Daniel and a God who loves His people: Daniel 6.

Living in Babylon ~ in Sydney

You have to use your imagination here. We are in a time of ~550 b.c. and in a strange place. God’s people, the Exiles, have lost everything. They’ve been taken out of the Land, taken to Babylonian. Their Temple is sacked and gone. Their Kingdom is gone. Daniel [also S/M/A] belong to this Exile group who now live in Babylon under the King Darius. Babylon is a strange place. The language is not Hebrew, the laws are not given by God or enforced by the Hebrew priests. There is no temple, for the people to sacrifice to God. In fact when they walk around town, the statues, the temples and the rules are designed for worship false gods. The Hebrew God or God of the Bible is a “Loser”.

Daniel and a couple of brilliant Hebrews have been selected by the King to help in his court. He’s charismatic, clever and obviously blessed by God with gifts of wisdom, language, insight and even the interpretation of dreams. Daniel was a 1 of 3 administrators who were in charge of all other satraps and governors; similar to our Federal Leaders today, but even more respected. It was the King’s plan to make him the second in charge, i.e. just under him. Wow. This is a Hebrew, in a strange land, who trusts in a strange God, whose people are servants and slaves.

You guys need to know that Sydney is Babylon, if you count yourselves as Christians. God is not the god of this city. Not many are believers. We may live in this city, and do well. We may be clever, charismatic, blessed by God with gifts useful for the city, but Christians are still different in a strange city.

The language, the lifestyle, the habits and leisures [what gives us pleasure] are different. Yes on the outside we are the same, we attend schools and unis, we go to movies, we facebook and twitter. We go on similar holidays, we shop in the same area, we dress in the same fashion. It’s all the same on the surface. We enjoy similar jokes and a lot of us are ABCs in culture. But, if you are a Christian, inside there should be a feeling of strangeness. Some are obvious, some are subtle.

The obvious thing is you’re here, your parents believe in God, Jesus the Saviour and King. You’re not normal in this strange land. Your friends’ youth camps do not have oldies like me teaching you from the Bible. Your friends don’t sing songs to praise God. Your friends don’t understand praying to God and listening to Him. I mean, why waste your sundays?
You have words and ideas which your friends have no appreciation of and if you told someone the Gospel - NO - they will laugh at Jesus, a God who dies for sins and rises to give life to believers, people will find it strange or stupid. Jesus is a “Loser” in this strange city.

THE Reason why Christians are different [like Daniel] is that we have a true and living God, who loves and saves His people.

Being Different in Babylon ~ in Sydney

Daniel was different. He and other Hebrews had different habits. Even though he was as high as any person could be on the social ladder, in income, in status, he remained faithful to His God, the God of the Hebrews and the Laws of God. Daniel was different in a good way.

He proved so trustworthy that he won the King’s heart and trust. He excelled in what he did. He was able to oversee many satraps and governors, who themselves were the important officials of the provinces. He had the top job, pretty good for a Hebrew in Babylon.

He followed different rules and guidelines and developed different habits to other satraps. In previous sections of Daniel, you find that the satraps loved to wine, dine and rewind with the King, but Daniel and S/M/A were happy with simple foods, high-fibre, low-salt and water. He didn’t chase after Babylonian tastes or prizes. He could have easily. He could have been one of them, but He had other things, God actually, in mind.

So Daniel had godly habits. He prayed [6:10] 3 times a day. He faced Jerusalem. His heart is with the promises of God, his concern was for the people of God, his priorities were all to follow God, His desire was for the triumph of God and His people. He trusted the God who once led HIs people to the promised Land and he hoped in the God promises to one day save His people.

It was because of Daniel’s difference that he was able to serve the city Babylon. It was God who gave him the gifts of wisdom and God’s rules and principles that helped him govern wisely and justly. Yet it was also because of Daniel’s difference that other straps hated him. There is no reason. He’d done no wrong. The only way they could get to him wasn’t going to be finding corruption in Daniel or evidence of slackness, bad behaviour. The only way to get Daniel killed was to twist the King’s arm into writing a non-sense law, an evil law and using false accusations.

It is the same for Christians in Sydney. You see, Sydney actually benefits from Christians, and in particular Christians being different: Sydney gains when Christians follow Jesus and His commands. If rules reflected Christian principles, your school, society, your city gains. Yet for no reason, people hate this difference. There is an evil attitude in the world. If you don’t see it you’re blind. What often belongs to God, what God approves, God commands are hated by people. God made the world, He came into the world, He spoke to the world in Jesus but the world does not understand Him, does not welcome Him, the world, when exposed of his own evil hates God. The Darkness hates the Light as John puts it.

What if, as a Christian, you don’t cheat? You’re an idiot. What if you don’t lie in an interview? You’re a prig. What if you don’t like to curse and swear? You’re anal. What if as a Christian, you freely serve with joy? You’re weird. What if you point out the evil in coarse jokes, bullying, corruption, a little meanness. You’re a wowser. What if you want to keep your body pure until marriage. You’re old fashioned and following medieval rules. What if you enjoy more than just Twilight, Violence, etc. You’re old.

[Aside: Jesus’s difference, persecution and death. Daniel was a prefigure.]

THE Reason why Christians are different [like Daniel] is that we have a true and living God, who loves and saves His people.

Trusting in God in Babylon ~ in Sydney

Daniel went to the Lion’s den. The King didn’t want to and tried his best to undo his non-sense law. But God allowed Daniel to go to the den anyway. At this point the King prays and calls on the living God to deliver [save] Daniel. Wow. Daniel’s difference has had a profound impact on the King. Not everyone, but King Darius. He, a pagan, self-centred, foolish king, prays to the God of the Hebrews. He does not know whether this God will save Daniel yet, because He’s not familiar with the God who rescued the Hebrews long time ago out of Egypt and into the Land. But at least He’s got an idea that this is a Living God.

God did save Daniel. Physically, and Spiritually. Even the Lions, animals without souls, had the intelligence to listen and obey God. God’s plan was to save Daniel, display His glory in his Faithfulness, Power and Grace. The lions obeyed and kept their mouths shut, when human governors could not and opened their big mouths and were eventually put to death by their own trap. Though God could have let Daniel die and still accomplish his purpose through a tragedy, in this case the purpose was to keep Daniel alive and to convert the heart of King Darius.

I want us to ask ourselves: does trusting in God pay off? Why dare to be different? What is the promise of God to His people? Why be different in your school, uni and work today? The Bible says yes.God is true, he is Living and He is able to save. But you need to know how He saves. He does not have to shut up the lion’s jaws and He can still save. But Often, He does shut the lion’s jaws for Christians to trust, love and obey Him today. Because He can, and even if you suffer, He is strong enough to take us through that suffering. That’s what makes Him a true and living God.

The Good News of Jesus really saves. The Story of Daniel and the Lions is a model to help us understand the bigger, better, really good news that God saves all sinners in Jesus and that whoever trusts in HIm will be delivered from sin and death, and brought back to eternal life and relationship with an everlasting, awesome heavenly Father.


God is true and living and deserves worship ~ everywhere

Darius ends up being a follower and believer of God. He calls Him correctly the Living God, the one who Delivers [saves]. There is another reason why Daniel dared to be different. It was for Babylon’s sake and for the King’s sake. Or, so that God will be worshipped by the unbelievers in the strange land.

See the profound effect Daniel’s trust makes in Darius’ life? Darius was once a pagan, idolater and foolish king given to flattery and selfishness. But He learns through Daniel’s life that God is true, living, just, mighty to save and full of grace on His people. He repents and turns into a believer and someone who praises God! And this is the king of the Babylonians.

What about us, why does God place us in Sydney now? And why are we to be different. God has a purpose for placing His people in modern Babylonian cities. And the Reason is the Good News. People will be changed by the Good News as we Sydney youth live faithfully. The reason is not just for us, the reason is for God’s sake, for His name and His glory and for the benefit of many.

THE Reason why Christians are different [like Daniel] is that we have a true and living God, who loves and saves His people. And He deserves to be worshipped by people everywhere, even in Babylon and even in Sydney.