The Assessment
A Bible Study in Daniel 1-6 :
I would love to be confident enough in Bible Study to announce a single bible study in Daniel’s Visions. I’m not, and I’m sorry if you are disappointed; instead I propose a study in the assessment strategies used by God as shown in these opening – these easy chapters – in Daniel.
Of course it will be a flying visit – a brief helicopter circuit of chapters that were probably more popular when we were at Sunday school than since.
This is the season of tests and examinations – so here’s a short paper on God testing his four candidates in Daniel 1-4 and 6.
So that leaves us with FIVE ASSESSMENTS
The four exiles are selected for royal service but refuse the diet of privilege
Daniel (and his friends) are subjected to the tyranny of Nebuchadnezzar’s unreasonable dream challenge
The three friends are subjected to the fiery furnace
Daniel is tested by the content of God’s Word as he must deliver it
Daniel is in the lion’s den.
INTRODUCTION
God constantly subjects the world and its people to a process of assessment – and a striking example of this is in the story from Chapter 5 of Belshazzar’s feast.
The tyrant having used the sacred vessels from the temple at his feast sees a finger writing a message of judgement on the conquest frieze on his wall:
5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on
the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king
watched the hand as it wrote. 6 His face turned pale and he was so frightened
that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.
25 “This is the inscription that was written:
mene, mene, tekel, parsin
26 “This is what these words mean:
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
27 Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
28 Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Weighed in the balances and found wanting – so familiar it has entered our language as a universal metaphor.
It illustrates the principle that is enshrined in each of these early chapters in Daniel – God is constantly assessing our lives. Sometimes he uses specific tests to do it.
The range and variety of those experiences is our study subject tonight.
OUTLINE
Chapter 1 Tested by diet DISTINCT
Chapter 2 Tested by tyranny PRAYERFUL
Chapter 3 Tested by fire NOT ALONE
Chapter 4 Tested by the Word FAITHFUL
Chapter 5 Tested by God The hand ***
Chapter 6 Tested by lions MY GOD IS ABLE
1. Chapter one : tested by diet – be distinct
The opening chapter tells us how the cream of Jewish society
was brought to
Daniel (v8) was concerned about defilement caused by the foreign diet.
His plan to avoid that diet was unpopular with the guard in charge of them – but Daniel asked him to give it a test:
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
So, at the very beginning of the book the tone is set for a confrontation with the Babylonian authorities.
I hope that the four men liked their vegetarian diet – because from that point on they were restricted to it!
The RESULT of the stand taken by Daniel was God’s blessing :
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
The CONCLUSION of the matter was recognition and responsibility:
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
We need to note the polite but firm way in which their distinctive lifestyle was preserved. They did not refuse their new names even though those names contained references to foreign deities – but they stood firm in the matter of diet. They needed to be DISTINCT.
This principle should not be lost on us – not as a simplistic rule about diet – but as a rule about separateness from the world.
Are we seen to be distinct – as a matter of choice and
behaviour, not mere ethnicity? It would
have been obvious to anyone else in
We should be careful not to use the passage as an excuse for matters of diet only – but we should also consider the way in which we care for our bodies in a world of excess and indulgence.
2. Chapter TWO : tested by TYRANNY – be PRAYERFUL
The subject of Chapter two is Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and his totally unreasonable requirement of his advisors. The second test is a test of the four friends’ function as privileged members of the Babylonian community.
They are brought within a hairsbreadth of execution – simply because the king made the unreasonable demand that his astrologers tell him what his dream was as well as it’s interpretation.
If you look down the chapter – particularly if you are using the NIV you see at once the distinctive feature of the narrative: a section of poetry in vv 20-23
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
23 I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.”
This draws our attention to the reaction of Daniel to the demands and test of tyranny.
17 Then Daniel returned to his house and
explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He
urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so
that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of
In other words – PRAY.
(It’s interesting to see that Daniel was able to ask for time – even though Nebuchadnezzar had accused the astrologers of playing for time earlier in verse 8. V16)
The test was the result of an unstable mind on the part of Nebuchadnezzar. An unreasonable demand. Ours is still an unstable world in which unexpected and unreasonable demands are made of us. The situation is wholly alien – the resources for handling it lie in God alone – so PRAYER, and PRAISE and the TESTIMONY to GOD’S unique powers is the response.
The resources for dealing with unexpected and unreasonable demands are twofold – the inner strength that comes from faith in God, and the intervention of God Himself.
Daniel demonstrates that inner strength by :
Encouraging his friends to plead for mercy
Waiting on God for help
Praising God in a hymn
And
Declaring God’s power to the king
This wonderful blend of personal faith, encouragement and praise, supported by the prayers of his friends is an example to us today.
The world, like Nebuchadnezzar watches us with evil intent and distorted value systems : we respond with PRAYER and PRAISE and PRACTICAL demonstration of God’s power.
28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals
mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.
3. Chapter THREE : tested by FIRE – NOT ALONE
The Fiery Furnace: See Heb 11,34
Notice the absence of Daniel from this test. His comes later in Chapter 6. We are not all tested in the same way. Indeed sometimes it may seem unreasonable to us that we are tested in such ways when others are not.
The background to the test continues to be the totally obsessive nature of the king – but his actions only challenge the Jews. To the others it would be a remarkable spectacle – a statement of the power of the king and the age.
The other astrologers (v8) point out the refusal of the friends to obey the edict. This was doubtless calculated to stir up the unstable extremism of the king
13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar
summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the
king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of
gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn,
flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to
fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship
it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
Implicit in his words is the challenge to the power of Jehovah.
The singular bravery of the three friends and their remarkable faith is legendary :
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to
the king, “O 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 save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O
king. 18 But even if he does
not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship
the image of gold you have set up.”
As in the case of Chapter three and Daniel’s example – so here in the case of the three friends it is FAITH and TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO GOD that meets the challenge:
The God we serve is able to save us… he will rescue us …
But even if he does not … we will not serve your gods …
It is very difficult for us to identify with such a remarkable courage – but the same rules apply:
God is able
We won’t compromise
Their faith and courage is rewarded with a theophany –
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, O king.”
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.”
IF we stand firm in the face of apostasy and the direct challenge to our allegiance – then He will be with us, He has promised.
43 But now,
this is what the Lord says—
he who
created you, O Jacob,
he who formed
you, O
“Fear not,
for I have redeemed you;
I have
summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you
pass through the waters,
I will be
with you;
and when you
pass through the rivers,
they will not
sweep over you.
When you walk
through the fire,
you will not
be burned;
the flames
will not set you ablaze.[1] ISAIAH
4.
Chapter FOUR : tested by THE WORD – BE
FAITHFUL
In this chapter the test or assessment is different. It resides in the willingness of Daniel to deliver the message to Nebuchadnezzar, knowing that the explanation of the dream involved personal judgement and criticism of the king.
19 Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar)
was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king
said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.”
Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries! 20 The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, 21 with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the beasts of the field, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds of the air— 22 you, O king, are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.
It is one thing to be faithful to the word when the message is comfortable, quite another when the news is bad and full of judgement. Daniel does not shrink from the responsibility to deliver bad news as well as good.
But notice the tactful and polite way in which Daniel approaches the subject:
Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries!
His words remind us of Nathan before David :
22 you, O king, are that tree!
Once the message had been delivered it was fulfilled and followed by the repentance and restoration of Nebuchadnezzar.
Not all tests have to do with the possibility of pain or death – some test our inner resolve in a way that is entirely of the conscience and of the morals.
How do you deliver the word of God?
5.
Chapter SIX : tested by lions – My god is able
In the equivalent for Daniel of the test in the fiery furnace of his friends, Daniel is betrayed by jealous colleagues and sent to the pit with the lions. Here is another bible story that has entered our language – but which is unknown by the majority.
|
6 |
3Now
Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his
exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4
At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for
charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were
unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was
trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5 Finally these men
said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless
it has something to do with the law of his God.”
Unlike Daniel we have many areas of our life where criticism may be levelled at us, like Daniel we are the target of an age which is jealous of our faith and standards and would like to undermine our confidence.
Satan is busy looking for an opportunity to cause us to fail. The Lord has promised to pray for us – as He prayed for Peter, and our spiritual end is secured – but there are many tests that come our way where the intention is to challenge our God’s ability to defend us.
Darius was all too easily led into the situation where Daniel would be punished. He was a victim of a proverbially rigid system of laws and of the machinations of his officers. Not much has changed! In our day there are many people of influence who find themselves trapped by their own legal system and open to corruption.
6 So the
administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: “O King
Darius, live for ever! 7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers
and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce
the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days,
except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. 8 Now, O king,
issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in
accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
9 So King Darius put the decree in writing.
I have always felt that Daniel’s attitude to the absurd decree of Darius regarding prayer and worship was in some ways provocative :
10 Now when
Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs
room where the windows opened towards
But the reality is that this is exactly why the officials acted this way – they could count on his absolute consistency in prayer. Both Daniel and Darius are bound by rules – in Daniel’s case the rule was altogether just.
So of course Daniel is thrown to the lions, and we have the pitiful sight of a noble king desperate to save him but not able to do so:
14
When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to
rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.
16 So the
king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den.
The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue
you!”
17 A stone
was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with
his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s
situation might not be changed. 18 Then the king returned to his palace and
spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to
him. And he could not sleep.
The recurrent theme in these events
is “so as not to be changed”
The laws of Medo-Persia and the
circumstances of Daniel sealed into the lions’ den seem altogether fixed and
unchangeable:
The question rings out ever since
:
“Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
HAS YOUR GOD…BEEN ABLE…?
21 Daniel answered, “O king, live for ever! 22 My God sent his angel,
and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found
innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.”
So God honours the man who is steadfast in his resolve – He is able to deliver and sends his angel.
SUMMARY
So in these familiar, easy, chapters of Daniel we have a series of tests or assessments applied to the spiritual life of the four men:
1 Tested by diet DISTINCT
2 Tested by tyranny PRAYERFUL
3 Tested by fire NOT ALONE
4 Tested by the Word FAITHFUL
6 Tested by lions MY GOD IS ABLE
We may be tested in similar ways to establish our spiritual
credentials. How will we shape up?
You may like to use the sheet I have prepared to apply these thoughts to areas
of your own life.
© David A. Green BD www.ffrog.co.uk May 2001