Daniel’s Faith: A Lesson of Conviction and Obedience

Shared on September 1, 2024

The fall quarter of Sunday School opens with a reminder of Daniel’s faith. Daniel, as we know, was a man of righteous conviction that we should strive to imitate. Join Pastor McCrary as he takes a look at the obedience, and discipline of Daniel that helped him stand by faith!

Introduction

Our lesson this week is the first lesson of the Fall Quarter.  This quarter of lessons is titled “Two Prophets of God”.  This quarter, we are going to compare two prophets of the Lord – Daniel and Jonah.  Daniel, we will see, was one who had a faith of much conviction.  Jonah, we will see, was resistant in his calling.  I hope you enjoy this quarter of lessons and share them with someone somewhere.

Daniel’s Conviction

If you watched, read, or listened to my sermons in August, then today’s lesson is going to be very familiar to you.  We are going to be taking a look at Daniel in both my sermons and now our lessons for the next few weeks.

As I said in my sermon – “Fight With the Heart of Conviction” – Daniel was a young man of very strong faith in the Lord.  The Babylonians had taken him and 3,000 other Jews captive after conquering Jerusalem.  Nebuchadnezzar desired to force the customs of the Babylonians onto young Jewish boys, like Daniel (Dan. 1:3-4).  Part of that assimilation included changing Daniel’s name from Daniel to Belteshazzar.

Something you must understand is that the Babylonians’ customs stood in opposition to God’s law.  For example, the Babylonians believed in idol worship.  In Daniel 3, it is explicitly shown that Nebuchadnezzar forced his “subjects” into worshiping his gods and the image of gold he had made (Dan. 3:1-6, 12).  So, Nebuchadnezzar was attempting to force sin onto Daniel and those with him.

Daniel takes a stand

Our lesson opens up with Daniel determining in his heart that he was not going to defile himself (Dan. 1:8).  The king had instructed the master of the eunuch to serve the young boys the king’s delicacies and the wine he drank (Dan. 1:5).  Again, let’s be very clear that this would have gone against the diet God had set for the children of Israel (Lev. 11).

Daniel sat quiet, as his name was changed to Belteshazzar – scripture does not imply that he argues against it.  I don’t want to imply that Daniel didn’t care about his name, but God’s law did come first for him.  I can say that God’s law came first for Daniel because when it came to breaking God’s law, that is when he spoke up!  In a manner of speaking, Daniel was putting God’s way first over everything.

Daniel made a request to the chief of the eunuchs not to eat the king’s delicacies so that he didn’t defile himself.  Now, the chief of the eunuchs found this request to both odd and even a danger to him.  We have to remember, the king had given the chief of the eunuchs a command.  How do you think it would look if Daniel and his friends weren’t doing what was commanded?  

So, the chief of the eunuchs was seeing his life flash before his eyes (Dan. 1:10).  At the same time, we could say that Daniel was seeing his life flash before his eyes.  Daniel was a man of faith and the last thing he wanted to do was disobey God’s word.  

So, Daniel urged the steward that the eunuch had set over him and his friends to test them (Dan. 1:11).  Daniel urged, “test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink (Dan. 1:12).”  Some of you might think that Daniel was putting God to a test but is that really the case?  Daniel knew that he and his friends would be fine because that was the diet they had always lived by!  

So, is that really a test for Daniel and his friends? No, this was Daniel’s conviction and trust in the Lord.  

A Daily Battle

There is a battle that all of us believers face that is quite similar to the one Daniel is facing.  What is that battle?  It is a battle between sin and righteousness.

Sin desires for us to return back to its captivity.  You see, Christ reconciled all things to Him and by our faith, we have peace with the Lord.  God is merciful to us and forgives us of our sin (1 John 1:9).  Though we are justified sinners, that doesn’t mean that the battle between good and evil within us comes to an end.

Paul said it best when he wrote, “For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do (Rom. 7:15).”  What did Paul will to do?  He desired to live for the Lord.  In other words, He desired to live righteously.  What did he hate to do?  He hated to sin, but that’s what he did.

Paul wrote, “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin (Rom. 7:23).”  Because he would inevitably sin, Paul called himself a “wretched man” (Rom. 7:24).  Paul understood very well what many of us deal with today when it comes to sin and its temptation.  Thanks to Christ, we not only have a fighting chance against sin, we have already won (John 16:33)!

So, Paul said, “with my mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin (Rom. 7:25).”  Paul was saying that his heart would not be corrupted as he was fully committed to the Lord in his soul.  Sin may temporarily arise in moments because of the presence of old man but old man would have the victory.  

This is why Paul would later write to believers, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:2).”  To win this battle, we must stand in our heart by our confession and conviction of faith in Christ.  The Lord will uphold our heart (our soul) and it will never fall.

Daniel’s Faith Rewarded

After ten days, the steward of the eunuch returned to test Daniel and his friends.  Again, this was not Daniel testing the Lord, but rather, him proving God’s way is the best and only way for him and his friends.  When the steward examined them, he saw that their features appeared better and fatter in the flesh than those that ate the king’s diet (Dan. 1:15).  So, even the steward could see the results of Daniel’s faith and conviction!

This is what faith looks like!  Faith doesn’t rollover as many people believe to be the case.  Faith wants to move and faith will take a stand when it comes to God’s word.  God’s word is the truth and His way is holy and righteous.  As Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).”

The sincere believer should always be ready – in season and out – to stand in the word of God (2 Tim. 4:2).  When we do, our faith will certainly go rewarded by the Lord.  We will be uplifted in our soul and we will be blessed.

Daniel and his friends received knowledge and sill in all literature and wisdom from the Lord (Dan. 1:17).  Daniel also  received understanding in all visions and dreams, which certainly came in hand in interpretating Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams.  Even Nebuchadnezzar found Daniel and his friends to be “ten times better” than all the “magicians and astrologers” in his realm.  

When you honor the Lord – keep His way – the Lord will certainly honor you.  What is the Lord’s way?  Yes, having faith and trusting in Him, but what else?  The Lord desires that we love one another.   Daniel, by his faith, looked out not just for himself but also for his friends.  God’s way is not one that is selfish but one that looks outwardly and cares for the neighbor.