GOD IS THERE IN EXILE
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Opening Prayer
Thank you, Lord God, that when I read your Word, it will always offer me truth, assurance, and hope.
Read DANIEL 1
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Daniel’s Training in Babylon
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.
Reflect
Dear Lord, as ‘I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,’ teach me to ‘fear no evil … thy rod and thy staff they comfort [strengthen] me.’1
Every day in the media, we are confronted by the specter of displaced people on the move, seeking safety, security, and perhaps prosperity. Daniel and his fellow Jewish refugees in Babylon may have found safety, security, and potential prosperity, but they faced significant spiritual dangers such as those articulated in Psalm 137:4–6: ‘How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land’?
The presence of the Lord in Israel and his ability and availability to help the nation were closely associated with the temple in Jerusalem. Its demise, the fall of Judah, and the displacement of the population raised significant questions. Had the gods of the Babylonians proved too powerful for the Lord? Was God a tribal godling just like all the gods of the nations of the world? Could he survive the destruction of the temple and the displacement of his worshippers into foreign lands?
The answers to these questions are anticipated in what Brueggeman calls ‘theology of glory.’2 During the exodus wanderings, the glory of the Lord moved from place to place, eventually settling in Solomon’s Temple. Subsequently, the glory of the Lord departs from the discredited Jerusalem Temple and flies eastward to be among the exiles in Babylon.3 The Lord has always been omnipresent: he is not tied to any one place. It is this confidence that is expressed in today’s text (vv. 9, 13,17, 20).
Apply
Are you in a dark place? Are you a refugee, fleeing danger? Are you tempted to abandon God’s ways for popular cultures? Take courage. The Almighty is with you. Commit yourself to him.
Closing prayer
Forgive me, Father, for those times when I forget the fact that you are with me. Help me to live and act in the reality that you are always present, always caring, and ready to carry out your will.
1 Ps 23:4, AV. 2 W Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament (Fortress Press, 1997), 671. 3 Ezek 8–10.
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