Comments on Daniel 1

 

Daniel 1

            Babylon attempted to re-identify Daniel and company through a brutal program of brainwashing, not dissimilar in content to today’s programs of conformity. The key to successful resistance, as we see in this chapter, is to draw the line precisely at the point of obedience. Draw the line too early, and you have lost your witness by your absence. Draw the line too late, and you have lost your witness through compromise. The key to effective witnessing is to be in the world, but not of it. We must understand that the world is not so much a physical place; it is, in reality, a state of mind.

Verses 1-4: the Ruin of Israel

            Daniel’s home was completely devastated, and even the Temple was plundered. Babylon took the best and brightest, Israel’s future, and sought to turn them into Babylonians. Daniel has witnessed a catastrophe; he has seen the house of God violated and robbed. His people are dispersed, and many are dead. Daniel and his friends are likely castrated, becoming eunuchs.

Verse 4: Reeducation

            Suffering all this would take its toll on any man, rendering them susceptible to Babylonian brainwashing. The education the King appoints in verse 4 is just that: a reprogramming of the Babylonian worldview.  This would include instruction in the pagan religion and astrogeology. This would seem to be the most threatening aspect of the Babylonian program. Yet, Daniel and company do not object to the education. The reasons appear to be,

1.      They have a strong foundation in the truth. They are thoroughly educated in what scripture says so that no contrary truth claims could shake them.

2.      They can filter the information they are taught, keeping the good and ignoring the bad. They are active, not passive, as students.

3.      They will benefit from the education. Everything the Babylonians teach reveals who they are and how they operate, things that Daniel will use to serve God faithfully in this strange land.

4.      They have each other to keep themselves grounded in the truth.

Daniel’s previous education has prepared him for the education of a hostile world. Daniel was taught how to think critically and engage with different ideas without losing his faith. Sheltering a young mind completely will leave it weak and unable to handle the ideological war that awaits in the wider world. Christian education should gradually control the flow of foreign ideas, allowing exposure as a child matures mentally and spiritually, accompanied by exercises in critical thinking.

Verses 5-7

            We will return to the food mentioned in verse 5, but here we pass over as the text does to consider the renaming of verses 6 and 7. The new names remove the mention of the true and living God and replace it with Baal’s name. It is an attempt at reidentification. This would seem to be the most insulting and personally grievous part of the Babylonian campaign, yet the four youths do not object to it. Their identities run deeper than their names and are not threatened by what others choose to call them.

Verses 5, 8-14

            These verses have been much abused in recent years by those more interested in physical health than spiritual understanding. The refusal to eat the King’s meat has nothing at all to do with the superiority of vegetarianism, or any issue with eating meat, see Acts 10:9-16. The issue here is that the meats were offered to Baal, and eating them would have constituted an act of idolatry: only some of the meat would have been considered unclean under the ceremonial law.

            The line is finally drawn at the exact point of obedience. If Daniel had drawn the line earlier, he would have been ineffective in Babylon, crippling his witness via absence. Had the line been drawn later, Daniel would have become Babylonian, losing his witness through compromise. Taking the right point to stand firm is critical to evangelism.

            Daniel and his friends take no small risk in remaining faithful; indeed, it is only divine intervention that sustains them. God grants favor to allow for their obedience, honoring their commitment. Well might the young men have despaired of their conviction and abandoned the whole design as hopeless. “Oh, well, we wanted to be faithful, but it is impossible, we are forced to compromise…” How often do we think like this?

            Four men out of the captives make the stand. They stand together, a fact that must not be overlooked. Daniel is not the mythical “one man” in a world gone mad; he is one of four. The connection these four men had was conviction; it was missional and firmly fixed. Men come together best on a mission under pressure.

Verses 15-21

            Notice verse 17, it is God who gave them superior wisdom and understanding. Indeed, it is God who made their experiment a success. The diet is one of faithfulness, and it is that faithfulness that advanced them beyond all their peers. They sought God, and God honored them for it. At times, we find honoring God’s precepts too impractical to follow, so we abandon the attempt before it is begun.

Are we prepared for the ideological attacks of the world as Daniel was? Are we preparing the next generation adequately?

How might we prove God’s precepts true in our lives?

Do we dare to be like Daniel?