Right now, I’m calling this particular message: “Allegory: Christians in a Wicked World.” I realize that there is a bit of a misnomer here, because Daniel 1 is in no way an allegory. If we take the step to call Daniel and his friends “Christians” – which is true and yet not quite true – then what we see here are Christians in a Wicked World. What I would like to do is use these four young people as an allegory of Christian young people today. And not just Christian young people, but anyone who names the Name of Christ. The characteristics of the world of Daniel are not that far removed from the characteristics of our own day.
This is not an history lesson, such as we had last Sunday afternoon, but a commentary on modern society. Some might say that I’m stretching my points – allegorizing the details – but that’s not quite the case. And I hope that you’ll agree, when we get done a few minutes from now.
As I say, the Book of Daniel tells us of this Gentile/Heathen world. It is going to tell us about the Antichrist, and about the end times – days of wickedness and heathenism. And similarly, Israel was warned of what would happen to them here in Daniel chapter 1. For example, in II Kings 20, good king Hezekiah had gotten very, very sick. “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.” Under those circumstances Hezekiah plead with the Lord for mercy, and God graciously healed him. Of course, Hezekiah was overjoyed with the Lord’s blessing. He was so pleased that when ambassadors from foreign nations began arriving to congratulate him, he dropped his guard – not remembering that these visitors were not children of God. “At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.”
Notice that this Berodachbaladan was a prince of the infant kingdom of Babylon. The Lord then sent Isaiah in to Hezekiah. “And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD. Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Listen to the specifics of this prophecy – Babylon, treasures and children taken to the palace of Babylon, nothing left, eunuchs. According to the date which is found in some of your Bibles, this took place in 713 B.C. – about a century before Daniel 1. The prophecy of God may take a while to be fulfilled, but fulfilment is guaranteed. Judah had been sufficiently warned.
While I say this, I also point out that in this victory, Nebuchadnezzar only took part of the treasures of Judah. “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.” Even though Isaiah’s prophecy specifically said that Jerusalem would be thoroughly looted, on this occasion only some of the Lord’s and the king’s property was stolen. But the Babylonians returned on several later occasions, because the Jews rebelled against their rule. With each successive assault more and more of the people and wealth of Judah were taken to Babylon, until there was nothing left but the very poorest of the people and with nothing in their hands.
This is a parable of life in the heathen world of today. It seems that with each passing year, the United States, Canada and the world is less and less Christian. Christian morals are under constant attack, depreciation and decay. The teachings of the scriptures, despite their internal proof is being more successfully denied by the pseudo-intellectuals. Christian churches are less and less Christian as more as more and more of the world creeps into them. And yet, despite the impoverished condition of Christianity, the Lord has never, and will never leave Himself without a witness. The wicked may pollute the world with their false Bibles, but the true text will always be available through translations in hundreds of languages. This is guaranteed by God. We may be surrounded by churches professing to be of Christ, but they are actually churches of Jezebel, the Nicolaitanes, or at the very least Laodicean, and yet there are still a few churches which cling to the old landmarks. And some of these churches will remain throughout the world until the day of our Translation.
The world again may slam and lock the doors to the Lord’s temple, declaring it to be unlawful to assemble ourselves together, to hold property, to support missions, and to worship Christ Jesus as the Word of God directs, but there will always be caves and dens of the rocks where God’s Daniels will gather. And who knows, we may even hold our worship services outside – through the walls of our prisons. Let the next Nebuchadnezzar carry almost everything away into captivity, there will always be a remnant for Christ. The Lord will never leave Himself without a witness. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun.” “That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead…”
Something else to keep in mind is that this is not really our struggle as Christians. I mean to say that it is not ours alone – this is a battle between gods – true and false. We see this more clearly in the Word, than we do in our day-to-day lives, or even in secular history. The ten plagues of Egypt were God’s repudiation of idolatry of that wicked nation. The Noahic flood was a judgment upon the false faith of the unbelieving world, as much as it was upon the sinners of the day. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was God’s judgment on the religion of those people as much as it was their so-called “way of life.” And here in Daniel we see that the treasures, which Nebuchadnezzar took home from God’s temple, were placed in the treasure house of his god. They were considered to be the spoils of a religious war. And today, we are witnesses to a constant assault against the Kingdom of God. In fact we are either warriors in this conflict or victims. Daniel could have become a casualty, but he chose to be a servant of the Lord and an overcomer – victor.
When Daniel and all the others – and there were certainly many more than just four young men – When Daniel and the others reached Shushan, Babylon, they, in some ways, became slaves. They weren’t housed in cells, but they were probably kept in barracks or some sort of garrison. Maybe it was more like a harem. They didn’t have chains about their wrists and legs, but they didn’t have complete liberty either. They certainly didn’t have much control over their physical lives. Ah, but the condition of their souls and spirits was another matter.
And similarly, as the days of the Gentiles develop, and we get closer and closer to the return of our King, the saints of God will find more and more of their physical liberties taken from them. Taxation is a chain about the ankle of nearly everyone, and there isn’t much that we can do about it. Our governments are making national and regional decisions over which we have little control. To send a Bible across some borders is looked upon as if it was anthrax. This sort of thing terrifies some Christians, but for others this is not a reason for alarm. To them this just means that we are that much nearer to our physical redemption.
One thing to notice here is that it is when we are our at our weakest that is when we are the most vulnerable. If the Babylonians had attacked in the days of David or Solomon they would have been repulsed. If they had come against Judah during the days of Hezekiah or Josiah, they probably would have been driven back home. No, it was when wicked Jehoiakim, wicked Jehoiachin and wicked Zedediah were in control of the nation that God invited the Babylonians and then gave Judah into their hands. Unfortunately the days of a strong Christian influence or presence in our world seems to be over. We are vulnerable to the onslaught of atheism, humanism, Islam and Buddism.
And this is the final aspect of my first point. Despite the fact that this is a heathen world in which we live, yet our God is still above and in control of it all. “And the Lord GAVE Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand.” The world may deny that thought, or it may outrightly hate that thought, but it is more than a thought. The reason that Daniel wasn’t slaughtered, but was taken to Babylon, was because it was the will of God. The reason that Jehoiakim was not able to defeat the Babylonian army, was due to the will of Jehovah. That not all the vessels and furniture of the Temple were taken, was because there is no foreign king, there is no false god, there is no force or people on earth greater than our Lord. No matter how wicked and heathen this world may become, it will never be out of control – that is – out of the control of Jehovah.
And very often he sets his sights upon the weaknesses of the strongest saints. Satan gains no great glory, and the Lord loses no great glory, when an already weak or wicked soul falls to Satanic temptation. No, it’s when a Moses, or a King David, or a Prince Daniel falls that the Name of the Lord is most hurt. As we see here, his great interest is more on Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah than the weak and wicked king Jehoiakim. Certainly, like most military leaders, Satan won’t shy away from the potential victory right in front of him, but he’s far more interested in the long-term victory that he might have if he can make Daniel give in to sin. Don’t think that just because you aren’t a missionary, or Bible school president, that Satan will not tempt and try to destroy you. First, you may have more influence over people than you think. You might be a greater prize than you picture yourself. And then too, you might not know what the Lord would like you to do for him in the future. You can be sure that the Devil would like to silence your testimony today, but perhaps more importantly tomorrow. Every Child of God must stay on our guard.
Nebuchadnezzar ordered that certain of the children of Judah be carried away as special captives. This was exactly what God told Hezekiah would happen – the nation had been forewarned. Of course there was the hostage aspect of this situation. These were children of the most important and influential families in Judah. When father and mother knew that their sons were sitting under the drawn sword of the enemy, they were more likely to do what the Babylonians demanded. But there was a more important, subtle and long-term aspect to this policy. The plan was that these young people, would be brainwashed into thinking and behaving like Babylonians. That is, they were being trained to think and act like the heathen. Then later, when they were placed into the prominent positions of their parents and grandparents, it was hoped that they would lead the weaker and dumber of Judah into following them into heathenism.
Satan wants to make our children just like the children of heathen. And he has a hundred ways to make that happen. Don’t think that home-schooling will guarantee the protection of your children – it won’t. And don’t assume that children sent to the public school are sure to fall to Satan – Daniel didn’t fall. No, Satan has a hundred ways to weaken and bring down those who are innocent to the world. It is the task of the parent to do his best, in every area of their lives, to educate, protect and support the children in their families.
And by the way, part of this Babylonian plan was to strip these young men of their manhood. It seems to me that most of the commentators skip over this point, but it won’t go away. Aspenaz was the master of the palace eunuchs, and it was to him that these young people were entrusted. My friends, allegorically, this is exactly what the Devil wants to make out of all of us. He wants to strip us of our manhood. He wants us to be cowards – spiritual cripples. He would like us to be sheep, in the sense that we have no ability to think for ourselves. He wants us to pull out our teeth, de-claw us and even take away our ability to roar. Satan would like us to back down, whenever the truth of God is attacked. He wants to strip us of our manhood.
And the place that Nebuchadnezzar started with Daniel was almost so small as to be almost insignificant. “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.” I have heard that in order to be a member of some modern street gangs, applicants have to commit some sort of violent crime. Ashpenaz didn’t put guns or knives into Daniel’s hands ordering him to kill someone. And he didn’t set these young men down with pornography or corrupt their minds with homosexuality. The text doesn’t suggest that they were forced to attend the Mosque or to pray toward Mecca. In the beginning, it was simply to eat the king’s food and to drink his beverages. But as we shall see this evening, Daniel saw this as an insidious attack.
Spiritual destruction can and often does start with the littlest and most unobtrusive influences. Maybe it is that perfectly polite neighbor child, who wiggles his way into our homes. But his politeness may only be a veneer over a terribly wicked heart. It could be a certain author, a politician, TV show or an actor who once played a role which you approved. Either we, or our children like his public facade, and we let our guard down. Then later he turns out to be an antichrist. It is hard to argue against smoking marijuana, while in process of smoking tobacco. It’s hard to argue against cocaine when we’ve already approved of marijuana. Terrible sins can develop out of the smallest temptations. Oh, how we need to protect our children.
What I would like you to acknowledge with me this morning is that we live in a heathen world. I would like to see that we are under attack.
Oh, how we need a Saviour; how we need protection, and we need the power of the Holy Spirit. Are you quite sure that the Lord Jesus is your Redeemer? Absolutely sure? This is where we must begin. “If you from sin are longing to be free, look to the Lamb of God.” If you from sin are longing to stay free, look to the Lamb of God.