As a preacher of the Gospel, I am becoming more aware of the fact that I may be preaching to the last generation of young men and women before the coming of Christ in a rapture as well as the coming of Antichrist and the final kingdom of man in prophecy. It is the worst, the darkest, and the most deceptive generation of human history. It may well be the prelude generation before the coming of the Tribulation Period. This is why it is crucial that God’s remnant people today come to an understanding of the Book of Daniel.

In the previous article we simply observed that the two critical books of prophecy are Daniel and Revelation. There are similarities between the two books. (1) they both were written by men called “beloved”; (2) both authors were young in coming to God (Eusebius, the Father of Church History places John the Beloved at 18 when he became a disciple of Christ; Josephus places Daniel at 17); (3) both men lived long lives beyond most of their contemporaries; (4) both were in a captivity (Babylon and Patmos); (5) both saw the glory of God in devastating times; (6) one was a seer of the beginning of the times of the Gentiles, and the other was a seer to the revelation of the conclusion of the times of the Gentiles. Both saw similar prophecies, yet each became a key of assistance in interpreting to the other.

In this article we want to note the character of Daniel. For these crucial times nearing the coming of Christ, such a life as his should be the longing of every Christian heart.

Daniel’s Early Life

We know more of the personal history of Daniel, of his character, than of any of the other prophets. Daniel seems to have been born into an unidentified family of Judean nobility somewhat prior to Josiah’s reformation in 621 B.C. During his childhood he experienced the great reformation during Josiah’s reign, placing him around the age of 15 to 17 years old at the time of his capture and the commencement of the Babylonian captivity. Immediately after the time of the great reform under Josiah, Jerusalem plunged once again into deep sin and apostasy under the remaining kings. No doubt as a child he heard the preaching of Jeremiah the prophet, with whom he would be closely identified, at least with his writings, for many years even after his deportation. It is evident that as a child he was profoundly affected by the reform.

The fact that he was among the first selection of Jewish captives taken to Babylon in 606 B.C. indicates that he was regarded as having considerable social standing. It seems that Nebuchadnezzar, in his defeat of Egypt and return through Judea, demanded hostages of Judah as evidence of good faith toward Babylon. It was with this group which went into captivity in the third year of Jehoiakim, king of Judea, that Daniel was numbered. His parents named him Daniel, meaning “God is my Judge.” His name truly became the commentary of every stage of his life: he judged everything he confronted through the consciousness of God.

The history of Israel has been marked by two periods of great bondage: Egypt (a type of sin and the world) and Babylon (a type of religious bondage and apostasy). Like Israel, Christianity today has entered into its Babylonian captivity, and it will demand prepared youth to face it and all of its dark and strange powers and languages. In my travels I am meeting more and more Christian young people who have not matured as those did who grew up in previous generations. The telling sign is that there is still a great immaturity in their living as well as in their Christian lives. This is not a day in which young adults can afford to frolic in sins and remain in their childish days and ways; they need to grow up and become men and women for God. Daniel was prepared in his childhood and teenage years to become the prepared prophet for his age and generation. The times witness to only a few youth today who in their prime will be prepared to face the world.

Preparation of Life: Without Blemish

One of the prerequisites that we read for Daniel’s being chosen by the staff of the king was that he was to be without blemish. He had to be a youth without blemish, or one without any defect or peculiarity of the flesh (no disfigurements: eczema, scabs, scratches, scars) as well as no evidence of moral defects. The Devil has been in strong pursuit to destroy the youth of our day in this final conflict before the secret coming of Christ. If the Devil can’t stop the youth from becoming a Christian, he will endeavor to do all he can to destroy the life of the youth before they come to Christ, thus rendering them of little use in service to God. Oh, the blemished life! This generation has been the worst in living in sin and reaping damages; such blemishes of life at times are almost irreparable. The youth coming to Christ now have lived either physically or mentally in such complex sins that there are deep scars in the life. In many cases such scars have become a permanent part of their life.

The youth culture of our present society portrays a life and a character that has been controlled by a certain principle. That principle has been one of sin and the pervasiveness of the world. Their culture is the outworking of that character. Western Civilization has gone through many stages of cultural living since the days of the beginning of rock and roll. Emerging from such a history has been a product more aptly called “subculture.” “A subculture is a group of people with a culture (whether distinct or hidden) which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.” Sometimes it is considered a counterculture. Subcultures bring together those who by social standards feel neglected and allow them to develop a sense of identity.

In 2007, Ken Gelder published the book Subcultures: Cultural Histories and Social Practice in which he proposed six key ways in which subcultures can be identified:

1. through their often negative relations to work (as ‘idle’, ‘parasitic’, at play or at leisure, etc.) [people trying to get out of work with a “thank-God-it’s-Friday” mentality];
2. through their negative or ambivalent relation to class (since subcultures are not ‘class-conscious’ and don’t conform to traditional class definitions);
3. through their association with territory (the ‘street’, the ‘hood’, the club, etc.), rather than property;
4. through their movement out of the home and into non-domestic forms of belonging (i.e. social groups other than the family);
5. through their stylistic ties to excess and exaggeration (with some exceptions);
6. through their refusal of the banalities of ordinary life and massification.
   
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subculture, accessed October 17, 2011).

Today’s abounding subcultures provide a wide variety to entice and subtly influence the present generation of youth. Within these subcultures there is a philosophical concept concerning the physical body. It is geared towards the debasement, disrespect, indignity, and even the destruction of the body by the Devil. Such a view has been promoted through a number of subcultures of the world. In the 1960’s Timothy Leary popularized hallucinogenic drugs, which the Devil used to burn out the body and the mind of many young people. Janis Joplin popularized alcohol, affecting both the brain and body. There was also Alex Crowley, who promoted the intensity of fornication and sadism that burnt out affections and desires and destroyed the youth for hope of honorable marriage to a woman or man. Sexually transmitted diseases, including many incidents of HIV and AIDS, often bring permanent damage to the body.

Then there is the thought life of the youth being paralyzed through the powers of pornography. Such mental imagery will produce destruction of the mind for years to come. It also produces a lazy and passive mind when it comes to spiritual things: the inability to function for God, living basically a lethargic life.

Even body piercing and tattooing have become commonplace in our subculture society. The Lord declares in Leviticus 19:28, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.” All kinds of piercings are now defacing the body, from the ears to eyebrows, lips, tongues, and cheeks, etc. The tattoo industry has now set up shop on main street, offering its services no longer just for sailors but for a whole generation that have made their bodies a canvas. Even after becoming a Christian the permanency of such things affects the testimony of the body.

There is also the subculture that attaches itself to all forms of music from jazz, Goth, punk, hip hop, rave, bluegrass, heavy metal, country western, etc. They all have their own subculture consisting of the symbolism identified with the clothing, music, and other visible affectations by their members.

In the southern states we face the country western product of the “redneck” subculture in his slob way of dress with the lower cowboy look, his obsession with guns and knives, his slob-culture talk, his destruction of the English language, and his cravings for the jokes of Jeff Foxworthy. The “redneck” is uncouth in his conduct, emitting body sounds in the presence of others. He constantly views women and marriage in a humiliating way. This is a culture that is of the world and not of God.

Although at one time certain subcultures were viewed as unique and easy going, young people who continue to linger in them will be damaged. A life mixed with the world destroys the present hope of a life for God. Oh, the blemishes of the past that continue to linger in the lives of many. Though some may think such manners funny and cute, they fail to discern these as hindrances to a full life with God. The personal blemishes are truly the culture of an age, the outworking of a subtle principle dominating the life within.

Bible colleges now have to take these blemished lives and prepare them for the ministry. Even young people from Christian homes have been permitted by their parents to partake in these subcultures. What does a Christian do with all of these subcultures? When we become a Christian, the principles of the Bible rise higher than any other culture. When God saves us, He changes our manner of living and brings us into a nobility of living and talking and respect. We are not to be con-formed to this world, its culture and sounds.

There is hope! Ephesians 5:27 declares, “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” No matter what defects of the flesh and life we have, we must come to Christ with them for healing! According to II Corinthians 5, old things are to pass away and all things are to become new. Some may say, “But I hate to give them up!” Grow up! Those are immature, childish things. Let us grow up into Christ! We must dress differently and talk differently. Our manner must change, our joking must change, and there must be a dignity to come into our life, for Christ’s sake! In I Corinthians 13:11 Paul declared, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” This is what we need today: the putting away of childish things in the way we dress, the way we think, and in our manner of living. We could attend a Bible college and still be playing the games of the world. How can anyone take us seriously for God if we are still in childish living? Dear young man and young lady, pray for God to deliver you from the blemishes of the past! And if you are in your teenage years, keep yourself from destroying your life.

Purposed in His Heart

A second prerequisite we see in Daniel’s young life was that he not only was a young man without blemish, but also one who purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the king’s meat. What a test this was! A captive in a foreign land far removed from the restraints of home, absent from the inspiration of worship in the Solomonic Temple. He was being placed in a position of honor as a preferred student; a special, selected diet was appointed him personally by the king. The kindness of a king was his greatest temptation. He could have argued in his heart that under the circumstances, he should eat what was set before him, that it was impossible to keep the law regarding clean and unclean meats as a captive in a foreign country. He could have reasoned that it did not matter what he ate so long as his heart was all right, and certainly one should not offend the king. In a period when regard for God’s law was decaying among the Jews, it is evident that Daniel and his friends were already grounded in truth before they came down to Babylon.

Such decisions and choices in his youth had a profound effect upon whether God would trust him with secrets and visions. Daniel had entered into the consecrated life of Romans 12:1, 2. In the light of this purposing of heart, Daniel had already committed himself through meditation on the Word of God and communion with the Lord; these already occupied first place in his life.

A person’s thought life on God is important in this needed purposing of heart not to defile one’s self. After the heart has purposed, then the decisive stand with faith laying hold on God for strength will follow. In the purposing, we shall find God true, as it was in the case of Daniel. The king’s meat was dedicated to the king’s gods; he believed the meat had special powers and thus he wanted his servants to partake of such food. Nevertheless, Daniel purposed in his heart not to be defiled by what the world feeds from and refused to be influenced by them on what he thought and did. Yes, similar convictions are imperative in our crucial days of great compromise within the church.

There is another precious truth that must be acknowledged: the faithfulness of the Lord becomes a blessed reality in the path of separation: separation from the world and sin, and separation unto God! In this separation unto the Lord we shall find an increase in true wisdom, in heart knowledge and progress in the truth. Spiritual knowledge cannot be learned; it is a gift of God. If we acknowledge our weakness and emptiness, and cast ourselves upon Him, He will give that knowledge we need.

While Daniel and his companions refused to be defiled by the king’s meat and drink, they did not go without eating and drinking. They ate pulse and drank water—a simple fare. While we turn away from the world and its ways, we have something to feed on: our food is Christ Himself, and we have the water, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Such feeding will keep us in the evil day.

The Abilities of Daniel

A third area of Daniel’s character that we should observe is found in Daniel 1:4:

Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

Although this was the world’s criteria for future leadership, there are some characteristics that may be salvaged for the young man of God. There is the intellectual capacity of which Daniel clearly was able (“such as had ability”). These youth were to be “cunning in knowledge.” It is evident they had some knowledge that those who made the decision saw promising for the court of the king. They had to have a capacity of understanding science; they had to have a special aptitude for Chaldean science, that is science of the magi. Also, they had to be skillful in wisdom. They also had to be in excellent physical condition: no blemish on their body, well favoured. Finally, there was a moral and spiritual quality: there had to be present a consciousness of a wholesome mind and body.

We are truly living in an End-time generation when we are in desperate need of young people growing up from Christian homes who have not been tainted in mind by the pollutions of this Age and whose body has not been given over to the powers of fornication. We are in need of intellectual youth to be consumed by God and willing to give their brain and abilities to God’s calling rather than to the furthering of themselves in the world. Sadly, we are losing many Christian youth to the secular world as they pursue money, career, fame, and acceptance. We have come to a last desperate hour when the abilities and talents of youth need to be poured out upon Christ as Mary did with the expensive ointment from the precious alabaster box.

Where are the young men and woman who are willing to give their hearts, lives, and all that they are unto God? Where are those who will rise, keeping themselves in their teenage years from the blemishes and blights of youthful and wayward impulses to sin? . . . who are willing to give their minds, their intellect, and good study habits to Christ for His service? . . . who are willing to give God a strong moral life and spiritual walk? . . . who are willing to keep their mind and thought life from falling into the gutter and perversion of immorality and the dirt of this world? We tend to give God the leftovers from sin. Yes, although He will take us unto Himself no matter our past and broken life, we need to pray for a harvest of youth whose lives have not been violated by teenage sin. We must press for the Daniel life in our homes, churches, and Christian schools.

Conclusion

In the Old Testament, God called for a “fit man” on the Day of Atonement to take the scapegoat out beyond the camp into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:21). The fit man, a prepared man, a ready man, was selected for this a year in advance; he was probably a man of Levitical pedigree with a reputation characteristic of the demand of his name. This man was prepared to lead the goat away, not with the ordinary halter but with a piece of scarlet cloth tied around his horns. Tradition tells us that he looked for the scarlet cloth to turn white as a sign of God’s acceptance of the sacrifice. Oh, to contemplate the value of such a man, spiritually, in our time. Such a man in our day and time must be able to discern concerning the Lord’s attitude about a particular age, whether there is acceptance by God or whether apostasy is present.

We need to increase our prayers for ready men, selected men, prepared men who are able to declare the Lord’s attitude about an age. May God give unto us some youth sanctified, Spirit-filled, consecrated to the call of God, and willing to step forward as a Daniel.