Daniel 1 - 3 (14th September) - Vivien

Daniel 1
During the times when Israel was besieged by the Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar ordered take some men of the best of the best in Israel to serve him in his courts. Among those include Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. They were young men (probably in their early of mid-teens) without physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every king of learning, well informed, quick to understand and qualified to serve in the king’s palace (v4). The king was rather careful in making sure that the people that served him were really the best. They had to go through 3 years of training and even have their daily intake assigned to them.

However, Daniel and friends did not want to defile themselves with the royal food and wine. As we can see here that although they were very young in terms of age, they were not blinded by the good food. They were thoughtful enough to believe that the royal food were unclean and might have been offered to idols.

How many times have we fallen into temptations and “defiled” ourselves, due to moments of impulse?

The early teens, our society termed it as “rebellious stage”, is it possible that our teens don’t go through that stage? Of course! With proper cultivation of godly principles, it is possible to be wise in our decisions at a young age, like Daniel and friends!

Over here, we also can learn how to maintain our health! In verse 12, in order to convince the guard and officials that they don’t need to eat over-nutritious food to be well-nourished, just by eating vegetables and drinking water they will be as healthy, if not healthier than any other young men who are fed on the royal food. This is where we have our Daniel’s Fast. And because of their faithfulness towards God, God gave the 4 of them favour, knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And God specially singled out Daniel that he was given the ability to understand dreams and visions.

After 3 years of training, Daniel and friends were recognized by the king as the best of the best. With that they entered the king’s service.

Do we have bosses or authorities (be it parents, teacher, etc) who are pre-believers? If yes, I do urge you to do well and be recognized that you are a child of God. This reminded me of our goal to BREAKOUT! Moving from viability to visibility.

Daniel 2
In this chapter it is about a dream that bothered the king and he sought interpretation from his subjects, but none were able to or dare to give the interpretation, because they were aware that they were fake, and cost of lying was too high for them to bear! Well, it didn’t make much difference to the decision of the king. He still wanted them to be executed, dragging Daniel and friends into the picture.

Then Daniel made a difference and saved the lives of the wise men by asking for time to interpret the dream. Thereafter he interpreted the dream to the king and the king fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honour and ordered an offering and incense be presented to him. The king even confessed that God is the God of gods. With that Daniel was placed in a high position to rule over the entire province of Babylon!

Daniel 3
This is one of the famous stories in the book of Daniel, where Daniel’s friends were thrown into the fiery furnace for not worshipping the king’s idol.

V16 - 18: “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.’”

When we are challenged of our faith, with our lives at stake, how will be react? Honestly, as much as I want to stand firm and not be afraid of death or worse still tortures, I will never know till I’m put in that situation. All I can do is to make sure that my foundation and relationship with God is strong, like building your house on rock instead of sand, and that Holy Spirit will be give me that extraordinary mental strength to stand firm!

And as we all know the outcome, after they were thrown into the fire, they were unhurt and there was another man who was inside the furnace with them! The king was amazed at that sight and also with them for their total trust in God, he made a decree to the God of Israel be honoured, and promotions came together with it.

Honour God and He will honour you =)