Lesson for June 8, 2022
The Book of Daniel
Chapter 1
The Bible must always be interpreted in the time in which it was written, considering the historical setting, comparing Scripture with Scripture, and analyzing the original language of Scripture. The historical setting for the Book of Daniel was turmoil. The nations of Israel and Judah (the original nation of Israel had been split into two kingdoms – Northern [Israel] and Southern [Judah]) were under divine discipline for their rebellion against God and His Word, and for worshipping false pagan gods. As the book of Daniel begins, the Northern Kingdom was under the fifth cycle of divine discipline, which is characterized by the eventual destruction of the nation. The Southern Kingdom was under the fourth cycle of divine discipline, which is characterized by military conquest and foreign occupation, lack of food supply, and separation of families. During this time of divine discipline, there always existed a group of faithful believers – “a remnant according to grace” (“a pivot”) like Daniel, his three friends, and their families.
Verses 1-4
“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles,youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.”
In 605 B.C the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar seized the city of Jerusalem as part of God’s divine discipline upon Judah. Nebuchadnezzar ordered the seizing of the Temple treasures and the capture of some of the best young men of Jerusalem, which included Daniel and his three friends, who turned out to be, as we will see later, the “cream of the crop” of all the young men. Daniel was a young man from royal Jewish blood and was taken to Babylon to be trained for service to the King along with three of his friends. The king commanded that the captured young men be trained in the Chaldean culture. Chaldea (Southern Iraq) was the kingdom with its capital in Babylon. So began the journey of the young man of God, Daniel.
Verses 5-7
“The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service. Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah the name Shadrach, to Mishael the name Meshach and to Azariah the name Abed-nego.”
Brainwashing techniques began and were designed to make these young men forget about God and their Jewish heritage and worship pagan gods and serve a pagan king. One technique used to accomplish this brainwashing was changing the names of the young men to Chaldean names. We must remember that Jews at this time were given names that had spiritual significance.
Daniel means “God is Judge” and emphasizes the character of God and His plan for the human race. God the Father judged His Son Jesus Christ on the Cross for the sins of the world. God the Son, Jesus Christ will judge believers at the Judgment Seat of Christ and unbelievers at the Great White Throne Judgment. Daniel was by far the most remarkable of all the young men taken by Nebuchadnezzar, as seen in the Chaldean name he was given, Belteshazzar, which means “Bel’s prince” (Bel was a chief pagan god of the Chaldeans).
We also know that Daniel was an especially righteous young man because he is mentioned in Ezekiel 14:12-20 along with two great men of the faith, Noah and Job. When a person is called righteous by God, it means they are believers in Jesus Christ (Jehovah) and faithful to God in living their spiritual lives. Being called a prince of Bel meant that Daniel stood out from the other young men in appearance, intelligence, and demeanor. Daniel had three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were also captured in Jerusalem and brought with him to Babylon.
Hananiah means “the Lord is gracious” and emphasizes the grace of God in all His dealings with mankind. It was the grace of God the Father that sent Jesus Christ as the Messiah to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind. It was the grace of God the Son in going to the Cross as a substitute for us all. It is the grace of God the Holy Spirit that continues to deal with mankind by convicting mankind of sin, righteousness, and judgment in an attempt to see everyone come to a knowledge of the truth regarding Jesus Christ. Hananiah, himself a special young man was given the Chaldean name of Shadrach meaning “illumined by the sun god.” He must have been quite striking in his appearance, like a reflection of the sun.
Mishael means “Who and what is the Lord” and emphasizes the character of God, His attributes, His essence, and His integrity. It is the character of God that the Holy Spirit is attempting to form in the lives of believers in Christ through the knowledge and application of Bible doctrine. Old Testament believers knew a lot about the character of God. They had both verbal teaching handed down for centuries and many of the early books of the Bible in written form. In the Jewish courts of royalty and nobility, these young men were taught the Word of God. Mishael’s name was changed to Meshach meaning “who and what is Ishtar.” Ishtar was the Chaldean goddess of love. Mishael must have been a kind, caring person.
Azariah means “the Lord is my help” and emphasizes the sufficiency of God in providing for us all that we need in life. Not only did God provide a salvation solution for mankind, but He also provided a predesigned plan for believers with all the logistical grace blessings necessary to fulfill His plan. Azariah’s parents must have named him knowing that God (Jehovah) is the One Who provides for believers when we are faithful to Him. Azariah’s name was changed to “Abed-nego” meaning “the servant of the Nego,” which was the god of wisdom and education. Azariah must have been a very intelligent young man.
So, the goal of the Chaldeans was to “reeducate” these noble young men from Jerusalem and turn them into servants of the king. Through their reeducation program, they hoped to tear down any previous ideas, beliefs, or knowledge they had received in their upbringing as royalty and nobility in Jerusalem. They simply wanted to change them into Chaldeans, similar to what cults attempt to do today.
Verses 8-13, “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so, he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials, and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king.” But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ‘Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.’”
The test of faith for Daniel and his friends was whether they would defile themselves by abandoning the Mosaic Law and eating food offered to pagan gods (Deuteronomy 32:38) or if they would remain faithful to God by following the dietary laws of the Mosaic Law. Daniel and his friends had obviously been well-trained in the dietary laws and their families must have observed these laws in obedience to God.
Daniel and his friends made up their minds to stay faithful to God even if it meant death for disobeying the command of the king. For these four teenagers this was quite impressive and demonstrates how knowledge and application of God’s Word can give believers divine perspective and strength to make the right decisions in any circumstance of life.
This is a great lesson for us today. We all make decisions daily that impact our spiritual lives and we want to be certain that those decisions are made from a position of spiritual strength and not human weakness. The key to making good and wise decisions, as Daniel did, is the knowledge of God’s Word. Let’s not forget that the Mosaic Law is the Word of God and was the means for Daniel and his friends to execute the plan of God. We fulfill God’s plan by means of the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine and not by keeping the Mosaic Law.
Once Daniel made up his mind not to eat or drink the king’s food, he approached Ashpenaz, the commander of officials to request a favor. This was obviously a bold move on the part of Daniel, remembering that he was just a teenager. Notice that God was with Daniel as he approached Ashpenaz and had already granted Daniel favor and compassion from this chief of officials. Though Ashpenaz was compassionate and liked Daniel, he was afraid of King Nebuchadnezzar. He was afraid of being put to death for disobeying the king’s orders. From his human viewpoint, he concluded that Daniel and his friends would look undernourished when the king saw them because they were not eating the king’s designated food.
Verses 14-16
“So, he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days their appearance seemed better, and they were healthier than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. So, the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink and kept giving them vegetables.”
Though Ashpenaz was afraid, Daniel and his friends were not. Perhaps they recalled the words of Isaiah found in Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely, I will help you, Surely, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Daniel, not being easily discouraged, approached the person who Ashpenaz had appointed over Daniel and his friends with a proposal. Daniel’s proposal was simply that he and his friends be allowed to eat vegetables and drink water for ten days and see if they looked worse than the other boys who ate the king’s food. Amazingly, the overseer granted the request and after ten days Daniel and his friends looked even better than the rest. The point is that believers can never lose when they are properly applying doctrine in obedience to God’s Word.
Verses 17-21
“As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so, they entered the king’s personal service. As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm. And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.”
Because Daniel and his friends had prepared themselves as young men in Jerusalem by learning Bible doctrine from the Old Testament writings and spoken word under strict academic discipline, they were prepared to study and learn the literature and wisdom of the Chaldeans as well. God gave them the ability to learn and excel under the Chaldean system so that they were ten times more intelligent than all the others in the king’s court including his “wise men” (magicians and astrologers). Because of this, they were placed in the king’s personal service, which was part of the plan of God for them. The personal service of the king was a very high position, and they were considered equal to the magicians, astrologers, and the king’s advisors as we will see in the chapters that follow.