Right, welcome to Daniel chapter 1 part 2. Tonight we will be looking at verses 3 through to verse 8. You remember last week when we started we looked at verses 1 and 2 of chapter 1 and verse 21. and we were looking at the historical context, the four areas in which point us to the history, the historical events, the deportation, we looked at Nebuchadnezzar, we looked at his siege of Jerusalem and the like. Well tonight we want to move on and we want to look at verses 3 through to 8. I'm reading from the New King James, so Daniel chapter 1 starting at verse 3 through to verse 8 says this. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king's service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility. Young men without 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. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years and after that they were to enter the king's service. Among those who were chosen were some from Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names to Daniel, the name Belshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abednego. 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 in this way. From verses 3 through to 8, I want to give it the title Friends and Faith in a Foreign Land. The foreign land being Babylon, around 900 miles from Jerusalem. And obviously friends and faith will become self-evident. We do not have any evidence, nor are we given any evidence in Daniel. for Daniel's parentage or indeed his family. But what we do know is found in chapter 1 verse 3 that he and his three friends appear to be of the royal line or at least of the nobility. So in the early years, our younger ages, because we believe that Daniel was 15, as was Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah, 15 when they were taken into captivity, they were taken to Babylon together with three other youths, that being Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. We are unsure if they were friends at this moment, but what we are sure is that not long after the start that they would have become friends as they bound together to try and maintain some form of cohesion and identity. Young men without physical defect, we're not sure what their ages are, but their careers suggest that they were around 15, some think 13, but I would believe around 15. The shining lights of Judah's next generation, i.e. the cream of the crop. Our passage here that we have read from verses 3 through to 8 point out a three-point strategy employed by Nebuchadnezzar, a strategy which Satan has also employed and still in use today and it will also highlight a devotion to God which is an example for us all. The four areas will be Physical isolation, mental indoctrination, altered identity, and of course, the final fourth one will be unwavering intentions. So part one, the physical isolation, we see this in verse two. If we were to step back just one verse, we read that the Lord delivered Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into the hand, along with some of the articles of the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his God in Babylon and put them in the treasure house. We need to remember that this is a prolonged assault of Israel. We believe there are three assaults and this is just one of them throughout the Bible. Babylon is consistently portrayed as a power characterized by cruelty and destruction. The most ruthless and powerful king of Babylon was Nebuchadnezzar, the man responsible for destroying the temple. These things are important to keep in mind, yet they are not stereotypical in one sense of the people that Daniel will have met in Babylon. The Empire was cruel, that is true, they were known for their cruelty and brutality, especially when they attacked people, but the Babylonians themselves at home were civilised. The capital Babylon was one of the most beautiful in the East and the rituals were enthrasting. We know how beautiful Babylon was because we all know of the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the world. And so we have this contradiction or this dichotomy as it were. On the battlefield they're cruel and brutal, yet at home they're more civilised. with much to go in their favour in one sense. Babylon had a long tradition of paganism. However, unlike Assyria, for instance, the Babylonians were completely intolerant of other religions. They insisted that everyone convert to their religion. They were not a multi-faith society. They weren't interested in letting you maintain your own identity or your own faith. They weren't entrusted in ethnic enclaves as it were, as we will see, but they wanted everyone to convert to their religion. Babylon often conquered cultures by incorporating their people into the empire. This was done either through forced deportation, and or tribute. Tribute-conquered territories were often required to pay a massive annual tribute in the form of cash payments. If they refused, they risked further invasion. We see this in scripture, in 2 Kings and in Chronicles, where the kings would refuse to pay the tribute and align themselves with another country and end up it would be worse for them. The Neo-Babylonians, like the Assyrians before them, sometimes deported conquered people as servants and slaves. This is crucial to think about as we move forward. But they, unlike the Assyrians, which were quite cruel, even within the concept of deporting people as slaves and servants, the Neo-Babylonians weren't as cruel in that sense. And then you have the assimilation. These conquered groups were sometimes forced to adopt Babylonian customs and names, while others were integrated, were more likely to adopt Babylonian culture. And so here we see this first idea, this assimilation, this isolation from their country. They've been transported 900 miles, they're separated from everything that they know, the land that they know, the religious systems that they know, the temple that they're aware of, know of and are familiar with, they are taken into Babylon and through this three-step process of isolation, indoctrination and altered identity we see this this hope that they will adopt the Babylonian culture and belief system. So as we see Nebuchadnezzar physically took the exiles 900 miles from their home, culture and religious life, bringing a physical separation and connection with all that they knew. Nebuchadnezzar wished the people to be in awe, overwhelmed by the beauty of Babylon. This is crucial to think about because unlike the Assyrians, we all had a very cruel way of bringing their people, bringing their captors. We often know the phrase being led by the nose. The Assyrians had this way of putting a ring in the nose of their captors, putting a rope through that ring and leading them, hence being led by the nose, off into captivity. but the Babylonians don't seem to be like that. They seem to, yes, have deported them, but their hope was that the people would be in awe and just captivated by the beauty of Babylon and its rituals. The second aspect in this isolation was to see them isolated from the community. Verses three and four point out that the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, some translations say eunuchs, to bring into the king's service some of the Israelites. This is important to see because Daniel and his three friends were not only isolated from their homeland but from their community. This was to break up any ethnic enclave as we have seen and you may be aware of in Egypt. where the Israelites lived within an area within their own camp and where they were unaffected by the plagues. But here in Babylon they were scattered, they were mixed, they were integrated. and so Nebuchadnezzar appeared to employ a forced integration into Babylon culture and religion. It's interesting to note that they were brought into the king's service and they were to serve in the king's palace, again this separation from the community. I say this because in Ashpenaz being the head of the eunuchs, anyone who served in the king's palace, anyone who was in the king's service, who worked quite close with the king in that sense, would have been made a eunuch. The kings were always trying to protect the bloodline and so anybody who worked in the palace, worked in the king's service, any male, would have most likely become a eunuch. And so here Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah most likely would have been eunuchs from about the age of 15 or 16. While the text does not say, this would have entailed Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah being made eunuchs, as I said, in a sense, in a way of trying to protect the royal bloodline. The fact that Jews should undergo such treatment may have been distasteful but these men had no alternative but they have shown us how their faith could be maintained in adverse circumstances. In one sense we have to ask what Nebuchadnezzar's plan was with this isolation. Well, it definitely wasn't cruelty because as we would have seen in Jeremiah 39 and Jeremiah 29, It is not that type of approach. The Babylonians, while cruel and brutal, they seemed to plan a cohesion and expansion through culture and religion. To teach people your culture and to teach them your religion was a way that they sought to grow their empire. This then included a three-year university course, we would say today, in all the wisdom, literature and languages, learning occultism of Babylon. We'll get to that momentarily. Point two is the mental indoctrination. We see this in verses 4 and 5. Young men without 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 Babylon. The physical isolation was reinforced by the fact that their association was now with the king, not by eating and drinking food and wine from the king's table. This isolation was then reinforced by an indoctrination, this mental indoctrination, this teaching. Now, while this teaching may not sound bad, or the fact that language and literature may not sound bad, the language and literature of the Babylonians, we need to unpack this a little bit. It was Adolf Hitler in his book Mein Kampf who wrote, Through clever and consistent application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell and also the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise. So here we see Nebuchadnezzar trying to bring in a teaching, teaching in all areas of literature and belief systems, in order to try and indoctrinate these young men into believing and following the religion and teaching of the Babylonians. The clue is in verse 4. It says every kind of learning language as well as written works. It is believed that these types of language and written works entail things like mathematics, astronomy, astrology and we in our day would be aware of astrology. A lot of people would read their stars seeking guidance from them. So you've got mathematics, astronomy and astrology. They were also to be taught the religion and laws of the Babylon empire. This would include occult literature and practice. It's fascinating when we think about how the Magi, or the wise men, as it is believed, those of Babylon were the ones that went to the birth of Christ as they interpreted the stars. The ultimate goal was to indoctrinate them into Babylonian culture and to transform Daniel and his friend into loyal and skilled officials for the royal court. According to modern scholarship, the royal courts of the Old World Middle East such as Egypt, Israel, Babylon and elsewhere ran both temple schools and wisdom schools. So when we think about Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah being taught all forms of literature, then we must understand that this was both temple schools where the religion is involved and wisdom schools. Hence, you will get all forms of the religious and the occult activity. I find the quote from the late Vody Bokom interesting when he said, we should not be surprised if we give our children to Caesar to teach, and they come out as little Romans. And that was the goal of Nebuchadnezzar, that he would teach them, that he would train them up within the wisdom schools and religious schools, and that they would come out as little Babylonians. This way all information and forms of distribution of that information are not harmless. We must understand that in our day not all information and all forms are completely harmless. We see this on the internet. The algorithms guide our intake of information and in essence keep other information away from us. They push us to watch certain things or to digest certain information and this can give us a biased opinion. No teacher is unbiased, each teacher has a worldview through which they colour their knowledge. I'm biased in the sense that my whole worldview is geared by, coloured by and focused to Christ and Christ alone. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda said, if you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for a such time as the state can shield the people from the political, economic and or military consequences of the lie. We know this so very well. We often say if you tell yourself a lie long enough you begin to believe it and so this is again an age old thing. Whereas this constant abuse of indoctrination is forcing them to believe something that is not true. These new graduates of Babylonian education system were to join the king's permanent body, large body of wise men, highly privileged but totally dependent upon the royal whim. The next thing we see is the altered identity. We see in verse 7 that the chief official gives them new names. Now it's very important we understand these new names. Verses 6 and 7, Daniel and his three friends, they have their identity attacked. A change in name is a way of trying to bring about a change in identity. Daniel, his name means God is judge. Hananiah means the Lord is gracious. Mishael, who is like God. And Azariah, the Lord is my help. These all give a clear identity with God, focus on God and dependence on God. but now their names are changed. Daniel is given the name Belshazzar which means Bell protect my life. Bell was a ruling god within the pantheon of gods sort of equivalent to Zeus or Jupiter. Hananiah was given Shadrach it means illuminated by the sun god Ra. Mishael was given Meshach meaning who is like Aku. Aku is a Babylonian moon god and Azariah is given the name Abednego, probably an Aramaic equivalent of a Babylonian name, servant of Nego, Nego being a Babylonian god of wisdom and education. This was the next logical step in indoctrination and isolation, which is completed by the change of identity. The renaming may have avoided any inconvenience of varied foreign names, but it could also have helped to unify the mixed court and display Babylonian lordship. So these things are very clear in how they've approached. their strategy. I suppose you could look at this as being wise but there was a systematic removal of dependence on God, identity with God and a proclamation of how great God is. So Nebuchadnezzar wanted to remove everything to do with God. Daniel may have lived in Babylon, but Babylon did not live in Daniel. And I think that's a wise saying. So as we think about the isolation, indoctrination and the altered identity, we have to understand that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah decided to stand strong and while they lived in Babylon, Babylon did not live in them. Then next we get to the fourth point in this area and that's the unwavering intentions. It says in verse 8 that Daniel resolved not to defile himself with royal food and wine and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way. Now we will get on next time from version 9 on what the outcome of this was, but there's just a few things I want us to bring out at this point. Resolved means, if you look up in the dictionary, is to set or determine in one's heart to do something, signify a firm decision, to act according to one's convictions. This is very important that in one sense Daniel wanted to act in accordance with his convictions. There was a strong resolution, there was a strong decision made. to act in accordance with his convictions. We have to ask what his convictions were, but the word also in Hebrew means to ordain, to establish, to determine, to set his heart, to determine, indicating a deep unwavering resolve. So this is a very strong word that is being used here. And yet in scripture, this word refers to a determination to carry out a particular course of action, often in alignment with God's will and commandments. It involves a steadfastness of purpose and a commitment to act according to one's convictions. So here we see that Daniel and Mishael and Azariah and Hananiah they resolve to keep themselves in one sense in line with God's will and commandments. This highlights the greater aspect and the greater thrust of where we're going Again in Daniel 1 verse 8 it talks about that they didn't want to defile themselves. And while we have an idea of what that might mean, the Hebrew word is a verb which means to make something unclean, impure or ceremonially polluted. And so I think it's very important that while Daniel and we will ponder on this a little bit later, but whatever the food was, whatever the drink was, they had resolved within themselves that this in some way would remove them from obeying God's will and God's commandments. So again in verse 8, as we said, they didn't want to defile themselves, make themselves ceremonially unclean or polluted, and I think this is a good hint. By eating the food and wine and drinking the wine that was not prepared in the Israelite way, that was unclean. Now, many people have debated that the meat may have been pig meat. Others have argued that it may not have been prepared in a kosher manner in line with the Mosaic law. We read about that in Leviticus 11 verses 44 to 47. Whatever way it was, these four men decided, these four boys decided that to partake in this food and wine would have been a way of making them ceremonially polluted, to make them unclean and therefore break the commandments of God. Another aspect of this is it was also custom in ancient times that the food of the king most officials was most likely sacrificed to idols in that it was prepared, it was offered to idols, it was laid there in front of the idol to bless and to do what it does and then it was taken away and eaten. This may also have been a contributing factor that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah did not want to partake in food that had been offered to idols, knowing that they were there to serve God and God only. It was a case of taking special care so that they did not unknowingly partake in Babylon's sin. So as we come to a close, as we begin to draw this section to a close, this point to a close, as we conclude I think it's very important that we've seen in this section three strategies of the enemy. isolation, indoctrination, and identity alteration. And we see that this is very common and very prevalent today, especially in schools and in universities, as our young people go off to universities. The way they think, in fact, how they dress, and many of them will fall away or they find it harder to remain true to Christ. These strategies are active today, this separation, this indoctrination and this altered identity. And of course we see here this fourth element that we would love to build up all people in is this unswerving resolution to stay true to God's will and commandments. As we finish, I think it's very clear that we tie this up with the phrase that Daniel was living in Babylon, but Babylon was not living in him. So as we go through Daniel, we need to see how he and Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah lived out their faith. Yes, they made decisions about what they learned, how much they learned. They were prepared to go so far, but no further. And yet they were willing to seek after the will and commandments of God. So this was verses 3 to 8. The strategies that was used to try and remove all dependence, identity and trust in God. So next week or next time we will look at verses 9 through to 21. Thank you.