Mike
Scriptures:
Daniel 1:1-7 & 20 Jeremiah27:6 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews Book X and Chapter 2 Isaiah 39:5-8 Ezekiel 14:12-23 (Reference to the righteousness of Daniel) Jeremiah 27,28 & 29.
Throughout the centuries, God has drawn people to be part of His Kingdom who have faced severe adversity. Daniel, who was born around 623BC during the reign of Josiah, the last of the righteous kings of Judah, should be considered among this group. The book of Daniel is amongst my favourite books in the Bible, it shows us an unwavering belief in the God of Israel and contains one of the most incredible prophesies of Messiah ever given.
I think that the story of Daniel starts a lot earlier, even before he was born, it possibly happened during the reign of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became very ill to the point that the physicians feared for his life; he became distressed that he had no children to continue his lineage and provide a successor to the line of Judah, so he sought God that He might have his life prolonged to produce a family. God sent Isaiah to the King to tell him that in three days he would be healed and his life would be extended by fifteen years.
Shortly after this the King of Babylon sent representatives to Hezekiah with gifts and tried to forge an alliance with Judah, Hezekiah made a feast and gave the representatives a tour of all the riches of gold and precious stones that the King had. He also gave them lavish gifts from the treasury to take back to the King of Babylon.
Almost immediately Isaiah came back to Hezekiah and enquired of the King where the representatives came from, he told Isaiah that they had come from Babylon and that he had shown them all the riches of the Kingdom.
Isaiah prophesied that after a period of time all the riches would be carried away to Babylon and his descendants would become eunuchs and made servants of the King of Babylon. It was nearly a century later that Jeremiah, in the reign of Jehoiakim, says "make bonds and yokes and put them upon your necks" to symbolise thatthey had been given into the hands of the King of Babylon, but if they were prepared to serve him, it would go well with them.
But the false prophet Hananiah opposed this message, broke the yoke of wood from the neck Jeremiah and told the people that within two years the Lord would break the yoke of the King of Babylon. But God sent Jeremiah to Hananiah and told him to say that because he had broken the yoke of wood and had made it instead a yoke of iron, no-one was going break that yoke, the time frame was fixed and now the consequences were heavier.
In Jeremiah 28:15, Jeremiah tells Hananiah "The Lord hath not sent thee, but you have made this people to trust a lie". (Unfortunately, exactly what is happening today).
The outcome of this false prophecy that changed the time of the captivity and offered promises of peace, were met with judgement, the false prophet "was to be cast from the face of the earth".
In 605BC, Nebuchadnezzar was allowed to win a decisive battle at Carchemish against the Assyrian and Egyptian forces led by King Necho II. This victory gave Nebuchadnezzar a major foothold in Syria and paved the way for the deportation of Judah into a captivity made worse by the false prophesy of Hananiah.
Daniel records for us that Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem and besieged it in the 3rd year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah (605BC). He ordered the master of the eunuchs to bring into the king’s service some of the Judean princes including those of the king’s seed. He deported educated members of the royal family and children of Judean nobles. Young men in whom there was no blemish, but well favoured, able to pass a three-year course in Babylonian language and literature, culture and customs so that they might stand in the king's palace. Among those who were chosen from the tribe of Judah were Daniel, who they named Belteshazzar; along with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they were found to be 10 times wiser than all the experienced magicians and enchanters in the whole kingdom (Daniel 1:20).
At this time Daniel would have been around seventeen years old and I cannot imagine the courage that these young men would have needed to be carried away into a foreign land, possibly made eunuchs, educated in a foreign culture and compelled to serve a people that worshipped idols, whilst still remaining faithful to their God, the God of Israel.
Prayer: Lord God, may we understand the example of the courage of these young men, that we are also strangers in an alien land. Give us the courage to remain faithful to You, God, as we face the trials of this life, always looking forward to Your Kingdom. Amen
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