Reflections on Daniel 1

Daniel 01 (Contemporary English Version)
1. In the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia attacked Jerusalem.
   
2. The Lord let Nebuchadnezzar capture Jehoiakim and take away some of the things used in God's temple. And when the king returned to Babylonia, he put these things in the temple of his own god.
   
3. One day the king ordered Ashpenaz, his highest palace official, to choose some young men from the royal family of Judah and from other leading Jewish families.
   
4. The king said, "They must be healthy, handsome, smart, wise, educated, and fit to serve in the royal palace. Teach them how to speak and write our language
   
5. and give them the same food and wine that I am served. Train them for three years, and then they can become court officials."
   
6. Four of the young Jews chosen were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all from the tribe of Judah.
   
7. But the king's chief official gave them Babylonian names: Daniel became Belteshazzar, Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach, and Azariah became Abednego.
   
8. Daniel made up his mind to eat and drink only what God had approved for his people to eat. And he asked the king's chief official for permission not to eat the food and wine served in the royal palace.
   
9. God had made the official friendly and kind to Daniel.
   
10. But the man still told him, "The king has decided what you must eat and drink. And I am afraid he will kill me, if you eat something else and end up looking worse than the other young men."
    
11. The king's official had put a guard in charge of Daniel and his three friends. So Daniel said to the guard,
    
12. "For the next ten days, let us have only vegetables and water at mealtime.
    
13. When the ten days are up, compare how we look with the other young men, and decide what to do with us."
    
14. The guard agreed to do what Daniel had asked.
    
15. Ten days later, Daniel and his friends looked healthier and better than the young men who had been served food from the royal palace.
    
16. After this, the guard let them eat vegetables instead of the rich food and wine.
    
17. God made the four young men smart and wise. They read a lot of books and became well educated. Daniel could also tell the meaning of dreams and visions.
    
18. At the end of the three-year period set by King Nebuchadnezzar, his chief palace official brought all the young men to him.
    
19. The king interviewed them and discovered that none of the others were as outstanding as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were given positions in the royal court.
    
20. From then on, whenever the king asked for advice, he found their wisdom was ten times better than that of any of his other advisors and magicians.
    
21. Daniel served there until the first year of King Cyrus.
    
    

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    This account of Daniel and his friends, Jewish young men who were taken captive from their home in Jerusalem and exiled in Babylon, gives a perspective that might be lost in one's reading of Jeremiah. Idolatry and wickedness had become so prevalent in Judah that it led to her destruction by the Babylonians. This is a focus of Jeremiah. And in this focus one might overlook the fact that there were still righteous people in Judah. Daniel and his friends are good examples of this. In addition, the examples of Daniel and his friends served as reminders to other Jews exiled in Babylon (and to us) of how God blesses those who are obedient to His instructions.
    
    Daniel was placed in a culture that not only worshipped false gods but was even hostile to the true God of Israel. Yet in this environment he chose to be faithful in his worship of the true God. How he did this is an inspiration to all as he showed respect to his captors while remaining faithful to his God. While some of his own countrymen might have been critical of his respectful actions toward the captor, it was these very actions in conjunction with his loyalty to God that enabled him to be used so powerfully by God.
    
    Respectfully, Daniel requested that he and his friends be allowed to eat a diet that was true to the dietary laws God had given them. God did the rest. He gave them favor with the Babylonian officials, He gave them excellent health under the special diet, and He gave them the ability to excell in their Babylonian culture studies. Plus, God gave Daniel the ability to understand "visions and dreams of every kind." (1:17) At the end of their training period they were interviewed by the king and found to have no equals among the trainees. This propelled them to serving in the king's court. In the king's court they were consulted by the king and found to be far better "In every matter of wisdom and understanding . . . than all the diviner-priests and mediums in his entire kingdom." (1:20)