want to begin a sermon series on the book of Daniel, but I am not going to focus so much on the prophecy even though there is plenty of that in the book of Daniel, and direct tie ins to the book of revelation and the last days. What I want to focus on is this thought… STANDING STRONG
We have all seen the pictures of houses falling off the sides of cliffs because the foundations upon which they stood were eroded out from underneath them. It is no different with our faith. There are forces at work eroding the foundations upon which we would stand.
In order to stand strong, we must first deal with those things that undermine the foundations of our footings. Until we recognize and deal with these issues we will never stand strong
CHAPTER 1 – ERODING FOUNDATIONS
1. Internal Desires
2. The Flow of Cultural Pressure
3. Carnal Christianity
4. Fear of Failure
5. Cost Compromises
John Woodcock says
Is thee any way to have the recording and notes from chapter 2 of this series?
David Filener says
Hi John,
I received your comment and question about Daniel Chapter 2. Unfortunately the audio was not captured for that sermon but I sent you a copy of the notes via email They are not a transcript, but more of an outline that includes highlighted portions of Daniel Chapter 2 that correspond to the points I made that day.
Thank you for your interest in the Daniel Messages
Blessings
Pastor David Filener
CDO Assembly of God