LAST WEEK REVIEW:
Babylon is forcing assimilation… So:
Will the Hebrew boys try to make a great name for themselves by way of Babylon!
(Which so far… “appears” to work!)
Or will they accept the level of greatness and significance that the Lord gives!
YOUR QUESTION:
Will you try to make a great name for yourself the Babylonian way!
Or will you accept the level of greatness and significance that the Lord gives!
There are two clear questions we must answer:
1. How do we stand against Babylon.
2. What am I standing against.
Answer #1: How do we stand against Babylon.
The purpose of Babel/Babylon is to make a name for yourself without God!
So the way we stand against that prideful desire is to submit our plans to the will of God!
Psalm 37:5
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 16:9
9 “A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”
James 4:13-17
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town
and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what
tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time
and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this
or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So
whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
9 Now God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official,
10 but he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink.
For why should he see your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men
your age?
Coercion = the act of forcing someone to do something against their free will.
It relies on threats, intimidation, psychological pressure, or physical violence to make a
person act in a way that goes against their own interests or choices.
10 …….. You would endanger my head before the king!”
11 Then Daniel said to the steward (or guard) whom the chief official had appointed
over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
12 “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given only vegetables to eat and
water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearances with those of the young men who are
eating the royal food, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
14 So he consented to this and tested them for ten days. 15 And at the end of ten days,
they looked healthier and better nourished than all the young men who were eating the
king’s food.
16 So the steward continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to
drink, and he gave them vegetables instead.
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding in every kind of
literature and wisdom. And Daniel had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams.
18 Now at the end of the time specified by the king, the chief official presented them to
Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all the young men he
found no one equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the
king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire
kingdom. 21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
Don’t fall to the coercion of Babylon!
Resist!
Ephesians 6: 10-13
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole
armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For
we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be
able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
The Daniel 1 test
Before participating in something, ask:
Does Scripture directly call this sin?
Does this require me to deny, disobey, or dishonor God?
Does it involve idolatry or agreement with false worship?
Does it feed lust, greed, pride, hatred, or deception?
Is it controlling me?
Can I do it with thanksgiving and for God’s glory?
Would participating violate my conscience?
Would it knowingly encourage someone else to sin?
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