Daniel 1 - 3 - "The Rise of Daniel & His 3 Friends!"

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Today's bible study tells a fascinating story of the meteoric rise of four Jewish teenagers (all from the tribe of Judah) who were hand picked to serve in the royal palace of King Nebuchadnezzar. But, before we begin with them, let's keep in mind that it was in 597 B.C. that King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem (where the tribe of Judah resided), destroying the city and taking all of the beautiful items of the Temple that were used to worship God...just as Jeremiah and Ezekiel had prophesied. According to the book of Kings, about 10,000 men, women, and children were deported and dispersed throughout the Babylonian Empire - which would be located today in the modern day lands of Iraq and Iran.

God Uses A Wicked King To Punish His Own:

As we begin reading, it's interesting to note how God uses the wicked king to punish His people  for their sinfulness.  In 1:2, it says, "The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God."

There are many people who think God can't use wicked people. However, we see throughout the Scriptures that God often times uses the wicked to accomplish His purposes.  In fact, God was so angry with how wicked the people of Jerusalem had become and so infuriated with their false worship that He "permitted" the armies of Babylon to strip bare the entire Temple of God. If the Temple was going to be used right, then there would be no Temple at all.

4 Amazing Teenagers:

Out of this sad story arises four teenagers -all friends and from the tribe of Judah - who found favor with God and with the king.  From the story, we know that the king was only interested in strong, healthy, and good-looking young men who were gifted with wisdom and knowledge.  Although the king had perhaps several hundred young men from various nations, none of them were as brilliant as these four - Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  In fact, upon their arrival, Babylonian names were given to them. Daniel was called Belteshazzar. Hananiah was called Shadrach. Mishael was called Meshach, and Azariah was called Abednego. 

Also upon their arrival, they were commanded to eat the food and wine from the king's table. 

However, Daniel was a Godly young man. And, not wanting to defile himself (according to the Mosaic Law) he asked to be refrained form eating the pagan food which probably contained items like pork and other items that were forbidden within the Law of Moses.

These 4 young men were undoubtedly knowledgeable in the Bible (The Law of Moses) within their day and had a close relationship with God.  Not wanting to sin against God, they asked to eat vegetables and only drink water instead.  This made the king's servant nervous. He didn't want to be killed by the king for letting the young teenagers grow sickly looking.  But Daniel trusted his God, and knew that God would nourish their bodies as they sought to be obedient to His law.

God gave each of these four young men special abilities and an aptitude that was beyond their years.  In fact, the king found them ten times more capable than anyone else in the entire kingdom of Babylon. Most of all, they were in love with their God.  In fact, because of this great love, God gave Daniel special abilities to interpret dreams.

Daniel's Rise To Fame!

During his second year as king, Nebuchadnezzar began having a series of terrible dreams. It tormented to the point that he needed to know what the meaning was. However, he was not in the mood of being toyed with. As such, he demanded that his magicians, enchanters, and wise men would tell him "what" he dreamed and then "the meaning" of the dream. And, if they couldn't, the king would have them and their families destroyed. 

Can you imagine the pressure these men felt? Of course, they tried to get him to tell them the dream so that they could at least fabricate some kind of story, but the king wasn't about to tell them. When he realized the wise men, the magicians, and enchanters had no real power at all, he demanded that they all be killed.

As they entered into the house of Daniel to kill him, Daniel was able to use his wisdom to charm the guard into a conversation as to "why" the king had articulated such a harsh decree. Once Daniel knew, he went and begged the king to give him a few days to seek God for such an answer. The king agreed.

Daniel's Humble Spirit

As Daniel prayed and received from God the answer to the king's dream - what he dreamed and what the dream meant - I love how Daniel handled the entire situation!

First, Daniel relieves the other wise men from danger. He tells the king that no magician or enchanter could fulfill the task he requested, but rather only God had the answer.

Secondly, Daniel takes advantage of the opportunity to tell the king about his God - the maker and revealer of dreams. 

Through symbolism and allegory, the dream was pointing to the future empires that would overcome his present kingdom of Babylon. This symbolism and allegory are described with aspects such as the “head of gold,” the second kingdom that is “inferior” to Babylon, “one of bronze,” and “one as strong as iron.” Within the dream, the head of gold is overtaken by the empire that is inferior, the third empire will then rule, and finally, the fourth empire will completely destroy and smash all of the previous empires. 

Through this interpretation, King Nebuchadnezzar was able to understand what his dream meant. This dream was symbolizing the four different empires that were going to grow into great kingdoms and how they would destroy each other. As stated, the head of gold is King Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom of Babylon, the second kingdom is Persia, the third kingdom is Greece, and the fourth kingdom is Rome. Ultimately, Rome did destroy each of these four empires, even though King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel were not around to see this prophecy completely play out.

In Chapter 3, another amazing story arises!  The king builds a statue of himself and demands that all people of every nation bow before the statue and worship him at the sound of horns. Daniel and his three friends refused to bow.  When people noticed that Meschach, Shadrach, and Abednego wouldn't bow, they were escorted before the king to give an answer as to why they wouldn't bow. Their faith in God was amazing as they told the king they couldn't, and that even if they were thrown into a furnace of fire, they still couldn't bow to anyone else but God!

What would you have done?

Well, they were thrown into the furnace. The heat was so great that it engulfed the men who threw them into the furnace.  As the king looked on, he noticed they were just walking around within the furnace untouched and unharmed by the heat and flames. In fact, he counted a fourth man - who was Jesus Christ.

Wow! What a testimony it was to the king!  Notice what the king said, "Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!' Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon."

What test are you facing today?  Do you have the faith of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego? Do you believe and trust in God to save and deliver you?