DANIEL AND HIS FRIENDS OBEY GOD

When Nebuchadnezzar took the Judah princes to Babylon, he assigned them to a court official named Ashpenaz. Nebuchadnezzar directed Ashpenaz to find the healthiest and brightest young men among them. For three years, these young boys would be trained. The training would prepare them to be important Babylonian officials.

The boys had to learn to read, write, and speak Babylonian Akkadian. They were also expected to consume the same foods as the king and his court. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of these boys. Ashpenaz renamed them Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Babylonian. Will this education cause them to abandon God’s service?

These four boys were adamant about obeying God. They were aware that they should not consume the king’s food because God’s Law stated that some of it was unclean. ‘Please do not force us to eat the king’s food,’ they said to Ashpenaz. ‘If you don’t eat and the king sees you looking sick, he will kill me!’ said Ashpenaz.

Daniel had a thought. ‘Please give us only vegetables and water for ten days,’ he said to their guardian. Then compare us to the king’s food-eating boys.’ The guardian concurred.

Daniel and his three friends appeared to be in better shape than the other boys at the end of the ten-day test. God was pleased with their obedience. He even gave Daniel the ability to interpret visions and dreams.

When the boys’ training was completed, Ashpenaz brought them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king spoke with them and noticed that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were smarter and more alert than the other boys. He chose these four individuals to work in his royal court. The king frequently sought their advice on important matters. God had made them wiser than all the wise men and magicians of the king.

Despite being in a foreign land, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah never forgot who they were: God’s people.