RTW 2023

But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel. But he responded, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has ordered that you eat this food and wine. If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded.”

Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said. “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s food. Then make your decision in light of what you see.” The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten days.

At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king. So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food and wine provided for the others.

God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.

When the training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief of staff brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the royal service. Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

Daniel remained in the royal service until the first year of the reign of King Cyrus.
Daniel 1:8-21

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And I will let your enemies plunder Jerusalem. All the famed treasures of the city—the precious jewels and gold and silver of your kings—will be carried off to Babylon. As for you, Pashhur, you and all your household will go as captives to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied that everything would be all right.’”

Jeremiah 20:5-6

• Nebuchadnezzar’s first group of exiles from Judah to Babylon was the group of royal family members.
• Daniel belonged to a family of high rank.
• He was taken captive at about the age of sixteen.
• Daniel would live more than sixty-nine years in a vile court.
• Daniel’s task was to proclaim the truth of God inside the walls of the government of Babylon.
• He stands as a man who dared to keep a clean heart and body.
• Daniel was a light shining in pagan darkness.
• It was about more than food.
• George Barna and the Barna Research Group give us great statistics about the spiritual health of the modern church.  
• Generation Z is the generation born from 1997 to 2012.
• Barna calls Generation Z the “Generation of Lukewarm.”
• “I want to be a Christian without separating from the world around me.”
• 45% completely true
• 32% mostly true
• 17% somewhat true
• 6% not at all true
• Where did this generation learn this attitude?
• Have we embraced Babylon and forsaken God?

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Determine to not be defiled by Babylon and be faithful to God…and teach the next generations!!