The Best and Brightest



Daniel 1:3-7
3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility,
4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.
6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.
7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
8 But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.
9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs,
10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.”
11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.
13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
14 So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food.
16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

In the midst of the worst possible trial, God’s people triumph. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are captives of a foreign king. They have most certainly been made eunuchs and are being groomed for a life that none of them expected. While it sounds like they were treated well in terms of food and lodging, the circumstances are not good. They have no will of their own and their futures have been taken by Nebuchadnezzar. And yet, Daniel rises up as the group’s leader and begins to take back his life. He wants to honor the Lord and denies himself the abundance of the royal house. He knows the laws of Moses and seeks to live by them.  His efforts are rewarded as he is healthy and strong under God’s care.

Daniel will spend 70 years in Babylon and he never does return to Jerusalem. But throughout those 70 years he remains faithful to God. His story is one of faith and victory in the face of opposition. In fact, Daniel will rise to a place of true power in the country because of God’s favor and his obedience. Daniel stands as proof that it is possible to love God and serve Him well even when those around you do not. Imagine denying yourself the finest of food and drink in order to live on raw vegetables as a sign of your faithful love and devotion to God, only to have that sacrifice recognized with a positive out-come. This is only one of many miracles that are found in the pages of Daniel.

Comments

  1. MarcosJanuary 11, 2013 at 5:51 AM

    is there any reason as to why we refer to daniel by his hebrew name and the other 3 by their babylonian names?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carolyn BiraJanuary 11, 2013 at 6:56 AM

    That's an interesting question. I believe it is because he was actually "the prophet" for the Hebrew nation, while the other 3 were his support system. They carried no role as actual leader. Just a guess on my part.

    ReplyDelete

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