Ruins of the North Palace of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon. Photo Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
As a little kid in Sunday School, I thought Daniel was a storybook character, Daniel in the lions den, Daniel in the fiery furnace, etc.
Later in life, as I read secular histories of world empires in which Daniel had served I realized Daniel might have been a real guy. Then I happened upon architectural evidence from folks much smarter than I, and I became a fan of Daniel and his self-help book.
Pastor Scudder at Quentin Road Baptist Church in Lake Zurich IL (we attend there when visiting our daughter) had an excellent message on Daniel’s opening verses. He made it easy for me to see that not much has really changed. I could see that our world today reflected in Daniel’s words.
We know Daniel and all of the really smart upper-class kids who were in Jerusalem when it was captured, were taken to Babylon. Daniel tells us they were treated extremely well in captivity.
Daniel and his three close friends had been raised in Godly homes, their upbringing and training reflected even in their Godly names.
The Babylonians of course had a cynical purpose in bringing those smart young kids to Babylon and treating them well. Scripture says they trained them in the Chaldean traditions and languages, all the arts and sciences of the day, and in administration for their far-flung empire. They needed them to be Babylonian men, not Godly men.
Pastor Scudder explained the training started with a name change. Their godly names would be changed. They would be given names reflecting the pagan and worldly gods of the Babylonians. Next, they would be given a different diet which Daniel and his friends famously refused. King Nebuchadnezzar fully intended to thoroughly re-educate and change those young men from the ground up.
Pastor Scudder’s message brought to mind our society. We also are being culturally molded; what we think, what we say, what we read, where we go, what we see, and maybe even what we eat. The words of Romans 12.2 come to mind …”do not conform to the pattern of this world.”
You might not realize it, but even right now there is a Nebuchadnezzar somewhere running our world. He wants to train you in his ways, he wants you to eat at his table.
Daniel and his friends didn’t eat the king’s food…nor should you.