Discussions in Daniel (4) Daniel 1:14-21
Daniel 1:14-21 God honours Daniel’s faithfulness
Sheralyn: I love that prayer at the end of the devotional that reminds me that no matter how much evil our Prime Minister and his cabinet do, God is still sovereign, he allows the positions… Lord, teach me to be as discerning and wise as Daniel in these days .
Megan: Wow. Imagine having access to the best food in the nation and saying no to it. I’d imagine that it was actually so tough for Daniel and his friends. It’s such a great example of how just because we can do certain things, it doesn’t mean we should. We live in a time where everything is at the end of our fingertips but we need to discern what God is asking us not to engage in (even things that aren’t overtly wrong) to remain set apart for His purpose. This is not always obvious so we have to be sober and alert at all times to hear the voice of God.
Nick: Matt 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”.
The king and Eunuchs saw the fruit in Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, their light shone and no others were found like them. There is even multiplication: the other youths were given the same diet once the fruit was evident at the end of the 10 days. The 4 of them witness to their fear of the LORD through their sonship identity in the LORD. As sons and daughters of God we too must shine our lights and bear witness to the good works of what Christ has done for us. If we eat the same food (not literal food) as the world we’ll lose our saltiness.
Ian: I think it was St Francis of Assisi who said, “Go into the marketplace to preach the gospel and, if necessary, use words.” Our lives can speak volumes. As Nick says, let’s allow our light to shine for the world to see.
Julian (11): God is powerful! In this scripture we see him showing it off to the Babylonians. ‘ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. ‘ Proverbs 3:5-6. He will direct your actions if you submit fully to him. Daniel and his friends submitted to God and they were proved fitter and healthier than all the other men.
Keith: I love history. So today I have a simple observation which, for several reasons has to be an estimation.
Daniel was taken to Babylon, as a youngster in the 605 cream off the Hebrew people. Scholars estimate Daniel was circa 20 years old. Because of “faith decisions” he was in an influential position “until Cyrus came..” And we know he was still there when Darius arrived. Cyrus arrived after conquering Babylon 538 BC. Daniel was still there when Darius the Mede, ruling Medo-Persia, arrived. So, we conclude Daniel was around 87 yrs old when Cyrus employed him, and would have been estimated 103 when Darius took over.
My point is that youthful faith can create life decisions that build influential solid-rock-like careers and lifestyles.
All guess work about when he was born and we have no clue when Daniel died, but he certainly lived to serve Darius the Great.
Mary: Yes Keith I was thinking about Daniel’s age too and his long career. There were many regime changes over the years. We tend to read it as though it all happened in a generation or so, but there were a lot of years with just a few highlights. The rest of the time he was just faithfully being Daniel.
That’s another lesson for us – to simply ‘be’ , even when it feels like business as usual.