Special Series #11: Daniel - Bible Characters and How they Finished

Daniel: Faithful through the Decades

We meet Daniel in captivity when he was perhaps about 16 years old (Daniel 1.1-7). From the beginning, "Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food" (Daniel 1.8).

Daniel served under Babylonian and Persian rulers for at least 65 years. In his 80s, he was still going strong, battling in prayer against spiritual forces (Daniel 10). The angel Michael gave him these final words: "But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age" (Daniel 12.13).

Daniel was fearless, confident, dependent on God, and served faithfully under pagan rulers. God is looking for and calling "Daniels" 3 men and women of all ages - who will serve God through all their years.

Transcript

Dr Hal Habecker: 0:27

I'm looking forward to being back with you for this next session. As you know, we're in a series of how did characters in the Bible finish their lives? There are lots of examples, tons of them. And in this series, I want to look at Daniel, but before I enter the life of Daniel, I want to remind us of this poem by Robert Browning, and I want to say a simple thing about it. Grow old along with me. The best is yet to be if we finish well, we've learned from several characters in the Bible, if you don't finish well, there's a lot of sadness, a lot of tragedy, but we want to finish well. You know, even before we launched finishing well ministries, I stumbled, and I don't know how it happened into this poem by Robert Browning. Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be. And with this poem, you know, God works in your life in fascinating ways to move you towards certain things. You know, he drops ideas a long way through others. And I honestly don't know how I stumbled into Robert Browning's poem, but it really has set my thinking up biblically. You know, Robert Browning and his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning were strong believers, a man and woman of great faith, and they used their skills in poetry to write brilliant poems, you know, out of their life, I think Robert Browning wrote this poem when he's in his early 60s, about that time, and he didn't much longer after that, but at the end of his life, he was thinking like this, grow old along with me. The best is yet to be. You know, Would to God that we would find ourselves thinking this way, like Robert Browning did, and like the Scriptures do. So I want to talk about Daniel. Here's a picture of him in the Sistine Chapel. If you go there, you can see him. This would be in his younger years. We meet him in captivity. I want to say perhaps he was 16 somewhere, a middle aged teenager, and he purposed not to defile himself by eating prohibited foods. As a young man, Daniel knew God, and he knew his word, and he wanted to be separated onto God's purposes in his life. Again, I think of Romans 12, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God? I mean, that's what God would wish for us at any age. So this is Daniel as a teenager, starting out his life in captivity, purposing to live his life well for God. I mean, I just if you would trace that through every decade of your life. Could that be said of us would to God as we raise our children, they become adults, our grandkids, we would pray that that would be the impact of our lives. Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself. The text says, And God granted him favor. That's always the case, isn't it? Isn't isn't that which happens in our lives God's favor. I think back across my life and how my spiritual life developed, the home I was born into, the parents who love Jesus, siblings around me, the churches I've been a part of all of my life. God is leading me. He's leading you and me into His favor all of life. I would say, we never earned God's favor. God granted favor and compassion. That's our prayer. Daniel is blessed by God as a as a favor, as a result of his faithfulness. The text says, There, let's see it. Now, God granted Daniel favor and compassion in sight of the commander. Reminds me, let's press for excellence in all of life. God will help us. Daniel 120 as for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them 10 times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were all in his realm. Now watch this. I'm going to take some jumps. Daniel served under Babylonian rulers for at least get. This 65 years also Daniel 11 one says he served through Darius the mead, 65 years of faithfulness. So let's say he was 15 when he comes in, 65 years later, he's in his 80s and maybe beyond. This verse sets the stage for his entire life, from the first to the last. The commander of the officials presents them before nebucha, and he continues until the first year of Cyrus the Great. See that in Daniel 121, so Daniel, he speaks the word of God boldly to Nebuchadnezzar. He is not afraid of speaking the Word of God to people high in authority. And this is the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. God gives him divine enablement, insight. He told Nebuchadnezzar exactly what God revealed to him. I just, you know, just, let me ask you, how bold Are you and I to speak the Word of God to our culture, to speak the Word of God to our adult kids, to speak the Word of God to our grandkids, not in any kind of a condescending way, but simply full of conviction about who God is and what he wants from us, what he expects from us, and that's the way Daniel continued to live his life. It even extended his Daniel three friends. I often hear people ask, Where was Daniel when his three friends had their own challenge with Nebuchadnezzar? I don't know, but let me ask you this, do we have the same kinds of friends as Daniel had and as they had? These four young men grew up serving God together? My prayer for you and for me is that we would have a cadre of friends around us, maybe second Samuel, 23 like David had in his friends that would travel through us, travel with us through life, making a difference, just like Daniel's three friends, so Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. You know this story, they weren't afraid of NEP and nezer threats. They said, If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us, and He will deliver us out of your hand, oh king. But even if he does not let it be known to you, oh king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. Well, we could say that in our world too, to the people around us. You know, we're going to serve God. That's what Joseph did at the end of his life. That's what Joshua did at the end of his life. And this is what Daniel does throughout his life. In a sense, he preaches that message sinners in the hand of an angry God, to Nebuchadnezzar face to face. Therefore, oh king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may may be a prolonging of your prosperity. The script goes forward, 60 years later, Daniel preaches the same imminent demise of Belshazzar on the night of his death. You know, he says just clearly, I'll just read the first lines. Yet you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, the last line, but the God of heaven, in whose hand are your life breath, in all your ways, you have not glorified. The text says that same night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, King was slain. Now keep in mind Daniel preaching the message as he ages. He's now in his latter years, having served under all these kings, as we'll see and as we've seen here, preaching the word of God and living bold with faith full of deep conviction. And we get to near the end of his life, and I want to focus on this. By the end, Daniel is a man of prayer. He trusts his God, and he is not afraid to pray openly, despite being knowing he would be killed. So he's threatened. You remember, he's thrown into the lion dens, and he's not afraid that Daniel spoke to the king, oh king, live forever. The next morning, this is happening, my God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth, and they have not harmed me in as much as I was found innocent before him. And also to you, oh king, I have committed no crime. Let's serve God faithfully. Amen. And take in stride whatever opposition brings. That's what Daniel did, and he had preached earlier to to Belshazzar, the sovereignty, dominion and the greatness of all kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the highest one. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey him again. May God call us to live that way. So in the end of life. I had mentioned earlier that. Daniel, you know, I'm not sure of why this happens, but the last three chapters, Daniel 1011, and 12. Daniel is a man focused on prayer. Just parenthetically before I even read this, I believe that the latter years of our lives, when our physical strength may be gone or going or will go, it happens. Aging diminishes our strength. Daniel becomes a prayer warrior. You know, my mom died at 96 she was pretty much bedridden the last two years of her life, and I believe her greatest ministry may have been those last years as she prayed for others. My mother was a prayer warrior, and when I read Daniel, I think of her. Now watch this. Let me read this text. When I Daniel had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man, and I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Uli and he called out, Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision. So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came, I was frightened and fell in my face. But he said to me, Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time at the end, the power of prayer seems to intensify as he ages. Gabriel again comes to his aid listen. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications with fasting, sackcloth and ashes, I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, committing iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning Aside from your commandments and ordinances. You know, I just think off the top of my head even now, where are the prayer warriors of the older people in our congregations, praying on behalf of how we have strayed, perhaps how we've not been faithful, and ask God for courage to live out these years in a great way. He says, I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, oh Lord the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned, praying to the end, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the Vision previous, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering so we see Daniel still going strong at the end of his life, he battles the unseen world of the enemy. Daniel 1012, to 14. He battles in prayer for three weeks when the demonic King held up Michael from coming to rescue him. He says, In those days I Daniel had been mourning for three entire weeks. I did not eat nor taste any meat or wine, nor did I use any ointment at all, until three weeks were completed. Then he comes and says, Don't be afraid, Daniel. From the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and humbling yourself before God, your words were heard. How many times do we pray and we feel God doesn't hear? Let me tell you, David, Daniel was praying for three weeks, never heard a thing. And then he says, At the end of the day, then, behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there battling with the kings of Persia. It's demons of the unseen world. Here, Daniel is in his late 80s by this point, note the final words to Daniel by the angel, Michael. But as for you, Go your way to the end, then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age. I think about that Daniel was carried into. Captivity as a teenager, he decided to serve God all of his life, and with God's help, he did in the end of his life, while his strength was maybe we weakening, he devotes himself more to prayer than perhaps any other time of his life, I'm not sure, but the last three chapters of Daniel seemed to focus in on his prayer life. You know Would to God that we would pray hard, not only all of our lives, but especially as maybe our physical limitations become more real. I'd say this, he finished well, didn't he? A couple conclusions, I think about Daniel was fearless and confident, dependent on God, and he served Him faithfully under pagan rulers all of his life. I want to say it doesn't matter who's in the White House. It doesn't matter who the Premier is. Doesn't matter who the president is of any country God is looking for men and women and young people and old people who will finish well, God is looking and calling for Daniels, men and women of all ages who will serve him. Now, just glance at these. I won't talk about them. These are all the kings Daniel served under. This is amazing. These were all pagan rulers. I think Nebuchadnezzar may have been converted least he says he believes in God and changes his ways in response to Daniel's exhortation. But these are all the rulers Daniel serves under, down to Artaxerxes, 423, BC. So he Daniel may have lived to be a centenarian. We don't know exactly how old he was when he died, but here's the example of a man who served God all of his life. Rabbinic sources suppose that he was still alive during the reign of the Persian King Ahasuerus, better known as Artaxerxes, based on Esther four and five. But he was killed by Haman, that wicked Prime Minister of azarus, maybe. But my thing of Daniel is that he was a great man who served God every day of his life. Would to God that that would be our purpose, that we would pray for each other, that we would purpose as God, purpose before God to finish our lives. Well, may God do that in our lives. I think again of our closing verse that I love to use at the end of each of these sessions Teach us to number our days that we might present to you, O God, a heart of wisdom. That's precisely what Daniel did, and that's what I believe he calls all of us, whatever our ages, to do with the life he has entrusted to us. May God help us, and God speed to that end, may God bless you.