Verse by verse teaching - Daniel 1:18-19 "Standing Before Kings"

Daniel chapter 1 verses 18 and 19, the title of the message this morning is "Standing Before Kings." "Standing Before Kings." After many Jewish men were taken captive to serve the king of Babylon, there were only four men, as we've learned, we're studying verse by verse in the book of Daniel. And we've learned that only four men were determined to obey God's word while living among the godless Babylonians. And those men were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. And we have been following the amazing story of these four men during their captivity. And the story continues now this morning, bringing us into verse 18, "At the end of the days that the king had said he should bring these captives in." Look with me now in verse 18, the Bible says, "Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in." Don't get confused here. The past few weeks we've been learning about the ten days that they're going to eat the vegetables and drink the water because they refused to eat the king's meat. And the end of the days here is not talking about the ten days that these men were eating only vegetables and drinking only water. He's talking about the three years of training that King Nebuchadnezzar required these captives to undergo before they could enter into his kingdom service. Look back with me if you would in Daniel chapter 1, Daniel chapter 1, verse 4 and 5. It says, "The king took captive, 'children in whom was no blemish, but well favored and skillful in all wisdom and cunning in knowledge and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.' And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years that at the end thereof they might stand before the king." So roughly three years now has taken place between verse 17 where we were last week and verse 18 where we are this morning. And what were these captives doing for the past three years? Verse 4 says, "They were being taught the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans." For three years they were basically attending the Chaldean University, which included but was not limited to learning the Chaldean language. Now this was a tough regimented school. Going to college is hard enough but learning a new language at the same time must have been very, very difficult. When they graduated this three-year academy, they would have been able to speak Chaldean fluently because they would have had to be able to stand before the king and address the king in his own language. And the king is not going to want them to sound like someone that calls us, that we call when we try to get help on the way down the 1-800 line. I always know they're in another country because they call me Richard. Yes, how can I help you Richard? So not only was this a culture shock for these Jewish men, and not only was it difficult for them to have been forced from their homes, but this must have been a very challenging three years academically for them as well. To understand this book as we should, we must understand how difficult the past three years have been for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. In understanding how difficult these times were for them, we must remember that the challenges they faced were written to help us endure the challenges we face. So anytime God tells the story of the patriarchs, He's telling the story of the people who live today. It's our story. These men endured three long, hard years. Look back in your text, "And then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar." Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon who took them captive to be his servants in the first place. This is probably the first time we've ever laid eyes on him. And the name Nebuchadnezzar means, "May Nebo protect the crown." "May Nebo protect the crown." You see that N-E-B-U at the first of Nebuchadnezzar? That's in reference to the god Nebo who also was called Nabu or Nabu. So Nebuchadnezzar or Nebo-kad-nezzar. But he was called Nebo and also Nabu. And he was the Babylonian and the Assyrian god of learning. Learning. The god of education, of letters. If there was one thing the Babylonians valued, it was a good education. Which is why these men had to be educated in a Chaldean institution before they stood before the king. "Nebuchadnezzar may Nebo or Nabu, the god of learning, protect the king's crown." Education has its place. But learning about the world pales in comparison to learning about the god who created it. Understand, the Babylonians turned the knowledge of the world into a god. "May Nebo, the god of learning, protect the king's crown." The Babylonians turned the knowledge of the world into a god. And in so doing, they failed to learn about the god who made the world. And this is a common mistake that nations make. We see it all the time. We've seen it here in our own nation. Where we make education to be the god, where the diploma becomes the end-all achievement for man. And where we belittle anyone that doesn't have an education. And then that becomes the god. And if you don't believe our concept of evolution, then you're just not educated. You're still ignorant. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 21 through 24. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 21 through 24. "For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God." Isn't that amazing? In God's wisdom, like a chess player, he's so many steps ahead of the world. In the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom, meaning godless wisdom. Their so-called wisdom, their worldly wisdom. By their wisdom, the world doesn't know God. So he says, "For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." God says, "Okay, you people are going to make a god out of education. You people are going to make a god out of all your philosophies that you have. You people are going to make a god out of all your secular learning. And you're going to deny me and say, 'We'll learn about the world.' And in so doing, you don't know about the God who made the world. So if this is wisdom to you, then I'll use the foolishness of preaching to save people that believe the gospel." Praise God, I'll take the foolishness of God every time. And there is no foolishness of God, but in the world's mind, it's our foolishness. And in their wisdom, they don't know God, so we're saved by the foolishness of the gospel message. It says, "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. Gentiles seek after wisdom. Gentiles want knowledge. Gentiles want education." Paul said, "But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block." In other words, they trip all over it and fall all over it. "And unto the Greeks it's foolishness. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, the cross of Jesus." Christ is the best education anybody can get, because through the cross, I don't have to learn about the world. I learn about the God that made the world, and now knowing Him, I can understand the world as it was intended to be. The Greeks, the Gentiles seek after wisdom, but the world by wisdom, you not God. Here's a kingdom truth for you this morning. If you seek wisdom, then you'll miss God. If you seek God, then you'll find wisdom. If you seek wisdom, then you'll miss God. If you seek God, then you'll find wisdom. After getting their education, these men stood before the king of Babylon, verse 19, and the king communed with them. And that's a fancy way of saying the king spoke with them. You see, this was a job interview for the top positions of the king's service. A job interview. All of the captives come after this three-year academy, and they stand before the king, and the king asks them questions, the king speaks with them, and the king decides who he wants to fill his top positions. It's like a cabinet position. The king's going to get the cream of the crop, and he's going to give these people a position of high service in which they would have direct access to the king. So the king spoke with all the captives from Judah, look back in your text, and among them all was found none, can you guess who he liked the best? It's found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Wouldn't you know it? The men who obeyed God were chosen for these top positions before the king. This is not talking about be obedient to God and you'll get promoted in your job. This is nothing like that. John the Baptist was obedient to God, he didn't even own a house. He didn't even own a trailer house. He lived out in the wilderness and ate grasshoppers and wild honey. How many of you all would sign up for that job? Boy, if I could preach Jesus and say, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world," I'd sign up for that one. Give me those grasshoppers. But he chose these four men because of their obedience, if you remember, God gave them wisdom and skill, remember? So because of their obedience during this immense time, this three years of pressure, God rewarded them and gave them wisdom and skill. And because of their wisdom and skill, they stood out before the king when he spoke to them. Now notice this, they stood out before the king, look back in your text, "Therefore stood they before the king." They are now serving in the very presence, because of their obedience to God, they are now serving in the very presence of the most politically powerful man on earth at that time. Take your pen and underscore the words, "stood they before the king." "Stood they before the king." Man, there's some great truth in this text. "Stood they before the king." Why did God subject these godly men to these three difficult years? Why did God have these people ran off from their homes, their nation conquered, them have to... three years of vegetables and water, and all this difficulty when they were just fine, doing just fine back in Judah. Why did God make these good men go through these bad times? A lot of times that's the big question that we're asked, isn't it? Why do good people have to endure bad things? Why do bad things happen to good people? And why did this happen to them? It would have been easy for them to complain during their hardship, wouldn't it? But you never hear about them complaining, all you hear about them is making sure that they are obedient to God. And instead of murmuring against God, they trusted that God had a plan. They didn't know what the plan was, but they knew one thing, whatever circumstance we're in, we need to be obedient in those circumstances. No matter how hard it gets in life. And in the world's eyes, these men were defeated bond servants to the king. But in God's eyes, He had just given them a free room and board, all expense paid education to prepare them for full-time Christian service as a representative of God to the king of Babylon. See the difference? God knows His plan. So the whole time, they're getting free transportation to Babylon. They're getting forced from their home, yes. Where were they getting forced from? They're getting forced from the place God didn't want to be, forced into the place God wanted them to be. They're getting free food, wasn't the best, but it was sufficient. They're getting free education, free preparation for service, so that God could let them represent the king of heaven before the king of the world. Think about it. For three years, they learned the king's language, that they may stand before the king and teach him about the one true God. Isn't that amazing? In the Gospel of Luke chapter 21 verse 12, Jesus said, "But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake." Now I want you to catch the pronouns here. We know a whole lot about pronouns now, don't we? People didn't know what a pronoun was until the craziness happened. Notice the pronouns. "They shall lay their hands on you for My name's sake." "They, you and My." You see what Jesus is saying? Listen to those pronouns now. We're talking about people who are being arrested, people who are being thrown into prison, people who come in the presence of religious hierarchy, people coming in the presence of rulers of the world. "They, you and My," Jesus said. For the past three years, there were probably plenty of captives that were whining about their captivity, but Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah obeyed God during that difficult time. They submitted to God and their obedience turned their captivity into an opportunity to serve their God. Their obedience turned their captivity into an opportunity to serve God. These men obeyed God in their hardships because they knew that the God in the land of Judah was still God in the land of Babylon, was still God in their sufferings, God in their hardships. There's a line in a song that my mother used to sing which says, "The God in the good times is still God in the bad times. The God of the day is still God in the night." These men obeyed God's Word instead of the king's Word because they knew God, not Nebuchadnezzar, was sovereign in their circumstances. Here's a kingdom truth this morning. God is in complete control of everything we face in every place we go. Isn't that comforting to know that? God is in complete control of everything we face in every place we go. Now, watch what's happening here. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They yield to God in their hardships. And when they yielded to God in their hardships and they remained obedient to God in their hardships, those hardships prepared them for a special place of service. If you will yield to God in the bad times, God will use those bad times to give you a good opportunity of serving Him. He will. If you cave during the bad times, you just had an opportunity wasted. Your captivity lost its opportunity of service. But during your captivity, when times get hard for you, if you'll be obedient during your captivity, God will turn that into an opportunity. Jesus said, "They shall lay their hands on you for My name's sake." They, you, and My. Anytime they do something to you, My God's in control of it. You see that? Anytime they, the world, does something to you, Jesus is in control of it. If you'll yield to Him, your suffering will be for His sake. And that makes it all worthwhile. It'll make it all worthwhile. Here's a kingdom truth. When the world does something to us, God does something through us. If you're obedient, we're talking about the excellence of obedience in this chapter. If you're obedient, when the world does something to you, God will do something through you. The great obedience of these men allowed them to minister in great places. Their great obedience allowed them to minister in great places. Another kingdom truth. Great obedience puts us in a great position to serve. Great obedience puts us in a great position to serve. Had they not first been committed to serving the King of Heaven, you know what would have happened? Had these men just been brought into Babylon and they weren't committed to serving God, and they went ahead and ate the king's meat, and they said, "Well, we're in Rome. Do as the Romans do." "And in Babylon, do as the Babylonians do." And they, you know, they just take on their culture. And, you know, there's a lot of people who adopt that in Christian ministry. I remember talking to a man one time, and he was talking about how he enjoyed playing tennis one Sunday morning. And I said, "Well, it's sad you didn't go to church." He said, "Well, you can't win them all at the church house." Like he's out there witnessing for Jesus, you know? Out there witnessing for Jesus. And a lot of people have taken on that mentality and used to it. It was very, very popular. The seeker-friendly churches. Seeker-friendly. We'll become like the world, so the world will then be comfortable here, and we'll sneak a little bit of Jesus in on them. Like sliding a little pill into your dog's food, hoping that they'll get the pill on accident, because they like the food, and maybe they'll get some help. God's Word doesn't work that way. Great obedience of these men allowed them to minister in the great places. Had they gone in there, and they'd eaten the king's meat, and then they stood before the king, you know what would have happened? They would have been catering to the king's will. They'd have been lifted up in pride when they stood before the king. They'd think, "Man, we've gotten ourselves a sweet spot now." "And we don't want to blow this." "We want to make sure the king's happy with us." Don't you know there's a lot of people in Washington right now, after watching everybody get fired, they're like, "Hey, we're all on board with this. We don't want to lose our job too." But you know what? That's not the way Daniel, and Ananias, and Mishael, and Azariah thought. They thought, "We are going to serve the Lord our God." "We'll serve the king until it crosses the line of disobeying our God, the true king." And because of their obedience, their great obedience put them into a place of great service. Their obedience and adversity gave them service in the palace. Now they can bear witness of God to the king of Babylon. And what an amazing privilege that is. Serve God in the hard times. Trust that your God is in control in your great obedience, in time. Three years, folks. Three years. You know what people do? They say, "Well, God, we just trust there's a reason." And so they look for a reason. You don't need a reason. "God, why?" Don't ask God why. Do you see these men asking God why? Don't ask God why. That's what the devil wants you to do. You start suffering. "God, why?" Well, why not? Trust that God is going to take your circumstances and craft them to put you in a special position of service. Has anyone here ever had something difficult happen to them before? And then you see something, the same thing happen to somebody else. Does that give you an idea of what they're going through and make you care for them? Has it ever given you the opportunity to reach out and put your arm around them and speak to them? Has it ever happened to somebody over here? That's right. All the time. That's just an example. The reason I've got the website and the book is because of what I went through and the suffering I went through. Don't ask God why. Just tell God, "Lord, I'd like for this to be taken from me if it's possible. Nevertheless, what? Not my will, but yours be done." That's what Jesus did in those 30 something years that he was here on earth. People wanting to stone him, people betraying him, the devil tempting him in the wilderness. The Bible says he was obedient unto death. Obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And by being obedient in the hard times, all the way to the death of the cross, his obedience custom crafted him for a special place of service. Now he's sitting at the right hand of God. And now through his obedience, he has become a high priest for those who believe in him. And it would not have been possible had he not yielded during those difficult times. Serve God in hard times. But God's righteousness and control in your great obedience will prepare you for a great place to serve. Father, we thank you for your precious word, dear Lord God. We thank you, dear Father God, for the stories of these four godly men. We thank you, Father, for the story of the God who knew everything that was going on in their lives that had arranged for them to be taken captive, that had arranged for them to go to school, that had arranged for them to stand before the king, that he, that is you, God, might bear witness of your holy name. And Lord, I thank you for this great story in the wonderful way it ends. In Jesus' precious name, may we follow the examples of these four godly men and the godly Savior whom we serve. In Jesus' name, amen.