I only got through the first chapter because there was so much in this small amount of text.
So I am gonna share a little bit with yall
Daniel 1:3-7
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in 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. [b] 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 these 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.
The first thing that I saw in this passage was the fact that Daniel was chosen out of hundreds of thousands of teenage boys in Israel. God had a plan for daniels life even after he had been abducted by the Babylonian Army and his parents were probably killed, possibly in front of him he still remained faithful to GodThe Second is that one of the first things that King did was change Daniel and his friends names.
I think that many times the first thing that the devil does is he tries to change our names. He tries to put labels on us like "freak" "stupid" "fat" "Worthless" he puts names on us that were not supposed to be there all of these guys names originally meant to do something For God or an Attribute of God. The King changed their names from honoring the one true god of Isreal "Yahweh" to the gods of the Babylonians he tried to shape their identity. But God Changes names all the time like with Simon who we know as peter or Jacob to Isreal or Saul to Paul
God changed many names throughout History he took the labels of the world off of people
I also find it very profound that not only did daniel make a stand for god all three of his friends made a stand for god saying that "They Have a Cause" and they stood in a fiery furnace because they refused to bow down and worship another god!!
They said In the words of Shane and Shane "Burn us up, Burn us up"
God used all of these Israeli boys to do increadable things even after the King tried to stop them!!
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. 910[c] 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." but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel,
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.
I find that one of the keys to Daniels success was FASTING!!"These things shall come through prayer and fasting"
In these verses it talks about how daniel and his friends were offered the food of the Babylonians but they didn't want to eat it because it wasn't kosher and it had probably been used as a part of worship to the Babylonian Gods.
So daniel challenged the Babylonian Guard saying "let us eat just vegtables and fruits"
I love how Daniel challenged the Guard,
I think that Daniel was stating that his God would provide because he is Our provider!
I believe that this FAST was a very key part to daniels success!
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 in, 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.
The last thing that God showed me in this passage of scripture was the fact that Daniel and his friends were the Valedictorians of Babylon UThat the guys between the ages of 15-17 were the smartest in all of Babylon
God blessed them with increadable knowledge because of their dedication to him!
