PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY: DANIEL CHAPTER 1

DISCLAIMER: RELIGION IS ALWAYS A VERY SENSITIVE ISSUE TO DISCUSS. IT IS SADLY THE CAUSE OF MANY CONFLICTS AND WARS AMONG MANKIND. THIS IS MEANT TO BE A PROTESTANT CHRISTIAN POST FROM THE BIBLE THAT HAS THE NEW AND OLD TESTAMENT FOR PRESBYTERIANS AND METHODISTS, AND OTHER PROTESTANTS TOO. I BELIEVE THE NET GIVES ME THE FREEDOM TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL SO I WILL USE THIS OPPORTUNITY. I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS WORLD IS MADE UP OF DIFFERENT SECTS, RELIGIONS, BELIEFS, THINKINGS AND FAITHS. THUS, IF MY POST CLASHES WITH YOURS, PLEASE FORGIVE ME BECAUSE I AM POSTING FROM THE BREATH AND WORD OF GOD FAITHFULLY FROM THE BIBLE IN METHODIST / PRESBYTERIAN INTERPRETATIONS, CLINGING ON STRONGLY ON THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES IT WAS WRITTEN BY THE PROPHETS. I KNOW IT WILL CLASH WITH PHILOSOPHY, SOCIOLOGY, SCIENCE, ASTRONOMY, ISLAM, BUDDHISM, HINDUISM AND MANY OTHER RELIGIONS IN THE WORLD WITH DIFFERENT DOCTRINES AND IDEOLOGIES. SO AGAIN, IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH WHAT I SAID, PLEASE FORGIVE ME AND JUST DON'T READ ON. FOR THOSE WHO ARE CURIOUS OR INTERESTED, YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOMED TO READ AND GIVE COMMENTS OR OPINIONS. THIS IS NOT MEANT TO INSULT, BELITTLE, CONDEMN, DISCRIMINATE, CRITICIZE, CONFUSE, DISTURB AND MAKE FUN OF YOU. IT IS MEANT TO BE A FRIENDLY POST NOT MEANT TO HURT ANYBODY SO PLEASE DISCUSS IN CONTEXT. YOUR COOPERATION IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. ANY MISTAKE/S MADE BY ME ON THIS POST CAN BE CORRECTED BY OTHER PROTESTANT CHRISTIANS WHO KNOW BETTER. I AM ALSO NO BETTER AND STILL LEARNING THE WORD OF GOD.

This post will be done in proper English. This will make readers not from English background easier to follow. I will use simple and easy to understand words if possible. It is taken from ARPC from the book of Daniel on Oct 3-5 2003 titled Do You Fit? The sermon is best followed using the NIV (New International Version) bible. The post below is a reflection from me after attending the sermon, and thus may not be 100% accurate. For precision, go download the MP3 format from the website itself.

BACKGROUND

The unthinkable. Think of something unthinkable. Arnie becoming the president of the United States? Haha! He is already now the governor of California. A day when Israel and Palestine can sit down and shake hands? One day that Malay or Singlish will become the standard international language of the world. Unthinkable right? A day when Malaysia or Singapore wins the FIFA World Cup. That's on the global scene.

What about personal issues? What is the most unthinkable thing that can happen in your life? The most unthinkable thing will be to bury your dead sons/daughters. That is really unthinkable, to bury our dead parents is still acceptable, but our children? That is already the worst case scenario.

1. The Unthinkable on the world stage (1:1-2)
(a) Battle of the kings, cities and the Gods.
(b) But what's the war?

For Daniel and his generation of Jews living in 605-604 BC, the unthinkable has happened in the international, national and personal scenes. They faced the worst case scenario unfolding in their time. Their Jewish king, Jehoiakim had just been defeated by a pagan king, King Nebuchadnezzar. It is unthinkable because their city, Jerusalem, which is God's city, has been conquered by a pagan city, Babylon. Their God which they thought is the true living God, symbolized by his true presence in the temple, had just been defeated, and the vessels of the temple in Jerusalem had just been carried off to be housed in the temple of the foreign God (pagan God). So it is so unthinkable to them because the event should not be, could not be, must not be true because the pagans can be victorious over the true God, his city and people.

The indication of this war is actually founded in the word Babylonia with the Hebrew word meaning Shinar. So we would trace its origins to get the background of the whole story.

1st appearance: Genesis 11:1-10

Events: United language
United nations
United goal- tower to reach the heavens

Explanation: united in sin
= The Godless world
= The self-determined life

When God created us, Adam and Eve, he gave us a simple mission - be fruitful, multiply, and filled the earth, meaning scattered all over the earth and rule the world on God's behalf. Then, He will bless us. In Babel, they have one united language, this was the first incident of United Nations actually, not the one after World War II. They have one common goal - they were united in sin, as anti-God, anti-God purposes. We are mimicking God, we want to build a God-less world. This means a self-determined life without God. This is a world wide unity for a world wide rebellion against God.

2nd appearance: Zechariah 5:5-11 (iniquity = sin)

Sin personified as a woman
A house is built to idolize sin.

Sin is deified (from the word deity) = the worship of sin!

Sin is being spoken as a woman. Bible is not a sexist though. A house will be built to idolize sin. Sin is being deified, treated like a God, worship of sin. The deification of sin is what they are doing. Sin is not to be worshipped, but to be repented. They celebrated goodness of (God forsaken life) sin together. It is Babel part 2, where people find immoral courage. So they are now partners in crime and partners in sin. They celebrated together in sin and are proud of it. That is Shinar and that is Babylon.

3rd appearance: Daniel 1:2

One language, religion, education, culture, people

Explanation: Babylon is the contemporary version of anti-God ambitions.

c. The cause of the unthinkable (2 Chronicles 36:5-23)
Apostasy = betrayal or abandonment of God by trusting in substitutes
-Spiritual apostasy = betraying God by trusting in the worship of tangible idols
Political Apostasy = betraying God by thrusting in political alliances with nations and kings

Here it is Babel all over again. King Nebuchadnezzar ruled over them and now they are a gathering of one language, religion, education, culture and people under a pagan king living under the rebellion against God. Babylon is the latest contemporary version of an anti-God ambition.

Apostasy is being focused here. Spiritual apostasy explanation: The true and living God of the Jews is an invincible God. The only thing they have of Him is His words. Pagan gods and idols have something more tangible. You can touch them, taste them, feel them, kiss them, see them, move them and decorate them. Anything that can be seen is more real than anything that cannot be seen. There is a sense of security with this assurance.

Political apostasy explanation: They trust in alliances with other nations. They (the kings) worship other nations' idols and gods and making political alliances with other nations for their own security, not trusting that God is their first and final security of them. They are small nations (Judah and Israel), so they can't survive because they don't have control of their lives. In today's context, you must sign FTAs (free trade agreements) with everybody like Singapore. God's nations don't have to sign FTAs with nobody because they are God's nations.

With this understanding, it is clear why God is doing the unthinkable. It is God who is destroying God's own king, own city and temple in Jerusalem. God is there, He is not absent. God is destroying all these because they are no longer faithful to Him, no longer His kings, His cities and His people.

1. The unthinkable on the personal stage (1:3-21)
a. Babylonisation, The Means
-by education (verse 3-5)
-by name (verse 6-7)
-by food (verse 8-16 and 11:26)

This is about colonization. It is about westernization. Babylon had colonized Jerusalem. Why do we as Singaporeans / Malaysians speak in English? This is because somewhere along the line, we are being colonized. They started giving people new education and introduce them a new whole culture. So somewhere along the process, you think you are Babylonians too. It is the same with their names, they are all being changed to Babylonian names. It could be for convenience but it is actually a whole package of colonization.

They don't protest about the education or the change of their names. However, when it comes to food, they drew the line. Why? The food could have been offered to the idols of the Babylonian kings. The Jews as God's people are given strict rules in terms of their diet and food that one external marker / assurance that you are God's people is the way the food you prepare and eat than any other pagan nations.

If you sat and had fellowship at the king's table, it means that you have already pledged your life, love and loyalty to the king. Daniel and his friends can give him anything but not their life and loyalty.

b. Babylonisation, The Goal
How to make them intellectually alike, culturally and assimilated?
How do we divest them of Jewishness and invest them with Babylonisation-ness?
How do we take God and faith out of their lives?

Colonization means you need to find ways to change the people you conquered. How do they empty them of Jewish-ness and fill them up with Babylon-ness? How do they take God and their faith out of their lives? How to squeeze God slowly away from them? For kings to have empires, they must have this ruthless single-minded obsession to make others like them. It is only then they won't threaten them. When they are for us, they won't be against us. Likeness, seem-ness and oneness is the core value of human empires and ambitions.

Daniel and his friends know of this goal of taking God out of them. They know they are being switched from their hearts of their God to the pagan gods.

2. Learning and living with the unthinkable God.

Wrong Lessons
1. Veggies for victory
2. Trust and triumph

If you eat veggies, you will be victorious. Slim for Him is being taught here. It is about healthy living. If you cross over the new testament and saw the verse about our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit and added it up with Daniel's and all the old testament food laws. A whole new theology and gospel will be created where the supreme duty of the believer is to live a healthy life eating vegetables.

Daniel and his generations trusted God and were put in position in power and prosperity in a time of crisis. The important lesson here is not to extrapolate one case to be the whole case. Do not extrapolate one incident to be the whole gospel truth. Since it is true of Daniel and his generations, it is true of all believers of all time and of all time. It is not true because sometimes when you trust God, you are to be put to death. Whatever applies to Daniel will not apply to you and me directly.

Half-True Lessons
1. God is sovereign (working in my life, focus on me!)

The focus is about me and not God as we got confused. Whichever book in the Bible you read, the simple thing is to know the main character. The main character is God and his purposes for us, it is not about you. It gets messed up in bible reading and Christian living if not differentiated. It is not God taking part in my story and my plan. It is about God inviting us graciously to take part in His plan and story.

All of us have different plans and stories. God has only one plan and one story. In many religions, they will always say if it is God's will, it will work out for me. This is not true for the bible. The main message is God is working out his purposes and we are invited to take part in it. The focus here is not us, but God. We are not the main characters.

True Lessons
God is sovereign in His saving plan
The church survives by faith in God simply and solely.

God is doing something about our sins, apostasies, His rightful wrath against us, His judgment against us. Daniel's veggies did lead to victories; his trust did result in triumph. This is because God is giving Daniel and his friends Godly wisdom to preserve them so that God's saving purposes may continue with them even as they are living in exile under God's judgment. Daniel is living under God's saving plan. It is God's sovereignty. The true message is that God is using Daniel to be his instrument to preserve His covenant promises to fulfill his purposes that He has a plan to save the world. It is not for Daniel to win and never lose again, to be rich and never to work again, to be happy and never to be sad again, to arrive and never to be accomplished again, to be fulfilled and never lack in anything.

These are what we call half truths messages. In many churches today, it is very true. For example, today we have a testimony planned in church. Brother, brother, share with us what happened in your life? Last month I lost my job, but even as I heard pastor X mentioned that even as you lose your jobs, you can trust and you will triumph. So the pastor said please give to the church building fund. The brother gives $5000 to the fund and has $50,000 now. The Lord had blessed me. So now, you will be there calculating, he gives $5000 and got back $50,000. If I give $10,000, I will get back $100,000. Then, church attendance becomes a lotto meeting.

It is a classic example about me doing something and getting back something back. If you don't give your life to God, don't give anything to Him. Unless we have taken part in His sovereign purposes, the church doesn't want anything from you. The Jews who don't have anything left in them have to still remain faithful to God. No external assurance that God is with them. The temple, food and names are all gone. They simply are surviving with God's words and promises.

OUR INTERPRETATION OF CHRISTIANITY IS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST AS THE CENTER OF THE FOCUS. GOD PREPARES THE WORLD TO BE RULED BY HIM. HE WILL COME AS OUR KING. GOD'S WORDS AND BREATH IS KEPT IN A BOOK CALLED THE BIBLE. A BIBLE IS BEST READ IN ITS TOTALITY, AND NOT BY ABSTRACTING A WORD, PART OF A VERSE, OR A CHAPTER, OR A BOOK BECAUSE IT WILL CREATE OUT OF CONTEXT INTEPRETATIONS AND CONFUSION. THE RELIGION WHICH WE WILL PREFER TO CALL MORE AS A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TRINITY (GOD, HIS SON JESUS CHRIST AND THE HOLY GHOST) IS TO FOCUS ON THEM. NOT THE PASTOR, NOT YOU, NOT ME, NOT ANY HUMAN BEING. WE ARE ONLY GOD'S PEOPLE WHO PROCLAIM TO YOU HIS WORDS AND HAVE NO POWER AND ABILITY TO SAVE YOU FROM SIN OR PERFORM MIRACULOUS ACTS. WE ARE CREATED BY GOD TO WORSHIP HIM AND NOT HIM BEING IN OUR STORY. IT IS NOT ABOUT GOD TAKING PART IN YOUR LIFE BUT YOU TO TAKE PART IN GOD'S PLAN (IN HIS SON) OF SALVATION.