Daniel 1:3, 6 - Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility… Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.
This is the very first mention we have of Daniel. We know he was of the tribe of Judah, and was of noble or even royal blood. Nebuchadnezzer did something radical in his day; instead of totally wiping out the remnants of the leadership of conquered nations, he incorporated them into the running of his empire. By doing so he secured their loyalty and reduced the hassle of having to deal with uprisings and rebellions. He also got a civil service that already knew the customs of the conquered people, and could begin administrating them with minimal disruption.
Sounds smart to me!
We don’t know anything about Daniel’s life before the downfall of Jerusalem. Was he a devout believer who mourned the wickedness of his people, prayed for the deliverance of Jerusalem from her enemies and who was heartbroken when God judged them still? Or was he a hedonistic, pampered young man, used to the life of luxury, and shocked to the very core of his being by the hardships of war and the Babylonian invasion? The Scripture doesn’t tell us, but of one thing we can be certain: he saw horrors that most of us cannot even imagine. And I suspect that was what drove him to seek the LORD God of Israel, even in a foreign land.
Now that was a VERY difficult environment. He was smack in the centre of foreign nation, with the state religion firmly entrenched in power. I can imagine the sneers and jeers from the native Babylonians. “Those Jewish boys are so quaint, holding on to their powerless gods even here. Oh, you mean, they only have one? Obviously it didn’t work very well, maybe they should have taken a few more as back-up!”
In the midst of all that, Daniel and his friends chose to remain faithful to the LORD. And they expressed their faith not through maintaining the morning and evening sacrifice, the burning of incense or even through the songs of Zion.
Daniel 1:8 - But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.
That was all. That was how he got started. The Bible did not say he had an active, vibrant prayer life at that point. All we know for certain was that he was serious about God and he chose to express his faith through his eating choices. How about us? What is that small measure of obedience we can offer unto the LORD first?
My Story - When I was 20, I wasn’t serious about the things of God, nor did I have a prayer or worship life worth speaking of. But remembered one day, I decided that I would at least read the Bible. I loved reading ever since I was a young kid. So reading the Bible itself wasn’t that difficult for me, and I knew it. I remembered praying, “God, I don’t believe all of what is written in there, I don’t understand much of it, and I am certainly not going to promise to obey it. But I can just open the pages and at least give it as much attention as my favourite fiction novels. God, will that do?”
Daniel’s small gesture of obedience to the LORD did not come without objection.
When he told the steward in charge of their meals that their little Jewish fellowship did not want to eat the same luxurious food as everyone else, the steward was worried that Daniel and his friends would look less healthy than the rest. And that was a legitimate concern. I have met people who only eat vegetables, as Daniel did, and those people looked really scrawny. Daniel and his friends took a small step of faith, God answered them in a small way by keeping them healthy, and I am sure that encouraged them to see that their small act of obedience did not go unnoticed by the LORD.
Small Start, Big Test
Starting small is always great, but sooner or later, a big test would come. Daniel’s test came when Nebuchadnezzer had a dream that really perturbed him (Dan 2:1). Showing unusual insight, he insisted that the astrologers and magicians tell him his dream first to prove that they had the supernatural insight to interpret his dream (Dan 2:6). When the astrologers and magicians objected, Nebuchadnezzer ordered that all of them (including Daniel and friends) be executed (Dan 2:12).
Daniel tactfully asked for more time (Dan 2:16) and then started praying fervently with his friends (Dan 2:18). We don’t know if he had a serious prayer life before this crisis, but we know he certainly had one now! And God answered him and gave him wisdom, knowledge and revelation.
My Story - My big test came in the middle of my university days. For some reason I was not able to cope with my studies. It wasn’t that I was trying and not getting it, my mind would totally shut off once I opened my books. I would fall asleep, I couldn’t help myself. So I faced the real possibility of flunking my exams.
Since I was a typical Asian, that was a BIG crisis to me!
At around that time, I came across the idea of meditating on the Scriptures, which by Hebrew definition meant not reading them silently but actually chanting them aloud. I remembered being very unsure about it. No one in my immediate circle of friends did it that way, I never heard it preached by my pastor, and it seemed too mindless. And besides, I was already reading the Bible silently, you mean that wasn’t good enough?
I did it anyway. What did I have to lose? I spent an hour a day in the book of Psalms (30 minutes in the morning and again in the evening). At the beginning I felt stupid, but soon after I started experiencing a strange kind of energy, as if another dimension of me was waking up, as if I had senses that were being activated.
All this affected everything I did in university and at church. It gave energy to my prayer life and fixed up the problems with my school work. When interacting with people, I started saying the right thing at the right time more often, and I found myself making wild guesses about something, getting it right and looking as if I was REALLY smart.
Important – all these benefits took time to manifest, and they were not permanent. They would gradually fade off if I did not maintain that kind of time in the Scriptures. But the important thing was that now that I had tasted that kind of life, I knew it was possible for me, and I knew exactly what I had to do if I wanted to live life that way.
Conclusion:
If you are new to the things of God, start small, but start somewhere. Remember the principle in 2 Samuel 24:24, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing." Whether it is just turning up for church, praying a few minutes a day or reading the Bible like a novel, if you have been doing nothing, start by doing something.
But remember, when the crisis seasons hit, odds are the little things aren’t going to be enough. When you need God in a big way, you need to seek him seriously. I am not talking about epic deeds to purchase your own salvation or to deserve God’s love. We know Jesus did it all for us on the cross. I am talking about walking with God, facing the trials of life the way he wants us to, receiving the power he has ordained for us, by the Spirit and the Word of God.
And also, don’t face your trials alone. By the time Daniel and his friends faced the crisis of chapter 2, they had at least 3 years of fellowship and encouraging each other to stay faithful to the Lord. Daniel called on them to seek the LORD with him (Dan 2:17-18), and they did. We, likewise, need to invest our time and effort into a community of believers NOW, that we may receive support from them during our trials and that we can encourage them during theirs.
I hope this sharing has encouraged or helped you in some way. Be blessed!
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