Whatever the state of things on the earth God never leaves Himself without a witness. He may punish His people on account of their unfaithfulness and their sins, and He may permit them to be carried into captivity, and to be enslaved under the power of their enemies, and yet, in the midst of the darkness by which they are surrounded, He will rekindle the torch of His truth, in testimony to Himself and to His faithfulness, and as encouragement to those who cleave or turn to Him in their sorrows. He will, moreover, cause those whom He has used to chastise His people to know that they are still the objects of His care and love; and that their oppressors, however seemingly exalted and mighty, are subject and accountable to Him.
The first three verses of our chapter are the introduction to the book, and they explain how it had come to pass that Daniel and his companions are found in connection with the court of the king of Babylon. The reference, as may be easily seen by turning to the historical accounts in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, is to the first siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. In Chronicles, after the mention of the accession of Jehoiakim to the throne, through the instrumentality of Necho, king of Egypt, it says, “Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon” (2 Chron. 36:6-7). But neither here, nor in Kings, is it mentioned that there were other captives at this time, and it is quite possible that the short introductory statement of our chapter includes, in its purport, the subsequent proceedings of the king of Babylon until Jerusalem was destroyed, and the princes, and the mighty men of valor, together with the mass of the people, had been deported to Babylon. (See 2 Kings 24:12-16; 25:1-21). It is therefore the general position which is here defined. The Lord had given Jehoiakim into Nebuchadnezzar’s hand, and so completely had He abandoned His house in Jerusalem, that He had permitted the sacred vessels of the temple, profaned as they were by the sins of the kings of Judah, to be carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of Nebuchadnezzar’s god. God’s candlestick at Jerusalem was thus for the time removed; and it was judicially removed, because it had ceased to give forth divine light for guidance and blessing amid the moral darkness of this world.
In the next paragraph (Dan. 1:3-7) the remnant, or its representation, is introduced. After that Hezekiah had received the embassy from the king of Babylon and, gratified by the attention thus shown to him, had exhibited to them all the treasures of his kingdom, Isaiah was sent to him with this message: “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon.... And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon” (Isa. 39:5-7). The opening verses of our chapter reveal the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prediction; but what we desire to call attention to is that, in fulfilling His own word in judgment, God remembered mercy, for it is out of these very descendants of Hezekiah that He raised up witnesses for Himself in the midst of Babylon’s idolatrous corruptions.
In permitting Nebuchadnezzar to carry them away as captives, God was accomplishing His own purpose; but Nebuchadnezzar, having obtained power over them, sought to make them serve his will. The consequence was, that a conflict immediately arose between the thoughts of God and the thoughts of the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar desired to adorn his palace with those of his captives “in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans” (Dan. 1:4). The world is ever ready to make the people of God its servants, and to derive light from their knowledge; but it cannot tolerate them, if they maintain fidelity to their God in obedience to His word, and in a holy separation from evil. The king, therefore, would have these captives to be fed with his own meat, and to drink of his own wine that, nourished from his resources for three years, they might at the end thereof stand in his presence (Dan. 1:5). He would have them, in one word, to cease being Jews, and to become Chaldeans; and to mingle with their new religion the light they had received from the oracles of God. Such is the origin of philosophy even in Christian times—that philosophy, against which Paul earnestly warns us as being “after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8).
It is in connection with this command of Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are brought into prominence (Dan. 1:6). Their very names, when understood, proclaimed to whom they belonged, and the character of their God: and the prince of the eunuchs, instinctively feeling that such names would not suit his master’s court, gave them others, all of which were more or less connected with Babylon’s idols (Dan. 1:7).
The question now raised for Daniel and his companions was, whether for the sake of the world’s favor and advancement, they would yield to the king’s command. The answer had already been given: “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” (Dan. 1:8). As a Jew, obedient to the word of God, it was impossible for Daniel to eat the food of the Gentiles. Both the fat and the blood of those animals which were permitted to be eaten, were forbidden; and it was only of the clean beasts and birds that a Jew was allowed to partake. (See Lev. 7:22-27, Lev. 11, 22.) Unless, therefore, Daniel and his companions were prepared to surrender their faith, and to renounce the word of their God, they could not accept the royal provision. And there is another instruction—if an application may be made to ourselves. The food of the world, that in which man as man, alienated from God as he is, finds his strength and sustenance, is ever destructive to the spiritual life of the Christian; and if he would be a true Nazarite, and walk in the path of holy separation unto God, he must ever turn aside from the wine, the joys, of earth. The apostle thus writes, “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). In the attitude of Daniel we have then an example for all believers; and the closer it is followed, the more will they enjoy the conscious favor and blessing of God, and, as morally dead to things here, they will the more fully realize their true portion in Christ, in the place where He is.
We now read, as explanatory of what follows, that “God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs” (Dan. 1:9). Again we are reminded of the similar case of Joseph. Sold into Egypt, and becoming an inmate of Potiphar’s house, “he found grace” in his master’s sight. But, like Daniel, refusing the world’s food and wine, he, unlike Daniel, was cast into prison, where the Lord also “gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him”; and hence it was that the prince of the eunuchs, notwithstanding his fear of his lord the king, and the possible danger to his own life, granted through Melzar the request of Daniel, that he and his companions might be tested for ten days with pulse to eat and water to drink, instead of the king’s food and wine. God was with Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and hence it was that, at the end of the ten days, “their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat” (Dan. 1:15). God had sustained and prospered His servants in their path of fidelity to His will, in keeping themselves undefiled amid the Babylonish seductions and corruptions by which they were surrounded. Even Melzar could not gainsay that they had flourished on their simple regimen, and from then on he gave them pulse.
The reflection may be permitted, that there are many of the people of God who can walk in the narrow path of devoted discipleship as long as they are in the enjoyment, of the fellowship of saints, and in the midst of happy spiritual influences. But it is sometimes seen that such, when transported into a worldly circle, are apt to fall in with the practices and habits of their new society, and thus to lose their distinctness of walk, even if their testimony be not altogether extinguished. It is therefore full of refreshment and encouragement to ponder the spectacle presented by these four children of Judah. Deprived of all the privileges of the temple, the temple itself destroyed, themselves captives at the mercy of a heathen monarch, plied, too, with every sort of alluring temptation, they maintained the Nazarite’s place of true separation through obedience to the word of God. Doubtless it was the faith and energy of Daniel that acted on his companions, and led them to follow him in the path of God’s will; but if so, the others were willing to follow, and all four present a striking proof of the all-sufficiency of God’s grace to sustain His servants in the most unfavorable circumstances that could possibly be imagined.
The significant statement follows: “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams” (Dan. 1:17). “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will skew them His covenant.” This principle ever abides; and it is seen in all dispensations. It is first laid down by God Himself in the familiar words, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him” (Gen. 18:17-19). It appears also in the prayer of the apostle Paul for the Colossians, “That ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Col. 1:9). It is abundantly plain, in other words, that God gave these four “children” knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom because of their separation in heart and life from the defiling evils around. It is indeed ever true, that the nearer we are practically to the Lord, the more fully He communicates to us of His mind; and remark, that it is not only what is generally understood as “His mind,” but it is in all learning and wisdom. The students of modern days, even Christian students, are too often betrayed into the thought, that for the acquisition of human “learning and wisdom” they are dependent upon their own industry and power. The consequence is, that the years of their student-life are often marked by spiritual declension, if not by open backsliding. The example of the four “children” might well teach another lesson.
At the close of the verse Daniel is singled out from his fellows; for we are told, undoubtedly in view of his special work and mission, that he had understanding in all visions and dreams. Thereby, too, we are taught, that in all the circumstances and experiences through which God leads His people, He is forming them as vessels for His service. On the human side it was a calamity that had befallen Daniel; on God’s side, as is plainly revealed, this seeming calamity was but the instrumentality which He had chosen to form Daniel for his mission to carry His testimony into the court of the mighty Gentile monarch—His testimony concerning the powers which He had allowed to supersede His own direct government of the earth through Israel, and through Jerusalem as His dwelling-place and throne. But it is faith alone that can rise up beyond all secondary causes, connect everything with the hand of God, and at the same time peacefully rest in Him, assured of His infinite wisdom and love, and that the issue of all events will be according to His own perfect will.
The next three verses (Dan. 1:18-20) give the result before the king of the training to which the four children, as well as the others selected, had been subjected. All alike were brought into the royal presence, and Nebuchadnezzar himself examined the students of his college: he “communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm” (Dan. 1:19-20). They might each have thus adopted the language of the Psalmist: “Thou through Thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy precepts” (Psa. 119:98-100). Would that the lesson might be laid to heart by all the young Christians of the present day!
The chapter closes with the remark, that “Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.” He lived, therefore, to see the fall of the colossal empire of which Nebuchadnezzar was the monarch; he served under Darius the Mede, and witnessed the advent of Cyrus, of whom Isaiah had prophesied more than one hundred and fifty years before (see Isa. 44:28; 45:1-3; and more) as the one who should be instrumental in the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple. It should, however, be observed that this last verse is only a general statement that Daniel lived to see the accession of Cyrus; for in Daniel 10:1 we find that he received special revelations from God “in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia.” How far he may have survived that date is not mentioned; but the one given makes it certain that he lived to a good old age, exceeding, at any rate, the limits of threescore years and ten.