I know it has been a while since I last posted. I will get better as time goes on but don’t be surprised if it gets worse before it gets better. One of the responsibilities I have during the month of October is to lead our church in worship each Sunday. Our small church has a retired minister as our stated supply (Presbyterian term) who takes a sabbatical during October (a well deserved one I might add.) A few years ago he asked if I would speak in his absence and the rest, as they say, is history. I am going to attempt to post my sermons for this month here on this blog.
Disclaimer: What I am going to post is going to be a rough attempt at a transcript of what I actually say. Now I am creating this transcript before I speak so it isn’t really a word for word transcript. Also, when I write a paper I try to use sentence structure and vocabulary and all those things you learned about in school correctly. I do try and speak professionally as well but my point is don’t grade this as a writing, but as a speech. Even then I hope you get the point of the message and don’t get caught up in the grammatical issues. Feel free to comment.
Sermon: The Four Wisemen
Daniel 1:1-7, 17-20
October 7, 2012
1In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2The Lord let King Jehoiakim of Judah fall into his power, as well as some of the vessels of the house of God. These he brought to the land of Shinar, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his gods.
3 Then the king commanded his palace master Ashpenaz to bring some of the Israelites of the royal family and of the nobility, 4young men without physical defect and handsome, versed in every branch of wisdom, endowed with knowledge and insight, and competent to serve in the king’s palace; they were to be taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5The king assigned them a daily portion of the royal rations of food and wine. They were to be educated for three years, so that at the end of that time they could be stationed in the king’s court.6Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, from the tribe of Judah. 7The palace master gave them other names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
17To these four young men God gave knowledge and skill in every aspect of literature and wisdom; Daniel also had insight into all visions and dreams.
18 At the end of the time that the king had set for them to be brought in, the palace master brought them into the presence of Nebuchadnezzar, 19and the king spoke with them. And among them all, no one was found to compare with Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they were stationed in the king’s court. 20In every matter of wisdom and understanding concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
Spoiler alert! I might as well go ahead and tell you that this isn’t a sermon on the long lost fourth Wiseman we always hear about it the Christmas Story. No, today I would like to focus on the four men we just read about in the book of Daniel namely Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah also known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and of course Belteshazzar or Daniel himself. Now before I get started let me tell you a little story I came across as I was researching the book of Daniel. What intrigued me about this particular story is it is about a boy named Daniel or Danny and the fact that he was in the seventh grade, the grade I now teach. It also really shows a commitment to faith which is really what this sermon is about. The true story goes like this.
Danny had a science teacher when he was in the seventh grade who was an atheist. He scoffed at those who believed that there was a supreme creator of the universe and actually made it a point to try and prove that there was no God. He began the semester telling his students that if they were Christians that by the end of the year he will have convinced them that there is no God. Well Danny was a good student. He always brought his Bible to class and would sit it on his desk. Now when tests were given he would put the answer the teacher was looking for but he might add things about why God created the world and so on. Danny would not budge. So on the last day of the semester the teacher decides it’s time to show Danny and all the other students that there is not a God. So he goes over to his desk and pulls out an egg.
He says, “Danny do you know what this is?” Danny says, “It’s an egg, sir.”
“That’s right. And you believe that there is a God who created the universe right?”
“Yes, sir I do.”
“Alright, Danny we are going to put that to the test this morning. We’re going to put an end to that belief in God stuff right now. I’m going to take this egg and I’m going to drop it. And I want you to pray that if your God is really real that this egg wouldn’t break.”
Danny thought for a minute and asked, “May I pray out loud?”
And the teacher said, “Sure.”
So Danny began, “Dear God, I pray right now that when my teacher drops that egg that it breaks into a thousand pieces and my teacher drops dead on the spot, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
So the teacher looks at the egg, then at Danny, looks at the egg, looks at Danny and finally walks over to his desk and puts the egg back in the drawer and says, “Class dismissed.”
Word is that there were many of Danny’s friends who came to faith in Jesus Christ that semester.
http://media.calvaryvista.com/salvato-rob/studies-books/27-DAN-2008/27-Dan-001-001.mp3
That’s the kind of faith that even non-Christians can see and appreciate. The stories in Daniel cause a similar recognition of the power of God over man and over nature itself. To really appreciate the book of Daniel we need to look at the structure of the book. Daniel is really written in two parts. The first six chapters, what we are going to be focusing on this morning, are narratives about how God worked through not only his faithful followers like Daniel and his friends but how he used world leaders to show his sovereignty. The rest of the book is apocalyptic literature, end times material, like the book of Revelation.
The time period in which it takes place is during the exile in Babylon. Now if you are anything like me then I sometimes view the Bible, especially the Old Testament as ancient history. It is history from a long time ago, but sometimes I lose sight of the events that were going on in the rest of the world when I study Israel’s history. The exile took place around 610 BC to around 540 BC, 70 years. A long time ago, but certainly this was not the only thing happening during the 6th century BC. A couple hundred years earlier, around 880 BC, the Assyrians began to create an empire. They were truly a world power during that time. Also around 800 BC we see the beginnings of the Greek civilizations and it was 776 BC when the first Olympic Games were held. That’s over 100 years before the exile. Also during the 6th century BC you had religious leaders like Confucius in China and Buddha in India being born. Back to the Assyrians. They really were at their peak of power around 650 BC. Shortly after that time they began to fall apart and the Babylonian king Nebopolassar rebelled and his son Nebuchadnezzar led the Babylonians to victory in 612 BC. He didn’t stop there. He continued south and defeated the overconfident Egyptian army who had just defeated the Jewish fighters in an ill-conceived attack by Judah. The Jewish people had been warned over any over to return to true and faithful worship of God but they continued to rebel against the Lord and so they got what they were told would happen by Jeremiah and other prophets. All this took place around 605 BC and as Nebuchadnezzar was returning to Babylon to take over the throne for his recently deceased father, he took with him the first group of Jewish captives. Daniel and his friends were among that group. As we read in chapter 1 the people they took back with them first were “youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace.” (Dan 1:4) So these were young, attractive, and smart people taken first. The thought by Nebuchadnezzar was to indoctrinate the Jewish youths in the way of the Babylonians and eventually they would be the leaders of a nation loyal to Babylon. His first royal direction was to feed these folks the best food and finest wine, the same as what he ate, in an effort to try and get them to see how good the Babylonian way was. That’s what empires did. They would set up captives in powerful positions within their kingdom, but only after they had proved themselves worthy and loyal to their new leaders. So by taking the best and brightest Judah had to offer, the Babylonians figured these youths, after about three years of training, would be in a position to help suppress their fellow countrymen. This gives Daniel his first opportunity to show his faithfulness to God. He refuses the king’s food and fine wine. Now he doesn’t simply do this because it’s meat and wine, but because generally those items would have been offered as sacrifices to pagan gods so Daniel did not want to defile himself by eating and drinking these portions. So the king’s eunuch protests at first. He didn’t want Daniel and his friends to look scrawny before the king and then have the king upset at him for not following his orders. The Bible tells us that “God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs” (Dan 1:9) so Daniel was able to make a deal with him. He said give me and my friends nothing but vegetables and water for 10 days. At that time you can check us out and see what you think about our appearance. So the eunuch agrees to do that and what do you know but in 10 days Daniel and his friends look in better shape than the other youths who were feed from the king’s table. When Daniel and his friends were brought before the king they were found to be “in the matter of wisdom and understanding…ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.” (Dan 1:20) This began the move up the ladder for these four wisemen.
The next opportunity Daniel had to impress the king was after Nebuchadnezzar had what was described as a terrifying dream. Now there were plenty of sorcerers and enchanters in Babylon to interpret this dream for him. The problem is Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t just want someone telling him what his dream means he wants someone to tell him what the dream was first. Naturally, all his advisers claim that can’t be done by mere mortals. Only the gods could look into the mind of the king to tell him what he dreamed. Well that infuriates Nebuchadnezzar. He orders all the wise men of Babylon to be killed since there isn’t one among them that can do what he requests. When the Captain of the king’s guard comes around to gather up Daniel and the others to be executed Daniel says, “Why is this decree of the King so urgent?” (Dan 2:15) Daniel wants to know why he and the others have been sentenced to death. When told why, he requests a time to go before the king so he can tell him what the dream was. Now I would imagine that would be a good strategy for any of the other wise men who hadn’t already been asked. I mean if you are going to be killed anyway why not take a shot at getting the dream right? But Daniel wasn’t just doing this as a last ditch effort to save his life, he had faith that God would provide him with the interpretation. He then gets his buddies together and tells them to pray and seek mercy from God as to this mystery they are facing. Daniel doesn’t rely on his own ability to get through this; he calls on God for help. When he goes before Nebuchadnezzar he correctly tells him what his dream was and what it was about. His dream basically tells the tale of Nebuchadnezzar time at the top of the world is going to come to an end. We could spend more time on the dream and its interpretation, but for today I just want you to know that Daniel got it right. Nebuchadnezzar then acknowledges the greatness of Daniel’s God. This is similar to our teacher from Danny’s class is it not? Maybe he didn’t believe before, but he at least recognized something out there was greater than him. This further promotes Daniel up the ranks in the Babylonian kingdom. Also, at the request of Daniel Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego get prominent positions in the empire.
Next up, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Apparently Nebuchadnezzar has forgotten about the God of Daniel and he constructs a huge golden image that he wants everyone to bow down to. The deal is when the music plays, everyone in the kingdom must bow down to this image made in his honor. If you don’t, then you will immediately be thrown into the fiery furnace. The Bible doesn’t tell us where Daniel is at this time or his role in this demand but his friends are right in the middle of it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow down to anything or anyone but their God. Now Nebuchadnezzar doesn’t know they aren’t doing it, that is until some of the jealous Chaldeans let him know. That’s right, they tell on them. They tell Nebuchadnezzar that those Jews you appointed refuse to pay any attention to you and your decrees and defiantly refuse to bow down in your honor. Of course this infuriates Nebuchadnezzar once again and he commands that they be brought before him. It’s almost like for one moment he wants to give them a way out, like he likes them. After all, they were pretty well respected and he had already witnessed what their God could do. So he asks them again, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?” (Dan 3:14) He then gives them another chance to hear the music and do as instructed or face the fiery furnace. Their response is a powerful witness to their faith in God. “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand.” (Dan 3:16-17) You see they were directly asked by Nebuchadnezzar “Who will deliver you out of my hands? (Dan 3:15) The next verse is what impresses me. “But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Dan 3:18) Wow! I can’t imagine that they thought they would be put in the furnace and then walk out. My guess is they thought either God was going to cause something to happen that kept them from going in or they were going in and would die. Either way they would be delivered from the king. Incredible faith and commitment. Needless to say their response caused an immediate reaction by Nebuchadnezzar. He ordered the furnace to be heated up even hotter than normal, like that would have made a difference. It was so hot that the Bible tells us that the men charged with throwing them in were consumed by the fire right at its opening. Our three Jewish captives then fell in, bound and everything. The miracle is next. Nebuchadnezzar witnesses a fourth person in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He says it looks like a son of the gods. This isn’t necessarily to be interpreted as the Son of God, namely Jesus, but certainly an angel of the Lord sent to protect them. As they walked out not only were they alive, but they were not burnt or even smelling like smoke. God more than delivered them from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, who immediately sang God’s praises, just as he had done before. In fact, he decrees now that anyone who speaks against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will be torn from limb to limb and have their houses laid in ruins. He then promotes these faithful young men.
The book of Daniel then goes through a couple of more faithful acts by Daniel before we get to the famous story of Daniel in the lion’s den. By now Darius the Mede has defeated the Babylonians and is in charge of the empire. It is this change of power that begins the return of the exiles to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Just as when the Babylonians were in control, Daniel had gained favor in this kingdom as well. Because of that the wheels of jealousy begin to turn. All of the governors and satraps around the kingdom were jealous of Daniel so they conspired to have him removed. Their plan seemed certain to work. They knew how faithful Daniel was to his God so they convinced Darius to establish an ordinance. This ordinance would require everyone, for the next thirty days, only petition Darius and no other god. In other words, anyone who prayed to a god would be thrown into the lion’s den. They knew Daniel prayed regularly to his God so they only needed the decree for thirty days because they knew Daniel would break it in one day. The other problem for Daniel was that once a king made this kind of decree it could not be rescinded, even by the king. Sure enough, Daniel went to his house to pray to God just like all the other days that he did that. Of course his enemies were gladly waiting for him to do this and they quickly went to tell Darius. When they told him who did this the Bible actually tells us that Darius was troubled because he liked Daniel. However, he knew that even he could not rescind the decree. His final words to Daniel were, “May your God, who you serve continually, deliver you!” (Dan 6:16) The Bible also tells us that Darius didn’t sleep well that night. He rejected all the pleasures a king was afforded and hoped Daniel would somehow survive this ordeal. At the break of day he rushed to the den only to see that Daniel had been delivered. He then ordered all the people behind this plot, including their entire families, be thrown into the den. We read that they were all devoured before hitting the ground. A point made in the Bible, I believe, to prove Daniel’s deliverance was from God, not from the good fortune of being in a den of lions that just weren’t hungry. Darius goes on to make a similar statement that Nebuchadnezzar had made before him, that people should fear and respect the God of Daniel.
What do these stories in Daniel mean to us today? They are a witness to the kind of faith and commitment we are called to have. It is unlikely that we will ever be faced with the same situations that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were faced with. Be we clearly are faced with the temptations of a society that says it’s ok to do certain things. Whether it be worship things other than God or take part in activities contrary to Biblical teaching. The four Wisemen in Daniel aren’t isolated from Babylon, they are right in the middle of it and in spite of the opportunities they were given to forsake God they remained faithful even in the face of death. More importantly, they didn’t try to take on the king of Babylon alone. They constantly prayed for strength in the face of danger. They knew God would deliver them through anything, even if it meant their death, they would be delivered. May we all strive for that kind of faith.
Let us pray.
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