Dan
1:1
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
Dan
1:2
The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some
of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land
of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into
the treasury of his god.
Dan
1:3
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring
in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and
of the nobles,
Dan
1:4
youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing
intelligence in every branch
of
wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who
had ability for serving in the king's court; and he
ordered him
to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
Jehoiakim
has only reigned because he was paying a heavy tribute to Egypt
because they had been conquered by Necho. Jehoiakim's brother,
Jehoahaz was made king after the death of their father, Josiah, at
Megiddo but Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt, leaving Judah without
protection. So it is that the king of the Chaldeans has now taken
Judah and looks for advisors that are wise and he begins to educate
them in the ways of his kingdom. Of the men of Judah, he wants only
the best young men to mold to fit into his empire.
Dan
1:5
The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice
food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed
that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they
were to enter the king's personal service.
Dan
1:6
Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael
and Azariah.
Dan
1:7
Then the commander of the officials assigned new
names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the
name
Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah
Abed-nego.
Nebuchadnezzar,
being the king, knows enough to purchase the loyalty of his new staff
and here we see a good example of his attempted bribery and to make
sure of the tightest possible fit he even has their names changed to
sound more like they belong.
As we read we should notice that these four are not alone and I will
venture a guess that they were a small minority of the youth
concerned.
If
we will meditate on the Word instead of just reading it we see that
God has always held a remnant for Himself, just as He is doing here.
When Elijah, just knew he was the only believer left god had it
revealed to him that there were 7,000 others hidden away and cared
for. There is a life application lesson here: If we are brave
enough, not strong enough but brave enough, to stand against the
overwhelming majority (in numbers only) God will care for, protect
and make you victorious. These young men go forward to be victorious
in ways they never could have looked forward to but they were to
become victors and that because they trusted in their Saviour. Watch
now;
Dan
1:8
But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with
the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought
permission
from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.
Dan
1:9
Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the
commander of the officials,
Dan
1:10
and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, "I am afraid
of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for
why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who
are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the
king."
Here,
once more is a lesson we should be teaching our children and our
youth, another life application. Daniel has trusted, completely, in
his Saviour and approaches his Training Guard with a plan to remain
pure and undefiled in the eyes of Father God. These four young men
(teens?) are seeking to live as they know God wants them to live.
Another lesson to take from this passage is the devotion of the guard
to his boss, the king.
Dan
1:11
But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials
had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,
Dan
1:12
"Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given
some vegetables to eat and water to drink.
Dan
1:13
"Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the
appearance of the youths who are eating the king's choice food; and
deal with your servants according to what you see."
Still
trusting the Saviour, Daniel lays out a plan to test these four with
and God has already moved the guard to test them and so it is that
the plan goes forward. Here we see another affirmation that when we
look around for what God has going on and we choose to join in, He
will bless us beyond, possible, measure. Watch now as God begins to
bless because these youth have chosen not to eat Ham and Cheese on
Rye.
Dan
1:14
So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.
Dan
1:15
At the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and they were
fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king's choice
food.
Dan
1:16
So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine
they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.
Dan
1:17
As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence
in every branch
of
literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds
of
visions and dreams.
Dan
1:18
Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for
presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before
Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan
1:19
The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found
like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the
king's personal service.
Noticeably,
there is no mention of the level or the lack of service the majority
were indentured to but of even more worthy note, these, that remained
true, were drafted into the King's personal service. They were
thought so well of that he kept them close to him. As we will see in
this study, they had relationship with Nebuchadnezzar because they
maintained their Worshipful Relationship with their Savior.
Dan
1:20
As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king
consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians
and
conjurers who were
in all his realm.
Remember
now Moses and the Exodus' beginning, these primitive kings valued
their magicians and conjurers very, very highly and yet these four
youth who have disobeyed his directives but have, rather, remained
faithful to their Saviour in Heaven are regarded to be more valuable
than the best and most prized in all of his kingdom. When we look
back at history (His Story) we see over and over that those loyal to
God the Father, the Holy Spirit and to Jesus, the Saviour, are
exulted. Not always in wealth but history has recorded men like King
David, King Solomon, Billy Sunday and Billy Graham to be known as
great men of God. Their rewards will all lay at the feet of their
Saviour, Jesus one day in eternity.
Every
one of us can reach for and we can obtain that Royal Honor... if we
remain true and holy.
Dan
1:21
And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.
Daniel,
it appears, remained in the Kings Service from the onset of his
training period in 597bc until the first year of Cyrus the Great in
559bc. It looks like Daniel was the kings personal advisor for about
thirty-eight years. He served under two kings of two empires. It
should be noted that Babylon would have been located in Iraq and the
ancient Persian people are found, today, in Iran and the two are, for
the moment, not fighting but the war, also, is not over between them.
They might be seen as united but that will be only because of their
hate for Israel and thus, the United
States.
It
is now, today, critical that we, God's People, keep our eyes on the
World but our faith must remain in Jesus as our Saviour for only He
will stop the Muslim Gentleman that is seated in the Oval Office and
only He can or will save us as the Day of the LORD
approaches and soon will dawn.
1:1
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
Dan
1:2
The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some
of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land
of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into
the treasury of his god.
Dan
1:3
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring
in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and
of the nobles,
Dan
1:4
youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing
intelligence in every branch
of
wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who
had ability for serving in the king's court; and he
ordered him
to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.
Jehoiakim
has only reigned because he was paying a heavy tribute to Egypt
because they had been conquered by Necho. Jehoiakim's brother,
Jehoahaz was made king after the death of their father, Josiah, at
Megiddo but Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt, leaving Judah without
protection. So it is that the king of the Chaldeans has now taken
Judah and looks for advisors that are wise and he begins to educate
them in the ways of his kingdom. Of the men of Judah, he wants only
the best young men to mold to fit into his empire.
Dan
1:5
The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king's choice
food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed
that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they
were to enter the king's personal service.
Dan
1:6
Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael
and Azariah.
Dan
1:7
Then the commander of the officials assigned new
names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the
name
Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah
Abed-nego.
Nebuchadnezzar,
being the king, knows enough to purchase the loyalty of his new staff
and here we see a good example of his attempted bribery and to make
sure of the tightest possible fit he even has their names changed to
sound more like they belong.
As we read we should notice that these four are not alone and I will
venture a guess that they were a small minority of the youth
concerned.
If
we will meditate on the Word instead of just reading it we see that
God has always held a remnant for Himself, just as He is doing here.
When Elijah, just knew he was the only believer left god had it
revealed to him that there were 7,000 others hidden away and cared
for. There is a life application lesson here: If we are brave
enough, not strong enough but brave enough, to stand against the
overwhelming majority (in numbers only) God will care for, protect
and make you victorious. These young men go forward to be victorious
in ways they never could have looked forward to but they were to
become victors and that because they trusted in their Saviour. Watch
now;
Dan
1:8
But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with
the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought
permission
from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself.
Dan
1:9
Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the
commander of the officials,
Dan
1:10
and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, "I am afraid
of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for
why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who
are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the
king."
Here,
once more is a lesson we should be teaching our children and our
youth, another life application. Daniel has trusted, completely, in
his Saviour and approaches his Training Guard with a plan to remain
pure and undefiled in the eyes of Father God. These four young men
(teens?) are seeking to live as they know God wants them to live.
Another lesson to take from this passage is the devotion of the guard
to his boss, the king.
Dan
1:11
But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials
had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,
Dan
1:12
"Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given
some vegetables to eat and water to drink.
Dan
1:13
"Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the
appearance of the youths who are eating the king's choice food; and
deal with your servants according to what you see."
Still
trusting the Saviour, Daniel lays out a plan to test these four with
and God has already moved the guard to test them and so it is that
the plan goes forward. Here we see another affirmation that when we
look around for what God has going on and we choose to join in, He
will bless us beyond, possible, measure. Watch now as God begins to
bless because these youth have chosen not to eat Ham and Cheese on
Rye.
Dan
1:14
So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.
Dan
1:15
At the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and they were
fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king's choice
food.
Dan
1:16
So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine
they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.
Dan
1:17
As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence
in every branch
of
literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds
of
visions and dreams.
Dan
1:18
Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for
presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before
Nebuchadnezzar.
Dan
1:19
The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found
like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the
king's personal service.
Noticeably,
there is no mention of the level or the lack of service the majority
were indentured to but of even more worthy note, these, that remained
true, were drafted into the King's personal service. They were
thought so well of that he kept them close to him. As we will see in
this study, they had relationship with Nebuchadnezzar because they
maintained their Worshipful Relationship with their Savior.
Dan
1:20
As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king
consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians
and
conjurers who were
in all his realm.
Remember
now Moses and the Exodus' beginning, these primitive kings valued
their magicians and conjurers very, very highly and yet these four
youth who have disobeyed his directives but have, rather, remained
faithful to their Saviour in Heaven are regarded to be more valuable
than the best and most prized in all of his kingdom. When we look
back at history (His Story) we see over and over that those loyal to
God the Father, the Holy Spirit and to Jesus, the Saviour, are
exulted. Not always in wealth but history has recorded men like King
David, King Solomon, Billy Sunday and Billy Graham to be known as
great men of God. Their rewards will all lay at the feet of their
Saviour, Jesus one day in eternity.
Every
one of us can reach for and we can obtain that Royal Honor... if we
remain true and holy.
Dan
1:21
And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.
Daniel,
it appears, remained in the Kings Service from the onset of his
training period in 597bc until the first year of Cyrus the Great in
559bc. It looks like Daniel was the kings personal advisor for about
thirty-eight years. He served under two kings of two empires. It
should be noted that Babylon would have been located in Iraq and the
ancient Persian people are found, today, in Iran and the two are, for
the moment, not fighting but the war, also, is not over between them.
They might be seen as united but that will be only because of their
hate for Israel and thus, the United
States.
It
is now, today, critical that we, God's People, keep our eyes on the
World but our faith must remain in Jesus as our Saviour for only He
will stop the Muslim Gentleman that is seated in the Oval Office and
only He can or will save us as the Day of the LORD
approaches and soon will dawn.
