6-28-10

DANIEL 1

What strikes me as most interesting in chapter 1 of Daniel are the characters in play and the behaviors displayed by them.

It is around 586 B.C., King Nebuchadnezzar has completed the siege and defeat of Judah and Jerusalem, and he takes the gold articles from the temple. It is worth noting that back in Isaiah, King Hezekiah of Judah, when he was ill and was divinely healed, received a visit from one of the chief officials of Babylon, and Hezekiah boldly and foolishly showed him the treasure room, putting Judah in the crosshairs of Babylon from that time until the completion of the takeover.

The majority of the Judah residents are now exiled to Babylon, Judah will be there for 70 years, and the Babylonian assimilation is underway. Babylon's goal was to take imprisoned young men and train them up to be Babylonian and thereby strengthen the kingdom. So the order went out to find the teens that looked strongest, seemed healthiest and most attractive. Daniel and his friends (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,) fell into that category, and they were to be trained/educated for three years. Daniel's and their names were changed to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

The first requirement, then, was to be on a robust diet, but the food offered went against the Jewish Law, and Daniel and his friends resolved to not defy themselves and God in the process of eating the King's food. This was not horrible food, but rather food any exiled prisoner would look at and long for; it was food fit for a king.

Ashpenaz is the guy ordered by Nebuchadnezzar to pick these young men and train them. His commander, unnamed, is told by Daniel that they would rather eat food according to their Law's diet. No doubt that Ashpenaz had to go along with this, and it would have literally meant his head if this did not work well for the health of these boys. Read the story, it went well, God worked through this Babylonian official, showing him and the boys that He was in control.

Look at these 4 boys, teens by most scholars' accounts, exiled away from home, separated from parents, and they make a great choice for God, even if there were to be consequences. Their relationship to God and how they presented that to others around them far out-weighed any command from an earthly king, even if that king was in apparent control of their very lives. I wonder about the rest of the exiles and why they may have chosen to follow Nebuchadnezzar and eat the king's food. We are not told.

Daniel and these three end up with positions of authority in the Babylonian kingdom, allowing God to use them to care for His people.

SO WHAT...?

So, I'm not a young boy anymore. It can still be very difficult for me to make the best choices every day. Yet God still wants me to in spite of potential consequences.

So, am I raising my kids to respect God to that level? Granted, the choices will be theirs to make, but is the foundation I am giving them the best for God, so that they can lean on Him for decisions to tough situations?

So, I need to be faithful, and God can even use those outside of Christ, such as Ashpenaz, to get His work done through me.