Over the last few weeks we have been looking at people who were strangers in their lands, to some degree. We’ve looked at Abraham and Moses who were faced with impossible situations and in the face of the impossible, trusted God and saw victory.
We’ve also taken a look at Joshua and Caleb, and discovered that courage comes from God who gave his promise, and we looked at Caleb's faith and determination, age was no barrier to living for God.
Last week we took a look at Ruth and Esther, and their families, and how loyalty and God’s wisdom are really important parts of living in God’s Kingdom, and for our sojourn in this world.
Today we will take a look at some people who lived in Babylon and Persia. These guys lived in places unfamiliar to them, but against all odds fulfilled the purpose that God had for them. These guys did not have it easy. They did experience great blessing, but they also experienced great trouble and hardship.
Daniel 1:1-7
Daniel’s Training in Babylon
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And 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[a] and put in the treasure house of his god.
3 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— 4 young 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.[b] 5 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.
6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
We know Daniels story, he was taken into captivity and he was found by the king to be wise. Nehemiah lived a little after Daniel. Kings had come and gone when people from Judah come to Nehemiah and tell him that Jerusalem is basically destroyed and the walls broken down. Nehemiah leads a group of people back to the land and begins the rebuilding of the walls, but he faced treachery and he faced trouble and opposition.
The responses of these men to their situations highlights some points for us.
1. Never compromise your standards.
Daniel and his mates would not compromise. They would not eat meat that they considered unclean and was not prepared the right way. They did not compromise their standards when Nebuchadnezzar wanted them to bow down to him; they chose the fiery furnace instead, fully believeing God would save them.
I wonder if we would be prepared to stand up to the king that way. God is able to take us through anything we face. These guys totally trusted God.
They believed Isaiah 43. "When you walk through the water you won’t drown, when you walk through the fire you will not be burned". God is in the business of saving people. He enables us to go through any situation. We do not need to compromise God’s standard.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were prepared to trust God even to death, and God saved them. I love the attitude of these guys. It was an "And if we die, we die" attitude.They were prepared to die, totally refusing to give in and bow down to the King, because God was the only person hey would bow down to.
This is reminiscent of Mordecai, who for the same reasons years later, refused to bow down to Haman. In both these situations, they faced possible death. But they stood up to people and declared allegiance to God alone.
Daniel 3:16-29
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
God saved them.
Esther 3:1-6
3 After these events, King Xerxes honoured Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honour higher than that of all the other nobles. 2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honour to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honour.
3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behaviour would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.
5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honour, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.
Mordecai was placing honour of God above people. He would not give worship to anyone but God. Bear in mind that he had already saved the life of the king. This was not about honour but about worship. Mordecai refused to compromise his standards and his beliefs. Not only did God save these people, he changed the heart and the mind of the king.
God honours those who honour him. God honours those who choose to honour him and who do not compromise their beliefs for convenience and comfort.
What situation are you facing where there is temptation to compromise your faith and your beliefs?
God is encouraging us to be people who will stand firm in our beliefs.
What is God asking you to do in this situation?
Remember that he will never ask you to do something that goes against his word. But if you honour him, he will bring you through.
Daniel and the lion’s den is also a well-known story. Again, Daniel refuses to compromise and he is placed in the Lion’s den. And God saved him, also changing the heart and mind of another ruler. God is always there, ready to defend his people.
2. God’s work and fighting the enemy go hand in hand
Whilst Daniel and his mates stood up for what they believed, Nehemiah faced opposition of a different kind.
Nehemiah 1:1-3
The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
Nehemiah 2:1-5
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
So Nehemiah heads back to Jerusalem. This is the time of Artaxerexes, so after Esther, and he was probably born in Persia and he spent his time in the king’s service. After he went to Jerusalem, he was in Jerusalem for some time, 12 years, before he was called back to the King’s service.
This is a loyal man, who knew that God had given him an assignment. For some people it is lifelong, for others, there are definite times and seasons. In Jerusalem, where he is tasked to build the city walls, he finds opposition (in fact the building of the Temple had also been interrupted by opposition).
Nehemiah just does not give in. Nehemiah 3 gives a really good example of needing everyone to build something important. Nehemiah was tasked with rebuilding the wall, but he could not do it alone, it actually took all hands on deck. As we shall see, it also took everyone to be alert, and to build the wall, working and ready to fight.
Opposition to the Rebuilding
Nehemiah 4
[a]When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”
3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”
4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of[b] the builders.
6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”
11 Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.”
12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work.
16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armour. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.
19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!”
21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and as workers by day.” 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.[c]
This is a good analogy for us. We are tasked with building something worthwhile for God’s kingdom. We do it together and we do it ready to fight the enemy. (Those who did not take their place were singled out.) God calls each of us to do our part. To do what we have been given. We are not responsible for everything. Just our part and we are to be ready to fight for it.
Eph 6:10-13
The Armour of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Be strong in the Lord’s power. Nehemiah said that God would fight for them. Jesus has already won the victory for us. But there is still a fight that we fight. We are to stand firm in God’s power.
How well prepared are you to fight? What action do you need to take to be prepared to face the enemy?
What part is God calling you to play?
Concluding thoughts
Stand form in God, trust him. Be ready to stand up for what we believe no compromise. Stand firm, know that God is fighting for us, but we have our part to play. We do our bit, and we let God do his.
So as strangers and aliens in this land – we can live in a way that sets us apart from other people, through faith, courage, determination, trusting God and living a no compromise life.
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