Daniel Taken to Babylon

Daniel 1:1–7
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)

Many years ago A.J. Gordon went to the World’s Fair. From a distance he saw a man pumping water with one of those old hand pumps. The water was pouring out and he said as he looked, “That man is really pumping water.” But when he got closer, he discovered that it … More

Circumstances

This chapter introduces the book by giving the background and preparation of the prophet. It opens with Nebuchadnezzar’s besieging of Jerusalem which took place during the reign of Jehoiakim, the eldest son of Josiah (v. 1). Jeremiah had warned Jehoiakim of an impending invasion of Babylon. The prophet’s instruction to God’s people was to submit without resistance so when Nebuchadnezzar came little or no resistance was offered. Thus Judah came under Nebuchadnezzar’s authority, and the times of the Gentiles began (Luke 21:24) which will continue till the Messiah returns.

Nebuchadnezzar took vessels from the house of God to the temple in Babylon (v. 2). Ashpenaz, chief of all the palace officials, was told to select strong, handsome, healthy boys who were quick to learn so they could be trained to work for the king of Babylon (vv. 3-4). Among those who were taken to receive this special training were four young men - Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (vv. 6-7). These were all of the royal line of David, perhaps nephews or grandsons of good King Josiah.

They had classes in which they studied the Chaldean language and history. Everything was new and strange in Babylon. These Babylonians worshiped Bael, a sun god. Instead of having the Scriptures, the Word of God, they had only magic and astrology for their sacred books. Satan was ruling in this land. Because these four young lads bore names that honored the God of Israel, these names did not please Ashpenaz, so he proceeded to give them new names which signified that they were to be subject to Babylon’s gods (v. 8).

Application

Just as Daniel and his friends, I do not know what kind of situations I may find myself in this life. No matter how things may appear I need to be strong in the Lord and His Word so I can stand for Him regardless of the circumstances.

Daniel 1:1-7 (English Standard Version)

Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to parse RSS file. (Space required at line 39, column 24) in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/magpie6-1/rss_fetch.inc on line 230

Warning: array_slice() expects parameter 1 to be array, null given in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/rss/esvLookup.php on line 15

View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »