Sermons
Vander Kam on Daniel 1:8
Sermons
Vander Kam on Daniel 1:8Daniel 1:8 – "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." (New American Standard Bible)
Beloved in the Lord, one of the things that we see when we look into the history of the church, how many of the greats in the past that we are really indebted to. We are indebted to them for the very place that we have in the church of the present day, we are indebted to them for the place that you and I have at the present moment. And then you can look for example, at the Reformers but you can also go back all the way to a St. Augustine. And there you will also find that it is already that kind of an emphasis, that kind of an emphasis that we find there that is still found to the present day. In which you and I are able to rejoice that we still have it, and that it is still given to us, and that we owe it in no small part to those who have gone before.
And then especially when we come to the time of the Reformation, had it not been for a Luther and a Calvin, where would we be today! Had it not been for those who came after them, that is, such as an Abraham Kuyper and others; where would we have been today? These are the ones who have paved the way for us, these are the ones who have shown us the way, they are the ones who have laid the foundation in ever so many respects. And these are the ones upon whose labors we are building to the present day.
It is the greatest folly that can happen, that they cast aside the things that have been given to us from the past. To cast it aside as though it is worthless, and to look upon it in such a way as though these things have no value at all. No, we are to realize that we are to look to the Word of God of course, first of all. But then that we have also to look to the history of the church, for all that which He has given us in that history of the church, in order that we may there also find the inspiration that is necessary in order that we may walk our walk of life.
These are the things of course, that you also find in the Bible itself, so that that catalog of the heroes of faith for example in Hebrews 11, is nothing else but the heroes that have shown them the way, that have shown them the way to God, that have shown them the way that they are to go, and that the people of that day were also to be instructed thereby. Instructed in the fear of God all the way from Noah to Malachi. That they were to be instructed in the way of God because of all the faith that had been shown by them. Faith under almost impossible circumstances, and that speaks to us to the present day. And those are the ones whom we must then also seek in order that they may teach us, in order that we may benefit by it.
Now that is the general situation that you find also here. Daniel's book of course, has been given us also for other purposes. Here you have also the apocalypse of the Old Testament; you have here given in the latter chapters of the book of Daniel, some of the visions the like of which has never occurred. The like of which has not been seen until the apostle John is on Patmos. And now Daniel already sees them. But it is also in the historical life of the man Daniel, that we see that here is a man of faith. He is the one of whom Ezekiel says, you know, that were it not that Noah, and Job, and Daniel had stood before me, or even though Noah and Job and Daniel stood before me. That is taking three of the greats, and Daniel is among them. These are the greats to whom the Lord refers, and refers to them as being those who are indeed the ones whose faith we are to emulate.
We speak to you tonight on, Daniel's Heroic Stand. And then we notice in the first place, the reason for it; secondly, the difficulties involved; the dangers; and finally, its teachings.
When you look upon this heroic stand that he has taken, then you must remember that here you are dealing with a very young man. And that is the way, of course, that he also appears in our text, but it is far younger than what many of us assume. Here you are dealing with a youngster of fourteen to sixteen years old, and when they have been taken out of the land of Judah. Nothing is said about his family, nothing is said about his parentage. No, he just falls on the scene and we have no indication whatsoever what kind of a family he came from.
You may choose to have all kinds of deductions but nevertheless nothing is said about it. But here's a boy that is of that age, that is now put far from home, into this kind of an environment, environment that is hostile, that is deadly, that has overcome his own people, that has laid the cities of Judah waste, that has laid the entire land waste, and now he is called upon to have an important place in the capitol of this foreign power.
This is something that is heady work, this is something that is indeed going far, that a boy of this age is now called to that kind of a position, and he together with his three friends now have that kind of a position. It is a position of promise, yes, but at the same time, it is the kind of a position that is dangerous. You see here, beloved, that it is of that nature that it is not so great, the thing that is put before him. It is not a matter of life and death, we would say, but it is simply this, of the diet. But that diet was so important to the Jew because of the fact that that was part of their religion. That was part of the ceremonial law, and their dietary laws were very strict. They were not to eat that which was unclean, and he is not going to be able to vouch for the food that he receives here in Babylon, whether it is clean or not. He also is not able to vouch for it in the words of the apostle when he is writing to the Corinthians, "Whether it is the food that has been sacrificed to idols."
All of these things are in the past, and all of these things are there, and he knows them, he has been well instructed. Remember that, parents, by the time they are that old they had better be well instructed. In other words, it's getting awful late, awful late. They had better be instructed by that time so that they will be able to take a stand, and if they are not able to take a stand by that time, then there isn't too much assurance that they will later on. But Daniel has been well instructed, and he knows what it is all about. He knows the ceremonial laws and he believes them. It is not this, that it is merely something whereby he is different from the other peoples. No, but that it is this, that it is the command of his God, and that his God also has certain things in mind with it. That there are certain things that have to be observed, and whether he is able to understand all of it or not, he believes it. And therefore he will not defile himself.
Now that is the most easy thing to do. That here where he is now so far away, and that is the danger of course, that he is then going to feel this way; well, nobody sees this. Maybe it was not even sacrificed to idols, perhaps it is even clean, but at the same time, far from home, and I tell you, he is in a different environment now, in a hostile environment; and here he refused. Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food and drink. He won't do it! And that a boy of that age, we say, "That's going something! That's pretty strong!" Would you be able to do that? I think some would. But for many others, it might be a real problem.
But here you have this, that this man, who has been called here, has been so well instructed, and that it is not only an instruction of the mind, but it is an instruction of the heart, he believes it, and consequently he is going to defend it, and consequently he is going to stand up for it, even though it costs him. That's the situation.
He didn't want the name of his nation to be besmirched, he wants that to be kept hallowed, so that the word that goes out is going to be this, that Israel which has lost in battle, Israel which is now laid waste, nevertheless has a God who stands far above all other gods. And that is the God who Daniel serves. And as a result of that, he refuses to defile himself with the meat that is given to others.
Now here he also has the backing of his three friends, it is true, and that is so important, so important that there be that peer strengthening, that those who are now side by side with him, and there are three more also of these, and they are of the nobles, they are of the royal seed; these are the ones who are special. They had been well educated, and now they are going to be educated some more, but now they are going to be educated in the language and in the literature of the Chaldeans. And that's not going to help him too much, as far as his heroic stand is concerned.
But the education that he has had before, of those parents who are not even named, those parents have instilled within him that kind of a position that he now takes. So that regardless where he is, whether he is at home or whether he is hundreds of miles away, here in Nebuchadnezzar's palace, he is not going to defile himself. He will not do it; he is going to stand up. And then to find that, not of a man who is seventy-five years old, but of a boy fourteen to sixteen, there is a difference, there is a difference, as you realize. There is a difference of day and night. The one who may have a little bit more backing, the one who may have a little bit more experience. While the other is standing at the beginning of life and now here is the opportunity, the opportunity to do great things and he is already favored, that he has been put in this position. And now don't throw it all away, cause that's the danger. By taking a heroic stand that might not be too smart. He might lose everything as a result, but he decided not to defile himself. Then he says to the ruler there, "I don't want to do that, I don't want to do that!"
And then he does it in a very nice way; "You test us for ten days and see if it is so necessary that we have the food of the Chaldeans. And then in ten days you can see." Ten days, that's all the time that he gives, and in that time it is going to be evident whether or not the Chaldeans are right in their diet, or whether it is the God of the Hebrews, who has also decided that the diet of the Hebrews is going to be such and such, and that they are not going to play fast and loose with it, but that they have to obey these commands too. And Daniel decides to do something. Though he is far from home, though he is far from his overseers, he takes this heroic stand.
Now notice the dangers in the second place. And the dangers are many. The dangers there first of all, that this man under whom he is now placed, that is that Nebuchadnezzar, has no consciousness at all of the necessity of the life of others. And even the ruler of the nobles; he says, that I am going to lose my head if I allow this. And if I am to lose my head, then it is also very likely that you may too. These boys are not that important to him. They will be when they are properly indoctrinated. When they are properly indoctrinated then he may be able to use them, and that's the thing that he has in mind. This man is far looking; he is looking into the future, this Nebuchadnezzar. And he will have to have people who are able to understand their own people, who are well instructed, so that they will be able to give guidance and direction when he is dealing with the Hebrews.
But they are in real danger; they might lose their life. Besides that, he has already come far, that he has been chosen for this task, that he has been chosen for this position; and very few had. These four are mentioned, he and his three friends, but no others are mentioned; there may have been more but we don't know. So seemingly it was rather a small number and that is already such a great advantage, and that he would also be able to use that advantageously. And instead of that, he is seemingly giving it all up. Esther would have said, or Mordecai, "Thou hast come to the kingdom for such a time as this." And Daniel says, "And I will not defile myself with the king's choice food." That's the difference. And he says, "I will not do it, I may not do it, the Lord forbids it, and therefore I may not engage in it, even though it is stated by Nebuchadnezzar that I have to." That's the situation!
And the danger is so great that he is going to spoil everything now, and that instead of being in a position where he might even be able to help his own people, he is going to be placed in a position where he won't be able to give any help at all. That's the danger. These dangers are so many, they are physical, they are also dangers in regard to his people, and he is closely knit to them. He is going to seek their welfare if at all possible, but if he casts everything overboard, and that just for this, namely dietary rules, those are not exactly earth-shaking things, are they? Don't they belong to the things that have no significance?
No, there are no such things, says Daniel. When my Lord has said this, He means it, and when He means it then I do it. And consequently there is no insignificant thing. See, there is this about it, that as far as the dietary laws were concerned, they have been removed and they are no longer found in the New Testament church; of course not. And, as I mentioned to you last week, we have this Article 25 in the Belgic Confession that says that we are not to obey these kinds of rules and regulations, that is, of the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law has been abrogated, that's gone. Not only don't we have to keep it, you mayn't. Don't you come here next week with a sacrifice! That's what it means.
And therefore these things too, as far as the diet is concerned; it was to show this separateness of the people of God. That they were separated from all others, that there was that very strong, clear mark of distinction. That mark of demarcation between the two, between His people and others. And that even went as far as their diet was concerned. But now, is this such an important thing? It is not as though he is now called upon to defy his God and King; it is not this, that he must now slay other people; it is not this, that he is called upon to do some gruesome thing to which this king calls him and which this king is capable of; but he is called simply to eat what the others do in Babylon, which is good food, which is approved by the king, which he is now giving to them for their benefit. And he says, "I will not defile myself with that. Then just, I'll become a vegetarian. I will not take the food of this king, give me vegetables." Pulse, says the King James Version.
That's all. Try us with that, he says. Try us with that for ten days and see once. And if we then look more haggard than the others, well, then you can always take other measures. But, if after ten days we do not look any worse, then it will not become obvious of course, then it will not become obvious to the king, and he is to sit in judgment on it. And as a result of that, we may be able then to underscore what we mean by this, that we will not defile ourselves. But he is taking an awful risk. The risk is tremendous, he is taking his life in his hands, he is taking his future in his hands, he is taking the future of his people in his hands; for this diet. But he would not defile himself. He is going to stand before his God at the close of day and say, "I have kept Thy statutes, I have kept Thy commandment."
Later on, Daniel gets to an entirely different place. This is an entirely different matter than when he is dealing with the lions of king Darius. When Darius casts him into a lions' den, ah now, it gets to be very serious. But where would he be able to do anything unless he had taken this position now, that he would not defile himself with the king's food? And that's where he draws the line, and he drew the line where God had drawn it; at the same spot. And then he feels that his God will also care for him.
Now that beloved, shows us that heroic stand. A stand of such heroism as we simply do not find very often in the history of this world, or in the history of the church. Where a man says, and that a youthful individual, "I will not do it because my God says no!" Then I will not do it. And we say, now just for that diet; is that so bad? It isn't going into anything moral, is it; no moral questions that are involved, no moral commandments that are broken? But just rather this, of this ceremonial law, part of that, where he says, that they must also keep their diet in tune with His will; that is, that they may not eat that which is unclean. Nor may they drink the wine that has been offered to others, to gods, to idols. That may not be done, and Daniel knows that. That's all that's necessary, isn't it! That's all that's necessary.
God has spoken, and we reply. God has spoken, and we obey. That's what Daniel did; it's very simply finally. There's a lot of danger; yah, there's danger throughout, but the danger is much smaller that he would fall into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar then if he falls into the hand of the living God. And that, Daniel fears! And consequently he takes this stand, and that is the kind of a stand that is necessary, so necessary for these Jews who are taken up out of their country, have lost their home and kindred and everything else, have lost everything and will never regain it. They're going to be there for seventy years, much longer than a human lifetime, at that time. They will never return; they are going to die in Babylon. And now here stands this young boy, standing somewhat at the crossroads of the Hebrews and the Chaldeans. He has a position that might amount to something. And then he said, "But I don't want to eat your food, I don't want it. And I won't drink your wine, I don't want it."
Finally, notice also its teaching. Now the teaching that comes to us from this beloved, is so clear, so clear that anyone is able to find it. That as the prophet says, "He who runs, may read," that it is this, that we are called upon to take a stand. And that is so necessary in this life, in this day of compromise. Because this is the day of compromise, no doubt, it is a compromise in the political world in which we are living today, but it is also a compromise in the religious and ecclesiastical world of the present day. Compromising the truth of God, compromising constantly in the political world, how is it possible that you have a situation such as you have in Serbia/Bosnia today if it were not for the compromising attitude of the larger powers.
And so it goes on, and so it is in the churches. Oh that God would give us men who would stand and say, "Here I stand, this is the truth, and I hold to it, come what may." And that is required, that is required of every one, that is required of us under all circumstances of life; and we are not put in that kind of a position like Daniel. Not put in that kind of a position so that it is a matter of life and death. That may come yet in our lifetime; don't forget it! That may come because things are going fast. And it may be that it will not always be as easy as what it is at the present time, speaking of 1995. And we say sometimes, what a terrible situation it is at the present time; we still have ever so much to be thankful for. But the days may come when it is going to cost something to hold onto the things of God, the things that He has revealed. We haven't come to that yet.
Now it is more in the line of what the writer to the Hebrews says at the close of chapter eleven, when he says, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood." That may come; many of the others that he has described have indeed resisted unto blood, but you haven't yet, he says. And so it is, and then why compromise in this day and age. There is no call for it, even. I can understand that, if a young man in the situation of Daniel would have said, "Well, you can't have everything, and here I am in a foreign land, under foreign power, under foreign rule. I would like to keep it, but nevertheless let's also be wise. Let us look at all things and look at them very, very closely and then say, well, that isn't going to hurt too much if I go along with it." Daniel says, he made up his mind that we 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. He's not going to do it! And it may look like an insignificant thing, but it isn't. It is that, where he has come to the crossroads. So many of our boys, and all of you are practically in that situation, you have gone through it in one way or another. In these last years so many of the boys went into service and then I would say to them as they were going; we had so many in some of the churches where I served; "Remember, take a stand at the beginning, and then they will honor you for it. But if first of all you give in, then later on there is no way that you are going to be able to crawl back. You will have to take a stand right at the beginning. And if they laugh at you, then let them laugh."
But prayer was offered at mealtime, and things like that, and we do these things, and we take a stand. And he says, "I am not going to defile myself. I may not do that before the face of my God." That's what he did; he takes a very heroic stand, and thereby he teaches us. He teaches the whole church that comes after him that they may take a stand. And that they may take a stand for the truth of God, that they may take a stand whatever it costs. The cost may be great sometimes; in his case it could have been great. But nevertheless, it is not this, that he is going to take a stand providing that he is able to afford it; no, he is going to take a stand because of the fact that his God tells him to. And that's what we need. That's what we need so desperately in the church of Jesus Christ today. That men will stand up and be counted, that they will say, "Here I stand, and there is nothing to move me from it, except that you are able to show me from the Word of God."
And when we take that stand then sometimes of course, we lose friends and things like that; that happens. That can't be helped. We have our first duty toward our God and that is this, that we observe and that we uphold the truth that He has manifested to us. And that there is nobody who is going to move us from it. That's what will be necessary in the last days, and if we don't have it now, we won't have it then. Because these things do not change with the winds, you know. It is this, that whether it is inculcated in us, in our heart, in our life, as part and parcel of us; so that regardless what comes, here we stand. That's necessary, that's the only way, humanly speaking, that the church is able to continue, that it is able to continue as the true church. Aw, there are so many that call themselves churches; aw, there's no end to that, no end, but that doesn't make them churches. The church of Jesus Christ, what He has called out, what He has called to Himself, which is standing upon the foundation of Christ, and of the prophets, and of the apostles; that's the church! And of that church I am, and forever shall remain, a living member. Than I will have to take a stand. I will have to take a stand for the truth. And Luther took a stand, though it would cost his life. "Here I stand, God help me. I cannot retract." And God helped him, and he stood. And that makes it possible today for the church of Christ to continue, four hundred and some years later, because of the stand that he took. And so it is with us. May God give us that grace, so that we so stand up for the truth of God, regardless of consequences. Amen.
We thank Thee heavenly Father, for Thy Word. We thank Thee for Thy grace. We thank Thee for Thy blessing. We pray that this Word may be applied to our hearts, that it may move us Father, to live in Thy presence, to stand up for the truth of God. We pray Thy blessing upon us further, also as the young people speak. Grant them also whatsoever they need. Keep us close to Thee. Forgive us our sins and hear us, in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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