Daniel 1:1-8: Don't Despise Small Beginnings

Amen. Please remain standing and turn in your Bibles once again to the book of Daniel. That's Daniel chapter 1. And we'll begin by reading verses 1 to 8. Daniel chapter 1, starting in verse 1. Hear now the inspired word of God.

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God.

And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his God. Then the king ordered Aspenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, youths in whom there was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king's court.

And he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they would enter into the king's personal service.

Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them, and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach, and to Azariah Abednego.

But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank. So he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.

Thus far the reading of the word. Let's pray. Father, we once again would simply ask that you'd be pleased to open our eyes, our ears, and our heart. We would see here and understand what you have to say to us and teach us through the example that you've given to us of the prophet Daniel.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. In 1953, Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay became the first humans to ascend to the summit of Mount Everest. The summit of Mount Everest is the highest elevation above sea level on Earth.

It rises to 29 ,031 feet. Let me put that in perspective for you. Many airlines fly at that altitude. But what makes it even more difficult is that the last 3 ,000 feet fall in what mountain climbers call the death zone.

It's so called because when a human enters that altitude, he begins to die. Without artificial means such as oxygen and other things, he will die within 16 to 20 hours if left exposed. In fact, it's estimated that over 300 men have died attempting to climb Mount Everest.

150 of those bodies remain on the mountain because recovery would be too dangerous. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first to ascend the mount and return safely home. That event made him an instant celebrity.

But he didn't stop there. He would later become part of an expedition to traverse the South Pole. And then after that, he went to the North Pole. He was the first person to accomplish all three feats.

Then in his later years, he became a well-known author and a philanthropist. And he especially worked to improve the conditions of the Sherpas who lived in Nepal near Mount Everest. In fact, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

How did Sir Edmund get to this position? Did he wake up one morning and say, you know what, I think I'm going to climb Mount Everest today? Hardly. He actually got interested in mountaineering while he was in high school and expanded that when he went to college.

His first major climb was in 1935 when he scaled Mount Olivier in New Zealand. A modest climb of just over 6 ,000 feet. By the way, the highest mountain in New York is about 4 ,300 feet. And that was followed by several others.

Well, what's the point? Why are we talking about Sir Edmund Hillary? Well, his example is a good one because he started small. He didn't start by climbing Mount Everest. He started with small mountains and he worked his way up to the big one.

But that's not really surprising, is it? I mean, to start small, to prepare for greater things, it's pretty much a universal principle. It's a biblical principle. It's a principle we see in the story of Daniel.

Anyone who reads the Bible will agree that Daniel is a man who has accomplished much for the kingdom of God. I mean, we're just at the very beginning of his story. Daniel faced lions for his stance for the gospel.

But not just Daniel. We have to include his three friends, Ananias, Mishael, and Azariah as well. They faced the fiery furnace on their stance for the gospel. And in fact, their exploits are still widely spoken of today, especially within the church.

If you have a list, if you ask somebody to make a list of the great men of the Bible, those four men have to be on it. But how did they get there? It started small. When they were captives, exiled to Babylon, certainly not men of great influence or power.

Being prisoners, they were not people you would describe as world changers. But they were to be set apart for the service of the king of Babylon. And an opportunity presented itself. The king gives instructions for how they are to be treated while in his custody.

They're to be educated in the ways of the Chaldeans for three years. And then they would enter the king's service. But part of their instructions were restrictions on their diet. Instructions from the king himself.

Verse 5. The king's choice food and from the wine which he drank. That's significant. I want you to think about that for a minute. Captives in the ancient world were not usually given the choice food, the king's food to eat.

And the text says they were to eat from the king's choice food and wine. The same food that the king himself ate. Sounds pretty tempting for a prisoner, doesn't it? The king obviously had plans for these men.

But then something unexpected happens. Here they are, they're presented with this. And look at verse 8 of Daniel chapter 1. But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank.

Now the reason why Daniel refused the king's food is the subject of great speculation and varied opinions among the commentators. Some say the text indicates that, all right, we should all be vegetarians.

The Hebrew word used by Daniel certainly includes root vegetables, but it actually has a very wide meaning, more akin to nuts and seeds and things of that nature. Others maintain that the food in the king's menu would somehow violate Jewish dietary laws.

And there's numerous other views as well. And it's not my intention to enter into that kind of debate. Because I don't believe the text is definitive enough that you can come down strongly one side or the other.

You can make some good cases for the different views. But that's not my point. Whatever the reason, Daniel had made up his mind that to eat this food would defile him. And so he sought relief from the commander of the officials.

More about that later. But for now the point is simply this. Daniel takes a stand for what he believes in. Now we have to also admit that in general, from all the, not only the scripture, but extant literature, the captives of Nebuchadnezzar were treated fairly, reasonably well considering some of the treatment of captives in the ancient world.

As long as they obeyed the king, didn't cause problems, they were pretty well treated. But we have to remember also that in that society, the king was the absolute sovereign. He literally had the power of life and death.

And I mean literally, I'm using that word right. So many people say literally, they don't really mean literally. But literally, the king had the power of life and death in his hands. So consequences for disobeying the king's order could be extremely serious.

But Daniel is willing to take his stand. And as we'll see a few verses later, so are his three friends. In the whole history of redemption, this is really a small step. It's nothing of great importance.

It's not affecting all kinds of things in the world, the ancient world. But it does show the character of Daniel even as a young captive. Remember, he's probably somewhere between 18 and 20 years old.

And it prepares him for what is to follow in his lifetime. So lesson to be learned here, right here at the very beginning of the sermon. And I phrased it this way, don't despise small beginnings. Don't despise small beginnings.

Sir Edmund would never have climbed Mount Everest without the experience of those smaller mountains. It's an important principle for all of us who are in the kingdom of God. Those whom God calls to greatness will be prepared by him in little ways first before being called to greater things.

Let us expand on that with another related principle. And the second point is don't compromise. Don't compromise on little things. Daniel had already been set apart for special treatment in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar.

And right away, right out of the chute as they say, he's placed in a precarious situation. Part of the king's order are this special diet. And Daniel has determined he's not going to defile himself. It would be sin.

The defilement has to be sin. If he rebels against the king, he would not only lose his special position, but he would be in for a rough time. Prison, physical harm, maybe even death. Daniel doesn't flinch.

Compromise is not on the table for him. Now, I'm not going to address his solution just yet, for that's another point to follow. But for now, I just want to point out that defiling himself was no trifling matter.

How many other captives would say, hey, it's only food. King's wine? I'll bet that was some good wine. How many times do you hear that attitude in the church today? What's the big deal? It's only X, Y, Z.

God knows my heart. He wants me to be happy and to live. That's usually heard when someone is excusing themselves for a particular sin. I'm not going to single out any particular sin. You fill in the blank.

I know this blank is against the Bible, but God will forgive me. We see none of that in Daniel. Eat food that will defile me? Daniel says, no, sir. Let's talk. I have to add another word here that goes hand in hand with compromise, and it's rationalization.

Compromise and rationalization are kissing cousins. When someone has compromised, rationalization is right outside the door. And we in the human race are masters at rationalization. I once interviewed a shooter, a hitman, for organized crime.

He was responsible for over 30 murders that we knew about. And in my conversations with him, he had an excuse for every one of them. In fact, he was part of a bank robbery, and he wound up shooting and killing a bank guard.

And I said, how do you justify that? He thought for a minute. He drew his gun first. Some of his crimes, when he couldn't think of a good excuse, he looked at me and smiled with steely blue eyes, by the way.

And he said, what are you upset about? I did you a favor. I wasn't killing Sunday school teachers. They were bad guys. I helped you out. He says, you should thank me for what I've done. Now, that's an extreme case, but the principle applies.

We can rationalize anything. How does God respond to compromise? We compromise and rationalize, and we think it's no big deal. Well, Daniel resisted the compromise. That wasn't even in his vocabulary.

But we read a portion of scripture this morning from 1 Kings 13. We read that for a reason. Let's set up the context. Remember, 1 Kings 13. The kingdom of Israel had been divided when Solomon dies between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

Rehoboam reigned in the south, and Jeroboam reigned in the north. And Jeroboam begins idolatrous practices in the north. And God sends a prophet from Judah to warn him. But the prophet was given certain instructions by God.

After he completes his mission in prophesying against the king, he's to go home by a different way and not to stop for anything, not be detained by anyone, not to eat, not even to get a drink of water.

And we know he understood those instructions because in the text they're repeated at least twice to other people. He said, no, no, I can't do that. But an old prophet from the north, after hearing of his deeds, goes after him and entreats him to come to his house.

And when the prophet refuses, he lies to him. He tells him, I have a word from an angel that you're supposed to come. Now the first prophet listens to him and returns to the house for some good old prophetic fellowship.

During the party, the northern prophet gets a word from the Lord and he prophesies against the southern prophet. First Kings 13, 21, and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord, because you have disobeyed the command of the Lord and have not observed the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, eat no bread, drink no water.

Your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers. Now there's no question that God didn't excuse the southern prophet because he was lied to. He had a direct command from the Lord and was responsible to obey it.

Now one could rationalize, as I'm sure he did, one could rationalize that he completed the main part of the mission, not the important part. What could it hurt to have a little fellowship? And he was lied to.

I could see myself arguing that. Come on, you can too. But now he had a direct word from God and he wouldn't make it home again. But that's not the end of the story. The northern prophet obviously feels bad, gives him his donkey to take him home.

Verse 24, and this is where it gets interesting. Now when he had gone, a lion met him on the way and killed him. And his body was thrown on the road. With the donkey standing beside it, the lion also was standing beside the body.

It's one of my favorite stories. Not because I was in homicide or anything like that. It's the irony. But it also shows us how serious God is about obeying his word. When I read something in scripture that's unusual, and you have to admit, this is an unusual story.

I always begin asking myself, why question? I don't ask God, I ask myself, why question? Why did the prophet believe the northern prophet when he said he had a word from the angel? Which was contrary to the word he had from God.

He had to rationalize the situation in his mind that God will understand. Then aside from this whole thing, my mind works strange sometimes. I wonder if Paul had this story in mind when he warned the Galatians.

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed. I think Paul might have had this in mind. But the main question I ask myself is, why are all these details about the lion and the grave, why are all of these included in scripture?

Look at verse 23. It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled a donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. Now when he had gone, the lion met him on the way, killed him, and his body was thrown on the road with the donkey standing beside it and the lion also standing beside the body.

Why those details? They're there for a reason. Now most of us who live on Long Island have never had an encounter with a lion. Therefore we don't know much about their behavior, do we? So it's easy for us to miss the point of the events with the lion.

Verse 24 contains a clear warning and a message to all who passed by and saw that scene, that this man had really ticked God off. You walk by and you see a lion, a donkey, and a dead man. Now let me explain how so.

First, lions don't attack and kill except to eat. So here you have a dead man who's not eaten, just dead, obviously at the jaws of a lion. The fact that this lion killed a man and didn't eat him or carry him back to the pride tells us God has intervened here somehow.

Second, a lion, if given a choice between attacking a man or a donkey, will do the donkey every time. There's an inherent fear of man built into wild creatures. And yet this lion chose to attack the man and not a scratch on the donkey.

Third, donkeys instinctively know, point two, they know they're the primary target. Why is the donkey still there? Why didn't the donkey run away? You see, anyone passing by who lives in that environment would see the donkey standing there, the lion and the dead man, and would understand God has intervened here.

This is not what would happen by itself. And I believe these events are included in scripture for us to understand that God doesn't wink at disobedience or compromise. He takes obedience to his word very seriously.

Which leads to our next point. How does one respond to ungodly commands from ungodly authorities? Let me say right up front that the time may come when maybe you just have to refuse and suffer the consequences.

In fact, in future studies in this book, we're going to see that Daniel was prepared to do that. The time came where he was going to have to suffer being thrown in the lion's den. Same thing with the three friends.

They were to be thrown into the fiery furnace. But in our initial introduction to Daniel, we see that his first choice is not to just defy the authorities. See, there's other weapons in the Christian's arsenal besides defiance.

Remember what Jesus told his disciples when he was sending them out on one of their first missions? Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be shrewd as serpents, yet innocent as doves.

The call for the Christian is to be wise. So let's look at how Daniel handles this situation, having been a man of wisdom. We first read about the requirement to eat the king's food and drink his wine in verse 5, which we've already quoted.

So how does Daniel handle this? He used diplomacy. Look at verse 8. But Daniel made up his mind he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank. So he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.

It's clear to us that Daniel had identified eating the king's food and drinking this wine as sin. So first, he seeks permission to abstain from the food and the wine. Notice the humility that Daniel exhibits.

He seeks permission from the one in authority over him. He knows he can't defile himself. His first cause of action is not just out and out refusal. His first action is to try to remove himself from the restrictions by diplomacy.

Not compromise. He's not compromising here. But that request is refused. And for pretty good reason. Look at verse 10. And the commander of the officials said to Daniel, I'm afraid of my lord, the king, who has appointed your food and your drink.

For why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king. The commander fears the king. Remember, this was an order, the food and the wine, this was an order directly from the king himself.

So he fears for his very life. He even says to Daniel, you would make me forfeit my head? Again, remember, the king was the sovereign. Could command the death of anyone. And so the commander reminds Daniel of this ominous fact.

But Daniel is not put off by his first rebuff. He's persistent. He recognizes that the commander is laboring under faulty information. He has accepted as a fact that the king's table was better than what the Jews were going to be eating.

He believes that the result, if he allows Daniel's request, will be obvious to the king. The Hebrew youths would look haggard. That's his conclusion. Now this is an important fact. When you engage in an apologetic discussion with a non-believer, the issue is not the surface one.

It's one of conflicting worldviews. Conflicting worldviews. The non-believer believes what he is saying, even if it is not true. And we can take a lesson from Daniel on this point. Daniel doesn't get into a shouting match, that's not true.

He sets out to show the commander that what he believes to be true is wrong. Look at verses 12 and 13. Daniel says, Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Then let our appearance be observed in your presence, and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king's choice food, and deal with your servants according to what you see. That's brilliant. It's a very reasonable request.

Let's put the worldviews to a test. It's also logical, but we need to understand something. Our adversaries are not always logical and reasonable. And after all, if Daniel is wrong, it could cost the commander his life.

So Daniel wraps his request once again in humility and respect. He begins, Please. Notice his attitude through this? He says, Please test us for ten days. And then he places the decision right back in the hands of the commander.

After the ten days, he says, You decide what is right. You know, the attitude you display is equally as important as the truthfulness of your words. You can be espousing great biblical truth, but if your attitude turns people away, what good are those words if nobody is listening to them?

That's a principle throughout scripture. Truth and love are two sides of the same coin. The wise man Solomon once wrote, Do not let kindness and truth leave you. Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

Daniel's approach produced the desired result. In verse 14 of Daniel 1 he says,. So he listened to them in the matter and tested them for ten days. You know, sometimes half the battle is just getting your adversary to listen to what you are saying.

And I might add the other half is listening to what he's saying. Here Daniel listened to the fear of the commander and presented a cogent and reasonable solution and the commander listened. And what happened?

At the end of the ten days their parents seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king's choice food. Daniel's plan worked out better for the commander than even the king's plan.

The Hebrew youths were better physically. So what happened? In verse 16, so the overseer continued to withhold the choice food and wine, they were to drink, kept giving them vegetables. How was Daniel able to bring about this desired result?

He got everything he wanted. Verse 9,. Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. God had paved the way for his success. This is a crucial point in the narrative.

And we must understand that any success on our part, whether evangelistic, apologetic, is only because God has granted it. You know, we keep emphasizing throughout our studies that Daniel is a book about the sovereignty of God.

And right here again in the opening chapter we see this great doctrine. If God hadn't granted Daniel favor with the commander, he probably wouldn't even have listened to Daniel's proposal. So we see God's sovereignty at play.

Now that being said, God's sovereignty doesn't mitigate man's responsibility. Why did God grant Daniel favor? Proverbs 16, verse 7,. When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

We read from Proverbs 3, verse 3 before,. Do not let kindness and truth leave you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. There's a conclusion that follows in verse 4. So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man.

God used Daniel's character to allow the commander to grant him favor. The doctrine of God's sovereignty never releases man to stop striving for godliness. In Romans 12, Paul gives advice for how to get along with your enemies.

Never pay back evil for evil. Overcome evil with good. You're all familiar with that section. Well, in the middle of that section, he says this, If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

And the apostle says in Hebrews 12,. Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. Jesus called us peacemakers. And the list of admonitions to pursue peace goes on and on.

So God granted Daniel favor based upon his character. Where have we heard that before? Just as Pastor Chris preached last week, isn't it? Remember the message? What does Paul urge in Titus 2? Likewise, he urged young men to be sensible in all things.

Show yourself to be an example of good deeds with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech, which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame having nothing to say about us. It's exactly what Daniel did.

I wonder if he read, I wonder if he got a copy of Pastor Chris's sermon. But when we stack up Daniel to the admonition of scripture, he looks like the poster boy for the servant of the Lord. And what was the result of his obedience?

I'm going to read this. We're going to be visiting these five verses over and over again in our study. But listen to what it says. As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom.

Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. Then at the end of the days, which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar, the moment of truth.

The king talked with them, and out of them all, not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, or Nazariah. So they entered the king's personal service. As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.

And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus, the king. Small beginning led to great things. Just as Sir Edmund Hillary in Tenzig, Norway, started small, so Daniel and Hananiah and Mishael and Nazariah started small.

Don't despise small beginnings. That is God's way to prepare you for the greater things that he has for you. Those last five verses in the first chapter show how God blessed these four men because of their faithfulness.

They outshined all their contemporaries in every respect. And these verses are crucial for the entire rest of the book of Daniel. And they're crucial for us as well. When hope was constituted as a church, almost 27 years ago now, one of the pastors who spoke challenged us with these words from William Carey.

Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God. God has done some great things in our midst over the past 27 years. And all of that is to prepare us for what he has called us to do. Things are only going to get harder and harder for us.

We're living in an increasingly more pagan society day by day. All of us can learn from Daniel. Whether you're a young Christian or you've been a Christian for many years, the admonition is the same. Don't despise small beginnings.

We started in a little storefront with about 20 people. And look at what God has provided for us 27 years later. He's not done with us yet. So don't compromise with the word of God. Seek, search for biblical wisdom.

Bind kindness and truth around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. That's the lesson we learned this morning. If you're here this morning and you've never come to faith in Jesus Christ, the admonitions are for you, but the first thing you need to do is repent.

Bow the knee, call upon the name of Jesus. Call him Lord and you will be saved. Let's pray. Father, once again we thank you and praise you for the salvation you've given to us in Jesus Christ. We pray, Father, that you would help us to understand that we need to be faithful in small things before you entrust us with great things.

I pray, Father, that you would open our eyes, our ears and our hearts to the message of Scripture, that we would see the example of Daniel and his three friends. I pray, Father, for anyone today who doesn't know you, that today would be the day of salvation.

Take away their stony heart, give them the heart of flesh that they might repent and believe. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.