Is God Still in Control? (Part 2)
Last week we left off asking the question, “Why did God allow the brightest and the best of the land of Judah be taken after the king of Jehoiakim was conquered by the Babylonians? In verse 2 of Chapter 1, we read “ and the Lord gave Jehoiakim, King of Judah, into his hand.” Even though we know that the army of Judah was defeated, it was God who allowed this to be done. God was in control of the defeat of Judah and the exile of His people. God is the deliverer of our blessings, but also we see in the downfall of His own people. So what did some of the exiled young people do when faced with the strategy of the Babylonian leadership to indoctrinate or convert them to believe in their gods?
Read verses 4-7 and we see that this game plan was to provide the best food and wine, the finest education and the creature comforts to have them accept this new culture and serve the king. A complete retraining of their minds and tempting them with the pleasure of an easier life. The end game was to convince them to abandon their spiritual belief and their worship of the one true God. All the teaching and wisdom that their parents had given to the young people needed to be altered or completely replaced by their new cultural norms that were foreign to them. It might take some time for a change to be made….but when a person or community is continually bombarded by falsehood it can be done.
Is it any different today? Are there ways that our minds and those of our youth can be infiltrated to be radically changed? These new internet platforms for delivering information can use our interests as readers,along with algorithms, to manipulate us towards ever more incendiary news and ideas. With the amount of time our brightest and best spend in front of the screens ( TV, smartphones, tablets and computers), isn’t there plenty of opportunities for many to be turned away from the Word of truth found in the Bible? Then the minds can be turned away from God and towards the various forms of “entertainment and promises” of a lifestyle that can be destructive and harmful.
Over time, there must have been many of the exiled people who accepted these foreign ideas and changed their behavior and beliefs. How often do we hear from people in our own land say, “Times are changing, you need to change with the times.” They also say, “Why do you continue to hang onto those moral and spiritual truths of God’s word?” They begin to make changes like…. the idea of Christ’s virgin birth or His resurrection because they are too controversial to believe. So this can be handled by not mentioning it as much in our teaching or preaching. The slow but effective use of watering down the truth and by the changing of laws throughout the world has undermined the moral and spiritual fabric of our culture. It took a while to erode, but it has convinced so many to walk away from many of the basic truths of the Bible. Just one example of this is how many no longer believe as truth, “a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:34
Back to Daniel Chapter 1, we read about four young people who decided to take a stand against this plan to change them. They had been chosen and to be given the special education and diet of unclean food and even new Babylonian names. Thus, they would be transformed to be of service to the king. But Daniel, the leader of their band of four,made a stand and it was a bold one. “Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself the king’s choice of food or with the wine which he drank” Daniel 1:8 verse 8. The official in charge of their re-training and the health of these boys was afraid that if they did not eat the food that the king had prescribed, then they would “look more haggard than the youths of their own age” and in the same group. Plus, the added incentive was that this official would lose his head if this happened.
But Daniel was persistent and convinced another official to allow for a test period of ten days. Daniel and his group got the different food and drink for the ten days. God granted this test because as we read in Verse 9, “God granted Daniel favor and compassion in sight of the commander of the officials.” The favor of getting this request of a change in diet resulted in the fact that these boys were much fitter and better in appearance.
So what was Daniel’s conviction to make a stand? He was not only given God’s favor, but must have had a heart and mind grounded in the faithful teaching of his family. The lessons that always included, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one….and you shall love your God with all your heart and all your mind, soul and strength.” He held onto this lesson and it helped him withstand the temptations of this foreign culture. He stayed strong in his love and obedience to the Lord.
We can only pray that there is a remnant of God’s people who will stand firm these days. To continue to believe that God will continue to give favor to His people by the power of His Holy Spirit. To hold firmly to the wisdom and truth of the Word of God in the Bible. That all believers never forget that no matter how dark these days of violence,God is Still in Control. As Alistair Begg said in 2015, “Whether it is 6th century BC in Babylon or 21st century in America, God is still on the throne.”
Let us pray for this country, current leaders and future young and talented one to come. Leaving you with a good old gospel song; https://youtu.be/N8vLYZpjA2I