24. Daniel 1:6-7 Daniel & 3 Friends

Time:  605 BC
People:  Daniel and his 3 friends


Daniel 1:6-7

Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.  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.


Please note that there were other Israelites in this group.  The author just wants to focus on these 4 people in the rest of the chapter.

First, let's take a look at their names.  

Their Hebrew names are meaningful to them for they represented God.  

• Elohim is God 
• Yahweh is God's Name.

You will see either 'el' or 'yah' attached to their names:

Daniel -      God is my Judge

Hananiah -  Beloved of Yahweh

Mishel -     Who is as God

Azariah -     Yahweh is My Help

Obviously these children had godly parents who gave them names reminding them of Yahweh Himself and His goodness.




Now, King Nebuchadnezzar changed their identities by giving them Chaldean names in order to assimilate them quickly to the Chaldean culture and their gods. 

Previously their names proclaimed their allegiance to God ( the "el" and the "iah" in their names).  Now, their new names identified them with the gods of the Chaldean .

In each instance of the Babylonian substituted names, they all exalted the heathen idols and names of Chaldean gods.  


With new identities, the king hope that these youths would forget about Yahweh God and wipe out their spiritual heritage back home in Jerusalem.  

With new names given, they would forget their roots and adopt to the new Chaldean philosophies and the paganistic idolatrous life-style.

King Nebuchadnezzar did all he could to "indoctrinate" these young captives to forget about their past and wipe out their memory of Jerusalem.  Daniel and his friends were to be 'Babylonianized' into the pagan culture.  Pressure was put upon them to totally conform and shape into the 'Babylonian' mold of life.

They were under a spiritual pressure cooker to worship the pagan gods.  They were pressured intellectually, psychologically and socially to compromise to go for the world.

:)

But Nebuchadnezzar failed!  


Daniel and his 3 friends were wise people and did not allow the bombarding of outward & environmental changes to stray their hearts from remaining loyal to God.  The Babylonians could change their names, education, diet, and homes, but  they could never change their hearts and devotion to God unless they allow it to happen. The world wants to 'conform' us.  God 'transforms' our hearts.   As the wisdom of Proverbs say, "Keep you heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:23


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23. Daniel 1:5 King's Food & Wine

Time:  605 BC
Place:  King's palace in Babylon


Daniel 1:5

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. 

The king truly well treated these young men by providing them 2 great benefits:

• 'the King's food and wine' everyday 

This was no cafeteria food that we ate in our college days.  They were given the opportunity to eat gourmet food every day!  The Hebrew captives would be physically well nurtured with the best Babylonian food and wine.  Not only was it just 'food and wine' but that they would learn the Chaldean social manners of eating and drinking in the king's court. This is the best way to assimilate them to the Chaldean paganistic culture.

• 3 years of  the 'best' education and 'it's free' 

They would be under a rigorous program of training in the Chaldean education which would have included science, mathematical astronomy, astrology, divination, magic and rituals of all kinds.  The best education was provided for them in the king's court.

The purpose of all this is to train up these young people  to serve in the king's court with all the other high ranking officers.

Wow!!  Isn't this the dream of  many young people?  Isn't this the dream of becoming successful in this world?  What great benefits!  Isn't this what many Christians look for in their jobs?

As you can see, all this presented both an opportunity and a spiritual challenge to Daniel and his friends.  

• The opportunity of working for the king and his government meant that they would be well provided for with good lives for all their years.

• They would be spared from slavery and hard labor.

• The spiritual challenge now is whether they are able to stand firm before Yahweh God and not compromise to worship the gods of the Chaldeans in the pagan world.  

Will they be able to stand up for their faith?  We will find out tomorrow.

If you were in their shoes, how would you handle such a situation?

Where are the people of God today who know how to act wisely to make the right decision that pleases God?  Are you one of them?

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8. Daniel's early years of spiritual training

Daniel did not suddenly become bold when he was taken into captivity in Daniel chapter 1. Although there is no record of Daniel's early childhood in Jerusalem, we know that he was nurtured with the Word of God during Josiah's revival.  The Word of God is very important to lay a strong foundation for our spiritual growth.  

The Book of Daniel also tells us how Daniel built up a strong relationship with God steadily.  How?  Through daily prayers of drawing close to God.

Daniel 6:10

He went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

As you can see, Daniel had a regular habit of praying before his God 3 times a day on his knees. This pattern of spiritual life did not come about haphazardly.  It requires long years of spiritual discipline to daily set aside specific times to draw close to God in prayers.  This is the key to being men of God.

David, the man after God's heart, also has this spiritual discipline.  Psalm 55:16,17:

But I call to God,

    and the Lord will save me.

Evening and morning and at noon....

Why did Daniel choose these times to pray?  Notice the verse says that Daniel set his face toward Jerusalem.  Daniel remembered his early years in Jerusalem where daily sacrifices were conducted at the Jerusalem Temple, morning and evening, with the evening sacrifices extending to the night.  (Numbers 28:1-8)

Early days: Daniel’s spiritual life is already well nurtured in his early years in Jerusalem.  In Jerusalem he could have very well have been a follower of Jeremiah.  We see him mentioning about Jeremiah.  (Daniel 9:2)

Often times when we think of Daniel, we easily bypass Daniel's early years of spiritual training in Jerusalem. He heard Jeremiah's preaching. He was only a child.  Never underestimate the potential of children listening to sermon messages. 

Daniel also learned to pray already as he grew up as a young boy in his teens.  He might have had godly parents to nurture him spiritually from day 1.

We can surely use Daniel's example to instill spiritual patterns in our children. Blessed are today's children who grow up in spiritual families with godly parents who can teach them the God's abiding Word. 

We need to work hard in Sunday School to instruct our children to love God with all their hearts in their early age.  We teach them the Word of God and turn all our story telling, song singing and arts and crafts to inspire them to truly love God with their all.

7. Yahweh's People Renew their Covenant with God

Time:  622 BC - 605 BC
Place:  Jerusalem
Event:  Cleansing of the Temple & Covenant Renewal

Little Daniel witnessed the reformation of King Josiah and the cleansing of the Temple.

Once again the people of God gathered together at the Temple & had the Book of the Law read to them.  

How privilege it is to be in covenant with God, to be Yahweh's people again, worshipping the one True God, Yahweh.

2 Chronicles 34:29-31

Then the king Josiah called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. He went up to the temple of Yahweh  with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of Yahweh .  The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of Yahweh—to follow Yahweh and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.

**This video is an excerpt from our Music Drama in Easter Camp 2014**


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5. Daniel's Childhood in Jerusalem

Time:  622 BC 
Place:  Jerusalem

The early years of Daniel’s life was under the reign of Josiah in Jerusalem. Josiah was one of the few faithful kings of Judah.

Josiah's reign lasted 31 years 640-609 BC.  

Daniel lived during the latter years of  King Josiah's reign.  Josiah was a good king: "he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left" (2 Kings 22:2).  

Josiah saw how the nobles and people of Judah had so grievously departed from God’s ways and sought earnestly to restore the true worship of the one true God.  So, it was said of Josiah "like unto him there was no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his night—neither after him rose there any like him" (2 Kings 23:25).

In 622 BC, during Josiah's reign, God did a marvelous act.  The Book of the Law was re-discovered in the Temple of  Yahweh.  Josiah brought about a spiritual revivial by reinstituting the Covenant, celebrating a national Passover, and destroying idol worship (2 Kings 22-23).

Daniel grew up under Josiah's revival. This revival laid a strong spiritual foundation for Daniel and his friends for the coming exile and future destruction of Jerusalem.

In the next article, we will look at the most important Scriptural verse the whole nation learned from the Book of the Law as they renewed their covenant to the one true God under Josiah's revival.  Do you know which Scriptural verse this is? It is under this powerful spiritual climate that Daniel was brought up in.  All the parents would have taught the children this important golden verse in Scripture.

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