In the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz- Dorthy’s famous words
are: “There’s no place like home, There’s no place like home!”
I think most of us would agree that there truly is no place quite like home. Vacations are wonderful, but there truly is nothing as good as returning home to the comfort of your own bed! But, what if you no longer had the option to return home?
Think about this scenario: You are forced to leave everything- your house, city, church, friends, family and anything familiar. After your departure, you are then told you can never return. What would this feel like? To be forced away from the familiar, away from what is comfortable. It immediately invokes fear in our minds; this is what it would feel like to be exiled.
As we read through the Old Testament, Exile and Captivity
seem to be pretty common events. On several occasions we see God’s people stripped
away from their homes, away from comfort and forced to live in a new culture:
In a place where they have no influence. Although these times and stories seem
frightening, they are also the most exciting, because during periods of exile, bold,
God fearing leaders are built and developed.
In the first chapter of Daniel, we see three truths arise
during a period of exile. Hopefully we never experience the kind of exile we read
about in the Old Testament; however, we are guaranteed to face challenges. But,
the good news is, we are not alone- we are all facing challenges together, and
this chapter shows a beautiful example of how we should trust the Lord during times
of trials and temptation.
Daniel 1: 1-3 - During the
third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 The
Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take
some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar took them
back to the land of Babylonia and placed them in the treasure-house of his god. Then the king
ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to bring to the palace some of the young
men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to
Babylon as captives.
I.
Truth
Number 1: Disaster Will Come
In the beginning of Daniel 1, Jerusalem was
taken captive. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon came and not only took several
sacred possessions; but he also took many young men captive.
This would be kind of like the President of
China coming to America (obviously with his larger army) and taking our entire
military captive and then going to all the Ivy League schools: Princeton,
Harvard, Yale… Texas A&M (ha)… and capturing America’s strongest, smartest,
most talented individuals. Pretty Scary!
What would you be thinking if you were one
of those individuals- forced away from your home? Well, this is exactly what
happened to Daniel, as he and several young men were taken away from their
homes and brought to Babylon.
There are times that we too feel
our own kind of exile. There will be a time that life takes something
comfortable, or someone familiar away from us; either by our own choice or maybe
by no choice at all. Maybe you are currently experiencing some kind of exile
and your heart is broken, confused, and scared. This is a truth for us all: TRUTH: Disaster
will Come!
Unfortunately the next truth is
not much happier.
In the beginning of our text, extreme measures
were taken to ensure these young Jewish men were stripped from their former
convictions & traditions. These men were forced to face difficult changes
and difficult choices- would they commit to the Lord, or would they conform
under the pressures and temptations of the new culture? Truth Number 2:
II.
Truth
Number 2: Temptation Will Come
Daniel
1:3-5
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to
bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other
noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives. “Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking
young men,” he said. “Make sure they are well versed in every branch of
learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve
in the royal palace. Train these young men in the language and literature of
Babylon. The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine
from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for three years, and then they
would enter the royal service.
As soon as Daniel and the other men were taken captive, they
experienced great pressure to become something that that they were not. Yet
still, Daniel was not willing to compromise who he was or who he served. He was
the Lord’s child and He was determined to serve only the Lord.
Skip down to vs. 8. Daniel 1:8
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.
Verse 8 is the most important verse in this text- if you
have your bible, highlight it or star it... This is where the story turns from
a story of bondage and captivity into something bigger-This is where the story
becomes a message about how God works
when His people trust Him.
Daniel didn’t put up a fight when he was given a new place to live or new clothing to wear, but, Daniel resolved (made up his mind) about who he would serve. Because Daniel had drawn a line, long before there was an issue, he knew where he stood and therefore, had the strength to say: No More, enough. I will not defile myself!
For Daniel the line was defiling his body by eating the King’s unclean food. (If you are wondering why that was a big deal read through Leviticus 11) Daniel knew that it was wrong for him to eat the king’s food, because it was not only unclean, but it had also been presented to other “gods.”
It is right here, in the temptation that we can relate. No matter how you were raised (in church or not) there comes a point when we have to decide for ourselves:
Are we going to conform and blend in with the surrounding culture or draw a line? There are times when the world’s table offers really appealing things. A dish at Morton’s Stake House sounds way better than a plate of carrots! But it is during these times that we must ask: What is my true desire?
Many of us try so hard to do the right thing. Even though we all know the difference between right and wrong, we haven’t resolved how we will live. Instead we have chosen to live in the middle. But when we live in the middle, we live in a constant battle of choosing which side to lean towards… We want to do right, but we can’t kill our appetite. There are some other things that look fun and appealing!
Knowing that the Lord’s offerings are eternal and this world’s are temporary, why then do we still fall into temptation? Because it is impossible to kill your appetite! You can’t kill it…. But you can replace it!!
Luke 9:23- Then
he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves
and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Our desires must be bigger than our denial….
I believe
there is a deeper desire beneath all our “cravings.” We all long to be loved
and accepted and most of all, we all want to serve a purpose! Did you know that
is exactly what Christ offers- Love, acceptance, and purpose!? He offers all
these things for eternity!
When we understand that Christ offers everything we truly desire, then our appetite for Jesus Christ will become so much bigger than any worldly appetite. This does not mean we will no longer crave the things of the world… Absolutely we will, but our desire for Christ becomes greater… The more we crave Christ, the easier it is to deny anything else.
We can’t
remove our appetite, but we can replace it with other desires… desires that are
greater than denials. It is no longer
about denying our cravings, but changing them!
So think about it for a minute… What is the world’s table currently offering you? Even if it only requires a small compromise … it will lead you astray from what your heart truly longs for.
So before the world even brings temptations to the table, we must be like Daniel and resolve (decide) what we truly want. For me, I want things that bring me closer to my Father.
I’m pretty sure Daniel decided how he would respond before he found himself in this predicament. When the King’s instructions were given, he didn’t even think about what to do, because he had already decided where he stood. Without hesitation, he went to the chief of staff and asked for permission to be exempt from eating the food- There was not debate.
There are great benefits from having your mind made up in advance. When we have already decided, we don’t have to anxiously debate! We won’t be tempted to compromise.
Today the Lord does not give us a list of do’s and don’ts, we can go wherever we’d like, do whatever we want, eat whatever we want, be around whoever we enjoy, but… we still need to think about how these things bring us closer to, or farther from who we are living for.
III.
Truth
Number 3: Faith & Discipline Are Required
Daniel 1: 12-16
“Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said. “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s food. Then make your decision in light of what you see.” The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king. So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food and wine provided for the others.
Daniel knew how to conduct himself. He didn’t make a big scene, but he respectfully requested to be heard and because Daniel was faithful, the Lord made him strong!
Take Aways
So what can we take away from these three points?
- Disaster will Come
- Temptation will Come
- Faith and Discipline are Required
