Faith Alone
by Rusty MillerWhat if our nation was at war and you were separated from your family, taken prisoner, and carried away to a foreign country, with no promise of ever seeing your home or family again? All you have is a handful of friends and your faith in God, a faith which is mocked by the inhabitants of the country in which you are imprisoned. Could you remain faithful in such circumstances? What if the added pressures of temptation, false accusation and persecution were also part of the mix?
This is precisely the problem facing the protagonist in the book of Daniel. The faith alone of our title is not the religious world of today's faith only, but what happens when Daniel and his friends are alone, with their faith to guide them.
In the first chapter of the book (approximately 605 B.C.), Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to the city of Jerusalem, ordering his chief of officials to bring back to Babylon some of the finest young men of Israel. The point of this was to train them in the way of the Chaldeans, so that they might serve the king's court as advisers (Dan. 1:1-5).
Almost immediately, Daniel and his friends face their first test, a subtle offering to indulge in the pleasures of the king's court, that is in his wine and choice food. "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 . . ." (1:8). In a test designed to prove to their overseer that they need not eat what was set before them, God was with Daniel and his friends, seeing to it that their diet of vegetables and water left them healthier than the others who were enjoying the king's food (1:10-16).
It would have been easy for Daniel to become "Babylonized," forgetting about the law of God and the provisions therein as to what the children of Israel were to eat. Daniel's refusal to take part in the pleasures of the court shows a remarkable maturity for one so young. The blessings of God were a reward for his remembering that he served a greater King.
By the time of his second test, Daniel had finished his instruction in the ways of the Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar had an incredible dream and was greatly troubled by it, so that he called in his magicians, sorcerers and wise men to interpret the dream. A wise man himself, Nebuchadnezzar is unwilling to tell his dream, preferring to see if one can both tell the dream as well as interpret it. When no one is able, the king is angry and sentences all his wise men to death, including Daniel, although he does not appear to have been called before the king (2:1-13).
After obtaining a certain amount of time from the king (2:16), Daniel does an amazing thing for a Babylonian wise man. Rather than call on his education in Chaldean arts, Daniel meets with his friends, ". . . in order that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon" (2:18). Daniel recognized that the talents he had learned at the king's court were insignificant compared to the power of a handful of righteous men engaged in prayer to the true God.
The dream and its meaning are revealed to Daniel, and he blesses God (2:19-23). Daniel, giving credit to God (2:27-28), is able to tell Nebuchadnezzar his dream and interpret it to reveal a wonderful prophecy of the history of man and the coming kingdom of God (2:29-45). When Nebuchadnezzar promotes Daniel, he does not forget that when he truly needed them, his friends were praying to God for him, and he sees to it that they are appointed over the province of Babylon (2:48-49).
Thus, in Daniel's second test, when he is falsely accused as a charlatan like the other wise men of the court, he trusts in God, believes in the power of prayer, blesses his God and remembers his friends. In this, he proves himself a great servant of the Most High.
The third test of the book involves Daniel's young friends. When Nebuchadnezzar builds a golden image and orders the people to worship it, it is a defining moment in the lives of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, for they must choose between the king they serve physically and the God they serve spiritually. We know that they choose God, for it is only a matter of time before they are called before the king to answer charges that they have refused his commands (3:1-13).
The three are given one more opportunity, as the king says, in effect, "Worship our gods" (3:14-15). There is no consideration given to the proposal, as they answer, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king" (3:16-17).
The answer of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego would be impressive if it ended there, but it is what they say next which shows their true character: "But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up" (v. 18). What courage! Miles from home, separated from family, with only themselves and God to lean on, Daniel's friends hold to their faith in the face of death.
The story is familiar after that, how Nebuchadnezzar's anger caused them to be thrown into a furnace heated seven times hotter than normal, so hot in fact that those who throw them in are killed by the heat (3:19-23). When Nebuchadnezzar looks in the furnace, he sees not three, but four, ". . . and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!" (v. 25).
Coming out of the furnace, with no evidence of burning, without even the smell of smoke, Nebuchadnezzar is again impressed by the power of the true God. He sees to it that the three prosper (3:28-30). Given the chance to worship other gods, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego are only too eager to show their allegiance to Jehovah.
The final test for our study is a trap set for Daniel. Having survived the coming and going of kings, Daniel now serves Darius the Mede, who plans to put him over the whole kingdom (6:1-3). Jealous commissioners and satraps lay a trap for Daniel in the form of a decree by Darius enforcing an injunction against any petition but one made to the king, knowing that Daniel prays to his God. Darius is further encouraged to make this decree an irrevocable law of the Medes and Persians (6:4-9).
Daniel was not ignorant of what went on, but knelt to pray as always (v. 10). When Darius is informed of Daniel's refusal to obey this decree, he is troubled and seeks to free Daniel, when he is reminded of the irrevocability of his law. In an ironic twist, Darius, the most powerful man in the world, is unable to deliver Daniel (6:11-15).
Daniel is cast into the lion's den, where it is expected that he will be torn to bits, but after a night without sleep, Darius returns to find Daniel still alive, "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me . . ." (v. 22). The true and living God delivered where even Darius could not.
What makes this part of the story so interesting is that, unlike the pictures we have seen of Daniel as a young man in the lion's den, Darius' reign began 66 years after Daniel was carried away from Jerusalem, meaning he is now in his mid-80's. Thus, having never returned to his homeland or his family, Daniel has served his God for decades.
What was it which made Daniel and his friends so strong in their service to God? The Hebrew writer gives us a clue: "And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire . . ." (Heb. 11:32-34, emphasis added). Their faith is what made them the kind of heroes which still inspire us today, which still call us to better service, for they believed in what they could not embrace.
Today, people are dying, people are hungry, people are weeping. We cannot, in our physical beings, touch a place where those things are no more, but we have promise of such a place (Romans 6:23; John 6:35; Revelation 21:3-4). By faith, we believe, and so touch, such a place.