Daniel 1:3-6 – “When It Gets Personal”

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

³The king said to Ashpenaz the chief of his court officials, “Bring in from the sons of Israel and from the seed of the royalty and from the nobles ⁴children whom not in them [is] any blemish and good of appearance and having understanding in all wisdom and knowing knowledge and understanding learning and whom in them [is] strength to stand in the palace of the king and to teach them the writing of and the tongue of the Chaldeans, ⁵and the king assigned to them a portion of a day in its day from the food of the king and from the wine of his drinking and to cause them to grow three years and from the end of [them] they stand to the face of the king,  ⁶and it was among them from the sons of Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

As we’ve been following along in the opening two verses, the world is falling apart around Daniel. His good king Josiah died four years earlier only to have his wicked selfish son Jehoiakim take the throne. Then suddenly the city is besieged by the most powerful king of the day and the great Jerusalem falls. Then the pagans start carting out the vessels of the temple to haul them away. It is a time that would call for great faith from people like Daniel to believe that God is still on the Throne, that He is still the Adonai, the Master of it all.

But it gets worse. Suddenly Daniel himself is called out. Suddenly it gets very personal.

No one knows for sure why and it’s somewhat risky to speculate, but I personally think Nebuchadnezzar is being a brilliant administrator when he directs Ashpenaz to select out of the captured city their brightest and most promising young men to enroll them in Babylon University and prepare them to serve in his court. It of course has always been the usual procedure of conquering kings to kill everyone they might consider a threat (like royal families). But Nebuchadnezzar, I believe, had a better idea – let’s turn them into Babylonians! Let’s bring them to Babylon, wine them and dine them, teach them our language and our customs, and let them strengthen our nation! I suspect it would have the further advantage that the people “back home” would be more easily subjugated if they think their youngest and brightest actually serve in the palace and are, from there, watching out for their people. It’s “dangerous,” in a sense, for Nebuchadnezzar if he thought these bright young men might rise to subvert his kingdom. But, again, I think he is being a brilliant administrator. I think he realizes that isn’t human nature. Especially for young men, to offer them wealth and power if they only “conform,” is an almost irresistible temptation.

And so that’s the plan. And that’s when it gets personal for Daniel. Suddenly he finds himself called out with his three friends (and probably many others). This man Ashpenaz calls them out and then informs them what’s ahead. Suddenly Daniel is torn from his family, his home, his city, maybe even his girlfriend, from the Lord’s temple and the Promised Land. One can only imagine the heartbreak of Daniel’s parents. No doubt they were very good godly people to have such a fine son – but now he’s going to be drug 1500 miles away to the far side of the Fertile Crescent to be made into a Babylonian! To be robbed of their son had to be bad enough, but they would have feared greatly for him spiritually. What will become of him? Will he let the Babylonians lure him into their immorality and the worship of their gods? Is he not only gone forever physically, but have we lost him spiritually? One can only imagine their tears and heartache.

But, as we said earlier, this is Daniel’s world. He doesn’t get to choose whether he wants to be a part of this world, only what kind of person he’ll be in it.

And again, I find great comfort in realizing that this Daniel lives in a world very similar to ours. He lives in a world that couldn’t care less about our God and certainly couldn’t care less about what He says is right and wrong. He is enrolled in Babylon U. He has to go to a school that not only doesn’t respect His God, they have no intention of it. He’s to learn the language and writings of Babylon. He will have to sit in classes and “learn” things he’d rather not hear about. Every single day he’ll face things that challenge his beliefs and his morals.

And he has no choice. That’s the way it is.

Kind of like us.

And once again, who does Daniel tell us in verse 2 is making all this happen? Adonai. The Master.

Faith is always a pleasant subject when we get to see it tested from afar. I’m always brave “when the battle is distant.” It’s another thing when the troubles of this world get personal.

But who is behind it all? Our Adonai. Our Master. The good, the wise, the kind King of it all, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the One who died for us all. “He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?” It is interesting to me that in verse 5 the words “the king” appear three times. It’s “the king” who assigns them a portion of food and wine from the table of “the king” and they’ll be trained three years to stand before “the king.” The king, the king, the king. Pretty important guy, yes? Pretty powerful, yes? … It certainly seems that way. But who is really behind it all? Adonai. The King of kings and Lord of lords. Our Adonai. Our King of kings and Lord of lords.

Oh, God. Give us eyes of faith to see Your hand behind the events of our lives. Though people and events seem so ominously powerful and threatening. And not just when the “battle is distant,” but when it gets personal, when we ourselves are caught in the crossfire of this world’s endless churning. Help us see the hand of our Adonai … like Daniel, so that is our faith that rules our hearts and our decisions … like Daniel.