God has been impressing upon me to look at Daniel as many believe that he is the only spotless character in the Bible outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is not one flaw to be found in his character. He was a man “greatly beloved” of God. He associated with kings and politicians. He led a public life. He held office, yet his character was never impeached. He talked with angels. The LORD Himself appeared unto him, and he had visions of God. He was a great man of faith and had courage to stand in the midst of difficult circumstances. It was given to him to study the “Signs of the Times,” to know the outcome of all the world’s boasted civilization, and to see that the nations of the earth should degenerate in political power until the clay of democracy, socialism, and anarchy should so weaken the nations that there would be no cohesion among them, and that the only salvation for a chaotic world would be the return of Christ, and the setting up of His Millennial Kingdom.
Let’s take a look at Daniel and glean lessons from him for such a time as this. The Prophet Jeremiah had sounded the alarm to His chosen people. (Jeremiah 25: 8-13) He warned them to turn from their evil way, from the evil of their deeds, not to go after other gods and serve and worship them. They would not listen to them and consequently they provoked God to bring judgment upon them which was a 70 year captivity in Babylon under a pagan king. The Prophet Isaiah in 39: 5-7 told King Hezekiah that his family would be carried captive to Babylon from their land and nothing would be left in the Temple. He told him that his sons would be taken away and would be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon. Daniel and three other Hebrew captives were from the royal blood of Judah and descendants of King Hezekiah. They were selected as young men (less than 20 years old) for their excellence and turned over to the Prince of the Eunuchs in the court of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. As we read Daniel 1: 1-20 we uncover many interesting details that we sometimes overlook. First, they were taken from their family as part of the royal line and made eunuchs to seek to prevent their lineage from ruling. A eunuch was castrated as a further safeguard to extinguish the royal line. Hence, they were sexually altered. Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, was responsible for their health and for indoctrinating them into the false religion of Babylon. Next, their identity was changed from their Hebrew names to that of a false deity. Daniel (God is my Judge) was changed to “Belteshazzar” (Whom Bel favors); Hananiah (Beloved of the Lord) to “Shadrach” (Illumined by the Sun-God); Mishael (Who is as God) to “Meshach” (Who is like Venus); and Azariah (the Lord is my help) to “Abed-nego” (The servant of Nego). The purpose in changing their names was to wean them away from their land and religion, and get them to adopt the religion and habits of the heathen nation. But changing a man’s name does not change his character, and these young men had been too deeply rooted in the religion and faith of their own nation to adopt the practices of a heathen nation.
The testing for Daniel and his companions was along the line of religion. They were commanded to be fed with royal dainties and wine from the King’s table. They knew that the meat from the Kings table would at times be of a kind forbidden by the Law of their God, as swine’s flesh (Lev. 11: 1-47); or it might be meat from which the blood had not been drawn (Lev. 17: 1-14); or it might be meat that had first been offered to an idol, and to eat it might be looked upon as approving the religious customs of Babylon. There was therefore but one course to pursue for Daniel and his companions. In verse 8 we are told that Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not follow the mandate of the King and defile himself. We read in 9-10 that God honored their loyalty by preparing in advance a way of deliverance. God gave them favor with the Prince of the Eunuchs and allowed them to eat only pulse which was herbs and vegetables and water to drink. God granted them favor for their faithfulness and gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom and understanding visions and dreams—10 times greater than the King’s magicians and astrologers. (vv. 18-20)
The Bible teaches us that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for correction and instruction in righteousness. What application can we learn from Daniel and his friends for where we are today? As Christians we find ourselves captives in the Babylonian life of worldliness and pleasure that surrounds us, and many of us instead of being transformed are conformed to this world. We have fallen in with the spirit of this “Present Evil Age,” and are living a life of “compromise.” Have we witnessed the dismantling of the family and the God created model of man and woman? Have our children and youth been captured and brainwashed by the entertainment industry, by social media, and caught in the web of distractions of cell phones and other electronic devices designed to undermine God’s truth and way? Has God been removed from our schools and colleges and infiltrated by the lies of the god of this world? Have we bowed our knees to the demands and restrictions of this Babylonian world system? Have we succumbed to the ungodly pressures from others—whoever they are and especially an evil government? We are faced with circumstances where we are tempted to do what is expedient to protect our self instead of depending on God for wisdom, protection and provision. The center verse of the Bible carries a warning for us “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.” (Psalm 118: 8) Jude 1: 24-25 reminds us that God is able! “Now to the One who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus the Messiah our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, both now and forever. AMEN.” Like Daniel, we must allow God to be our authority and not bow to the authority of the Babylon system whose outcome is a life of fear, powerlessness and spiritual barrenness. God is calling us to be a Daniel at such a time as this. Let us like Daniel have the courage to stand in the Lord and in the power of His might! “Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He did it for Daniel and He will do it for us when we say “no” to the Babylon system and “yes” to our DELIVERER!