Daniel—the Captive Prince

Daniel—the captive prince

Introduction: Daniel is one of the most well-known people in the whole Bible. Phrases like “the writing on the wall” and “thrown to the lions” are based on events in Daniel’s life—and he actually lived through these events, and more. He had the chance to reject the God of his past, but chose to live for Him even though he was a captive and likely never saw his homeland during the rest of his natural life. His faithfulness in a very difficult time is an inspiration for me, and I hope will be an inspiration for all who read his book.

This first message focuses on one significant event in Daniel’s life, probably not long after he and other captives had arrived in Babylon. Daniel may not have known it at the time, but when he decided to live God's way in a foreign land, God would bless him and use him in ways he may have never dreamed of. May we, too, remain faithful to God, no matter where we might be.

I Daniel’s background

Text: Daniel 1:1, KJV: In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. 3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; 4 Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

Daniel was one of the Israelites carried captive to Babylon during the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, hinted at in 2 Kings 24. This captivity happened several years before the final captivity during Zedekiah’s reign (see 2 Kings 25 and Jeremiah 39 for details). Daniel was a member of the royal family, but his father’s name was not revealed (Daniel 1:3). He survived the capture, the journey to Babylon itself, and was chosen to be part of the Babylonian king’s staff. Later the sons of Zedekiah, plus other nobles of Judah, met an awful fate, when they were put to death by Nebuchadnezzar’s men at Riblah (Jeremiah 39:6-7). At the very least, this shows that God had a very special plan for Daniel.

Yet, one thing about Daniel has never been documented, at least as far as I can find in the Scriptures, and that is when he became a believer in the True God of Israel. Daniel at the very least lived during the same days as Jehoiakim, son of Josiah and Scripture records that Jehoiakim “did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done (2 Kings 23:37).” Before that, Josiah was one of the best and sadly the last good king Judah ever had. This may show that the efforts of Josiah to bring Judah back to God bore some fruit (see 2 Kings 23), but, sadly, not among his own offspring: the last kings all did evil in God’s eyes.

This, then, gives us a bit of Daniel’s background: he was a member of the royal family, he was spared from death both at Jerusalem and during the long march to Babylon, and somehow he had become a believer in the God of Israel. Even so, he was a captive in a foreign, pagan land, and I’m sure he wondered, just what am I going to do now? What’s going to happen next?

II Daniel’s challenges

Sure enough, Daniel and some other captive youths were selected (!) for a special training program. The king of Babylon, like many other monarchs of the time, had absolute power and a person risked a lot if he said “No” when the king said “Go (this can be readily seen in the next few chapters)” Here is a brief description of this training program, taken from Daniel 1:

Daniel 1:4, KJV: Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans (this verse repeated for emphasis)

Daniel was not the only Hebrew youth, apparently, who met this first “screening” process: he had no obvious blemishes, he already had some knowledge of knowledge and science, and he knew how to conduct himself in the king’s palace. Clearly not every youth would have met those standards, and it would be interesting to discover what kind of rubric or measurements were used to select Daniel and some others, rejecting the rest. But that is not available in the text.