Daniel’s Dozen, Part 1

One Sunday morning in 1865, a black man entered a fashionable church in Richmond, Virginia. When Communion was served, he walked down the aisle and knelt at the altar. A rustle of resentment swept through the congregation. How dare he! After all, believers in that church used the common cup. Suddenly a distinguished layman stood up, stepped forward to the altar, and knelt beside the black man. With Robert E. Lee setting the example, the rest of the congregation soon followed his lead.
The power of example.

Today we begin a series of articles that will consider Daniel’s timeless and Christ-like example to us. I’ve recently finished preaching through Daniel in our church and after coming to the end, I was not quite ready to leave this remarkable man. So we started a short series called Daniel’s Dozen. All along the way I’ve been encouraged and challenged by his example. In this series I want to share that encouragement and challenge with you.

Daniel means “God is My Judge.” This stalwart of faith lived in light of his name. He’s one of those rare biblical characters that have no blemish on his record.

Daniel’s Dozen is a journey through twelve selected traits modeled in the life of Daniel, each a foreshadowing of Christ, that God would have us pursue as believers. Of these Colossians 2:17 certainly applies – “things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” Daniel is a means to an end.

Friend, these are not twelve steps to salvation. It is an impossible list for the unconverted. Nor are these twelve steps to personal happiness and fulfillment. These are twelve facets of the same diamond – Christlikeness.

First on our list is holiness. After being kidnapped as a 15 or 16 year old and exiled 500 miles from Jerusalem to Babylon, Daniel was selected for a reeducation program, a brainwashing scheme where he would be given a new name, learn a new language, wear different clothes and be fed a different diet, all designed to make him and his friends good Babylonians and fit for service in the king’s court.

Crucial to the success of this plan was the new diet. It would be a force-feeding of pagan religion as these Hebrew youths would be fed unclean meat most likely sacrificed to the pagan deities of Babylon. The city had over 50 temples to such gods. With each bite, their conscience would be defiled and their connection to Jehovah and Judaism diminished.

Not knowing how this meat or wine had been handled, nor whether it was part of some sacrifice, Daniel had a decision to make. The text reads thus: “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself” (1:8).

Defilement would be worse than death for this teenager. Here he is in thoroughly pagan and ungodly place, mom and dad, priest and prophet are not around and yet he stands firm in his pursuit of holiness.

He has no complete Bible, no youth group or youth pastor, no Temple worship services to attend, and yet his greatest concern – holiness before His God! His upbringing is bearing fruit. His faith is real!

He’s not whining for mama, making a joke of everything as teens are apt to do, not boasting in some foolhardy escape plan and he is not becoming Babylonian as quickly as possible.

When God said thru Moses, “Be holy as I am holy”, Daniel was listening. You can take the boy out of the city of God, but you can’t take God out of the boy! This was likely his first major test of his faith in God, like when Christian young people leave home for college or military. The test can be passed!

With all props removed, with fitting in, personal comfort and personal advancement at stake, he chose holiness, no matter the cost.

What a foreshadowing of Christ he is. The similarities are striking: both are far from home in a foreign, enemy land; both are on their own now, their only help being the invisible hand of God; both faced with initial temptations related to food; both about to embark on a life of public ministry under ungodly kings where the stakes would be high and both ultimately caring more about what God thought than anyone else.

But Daniel was not so holy or separated from sin and sinners that he was no earthly good. His second example is he was in the world but not of the world. A ten day test of veggies and water vs. feasting from the king’s table would be the path way to purity.

We must reject compromise. “When in Rome …” didn’t sit well with Daniel nor should it with us. We must reject such compromising sentiments as “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” or “This is just how the game is played.”

We must live in this world but in a way that we are not conformed to this world. Being a Christian is much more challenging than just saying no to everything in this world, joining a commune and living as monks. Harder than legalism and extreme separation. For crying out loud, if you analyze things of this world long enough, you’ll find something wrong with everything and everybody. Hello, it’s a fallen, sinful world under God’s curse for sin!

Some excessively separate from politics, community, economy, work place, all entertainment, all interaction with all unbelievers, then interaction with immature or sinning believers, then eventually all other believers, having a church of one. I’ve known such people.

No, living like Christ requires being in the world. It means making use of the world but not being conformed to the mesmerizing mold of the world system. It means enjoying the good gifts of God without letting them take the place of God.

Our Lord Jesus was a friend of sinners, talked to women and prostitutes, was accused of being a glutton and drunkard, called smelly fishermen and despised tax collectors to be his apostles and said “render unto Caesar …” He was in the world but never of it.

Yet when confronting demons, He heard this: “What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are– the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24)

May it be said of us that we are friends to sinners and yet live like the Holy One of God.