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Faith Under Fire

SERIES: Standing Firm #1 of 6

2006-09-10

PRODUCTION #: 1031

SPEAKER: Shawn Boonstra

Imagine being suddenly ripped away from your home and transplanted to a place that completely contradicts everything you stand for. Even worse, the pressure to accept things you were never raised to believe is overwhelming. And nobody understands it when you want to stand for something you still believe in.

Well, that is exactly how many people are feeling in today's world. The unbelievably rapid pace of social change is making people feel like they are living in a different place than the world they were born in. Values are being redefined. So what do you do? How do you resist dramatic social change when you are not convinced it's for the better? And what do you do when the world around you no longer believes like you do?

Stay tuned, because today, we explore an ancient story that holds the key to standing firm while everything else is shifting madly.

He was just 18 years old when they came for him. His once-beautiful city was completely wiped out. The homes were in smoldering ruins, and the people were bound in chains and dragged off to a strange land, a place where they spoke a strange language and had even stranger customs.

And the uncanny thing was, they all knew it was coming, because it was dramatic fulfillment of an old prediction made by Isaiah the prophet years before it happened. In Second Kings, chapter 20, verse 17, Isaiah predicted:

"'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the Lord."

It all happened exactly the way Isaiah said. Some time between 606 and 605 B.C., the Babylonian armies descended on the royal city of Jerusalem and laid it to waste. And because Daniel was a member of the royal family, he was one of those who were carried away in chains. They were forced to march hundreds of miles across the desert to the city of Babylon. It was a humiliation that was much worse than first meets the eye, because not only was the royal house stripped of everything it had and its members subjected to the shame of slavery, but with every step toward Babylon, the Jewish captives were being forced to retreat over the path their father Abraham had taken hundreds of years earlier.

It was like they were being sent back home. With every step, they were reminded that they had broken favor with God, and it was almost as if God was sending His intended bride back to her father because she was unfaithful. It was a moment of profound national humiliation.

Now, the Bible doesn't tell us much about the march to Babylon, but we know Daniel made that march, and he wasn't much older than 18 years old. He was headed for a life of mandatory service in the home of a pagan king. When most young men would be starting their adult lives, he was on his way to becoming nothing but a slave. He had absolutely nothing to look forward to.

And yet, as bad as that was, things could have been a whole lot worse for Daniel, because he could have been put to work in the fields or forced to do slave labor in a rock quarry.

But instead, the Bible tells us he was given duties in the palace of the king. Not a bad break for a young prisoner. And one of the first things he was asked to do was graduate from the Royal University of Babylon. And compared to slave labor, that sounds pretty good.

It was all part of King Nebuchadnezzar's master plan for world domination. He knew that one of the best ways to rule conquered people was to assimilate them as quickly as possible into his own culture. So he took the brightest and the best, and put them through his own universities so that they would learn to think like a Babylonian.

That way, once they had essentially become Babylonians, he could put them in charge of their own conquered people, and that would make life easier for everybody.

Now, if you think about it, that was a brilliant plan, because not only did Nebuchadnezzar get to harvest the learning of all his conquered people, but he also had a special task force of foreign rulers that would help him make the conquered people toe the line. Over time, he knew that the people of Israel would become just like everyone else in Babylon, and that was his best insurance against a popular uprising. Rather than isolate and alienate the Israelites, his plan was to absorb them into the empire. It was a brilliant plan, and it's one that's still being used today.

You see, that's exactly how sin works. It's much easier for the devil to absorb people into the kingdom of darkness by changing the way they think than it is to fight them tooth and nail all the time. And so while the evil angels love to persecute God's people, they would much rather absorb them peacefully into their own ranks, because it's easier to control people who think like you do.

And that was the whole point of the Babylonian education program. Here is how the Bible tells the story in the Book of Daniel, chapter one, beginning in verse three. The Bible says (Daniel 1:3, 4 NKJV):

"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."

Daniel obviously exhibited some special qualities, because he was handpicked to live in the palace. Not only did he have the right kind of pedigree, but he also had the right kind of intelligence, the kind of sharp thinking that would make him very useful to the king.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I had to pull slave duty in a foreign country, I think I would find the palace pretty appealing compared to hard-working sweat houses with questionable living conditions. Given the choice between making bricks all day or attending the best schools in the land, I think the choice would be pretty simple. Give me the palace any day of the week.

But, you know, the Bible reveals that in spite of the "cushy" living conditions, Daniel really didn't have it very easy. In fact, in some ways, he faced greater challenges in the palace of the king than he would have out in the fields.

Listen carefully to what the Bible says in Daniel, chapter one, beginning now in verse five (Daniel 1:5 NKJV):

"And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king."

Now think this through carefully. For three long years, the prisoners got their meals from the royal kitchen, prepared by some of the finest chefs in the world. They were given the best education money could buy. They lived in relative luxury.

So, you would think that Daniel would wipe his brow with a sigh of relief, thankful that his prison sentence wasn't any worse. But even at his young age, with uncommon wisdom, Daniel could see past the luxurious banquets and the silk-lined pillows, and he recognized that what the king really wanted was to change everything he stood for. The king wanted to turn him into a Babylonian.

Bit by dangerous bit, they started to strip away everything that made the Hebrews what they were.

One of the first things they did, for example, was to give everyone a new name. Now, in our day and age, that doesn't seem like such a bad thing, because people change their names all the time.

My own father changed his name when he emigrated from Europe to Canada, because he wanted a Canadian sounding name.

But in the ancient world, to change your name was to change your character. Your name wasn't just a label. It was a representation of who you were and what you stood for. So your parents chose your name very carefully, because they believed that whatever they named you would chart the course of your life. They believed that your name would help to shape your character, and a good name would give you a better chance at a good life.

So if the king of Babylon wanted to change your character, if he wanted to make you less Hebrew and more Babylonian, one of the first things he would do is change your name. And that's exactly what he did to Daniel. Reading now from Daniel one, verse six (Daniel 1:6, 7 NKJV):

"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, Abed-Nego."

Now originally, Daniel's name meant, "God is my judge." Hananiah meant "Jehovah (or Yahweh) is gracious." Mishael means "the one who belongs to God," and Azariah means "Jehovah helps." Every one of those boys had been named for the special attributes of God. And because the king didn't want them to remember their Hebrew religion, he stripped away their names and gave them the names of pagan Babylonian gods instead.

Daniel became Belteshazzar, which has the name of the pagan god "Bel" in it, and it probably means, "Bel will protect the king's life." Azariah was named "Abednego," which means "servant of the god Nabu."

You see, the kingdom of Babylon won its biggest battles, not on the literal battlefield, but in the human mind. Its strongest weapon was its ability to assimilate people into its philosophy and culture.

Now, that's the reason you find the city of Babylon all through Bible prophecy. It is a powerful symbol of religious confusion?and especially the religious confusion of the last days.

The Book of Revelation, for example, talks about people being drunk with the wine of Babylon, which means that they've become so immersed in false teachings and bad philosophy that they become like a drunk person, whose moral judgments are seriously impaired. They have absorbed so much of the teachings of Babylon that they can no longer think for themselves.

The ancient empire of Babylon was literally built on the ruins of the tower of Babel. If you remember that Bible story, you'll remember that after the flood, the human race became very arrogant and began to build a monument to its own greatness. When that happened, God put a stop to it by confusing human language. And to this day, the word "Babel" or "Babylon" means unintelligible nonsense or gibberish.

That's why we still say, for example, that someone who doesn't make sense is "babbling," and that's also the reason we call a little person who can't speak a "baby." It all comes from the word "Babylon". It means "confusion," and the Bible uses it as a powerful symbol for mixed-up thinking and religious confusion.

Let me give you a specific example from the Book of Revelation. In Revelation, chapter 14, verse eight, the Bible speaks of a special end time message that goes to all the world. Here is what it says in Revelation 14, verse eight (Revelation 14:8 NKJV):

"And another angel followed, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.'"

Now this prophecy can't possibly be referring to the literal ancient city of Babylon, because that's been gone for centuries. And in the last part of Isaiah 13, God says that Babylon will never be rebuilt.

So this special end-time message must be addressed to a "spiritual" Babylon, all the citizens of the world who find themselves in a state of religious confusion. Babylon, the Bible says, has made everybody drunk and confused. It's a sad picture of where our human race is heading.

And in the opening chapter of the Book of Daniel, that's exactly the issue Daniel was facing. In Daniel, chapter one, we catch a little glimpse of what we are going to face as time moves on.

The kingdom of Babylon was trying to woo Daniel into a different lifestyle. They gave him a different name, and they even tried to change his diet, because the ancient Babylonians understood something that we are just starting to understand today, you really ARE what you eat.

Take a good look at the story of Daniel. It says that Daniel was supposed to eat from the king's table. But some of the items on the menu were clearly prohibited by scripture, and others were offered and dedicated to pagan gods.

Now, in the context of ancient eastern culture, where meals were a very powerful social symbol, Daniel would have been endorsing the king's entire way of life if he joined him at the royal table.

And as if that weren't reason enough, on top of that, the king's table was also probably a very rich diet, which would start to cloud Daniel's keen sense of judgment, making it easier and easier to slip across the line into Babylonian living.

Daniel understood something we are just starting to understand today, a consistently rich diet isn't good for your health. It not only clogs the arteries of your heart, but it also clogs the arteries to your brain. And so, there's a distinct possibility that as your cardiovascular health begins to suffer, your mental stamina will start to give way, too.

So against all odds, Daniel does something very unusual. In the lap of luxury, he chooses a life of simplicity. Here's what the Bible says in Daniel one and verse eight: (Daniel 1:8 NKJV)

"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the 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."

Now, just try to imagine the kind of courage this took. Daniel is only 17 or 18 years old, and he's been through one of the worst experiences of his life. He saw the destruction of his city. He saw his people chained, beaten, and slaughtered. He was dragged halfway around the world to a strange city, and now suddenly, he finds himself thrown into the lap of luxury.

And somehow, he still finds the courage to say "no." He decides that he won't do anything that might cloud his judgment, compromise his relationship with God, or jeopardize his eternal life.

And it's at this point in the story that you and I discover ourselves. As we find ourselves thrown into the lap of modern luxury, immersed in modern Babylonian culture, do we have the same kind of resolve that Daniel had to stem the tide of corruption?

That's a pretty good question, because the pace of change in today's world is unbelievable. Morals have been thrown out the window. On a daily basis, we are bombarded with the temptation to conform to popular culture, much of which is in direct opposition to the Word of God.

And you know, the amazing thing is that it was all predicted in the book of Revelation. Listen now from Revelation, chapter 18, beginning in verse three. It is written: (Revelation 18:3, 4 NKJV)

"'For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.' And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.'"

There is a call that goes out to the modern world to stand as true as Daniel. And there is more at stake than just a few good times and a few good meals. Someone is trying to get you to compromise your convictions and wander away from God into the banquet hall of sin. A fallen angel offers you all the wonders of the world if you'll just bow before him.

But if you hold fast, stubbornly clinging to Jesus, you can walk away from the banquet table of temptation and live a life with no regrets.

The Bible says that Daniel had to work hard to convince the palace to put him on a simple diet of vegetables and water. But in the end, because of his firm resolve, he was allowed to do it.

"Just let me try for 10 days," he said, "and see for yourself if there is no difference!"

And at the end of 10 days, he was in better shape and much smarter than anybody else. He was at the top of the class.

You see, it never pays to compromise. The fleeting joys of a few little indulgences can produce a rip in your character that's tough to fix. But the struggle of standing for God against the onslaught of modern Babylonian culture will produce an inner strength and peace of mind that's hard to beat. The world will notice that you are different, that you stand head and shoulders above the crowd, and that you seem to live in the very atmosphere of heaven.

So today, as you contemplate the story of Daniel, God is challenging you. Maybe you remember that old kid's song, "Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone." Now, that's a pretty good song, except for one little thing. When you stand for God, you never really stand alone. His promise is that He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Today, I know you find yourself in a rapidly changing world. Values are changing, and the things that used to be important, nobody cares about anymore. The world is saying that nothing is right and nothing is wrong, and that everything's just a matter of personal taste.

But in your heart, you sense that's just not true. There is a part of you that remembers what life was like when people still believed, and you know that you would like to stand up for what's right. You have a burning desire to never cave in.

The story of Daniel tells you that you can do it. Against all odds, you really can stand for God. If only more people had a "Daniel approach" to life, maybe this world wouldn't be in the compromised moral mess it finds itself in. If men and women with the call of God in their lives would stand against the tide of spiritual Babylon, with a rugged determination to stand on the Word of God, maybe we wouldn't be living in the moral swamp in which we find ourselves.

So today, what will you do? Will you test yourself? Maybe today you can hear the voice of Jesus calling you to stand firm while you live in last-day Babylon. You sense that He's leading you to something better. You feel His touch on your life, and you crave the kind of quiet inner strength that an 18-year-old kid had in the palace of a pagan king.

Why don't we pray together and ask God for just that?

PRAYER:
Father in heaven, give us the strength to purpose in our hearts, like Daniel of old, to stand true for you. As the world around us puts pressure on us to change, to compromise our values, remind us of how close heaven really is, how real it all is, and how Jesus promises to stand by our side. We know that one day, when Jesus comes back, we will find ourselves in a position 10 times better than anything this world has to offer. So Father, strengthen our hearts, and give us resolve to stand true for the kingdom of God. For we pray it today in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Scriptures Used in “Faith Under Fire”

"'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the Lord."
—2 Kings 20:17 NKJV

"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."
—Daniel 1:3, 4 NKJV

"And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king."
—Daniel 1:5 NKJV

"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, Abed-Nego."
—Daniel 1:6, 7 NKJV

"And another angel followed, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.'"
—Revelation 14:8 NKJV

"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the 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."
—Daniel 1:8 NKJV

"'For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.' And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.'"
—Revelation 18:3, 4 NKJV