Dare to be Bold
Imagine with me, that you are
sitting at home studying for a test, or you are in your office at work, or at
the grocery store, or walking in the park, ok are you there hold that picture
in your mind. Now imagine that it also seems to be nothing but an ordinary day,
you’ve gone through your morning routine, had your coffee and looking at the
tasks ahead. It seems as though everything is just another day, when suddenly
men rush in and grab you, tie you up, and take you away from everything you
know. The next thing you know you’re in another country, an enemy of your home,
your name is changed, you are told that you must now follow a new set of laws,
culture, language, and lifestyle. But you are a believer and follower of God,
presented with two choices: Violate what you know is right in order to survive,
or take a stand against your captors and refuse to do anything that will
compromise your faith. You see four Jewish young men were faced with this exact
situation, well maybe they didn’t have coffee that day, but they were going
about their normal routine when they were invaded kidnaped and taken to
Babylon. The account is found in the first chapter of the book of Daniel. I
would like to look at these men and how they responded and then ask how we
would respond as well as how we learn from this and apply it to our lives
today.
The book opens in the third year
of Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah. Now the nation of Judah had been warned by God
that if they did not turn back to Him they would destroyed. In the third year
of Jehoiakim’s reign, God allowed Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to
invade and capture the city of Jerusalem. When the king invaded he ordered his
chief Ashpenaz to take some of the young men of Israel with him, men who were
of class or good looking, intelligent and healthy to serve in the king’s court.
These men were to be fed of the kings table and given of his wine. Three of
these men where named Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were renamed
Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego respectively.
It was the desire of the
Babylonia’s to brain wash the Jewish young men into living thinking and acting
like them and eventually destroying any remnant of who they were. Warren
Wiersbe writes:
The world does not like to recognize
the name of God, yet each of the four boys had God’s name in his own name.
Daniel (“God is my judge”) was changed to Belteshazzar (“Bel protect his
life”). Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. Hananiah (“Jehovah is gracious”)
became Shadrach (“the command of the moon god”); Mishael (“Who is like God?”)
became Meshach (“who is like Aku,” one of the heathen gods); and Azariah
(“Jehovah is my helper”) became Abed-nego (“the servant of Nego,” another
heathen god). The Babylonians hoped that these new names would help the youths
forget their God and gradually become more like the heathen people with whom
they were living and studying.[1]
It was the goal of the Babylonians was to
eliminate these men’s heritage, but they would not succeed. While their names
may have been changed these four young men refused to give up, they decided to
take a stand when they were offered meat and wine from the kinds table. Daniel
1:8 says: “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.” [2]
Daniel requested that he be given alternative food rather than what was
commanded by the king. You see he knew that the portion of the kings meant and wine
that was to be given to them had first been offered to idols and he was not about
to eat mean that was defiled by being offered to false gods. The text says that
Daniel found favor in the sight of Ashpenaz, who was afraid to defy the king,
and that when the king saw that Daniel and his friend were haggard in comparison
to those who did eat the food the king would kill him. Daniel then approaches
the overseer placed by Ashpenaz to supervise them, here’s what he said to him: “12 “Please test your
servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to
drink. 13 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.”[3]
The overseer listened and tested
them for 10 days and wouldn’t you know, after that ten days they looked better
than any of the others. The overseer was impressed and decided to continue
giving them what they asked for, vegetables and water. Verse 17 tells us that
God caused them to grow in knowledge and intelligence in all literature and
wisdom, Daniel was even able to understand dreams and visions. When the time
came for them to be presented before Nebuchadnezzar hers what happened, “19 The king talked with
them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and
Azariah; so they entered the king’s personal service. 20 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.”[4] Wow the goal of the king had been to destroy
who these men were and rebuild them, but they put their faith in God and
trusted Him to protect them. They knew who their King was, and the man who sat
on the throne in Babylon was not Him, their King was God and He blessed their
faith and determination.
How does this apply to you, well think with me for a moment
about our world. In the United States, it is becoming increasingly unpopular to
say that you are a Christian or even mention the name of God unless it is in
the form of an expletive, even more so in other nations. When we talk about God
it is viewed as nothing more than outdated rhetoric and a waste of time, or we
are accused of forcing our religion on people just because we share our opinion
or state what we believe. Already in the U.S. teachers can be fired for talking
about God, or student can be suspended, or ridiculed for wearing clothing that
states their belief, carrying a Bible, or even praying at lunch. If you talk
about your faith in the work place you risk being threatened with losing your
job or being fired on the spot, laughed at when you say it is more important to
be in church on Sunday than to come into work. What then do we do? Shall we go
into hiding as has seemed to be happening more and more in our society, making
ourselves appear more like unbelievers, talk like them, dress like them, bend
our beliefs to make them feel welcome? As the Apostle Paul would say, “May it
never be!” We must be bold! Daniel and his friends could have simply gone along
with what they were told, they could have immersed themselves in the Babylonian
culture and forgotten who they were, but they did not. These men chose to stand
apart from the crowd and stand with God and trust Him. Are you willing to do
the same?
In the book of Mathew Jesus says this, “14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill
cannot be hidden; 15 nor
does anyone light a lamp and put it
under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the
house. 16 Let your light
shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify
your Father who is in heaven.”[5] How
then can we read this and then ignore it? This command comes directly from
Jesus Christ, we are to be a light to the world! That means that when someone
talks to us, if we truly believe in Christ it should be Him that is seen rather
than ourselves. So often today we are told we need to be accepting of people who
don’t agree with us, and if we don’t accept them then we hate them and are
sinning by not loving them. Let me tell you something, God loves every single
person on this earth, those alive, dead, and yet to be born, but God does not
love their sin. The Bible tell us first that not “21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is
in heaven.”[6], and
second that the unrighteous will not enter heaven, read the words of Paul in 2
Corinthians:
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10
nor thieves, nor the
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom
of God. 11 Such were some
of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.[7]
We cannot live by this new fad of
loving everyone, and changing who we are to make people feel welcome. Yes,
everyone who enters the doors of our churches or comes to us personally should
be greeted with kindness, compassion and love, but we must not make the mistake
of affirming or accepting their sin. Part of loving someone is telling them
when they are going the wrong way. When I was growing up, I despised the times
my parents would sit me down and tell me that what I was doing was wrong, but
they did not do it because they wanted to condemn me, offend me or hurt me,
they did it because they loved me. You see loving someone does not mean telling
them their lifestyle is ok, its showing them what God says about it and then befriending
them the best you can while being a light. We cannot afford to keep hiding our
faith, our trust must be in God. We must stand firm just as Daniel. No matter
the cost, we must not be afraid to offend people with our faith, because Jesus
Christ and the Bible will offend unbelievers. We cannot water down what the
Bible says, rather we must proclaim it with boldness, but with boldness,
compassion. Remember like Paul says some of us were like them at one time to,
so why would you not want them to experience grace the way you did? Don’t be
afraid of consequences because if your faith is in God and His Son Jesus
Christ, then no matter what happens you will be protected. Yes, hard times may
come but Christ tells us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness.”[8]
I leave you with this challenge:
Over the next weeks continually pray that God would provide you opportunities
to be a light for Him to those around you, to be a Daniel. I caution you through,
praying this may take you out of your comfort zone, and test the substance of
your faith. Will you choose to one of the other Jewish youths that was taken?
OR will you choose to be like Daniel and stand strong in what you believe and
be a light for Christ to those around you? The choice is yours what will you
choose?
Josuah 24:15 “Chose this day whom you
will serve”
I would encourage you to listen to the following song from the Hamilton Family
[1] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Da 1:1–7.
[2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Da 1:8.
[3] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Da 1:12–13.
[4] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Da 1:19–20.
[5] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Mt 5:13–16.
[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016), Mt 7:21.
[7] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 1 Co 6:9–11.
[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016), 2 Co 12:9.
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