Daniel 1 Today's Daily Bread

Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar's Court

1During the third year of King Jehoiakim's reign in Judah, F1 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it with his armies. 2The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah. When Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon, he took with him some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God and placed them in the treasure-house of his god in the land of Babylonia. F2

3Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, who was in charge of the palace officials, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah's royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives. 4"Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men," he said. "Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good sense, and have the poise needed to serve in the royal palace. Teach these young men the language and literature of the Babylonians. F3 " 5The king assigned them a daily ration of the best food and wine from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for a three-year period, and then some of them would be made his advisers in the royal court.

6Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah. 7The chief official renamed them with these Babylonian names:

Daniel was called Belteshazzar.
Hananiah was called Shadrach.
Mishael was called Meshach.
Azariah was called Abednego.

8But Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief official for permission to eat other things instead. 9Now God had given the chief official great respect for Daniel. 10But he was alarmed by Daniel's suggestion. "My lord the king has ordered that you eat this food and wine," he said. "If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded for neglecting my duties."

11Daniel talked it over with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief official to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 12"Test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water," Daniel said. 13"At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king's rich food. Then you can decide whether or not to let us continue eating our diet." 14So the attendant agreed to Daniel's suggestion and tested them for ten days.

15At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king. 16So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the rich foods and wines. 17God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for learning the literature and science of the time. And God gave Daniel special ability in understanding the meanings of visions and dreams.

18When the three-year training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief official brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. 19The king talked with each of them, and none of them impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they were appointed to his regular staff of advisers. 20In all matters requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, the king found the advice of these young men to be ten times better than that of all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.

21Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus's reign. F4


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FOOTNOTES:
F1: The third year of Jehoiakim's reign, according to the Hebrew system of reckoning, was 605 B.C.
F2: Hebrew the land of Shinar.
F3: Or of the Chaldeans.
F4: The first year of Cyrus's reign was 538 B.C.

Lena Journals
We as Chriatians are to be IN but NOT to be OF this world and it's ways, systems, etc.
But do we think this way of our circumstances? In but not of? In but not in bondage, as in, in slavery to? Not enslaved by?
Yesterday I read in Titus 2 about slaves that were to be the best slaves ever to their masters, serving them.
This is just what the Hebrew boys who were taken captive were. They knew full well their master was God, yet men bound them to slavery, and they were not enslaved. They could still serve God inside of the circumstance and not even get out of it. Notice they were free inside of it! Wow, huh?
What circumstance today do we need to be free in?
Think about it.
It is really in our minds and hearts that we are victums of our situations. Daniel served God inside of the situation, to the best of anyone else, and through that GOD promoted him out!
Not because he rebelled out or wiggled or manipluated out, God freed him physically because he was already free mentally and spirtually speaking.
How free are we today? As free as we have faith in God to be.
Our circumstances do not tell us what to do! We tell them, through faith.