Daniel - Overcoming the World

God's Judgement of His People

Daniel lived at a time when God was judging Israel for their unfaithfulness to Him. God had told His people that if they were faithful to Him then He would be their shield and defender. Instead Israel sought after other gods again and again. God sent prophets to warn them of his judgement and to urge them to repent. But most of the people would not listen and Israel was going farther and farther away from God. So eventually God sent the judgement He had warned them about for so long. He sent the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, with his army. They defeated Israel and took all the princes, nobles and craftsmen back to Babylon as captives.

Selected to Be Trained

The king asked his officials to select children of the king or of the princes who had no blemish and who were skillful in wisdom, knowledge and science. He wanted them to be trained for three years in the learning and language of the Chaldeans. At the end of that time he planned to test them to see if any of them could serve him as counselors. Four of the youths who were chosen were named Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Food from the King's Own Table

During the three years of study the king appointed these youths a portion of his food and of his wine. Imagine how they must have felt. First they were captives and had every reason to expect that they would become slaves. Instead they were taken into the royal palace and were given food from the king's own table. Some of the youths who were selected probably were very excited by the life and tasty food in the palace.

Keeping Themselves Pure

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the kings meat. This meant that he was determined not to compromise his position as one of God's people even though he was right in the king's palace in Babylon. Daniel's three friends also wanted to keep themselves pure. The rest of the youths probably ate of the kings food and soon became no different from the Babylonians. Daniel and his three friends wanted to be different.

Their Ten Day Trial

So Daniel asked the official looking after them if they could be given vegetables and water rather than the king's food and wine. The official was afraid that if Daniel and his friends were not as healthy looking as the rest of the youths then the king would cut off his head. So Daniel asked him to try them for 10 days. If their faces did not look healthy after 10 days of eating vegetables then they would eat whatever he gave them. The official was willing to try them for 10 days. At the end of that time the boys looked healthier than all the others who were eating the king's food. So the official let them eat vegetables and water always.

Selected to Stand before the King

God was with these youths. He gave them understanding and wisdom in all kinds of learning. Daniel even had understanding in all kinds of dreams and visions. After three years all the youths were brought in to stand before the king. None of the others could compare with Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael. In fact the king found their wisdom and understanding to be ten times better than all his magicians and astrologers. So they were selected to stand before the king among his counselors.

What tests did Daniel and his friends face in this story?
What virtues did they display?