The Anatomy of Compromise

Hello.  Welcome, friends into this online space together.  My Name is Brad and I’m part of the teaching and leadership team here at Jericho Ridge. 

Whether you’ve spent a little time or a lot of time with the Bible, there are elements of its composition that are admittedly confusing.  For example, the chronology or timeline of the Bible isn’t laid out from left to right as you read it, like the ways we are used to reading books in the West.  

Look with me at this diagram for an example.  In the Old Testament Hebrew Scripture, we move from the time of the Judges, into the monarchy with King Saul, king David and King Solomon.  And then around 931 BC, the ancient kingdom of Israel splits into two – Israel in the north, Judah in the South.  And here we enter the time of the prophets and lots of the books of the Old Testament happen or are written during this time.  

The chronological events of this time are narrative for us in 1 Kings and 2 Kings, which we studied last summer but when we get to the end of 2 Kings, we have the start of the events of the book of Daniel, which opens with the horrible event of the southern Kingdom of Judah being overthrown and the people being sent into exile in Babylon.  

What happened was that in 606 BCE, a new world power, Babylon, comes to the forefront and defeats the previous world superpower, Egypt.  So now Judah and the city of Jerusalem formerly subject to Pharaoh is now an open target for the king with one of the coolest names in the whole Bible: Nebuchadnezzar.  “Nebby” invades Judah and captures the city, destroys the temple and then also takes prisoners with him back to his home country, Babylon.  Daniel and his friends are amongst those exiled. 

The practice in the ancient world was to take captives from the noble families so that you decimated the leadership or ruling class of the people you subjugated.  The idea behind this was to keep people you conquered from banding together and rising up against you now that you are in power.  Take away their most promising, key families you can keep them down.  

So the book of Daniel opens with this as the backdrop – Daniel and 3 of his friends, find themselves dragged off to a foreign land, they are placed into a Royal Academy for training in the language and literature of Babylon.  They are to undergo a three-year training which was really cultural re-programming, and then they were to enter the administrative service of the King of Babylon.

This is the backdrop for the story of Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.  We’re going to follow their story IN THE FIRE for the months of July and August because in the book of Daniel, we see the powerful picture of a person who remains faithful to God in the midst of hardships & challenges. He and his friends endure times of great testing but they also see God’s redemptive plans unfolding in their lives and in the world. Ultimately, the book of Daniel helps instill hope that we, too, can be faithful when faced with our own fiery trials.

So let’s dive in.  If you have your Bible, open with me to the book of Daniel. We’ll pick up Daniel’s story in chapter 1 a short time after he and his friends have entered this Babylonian cultural re-training program.  So you have to imagine four young adult men, far away from home and family influences.  Living together with a large co-hort of other young people from all across the globe.  Daniel 1:5 says that The king assigned them a daily ration of food wine from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for three years, and then they would enter the royal service.”

Kind of sounds like going off to university to live in dorms, doesn’t it?  We get the picture that it’s kind of a 3 year frat party scene.  Lots of alcohol is flowing.  They are being fed from the Kings’ table. Though they are effectively prisoners, they are living the good life.  So shouldn’t what happens in Babylon stay in Babylon?    

We are going to see that Daniel and his friends face the same kind of pressure to compromise their values and their faith as many of you have faced in various situations.  It starts out in a seemingly odd place; at the dinner table.  Daniel draws line in the sand on the dietary front.  Let’s look together at Daniel 1:8: 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

So we have to ask the question: What’s the Big Deal about a little meat?

One of the things that marked the ancient Jewish people and still is observed by some Jewish sects today is strict dietary laws and restrictions.  These are outlined in places like Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.  They include focused guidelines on NOT eating pork and other kinds of meats because they are considered unclean.  

While some of those rules make no sense to us now, biblical archeologists tell us that many of those restrictions were focused on eliminating or minimizing the transmission of disease or contagious viruses from animals to humans.  Sounds strangely modern and prescient to our experiences with COVID-19, doesn’t it?  

But beyond the health aspects, there was also a religious element to these restrictions.  Biblical scholar Dr. Joyce Baldwin in her commentary on the book of Daniel notes that “by eastern standards to share a meal was to commit oneself to friendship; it was of covenant significance” (83).  So a meal was about more than just what was set before you.  Table fellowship was a way of marking the people out as set apart. As the people whom the One true God, Yahweh.  People who God’s had called as God’s own and who were in right relationship with Yahweh.  

Daniel’s name in Hebrew, in fact, means “God is my Judge” and so while the Babylonians want to rename him and give him a Babylonian name, the text in book of Daniel insists of referring to him by his given name as a way of saying “you can take me out of my country, my family, the ability to practice my religion as I have been accustomed to, but you’ll never take me out relationship with God.  God is still my judge and defender”.  

And it’s at the dinner table where Daniel now finds himself with a serious choice to make.  Because these legal dietary restrictions were still very much in place, he has to decide “do I just eat the meat and drink the wine?”  I mean, no one has to know.  There really isn’t another viable option if I want career advancement.  Think of the good I could do for my people back home if I accelerated into a position of power and authority.  Why not just eat the meat.  Drink the wine.  Ask forgiveness instead of permission.?”     

The other reason for caution is that we know from ancient records that “Meats and drinks in Babylon were offered to idols before they were consumed.”  Ancient people were highly superstitious and so they would take a small amount of the wine and pour it out as an offering to the earth gods or vinicultural deities as a way of saying ‘thank you’.  They would take small offerings of meat and place them in front of their idols or statues, similar to many cultures in the East today.  To eat and drink this food was essentially saying that you agreed with the offering and you were on board and complicit with the worship on those non-gods. 

That’s why Mosaic laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy strictly prohibited the Hebrews from eating such foods.  And yet day after day, Daniel is to sit down and eat at a table is set with a meal that is comprised of the leftovers from worshipping idols.  So he asks the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.

The chief of staff responds in Daniel 1:10 “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.’”

So Daniel proposes a test… Daniel 1:12-13

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.” 

While the meat and wine were characteristically offered to idols, Daniel knew that the vegetable were not.  The significance here is not just that Daniel was willing to face consequences for his faith in God, but that he recognized that accepting certain aspects of his newfound surrounding culture would be detrimental to his attempt to remain faithful to God but certain aspects would not necessarily be. 

Let’s keep reading and see how things turn out for Daniel: Daniel 1:15-16. At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier & 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 & wine provided for the others”.”   

This particular decision might seem trivial, but Daniel recognized that the invitation to come and learn and eat in the king’s service would come with some unique temptations. Dr. Joyce Baldwin further elaborates: “The defilement he feared was not so much a ritual as a moral defilement, arising from the subtle flattery of gifts and favours which entailed hidden implications of loyal support, however dubious the king’s future policies might prove to be” (Daniel, 83). 

There’s two important lessons for us here with it comes to Compromise: 

1) Who or what is asking for your ultimate loyalty?  

Our surrounding cultures will fight for our ultimate loyalty. Even if we aren’t in the “king’s service,” our country, our business, or our political party our family of origin, our friendships will ask to have our ultimate loyalty. Daniel recognized that participating in some aspects of this world would ask too much from him. 

For Christians, our untimate loyalty is due to one place and one person only: God. Our confession of faith puts it this way “Those whom God is saving no longer live for themselves, for they have been set free from sin and called to newness of life”.  Who are you living for today?  (salvation)  

Here's the second question / lesson: 2) Where do you draw the line?

Daniel draws his line in the sand, prepared to fully live with the consequences, and he entrusts himself to God.  I think of the times when I was younger and working in the hospitality industry.  We would go away on ski trips as a company and the alcohol flowed freely and people moved freely from bed to bed.  And as a Christian, I felt uncomfortable.  But at the same time, I felt this incredible pressure to fit in and to want to be liked and seen by my colleagues and coworkers as just one of the guys.  And the line of comprise was crossed many times in the name of accommodating to my friends.  

The lines may be different for you.  You may dabble in alternative religious practices like fortune telling or tarot card reading and think ‘this doesn’t’ challenge me allegiance to Jesus’ but the line is clear.  I Samuel 28 teaches us that consulting mediums and spirits of the dead is off-side when it comes to living as a disciple of Jesus who trusts God for the past, present and future.  

You may not be tempted in that way but you may feel the lure of wealth and power and so you make sacrifices or take shortcuts to acquire more.  Mark 8:36 says you can gain the whole world but still lose your soul along the journey.  You cannot serve God and also serve greed as your primary motivator.  

You might be tempted by lust and you may tell yourself “well, at least I’m not having an extra-marital affair”

All of us are tempted to give in, to cross the line just a little bit.  But the goal isn’t to see how close you can get to the line without compromise, but to stay far enough away from the fire so you don’t get burned.   

There’s an old story told about a stage coach company was hiring teamsters to drive its stage coaches through a mountainous area. The local office manager had advertised for the position and people began to apply for the job. As they were interviewed, the boss asked each applicant, “How close can you drive the team to the edge of the cliff as you round the mountain.” The first fellow replied that he was skilled enough that he could drive the stage coach within three feet of the edge of the cliff. The boss thanked him for his time and called in the next applicant.

In the course of the interview, the boss asked the next man the same question. He replied that he could drive the team and coach within one foot of the edge of the cliff. He likewise was thanked for his time and the next applicant was called in. The boss asked this fellow the same question. He replied, “I would drive the coach as far from the edge of the cliff as I possibly could.” He got the job!

All of us will have opportunities to skirt up close to that line.  For Daniel, he knew that it was wise for him to stay as far from the flames of temptation as as possible.  And God was with him, granted him favour and wisdom to resist.  And he served for 65 more years in that place.  And well see in the coming weeks how God used him powerfully because he was willing to stand a stand what was right.  Let’s ask God for wisdom and courage to do the same.