2024-09-13
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Holy Spirit feeds my soul with even more to learn about patience and humility. The story of Daniel and his friends at the beginning of their captivity in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is an example. One can only imagine how traumatic it was for Daniel and his friends to be forcibly removed from their homes and families and brought to a place totally strange to them in servitude. Ashpenaz, the chief of the king’s court, was told to select “young men from noble families without defect, handsome and with an aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace” [DN 1: 4]. They would be taught the language and literature of the Babylonians. After three years of training and eating food chosen by Nebuchadnezzar, they would serve. Daniel’s friends, Hananiah [Shadrach], Mishael [Meshach], and Azariah [Abednego] were chosen right along with him. After looking at the food and drink, Daniel didn’t want to defile himself or the others. So, he asked Ashpenaz to allow him and his friends to run an experiment. God had caused the official to show favor and compassion for Daniel [DN 1: 9].
Ashpenaz was afraid to ask the king to approve this plan. Daniel and his friends asked to eat and drink nothing but vegetables and water for ten days. Then, the official would compare their appearance to the others that ate and drank what the king had ordered. At the end of that time, Daniel and his friends looked healthier and better nourished than the others who ate and drank the king’s food and drink. During their training, it was seen that all of them did well, and Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. An audience with King Nebuchadnezzar at the end of their training revealed that all of the men were intelligent and did well, but none of them equaled Daniel and his friends [DN 1: 17-19]. Daniel remained in the king’s service until the first year of Cyrus, the Great of Persia took over.
Why tell this story? It is because of what is between its lines. Things like patience and humility mixed with courage and lack of will to judge the authorities around them, may not be mentioned but are surely a foundation of the success of Daniel’s endeavor. From MT 7: 1-5, we get Christ’s views on judgment. Basically, we shouldn’t be judgmental as that is the way we would be judged if so. Our Lord gives an explanation saying that if we are busy getting a speck out of another’s eye, we aren’t attending to the log in our own eye. Hypocrisy is never being right with God. Daniel and his friends didn’t spend their time criticizing their captors. Instead, they figured out ways to work with them and still stay true to their faith in God. We will see this kind of righteousness all through the story of Daniel. It took courage, humility, and willingness to stand up for their faith in God for Daniel and his friends to live this way.
Daniel and his friends also understood the difference between patience and forbearance-- patience being willingness to wait for others to mature in their thinking and forbearance being patience when faced with provocation. It was clear that they would have to understand the language and culture of the Babylonians, who would never understand the Hebrew culture. That was their predicament and ordinary people in it would see themselves as provoked by and judgmental of their captors. Instead, they stayed the course of their own beliefs and used their ethics and practices to give themselves an advantage. JAS 4: 11-12, “Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another…anyone who speaks against the law or judges one another speaks against and judges the law…There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One Who can destroy or save…”
PRAYER: O Most Holy Father, some of us must hit what appears to be rock bottom before we can appreciate what You offer us for having faith in Your Son, Jesus Christ. It is clear that Daniel and his friends came from homes where they learned to love and obey the Lord from the beginning of their lives. When we are reared and hit rock bottom first, we must “let go and let God,” so He can direct our lives. PS 40: 1-3, “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of a slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a Rock and gave me a secure place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in Him.” These words You gave to David are precious to us too, Lord. We say this prayer in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’ve been commanded by the Holy Spirit to write about the strength of faith Daniel and his friends showed when subjected to the fiery furnace and, if space permits, Daniel’s interpretation of the handwriting on the wall. These things reveal how God’s promises to protect those who love Him are kept and how He alone is the source of truth with the right of judgment. The patience and humility these heroes from the Scriptures represent shouldn’t be missed. The consistency of God’s teaching and the example of patience and humility between Daniel and his friends (as well as the four of them) toward God is also seen in the NT. COL 3: 12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Even the trust shown to them by a group of enemy captors is example enough! Praise and thanks be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2024. All Rights Reserved.
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