Today, we are staring to explore the book of Daniel. This book follows Daniel from a young man at the beginning of the book (that is named after him), and sees him grow up in exile. He starts off when we meet him as a captive of the conquering nation, Babylon. The Babylonians had fought against Jerusalem and won, so they ransacked the city and captured the people. Daniel and his friends were amongst those wrenched from their homeland.
The book of Daniel introduces the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, and explains that he decided that he wanted some of those captured to be educated in their ways. So they set about choosing the right kind of people. They didn’t just choose to educate a random selection of people, but carefully selected the best of the best as they wanted to produce good, capable leaders. So they had set criteria; young men, attractive, noble/royal heritage, intelligent, capable. The Babylonians carefully selected those that would already have been looked up to by the captured Israelites, those of royal/noble birth who would have some understanding of what having leadership and influence was like. Yet young enough to mould and develop (likely young teens) into the kind of leaders they desired in their kingdom. These select few were then educated for 3 years in the ways of the Babylonian empire. This ensured that they would have capable leaders amongst the conquered nations that can instruct, guide and rule. It was a smart, long-term strategy to control and envelop the conquered nations into the growing Babylonian empire in order to develop one mighty culture and nation.
Daniel and his friends; Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were amongst the new recruits, the carefully selected teenage boys of 'good stock' that are inducted into the Babylonian leadership program. They weren't the only ones, but they are the young men that this book of Daniel focusses on. Once chosen it seems that these lads were treated pretty well - they were given somewhere to live, educated and even had the same food as the king! Doesn't sound too bad for an exile does it?!
The thing is though, that right from this early stage of this new life that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah encounter, they start to stand up for what they believe and they stand out from the other potential leaders. There would have been other youths from Israel in involved in this setting, but it is only them that make a bit of a radical decision. As Jewish boys, they clearly knew the expectations of the faith they had, and they wanted to follow it. When offered the king's food, they decline and instead request to eat just vegetables and drink only water. These are teenage boys remember…teenage boys choosing a vegetable only diet! That's a bot odd, don't you think? Yet they knew the Law, they knew that God had said to not eat certain things, so they were obedient and faithful. Whilst others maybe didn't even think of it, or were perhaps too scared to speak out to their captors on this issue, Daniel and his friends made a decision to keep themselves pure and made it simple for those who were in charge of them, they asked for just vegetables. They didn’t do it for fun or as an experiment, they probably felt like they were missing out at times when others were enjoying a tasty bit of meat, but they had a firm grasp of the Jewish faith and it's requirements. They chose to honour God in the simple matter of what they ate. The others just went along with what was going on, who did not think about denying themselves the king’s food - I mean, who would when you’re offered the very same things as the king?! The other young noble Israelite lads just went with what came.
Are you in danger of doing the same?
Just keep going, keep your head down and don’t make a scene. That’s what the other teenage boys did, and they are barely mentioned. However, as we go through the book of Daniel, we will see more of the adventures of faith Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah go through. It is by no means easy, but it all starts here with the simple, everyday decision of what to eat.
What simple, everyday decisions are you facing today and can you honour God in them?
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