Daniel - Purpose

Tonight I want to preach to you for a little bit from the book of Daniel. So turn to Daniel 1. I read this book last week in my devotions, and I was reminded about some important things and I want to preach from Daniel for a couple of weeks.

I’m not going to do a full book study. We aren’t going to get into the prophecy at the end of the book. I just want to hit a few of the high points from his life.

Let’s get started by reading Daniel 1.

”Daniel 1:1-21 (KJV) 1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. 3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring [certain] of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; 4 Children in whom [was] no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful 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. 5 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. 6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel [the name] of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. 8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. 10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which [are] of your sort? then shall ye make [me] endanger my head to the king. 11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. 15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. 16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse. 17 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom [and] understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians [and] astrologers that [were] in all his realm. 21 And Daniel continued [even] unto the first year of king Cyrus.”

There was this great period of about five or six hundred years where the world was dominated by conquerors: The first of these conquerors was the Assyrian empire - out of Nineveh. They terrorized everyone and defeated much of the known world and were top dog for awhile.

Then, one of the Assyrian leaders rebelled and setup the second empire, the Babylonian empire and his son, a general named Nebuchadnezzar, fought this epic battle against the Assyrians and the Egyptians and defeated them. Immediately after that happened, Nebuchadnezzar’s dad died and he was made king of this new huge empire.

The Babylonian empire didn’t last long - it got taken over by the Medo-Persian empire under Cyrus the great and then that was taken over by the Greeks under Alexander the Great and that was eventually taken over by the Roman Empire and then we are in New Testament times.

Daniel became one of the most prominent people - a ruler really - under the kings of two world superpowers: First the Babylonians and then the Medo-Persians. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here.

The book of Daniel starts right after Nebuchadnezzar defeats Assyrian and Palestine when Daniel is 15 years old. Think about this - he’s 15 years old. He’s about the same age as Grace and Faith. Just a young teenager.

Nebuchadnezzar - this great king - conquers Daniel’s country - which was Judah and Nebuchadnezzar was looking for two things from every country he conquered: Treasure and Talent. Nebuchadnezzar had this policy where he would come in, he would kill most of the leaders and prominent people. He would take the best and most promising young people back to Babylon and he would leave the poor people in charge of everything.

It was a genius strategy because it made the people in these conquered countries very loyal to Nebuchadnezzar and it gave him this vast group of leaders from all around the world who were loyal to him.

Anyways, that’s enough history. Imagine this from Daniel’s perspective. He’s 15. Very likely his parents were killed. Most of the people he grew up around are killed. And Daniel is taken 500 miles away to this giant city of Babylon.

And Daniel wasn’t alone. This wasn’t just happening in Judah. It was happening all over the place. So there would have been teenagers coming from Egypt and Persia and Assyria and Phoenicia and Lebanon. All to this school in a foreign city.

I imagine it almost like Hunger Games. Pick the best and brightest from each city and let them fight it out in the capitol.

Or maybe a better example would be like the Carlisle Indian school in Carlisle Pennsylvania. Our government rounded up the best and brightest Indians young people from all over the United States, gave them new clothes, gave them a new language, gave them a new diet, gave them new names and gave them an education.

That’s something like what Daniel and his friends went through: New names, new language, new clothes, new diet, new city - it’s a whole new world.

Remember - he’s 15! He’s away from his parents. He’s in the most important city in the world. Can you imagine the temptations? Can you imagine the struggle?

But what does Daniel and his friends do? Look at verse 8:

”8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

I want to make talk about two things tonight that jumped out to me when I was reading this story, they are the kind of young people we need and how we get them. The kind of young people we need and how we get them.

Let’s talk first about...

1. The kind of young people we need.

Daniel and his friends grew up to be truly significant people. Some of the most powerful people in the world. Daniel served as a trusted assistant to two of the most powerful world leaders who have ever lived. Imagine being the right hand man of both Winston Churchill and then Ronald Reagan. Or of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. That’s kind of like what Daniel was. He was a super important guy.

But he didn’t start there. He had to grow into that. Daniel was 15 when he was taken into captivity - he was 83 when he was thrown into the lion’s den.

We need a generation of Daniels. Imagine the impact we could make if we were raising Daniels.

What made Daniel and his friends great? Four things:

A. They were devoted.

These teenagers loved God. They had given their lives to God. They were true believers. Nothing else in this chapter or in this book makes much sense without this most important thing.

Young people - kids - do you love Jesus? Have you given your life to God? Are you devoted to God’s will? Do you want to serve God with your life?

At some point, it has to stop being your parents religion and it has to become your religion. It has to stop being mommy and daddy’s God and it has to become my God. You have to trust Christ as your savior. You have to commit to living a life of faith. It has to be your thing.

I get it. I grew up in church too. I went to a Christian school. There were a lot of years where I was in church because I HAD to be be. But at some point I trusted Jesus and it wasn’t just Sunday School stories anymore, it was real.

Are you young people devoted? Is God YOUR God?

They were devoted. Look at the second thing...

B. They were developing.

The only reason why they were taken to Babylon in the first place and not killed or left in poverty somewhere was because they were:

”Children in whom [was] no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful 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. ”

Young people, do you know what your number one job is? It is to develop. It is to learn. It is to become something.

Develop academically. Develop physically. Develop your manners. Develop your talents. Sharpen yourself. Improve yourself. Learn skills. Read books. Become the kind of person God can greatly use someday.

Even Jesus developed. Luke 2:52 is the only verse we have to sum up the entire childhood and young adulthood of Jesus and it says:

”And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”

Listen guys and girls: your Minecraft skills aren’t going to help you much in serving Jesus. Your Call of Duty time isn’t making you a better person. The years of your life you are giving to YouTube isn’t going to help you do something great.

Be intentional about developing: Learn to cook, learn to build, learn to play the piano, learn another language, learn how to run the camera or to design or to write code, learn how to fix a car, or how to give a speech. Read some books. Build your vocabulary. Read the classics.

Develop.

You can’t be a Daniel and make a difference if you aren’t developing.

So they were devoted, they were developing, third...

C. They were determined.

The verse says they ”purposed in their heart that they would not defile themselves.”

These kids were determined. They knew that asking for a different diet was risky. But they were determined to serve God and stay pure. They showed that determination all through their life.

Kids, you need to purpose some things in your heart:

• You need to purpose in your heart that you are going to stay in church.
• You need to purpose in your heart you are going to keep godly friends.
• You need to purpose in your heart you are going to stay pure.

None of this stuff just happens. There are powerful forces at work.

Any old fish can float downstream but it takes purpose and determination to swim against the current and make no mistake about it - you are going to have to swim against the current if you are going to serve God.

Which brings me to the last thing we see about Daniel and his friends that made them so special...

D. They were different.

They were willing to be different and to take a stand. They were willing to be a little weird if that is what it took to be exceptional.

My old pastor used to say

If you want to make a difference you have to be different. Nothing is made better by adding more of the same.

When I was a teenager I went through this phase around 14-15 where I just wanted to be “normal.” I looked at the other kids in my neighborhood who weren’t in church and I wanted the life they had.

I think that’s a pretty common thing for Christian kids to go through. But then I realized this - normal is a terrible goal. Normal is pitiful. Don’t be normal, be exceptional.

You can’t be the kind of person that normal people look up to unless you are willing to be different. You can’t make a difference without being different.

Daniel and his friends could have gone to babylon and did what everyone else did and we would have never heard of them and they would have made no difference.

We need young people who are devoted, who are developing, who are determined and who are different. We need Daniels! A few Daniels can change the world.

So young people that’s my challenge to you, that’s the kind of young people we need.

But I want to quickly cover the second point:

2. How we get them.

You see, Daniel was probably around 15 when he went into captivity, and immediately, he shown as a person who had a strong testimony and godly wisdom. Daniel was a teenager - the time when we expect kids to be rebellious - and yet Daniel was faithful and true to God.

And as I was reading this story, something hit me, something I’ve never thought about before: Daniel had to have been the product of godly parents.

You see, you don’t become a godly young person by accident. You don’t become a young person who is devoted and determined and developing and different by default. Those things have to be trained into you.

And the thought that hit me as I was reading Daniel 1 the other day is that if we don’t purposely raise Daniels, we’ll never have them.

In Christian circles, we have this view of parenting that our job is just to keep kids from the world. We need to protect them. I think we should protect them from bad friends and bad influences. I definitely think we need to protect them, but if that is all we are doing then we are failing miserably.

Because Daniels aren’t just people who are isolated from the world. Daniels are people who can go right smack into the heart of the world with all of its temptations and all of its difficulties and change the world, not have the world change them.

This is a whole other mindset of Christian parenting. It’s not just isolation. It’s instruction. It’s arming them. It’s building up young people of purpose and strength and wisdom.

I’ll give you an example I hear all the time. There is this running joke about having teenaged girls that the girl brings a boy home and the dad goes and gets the shotgun to clean it up. I get it. I’ve told the joke myself I’m sure.

But here is the thing, if I’ve done my job right I won’t need a shotgun to keep the boys away from my girls. They will have the moral strength to handle themselves.

I want my kids to be strong, devoted, determined, different young people. I know they are going to fail at some point, they are just kids, but I want them to be setup to succeed for the Lord. I want them to be able to go behind enemy lines and do serious damage to the forces of Satan.

And that is our task as parents. We have got to get serious about raising the right kind of kids.

Listen 20 hours of TV time a week isn’t going to do it. Just taking them to church isn’t going to do it. We have got to work every day to capture our children’s hearts and point them to the Lord.