Home | Sermon Home | Studies Home | | Feedback Form

Imagine the Pressure! (Part 2)

Pastor Bill Farrow

Daniel 1:4-6

[4] young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. [5] And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. [6] Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

(Verse 4) - We had been discussing the tremendous pressure brought to bear by Daniel's situation and thinking about how many factors came to bear on him as strove to obey God in Babylon. We talked about his having a new home, new freedom, new knowledge, and new influence. We want to look a bit further now and go on to:

New Customs

In addition to all that we have said was bearing on Daniel and his friends we need to think about the strangeness and the newness of the cultural habits that were the result of their change in circumstances. It is remarkable how much we are influenced by our culture. The little things of life are tremendously influential and can have a huge effect on our lives without our really realizing it! The Scripture speaks of this very idea when speaks of the little foxes that spoil the vineyard. It was not the big compromises that were the largest danger to Daniel and His friends. It was the small things that mount up to broad effect that make or break our spiritual lives. Many of us would never break a major commandment, but we do often fall afoul of the small disobediences that occur more frequently than we often realize. That is where his (and our) attention needs to be!

New Friends

 Daniel and his three friends were cast in among a whole wealth of new people. There were those who had come from Judah as he had been, as well as great numbers of new acquaintances from Babylon itself. Young people are impressionable, and peer pressure is not necessarily a new thing! One can only imagine all of the various habits, ideas and pressures these young men were exposed to, not just from those outside their "peer group" but from the group itself. The pressure to go along and not be different must have keen tremendous.

New Diet (5)

Now, I could be completely out of line here, but I have a hard time imagining that Daniel liked "pulse" (vegetables) any more than most teenagers do! I don't think he disliked veggies the way certain unnamed Sunday School teachers do, but there is nothing to say that he liked them a lot either! That suggests an interesting idea. Daniel purposed to do something that was, to one degree or another, unpleasant! And he purposed to do it for quite a time! That is an impressure thing for a young man! To pass up the burgers and pizzas of his day is commendable. To eat only vegetables instead is truly wonderful. Ore can only imagine how hard it must have been to stay on such a diet when all around you are eating foods that, under other circumstances, he uoald have enjoyed and even preferred. Could you and I home resisted?

New Goals

Nobody likes changes - at least not many people do. We basically like things to stay the way they are, particularly as we get older. This especially true of the kind of radical and unwanted change we see in Daniel's life. This kind of wrenching, unpleasant and forced change is never welcome and always brings with it resentment and anger. The upheaval of life, and the need to rethink, reprioritize, and make new goals is a terribly unpleasant process. New priorities and necessities have a tendency to crowd out old habits and patterns. While this is not always a particularly bad thing, anything that threatens spiritual routine in unacceptable and dangerous. Daniel's life had been completely turned upside-down and all that was important to him was now being crowded by a whole raft of new goals and priorities that he was now compelled to serve. We can only imagine the tumault and confusion that must have been present. This is particularly convicting when we remember that you and I sometimes let things go for far less reason!

New Names (6-7)

The culture of Babylon, as defined and set by the King, was essentially trying to completely reshape the entire person of the captives from Israel. They redefined or tried to remove everything that distinguished them as Jews and mould them into Babylonians.

The pressure on Daniel, from all sides must have been incredible. We are also told that it was unrelenting, it went on for three years initially, but the implication is that it was intended to go on forever, making them true Babylonians. The pressure to compromise never let up for Daniel. It was always a factor to be dealt with and planned for and guarded against. Yet we see that Daniel quickly adjusted and learned to live with and, in fact, gained great victory over it - becoming one of the greatest men of God in all the Scripture.

I need to build into my life the kind of devotion and consecration to God that Daniel exhibits here.