Daniel 1:8-21

Daniel’s Resolve Not to Defile Himself

We're good? Yeah, I believe so. All right. And I want to say good afternoon. We decided to shift forward and around the tables. I think it's probably easier if you guys have a little table to work on, and we didn't have to move as much stuff around, but we are in the book of Daniel, and Jeff introduced us to the first test that Daniel, Shadrach, Mishael, Azariah, and Ananiah, I can never remember those three names.

The first test had to do with the option that they had to experience and to enjoy the fineries of the culture where they were introduced into. And at this point in time, they're just young lads, perhaps in their teens, and so this was the first test.

And Jeff introduced us to this test last week, and so this week we're going to look at how Daniel and his buddies respond to this. It has to do with faith. It has to do with allowing the sovereignty of God, the promises of God to guide you regardless of what other opportunities there may be around you.

So that's where we are right now, and John Natoli, would you open us for the prayer? Yes, sir.

Heavenly Father, Lord, we bless you and we thank you. And we thank you for this time that we have together to talk about, wow, what a great topic, the power of faith. Wow. We, I think we just, we seem to forget daily how powerful that can be.

So Lord, we look forward to what Pastor John has for us this afternoon, and I ask that you just bless each one of us, that we will have open ears and hungry hearts to hear what he has to say. And Lord, we ask that you also bless comfort and watch over Stan and Tammy Will, in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. And also watching over Jill.

Jill. You heard what happened to Jill. I heard, but I don't know how she's doing. Who's got the update?

Her ribs are sore, she has a staple. And she hit her head, so her head had a scratch. Squished up her knee, but she's home resting. Phoebe's home, so Phoebe can be there. Oh, that's kind of...

Yeah. So we do remember them, and of course Loretta. Latest. I heard last night, somebody said Loretta is actually up and painting. Painting.

Yes, yes. I got a card from her, a beautiful card the other day, and then I read John's saying about her painting. So I wrote back to her, and then my message wouldn't send, so I don't know where it went.

I get all kinds of scriptures in it.

And then little Vivian is apparently home from the hospital, so she still has a long ways to go. So here we are, and John you're going to be my Daniel reader, so you don't have to go anywhere else. Rich, 2nd Timothy.

I want you to repeat after me, Rich, 2nd Timothy. 2nd Timothy. Thank you. 221. And we're going to start out, give me the whole passage if you would, 8 through 20. Sure.

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.

And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king who assigned your food and your drink, for why should he see that you are in worse condition than the youth who are of your age? So you would endanger my head with the king?

Then Daniel said to the steward, whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, and Ananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat in order to drink.

Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants accordingly, according to what you see. So he listened to them in the matter, and tested them for 10 days.

And the end of 10 days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. So the steward took away their food and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.

And the king spoke with them. And among all of them, none were found like Daniel, Ananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore, they stood before the king. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired them, he found them 10 times better than all of the magicians and the enchanters that were in all the kingdom.

And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

It starts out at the beginning of verse 8. Daniel resolved he would not defile himself with the king's food or wine. Now this is not an indictment of the evil of food that's not vegetables. That's not what this is.

This is not an indictment, and Jeff spoke about it, I think, quite effectively. This is not an indictment that alcohol in and of itself is a wicked thing. But for Daniel and his friends, they recognized that this food represented the idol worship, and this wine perhaps represented idol worship, and they were not going to have any part of it.

So basically what they were deciding was important to them was what?

Not to defile themselves? Yeah. And to obey what God would have them do.

Yes, all of this was above. They're talking about purity. They're talking about those opportunities that they could have to partake and to do things, and it was of their desire. It says they resolved they would not defile themselves.

They sought the better, which was going to be God's will, which was going to be just purity.

To reflect the holiness of the one true God. Absolutely they were going to do that.

The world's going to present options. And then the world is going to tell you these are beneficial things. This is what the king had done. This is what the chief of the eunuchs was doing for them. There was a better way.

And the way that you had, well, if that's your way, but there is a better way. In fact, not only is it a better way, but it's the way the king wants you to go. But the reality that these four young lads had was any benefits that they could get by following after what is being told were going to be at best temporary.

And that there would be better approaches if they looked for the future, if they looked for pleasing God instead of, well, they could please themselves. They could please man. And you would have to think this passage indicates that there was more than just the four of them.

Now the passage does not tell us the others. Were they Jews? Were they other nations that had been conquered? It doesn't give us that insight. But it would be, I don't think, a far stretch to say that these four knew the others, knew of the others.

And in addition to the temptation of pleasure, well, there's another major temptation that would involve especially four youths and their teens. What would that be? Peer pressure can come in many forms.

And it could come in the form of not wanting to seem different than everybody else, wanting to fit in with everybody else, being willing, desiring to be considered the in crowd. And so their desire to not defile themselves goes in so many ways.

It's not only we're going to avoid this food, this wine because it's not appropriate for us, but then you've got the implication of all the other little guys are doing it too. And if it's not hurting them, what's the problem?

The Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes

Matthew in chapter 5, we have something called the Sermon on the Mount, 5, 6, and 7. And it opens up with what we call the Beatitudes. Now what's of interest on the Sermon on the Mount is the audience that Jesus is speaking to.

When he's in and around for those three years, there are times where his comments he has to make are being made against the religious leaders that were hypocrites. And then there are times where he speaks and it's to a large multitude of people.

This one perhaps is a little more selective. It starts out, when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him and he began to teach them. The message that's being given in the Sermon on the Mount is best understood through the Holy Spirit.

It's really going to be difficult to be understood by the general population who don't have the Holy Spirit. There are truths here that are so deep, it's really understood by the Holy Spirit. So in the Beatitudes, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.

We're talking about Jesus saying, if you are not haughty, if you are not self-proud, if you are not, look at me, if you are not looking for all these kinds of things, blessed are you, yours is the kingdom of God.

And then in verse 6, it says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. And that's what Ann, Ananias, Mishael, Azariah, and Daniel are doing, is their hunger is not for satisfaction of food, for the gratitude of acceptance of the crowd, theirs is a hunger for righteousness.

And it says they will be filled. And then in verse 8, it says, blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. And what an incredible profession that Daniel and those are saying. We desire not to defile ourselves, and although it doesn't say it right here, I think that it's implied.

We don't want to defile ourselves because we want to stay in relationship, communion with God. So that's who these little guys are.

Second Timothy 2 .21.

So Daniel and his buddies had a chance to just go along, go along, and to enjoy the pleasures. But they're convicted in their hearts that this is not the way we should go. And that's where the defilement is being tested, yes or no.

In their hearts, they realize that what the king is offering, what the units are going to desire, and I think what their little buddies are saying, we're doing it too. In their heart, they know what's wrong, and so they choose to cleanse themselves, to remain clean from all of these things.

And the problem is, when you do that, what does God promise you when you cleanse yourself from all these things? You will walk with him. Walk with him, what else? Blessings. Blessings, and you're going to be used by it.

Every good work. So that's who they are, they're resolving purity. In the middle of... give me verse 8 again, please, John.

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

This is respect for authority. And within their heart, and within the depths of their faith, they've already resolved that they are not going to cross this line. But yet they are under the authority of the chief of the eunuchs, who is under the authority of the king.

Ivan, you're going to get Roman 13 .2 ready, please. As a child of God, for them, for us, we are members of God's church. But we are still called to respect the authority that God ordains. And I really am impressed by this comment here.

They resolved not to defile themselves with the king's food. They asked the chief of the eunuchs. They asked the chief of the eunuchs. They didn't just decide, they're going to give us the food, we're going to put it aside, we're just going to eat the veggies and draw some water, and nobody needs to know any different.

They're not being deceptive about this in any way. They are going to the chief of the eunuchs, because he is in charge, and it says they asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile. It's not written here, what would have happened if the chief of the eunuchs said, dude, you've got to do this.

That's not written in here. But what is written in here is their respect for authority. 1 Peter 2 .13 tells us to submit to every authority for the Lord's sake. We are members of the church of God. We are his children, but yet we are called to respect authority.

Yeah, Gus?

No, it's just two areas. Peter, leaving and then telling him not to preach the gospel. Obviously, that's an exception. Therefore, I think that's really important. I was just thinking about the stand that John MacArthur and other Christians about not having church together.

Would that be representative of this also?

I'm going to talk about that in just a minute, but that is a good point. Because this is not a get-out-of-jail-card that says whatever the world says I have to do, and it's not my fault anymore. But that is a great point.

Romans 13 .2?

Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

The answer, I think, is going to be that the authority is there because it's God. And Jeff speaks very clearly about this. The authority of God, the authority of man, when they're in conflict, you submit to the authority of God and submit to the authority of man.

Which says you do not break God's commandment, but then you accept the consequences because that's the God-given authority. And I think that would be the answer. But in this particular case, when they're confronted with the opportunity to do it, they say no, and they do it with respect by going to those in authority and saying no because.

No, we are seeking your authority to do no. But then comes the part of the fullness of faith that's put on display. And give me one more time, please. Me? Yeah. And before you do it, Sandy, you're going to get Hebrews 11 and James 2.

Barb, I'm going to have you get that.

Go ahead. But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

Faith is so powerful.

When its impact on your life and how it impacts your life and how you follow it is very specific and not just generic. And in this case, they're being very specific and they're going to the eunuch with respect and saying, oh, chief of the eunuchs, I don't know how they entrust him, we are asking you, Bishop, that you don't eat that food.

They're being very, very, they're putting their life, their reputation, God's reputation, they're putting it right there on the line. We stand firm in our specific faith. That's what we should be doing because the attacks that Satan gives you are going to be very specific.

Satan's going to find that a little nuance and he's going to go after you, so be very specific. But here's the thing, obedience to God trumps obedience to the world. And so they're knowing that the chief of the eunuchs has the authority.

They go to him, but they're going to be very specific. Oh, chief of the eunuchs, let us not defile ourselves. We don't want to eat this food because of our faith. When you're given the opportunities, and I find it so encouraging to know that our response, our actions, our decisions actually can bring pleasure to the Lord of all lords, to Yahweh.

What we do, how we do it, how we respond, to be able, in my mind, I have a great wild imagination, those moments where I do stand in faith, you're grinning. That's what in my mind he has right now, is to say, you know, you think about what was the facial expression that God had when Satan said, yeah, have you considered Job?

Yeah, you've got this grin on your face. And I think that God would have said, he's the dude. You can test him. Don't go any farther. And when we do this, in fact, if we read Hebrews 6, 11, 6, Sandy?

Hebrews 11, 6. Yes. Without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. Oh my goodness. If it says without faith,.

It's impossible to please God, I have to read into that, by your faith, you do please God. And he rewards for what you do is taking the fruit of what I'm doing now, it's offered as a sweet savor to the Lord and it makes him smile, but then there are these rewards that we get.

That's 2 .17. Barbara, you got that?

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Daniel and his three buddies could have had rationale for why they weren't just going to accept the directions. The implication here, because they said we're not going to defile ourselves, is that our hearts were already convicted and to say I have faith in Yahweh, I believe in Yahweh, and then not to let that faith change the direction of your life, change the decisions that you make.

Faith without works is dead. If you have faith, that faith should be manifested by the direction your life takes, decisions that you make. So this is the first opportunity to them to put their faith on display, is to go in front of the chief of the eunuchs and say, by your permission, sir, we don't want to eat that food, we don't want to defile ourselves.

So their faith is put right there on the table. That's right where it belongs. It does not belong in our back pocket or whatever else. Give me verse 9, please.

God Gives Favor and Compassion

And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. Lamentations 3. Candy, I'm going to let you, you've got a little bit of time to find Lamentations.

It's after Psalms. You've got Psalms in a few books, and you've got Jeremiah. It's right after Jeremiah. And chapter 3 is right after chapter 2. So I can't help you much further than that. Do you see what happens when Daniel and his buddies go up to the chief of the eunuchs and say, sir, we do not want to defile ourselves.

And we just read a minute ago that faith pleases God and the blessings that we get from it. And here it is in evidence that God gave Daniel favor and compassion in his sight. Somebody's got to stop me there because that's not what it says.

What does it say? God gave Daniel favor and compassion where? In the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. Isn't this amazing? This guy, we're going to find out in just a minute. It's like his life is on the line because he has a charter of what he is supposed to do.

And by the way, at this time in King Nebuchadnezzar's life, he was pretty wicked and he was ruthless. We're going to see later in his life there seems to be a softening towards the Lord, which is beautiful.

But to do other than what the king ordered you to do was not a long life opportunity. And so God takes this eunuch who has an experience and he's probably no better in his moral standing than everything else.

And he takes these four young men because of their faith and he impresses on the heart of the chief of the eunuchs. It says, gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. There's no other explanation why the chief of the eunuchs would find favor in these.

You would probably expect, I don't know how many there were. There were a number of others. It's evident to that later in this passage because they're being compared to the others. Who are these snot-nosed little guys telling me what they're going to eat and what they're not going to eat?

You know, I'm the chief of the eunuchs. I'm going to tell them because the king told me. And that's the way it is, guys. Get with the program, guys. And what ends up happening is just within the heart of the chief of the eunuchs, God gave Daniel favor and compassion.

A miracle. That's a miracle. Now Daniel in Deuteronomy 7 is going to say that God is faithful. He will keep his covenant and his loving kindness. It gives us in Deuteronomy if you keep my commandments, all these blessings are yours.

By the way, if you don't keep them, there are all these curses, right? And God said, I've made a covenant. I've made a promise with you. I will keep it. So for Daniel and the others, they've chosen God over the other way.

And the promise in Deuteronomy is that I will keep my covenants with you.

Lamentations 3. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

Who would you rather? The Lord. You know, this does not say that there will not be trials and there will not be difficulties. This does not say you're going to watch a loved one suffering through cancer.

This does not say that you're not going to run into a trash can and bang your head. This doesn't say that. But it does say the Lord is never going to give up on you. He's good to those who wait for him.

And this is what's going to happen because the first thing we read after this is it says, Daniel was received favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. Instead of being these little rebel kids, God is giving the chief of the eunuchs a soft heart towards these four young men.

The Chief of the Eunuchs’ Fear and the World’s Perspective

Give me verses 10. Give me verse 10 please, John.

And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king who assigned your food and your drink. For why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age?

So you would endanger my head with the king.

Now the reality, I mean the chief of the eunuchs has not completely come over to the light yet because he is recognizing I have a choice to make here and on one side I'm going to follow after you which by the way, God is letting me see there's something good about you.

But on the other side, I walk the world. And in the walking of the world, there's a big pothole that I'm about to step into. He says, I fear the lord my king. Okay, well this is still who he is. And at the end of it, if you guys are as good as the rest, you say you're going to be better, but if you're not at least as good as the rest of it, I fear my head with the king.

And so we cannot, we can't deny the fact that the prince of the power, who's the prince of the power of the air? Satan? He's in us too. We follow after the prince of the power of the air. The prince of the power of the air, he sets the rules for the world under his limited authority because God limits his authority.

And so these guys, this chief of the eunuchs, he's fearful. Proverbs 16 and 25, it says that the way of a man seems right to him, the end is death. But the way of a man seems right to the eunuch, this decision seems logical.

If we make a mistake here, I'm going to pay the penalty. Ephesians 2 starts out by saying that we walk according to the course of this world. We walk in darkness. That's what he is still doing. Did I give Romans 1 to anybody?

I guess if you want to pull that out while we're talking. Romans 1 verses 20 to 22. The reality is that the world is influenced by perceptions that are defined by their own misunderstanding. You have to have that as a reality check.

Dealing with somebody in a spiritual matter, don't expect them to have a spiritual understanding that you do. The world does not understand. Man cannot understand the things of God. It's by the Holy Spirit.

And so this eunuch, he's conflicted right now. He sees something special about these four, but this path is important to him. Yeah, Romans 1, 20 to 22, please.

The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen and understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead. Okay, I'm going to stop you there.

This eunuch cannot deny the reality of Daniel and the other three because this guy gave them understanding and gave them compassion. This was a God-given manifestation, a God-given gift.

So go ahead and read. So that they are without excuse because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were they thankful, were thankful, but became vain in their imagination and their foolish heart was darkened.

There's going to be a reaction to the opportunities.

That are given to the world, and they're just not going to go there and you're going to say, this is foolishness. It should be so clear. But their eyes, their hearts are darkened. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul talks to the church about one of their mistakes.

They've got so many of them. But this one is that there are sexual, there's sexual sin within the congregation. And he gives a prescription on how to deal with that sexual sin within the congregation.

At the end of the chapter he says, by the way, the rest of the world who don't believe, this doesn't apply to them. God's insight is given to this chief of the eunuchs, but he is still in the world. He is still in the world.

And so what's going to happen now is the faith and the results of the faith are just going to be put on display amazingly. 11 to 13, please.

Faith on Display in the Ten-Day Test

Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Ishael, and Azariah,.

So now the eunuch is there. He's prevaricating a little bit. He has this understanding, a God-given understanding, but his reaction is, I don't think this is a really good idea, guys, because it's my head on the block.

And so the next faith on display.

Is. Daniel says, Oh, chief, give me 10 days. Give us 10 days. Talk about specific.

Daniel's faith was so strong, he knew what the outcome would be. He was assured. Absolutely. This is faith on display. Give me 10 days and let us drink only vegetables. Let us drink only water. And at the end of those 10 days, measure us against the rest of these young guys.

Wow. What an opportunity. Incredible faith. Romans 8 to 25. Janet, I'm going to ask if you would get that one ready. When your life is driven by faith, and I have to just, I pray for each one of us that that's who we are.

Our life is driven by faith. By the way, if you go to the end of chapter 6 of Ephesians, we've got the description of the armor that we put on. And as we go through the variations of the armor, the sword and spear is that offensive weapon, but we are told to pray.

And in that we're told to pray for one another. Our prayers should have everybody else's back as well. So here is Daniel now, getting very specific, 10 days and then let us be driven. So when your life is driven by faith, and when you seek after God's will, you're going to be willing to open yourself up to experiencing great things from God.

Being able to proclaim and claim God's blessings in a very specific way is a very great demonstration of the depth of your faith. And so he said, 10 days. That's all I need is 10 days. And at the end of the 10 days, see what there is.

Ephesians 1 talks about the greatness of the power of God working within you and having that power of faith. There was no way that, other than faith, there was no way that Daniel and his three friends could have foretold what would have happened.

They didn't have any experience, any lab tests or empirical data that says abstaining from the wine and eating just vegetables, in 10 days you're going to be, you're going to lose 30 pounds if you just take the stuff for 10 days.

They really didn't have that infomercial to rely on. Nutrisystem. Huh? Nutrisystem. Eat clean, bro.

But what they did have was faith. But what they did have was faith. Romans 8, 25. Janet? But if we look for what we do not see, we really wait for it with perseverance.

If you have this faith that God has given you a word and you act on that word, you don't have to see it yet, you just have to believe in it. Eagerly waiting for it. And that's where he's put himself now.

On the block for 10 days of faith. Now look at that. The power of faith is validated. Give me 14 to 20, please.

God’s Faithfulness Vindicated in Daniel’s Promotion

So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for 10 days. At the end of the 10 days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food.

So the steward took away their food and the wine that they were to drink and gave them vegetables. As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. And Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them. And among all of them, none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Therefore, they stood before the king. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them 10 times better than all of the magicians and the enchanters that were in all his kingdom.

And Daniel was there until the first years, King Cyrus.

Oh, my goodness. Isn't this amazing? Just starting out, that after 10 days, God did it. God did what he was going to do. They were better than all of the other youths. So there's some number of them who were eating the food and were drinking the wine.

It doesn't say that the others were in any way degraded. It doesn't say that. It just says that these four were so much stronger than all the rest. The eunuch accepted the test and after 10 days, they were better than the others.

And then I love verse 16. What does the chief of the eunuchs do? Took it away. He's no longer afraid of the king. He's no longer afraid of the king. He took it away. By the way, how long was this provision?

How long was this situation supposed to last? For three years. Three years. We're 10 days into three years. And because it says there that they were to be educated three years. And at the end of that, they were to stand before the king after eating the food, drinking the wine, being educated for three years.

Ten days is all it took. And the chief of the eunuchs was convinced. He told the steward, don't give him that anymore. Let him be. So whether there is a softening of the heart of the chief of the eunuchs, but it does not appear by the time you get to verse 16 that this guy is afraid of the king anymore.