{1:1}
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. {2} And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim
king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of
God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the
treasure house of his god. {3} Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his
court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and
the nobility-- {4} 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. He was to teach them the language and
literature of the Babylonians. {5} The king assigned them a daily amount of
food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years,
and after that they were to enter the king's service. {6} Among these were some
from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. {7} The chief official gave
them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to
Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. {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. {9} Now God had caused the official
to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, {10} but the official told Daniel,
"I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink.
Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king
would then have my head because of you." {11} Daniel then said to the
guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and
Azariah, {12} "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but
vegetables to eat and water to drink.
{13} Then compare our appearance with
that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in
accordance with what you see." {14} So he agreed to this and tested them
for ten days. {15} At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better
nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. {16} So the guard
took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them
vegetables instead. {17} To these four young men God gave knowledge and
understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could
understand visions and dreams of all kinds. {18} At the end of the time set by
the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.
{19} The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah,
Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's service. {20} In every matter
of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them
ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
{21} And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus. -- Daniel
1 (NIV)
One of the great lessons of the mature
Christian life is to live in the world, but not like the world lives. As Paul
put it to the Corinthians:
{3}
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. {4} The
weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they
have divine power to demolish strongholds.
-- 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (NIV)
In the World
Daniel understands, clearly, that God
has sent this captivity as a punishment for Judah. (This will be much more
clearly shown later in the book). He thus has some choices to make. In
particular, he must decide two kinds of things:
·
what pressures and
choices he will accept, and what choices he will not, and
·
for those he cannot
accept, how he will oppose them.
The former question is quite
unavoidable. Some of us think that if we could only retreat from the world,
all would be wonderful (“if I could just save up enough for the little cabin in
the mountains, then I wouldn’t have to......”). A reading of Thomas à Kempis
will quickly disabuse us of the notion. The man lived in a monastery all his
adult life, and his work teems with problems of just this type. Human beings
take their problems with them wherever they go.
We begin by noticing the decision
shown here that Daniel accepts: a name change. The Daniel means “God will
judge”; Belteshazzar means “Bel protect his life.” When we remember that
names are often given in this culture specifically because of their meaning, we
might question why Daniel and his comrades made no objection. Discussion
point. One key indicator is this: there is no particular command of
the Old Testament Law (under which Daniel lived) which prohibits it.
Separation: not of the world
Daniel does, however, draw the line at
the diet. We might not see that as important to us, for the Old Testament
dietary laws do not apply to us. It is important to see, however, why those
laws were given. The primary purpose of giving the law was separation.
(See Leviticus 11:43-45) We are to be holy because He is holy and we are his
people. Given that Daniel has a clear indication of Scripture, he rejects this
food because
·
it has been sacrificed to
idols, or
·
it is of a type listed in
the Scripture as unclean.
We might view this as somewhat silly
in our day, but a very current parallel is available: we are, so to speak,
what we eat. Our stomachs consume one type of food; our eyes and ears
another. Are you watching what you eat, because you are holy to Him? Daniel
shows us a clear path here.
Daniel uses a pair of curious words
here, which give us much indication of how we might approach our problems.
First, he refuses to be “defiled.” Discussion point: what does
this word mean? Does it not carry with it the connotation of something which
is
·
originally pure, but
·
now has been ruined for
its purpose, and
·
sinfully so?
We, as Christians, are made pure by
the blood of Jesus Christ, and we must constantly turn to Him to stay that
way. If we don’t, we will be ruined for the purposes for which God has called
us.
Next, in verse 8 we see the word
“resolved.” The King James uses the exquisite expression “purposed in his
heart.” This is not a spur of the moment thing, but an act of will. Kindly
note that this is not a knee-jerk reaction of “Oh, I can’t do that” but rather
a fixed purpose at work. Staying holy is an act of will, not of emotional
reaction.
Next, consider how Daniel delivers
this message. Here is no “in your face” resistance. We often see people who
are Christians who proclaim their holiness in loud, angry tones. This has two
major disadvantages: (discussion point)
·
what does it say to those
who are not Christians? Does it show the peace of Christ?
·
and what if you wind up
eating your words? How tasty are they?
Daniel shows us one other point. Not
only is he polite about this, he shows his complete confidence in God. This is
not a theoretical opinion being expressed. Daniel simply says, “let’s try it
God’s way for ten days. If not completely satisfied, your money refunded.”
Daniel is confident that
·
God is right, and
·
God will honor his
devotion.
Daniel serves in his position for some
65 years, both for the Babylonians and their conquerors, the Medes and
Persians. Perhaps they saw the fruit of his wisdom. It is a curious thing:
if you focus on getting ahead in this world, this world will eventually come to
dishonor you. If you focus on the things of God, honor may indeed come.
“Latimer, Latimer, beware what you say.”
On wisdom
A look at the last verse will provide
useful instruction. God gave Daniel and his companions wisdom. “Wisdom” is a
seldom used word today; we favor the word knowledge. They are similar, but not
the same. Wisdom is much higher. The key for us is that God gives wisdom -
and will give it to us as He gave it to Daniel, if we ask. (see James 1:5)
{6} For the LORD gives wisdom, and
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. {7} He holds victory in store
for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, --
Proverbs 2:6-7 (NIV)
Wisdom is God’s to give. Indeed,
wisdom is not some esoteric concept, but a real part of the universe -- the
moral law which is just as much a part of reality as the laws of physics.
{19} By wisdom the LORD laid the
earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; {20} by his
knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew. --
Proverbs 3:19-20 (NIV)
Should there be any further doubt
about it, consider the person of Jesus. He makes it clear that He is wisdom in
the flesh, or, as John put it:
{12} When Jesus spoke again to the
people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will
never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." -- John 8:12
(NIV)
I propose to you a test: do you have
the wisdom that Daniel was given by God? It is yours for the asking. There is
even a verse which tells you its results -- a good test of whether or not you
have sincerely asked:
{17} But the wisdom that comes from
heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full
of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. -- James 3:17 (NIV)
There you have it: the fruits of
wisdom. Are they growing in your life?
