7 25 03

10:38a

Daniel 1

Chapter one seems to be an overview of Daniel�s preparation for Nebuchadnezzar�s service. When Nebuchadnezzar besieged Judah and took it over, said king chose some of the Judeans to train and use in his court. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were among those chosen, so they underwent language classes, history lessons and the like; they were educated in order to be of proper service. They were also given Babylonian names. Daniel was called Belteshazzar, Hananiah was called Shadrach, Mishael was called Meshach and Azariah was called Abednego. Now, ya�ll are familiar with those last three, what with the firey furnace and all.

===As an aside, I think it�s quite interesting that my spell check thinks �Daniel� and �Shadrach� are okay but all the rest of those names are not.===

Anyway, starting in verse 8, Daniel makes his first wave. He refuses to eat the food and wine the king put out for him. That either takes a lot of faith in the protection of God or is caused by the arrogance of being a spoiled rich kid. Think about it. Here you have a king who has just taken over your kingdom. You�re the son of a royal, of someone high up in the leadership food chain. You get pulled away from your activities, no longer do you oversee the nobles from gray-sparrow ridge or whatever� now you�re under house arrest, you have to learn a foreign language, history, literature, you have to be nice to this guy who pretty much just took away all your toys.

Now, this guy who completely changed your life has offered you the rich foods from the king�s table� the meats and sauces and gravy and delicious smelling things and wine to aid in digestion as well as being pleasing to the palate.

What does Daniel do? He doesn�t thank God that he�s received this reprieve. Instead of being killed or beheaded or used as an example of what happens to recalcitrant, foreign noble boys� he is offered this position in the new king�s court, good food, good housing� And Daniel says �no thanks, don�t like fish� could I just have a couple green beans please?�

Heh. I think I like Daniel.

*grins*