Survivor

If you were deprived of basic comforts, exposed to the harsh natural elements, if your fate was at the mercy of strangers…who would you become? For 39 days 16 strangers were stranded on a remote island off the coast of Panama. They were forced to live together and use their collective wits to survive in a rugged environment. Day by day, the harsh elements and threatening animals tested the endurance of the survivors. They learned to cooperate, to building shelters, to gather or catch food in a contest for rewards. Those who succeeded in the day-to-day challenges were rewarded with things to make life on the Island more bearable. Those who failed did without. Every three days the survivors attended a Tribal Council. At this meeting, each person secretly voted to send one survivor home. The person with the most votes had to leave their tribe immediately. Week by week, one by one, people were voted off until only two survivors remain. At that point, the seven most recently eliminated survivors returned to form the final Tribal Council and decided who would be the sole survivor—and will win one million dollars! So goes the popular television show Survivor. If you were deprived of familiar surroundings, exposed to a different environment and culture, if your fate was at the mercy of strangers…who would you become? The book of Daniel tells a great story of four survivors. Their names are Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In 605 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated Jerusalem. The Lord delivered Judah into his hand. He took some of the articles from the temple which he carried off to Babylon and put in the treasure house of his god. He also took the survivors far away – 500 miles back to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family – they were superior in every way – they were young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. The Babylonians tried to do three things to the Survivors. 1) They tried to change the way they think - They enrolled in a rigorous education program. The curriculum included the language and literature of the Babylonians. The academic program included mathematics, astronomy, history, and magic. They went to school three years to change the way they think. 2) They tried to change the way they worship – They even changed their names. Their given names revealed their devotion to the true and living God. Daniel (God is my judge), Hananiah (the Lord shows grace), Mishael (Who is like God) and Azariah (The Lord is my help). But Ashpenaz gave them new names: To Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar (Bel protect his life); to Hananiah he gave the name Shadrach (command of the moon god); to Mishael they gave the name Meshach (Who is like the moon god?); and to Azariah they gave the name Abednego (servant of Nego, the Babylonian god of wisdom). So the name of the God was replaced with the false gods of Babylon. They tried to change the way they worship. 3) They tried to change their lifestyle – 1.5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They tried to force them to eat food that was forbidden. So here were four young survivors – probably teenagers. They lost their family, they lost their home, their school, their temple (place of worship) – they lost their friends and familiar surroundings. They witnessed a foreign army invade their city. Then they are taken captive – they were 500 hundred miles away from home. But they did not compromise their faith even when faced the flames of death Daniel 1.8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Daniel chose not to eat the food because it was not kosher or the meat and wine had been sacrificed to idols. He quietly asked permission to abstain. Daniel said, "Please test us for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance to the others.” At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than all the others. So the guard took away their royal food and the wine and gave them nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Like Daniel and his three friends, your convictions will be tested. That’s why, if you are going to survive, you have to resolve not to defile yourself by compromising your convictions. They worked hard and they did their very best – and it paid off. They graduated at the top of their class. And Daniel was valedictorian. So they entered the king's service. The king found them ten times better than all the others. You may not be valedictorian but the Lord expects you to work hard and do your very best. Remember you represent Jesus Christ to your boss and your teachers. Some time later Nebuchadnezzar started having dreams that troubled him and he could not sleep. So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers (sounds like a Harry Potter movie) and he said to them, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards." They said, “There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks!” This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. When Arioch, the commander of the king's guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. He asked for more time He went to his friends and urged them to pray and God answered his prayer. So he appear before the king and the king asked Daniel "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?" Daniel, “No, I can’t. Nor can anyone else. But there is a God in heaven that can.” And Daniel interpreted his dream. Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and said, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to tell me my dream and interpret it. How did Daniel survive? How did he cope with a temperamental king and the threat of death? He gained support from his friends and he prayed to his God. Can you remember to do that when you are faced with a temperamental boss, or problems at school or work? Some time later King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura. Then the herald proclaimed, "This is what you are commanded to do. As soon as you hear the music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold. Daniel 3.16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." They trusted God even when they could not predict the outcome. They said, “God can save us but even if he does not we will not bow down to any other god.” That is inspiring! You can’t be sure what is going to happen in the future. Maybe God will save your marriage, save your job, save your life from cancer – but even if he does not say, “I will trust God even when I can’t predict the outcome. “ Then Nebuchadnezzar ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie them up and throw them into the blazing furnace. The furnace was so hot that the fire killed the soldiers who threw them in. The king leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" They replied, "Yes, O king." He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." I believe that was Jesus Christ walking in the fire with them. Jesus promised us – I will always be with you. You may have to walk through the flames but he will be with you. Isaiah 43.1 But now, this is what the LORD says — he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So they came out of the fire and the king and his advisors saw that the fire unharmed and there was no smell of smoke on them. 28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way." They were survivors and so are you. No matter what you face in life, God will protect you. He will see you through divorce, addiction, unemployment, or whatever you face. You are more than a survivor. You are more the conquerors through Jesus Christ. Praise God who delivers us from all harm and makes us victorious in Christ!