Bible Studies for Life Series for Sept. 2: Meeting Cultural Challenges

Posted: 8/22/07

Bible Studies for Life Series for September 2

Meeting Cultural Challenges

• Daniel 1:1-21

By Steve Dominy

First Baptist Church, Gatesville

The first chapter of Daniel acts as the introduction to the rest of the book. It introduces the heroes, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, and how they came to hold high positions in Nebuchadnezzar’s service. The first chapter is also a foreshadowing of the conflict that is to come and the commitment to God that these young men have made.

The structure of Chapter 1 can be broken down into three sections: captivity (1:1-1:17, Daniel’s commitment (1:8-1:16), and God’s blessing (1:17-21).

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1:3-5 Beginning with v.3, Nebuchadnezzar orders Aspenaz, one of his high officials, to begin the training program for the exiled youth. The extent of this program was to teach them “the language and literature of the Babylonians.” At surface level, this seems awfully generous of the Babylonians, but we need to read further. V.5 reveals this was training for the king’s service. They were to be saturated in the culture of their enemies. Daniel and his friends would be used for political purposes. They would be used as propaganda and serve either in the king’s court or as his ambassadors back to Judah to win over the hearts and minds of the people there.

The coursework in this training would have included astrology, mathematics and magic for which the city was famous. Daniel became well educated in the ways of Babylon, and as we will see, he excelled and finished at the top of his class.

1:6-7 The extent to which Daniel and his friends accept the reeducation in Babylonian culture is surprising. In these verses we learn that even their names are changed. That seems like a small thing to us, but in the ancient Near East a person’s name often contained the name of one’s deity and was an integral part of a person’s identity. Daniel and his friends names each contain syllables meaning God or Yahweh. But the chief official gave each of them new names containing elements of the Babylonian gods.

1:8-16 The Holiness Code found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 defined patterns of behavior for all covenant people and included regulations about eating. All of the regulations in the Holiness Code were linked to obedience to God in covenant. While there is some argument about whether or not Daniel’s refusal to eat the king’s food was due to his commitment to Jewish dietary laws, it does play at least some factor in Daniel’s decision. While it is probably not the sole reason for Daniel’s decision, the fact that he chooses “not to defile himself with the royal food and wine” gives us some idea that the food laws had some influence on his decision.

There is more at work than just the food laws in this section. As much as most of us would like it, 10 days on a diet doesn’t necessarily make us look “healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.” Daniel’s commitment to God is evident as is God’s honoring of Daniel’s commitment. The change was not so much a result of the diet as it was God’s honoring Daniel’s commitment.

1:17-21 Because of their obedience in trying circumstances, God blesses Daniel and his four friends both physically and mentally. The young men looked healthier and better nourished than those that ate the royal food. When the four young men entered the king’s service, he found them “ten times better” than any other in his service. While our circumstances will certainly be different than those of Daniel and his friends, the principle is consistent; God blesses those who are faithful to him. Even, and perhaps especially, when our culture is in conflict with our commitment to Christ, God honors those who honor him. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” It would serve us well to pay attention to these lessons from Daniel and our Lord.

The first chapter of Daniel can be a great encouragement to us to strengthen our commitment in the face of trials and temptations. But this chapter also raises some difficult questions. Why did Daniel choose food as his battle? It would seem that accepting the practices of Babylon and allowing his name to be changed to incorporate a foreign God would be less faithful than eating the king’s food. One of the things that we need to remember in our reading of Daniel is that the story is not solely about Daniel.

While Daniel is a hero of the faith the main character of the story is God. Three times in the first chapter we see God acting in the story, God delivered Judah to Babylon, God caused the official to show sympathy to Daniel, God gave knowledge and understanding to the four young men. Since God delivered Judah to Babylon, we might well understand it to be God’s will for these four young men to serve God in trying circumstances. To choose to fight the battle of Babylonian education or name change likely would result in death, or at least exclusion and slavery. The key note in this first chapter is God’s faithfulness in a foreign land and God’s leadership of Daniel and his friends as they circumnavigated the mine fields of unfaithfulness.