Sunday July 26
The Exile
Read Isaiah 39:5-7 and Daniel 1:1-2.
1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
1:2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
39:5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
39:6 Behold, the days come, that all that [is] in thine house, and [that] which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
39:7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
How are these verses related?
Daniel, whose name means "God is my judge," was force-marched from a defeated Jerusalem into the Babylonian capital. The book of Daniel gives glimpses of his life in the courts of Babylon and Persia. After three years of "education" in Babylon, Daniel was employed as a civil servant and royal advisor. Through the power of God, he rose above normal captive status to become a highly placed missionary to two superpowers.
The book of Daniel is more than a treasure of prophetic literature. The reader encounters some of the challenges facing Hebrews living in an alien culture that provided no apparent support for their loyalty to the God of Israel and, at times, was openly hostile. It also paints a beautiful picture of men who learned to live out their commitment to truth in the absence of the temple, the priesthood, and sacrifices.
It was often better to be out from under the influence of the temple priests, for they had perverted the gospel of grace, turned the meaning of the sacrifices away from pointing to the Son of God. How is it today in many professing Christians churches? I was blessed to have left the church of my youth before I was confirmed in false doctrine. Do we get our wisdom from on high or do we trust in the "arm of flesh"? God has teachers in His church. You can know them in that they point all to Jesus and His Word.
Read Daniel 1:8-13; 5:12; 6:4; 9:3-19.
1:8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
1:9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.
1:10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which [are] of your sort? then shall ye make [me] endanger my head to the king.
1:11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
1:12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
1:13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.
5:12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.
6:4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he [was] faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
9:4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
9:6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
9:7 O Lord, righteousness [belongeth] unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, [that are] near, and [that are] far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
9:8 O Lord, to us [belongeth] confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
9:9 To the Lord our God [belong] mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
9:10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
9:11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that [is] written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
9:12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
9:13 As [it is] written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
9:14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God [is] righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
9:15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
9:16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people [are become] a reproach to all [that are] about us.
9:17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
9:18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
9:19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
What do these texts tell us about Daniel’s character that made him the great missionary he was?
What does this tell us about the character we must have in order to be missionaries for Christ?
"Every institution that bears the name of Seventh-day Adventist is to be to the world as was Joseph in Egypt, and as were Daniel and his fellows in Babylon. In the providence of God these men were taken captive, that they might carry to heathen nations the knowledge of the true God. They were to be representatives of God in our world. They were to make no compromise with the idolatrous nations with which they were brought in contact, but were to stand loyal to their faith, bearing as a special honor the name of worshipers of the God who created the heavens and the earth."—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 153.
How is it today in the North American Division, the Trans European Division, and Australia? The societies in these lands are immoral and demanding the church fall in line with their immoral cultures. Are there some in the church who demand that we change our doctrine to suit the laws of their societies? There are indeed. The world church just voted "no" to making women rulers over men. Some are ignorant of the Bible truth, but others argue that we must change in order to attract new church members and to abide by the laws of the land that demand "parity" between men and women. From the TED we read "The Seventh-day Adventist Church within the TED faces extraordinary mission challenges where people are extremely resistant to the gospel and joining a church is an exception rather than the norm. To effectively meet this need the church needs to mobilize all members for ministry and outreach, including women, who constitute two thirds of the membership. Opening the doors for women in leadership and the ordination of women would strengthen the growth of the church in Europe. Within the church and European society at large gender equality and excellence in leadership are priorities. In many of the TED territories it is, or soon will become, illegal to make any differentiation on the basis of gender."
Other church leaders in the North American Division are in rebellion against Scripture and the World Church and have placed a woman as a conference president violating their union constitution and bylaws as well as the General Conference laws concerning the ordination of women pastors and conference presidents.
Are our institutions, God's institutions standing faithful to the God of heaven? Are we walking in the light which shines so brightly upon our church? Are hospitals, schools, publishing houses, and church conferences walking in the light? God will judge the unfaithfulness and the reproach brought upon His church. He does not work mightily to bring new members into many of our churches in these areas, for if they came in they would see the hypocrisy and leave. It makes missionary work very hard.
Think how easy it would have been for Daniel to have compromised, especially given his circumstances. What does his example teach us about how lame our excuses for compromise often really are?
Often there are no excuses, the compromise has been institutionalized within the church. It is "Adventist" culture, not Seventh-day Adventist doctrine. If we want to be successful missionaries, then the missionaries are going to have to begin at home with revival and reformation. Does China need to send missionaries to Europe and North America?
