Episode Transcript
Daniel chapter 1 will be expounding by God's grace verses 6 through 7 this morning.
The title of the message this morning is "Among These."
We had 40, I believe it was, 40 something, let me look at the count for last week. 41 gospel contacts for last week, so that starts off our new year.
Our total last year was 4,972, so almost made 5,000 contacts last year.
All right, Daniel chapter 1 verse 6 and 7, the title of the message once again is "Among These."
Now so far in the book of Daniel, the kingdom of Judah has been conquered by the kingdom of Babylon, and the king of Babylon has ordered certain people of Judah to be brought to Babylon to be the king's servants.
And my wife and I routinely sat down and discussed our goals and our plans for life.
And we know things don't always go as planned, but it's good to have a plan.
Life can change in a moment, but it's good to have a plan.
It's good to have goals in life and to work together by God's grace to achieve those goals.
We plan to get married when we're young.
We plan to work in a certain field in our occupation.
We plan to have children.
We plan to work to a certain age as we get older.
We start thinking more about that.
Brother Shepard has an age in his mind when he wants to stop.
I have a time in my mind when I want to stop certain work.
I never want to stop this work until God stops me.
But we all have plans, you know, retirement plans and what we want to do when we retire, when we get older, and we even start when we get even older, we start planning on where we want to be buried.
How many of y'all know where you're going to be buried right now?
That's a lot of hands that have gone up.
My wife and I have some nice, beautiful land to be buried on.
So I'll never get to enjoy it though.
But plans keep us on track.
Plans keep us disciplined.
They keep us sane sometimes.
When things go as planned, they also keep us comfortable and they keep us happy.
But if you really want to mess up somebody's world, then you mess up their plans.
Boy, that'll really get them.
I plan to retire after I worked 20 years for the state.
They had a certain law back then.
You worked 20 years for the state.
If you were under 50 when you retired, then you would have a reduced annuity.
And then when you turn 50, it would go back up to what it's supposed to be, to what it's supposed to be at the full age.
They had a nice early retirement plan for law enforcement.
And so I worked and got my 20 years on.
When I reached my 20-year mark, because my anniversary, my 20 years was in October.
And when I reached my 20-year mark, I called the retirement system that October.
And I was told that after all those years, the law changed in September. 20 years of working is like, I felt like Jacob and Laban changing my wages, brother.
You know, nobody warned me.
No one said anything.
No one sent out a message to anybody.
But they said, "No, that law changed last month."
And it messed up my plans.
I think about all those young men back in the 1960s, who studied hard in high school and made plans for their life.
And then suddenly their whole world changes, because someone in Washington decides they want to send them to go fight in Vietnam.
And there's nothing they can do about it, unless they want to run.
And I bet most of you have had somebody destroy your plans too in life, at some time or another.
There's probably things running through your mind right now.
You're thinking, "Yep, that did this to me."
And it may not have been a person.
It may have been a disease.
It may have been a tragedy or something like that.
But it's no fun to have your plans destroyed by somebody else, or by something else, at no fault of your own.
And God wants us to remember this morning that the people who were taken captive by the king of Babylon were people just like us.
They had plans too.
They had lives.
They had families.
They had careers and hopes and dreams of their own, just like us.
And then the king of Babylon came and took it all away, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Yes, God had warned the ungodly people of Judah, and they wouldn't listen to him.
Yes, Judah could have repented, and they would have retained their national sovereignty.
But not everybody in Judah was ungodly.
Not everybody in Judah was an idolater.
There were godly people in the land of Judah too, who did not agree with the way their nation was going.
And as Christians, we know firsthand what it's like to live in a land that's going in the wrong direction, and being helpless to stop it.
Because we can't decide.
We can decide for us, but we can't decide for everybody else.
And that's the position some of these people in Judah were in too.
We know what it's like to see trouble coming to our nation because of our nation's sins.
But there's nothing we can do to stop it, because we are a righteous minority living in an unrighteous land.
That's the way it was then in the time of Babylon's conquer as well.
Some of the people taken captive by the king of Babylon were part of that righteous minority.
They hated the sin that Judah was involved in, but they had no other place to live.
Have you ever thought, "Well, you know, if I could just move somewhere else that thought like me, and there's no place to go."
And they had no other place to live, and they prayed that God would turn Judah around, but their fellow citizens wouldn't listen to God.
And now some of those citizens were taken captive against their will.
Verse 6, Daniel 1, 6.
Now among these, that mean among those rebellious citizens of Judah who were taken captive by the king of Babylon, were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
These were righteous men who got caught up in this unrighteous drama.
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were men who loved God.
They had no part in the idolatry of Judah.
They condemned the wickedness these people committed.
Yet they were among these, if you have a pen, underscore that in your Bible, among these, among these.
Did you know that that describes us a lot of times?
That describes us.
They were among these when they were taken captive.
Living for God separates us from condemnation, but it does not separate us from tribulation.
Living for God separates us from condemnation, but it does not separate us from tribulation.
The righteous were among the wicked when the fall of Judah occurred.
When Judah fell, the idolaters were being judged by God, and the righteous were being tried by God.
Repeat that again.
When Judah fell, the idolaters were being judged by God, but these righteous men that we just read about were being tried by God.
It's the same way for us.
The idolaters were being corrected.
The righteous were being tested.
And remember that when you go into, when you get caught up into the judgment of this world, I mean, they're being judged and you're right along with them.
How many of y'all have noticed, and you have to think real hard for this, but how many of y'all have noticed that when disease comes because of our nation's sin, Christians catch it too?
How many of y'all have, when you go to the grocery store to buy eggs, does it have a shelf that says "unbelievers" and a shelf that says "believers"?
No.
You pay the same high price as the people who put these people in office and who committed these sins and sought their will over God's will, and then the inflation happens and everything else happens.
We get caught up right in the middle of it.
We are among these.
Our salvation, our faith in Jesus Christ, it separates us from the condemnation of God, but it doesn't separate us from the tribulation of those with whom we are among.
And when they are being judged, we're not being judged, we're being tested.
We're being tested.
Adversity glorifies God by rewarding the obedient and rebuking the disobedient.
Adversity glorifies God by rewarding the obedient and rebuking the disobedient.
The idolaters were disobedient in the good times, but these righteous people, they would remain obedient in the difficult times.
And their obedience in the midst of tribulation would be rewarded by God.
So the adversity that rebuked the unrighteous for their disobedience would be now used to set the righteous apart from those people by highlighting their faith in God during these difficult times and proving them faithful to Him.
Here's a kingdom truth.
Every adversity is an opportunity for God's grace to be known in our affliction and God's glory to be known in our obedience.
Repeat that again.
Every adversity is an opportunity for God's grace to be known in our affliction and God's glory to be known in our obedience.
Through the captivity of Judah, the Bible shines a spotlight on these four godly men to show their faith in God and God's faithfulness to them in this difficult time in their lives.
They were four godly men who were taken captive against their will, verse 7, unto whom the prince of the eunuch gave names.
Now these aren't babies.
These are grown men.
Talk about working on someone's mind.
A person's name is very personal to them and it's very important to their psyche.
It really is.
When I was in high school, one of the students in my math class had one of those formal names that was embarrassing to him.
You know how that goes.
You know, maybe your great-great-great-great-grandfather was called, you know, whatever.
Some name that may have been popular back then, but a little embarrassing now.
Well, you know, instead of being called by that name, you kind of abbreviate it and you get called by an abbreviated version of it.
Or you go by your middle name, which is normal, you know.
And you hope that no one sees your driver's license.
"Oh, that's your name?
Ha ha!"
You know.
But one of my fellow students in the math class had one of those embarrassing formal names.
And well, of course, the teacher has the role of all the kids in school.
And so the student asked the teacher to call him by the name that he was accustomed to going by.
By the name that everybody knew him by and by which he had been called his whole life.
But the teacher continued to purposefully call that boy by the name that he did not go by because it embarrassed the boy and the teacher thought it was funny embarrassing him.
So the teacher continued to embarrass the student day after day and laugh about it in front of the whole class.
Until one day, the student called his teacher by one of his formal names that the student found out about.
Instead of what the teacher wanted the children to know him by and to be called by and for him to be identified by.
And it made that teacher so mad when that kid turned the favor back to him.
I can still see his face in his head beat red.
He was so mad.
But you know what?
That's the last time I ever remember him calling the student by that name again.
Names are important to our identity as a person.
And here were four grown men taken captive against their will.
Taken to another country.
Ripped away from their homes.
And now they're being renamed and given a brand new identity.
Now remember what we've learned over the past few weeks.
What we see in the kingdom of Babylon is that the devil in his kingdom counterfeits God's kingdom.
The devil in his kingdom counterfeits God's kingdom.
And this is another part of God's kingdom that's being counterfeited by the devil.
You see when we become part of God's kingdom through our faith in Jesus Christ, we also are given a new name.
We're born into the kingdom of darkness.
But we're born again into the kingdom of God's dear son.
Now listen to what God told Judah.
Judah at this time is ungodly.
They are idolaters.
But listen to what God promised Judah in Isaiah 62 1 through 3.
Concerning their future as a nation.
Yes you're ungodly now Judah but here's what I'm going to do for you.
He says in Isaiah 62 1 through 3.
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace.
And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest.
Until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness.
And the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness.
And all kings thy glory.
Watch this now.
And thou shalt be called by a new name.
Why?
Because they wouldn't belong to the kingdom of darkness.
They'd be in the kingdom of God's son.
Oh man I the Lord just reminded me of a wonderful text in the book of Genesis.
Look where it says the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns.
Man you know what that reminds me of?
That covenant that God made with Abraham when he had those animals divided.
And there was a burning lamp.
Coming right in between those pieces.
Promising salvation to Abraham's seed.
Oh praise God.
He says thou shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord.
And a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
You see how the new name and the kingdom, the new kingdom go hand in hand here?
Their new name would be according to their new position in the kingdom of God.
Now that these four men have been captured by King Nebuchadnezzar.
The king's chief of staff is giving them new names.
Look back in your text now.
For he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar.
Belteshazzar.
Where's Timothy at?
Is he in here?
Up there?
You see he's probably asleep.
Timothy can you see me?
I see you.
Timothy how would you like it if suddenly we started calling you Belteshazzar?
Would you like that?
I didn't think he would.
He let us know real quick.
Nope don't call me that.
But that's what happened to Daniel.
These names describe these men.
These new names describe these men according to their relationship to King Nebuchadnezzar.
And according to the relationship of the false gods that the king has there in his kingdom.
Rather than their relationship to King Jehovah.
So they had names that described their relationship to God.
But now they're being renamed according to their relationship to King Nebuchadnezzar.
The name Daniel means God is my judge.
God is my judge.
Now that's a name to be proud of.
That's a name that describes Daniel's relationship to God.
God is my judge.
But now he is being named Bel-teshazzar.
Does that word Bel ring a bell to you?
What was a false god called?
Bel.
Bel-teshazzar.
Which has the idea of being lord over the treasure of a defeated people.
So every time Daniel's new name is called.
He's going to be reminded that his people were defeated by Babylon.
And to Hananiah of Shadrach.
Hananiah means God has favored.
You know what that means?
God's been so good to me.
Now that's a good name to be proud of too.
God's been so good to me.
He's given his favor to me.
Shadrach however has the idea of being a scribe for the king.
Into Meshel of Meshach.
Meshel means there's nobody like God.
There is nobody like God.
That's another name to be proud of.
Meshach means the guest of a king.
I'm living in the king's house.
King of Babylon.
Into Azariah of Abednego.
Azariah means Jehovah has helped or God has helped.
That's a wonderful name to be proud of too.
Azariah.
Abednego however, if you look at the word Abednego.
That N-G-O at the end.
That is referring to a false god in Babylon.
Abednego literally means the servant of Nebo.
Who was a false god of Babylon.
Man who wants to serve Nebo?
I mean God has helped but now I've been identified as a servant of Nebo.
Four godly men now given names that strip them of their godly identity.
And glorify the king of Babylon, the false gods he serves.
That's their new identity in Babylon.
Now how many of y'all have ever heard of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?
Almost every hand.
But what if I would have come here this morning and said.
Could y'all tell me the name of the three men that were in taken captive with Daniel?
Y'all probably said Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Isn't that sad?
How many of y'all could have told me their real names?
Nobody.
You see what happened?
Their identity in the king of Babylon's land became how we identified them as well.
We should be identifying them as Meshach, Azariah and Hananiah.
I don't have memorized either.
But I started thinking about it when I started studying.
Why have we always called them by the names of the false gods?
Their relationships with the false gods rather than relationship to the one true God.
But see that's how names can begin to work on us a new identity.
And that's the power of these names.
Each of these four men now had new names.
That means each of these four men now had two names.
They had two identities and they were living in one land.
They had number one their identity in the kingdom of God.
That's the name they went there with.
Number two they had their identity in the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar.
Number one they had their identity in the kingdom they belong to.
In the kingdom they lived in.
Number two they had their identity in the kingdom that they belong to.
And we're the same way aren't we?
As children of God each of us have two identities as well.
The name we were given when we were born into the kingdom that we occupy.
And the name that we were given when we were born into the kingdom of God.
Each of us have two identities.
Our identity in the flesh and our identity in the person of Jesus Christ.
These four men who were among these ungodly people represent every one of us.
We are twice born people living in a once born world.
We are people who have a relationship with God and a new identity in Jesus Christ.
Yet at the same time we still hang on that old identity that we were born into with Adam.
And as Nebuchadnezzar the king wanted to identify them according to their relationship in his kingdom and according to his relationship to his false gods.
So the devil wants us to identify ourselves according to our relationship to this world and our flesh and the kingdom of darkness that we're now in.
Because how you identify changes your outlook on everything.
Now how should these men proceed forward?
Should they do like that young man in the my math class?
So I'm not going to do that.
I'll show that king.
I'm going to protest.
I'm going to have a standoff with the Babylonian authorities and refuse to be called Belteshazzar.
Like the student in my math class.
I refuse to be called by that.
Or should they embrace their new name and identity and learn to assimilate?
Neither one of those is right.
Let me tell you what these four men have to do from this time forward.
And what they have to do is what we have to do.
While in Babylon they must learn to answer to their Babylonian name but identify by their Christian name.
You see?
They answer to their Babylonian name Belteshazzar.
Yes sir here I am.
What can I do for you?
But that's not how they identify themselves.
To him I'm Belteshazzar.
And as long as I'm here I'll have to answer to that name.
But in my heart I know who I really am.
I'm Daniel.
God is my judge.
Not this king.
And I have to answer to him.
Above all.
And that's what we have to do as Christians as well.
While we live in this world we must learn to answer to our flesh.
We must learn to answer to our fleshly name.
But identify by our Christian name.
The devil wants us to think of ourselves according to who we are in this world.
But God wants us to view ourselves according to who we are in Jesus Christ.
And that's exactly what these four men did.
While living in Babylon they served the worldly king as they were commanded.
And they were commanded to live in the kingdom of God.
And when the commandment of the two kings conflicted with each other.
That's where they had to remember their true identity.
And yield to the king above them.
They had to obey their king Jehovah God rather than king Nebuchadnezzar.
One day Daniel and we'll get to it as we move forward in this book.
Daniel disobeyed king Nebuchadnezzar because his word contradicted God's word.
And as a result king Nebuchadnezzar ordered Daniel to be thrown in the lion's den.
The king knew he was wrong for doing that.
So he felt bad about it.
And he hoped that Daniel's God would save him from the bad command that he had given.
Nevertheless he put him in the lion's den.
Daniel chapter 6 if you'll turn there or you can look up here on the board either one.
Daniel 6 verse 18 through 22 says.
Then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting.
He couldn't eat.
Neither were instruments of music brought before him.
And his sleep went from him.
He couldn't sleep at night because he could just picture Daniel getting eaten by those lions.
He knew Daniel was a good man.
Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste into the den of lions.
And when he came to the den he cried with a lamentable voice.
I mean it's a very sorrowful voice unto Daniel.
And the king spake and said to Daniel.
Watch this now.
Here's the king speaking.
Oh Daniel.
Not oh Belteshazzar.
Oh Daniel.
Servant of the living God.
Not oh Belteshazzar.
Servant of King Nebuchadnezzar.
Oh Daniel.
Servant of the living God.
Is thy God whom thou service continually able to deliver thee from the lions?
Then said Daniel unto the king.
Oh king live forever.
You know what Daniel's doing when he said king live forever?
He was answering to his fleshly name.
He was in the den of lions because he identified by his heavenly name.
But here he is now.
King live forever.
He's still acknowledging him as the king on earth.
He says oh king live forever.
My God hath sent his angel and has shut the mouth the lion's mouths.
That they have not hurt me for as much as before him innocency was found in me.
And also before thee oh king have I done no hurt.
Now don't miss this.
When tested by adversity.
Daniel remembering his identity in his heart.
Revealed his identity to the world.
You see what just happened?
When tested by adversity.
Daniel remembering his true identity in his heart.
Thus revealed his identity to the world.
King Nebuchadnezzar again didn't look at the lions and he cried.
Oh Balthasar servant of Nebuchadnezzar.
He said oh Daniel servant of the living God.
Because of Daniel's faithfulness to God in this time of adversity.
The king who had renamed Daniel.
Eventually learned Daniel's name.
Isn't that amazing?
Because of Daniel's faithfulness to God in the midst of adversity.
Remembering his identity.
The king who had renamed Daniel.
Eventually learned Daniel's name.
Don't let the world define who you are.
Let your faithfulness to God reveal who you are.
Father we thank you so much for your precious word.
We thank you father.
Lord that over and over again in scripture.
We see Lord you giving new names to your people.
You changed Abram's name to Abraham.
Showing his relationship to your covenant.
You changed Sarai's name to Sarah.
Showing giving her a new name of her relationship to your covenant.
To the gospel to your son.
Both of those name changes.
Where it's their identity in Christ.
And father we see even in the all the way to the book of the revelation.
That those who are faithful to God in the midst of adversity are given new names.
And father I pray Lord that we will always identify.
According to our identity in Jesus Christ.
While living in this world.
Though we must answer to our identity in the flesh.
And father we thank you so much for this very valuable lesson.
In Jesus precious name.
May our new name be known.
Amen.
