Today, we are launching the “Unshakable” series based on the Book of Daniel. I pray that God may bless this spiritual journey as we explore various divine characteristics of Daniel together in the coming Lenten Sundays. In the introduction to this study, I would like to share the background of today’s sacred text.

About 600 years before the birth of Christ, the people of Israel were captivated in Babylon. They had been exiled for seventy years. At that time, some young people were chosen to serve in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar. Young Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mischael, and Azariah, were among them. They were outstanding individuals considered future leaders. The foreign king wanted to train them to be influenced by Babylonian culture, using them to rule over the people of Israel with Babylonian mindsets on his behalf.

Daniel was one of the most determined people who kept their faith in God when facing pressured circumstances. Again, I pray that God may bless us through this study, not only to have Daniel’s faith but also to distance ourselves from ungodly environments by maintaining our identity as God’s chosen people.

The initial attempt the Babylonians made was to change the names of the people of Israel. The chief official transferred their names into Babylonian terms so that they might lose their Jewish heritage. To Daniel, he was given the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, he received Shadrach; to Mishael, he was referred to as Meshach; and to Azariah, he was called Abednego. As many of us agree, names can symbolize our identities. The Hebrew name of Daniel means “God is my judge.” His new name, Belteshazzar, represents “the treasure of Bel.” In those days, the term “Bel” was the chief-idol in Babylon. By changing their names into foreign names, the Babylonian king wanted these Jewish young people to be controlled by the Babylonian values. The king also aimed to change the beliefs of these Jewish individuals through their educational system.

I can understand this well. As I mentioned before, my homeland, Korea, was invaded by the Japanese in the early twentieth century. The very first thing they did was not to allow the Koreans to use their own Korean names. The colonized people had to identify themselves using the colonizers’ terms. The Japanese wanted to erase Korean principles as much as possible. All students in Korea had to be taught in Japanese at school. The Koreans were also forced to worship the Japanese’s god, known as Shinto. During the colonization period, many Korean Christians were persecuted, and some were even imprisoned because they did not bow before Shinto. Despite these forceful regulations, many Korean believers wanted to keep God’s first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). I think that the first charge would be the hardest rule for us as followers of Christ to obey even today.

Someone says something like this: “A god is anything that dominates your life, anything that controls your life.” Let us ask ourselves these questions: “Who or what do you love more than God? Who or what do you trust more than God?” We are to love God first and foremost. The Lord our God wants to be primary in our lives.

On top of the persuasive plans King Nebuchadnezzar and his staff devised, they wanted to convert the godly lifestyle of the young Jewish people into the Gentile pattern. Daniel and his three friends were given their new Babylonian names and enrolled in the Babylonian school. Due to their country’s captivity in Babylon, these young individuals had no choice regarding these prearranged projects. As they embarked on a spiritual adventure in the palace, they were also provided with daily food and wine from the king’s table.

At this point, however, Daniel revealed his firm decision to the chief official with the statement: “I would not defile myself with the royal food and wine” (Daniel 1:8). According to Bible scholars, Daniel and his three friends would have been 14 and 15 years old at that time. Can we relate to their young age? Many of us may have had a strong appetite during our youth. In my background, it has been said that young people can chew stones and digest them. However, Daniel resolved to avoid the king’s offered meal and opted only for vegetables and water. Politely, he, along with his three friends, asked the chief officer for permission to do this. It was a challenging request since they, as captivities, had to abide by Babylonian instructions. Failure to comply with these regulations could have risked losing all the privilege they had been given in the palace. How did they maintain their faith in God when pressured to conform to the Babylonian way of life?

First and foremost, Daniel and his friends remembered their true identity as God’s people. The Babylonians could change their living locations, names, and educational systems, but they could never change their spiritual hearts. Daniel and his friends wanted to maintain their God-given unique personality despite the pressure. They knew that surrendering to the temptation to adopt the foreign lifestyle, including the daily food and wine, would be a denial of the Word of God. In those days, the king’s food and wine were associated with idol worship. Daniel believed that consuming these items would go against his divine character and make him unclean as God’s chosen person.

Personally, I find Daniel’s decision of faith remarkable. Many people of Israel at that time may have felt betrayed by God, believing that He did not protect them from suffering. Some may have doubted even God’s existence, but Daniel was confident that the God who had done new things in the past was still active and would continue to be so in the future. Despite the likelihood that nobody would watch him in that alien place, Daniel chose to live before God courageously and confidently, whether he was recognized or not.

As someone wisely said, “Today Christians have lost their saltiness. Rather than change the world, they have begun to conform to the world.” Consequently, sometimes, we as Christians find ourselves in a crisis of identity. I believe that the spiritual condition during the period of Daniel’s time was not much different from our modern era. Nowadays, many people prefer to do things on their own rather than based on guidance from the Bible. Whether we admit it or not, we live in a day of compromise. We can also find ourselves compromising God’s truth in our daily lives, aligning our actions with non-believers. While we may profess our belief, our actions sometimes don’t align with our hearts, and we fail to keep God in mind on many occasions. Temptations and tests come to us regularly.

In today’s world, we are surrounded by immoral influences that attract us with the world’s way of thinking. It is easy for us to conform and compromise. That is why Proverbs strongly advises us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Paul echoes this sentiment more specifically: “Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates the body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Corinthians 7:1)… What contaminates the spirit goes in through the eyes and the ears.” We contaminate our spirits by what we watch and listen to, and we pollute our bodies by what we eat and drink. Each of us has been influenced by something not right for our bodies, minds, and spirits, whether we accept it or not. Some negative influences may have affected us over an extended period.

God calls us to distance ourselves from this ungodly society. He wants us to live in personal holiness in this sinful world. He desires us to act as salty Christians preserving moral and spiritual health in our community. The reason for these recommendations is that, according to Christ’s sermon on the Mount, those of us who keep ourselves with clean hearts and our faith pure can inherit the Kingdom of God.

What were the outcomes of the firm faith-based decisions that Daniel and his three friends made during times of pressure? God blessed their sacred commitment. In verses 15 through 21, we discover that Daniel had the chief official test him and his friends for ten days without any royal provision. At the end of the ten-day trial, amazingly, they appeared healthier, smarter, and wiser than any of the other young men who had consumed the king’s food. Please understand that I am not here to recommend whether we should eat more vegetables and drink nothing but water. That is not the case I am making. My mother always told me that I needed a little protein. Once again, I am not advocating certain diets; rather, I am sharing that God honored their decisions, benefiting not only their spiritual lives but also their physical well-being.

After three years of training, Daniel and his friends were presented before the king with greater distinction than the other young men. During interviews with the king, Daniel and his friends proved to be ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in the entire kingdom of Babylon. This was not because they possessed Babylonian learning, but because they lived before God, who holds all wisdom and knowledge. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). God blessed Daniel and his friends with insights and understanding in various fields. Daniel could comprehend visions and dreams of all kinds. Through their decisions of faith, God abundantly blessed Daniel and his friends. Later, Daniel served not only King Nebuchadnezzar but also the other two kings, Belshazzar and Darius, as a vital assistant during his time in Babylon (Daniel 1:21).

Sometimes we are inclined to find our own ways through compromise, even selling our souls to achieve our desires. In these moments, we often think more about what people think of us and our actions than what God does. How much attention do we truly pay to God? The Lord watches over us at all times, caring for our every move. He promises to reward both the visible and invisible deeds we have done. The Bible also says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). When we humble ourselves and completely rely on God, He will honor us when the time comes. God’s blessings are going to be more significant than things we can achieve on our own.

The Lord calls each of us “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” (1 Peter 2:9). We are appointed by God to live with these divine titles. Not only we are chosen by God, but we are also considered His favorites. Regardless of our background and status, our individual lives are precious. God, who created the vast universe, sees us as His special creation. I remember a very appropriated observation of our worth before the Lord. Someone said, “How much something is measured in value depends on how much somebody is willing to pay.” Do we understand how much the Lord our God values each of us? Look at the cross. The Lord our God himself came to earth in the form of a human being and sacrificed Himself on the cross because He regards each of us as His child in the Heavenly Kingdom. We are elected people of God and unique to Him. This is our genuine identity before the Lord.

As we journey in faith, do we live as spiritual royal people? We may have mixed answers. Sometimes we align our lives with the teachings of the Word of God. Sometimes we struggle to live out what we have been taught. One main reason why we face this challenge is the fact that we are battling against our spiritual enemy, Satan, whether we realize it or not. One crucial weapon our spiritual adversary uses when he attacks us is to deceive our real identity in Christ. He tempts us by causing us to focus more on what other people speak about us rather than paying our attention to how God cares for us. As I stated before, we are priceless in God’s eyes. Satan would cause us to look back on the mistakes we have made in the past and to dwell on those previous failures. Ultimately, Satan wants to remove our true uniqueness in God from us and to make us give up on what God wants us to do for His glory in our daily lives. When we are attacked by the spirit of evil, we need to call out to God and ask Him for His guidance and help. We also need to stand firm and use our precious time based on what our spiritual adviser, the Holy Spirit, tells us to do, instead of wasting our God-given talents based on what our feelings say to us. Furthermore, we need to keep remembering our real identity in Christ and be holy fighters for the Lord with spiritually pure hearts that develop from our intimate relationship with the Lord.

In conclusion, I share a metaphor: my favorite fish is the salmon. Salmons are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, and return to fresh water to reproduce. Despite strong currents and rocky waterfalls, they swim hundreds of kilometers upstream to fertilize their eggs. Like salmons, Daniel and his friends did not conform to the worldly flow. As a group of God’s people, they did not compromise with worldly patterns but sought to do God’s will together as a heavenly team (Romans 12:1). In this coming Lenten season, I pray that as individual followers of Christ and Christ’s church, we all make the decision to become more authentic believers and a genuine church, similar to Daniel and his spiritually associated friends. Remembering our identity in God and keeping ourselves pure before Him is a critical decision when pressured to compromise in our journey of faith. Let us decide to honor God and keep our spiritual hearts pure today. Then God will fill us with His wisdom and promote us to bear more spiritual fruit in the coming days. Amen!

*In this sermon I have incorporated thoughts from various messages inspired by the text, Daniel 1:1-21, as well as the Unshakable sermon series prepared by Rick Warren.