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“Faithfulness in Exile”
Categories: Bulletin Articles
One of the themes of the book of Daniel is faithfulness to God despite living in a foreign land. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were exiles because of the sins of their fathers, men who couldn’t manage to keep covenant with God even though they were living in the promised land. The sons, though, were put to a sterner test than their fathers. They were expected to serve faithfully despite the bad example of their ancestors, the destruction of the temple, and their removal to Babylon. They were called to remember God even when their very names were changed from names that glorified Him to names that glorified idols (Bel, Aku, Aku, and Nergal, respectively).
Astonishingly, they succeed. All four men draw a line in the sand in Daniel 1. They determine that they would rather live on vegetables and water than run the risk of defiling themselves with rich food and wine from the king’s table. In Daniel 3, Daniel’s three friends prefer to face incineration rather than worshiping the king’s image. Similarly, in Daniel 6, Daniel himself defies the king’s edict and continues to pray toward Jerusalem according to the terms of 2 Chronicles 6:36-39.
In all of these things, God blesses them. Despite their austere diet, they become fatter than their peers who gorged themselves on royal delicacies (In my book, this is evidence that eating salads doesn’t help you lose weight!). An angel rescues Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. God closes the mouths of the lions who were supposed to devour Daniel for his illegal prayers. Though an outside observer might conclude from the destruction of Israel and Judah that God is powerless, His care for the exiles shows that He is anything but.
Today, Christians in the United States increasingly feel that they are living in exile. America has never been “a Christian nation”, at least not in a Biblical sense, but increasingly, the morality of those around us is diverging from the morality of the Bible. Millions are turning to a bizarre moral code of their own invention. The same people who sneer at us for believing in an imaginary God simultaneously believe (and insist) that somebody who has two X chromosomes can be a man. Never mind the biology; saying makes it so!
In such an environment, staying faithful to our Creator is becoming increasingly difficult. Like the exiled Jews, we face all kinds of pressure to conform. Maybe nobody is changing our names on us, but it’s certainly true that Christians who are loud in their defense of Biblical morality will get in all kinds of trouble in secular schools and workplaces.
Nonetheless, our only recourse is to continue trusting in God too. He does not promise us that serving Him will be easy or painless, but He does promise that He will not forsake us. If we remain true to Him despite provocation from the citizens of this world, He will surely bless us.
