Sometime I wonder why I don’t put together the pieces of God’s puzzle earlier than I do. As I read chapter 1 of Daniel I saw the foundations of the malicious attitudes toward Daniel and his friends were laid from their early training days in Babylon. This group of young men from Judah, maybe as old as teenagers, were made into eunuchs. But in spite of such an affront to their future these four Jews stood out among their peers by choosing to remain faithful to God. That probably didn’t set well with their fellow Jewish students. Then the four remained committed to the dietary requirements of the Law. God bless Daniel in such a way that the other new eunuchs had their lavish food and wine taken from them. I’ll bet that didn’t set well either. At the end of their three years of school Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah proved to be better trained than not only their classmates, but also their teachers and all the other wise men of Babylon. The stage was set for the continual finger-pointing and accusations that were to be made against these faithful four for the rest of their lives.
It took me about 15 minutes to read this passage.
Stuart
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