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March 23: Daniel 1-2
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The story of Daniel is written from a Babylonian perspective since Daniel and his friends were among the first Israelites carried away into captivity in 605 BC. The intent of the Babylonians was to take the best and the brightest of the young people of Israel and educate them in Babylonian culture, music, art, and philosophy. This would make them fit to return to their lands and rule their own people in the Babylonian way. It is clear from this that the Babylonians considered themselves to be the superior race in the region. However, to the Israelite faithful, they were godless idolators.
Daniel was among those who were to be fed with the finest foods from the king’s table. He determined not to allow the influences of the Babylonian culture to “defile” him by bringing him into contact with foods the Law deemed “unclean.” His determination to remain true to God’s law brought God’s favor. He and his friends were allowed to eat simple foods, and God granted that their health rivaled and exceeded those of the king’s servants. This is the first time in the book where we are made aware that God will be at work in and through Daniel for his own glory. In extreme and adverse circumstances, God still works through our desire to obey him.
In chapter 2, we find God’s presence with Daniel enlarged in a story reminiscent of God’s working through Joseph generations earlier in Egypt. The king’s dreams are haunting him, and he is desperate to find someone to interpret them. It is well known that the pagan cultures of the day considered dreams, visions, and other cultic rituals to be mediums through which the gods communicated to mankind.
In this case, the king asks not only for the interpretation, but for those wishing to interpret it to detail the dream itself. He calls for his magicians and seers but none are able to describe the dream much less tell its meaning. We the readers are meant to understand that this is a dream from the one true God, and only one in whom the Spirit of God is active will be able to interpret it. That one turns out to be Daniel.
The prayer of Daniel here is yet another indication of his piety and devotion to God. He understands God’s sovereign position as the one who holds time and change in his hand. Daniel has thrown himself on the mercy of God, to save his life, those of his friends, and as well the lives of all the wise men of Babylon … and God has proven himself faithful.
The vision is a picture of the “latter days,” understood through a picture of a great statue representing four great kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greco-Macedonian, and finally the Roman empire during which time Messiah would come. One of the main themes of Daniel’s writing is to give the exiled Israelites the hope that God has not forsaken them, but will – in time – deliver them not only from Babylon but eternally through Messiah. One day the “stone not cut with hands” will bring the Kingdom of God to earth, destroying every authority set up against the God of heaven.
Prayer: Father, the story of Daniel encourages me that, no matter my circumstances, obeying you will always be my best option. Lord, help me not to be swayed by a culture that doesn’t love you, and help me to shine the light of truth and grace to those around me who desperately need what only you can bring them, through Jesus Christ, Amen.
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