Reading… and Thinking

At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

— Daniel 1:18-21 (ESV)

Daniel was a teenager when he was taken captive—maybe even in his early teens, since he was still serving 70 years later, when Cyrus took over. He was taken away from his home, his family, everything he had known. He would never be going back. And they made him a eunuch, which was the practice of the time. He would never again see the family he grew up in, and would never have a family of his own.

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah fared better than most of the Jews when Judah fell to the Babylonian king. Because they were from good families, and were smart, educated, and good looking, they were selected to be trained as courtiers in Babylon. They had it made! All they had to do was learn how to suck up to the Babylonians, and they were set for life.

But Daniel was different. He never showed any anger or bitterness about being uprooted. And he wasn’t seduced by the prospect of a life of ease. Whatever the circumstances, he determined to remain faithful to his God. This nearly got him in trouble right at the outset, when he didn’t want to defile himself by eating the food the king provided. But God blessed him and got him through that trial. As we read through the rest of Daniel, we see him as a man who always tells it like it is, never sugar coating anything, caring only for God and His principles – without regard to what men might think or say.

In this passage, we’re told that Daniel and his friends were ten times better than all the advisors the king had around him. Why? Because they told the truth! They weren’t trying to figure out what the king wanted to hear, and feeding him that. The king immediately recognized their value, and promoted them.

There is a powerful lesson here, for daily life and for our spiritual life. In daily life, we will do better to speak the truth, telling it like it is, rather than trying to tell the boss what he or she wants to hear. Even if we suffer some short-term problems, in the long run it will be clear that our integrity makes us more valuable. Don’t count on every boss being as sharp as Nebuchadnezzar, to see the value of having people of integrity working for him. But there are plenty of bosses out there who do see the value. Do you really want to work for someone who can’t see the value of integrity? How much loyalty are they going to show you?

On the spiritual side, it’s always wrong to compromise principle for short term benefit. If we do, it makes us just like the majority of humanity. Jesus says they are on the broad, easy road that leads to destruction! But if we stick to Bible principles, we will generally gain respect from those around us, and (far more important) we will stay in tune with God. He blessed Daniel and his friends, and will bless us as well. This isn’t a guarantee that we’ll never suffer for doing right. Certainly Daniel did suffer for his loyalty to God. But it is a guarantee of vindication in the end. And in the meantime, you have a very good chance of influencing the environment around you…for good.

P.S. Daniel’s friends are better known to most of us by their Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They too demonstrated loyalty to God, and put their lives on the line rather than worship an idol. Their story is recorded in Daniel chapter 3.