In 605 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were carted off to Babylon (Dan 1:1, 6) under a minor deportation act (Dan 1:3, “some”). Their Chaldean names given to them were Belteshazzer (Daniel), Shadrach (Hananiah), Meshach (Mishael), and Abed-nego (Azariah), Dan 1:7. Two major deportations were to follow in 597 and 586 B.C., and it would be messy and tragic.
These four young Hebrews were gifted (Dan 1:4) and godly young men (Dan 1:8) who had nothing to do with the current wicked regime of king Jehoiakim of Judah, but they were hauled off to Babylon against their will by God’s design anyway. If you were one of them, would you cry out to God that it was unfair? They were abruptly pulled out of the land of their nativity, separated from their families, and planted in alien soil. Would you question God’s love and sovereignty? Doesn’t victory imply the gods of the victor are superior to the gods of the vanquished? This is how the Chaldeans saw it; this is how Neb saw it until years later when he had a change of heart (Dan 4:34-37), but no matter how these four young men viewed their situation, they immediately began fighting the good fight of faith in their commitment to Yahweh. They could do nothing against a very powerful foe, but they could keep from being overthrown spiritually.
There is a St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital commercial that shows a young girl on crutches walking down a hall; she was missing a large portion of her left leg due to cancer in her kneecap; it’s heart rendering. “When you have cancer,” she said, “you have to fight 100%.” She learned at a young age something we need to take to heart spiritually now, fight the good fight of faith 100% (1 Tim 6:12; 1 Cor 10:31). Unfortunately, it normally takes adverse situations to totally commit because we think we can get by with less! For followers of Jesus Christ, I believe it is detrimental to our spiritual well-being to give less than our all, 100%.
Half-heartedness or lukewarmness never rises to the level of an all-out effort for God. Being in the frying pan, however, has a way of elevating nothing less than 100%. I am of the impression that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were already 100% committed to God regardless of the circumstances before being carted off to Babylon. But should 100% committed believers today have to experience being displaced to a pagan country? Two quick things here, God is sovereign, and all that live godly in Yahweh (Christ Jesus) will suffer persecution, right (2 Tim 3:12)? There are periods of Church history where God has used the persecution of His people to get them in gear in being 100% serious about holiness and service to Him.
To further the faith, we have to fight the good fight of faith. Paul’s usage of the verb translated “fight” (agonizomai) and its cognate noun (agon) in 1 Tim 6:12 are not words of cozy perception; our English words, “agonize” and “agony,” come from these Greek words respectively. Fighting from Paul’s perspective under inspiration is the good agony that is spiritually healthy and the right thing to do. I have heard that anything worth having is worth fighting for, and our faith is definitely worth fighting for.
Though we wrestle not with flesh and blood, we must develop a tough mental attitude concerning our faith with the help of the Holy Spirit. If we do not determine to give it our all for God and unwisely allow the flesh, the world system, and the devil to go unchecked in our lives, then there is spiritual cancer that develops that will eat away our resolve to worship and serve the Lord in spirit and truth.
Though the four Jewish men were displaced as a result of Nebuchadnezzar’s brutal intrusion into their lives, they retained a dogged determination in their commitment to God in Babylon. When you have Christ, you have to fight 100% regardless of the circumstances. Paul would say in his closing days, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (1 Tim 4:7). He is telling you and me that fighting the good fight of faith is the good agony, giving 100% of our all to the Lord in a world that aggressively opposes Him and us. <><
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