Thursday, April 5, 2018
During the
third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him
to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land
of Babylonia and placed them in the treasure-house of his god. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of
staff, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and
other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives. “Select only strong, healthy, and
good-looking young men,” he said. “Make
sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with
knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace. Train these young men in the language and
literature of Babylon.” The king
assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for three years, and
then they would enter the royal service.
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men
chosen, all from the tribe of Judah. The
chief of staff renamed them with these Babylonian names: Daniel was called Belteshazzar. Hananiah was called Shadrach. Mishael was called Meshach. Azariah was called Abednego. But Daniel was determined not to defile
himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not
to eat these unacceptable foods. Now God
had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel. But he responded, “I am afraid of my lord the
king, who has ordered that you eat this food and wine. If you become pale and thin compared to the
other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded.” Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been
appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah. “Please test us for ten days on
a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said.
“At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young
men who are eating the king’s food. Then
make your decision in light of what you see.”
The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten
days. At the end of the ten days, Daniel
and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men
who had been eating the food assigned by the king. So after that, the attendant fed them only
vegetables instead of the food and wine provided for the others. God gave these four young men an unusual
aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to
interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.
When the training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief of
staff brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and no one
impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the royal service. Whenever the king consulted them in any
matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more
capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom. Daniel remained in the royal service until
the first year of the reign of King Cyrus.
Daniel 1:1-21(NLT)
In the cultural
atmosphere which reigns in our day it seems more hostile to serious followers
of Christ than at any other point in my lifetime. Now, my age is not enough to cover the first
century (no matter what my grandkids and great-grandkids say!). Life in America is hardly as toxic as the
persecutions of Nero and other Roman emperors.
But there is a reigning cultural mindset that pushes Godliness aside in
favor of tolerance. The net result is
evil.
So the question
becomes: How shall we live…and how
shall we face the culture?
It seems we need
the example of Daniel, who, even though he was a captive in a hostile environment,
and one wrong word might have gotten him beaten, bloodied or even beheaded,
decided to honor God first, and let the chips fall where they would.
There are those
who would point to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who resisted Hitler
in WW2. He did what Daniel did, standing
firm in the face of oppression. It got
him hanged.
The whole point is
not the outcome as history might record it; the whole issue is faithfulness to
your God, no matter what a history book might say.
For You Today
The time to fix a roof is before the rains begin. The clouds of hostility towards the church
and faith in Christ are already dark and thunderous; have you made a Daniel decision
yet?
You chew on that as you hit the
Rocky Road; have a blessed day.
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