{"id":23565,"date":"2022-10-10T22:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T05:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/romans-16_17-27-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-09-27T15:15:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T22:15:11","slug":"daniel-1_1-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/daniel-1_1-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Feed on the Word, not the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel 1:1-21\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today we begin the book of Daniel.\u00a0 While you will always find people positing other theories, there is good reason to believe that the book of Daniel was written by Daniel himself starting in approximately 605 B.C.\u00a0\u00a0 Many Bible scholars believe that Daniel lived around the same time as the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, was born of noble birth in Judah and spent his first 15 years or so there.\u00a0 Growing up in Judah, Daniel probably heard the prophet Jeremiah preach about how one day because of their persistent rebellion against God, the king of Babylon would take over Jerusalem and send its people into exile.\u00a0 When Jerusalem in fact fell to Babylon\u2019s King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was among the young Jewish men who were taken to Babylon, to be educated in the Babylonian system in service of the Babylonian king.\u00a0 Daniel would spend the rest of his life living outside of Jerusalem, serving in the administration of various foreign kingdoms, including Babylon and Persia, while holding fast to his faith in the LORD.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Daniel 1:1-21.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Daniel 1:1-6 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility–
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0young men without any 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.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The 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.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-6:\u00a0 Among the young Israelite men who were handpicked for the king\u2019s service, representing the kingdom of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.\u00a0\u00a0Just as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were among the outstanding young people who were handpicked to serve King Nebuchadnezzar, so you are one of the outstanding ones who have been handpicked to serve the greatest king of all, Jesus Christ.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel 1:7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 7:\u00a0 Daniel, whose name means \u201cGod is my judge\u201d<\/strong>, was given the name Belteshazzar, which was probably a prayer to one of the Babylonian gods saying, \u201cProtect his life!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hananiah, whose name means \u201cYahweh is gracious\u201d<\/strong>, was given the name Shadrach, which was probably a petition to the Babylonian moon god Aku.<\/p>\n

Mishael, whose name means \u201cWho is what God is?\u201d<\/strong> (i.e. there is no one like our God), was given the name Meshach, which probably means something like \u201cWho is what Aku is?\u201d (i.e. there is no one like Aku).<\/p>\n

Azariah, whose name means \u201cYahweh has helped\/will help\u201d<\/strong>, was given the name Abednego, which means \u201cservant of Nebo\u201d, another Babylonian god.<\/p>\n

In other words, in each case, the Babylonian chief official took a name that was centered around Israel\u2019s God and changed to a name that appealed to a Babylonian god.<\/p>\n

Despite living in Babylon, being taught the Babylonian language and culture, and having his name changed to a Babylonian name, as we will see the verses that follow, Daniel never forgot who he really is.<\/p>\n

The world will go to great lengths to uproot your original God-given identity and to plant your identity in something that does not last.\u00a0 Like Daniel, never forget who you really are: a precious and beloved child of God, chosen to serve the king.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel 1:8 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 8:\u00a0 Daniel probably did not want to eat the royal food and wine for two reasons.\u00a0 First, the royal food and wine included foods that were considered unclean according to the law of Moses.\u00a0 Second, the royal food and wine would have been offered to a Babylonian god before being presented for eating (an issue that first century Jewish Christian would later wrestle with).\u00a0 Despite living in a foreign land and having no more access to worship the LORD in the temple, Daniel and his brothers from Judah could have easily said, \u201cWe don\u2019t want to offend anyone.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just eat it like everyone else.\u00a0 All the other guys from Israel are eating it.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t we?\u201d\u00a0 But in the end Daniel still thought it was important to abstain from these foods as a way to set himself apart for the LORD.<\/p>\n

How can we apply these verses to our own lives?\u00a0 Granted, the dietary laws in the Old Testament do not apply to Christians (see Mark 7:19; Acts 10:15).\u00a0 Still, one lesson I learn from these verses is that\u00a0it is your choice how much of the world\u2019s food you will eat<\/strong>.\u00a0 To be clear, I\u2019m not talking about physical food.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about the messages that the world preaches about who to depend on and what to chase after. \u00a0Every day you need to make a choice: will I let the Word or the world inform and transform my thinking?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because in many ways you are what you eat, feed on the Word.\u00a0 As Jesus says, \u201cMan does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3)<\/p>\n

Daniel 1:9-16 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel,
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.”
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-16:\u00a0 When Daniel faced a problem, he got creative in finding a solution.\u00a0 Likewise,\u00a0when you\u2019re faced with a problem, don\u2019t give up but get creative.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, another lesson:\u00a0you\u2019ll always look and feel better feeding on the Word than you would feeding on the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel 1:17-21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17-21:\u00a0 Because Daniel and his 3 friends from Judah resolved to honour God in a small thing, God blessed them in other ways, giving them knowledge and understanding in other areas as well as favour with the king.\u00a0 Similarly,\u00a0when you resolve to honour God in small things, God will bless you in other ways and give you favour.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, like Daniel, may I never forget who I am in You.\u00a0 May I feed on Your Word more than anything that the world offers me.\u00a0 Since wisdom, knowledge and favour come from You, I pray for wisdom to honour You in the small things, knowing that Your blessing and favour will follow in other ways.\u00a0\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today we begin the book of Daniel.\u00a0 While you will always find people positing other theories, there is good reason to believe that the book of Daniel was written by Daniel himself starting in approximately 605 B.C.\u00a0\u00a0 Many Bible scholars believe that Daniel lived around the same time as the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, was born of noble birth in Judah and spent his first 15 years or so there.\u00a0 Growing up in Judah, Daniel probably heard the prophet Jeremiah preach about how one day because of their persistent rebellion against God, the king of Babylon would take over Jerusalem and send its people into exile.\u00a0 When Jerusalem in fact fell to Babylon\u2019s King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was among the young Jewish men who were taken to Babylon, to be educated in the Babylonian system in service of the Babylonian king.\u00a0 Daniel would spend the rest of his life living outside of Jerusalem, serving in the administration of various foreign kingdoms, including Babylon and Persia, while holding fast to his faith in the LORD.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Daniel 1:1-21.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23565"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23568,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23565\/revisions\/23568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}