We The Few

They say character is what you do when no one is looking, but sometimes the hardest thing is to do what’s right when everyone is looking. It’s easy to go along with the crowd. It’s like riding the current of a river — you really don’t have to put any effort into it at all. What’s hard is going against the crowd, against that current. It takes physical, emotional, and moral effort, and not many people do it.

Daniel and company found themselves having to do just that. So as we continue our Lessons from Babylon, let’s look closer at their experience and see whether that was an oddity or the norm.

At the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, Nebuchadnezzar “ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility” (Dan 1:3). Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (v6). We don’t know how many were taken from Judah in this first stage of the captivity. Was it dozens? Hundreds? Eventually they would bring out thousands (2Kings 24:14), but this was an early shot across the bow. However many captives were taken for the king’s service, only these four refused the king’s food. Everyone else was willing to go along to get along.

Skip forward two chapters, and we find Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah alone in a sea of “satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials” (3:2), the only ones refusing to bow to the king’s idol. Jump to the end of his life, and we find Daniel as the lone voice of godliness out of 123 government officials (6:1). Daniel and his friends were always in the minority in their faithfulness.

And this really isn’t unusual for God’s people. When God decided to flood the world, he found a grand total of one person who was obedient. When the new nation of Israel, freshly delivered from Egypt, fell into idolatry, only a few Levites stood with the Lord and Moses. When Elijah despaired that he was alone in faithfulness to God, he was assured that there was a whole 7,000 in all of the 10 tribes of the northern kingdom who were also loyal to YHWH (1Kings 19:18).

This doesn’t get any better in the New Testament. Jesus warned us, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt 7:13-14, emphasis mine). Even among the visible church, there will be many who fall away during trouble or persecution (Matt 13:21).

Rebellion against God is the norm for fallen humanity. But God always reserves for himself a remnant, a faithful few. If we are faithful when it is hard, we should expect to find that we are few. And perhaps that is how it ought to be. If there were many, it would be the crowd buoying us along. When we are few, we have to rely on God our Savior.

So that’s our next lesson from Babylon: Be prepared to stand firm in your convictions no matter how few people are on your side.

This is going to be hard. Besides the simple pressure of the crowd and the discomfort of being the minority, the world will always employ psychological attacks. Today they claim “you’re on the wrong side of history.” No one wants to be on the wrong side of history. That can sting. We have to remind ourselves, though, that everyone always thinks they’re on the “right side of history,” but the true right side, the winning side, will not be clear until the end of history. On that day they will see we were on the right side of history after all.

In the meantime, though, we’re going to have to commit to standing strong even when we’re a minority. This is the way it usually goes. I don’t want to be defensive or to have a pity party. I actually want this to be an encouragement: If you look up and it seems like almost no one is standing faithful, if you feel like you’re all alone in holding the line, you’re in good company. Many saints have felt that way.

But be assured that you’re not all alone. As JC Ryle said:

“In spite of the cavils, sneers, objections and unkind remarks with which the gospel is received by the majority of mankind, there will always be some in every country who will assent to it and obey it with delight. A ‘little flock’ will never be lacking who hears the voice of the Shepherd gladly and counts all his ways right. The children of this world may mock at the gospel and pour contempt on the lives of believers. They may count their practice madness and see no wisdom and beauty in their ways. But God will take care to see that he has a people in every age.”

When you feel alone, remember God always has his faithful few. Rejoice to be counted among them.


Image via Pixabay