15 September

Bible In 365 Days

Daniel 1-3

Daniel 1

During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Daniel came into favor and power. The king seems to have been impressed by the people he had conquered. He desired that some of the choicest of their young men be included among his own confidential servants.

Among those selected were four especially named, among whom was Daniel. They were set apart for training and preparation for their official duties. This training lasted three years. They had special physical attention, and their food and drink were supplied from the king's table.

Daniel at once manifested his strength of character in purposing to abstain from the king's meat and wine. He was courteous, but he asked Tor a ten days' test. The test vindicated his purpose, and he and his friends were allowed to proceed with their training. At the end of that training they were presented to Nebuchadnezzar, were approved by him, and appointed to positions in the kingdom.

Daniel 2

In the second year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar, troubled by dreams and unable to sleep, called together his enchanters and sorcerers to explain his dreams one of which troubled him especially. Their difficulty was that the king could not recall the dream. It had left an impression on his mind, but none of the details remained in his memory. Of course, his demand was the unreasonable one of a despot, and yet the claims these men made, if true, ought to have enabled them to discover the dream as well as to interpret it. Such was the king's opinion, and he made it a test case, declaring that if they were unable to do what he asked, he would know that they were lying and corrupt. They failed, Nebuchadnezzar was furious, and commanded the destruction of them all. In this decree the Hebrew youths were involved.

Daniel, through the king's captain, sought and obtained an interview with the king, asking for time, and promising to interpret the dream. The request being granted, he at once gathered his friends together, and they betook themselves to prayer. In answer the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision at night, and in his gratitude he praised the name of Jehovah in what was practically a psalm full of beauty. He then charged the king's captain, Arioch, not to destroy the wise men, as he was able to interpret the king's dream.

Daniel was immediately brought into the king's presence, and first, in language full of confidence and dignity, ascribed to God the glory of the interpretation he was about to give. He exonerated the wise men from any blame for their inability to interpret the dream, and declared the truth concerning the God of heaven, who was able to reveal secrets, and who by this dream intended to make known to the king the course of events in the history of his people. He then vividly described the image of the king's dream, and proceeded to interpret its meaning, Tracing the progress of events through the successive kingdoms of Babylon, Media, and Persia, Greece, Rome, the ten kingdoms, and the final setting up of the Kingdom of Heaven, he showed how there would be a process of deterioration, which would merge into the establishment of the new order. This interpretation convinced Nebuchadnezzar, who at once recognized the supremacy of God, and rewarded Daniel by setting him over the province and the wise men.

Daniel 3

The next story is of the pride of Nebuchadnezzar in setting up in the plain of Dura a great golden image. This may have been connected with the interpretation of the dream Daniel had given. The head of gold in the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream symbolized Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar's image was all of gold, and perhaps revealed his conception of the power of Babylon, and therefore was of the nature either of unbelief in the accuracy of the prediction or of rebellion against it. To this image he commanded all peoples to bow down in worship. This would also explain the attitude of the dauntless three who declined to bend their knee to the image. In the first place, it was an act of idolatry, and, moreover, such obeisance on their part might have been construed into a recognition of the continuity of the power of Babylon, of which the divine revelation to Daniel had predicted the downfall.

With splendid heroism they cast themselves on God, and were supernaturally delivered from the fierce fire of the furnace, the king seeing One so glorious in mien with them in the fire, that even he described Him as being "like a son of the gods." This deliverance more deeply impressed Nebuchadnezzar, and he decreed that no word should be spoken against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and promoted them in the province of Babylon.