Concluding thoughts on Daniel (part 1)

As you may have noticed from the blog title, after today, I have one more blog on Daniel and his companions.  I have mixed feeling at the realization that we are near the conclusion of these series of blogs.  On the one hand, I’m pleased to finally be done with it.  But on the other hand, it is sad because it’s been motivating to see the life and example of these four boys.

We left off with Daniel and company boldly refusing to eat the improper food the king had provided for them.  They may have been in a pagan country, but they were not going to defile themselves.  Ultimately, after demonstrating that their health wouldn’t suffer, they were able to stick with their menu choice.  Then the text goes on to say this in Daniel 1, verse 18: “Now at the end of the days, when the king had said they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.”

It’s important to remember the overall context.  Daniel 1:5 tells us, “the king appointed for them…three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.”  They had to be taught the customs, language, and literature of Babylon.  Some may wonder why they didn’t reject these three years of education outright.  Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Daniel and friend’s homeland; they were exiles in a foreign land.  Daniel 1:3-4 makes it clear that they were brought in to the palace for one reason: serve the king.  If they had defied this program, frankly they wouldn’t have lived very long. 

To put it another way: these boys knew it wasn’t an accident or bad luck that they were in Babylon; it was divine providence.  God had placed them right where He wanted them to be.  I’ve been reading Levi Lusko’s book “Through the eyes of a lion”.  I haven’t finished it yet, but what I’ve read (about half the book) I have thoroughly enjoyed.  At one point, Levi writes: 

“If you are reading these words, you have been given a unique powerful, custom-built platform. A voice. As long as there is breath in your lungs, you have a microphone in your hands. There are things God intends for you to accomplish that no one else has been chosen for. Words he wants you to speak.  Actions that speak louder than words.”

That excerpt inspires me.  It’s true for you and me, and it was also true for Daniel. So Daniel and his three cohorts submitted to the three years.  Let’s look at verse 18 again: “Now at the end of the days [the years of training], when the king had said they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.” 

What happened next?  Verse 19 states that there was no one else found that was like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  In fact, verse 20 says that Nebuchadnezzar found them “ten times better” than everyone else he could have consulted.  Daniel 1:21 – the last verse of the chapter – says, “Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.”  According to my research, the first year of Cyrus’ reign was nearly six decades later!  I’m sure Daniel envisioned a different future for himself, but he submitted to God’s plan for his life.  I want to follow Daniel’s example and surrender to God’s will and plan for me.

Kevin