DETERMINED TO NOT BE DEFILED

“Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8 HCSB)

They have been called, “The Greatest Generation.” Once they were young soldiers who marched off to war—crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific, these heroes fought, bled and died to roll back the evil tide that threatened to drown the world in darkness. They came back home and built an industrial powerhouse and helped America become that shining city on a hill. Most of them are gone. I have buried not a few—a weathered, withered old body inside a flag-draped coffin, family wiping away tears as the bugle plays “Taps.”

My generation—and subsequent ones—have not done so well. That which was purchased at such a great cost has come to be taken for granted. The investment made by “The Greatest Generation” looks as if it has been squandered.

The temptation is to look down our noses at teenagers today and think them to be so self-centered and godless. If many are, their fathers and grandfathers need to look in the mirror for the root of such rotten fruit. They walk in the path we have established.

But, not all! In fact, as the world grows darker, some will shine all the brighter. These will grow up to be champions for Christ, and perhaps blaze a new trail—back to God. Might it be that they will establish another great generation—and that the greatest generation is yet to be?

It is possible! We need look no further than four teenagers living in ancient Babylon. Daniel and his three friends were determined not to be defiled.

They faced A DILEMMA.

“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it.

The Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god.

The king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility—young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king's palace-and to teach them the Chaldean language and literature.” (Dan.1:1-4)

Imagine what it was like to be seized by soldiers, made slaves in shackles, shuffled off to a strange land. These teenagers abruptly found themselves immersed in a pagan environment, intent on shaping them into its image.

The dilemma was how would they stay clean in a corrupt culture? There was nowhere to run. It would be a relentless pressure to conform.

It is the same choice facing our teens and young adults everyday as they rise from their beds. Christ has called His followers to be in the world, but not of the world. He has not yet removed us from this sinful society, but has left us as a witness to it.

But, therein is A DANGER.

“The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to serve in the king's court. Among them, from the descendants of Judah, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

The chief official gave them [other] names: he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah.

Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself.” (Dan.1:5-8)

A little compromise can lead to a large collapse. It is so easy to cave under the pressure—to just do this one thing. How bad could it be? So, we rationalize the little sin that opens the door to more and more compromise. Once we cross that line, we do not know how far we will go.

So, the world says, “Don’t be a fanatic!” We are encouraged to go along and get along. Peer pressure from a pagan society is constantly pushing us toward compromise. Many are being indoctrinated and assimilated. They might profess to be “Christian” but you wouldn’t know it by the way they think, talk, what they live and long for.

There has to be A DETERMINATION.

“Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself.” (Dan.1:8)

Daniel and his three friends stood at a crossroad. One path was wide, easy, well-traveled, offering easy access and the promise of leading to pleasure. The other was narrow, hard, isolated, with a small gate to enter and warning of the probability of leading to pain.

But, to these four teens, the choice was obvious—because the interstate highway was all downhill and after some fun stops along the way, ended in Hell, while the rocky mountain path, though steep, kept rising higher and higher and ended in Heaven.

These four teenagers had the right values. They made a choice and were not turning back. They took their stand—and we must. As we have heard, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”

Such a determination requires A DEATH.

“God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official,

yet he said to Daniel, ‘My lord the king assigned your food and drink. I'm afraid [of what would happen] if he saw your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age. You would endanger my life with the king.’” (Dan.1:9-10)

The chief official knew that you didn’t resist the King. He had seen people tortured and executed for such defiance. Although he really liked these young men, he wasn’t willing to put his head on a chopping block for them.

Those four fellows were not excited about that prospect either! They were young and so much alive, expecting many years to stretch out before them. But, if the price they would have to pay would be to sell their soul, they decided it would be better to die. Jesus would say that it is no bargain to gain the whole world and lose your soul. He would beckon all who follow Him to come and die—to take up the cross—dying to sin, to self, to the world.

That is the choice made by Daniel and his companions. They knew that If you don’t have something worth dying for, you don’t have anything worth living for.

It was the choice that Moses made many years earlier.

“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the short-lived pleasure of sin.

For he considered the reproach because of the Messiah to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since his attention was on the reward.” (Heb.11:24-26)

It is then that you discover A DYNAMIC.

“So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief official had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ‘Please test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king's food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.’” (Dan.1:11-13)

You won’t know God is all you need, until He is all you have. When we take the step of faith, we tap into the dynamic power of God.

Notice how Daniel was steadfast, but not sanctimonious. He was obedient to God without being obnoxious to man. This is the dynamic of grace we need to discover. We can be winsome without being worldly. Saints aren’t marked by self-righteousness. Too often the world ignores Christians because we are no different than they are, or they are hostile toward us because we are harsh and abrasive. Neither displays grace.

In Christ’s day there were Sadducees who had basically sold out to Rome—they were liberals. Then, there were Pharisees who hated the Romans—they were legalists. Christ approved of neither. His way is the grace that enables us to be both loving to sinners and true to Scripture—with the balance of conviction and compassion that marked the Master’s model.

This is the balance we seek. It is the way of Christ.

It was then that these four teens experienced A DELIVERANCE.

“He agreed with them about this and tested them for 10 days. At the end of 10 days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king's food.

So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables.” (1:14-16)

Only those who need and expect a miracle see one. God blessed these young folks because they trusted in Him. They became a display for the world to see what can happen when we follow the Lord.

There are multitudes who doubt the existence of God today because they haven’t seen Him. But, how can someone see an invisible God? They ought to see Him in us!

There ought to be no rational explanation for who we are and what we do, save that God is alive and active in us. We are to be walking miracles—a breathing billboard advertising the activity of God!

This brings A DECLARATION.

“God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. Daniel also understood visions and dreams of every kind. At the end of the time that the king had said to present them, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king interviewed them, and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they began to serve in the king's court. In every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about, he found them 10 times better than all the diviner-priests and mediums in his entire kingdom.” (Dan.1:17-20)

This quartet of teens was declared to be the real deal! They stood up and that is how you come to stand out. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah excelled because of their impeccable integrity. They were recognized as exceptional because they did not conform to the culture. God rewarded their righteousness.

America is in a mess. It won’t get any better, if we do more of what we’ve been doing. But, perhaps there are a few Daniels out there. Maybe today God is stirring some young champions who will become a force for goodness in our world. There is still a sliver of hope. There is always hope in God!