How should we live out the convictions we have as followers of Jesus in the midst of a culture that may not share those convictions?

At the church where I serve we just concluded a short sermon series entitled conviction. During this series we discovered the difference between beliefs and convictions. During this series, we discovered that, as followers of Jesus, we are called not simply to embrace a set of beliefs. Instead, as followers of Jesus we are called to embrace a set of convictions. During this series, discovered how the difference between beliefs and convictions should shape our behavior. And during this series, we discovered how we are to live out Biblical convictions in a world that is hostile to those convictions. And as we went through the series, our hope and our prayer was that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in our head, heart, and hands to move us beyond beliefs and to convictions that result in us living lives that reveal and reflect Jesus to the world around us.

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together discovering how we are to live out Biblical convictions in a world that is hostile to those convictions. In other words, how should we live out the convictions that we have as followers of Jesus in the midst of a culture that may not believe, buy, or share those convictions? How should we live out our convictions as followers of Jesus when those convictions are mocked and minimized?

And to do that, I would like for us to look at an event from history that has been preserved and recorded for us in a letter in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Daniel. And it is in this event from history that we will discover a timeless truth that answers these questions. So let’s jump into this event from history together, beginning in Daniel 1:1-2:

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god.

Daniel, the author of this letter that bears his name, brings us into this event from history by providing for us the context in which this event from history would take place. To fully understand this context, however, we need to first understand a few things. The first thing that we need to understand is who Jehoiakim king of Judah was. Jehoiakim was a king of Judea that was placed on the throne by the Pharaoh of Egypt in 609 B.C. after King Josiah was killed by the Pharaoh. The death of King Josiah is recorded for us in another letter in the Old Testament of the Bible, called the book of 2 Chronicles, in 2 Chronicles 35.

Then, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Daniel tells us that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. In 605 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar, who at this time was a prince, besieged Jerusalem because the Pharaoh of Egypt invaded Babylon. In response to the Egyptian invasion of Babylon, the young prince Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptians at the battle of Charchemish in May 605 B.C. Upon the defeat, Nebuchadnezzar pursued their fleeing army all the way down to the Sinai Peninsula.

At that time, Jerusalem was besieged as a result of their loyalty to the Pharaoh of Egypt. However, in July of 605 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar’s father died, and Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon, where he was made king. Daniel tells us in verse 2 that “The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god.” Nebuchadnezzar removed Jehoiakim from power and replaced him with a puppet king named Jehoiachin. 

Now that leads us to the next thing that we need to understand, which is why Nebuchadnezzar would take the vessels from the Temple in Jerusalem and place them in the temple of his god. You see, by confiscating the vessels of the Temple in Jerusalem and depositing them in the Babylonian temple, the Nebuchadnezzar was making a statement. And that statement was “my god is better than your God.”  After providing for us the historical context for this event from history, Daniel gives us a front row seat to this event from history in verse 3-7:

  

 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, ⁴ youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king's court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. ⁵ The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king's personal service. ⁶ Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. ⁷ Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego.

Here we see Daniel reveal for us the strategy that the Babylonian Empire used to control the nations that they conquered as they expanded their Empire. Upon conquering a nation, the Babylonian Empire would identify the best and the brightest young people within that nation.  Upon identifying the best and brightest, the young people would be taken as hostages back to Babylon. Taking these young men as hostages was designed to send a clear message to those who remained behind in Jerusalem. And that message was this: Do not revolt against Babylonian rule or something worse will happen to them and to you.

Once in Babylon, the best and brightest would undergo a three-year process of reeducation and indoctrination of the language, culture, and religious practices of the Babylonian Empire. The goal for Daniel and the others who were taken was that they were to be immersed and enculturated in the culture of the Babylonian Empire. As part of that process, Daniel explained that he and the others who were taken hostage were given new names and a daily ration from the king's choice food and from the wine which he drank. In other words, the best and the brightest were given the best food. In addition, the best and the brightest were to receive the best education possible. 

The purpose of the food, names, and education was simple. This was an effort at total indoctrination, with the goal of making these young Jewish men leave behind their God and culture so that at the end of the process they would be able to leverage their gifts and talents to advance the Babylonian Empire. King Nebuchadnezzar wanted to communicate to these young men, “leave your past behind and live a life that leverages everything you have for me and my Empire. Stop looking where you used to look and instead look to me for everything.” 

Tomorrow, we will see how Daniel responded to the king’s attempts at reeducation and indoctrination…