Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, conquered Jerusalem. It was the fulfilment of God's prophecy in Jeremiah 27; that Judah, as a result of its collective, unrepentant wickedness, would be taken captive. The kingdom was given to Nebuchadnezzar by God, which meant that God had a plan for Nebuchadnezzar's reign. The ultimate purpose of God's plans are consistently to draw the children of God back to Him, (or to keep the children of God with Him).
Although the majority of Judah abandoned God, there were faithful people within the city who fell under Nebuchadnezzar's reign. In the Book of Daniel, we read of four such people: Belteshazzar/Daniel, Shadrach/Hananiah, Meshach/Mishael, and Abednego/Azariah). Their unparalleled faith in God brought them to the forefront.
- CHOSEN
Nebuchadnezzar valued wisdom. He was an arrogant man; likely caused and sustained by the power he had. To retain that power, he sought to surround himself with wise people. He directed his officials to procure people who were "without blemish, well favored, cunning in knowledge, understanding of science," and who had the ability to stand in the king's palace and teach the conquered people the language of their conqueror: a dialect of Aramaic. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were chosen.
- A DAILY PROVISION
Those chosen were to be nourished on the king's meat and wine for three years. At the end of three years, they would be presented to Nebuchadnezzar. For all intents and purposes, those chosen belonged to the king. Whatever plans he had for them, they had to follow. In many ways, it was a privilege to be chosen: it was an opportunity to serve their conqueror in a respected, official capacity, rather than as an unacknowledged slave. It would seem that refusal to comply with the king's orders would be unwise, and certainly dangerous. But refuse is exactly what Daniel did.
Daniel was a wise man of great faith. He accepted that the king had chosen him as God's plan for him; but ultimately, Daniel served the Lord. And when Nebuchadnezzar ordered the chosen group to eat of his own meat and wine, Daniel refused. Again, you would think it would be ridiculous to reject the provisions the king himself ate. But Daniel rejected the food; he stated that it would defile him. And because he rejected it, a man of great faith, we know that the food was either improperly prepared (therefore: unsafe) or generally unhealthy (not listed among the foods we are advised to eat in scripture: Leviticus 11).
In effort to comply, but with stipulations particular to his faith, Daniel appealed to the man who oversaw the king's chosen group. Typically, a conquered man's requests would be laughed at, and promptly rejected. But Daniel's heart was with God, so God was with Daniel. By God's arrangement, the overseer had compassion for Daniel. But he, unlike Daniel, was afraid to refuse the king. Nebuchadnezzar had ordered a specific diet because he expected specific results from it.
Daniel made a deal with the overseer. He wanted the chance to eat "pulse" (of the seed/pod: vegetables, legumes) and water to drink for ten days, instead of the king's meat and wine. At the end of the ten days, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were the healthiest among the group and were thus allowed to continue with the diet that God approved.
- WISDOM AND DREAMS
God remained with Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The king was in search of wise men and he would find them in these four, for God gave them learning, wisdom and understanding and in Daniel's case: the ability to interpret prophetic dreams. The wisdom and reinforcements from God enabled the four to be the ones who would stand before the king. They were ten times more useful to Nebuchadnezzar than any of others, charlatans that they were.
- PURPOSE
Neither Daniel, nor Shadrach, nor Meshach nor Abednego were purposeful in faith for their own benefit. Neither did they regard the position or the provision gifted to them by the king. Rather, they accepted their role in God's will. They stood before the king as servants foremost of God.
These four men stepped into executive offices. The arguably most powerful person on earth would heed the advice that came from their mouths. Indeed, through their mouths, but directly from God.
They were not influenced nor consumed by the supposed-wonders of power and prominence. They were not ravenous for, nor impressed by, the fancy-fad food and wine of the king. We must ask ourselves: "would I be impressed, influenced and summarily consumed by what the world values, if it came in a place or position deceptively-veiled in prestige?" Hopefully not, as assuredly, every place, and every position is meant to promote God's agenda... and certainly not oneself, not your own agenda.
And, "Would I be faithfully-bold enough to refuse?" We need the faith not merely to recognize what is wrong, but to stand for what is right. Daniel had the faith to do both. Because, frankly, Daniel only cared about God's opinion of him. He was not afraid to lose the prestigious position, the favor of the overseer, or his life to the king. Daniel is the manifestation of Jesus' words in Matthew 16:25, Paul's words in Galatians 1:10.
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
Matthew 16:25
"...do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."
Galatians 1:10
Such questions are our daily provision. The questions we are prompted to ask ourselves while reading scripture. They reveal our weaknesses, our blindness, and compel us to pray in faith to God for strength and sight. Our faith is an invitation and the initiation of a trade. Our will for His. We invite Him to take control; we release it. His gift to us is free will, our gift to Him is the returning of it. Daniel & company executed this perfectly (and will continue to do so in the next chapters). They showed us what it looks like to actually live in accordance with God's will, as a servant of God. To step into places and positions as adherents of God's will, and therefore productive conduits for God's will.