Daniel 1: Elect Exiles

The city fell into the hands of Babylon The captors of Jerusalem thought that they had won The battle against the God of Jerusalem Had God forsaken the people of His kingdom? The kings of Judah had turned away from their Lord Their heinous sins brought upon them God’s mighty sword The people were unrepentant despite many warnings Conveyed by God’s prophets to idolatrous kings In the third year of King Jehoiakim’s evil reign Under the mighty sword of God who was sovereign The king of Judah was taken to Babylon He rebelled and God punished him as he had sworn Nebuchadnezzar, the great king of Babylon Proudly brought back some spoils of war that he had won The spoils were the king of Judah and the vessels Valuable vessels plundered from the Lord’s temple He placed the vessels in his god’s house in Shinar He also brought some youths of Judah from afar The youths were of royalty and nobility Good looking, wise, smart and of high competency In the palace, the youths were taught the literature Language, mythologies, manners, ways and culture Of the Chaldeans; the pagan ways of Babylon The youths’ minds were to be influenced and ‘reborn’ Among the youths were Daniel and Azariah As well as Mishael and Hananiah They were given new names and new identities Their new names were coined after pagan deities Daniel, who was given the name, Belteshazzar Resolved not to eat food from Nebuchadnezzar He and his friends resolved not to be defiled With the food and wine offered to idols so vile He asked the chief of the eunuchs with God’s wisdom To be given a trial of ten days and the freedom To consume only vegetables and plain water Their appearance was to be assessed thereafter God granted him and his friends favour with the chief Who, after the ten-day trial, felt utter relief For compared to all the youths who ate the king’s food They looked much better and fatter and very good They honoured God as exiles in a foreign land They possessed faith that the world could not understand Their faith rested in God’s promise to Abraham From their tribe would come the Christ, the Passover Lamb As Christians, we are elect exiles in our land We possess faith that the world cannot understand So great is the temptation to conform To the world and compromise our faith in the storm But Christ has redeemed us as His holy people His Spirit soothes and guides us in times of trouble Let us resolve to live with sincere devotion Set apart as people of God’s holy nation