Daniel Part One Dive

BEHIND ENEMY LINES : GOD’S PROTECTION IN EXILE

This is not a holiday! When you read the Book of Daniel, you’re not reading the account of a man who loves to travel and experience other cultures. Daniel and his three friends are not feeling honoured to be chosen by the Babylonian King to serve in his palace. This is not an exchange student experience, this is exile. Belteshazzar, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah are Israelite young men that are now prisoners of war.

As you read Daniel, read the heartache of four Israelite boys that, by Jewish standards, were in the enemy’s camp and had been abandoned by God. Exile. It began when Israel was taken captive and was fully completed when Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, destroyed Jerusalem and took the remnant of Judah with him. The Temple of God, containing His presence, was destroyed. The house of the glory of God was gone. The City of God, beautiful Jerusalem, the land of promise was in the hands of the enemy. We have read the Old Testament, the accounts written in Genesis to Chronicles; we celebrated with Abram as he was given the promise of the land, we waited forty years with Moses to enter the land, we cheered with Joshua as he finally entered, we sweated with David as he fought all of the enemies to conquer the promised land. We stood in awe of Solomon as he built the Temple, the House of God. We saw the ‘golden years’ of the nation of God as they took their promise. This is their history, ancestry, building their homes, their families, their nation, the people of God. And now it was all gone! Exile was a word that made the Israelites tremble. And after hundreds of years of warning from the prophets of God, it was here. Their rebellion, their corruption, they’re allowing of the enemy’s way into their lives, their marriages and their culture. God had punished them for allowing the idolatry of foreign gods to infiltrate their life and they became immersed in it. The very thing that sent them into exile became the life they lived.

When you read the first chapter of Daniel, read it like a Jewish person would! Let’s check it out:

D 1:3-4 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility – young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace.

Did you see the background of the four boys? They were from Israelite royal family and nobility. They were leading young men in their nation but now they were being trained and educated as a Babylonian, their Jewish names (their very identity!) changed for Babylonian ones. Their clothes, their dress, their food all chosen for them now. They had lost the right to make their own choices and they were slowly losing the very thing that made them Hebrew. But Daniel and his friends kept God at the centre of their lives.

In certain things and on certain points they remained strong: what food they would eat, what gods they would worship. As you read this book, highlight when they stand for God and when they are happy to change their culture–it is a very interesting study!

holding to hope

The opening chapter of Daniel is heart-breaking; remember they were prisoners of war. But in the midst of the worst circumstances that they could imagine, there are verses of hope. And knowing the history and thought of exile for a Jewish person, these verses blow my mind.

I cannot believe that these words are so boldly declared into a hopeless situation. They are subtle declarations, but they are counter-cultural. It is beyond mercy, it is compassion and sovereignty at its highest. It is the moment that the Book of Daniel screams, “My God is in control even when everything goes wrong!” Let me show you the profound verses that go against the very nature of exile. Remember ‘exile’ means that God’s Spirit has left, the house of God is gone, they are in a ‘time-out’ and therefore God, who was very cranky with them, shouldn’t be with them. But wait–he was!

Open your Bible to Daniel and highlight these verses:

D 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. Now God had caused the official to show favour and compassion to Daniel.

Wait a second did that say, “God had caused”? Yes, it did. But that means God is with the Israelites even in exile? Yes, it does! TYB, at times we feel like God is only with us when we are doing things right, attending church every Sunday, but God is not limited to our earthly concept of faithfulness. He is faithful when we are not! See over and over again God had told them that exile would be their future if they continued on the path of disobedience and rebellion but also over and over again in the midst of these prophecies, God had promised that He would never give up on the covenant and He would be faithful.

Lamentations 3:22-23 The LORD’S loving kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

god remained with them

And in Daniel, God showed again and again how He was with these men while they were in exile. Let me show you some more verses:

D 1:17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning.

Not only did God give them favour and compassion, He gave them wisdom in their education. But it continues…

D 1:17b And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

God gave Daniel visions and dreams. What? He is dreaming God visions and dreams in exile! And in Daniel 7-12, we get to see how incredible they were. No matter where you find yourself, God is always in control and faithful!

And He didn’t stop here, He was with them in the fire, He was with them in the lion’s den, so much so that the King declared an edict to worship their God. As they followed God and stood for Him, God saved them, protected them and made them ten times stronger, fitter, wiser than anyone else (check out Daniel 1:20).

As you read the Book of Daniel, I want you to highlight each time the word ‘God’ is mentioned, because knowing the history and where they are, this is a miracle! The Bible story declares God’s sovereignty; before they took the promised land, God was in control, in taking the promised land God was in control, in exile God was in control, after exile God remained in control.

As you read Daniel be encouraged; no matter what life throws at you, you can trust in God’s favour, compassion, wisdom, protection and guidance to be with you. You will be counted amongst the greats like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, Mordecai and Esther, who did incredible things for God and for His people in the enemy’s camp.

recommended

An Introduction to the Old Testament

Daniel part One

Galatians part Two