Daniel 1:8-9 NIV
“8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel…”
The Old Testament book of Daniel contains many stories that are well known by most Christians who have heard them as children in Sunday School. Such as, Daniel’s three companions Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah being thrown into the fiery furnace, or Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den.
But the book of Daniel is more than a book of Sunday School stories, there are many relevant spiritual principles or values that are exemplified in the lives of the persons in the book of Daniel that Christians can glean and apply to our lives today. One of the many points we can learn form these lives is that they exemplify lives submitted and committed to a relationship with God that impacted those around them.
What do we mean by “relevant spiritual principles or values” that are exemplified in a person’s life? This is referring to a person who fears God and lives a life that exemplifies decisions and actions that are based on who God is in their life and they live a life that is submitted to the Word of God.
What makes these spiritual principles relevant in a Christian’s life today is that, God or His Word never changes, that God is immutable. In relation to who God is, immutable means, God’s attributes or who He is, His words as recorded in the Bible, and the will of God or as He expresses who He is, will never change.
“I the Lord do not change.”
Malachi 3:6
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8
As we read and see who God is in the different lives of the persons in the book of Daniel and how He acts in the many different situations they confront, Christians today can have faith and trust God to be the same in their lives today.
Please take the time to read Daniel Chapter 1
before you continue reading this article.
We read in verses 3-6, that as “young men”, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah confronted being taken from their homeland and forced into training for three years to serve the king of Babylon.
We will most likely never be forcibly removed from our homes, family and culture by an occupying army of a distant land. However, most everyone leaves home every day for one reason or another, for short or long periods of time, either to go to work, school or run errands. Many young people after graduating from high school leave home to study in a college or university. How many Christians, while being absent from their families, homes and churches compromise their Biblical morals when confronting a challenging situation regardless of what they believe and have practiced for most of their lives?
Deuteronomy 6:1-2 NIV
6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.
To fear or respect God is to express loyalty to Him and faithfulness to His Word. Those who respect God exhibit trust in Him and obedience to His commandments by what they say and do. The spiritual character formed and the respect for God was instilled in Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah prior to them being taken to Babylon was most likely done by their parents and even grandparents. This is evident because when faced with a decision to compromise their relationship with God and conform to immoral practices that they as captives were forced to obey, they did not.
Daniel and his three companions were not in a situation by their own free will, but yet they choose not to compromise their relationship with God as they were taught and lived before they were forcibly taken away from their family and home.
These young men chose and also knew how to continue to live their lives in righteousness or righteously in the situation they were confronting, in spite of the harsh consequences they knew they would face for requesting to do something contrary to their captives demands.
What does righteousness or righteously mean? And how does it apply to the context of Daniel chapter 1?
RIGHTEOUSNESS — holy and upright living, in accordance with God’s standard. The word “righteousness” comes from a root word that means “straightness.” It refers to a state that conforms to an authoritative standard. Righteousness is a moral concept. God’s character is the definition and source of all righteousness (Gen. 18:25; Deut. 32:4; Rom. 9:14). Therefore, the righteousness of human beings is defined in terms of God’s. Nelson’s new illustrated Bible dictionary
Verses three and four tells us what type of family Daniel and his three companions came from. They were also chosen because of certain required qualities they had. “…bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.”
What these verses do not tell us about these young men is their spiritual background and how their knowledge of God, their relationship with God and the respect or fear of God was instilled in them by their families and spiritual leaders. In other words, in the lives of these four young men, their spiritual character formed in them before they were forcibly removed from their parents, family, friends, culture and removed from the freedom to worship God.
“To fear God is to express loyalty to Him and faithfulness to His Word. Those who fear God exhibit trust in Him and obedience to His commandments.”
This is an important point to consider because it is the spiritual character and the fear of God that was instilled in them prior to them being taken to Babylon that is evident when faced with a decision to compromise their relationship with God and conform to immoral practices that they as captives were forced to obey.
We might not ever be forced or obligated to compromise our relationship with Christ as these young men in Babylon were. However, we are confronted many times a day with the choice to compromise our witness of who Christ is in our lives by giving in to the cultural norms of the world. It is always our choice to stay true to our relationship with Christ by our God honoring choices and actions, which are “in accordance with God’s standard”.
Pastor John
5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
1 John 2:5-6, New Living Translation
