This week I completed a group study of the book of Daniel, in the company of a number of my subscribers (you know who you are).
I have extensively studied and written about the first half of Daniel in the past, including two chapters about Daniel and his three friends in my book Scripture Comes to Life: Reflections on Biblical Wisdom in Everyday Experience.
My recent study, with the help of Beth Moore’s rigorous curriculum, enabled me to delve into the second, intensely prophetic half of the book of Daniel, providing me with much more to think about regarding our lives in contemporary Babylon as we move toward the end of the age of grace.
I will those new insights next time. In the meantime, it seems appropriate to revisit my previous studies and elaborate with new insights gained.
The Cast of Characters
The stories of the early chapters of Daniel are captivating in plot, character, action, and scope. Lovers of God over the centuries have taken encouragement from the example set by Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Daniel and his three friends were among those exiled from Judea to Babylon when King Nebuchadnezzar seized control of Jerusalem. This fulfilled the earlier prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah concerning the consequences of the Hebrew peoples’ unrepentant idolatry and rebellion against their God.
These four boys had been members of the Israelite royal court, the cream of the crop, “young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace” (1:4).
Living in the palace provided what Beth Moore calls friendly captivity, warning us to beware of succumbing to lives of friendly captivity to the system of our world.
What Nebuchadnezzar didn’t figure on was that these particular exiles had already been claimed by the one true God and had pledge their loyalty to them. Let that be said of us as well.
Six tests encountered by these Hebrew youth stand out and prove they were true and blameless followers of the one true God. This makes them eminently worthy of imitating as we encounter similar tests of our own.
Test #1: Purity
Nebuchadnezzar expected his Hebrew captives to conform to his “exalted” Babylonian culture, including their rich, non-Kosher diet.
Daniel resolved in his heart “that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank” (1:8), and his friends agreed. After ten days of consuming a plain diet of vegetables and water, the boys looked healthier than those who ate the king’s food. They were granted unusual permission to keep to this regimen.
The text doesn’t reveal the reason for their self-imposed dietary restrictions, but we trust that they were spiritually motivated. Daniel believed that this simple diet was essential to protect him from defilement. He trusted that God would help him to maintain his purity, and he did.
OUR TEST
Many inside and outside the church have strong ideas about food, what we should and should not eat, and why. While diet is a crucial aspect of the stewardship of our bodies, this is not a primary test of purity as it was for Daniel, because as New Testament believers, we are not bound by religious dietary restrictions. Jesus (and, later, Peter and Paul) confirmed that purity is a matter of the heart, and not dependent on what we eat.
If it is not primarily about food for us, what are the elements of contemporary Western culture that compromise and interfere with our purity before God?
It is typically what we see and hear that is blatantly or subtly immoral, corrupt, or perverse. We can become so desensitized to profanity, barbarity, violence, and pornography that we don’t even realize it is defiling us.
When we experience spiritual conviction to turn away from this kind of content, isn’t our purity being tested?
Do we fear being excluded or ostracized if we are not up on the trending shows on Netflix or partake in scandalous aspects of the cultural conversation?
Daniel and his pals didn’t seem to care about that. Their priority was to stand before God with no shame. Can we courageously do the same?
Test #2: Spiritual knowledge
King Nebuchadnezzar had a puzzling dream he wanted interpreted. He demanded that the magicians and wise men not only interpret the dream, but tell the dream itself, which they deemed impossible. Nebuchadnezzar became enraged and threatened to kill all of his advisors if they couldn’t meet his demands.
Daniel heard of this and implored his three friends to pray with him, asking “the God of the heavens for mercy concerning this mystery” (2:18) to spare their lives. Their prayers were answered and Daniel was able to tell the king both the dream and its interpretation. Daniel passed the test, trusting Almighty God to give the knowledge and understanding necessary to accomplish what seemed an impossible assignment.
OUR TEST
If we desire to influence others for Christ, we must pray, as Daniel did, that the Lord would give us spiritual discernment and wisdom. We often look to and trust the wrong sources of information, sources with greedy motives, sources that covet power more than truth.
When under pressure, we must attend to the Holy Spirit and the word of God for wisdom and knowledge. Trusting God to give us the revelation we need may not be the easy way, but it is the right way. That’s why it is a test.
Test #3: Worship
The king set up a gargantuan likeness of himself and commanded that whenever music was heard in the land, all citizens must bow down and worship the statue. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego adamantly refused. Their civil disobedience got them thrown into a furnace so hot that it burned up the soldiers that threw them in, but miraculously, they were completely unharmed.
They passed their test, rejecting idolatry and worshipping only Almighty God. Their devotion was rewarded with their rescue and it served as a powerful witness to the king that there is only one true God.
OUR TEST
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went beyond trust God to rescue them from the flames. They declared that even if God did not rescue them, they would die before they would bow down to any idol. This is a courageous choice that God promises to bless. Temptation and testing in this area are ubiquitous but can be subtle enough that even mature believers are deceived.
We may not bow down to statues, but don’t we often divide our affection for God with
so many other loves in our lives—possessions, activities, ministries, relationships, entertainments? Doesn’t he often get a paltry share of our time and devotion? Aren’t we tested daily to choose worshipping God when surrounded by an array of other colorful, shiny options?
Test #4: Speaking truth to power
Nebuchadnezzar had another dream, this time he knew who to call for the interpretation. To Daniel’s dismay, the interpretation God revealed was extremely unfavorable to the king. The dream prophesied the king descending into madness and wandering in the wilderness like a beast because of his unwillingness to humble himself.
This tyrant was known to kill servants for any reason or no reason. Daniel could have watered down or changed the interpretation to protect himself. But with respect and humility, Daniel shared God’s revelation fully and clearly.
Daniel passed the prophet’s test. His words came true precisely. After wandering about like a crazy, wild animal, Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity was restored, and he returned to praise Almighty God, the God of Daniel.
OUR TEST
Thankfully, there has been a shift in our culture recently that has somewhat restored free speech for Christians with strong convictions, but we still navigate a very hostile political environment.
Due to alternative media and the courage of individuals like Charlie Kirk, we can be inspired and emboldened to speak openly about the exclusivity of Christ, the crippling reality of sin, the biblical definitions of marriage and sexuality, and the sanctity of preborn life, from God’s perspective. We can share how we connect our faith to important issues in the political and cultural realm.
We still might be cancelled, harassed, threatened, shouted down, or slandered. Jesus told us this would happen. His people rejected him and executed him on a tree without a proper trial. We can expect to be hated as he was hated.
Will we nevertheless speak clearly on these matters of justice, truth, and mercy, no matter the status of the members of our audience?
We represent his kingdom and his gospel and accept whatever consequences may come. We courageously use our voices, knowing that the truth and power of Jesus is working through us.
Test #5: Integrity
Belshazzar was in some ways more perverse and despicable than his father, Nebuchadnezzar. One evening, while the king and his friends feasted and drank from holy vessels looted from the temple in Jerusalem, a disembodied hand appeared and wrote an indecipherable message on the palace wall.
Belshazzar called Daniel and spoke flattering words, promising that Daniel would be “clothed in purple, have a gold chain around his neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom” (5:7) if Daniel could read the message. Daniel did not succumb to the temptation of power, prestige, and wealth. He said, simply, “You may keep your gifts and give your rewards to someone else” (5:17). Daniel passed the test of integrity, big time.
OUR TEST
When we speak for God, we can’t allow ourselves to be bought for a worldly price. Instead, we find our satisfaction in faithfully executing God’s assignments, whether or not anyone is watching or rewarding us.
To pass the many tests of integrity that come, we must never look for moral shortcuts, intentionally deceive or cheat, or make excuses when we fall short of God’s standards. We don’t exploit others for our own gain. This testing happens nearly every day, throughout our entire lives.
Test #6: Discipline
Daniel kept the holy habit of praying to God three times a day. Knowing this, jealous rivals on the king’s staff convinced the king to forbid prayer to anyone but himself. The consequence for disobeying this order was to be thrown to the lions.
Daniel, hearing this, went to his room and prayed as usual. He was thrown into the lions’ den, but they did him no harm. In the morning, he testified to the king, “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths; and they haven’t harmed me, for I was found innocent before him” (6:22). Daniel kept his spiritual disciplines in place even under threat of death.
OUR TEST
There are as many ways to practice spiritual disciplines as there are believers. The test here is to be consistent and diligent in whatever personal convictions we hold.
We ask ourselves, What is important to me in my devotion to Christ? What will cause me to grow and bear fruit? What practices will help me love God and people more and more?
For some, disciplines are simple and unstructured. Others are stricter and more regimented. We aren’t to judge one another’s choices regarding these disciplines. But we are to honor God daily with our own spiritual disciplines, and not be intimidated or pressured to abandon them.
**********
I pray this summation of the virtues observed in the lives of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their application to our lives is helpful to you. Let us not be deceived into friendly captivity to this world and its spiritually sick value systems.
Stay tuned next week for the exploration and application of Daniel’s story and prophecies to 20th-century, current, and future events.
