Daniel 1 – “This’n’That”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹In the year of third to the reign of Jehoiakim the king of Israel came Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babel [to] Jerusalem and besieged it …²¹And Daniel was until the year of the first to Cyrus the king.

Before I leave chapter 1, there are a few miscellaneous thoughts I’d like to record, mainly just so I remember them in the future.

I was surprised in 1:4 to find that the Hebrew name for the Babylonians was the “Kasdim.” In the OT, that name is always translated into English as “Chaldeans.” Apparently the Hebrew name “Kasdim” is taken from the Assyrian “Kasdu,” while the name Chaldeans is a transliteration from the Babylonian cuneiform “Kaldai.” My question is, how do we know that the “Chaldeans” of Babylon are actually the “Kasdim” which Daniel mentions here? The “Kasdim” here in Daniel are called “Chaldeans” in the Greek Septuagint, implying that at least as early as about 250 BC, Jewish scholars considered the ancient Kasdim and the Chaldeans to be one and the same group. It would make perfect sense if the Hebrews used the Assyrian name Kasdu. Babylon is at the far east end of the Fertile Crescent, while Israel is at the far west end. In order for any news to pass from Babylon to Israel, it had to travel through Assyria. The Jews would likely hear any such information mainly from their Assyrian neighbors, hence their use of the Assyrian “Kasdim” rather than the Babylonian “Kaldai.”

I suppose it also instructive that Daniel continued to use “Kasdim” even when he begins at 2:4 writing in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the ancient world. At the point in time when Daniel writes, Babylon has been ruling the Fertile Crescent for a relatively short time after several centuries of Assyrian rule. At that point, even the area’s lingua franca knew the group as the “Kasdim.” From Daniel’s point on, the Fertile Crescent was ruled by either the Babylonians or their conquerors from the next nation even further east, the Medo-Persians. In either case, the name of the group would be derived from the peoples at the east, not west end of the Fertile Crescent, calling them “Kaldai,” so that when the Greeks conquered the area under Alexander the Great (4^th century BC), they would hear the name as “Kaldai,” which then transliterated into Greek and ultimately to us as “Chaldeans.”

That all makes perfect sense, but I would love to find that somewhere in the ancient world someone clearly equated the Kasdim with the Kaldai. I would personally consider even the Septuagint as a fairly “late” document, not to mention its perennially dubious quality, so its attestation is unconvincing to me. I guess my bottom line is that, in my mind, what we have is a universally accepted assumption -- that Daniel's "Kasdim" are, in fact, "Chaldeans" … and I don’t like assumptions. For now, I will go with it, but I hope to keep that small element of doubt in the back of my mind.

Of course, even if I could answer this question, one is still uncertain exactly who the “Chaldeans” were. Based on my internet research, there are apparently people alive today who still consider themselves Chaldeans. It looks like it was an early name for people who settled near the coast of what we call the Persian Gulf, in the marshy area which is now southern Iraq and Kuwait. Somehow it apparently became the name for the astrologers and magicians of Daniel’s Babylon and even became synonymous with “Babylonians.” Perhaps there are scholars (or the Chaldeans themselves) who feel a level of certainty about all of this, but what I found was a lot of speculation and debate. Perhaps, if I keep my eyes open, I will run across something a little more definitively satisfying.

Another thing I thought was interesting is the Hebrew behind verse 20, where the NIV says “he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his realm.” The Hebrew actually says, “… he found them ten hands upon the all of the magicians and the astrologers which in the all of his kingdom.” “Ten hands.” Up until quite recently, people depended on horses and the way one measured a horse’s height was by “hands.” Seriously. At least in my young lifetime, I heard farm people making such references. They would start at the ground, lay their hand flat against the horses ankle, and measure “hands” up to the top of his shoulder. That is how they communicated to each other how big a horse was. Maybe they did that with oxen, mules, and donkeys too. I don’t know. And maybe horse people still use the term. Just in and of itself, of course, it is a little inaccurate – depending on whose “hand” we’re using. But anyway, if that is the imagery behind this verse, it makes perfect sense. Daniel and his friends were “ten hands” above everyone else. I just think that’s cool.

Another thing I want to say is that I think one has to be very careful not to be too exacting about ancient timelines. For instance, beginning in verse 1, scholars go bonkers because Daniel says it was “in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim,” while Jeremiah says in 25:1 it was “in the fourth year of Jehoiakim.” “We’ve found an error in the Bible!” they cry. What such antagonists utterly fail to acknowledge is that ancient peoples had a variety of ways in which they kept time. Things were often dated as here from the reign of a particular king. The problem was that, in some cultures, they didn’t count the first year or first portion of a year, while others did. What sort of timeline you get depends on who’s writing and who they’re writing too. Another source of confusion for us is what is called “co-regencies.” Sometimes a son would begin to reign with his father as co-regent and sometimes his rule is dated from that point, not from the time the father is gone and the son himself becomes the sole king. Then again, they might not. Then add too all of this that ancient kings (like today’s media) were not at all above simply re-writing history if they thought it was to their advantage. People of all times have been incorrigibly inclined to fudge data. “Figures lie and liars figure.” Any ancient text, besides the Bible, is at least somewhat suspect regarding its technical accuracy. So … for whatever it’s worth … just be very careful about getting too dogmatic about anyone’s ancient timelines. The Bible itself is true. Timelines are at best approximations and assumptions. Even when ancient events can be dated with certainty, those events get communicated to us in the Bible through the Jewish culture, subject to their way of expressing such things. Just be careful.

All that said, an interesting “timeline” sort of discussion is the Seventy Year captivity. I have seen a considerable amount of debate, exactly when the “70 years” began and when it ended. The most attractive to me is the view that it began in 605 BC with Nebuchadnezzar’s conquering of Jerusalem (and hence Daniel’s deportation) and ended in 536 BC, when the work on the new temple was begun. In 539 BC, Cyrus had issued his decree (Ezra 1:2-4) allowing the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple, but it took some time for the actual work to begin. That makes reasonable sense but is certainly wide open to debate. Two Biblical observations about this – in 9:1, Daniel says it was during the first year of Darius (who was apparently appointed by Cyrus to rule the Babylonians) he noted the captivity was to last 70 years and began praying about it. If in fact that was 539 BC, then the “end” of the 70 years was yet future and had to be at least that year or later.

The second Biblical observation I’d like to record concerns the exact wording of Jeremiah’s prophecy. He said in 29:10, “When the seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill My gracious promise to bring you back to this place.” Just a “for whatever it’s worth” – notice he says the seventy years are completed “for Babylon.” Perhaps we are all erring trying to tie the 70 years to specifically Jewish events, when in fact the years apply to Babylon? Measuring back from 539 would end us up in 609/608 BC, which doesn’t strike me as anything particularly noteworthy in Babylonian history. Of course, in some sense, it isn’t really important for us anyway. Obviously, it was crystal clear to Daniel, which meant it would have been clear to anyone else who cared to know at the time. It applied to them. They needed to understand it. The plain simple fact is we don’t. Maybe that’s why we don’t. The Lord isn’t usually in the habit of dispensing information to curious people (like me) just to make them smart. So, at any rate, I just think it is notable that the years are completed “for Babylon.” I think we need to at least be open to the possibility that the mileposts for beginning and end might be related to Babylonian events more so than Jewish. Sacrilege, I know, but the text says what it says.

Last of all, looking at the Jer 29:10 passage, I can’t help but notice what is the very next verse. It is our familiar verse of hope, Jer 29:11:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.”

Just think, there is our friend Daniel, living in 539 BC, now an old man, having lived his whole life in exile in Babylon, and as he reads an old scroll from the prophet Jeremiah and comes to 29:10, he realizes that somehow the whole exile thing had to do with a 70 year period which basically has spanned his life and is about to end. That in itself would be hopeful, but perhaps it would seem impossible. As is so often true with us, perhaps as a man he would sit there after all those years and wonder, “How on earth could this actually take place?” Then his eyes pass on to the very next verse, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.” The verse gives us tremendous hope. Imagine what it must have meant to elderly old Daniel! Wow.

Well, the 1^st chapter has been really fun. Now on to the next!

Daniel 1:21 – “The Plan”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²¹And Daniel was until the year of the first to Cyrus the king.

The NIV offers the smoother translation: “And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.”

This little sentence of seven Hebrew words speaks volumes. The first verse of this chapter began in around 605 BC with Daniel around 15 to 20 years old. This last verse carries us about 66 years later to 539 BC when the Medo-Persians under Cyrus conquered Babylon. Doing the math, at that time, Daniel would have been around 81 to 86 years old. As Daniel was to discover reading the book of Jeremiah (25:11), the Jewish captivity in Babylon was to last 70 years. So we note that Daniel’s lifetime spanned this momentous period in Jewish history known as the Babylonian Captivity.

Daniel was born under godly king Josiah in Judah, who died in battle when Daniel would have been like 11 to 16. He then had to live under Josiah’s incredibly wicked son Jehoiakim, who finally brought down disaster on Judah when Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came and conquered the City of Jerusalem. Daniel and his friends were then torn from their families and their homes and their homeland and taken to serve in the Babylonian court under Nebuchadnezzar. Ancient history tells us that Nebuchadnezzar reigned about 43 years until around 562 BC. He was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach (who released Jehoiachin from prison – II Kings 25:27-30). Evil-Merodach apparently only ruled for two years and was killed by his brother-in-law Neriglissar, who only reigned about four years and was succeeded by his son Labashi-Marduk who was murdered after only 9 months and succeeded by Nabonidus who soon thereafter made his son Belshazzar his co-regent. Belshazzar ruled over Babylon while his father apparently traveled extensively. It was this same Belshazzar who was ruling when Cyrus conquered Babylon. He is the same Belshazzar we will read about in chapter 5 with the hand-writing on the wall.

Daniel lived through it all. His life spanned the Babylonian Captivity with all the concurrent tumultuous political upheavals of the international scene.

It is remarkable to me to step back and see God’s hand in all of this. The Lord could have said to Daniel what He said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jer 1:5). Daniel could have said with David, “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be” (Ps. 139:16).

God knew. He knew it all. He knew it all from the beginning. He created Daniel for this very purpose. Daniel was born and died at exactly the right times to make him a candidate for the Babylonian and Persian courts and then to carry his ministry though to the very end of the Jewish people’s Babylonian captivity.

Daniel didn’t know it all from the beginning. As a boy in Judea, Daniel didn’t know what his life would be like. He didn’t know he’d be torn from his family. He didn’t know if his “vegetables” experiment would work. He wouldn’t know his friends would survive the fiery furnace. He wouldn’t know he’d survive the lions’ den. He didn’t know when the Persians conquered Babylon whether he’d be executed or if he would be respected and elevated to a high position. He was not born knowing God’s plan for his life.

Neither are we.

But you and I can read the story of his life. You and I can see God’s amazing plan for Daniel, wonder at the Lord’s providence, and admire Daniel’s faith and courage.

But we don’t get to read the story of our lives.

We, like Daniel, have to live our lives from beginning to end, never knowing what tomorrow will bring, usually never able to see the “big picture.”

I would guess most of us live our lives really not sure even why we’re here. I wake up this morning and realize it is December 24, 2016. I don’t even know what today will be about, much less the rest of my life. We have some plans, especially being Christmas Eve day. But what will really happen? I don’t know. What part will the Lord want me to play in it? I don’t know.

But I believe it does us good to realize my life is no different than Daniel’s. He didn’t know either.

But he lived it well.

And why? Because he lived it in faith.

He lived it believing that “the Most High rules in the nations of men.”

We too need to live our lives believing that this same great God is not only masterfully orchestrating the sweeping international events in which we live, but also the very personal, minute to minute details of our seemingly mundane days.

Daniel was born for a purpose.

You and I were born for a purpose.

Daniel didn’t get to know that purpose ahead of time.

And neither do we.

But he lived his days in faith.

And so can we.

And, like Daniel, if we will simply live by the same faith, somehow the days will add up to years, will add up to a lifetime, and at least in Heaven, we’ll find out it was all for a great and grand purpose.

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord … Surely he will never be shaken … he will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, confident in the Lord. His heart is secure, … in the end he will look in triumph on his foes …” (Ps. 112).

Lord, this is Your world, not mine. Help me today to love well, no matter what that means or how I need to accomplish it. May faith in You conquer my fears. May I be confident in You and be content to let You “rule in the lives of men and nations.” You’ve got the plan. Help me be a willing part of it.

Daniel 1:18-21 – “Doing It Right”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁸And to the end of the days which the king had said to bring them in, and the chief of the palace officials brought them in to the face of Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹And the king spoke with them and not was found from the all of them like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and they stood to the face of the king. ²⁰And all of a matter of wisdom [or] understanding which the king sought from them, and he found them ten hands upon the all of the magicians and the astrologers which in the all of his kingdom. ²¹And Daniel was until the year of the first to Cyrus the king.

And so the day finally comes for final exams in the school of Babylon U.

Only in this school, you don’t sit at a desk somewhere and solve problems or write essays. At Babylon U., the man administering the exam is none other than the king himself and it consists of a personal interview!

Can I pause and just note how utterly terrifying this would have been? Just to be in this man’s presence would have been terrifying in and of itself. This is the king over the most powerful kingdom in their ancient world. He has personally conquered the known world, including mighty Egypt and the once barbaric kingdom of Assyria. If you displease him, he might just have you executed. And here you are, brought in to stand in front of him. He has personally funded your education and your room & board for the last three years. He did so, fully expecting you to make good on his investment. And now you have to stand before him and answer his questions.

For me personally, it would have taken faith just to be able to stand there, to actually keep my fear (terror) under control, to sincerely try to answer his questions, and not to collapse in a heap of blubbering fright.

But once again, to these boys’ credit, they did not quail, but instead they stood their ground, they did answer his questions, and they answered them well. Good for them! “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a well-ordered mind.” It makes me proud to share their faith, even if they did live 2600 years ago! I can’t even begin to recount all the times faith has given me the courage to do what I needed to do, when my natural bent would have been to “dodge the bullet.” Even at my age (just short of 60!), it gives me a lot of hope to know that faith will again and again give me the courage I need to face life. Although the me inside here is the blubbering coward, faith means I can do this. I can live my life well, do my job, love people, and be a man of integrity because of my wonderful God – “I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength!” Daniel and his friends could and so can you and I.

In another vein, I wish the church today could notice what these boys are excelling at. This is not a Bible college or seminary. This is Babylon U. And they are not training for full-time ministry or missions or anything like that. They are training in a secular (even godless) university for the express purpose of serving in a pagan government. And why? Because the Lord wants to place His people in positions of importance, to actually be a positive influence in pagan governments. Let us ask the question, “Can a Christian young person actually set him- or herself on a course of study expressly for the purpose of entering politics, to be a congressman or senator, or even President? Can they? Can God possibly honor such a determination? Can they attend a secular university in preparation for that pursuit? Daniel and his friends would answer a resounding yes! And can they do so not to the destruction of their faith but actually as an expression of it? Yes.

I fear the modern American church has grown such a set of “in-grown eyeballs” we cannot see beyond the doors of our own sanctuaries. We think and teach that faith happens inside that building and that the best plan is to isolate ourselves and our children from “the world.” We forget that He said He wants us “in the world” just not “of it.” Thank God for every believer who carries their faith into government and into the workplace and serves God there.

But also notice from the verses before us how the boys carried themselves in their workplace – “and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.” “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.” They not only attended Babylon U. They not only studied to serve in the government. They excelled at their studies. Oh that the church today would teach our people God wants them to excel in their work. Not just in ministry positions. In their work. God cares. God wants His people to excel at what they do. I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said, “Whatever you do, be the best at it!”

Once again, I think there is an undercurrent in American Christianity that says to people, “Well, if you have to “just” work a job, at least don’t work very hard at it. Instead, as soon as you get off work, show up here at the church building and then we’ll do things that really matter.” What a shame. “Beware lest anyone takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” And what does the Christ say? “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men, for you serve the Lord Christ.”

As I’ve noted before, there have been barrels of ink spilt on this passage. What a shame that the church has learned so little from it. But that is what happens when we let our traditions drive our lives, not the Bible itself. And that is precisely why I study the Bible. I don’t want my faith diverted by human traditions, even if they’re church traditions, and even if everyone around me seems to have swallowed them whole. “To the law, and to the testimony! And if they speak not according to this law, it is because there is no light in them!”

God help us all to encourage each other in whatever station the Lord has given us in this world, and may we encourage each other not just to “do it,” but to actually excel in it! Daniel and his friends did, and so can we.

Daniel 1:17 – “Good At It – 2”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁷And the children the these four – God gave to them knowledge and insight in all writing and wisdom and Daniel understood in all vision and dreams.

In my last post I presented what I think is the amazing truth that everyone of us are gifted by God very specifically to do what He made us to do. It’s true of everyone that they’re “good” at something. It’s true of everyone that there’s something that “comes easy” for them. Daniel makes it clear that the abilities he and his three friends had were gifts from God.

I want to stay on the subject just to think through what are possible practical implications of this truth.

First of all, I think it would be very humbling for all of us to really think hard about what we’re “good” at and to realize it is a gift from God. I like what He says in I Cor 4:7, “For what do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you didn’t receive it?” The things I’m “good” at don’t make me “better” than someone else. I have those gifts only because God gave them to me – and the fact is that other person has gifts I don’t have. Also, it would help us not to diminish what we’re “good” at. It’s easy to see other people who have “amazing” gifts and think ours are “not much good.” The fact is few of us will ever have “amazing” gifts. As Abraham Lincoln said, “The Lord must have loved the common man – He made so many of them!” Seriously, it doesn’t matter how seemingly insignificant our gifts may be – those things we’re “good” at – they are gifts from God and He intends we use them to bless others, even in simple ways.

Frankly as I would survey my own life, I would say there really isn’t much I’m “good” at.  I love my engineering, but there are a lot of guys way smarter than me. I like to run, but I rarely even place in my age group. I like to draw but I’m no “artist.” I’m really pretty average even at the things I’m “good” at. But so what? The gifts I have are gifts from God, just like Daniel, and my job is to give them to those around me even if they’ll never “amaze” anyone.

Another implication of this truth would be that one of the major ways parents can bless their children is to help them realize what they’re “good” at. If a child obviously has musical talent, then parents can get them lined up with lessons and help them learn the disciplines of practice. If a child seems particularly artistic, then parents can encourage them to pursue those things. Obviously this can go a million different directions, but that is precisely why a child needs their parents’ input – they need someone who can “see the forest for the trees.” Of course the flip side of this is that a good parent will help their children realize what they’re not “good” at. We’re living in this “positive self-esteem” age where we’re supposed to tell them they’re good at everything. That is so ludicrous it would be laughable, if it wasn’t so sad and destructive. The fact is I am “good” at some things and not at others. I need to capitalize on the things I’m “good” at and not waste time trying to become something I’m not. A parent can help a child immensely by steering them away from things they simply are not good at and never will be and help them focus their efforts on those things that will pay big dividends in their life.

Another implication is that I think it would help us appreciate each other far more if we saw that everyone around us is a person uniquely gifted by God. Maybe they’re not “good” at what I do, but what are they good at? Everyone is good at something! We should be looking to see what others are “good” at and then appreciating them for it. If we see that in fact someone else really is “good” at something, we ought to do everything we can to encourage them in it. We should tell them they’re good at it. We should point out when they’ve done those things they’re “good” at and let them know we appreciate what they do. I’m afraid we live in a world where all most people ever hear is criticism and put-downs and sarcasm. What a shame – when they’re each one a person gifted by God to do amazing things the rest of us would struggle to accomplish! We would value each other so much more if we just saw this giftedness and we could be so much more encouraging if we deliberately appreciated it.

Maybe last of all, I’d like to take this discussion back to the workplace. What if we all saw our job as a place to give our gifts? What if we really appreciated what the Lord has given us and then saw our mission in life as taking those gifts and putting them to work all day every day in the job we do? Every single legitimate job that anyone has anywhere is a way of being kind to other people, a way to “help” them in some way or another. The whole purpose of life itself is to love God and love others. What if we all saw our job as a place to give our gifts as a way of doing just that – loving God and others?

Daniel 1:17 – “To these four young men God gave ..”

You have given me …

Daniel 1:17 – “Good At It”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁷And the children the these four – God gave to them knowledge and insight in all writing and wisdom and Daniel understood in all vision and dreams.

“God gave …”

Here are these four young men. What will they do in this pagan world? How will they survive?

God gives to them the knowledge and insight they’ll need to do their jobs and He even gives to Daniel a spiritual gift for understanding “vision and dreams.”

How do we survive? It is God who gives us what we need. Consider these verses:

“For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Prov 2:6).

“I will give you [Solomon] a wise and discerning heart … and they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice” (I Kings 3:12,28).

“To the man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness” (Eccl 2:26).

“I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you (Ex 31:6).

“Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).

Daniel himself will say:

He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank and praise you, God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power …” (2:21-23).

What I’d like to point out is that this isn’t just “religious” wisdom of some sort. In Daniel and his friends’ case, it is wisdom to do their jobs in service to the king. For Solomon, it was specifically wisdom to “administer justice,” his job being to serve as the king himself and provide leadership to the people. In Exodus, God is giving skill to the craftsmen “… to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.”

In fact, this is true for all of us. What are you “good” at? And why? You might say, “because I took lessons” or “that’s what I went to school for.” On the surface, that may sound like an adequate explanation. But I think we all know it goes much deeper than that. Why did you “take lessons” to start with? Why did you go to school for “that?” Is it not true most of the time there was already some obvious inclination in that direction?

I think about the girl who is always “doing” the other girls’ hair, who then becomes a beautician and a very good one at that. I think of the boy who loves tools and “fixing things” and becomes a mechanic and a good one at that. My wife has always been an amazing musician, but watching my son “learn” piano from her was even more amazing. My oldest daughter took sewing lessons probably starting around 5 or 6 years old and almost instantly became an amazing seamstress. My youngest daughter wanted to take dance and before long was actually doing ballet!

We’re all “good” at some things. Sometimes they turn into entire careers and sometimes they’re just skills to bless other people or hobbies. But why is that? Why do we find we’re “good” at some things? Daniel would tell us it all comes from God. “Every good and perfect gift …”

I have noticed over the years, when someone is working at whatever it is they’re “good” at, it seems to me they don’t even have to “learn” it. It’s as if they “realize” it. It’s like music. All of us can take lessons. If we grind through our lessons and do it over and over and over, eventually most of us will “get” it. But I’ve watched Joan and Daniel. There’s very little of the “grinding through it.” It’s as if, as they look at the sheet music or whatever, it just “happens.” Compared to the rest of us, it “comes easy” to them. And I think that is true of all of us – we all know in our hearts that, when it comes to whatever we’re “good” at, we don’t really have to “learn” it. There’s something already there inside of us, something that just needs a little coaxing and suddenly it’s ours forever.

For myself, school always came “easy.”  Math and science always came very easily to me, and so upon High School graduation, I entered Purdue’s school of Engineering. Right away I discovered two things – first of all that the course work was unbelievably hard, far beyond my wildest imagination, but second of all, that no matter how difficult it was, I could do it – and enjoyed doing it too. And it has been that way my whole career. I have been faced with what other people thought were impossible situations and yet, I figured them out. I have to say without any doubt, in every one of those situations, it was very clear to me that it was God who gave me the insight. It’s not that I’m a “smart guy.” Yes, I can learn material, take tests, get good grades, and all the rest. But there is something much deeper than that going on inside of me that allows me to figure out things no one else seems able to.

Another thing I’d like to say from my own career is that not only has it been obvious to me that my “success” came from God, but I also owe it to other people who are “good” at what they do. In every one of my “successes” there have been other people who contributed their gifts and abilities. I am very proud to say, as I look back, “They couldn’t have done it without me,” but it is equally true, I couldn’t have done it without them.

It is a wonderful thing, I think, to realize that God has gifted all of us to do many different things and that we can come together, contribute those gifts, and do what are often amazing things. And I particularly want to point out this happens at work. Too much church teaching about giftedness ends up applied only to “church” ministries. But people live their lives at work and their God-given giftedness is just as important there.

No matter what we’re “good” at or what successes we may enjoy, we can say with Daniel,

He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank and praise you, God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power …”

You have given me …

Daniel 1:15, 16 – “What a Day Will Bring”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁵And from the end of ten days their appearance was seen good and fatter of flesh from the all of the children eating the food of the king, ¹⁶and the overseer was lifting their food and the wine of their drinks and giving to them vegetables.

For those of us living in the real world, I think it good to pause and remember that, at the end of v14, the boys did not know what the outcome would be. At the end of v14, the overseer has agreed to Daniel’s “test.” When Daniel first pondered the problem, it was just that – a problem. Day after day after day, Daniel and his friends were waking up not knowing what the day would bring. This has been true ever since Nebuchadnezzar’s army showed up to besiege Jerusalem. When the city gates were opened and the Babylonians entered, no one could know what it would mean. And when Daniel and his friends were “selected,” they were suddenly torn away from their families and their homes and their people and found themselves on a long journey to a far away and foreign city.

Every day they woke up not knowing what that day would bring. Then Daniel finds himself and his friends in this quandary -- for whatever reason, they think it will be “wrong” for them to accept the king’s food and drink. Daniel first went to the chief with his concern but got a “no” for an answer. At that point, he had to be wondering (and praying), “What should I do?” He then came up with the idea of the ten day test and went to the overseer. As he went to him, he had no idea if the man would agree to it or perhaps have him horse-whipped for even asking. Yet he went. As we see in v14, the man agreed to the test and they started on it, but for the entire ten days, they did not know what the outcome would be.

Finally, the day comes. Daniel and his friends went to bed the night before and wake up in the morning, not knowing what the outcome will be. The overseer does his inspection. What will be his decision?

In this case, he decides in their favor. All their worst fears come to nothing. In fact, not only do they look no different, they actually look better than the other boys. Had they simply looked “the same,” no doubt the overseer might have continued the test but with a constantly wary eye. As it was, they actually looked better, so he concludes the matter decisively – that they officially should be fed their diet of vegetables and water.

And so this trial ends and ends positively.

Sometimes they do.

And sometimes they don’t.

Or so it seems.

Next thing they know, Daniel’s friends are getting thrown into a furnace. Not the “positive” result they were hoping for. Years later, an elderly Daniel will get thrown into a lion’s den. Definitely another undesirable outcome. This time it “worked.” Sometimes it doesn’t. You never know when you get up in the morning what a day will bring.

So what do you do?

Get up.

Walk out into God’s world.

And live your life.

In this case and even in the case of the furnace and lion’s den, what did they find?

God was in it.

For Daniel, He’s been “in it” ever since king Josiah died and evil Jehoiakim took the throne. He’s been “in it” ever since Nebuchadnezzar’s army surrounded the city. And He’s still “in it” in the passage before us. And He’ll still be “in it” the day they face the furnace and the day Daniel faces the lion’s den. And He’s still “in it” in your life and mine 2500 years later.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).

What a blessed freedom we enjoy. I want to go out into my world today and try to work hard. I want to be faithful, to do what I should. I want to somehow live a life of love toward all the people I meet and especially toward all the people who are depending on me in a million different ways.

But I don’t know what a day will bring.

I find myself sitting here at 7:00 AM and as I would mentally survey my world, it is filled with possible fearful outcomes. My imagination can see how some things could go really badly. And the truth is, in most of those cases, there is little I can do about it. I don’t know. I don’t know what this day will bring – or the next, or the next, or the next.

So what should I do?

“Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).

Walk up to the plow. Take it in hand. Say “getti-up” to the horse and head down the row.

God will be in it.

Be faithful.

Love.

Do your best.

And God will be in it.

Here we go.