Six hundred years before the birth of Christ, the army of Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem. When Jerusalem fell, Babylonian soldiers rampaged through the city, killing, looting, and plundering. Those whose lives were spared faced a life of slavery in a foreign land. Despite this painful beginning, one of the captives grew up to be revered by kings and esteemed by God. His name meant God is my judge. We know him as the very first man who would Dare to be a Daniel.

I first heard this story when I was in Sunday School. After a lesson about this young man, we sang a hymn aptly called, Dare To Be A Daniel. Back then, I often just mumbled the words to hymns, but I can remember belting out this chorus:

Dare to be a Daniel!
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known!

From Dare To Be A Daniel (hymnary.org), P.P. Bliss (1873)

The Story Begins

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.

Daniel 1:1-2 NIV

Captivity In Babylon

Those who had survived the slaughter in Jerusalem faced a life of captivity in Babylon.

Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service 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. 

Daniel 1:3-4 NIV

Daniel Survives

Four of the captives were ‘chosen’ to serve the king. The final indignity they faced was that they were not even allowed to keep their own names.

Among those who were chosen 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…

…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.

Daniel 1:6-7, 17 NIV

Daniel Turned To God

Daniel turned to God. Rather than giving in to despair, he sought God with all his heart. And, as promised, he found God. The sorrow he faced would have crushed most people. He did not complain about what had happened. Instead, he chose to serve where God had placed him.

Chosen By The Conquerors

The conquerors picked out Daniel and the others who were smart, well-spoken, good-looking. They were selected to serve in the king’s palace. 

As I consider Daniel’s life, I cannot help but wonder how inclined I would have been to serve a king who had just slaughtered all my people? Given my rebellious nature as a teenager, I might have displayed a bit of an attitude. That would have been bad though because Daniel’s conquerors had a summary way of dealing with anyone who fought back.

If Daniel had done so, his story of Daniel would have ended in an anonymous grave along the road to Babylon.

When you ponder this story, you begin to understand the nature of a young man who lived to serve God. He watched in horror when Babylon invaded and destroyed the Temple of Solomon. He accepted the punishment of exile and captivity. He walked down the dry, dusty road to Babylon, knowing he would probably never see his homeland again.

Daniel never acted or lived as a victim because he accepted God’s will. He understood what had happened and why it happened. 

He Accepted God’s Punishment

Daniel accepted the will of God and the punishment inflicted upon his people. He accepted all the indignities he faced and turned to serving where God had placed him. 

His choice contrasts sharply with the conventioned wisdom of today. We often see people who embrace a  life of victimhood. They wallow in the difficulties they have face.  But Daniel did not live like a victim. He did not denounce God nor did he complain about the judgment upon the people of Israel.

He did neither of these things. Instead, he sought God just as the prophet Jeremiah instructed. As a boy growing up in Jerusalem, he would certainly have heard of the prophet After all, he and Jeremiah both lived in Jerusalem when the city fell to the Babylonians. At some point, Daniel may even have listened to the prophet say these words:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

Daniel sought God with all his heart. As a result, he was…

…Esteemed By God

Late in Daniel’s life, the angel Gabriel came to him and said this:

²³ As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed.

Daniel 9:23 NIV

Did God esteem Daniel because he was a great success? Becaue he held a lofty position? Because he wrote the Book of Daniel? No.

God esteemed Daniel because he was faithful and because he prayed. The angel told him– ‘As soon as you began to pray, a word went out…’

On the long march into slavery, Daniel prayed. When he faced kings and princes…he prayed. When he faced death…He prayed and his prayers were heard. Just like Daniel, we too can seek God through prayer. God has promised that we will find him when we seek him with our whole heart. And the most intimate setting in which we can approach God is in prayer when we are alone with him.

Dare To Be A Daniel

Daniel’s faith helped him face kings. Helped him survive captivity in a foreign land. With God, he was able to face down death threats without giving in.

The same faith that sustained Daniel can sustain us. His faith illustrates what it means to seek God. He built his relationship with God through prayer.

Daniel sought God with everything he had. If we seek him in the same way, we will find him too. I want to say with absolute conviction that I Dare to be a Daniel. I hope you do too.

Yours in Christ, Kurt

This is part II of the series Seeking & Finding God — The Greatest Journey of All.

Click here for the first post in the series. Seeking & Finding God