Daniel Chapter 1 Verses 6 – 7

• So among the young nobles were these four, Daniel which means, “God is judge.” Hananiah which means, “The Grace of the Lord.” Mishael, which means, “He that is the strong God.” And Azariah, which means, “The Lord is my help.” All powerful names that reminded them and anyone who would speak them of the Most High God!
• But the chief of the Eunuchs gave them new names, no doubt under the command of King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel was given the name Belteshazzar which means, “Baal’s prince.” Hananiah was given the name Shadrach which means, “Illumined by the sun god.” Mishael was given the name Meshach which means, “Shak is strong.” (Shak the false god, not Shaq…Shaq really is strong!) And Azariah was given the name, Abed-Nego which means “Servant of Nego” or “Servant of the shining fire.”
• All strong Hebrew names changed to odd and somewhat ridiculous Babylonian names. Why? Well it is as we talked about last week. Nebuchadnezzar, a picture of the world, a picture of the world system, is slick man. He is indoctrinating them so that they would serve him. He gave them food, he trained them in language and literature and notice the delicacies and wine that Nebuchadnezzar provided, notice how it was provided back in verse 5…a daily provision. Not abundance, not enough for a year, a month, a week…not even a couple days…
• They were reliant upon him for each and every day’s provision and so what was he trying to do? He was teaching them, training them, tricking them into a thought pattern of, “look to me for everything!” Satan uses a similar strategy against believers today, wanting to indoctrinate us into the world system. Satan wants us to feed on what the world offers, identify ("name") ourselves in reference to the world, educate ourselves in the ways of the world…
• Precisely what the Anti-Christ will do when he is revealed. He will establish peace, establish a one-world economic system, a one-world government, a one-world military force, a one-world leader…and as the world applauds, he will have successfully set up a system, in the name of peace and prosperity, that will lead to obligatory, mandatory obedience…and the crazy thing is…folks will welcome it. Folks will welcome the opportunity to bow down to the beast and his image. He’s saved the day!
• Just like sin itself. Give in to it as it promises pleasure and satisfaction and find yourself subservient to it. No one ever rules their sin…sin rules you…even steals your identity man. You wake up one day and find the strength to honestly ask yourself just for a second, “what have I done?” Or, “what have I become” and the answer is too much to bear. Sin has you trapped. Listen folks, it’s a much more pleasant path to flee youthful lusts then to emerge from them…but God can give you that…through the indwelling power of Jesus Christ and the strength of the Holy Spirit…He can lead you into that victory…but the pain and horror and destruction of revealing that affair, the withdrawal and the suffering of quitting that substance, the list goes on and on…not worth it man…
• And so we have a clear picture here, a loving warning from our Father as to what His enemy and my enemy want to do to me, His beloved. And speaking of father’s, one final additional note. Do you think that possibly Nebuchadnezzar had their names changed to make them forget not only the meaning but also the origin? Where did your name originate? With your parents, right? You see, young people, the rules set forth by your parents, are not to limit your life but to proliferate it! And the world will seek to have you pull right away from your father, from your mother…see it for what it is man…they’re trying to steal your identity. To conform you to them, into the image of failure…
• Where’s Babylon today? Gone. Failed. Where’s Jerusalem today? It’s the very center of the world man! And these four, although the world tries, although Nebuchadnezzar takes a run at them, they walk in wisdom man…I pray you will too. Look at the next verse.

Daniel Chapter 1 Verse 8

• “But Daniel purposed…” Stop right there. Your life is not a matter of chance. It’s not a stack of opportunities and dangers…it is a gift from God Almighty. It has purpose and power and God has set this entire world before you and said, “overcome.” It starts not with a break, not with a bit of good fortune, not with a portion of convenience…it is simply your free will decision. Choose today whom you will serve, Joshua 24 compels us…the key word is not serve there man…it’s choose.
• How did Daniel overcome? How did he endure? How did he flourish and magnify God in his life? Choice man…that’s it…

Daniel Chapter 1 Verses 9 – 10

• So the chief of the eunuchs liked Daniel. I wonder why. Do you think Daniel was funny? That he told good stories or smelled nice and wore sweet kicks? Probably not. The eunuch probably sensed something real in Daniel. A genuine air about him and so he liked him. Says here that God gave Daniel favor and had brought him into the goodwill of the chief of the Eunuchs…what that means is that by Daniel being real about loving God, not pious but loving, not religious but humble and respectful to others…through simply serving God, God was able to promote Daniel in the heart of even those that are lost man…
• And the chief eunuch basically says, “I’d grant your request in an instant, but I fear for my life. What if the king sees you sick?”
• (And notice the pattern! Daniel chooses God and so guess what, God chooses him…James 4:8 in action man.)

Daniel Chapter 1 Verses 11 – 14

• So apparently Daniel liked him too! Here Daniel could have gone on a hunger strike, he could have offended…dug in his heels, but notice, he takes time to pray. Huh? I didn’t read that! How do we know? Well we go from the chief to the steward. So there was a bit of time in between verses 10 and 11 and could it be that God revealed that His heart was not so much for Daniel to be religiously perfect but for this chief and this steward to be saved? It could be, in fact it appears to be to me, that God’s desire was not for Daniel to attain personal righteousness but for this entire group to see the power of God…
• And so Daniel says, “give me ten days. Bring me only that which does not defile me according to my God who is able.” But notice, Daniel’s faith and heart. “If not, do as you see fit.” In other words, if things aren’t looking well for YOU, not for me but for YOU, then bring me the meat and the wine at that point…Wow, do we have the same heart as we walk with the Lord? A heart to reach others and not just maintain or exalt our own piety?

Daniel Chapter 1 Verses 15 – 16

• This is awesome! I mean rationally, logically, to eat meat and drink the wine would have made them strong, right?   But notice, this is so awesome, full commitment to the Lord fills with irrational strength! How’d you get through that, how’d you do that, how’d you know that, how’d you accomplish that? The answer, God man…’cause I know me, and I know I couldn’t have!!!
• And check this out. What period of time does verse 16 cover? 10 days? No, those days are over. Three years man! Radical! I wonder how many of their fellow captives noticed. I wonder how many of the eunuchs noticed. I wonder how many Babylonians were told? And yet here are these four young men, flourishing above all the others and not on the higher paying job, not on the nicer clothes, the better foods, the newest rides and the latest fads…they are excelling because of what? Their choice man! Their choice to press in to the Lord!
• Check out their excellence!

Daniel Chapter 1 Verses 17 – 21

• Ten times man…ten times wiser, ten times more skilled, ten times stronger physically, ten times the understanding and ten times the favor of the king…even the king of the gentiles. Crazy!
• And notice one more thing before we close. Daniel and the boys did not reject their new names. We have no record of a discussion with the Chief of the Eunuchs concerning their pagan names given…”hey man, drop the Belteshazzar and call me Daniel for ten days…” Nope. They didn’t reject their names, why? Because their identity was set man. Call them what you like, they knew who they were and that played out in their lives man…
• People call you a jerk, you won’t get offended unless you agree. Folks call you weak, you won’t get offended unless you agree. They may call you all sorts of things…doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is what you answer to man…because that reveals what you call yourself deep down.
• So no, they didn’t reject their names. They put up no argument. What they rejected was disobedience to God’s Word. Powerful man because if we just trace this short three year story to its end, that kind of radical commitment to truth, beginning with just simply a purposed heart, not only catapulted them but no doubt saved many others and ultimately lifted the name of the Lord on High!