This is the discussion accompanying Lesson 11: Mission in a Pagan Land: Daniel and Company, for the week ending 13 September 2008.
Just to start off I’ve gotta say that Daniel is one of my favourite Bible characters. While he wasn’t perfect, he is always depicted in the Bible as doing the right and courageous thing. He truly is a man to aspire to.
(Having said that, thank goodness for the other heroes of the Bible where you see them ‘warts and all’)
The discussion this week is going to look at some of the situations Daniel was placed in and how he responds. The trajectory of Daniel’s life is an amazing one where great experiences were often followed by great trials.
There is some great reading in Daniel 1-3, 6 which I’d recommend you all take the time to go through. Like most of you I’ve heard these stories time and time again, however I’ve received some new insights this week as I’ve reconsidered these accounts.
Consider the following rollercoaster for Daniel and his friends:
- Daniel and friends are captured by the invading Babylonian army – what a terrible prospect for boys of their age (roughly 16?).
- They are quickly included in the King Nebuchadnezzar’s scholarship program. What an honour – leading to a much ‘nicer’ life than the normal captives would have faced.
- But after this good news, they are expected to eat the king’s food which is ‘defiled’. Daniel doesn’t compromise but confronts his captors, asking for alternate food and drink for him and his friends. Daniel must have known the danger this request could have led to.
- But following this trial, God blesses them – the king finds them superior to the other scholarship program participants and they are honoured to be given the position of ’serving before the king’. Daniel is given the gift of understanding visions and dreams.
- Following this blessing though, their lives are under threat because the other magicians and wise men (with whom they are grouped) can’t tell the king what his dream is, revealing the fact that their previous interpretations were bogus.
- Daniel then seeks the Lord to reveal the dream and spare his life. God answers his request and the dream is revealed. The king responds by praising God and promoting Daniel and his friends to a very high position in his kingdom.
- But following this, Daniel’s friends are tested with a command to bow down and worship a huge statue/idol of the king. They refuse and are thrown into an furnace of fire. God rescues them from the incinerator and the king once again praises the ‘Most High God’.
- Later on, a new Median king Darius takes control of Babylon and is impressed with Daniel, giving him once again high office and favouring him over his fellow rulers. Another blessing from God.
- However this makes his peers jealous and they plot to have him compromised. Everyone is mandated to not pray to anyone but the king. Daniel of course holds firm and prays to God in view of all. Daniel must have known he was signing his death sentence. Darius, despite his strong relationship with Daniel, is forced to put execute him by throwing him into a den of lions.
- Once again God delivers Daniel and is glorified by the king.
It wasn’t a smooth or easy life for these guys. However they really held up well under their trials and God blessed them.
Let’s now look at a few key issues from these instances in the lives of Daniel and his friends:
1. The Babylonian Exile.
Daniel and his friends were removed from the influence of their parents at a relatively young age. However we see time and time again how they stand firm against incredible pressure to comply with orders to defile their relationship with their God.
We can infer that their parents brought them up with a strong grounding which stood them in good stead when alone in pagan exile. They may well have been in line with the following command that God gave to parents:
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:6, 7 (NKJV)
Those of us who are parents – can we say that we’re practicing this? We might be committed to teaching our children but does the love of God permeate our lives? Do we talk of God throughout the day? That is indeed the challenge.
The study guide this week expands on this thought:
At the same time, the constant dwelling upon God, the constant recounting of the miracles, the goodness, and the love of God can be as much a benefit to the parents as to the children. Even for those who do not have children or for those whose children are gone, how important to keep the reality, goodness, and power of God before us at all times. After all, how can we share with others what we, ourselves, have not experienced? ABSG-t p 126
Click here to go to the last part of the discussion for this week: The Trials of Daniel and His Friends Part 2.
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