God's Story from Beginning to End: Daniel

 
Introduction 
 
We have seen and will continue to see throughout the Old and New Testament how God continually uses imperfect men and women to accomplish his perfect will. For the past six months we have been skimming across the Old Testament with our God’s Story from Beginning to End series.  This week we will be picking up in the book of Daniel. This book is one of the best-known books of the Old Testament and it is possibly one of the most complex.  Fortunately for you all I am not going to focus on the complex and will focus more on the surface. 
 
Daniel was written in the sixth century BC and is an account of how God sovereignly worked in the nation of Israel through the life of a young man named Daniel and his friends.  Ultimately, the theme of Daniel is the sovereignty of God in all things. God is sovereign over the big things such powerful kings and kingdoms, and he is sovereign over the small things such as the lives and the safety of teenage boys taken into captivity by the Babylonians and who remained fully committed to Him throughout.  He is sovereign over history, He is sovereign over the present, and He is sovereign over the future.
 
On a personal side, Daniel has been an inspirational to me as I read about his life and ministry. I desire to have the discipline, conviction, and commitment to God that he had in his everyday life.  He was a man who was on the right track with God from his youth to his dying days.  He remained faithful to God throughout his life and did it all while in captivity in a pagan nation and under ungodly rulers.  His story is amazing, and as we will see he was a man who walked with God and lived a life of influence, prayer, conviction, and humility.
 
 
Background
Daniel 1:1 - 21
Daniel was a young Israelite boy, most likely a teenager, who was taken into captivity during the reign of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar.  In his conquest Nebuchadnezzar had sieged and destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC.  He then commanded his Eunuch’s to bring to Babylon some young people from Judah who were of royalty and nobility.  These youths were to be without blemish, good looking, skilled, teachable, competent, smart, and well educated.  Daniel was among these young people.  When Nebuchadnezzar came to Babylon Daniel quickly became known to him because of his wisdom and for his gift of interpreting dreams (note there are some similarities to Joseph’s story).  Daniel had a couple of friends named whom you may recall Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abednego) who Daniel helped rise in the ranks of the King’s court.
 
One of Daniels God-given strengths was his ability to influence people of great influence.  He not only caught the attention King Nebuchadnezzar but also with his son Belshazzar, Cyrus the King of Medes, and Darius the King of the Medes.  It is believed he may have single handedly influenced Nebuchadnezzar to become a follower or worshiper of the God of Israel.  More on that in a bit.  
 
In our time together I aim to highlight four traits or qualities of Daniel that are noteworthy and applicable to us as followers of Jesus Christ. 
 
Daniel

1. A Man Who Communicated with God
   Prayer is the highest discipline and trait of any person who desires to have a faithful and fulfilling walk with God.  Daniel was a man of prayer.  Every believer knows that prayer is important. But there is a huge difference between knowing that prayer is important versus knowing that prayer is essential. “Essential” means that it is a foundational command for all believers.  God has given the privilege of prayer and as a means to be involved in the believers life. We are commanded to pray for one another, for worship, to communicate with God, intercession, salvation of unbelievers, healing, etc.  Because without out prayer these things will not happen.
   
   

• Daniel communicated with God through prayer.  Daniel 6:6 – 16 - Prayer was his daily discipline and routine.  He was disciplined in prayer and valued the importance of it.  He was so faithful in prayer that he was literally thrown to the lions for his faithfulness.
  
  
• In Daniel 9 Daniel faithfully prays for his people.  He intercedes for them, he beseeches God to have mercy on them, and asks God to call the nation back to Him.  
  
  
• God communicates with Daniel through dreams and visions (Dan. 7, 8, 10, 11, 12) – Daniel’s communication was not one-sided.  God continually spoke to Daniel through visions and dreams.  God gave dreams to Daniel, and He gave the interpretations for them.  Daniel receives dreams from God as warnings for what was coming.  In some cases, however, he would receive a dream and God tells him not to concern himself with the interpretation because they weren’t for him to know. 
  
  2. A Man of Influence:  It’s easy to forget that Daniel was in captivity because of his influential among great kings and leaders.  He influenced his own people and as I noted earlier, he influenced Kings for many generations. Regarding influence, John C. Maxwell write, “Everyone is an influencer of other people.  It doesn’t matter who you are or what your occupation is.  A Politician, such as the president of the US, has tremendous influence on hundreds of millions of people, not only in his own country but around the globe.  And entertainers often influence an entire generation of people in one or more cultures.  A Sunday school teacher who instructed hundreds of children in Sunday School, touches the lives of his students, and also indirectly influences all the people those people grew up to influence. But you don’t have to be in a high-profile occupation or position to be an influence.  In fact, if your life in any way connects with other people, you are an influencer.  Everything you do at home, at church, in your job, or on the ball field has an impact on the lives of other people.” 
  
  
• Daniel was Influential to those around him – When Daniel was brought to Babylon, he was told to eat the King’s food and wine.  Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.” He convinced the Eunuch’s to let him, and his companions eat only vegetables and drink water, so they could see that they would be healthier than those who did eat the meat and drink wine of the king.  Daniel was unwilling to compromise himself and his culture and this was an inspiration to those people who were with him. 
  
  
• Daniel’s Influence on the Kings: Dan. 4:27, 4:34 - One of the most amazing testimonies of Daniel was the influence he had on the kings that were over him.  He always proclaimed the truth to the kings no matter how difficult it was, and he was bold in speaking to him.  We read that King Nebuchadnezzar eventually gives praise to God because of Daniel’s influence and witness.  We see his influence on King Darius after he was spared from the lions in the den when he wrote a decree that all his people should tremble and fear Daniel’s God.  He had a lot of clout with these powerful kings and God sovereignly used Daniel in marvelous ways to make in impact in their lives.
  
  3.  Man of Conviction Daniel had convictions. He would not compromise no matter how dangerous it was for him.  In this world today it is challenging to be men and women of conviction and not face pushback for having them.  We hear about compromising for the “common good” or not holding to a conviction because it is not a popular biblical or worldview. But God has not called us to be people of compromise.  Obedience to the Word of God and especially the teachings of Jesus can often get Christians in trouble with the masses, and the world but unfortunately, we often cave in our convictions because our convictions are not popular or line up with the tribe we affiliate with.  This is not so with Daniel, and we can learn from his boldness and convictions
  
  
• Daniel would not cave by praying to or worshiping the king – Daniel 6:4 – 5: Because of his influence the presidents and satraps became jealous of Daniel.  They devised a plan to have him killed.  They knew Daniel was a man of prayer and conviction.  They knew he had the discipline of praying three times a day and he would not compromise this time, nor would he compromise his loyalty to the God.  They came up with a written decree and had the king sign it that prohibited anyone from praying to any gods except for the king.  Daniel would absolutely not pray to the King, nor would he give up his time with God and they knew it, and this is what eventually got him an evening with the lions
  
  4.  A Man of Humility: Daniel was a man of prayer, influence, and conviction and in all he remained faithful to God in humility.  Daniel knew his position before God and the kings.   He was aware of who was doing all the amazing and miraculous things in his life. It would have been easy for Daniel to be puffed up with pride and arrogance because of what God did through him, but he chose to remain do the hard thing and be humble before the people, the king and his God.
  
  To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, “There is one weakness that nobody in this world is free from; one everyone despises when they see it evident in someone else; and one hardly any people ever think that they are guilty of themselves. It is not uncommon for people confess that they are bad-tempered, or they have weaknesses for sex or alcohol, or even that they are cowards. But rarely do they acknowledge or admit they have this weakness.
  
  This weakness I speak of is pride or self-conceit: and the virtue opposite to it is called humility.… According to Christian teachers, the fundamental weakness, the greatest evil, pride. Anger, greed, drunkenness, and lust pale in comparison (to pride): it was through pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other weakness: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

 

• Daniel never took credit for his work; He always gave the glory to God. – Daniel 2:27: Daniel interpreted many dreams and visions.  This brought him much praise from kings and leaders.  He was quick to take the spotlight off himself and put it back on to God.  He told the King’s that he was incapable of interpreting dreams, but he did serve a God who was capable and could reveal interpretations to him.  It would have been easy for Daniel to take the credit for himself and even profit from it all but he chose to remain humble and give all glory to God.
• Daniel didn’t want to be rewarded for his work – Daniel 5:7: Daniel could have profited from all of this.  In fact, King Belshazzar offered him gifts and a promotion if he could read the handwriting on the wall, yet he refused them.  He told the king to keep the gifts for himself or give them to someone who needed them and proceeded to interpret the writing on the wall.  
  ​

Gospel Connection
Now, the challenge of preaching from the Old Testament is connecting Jesus to this all.  As you all know Jesus is not present in the Hebrew scriptures, or so we think.  It can be challenging for pastors to preach messages that point people to Jesus because Jesus and the Gospel are not glaringly obvious from the pages of the O.T.  But Jesus is evident throughout the Old Testament, you just need to look. The truth is the Old Testament is a precursor to Jesus Christ and everything points to the coming of the Messiah.  There are times that Jesus is assumed or present in the Old Testament.  These are called Christophanies.  We talked about this Wednesday night in Bible study as we looked at the High Priest Melchizedek.  We also see Christ in Daniel.

Daniel 3:24 – 30: When Nebuchadnezzar gazed into the fiery furnace, he saw four men, not three. The fourth, he said, “looks like a son of the gods”. Later he said he was an angel. That is not a bad guess for a pagan. We can say with confidence the fourth person in the furnace was the one we know as the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Some are reluctant to identify this fourth person as the pre-incarnate Jesus.  Personally, I feel no such reluctance. I believe the One who walked with them in and through the fire is also the One who went to the cross of Calvary, so we who believe in faith would not have our souls consumed by the fiery flames of hell. This should not surprise us. The promises of an ever-present Savior with his people during the good times and the difficult times is a booming theme throughout the Bible.  We can take solace in the fact that we are not alone in times of distress, turmoil, and danger.  Our sovereign Savior is with us, ministering to us and always watching over us.
 
Conclusion
We live in a time where it is difficult to speak out or live in our convictions without some sort of negative pushback or consequence.  There is so much vying for our attention and it is becoming more challenging than ever to be disciplined in prayer.   How often do we neglect prayer?  What excuses are we making to NOT pray?  Our culture is continually demanding that we become self-dependent, self-reliant, and self-promoting so we can get ahead in life.  As Christians how often do we welcome or covet the praises of people that puff us up and make us look better than we really are? 
 
Like Daniel, I desire to be a man of prayer.  I desire to be one who devotes much of my time and energy communing with and seeking God’s will for my life and this church.  I pray that I may be a man with convictions, one who does not compromise under the pressures of the world.  I pray my convictions are Gospel-centered and honoring to God.  I desire most of all to be a humble servant of the Most-High God.  Humility comes when I commit to be a man of prayer, a person of influence and a follower of Christ who has conviction it is all so important for us to remain humble at our core.  There may be times people will try to elevate you to a place where you do not belong, so it is important to remind people that it is not you who deserves the recognition but your God in heaven who does. 
 
May we be challenged today to purpose in our hearts to become like Daniel.  Let us look to him as an example of how we conduct our lives and ultimately bring the praise, honor, and glory to God.  May we do so prayerfully, with conviction and in humility.

---