Immerse yourself in the intriguing beginnings of Daniel’s story, where his commitment to God sets a powerful example of staying true to one’s beliefs. This episode journeys through the initial trials faced by Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in Babylon, offering deep reflections on divine favor and wisdom. The narratives in Alan’s journals, from decades of personal Bible reading, provide rich context and personal applications that remain relevant today.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
SPEAKER 03 :
Today we begin the book of Daniel. I’ll use my English Standard Version Study Bible book introduction to introduce us to this fine prophetic book out of the Old Testament. The book of Daniel, named after and written by Daniel in the 6th century BC, records the events and visions of his life from the time of his exile in 605 BC until the third year of King Cyrus in 536 BC. Daniel’s name means God is my judge. He was a young man of noble blood who was exiled from Judah to Babylon where he served in the Babylonian court until that empire fell. He finished out with King Cyrus of the Medes and Persian empire that succeeded the Babylonians. The theme of Daniel is God’s sovereignty over history and empires, setting up and removing kings as he pleases. Some of Daniel’s visions are so precise, some scholars think they were written after the events actually occurred, not as prophecy in advance. The detail of Daniel’s prophecies is unparalleled in the rest of the Bible. It served his own generation well and is the key to unlocking much of the prophecies in the book of Revelation today. So as we look at the book of Daniel, see it for more than great stories about a fiery furnace and a lion’s den. Listen to understand also the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. Our guest reader for the book of Daniel is Brad Lidge. Brad Lidge was a major league baseball pitcher here in the United States of America. He was the former closer for the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies. Brad went to Cherry Creek High School in Denver, Colorado with my two sons. He was drafted out of Notre Dame in 1998 as the first round pick of the Houston Astros. After five seasons with Houston, he was traded to the Phillies in 2008. That year, Brad had a perfect season, converting all 41 save opportunities. He completed his perfect season with seven of seven saves in the playoffs. I remember watching him on TV as he struck out the final batter in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series to clinch a world championship for the Philadelphia Phillies. What a magic moment for me and, of course, for Brad Lidge. He dropped to his knees, hands raised in the air, as his teammates mobbed him on the mound. Later, I asked him what that moment was like. He recalled saying at that time, Oh my God, we just won the World Series. Brad is a friend of our family and the Ezra Project. He was in my two sons’ weddings and they in his. He has been a strong supporter of the Ezra Project mission for over a decade. Today, Brad is retired from baseball and lives with his wife and kids here back in Colorado. He currently hosts Inside Pitch on Sirius XM’s network radio weekdays from 2 to 5 Eastern Time. Brad had a 95 mile an hour fastball and a wicked slider. I can’t wait to listen to him as he reads the book of Daniel with us. Let’s listen to Brad Lidge on Daniel chapter 1.
SPEAKER 02 :
The book of Daniel chapter 1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar to the house of his God and placed the vessels in the treasury of his God. Then the king commanded Ashfenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of food that the king ate and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king and Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names. Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear my lord the king who assigned your food and your drink. For why should he see that you are in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king. Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you. and deal with your servants according to what you see. So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were in better appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables. As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” 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.
SPEAKER 03 :
To help us through the book of Daniel, I have selected three of my personal Bible reading journals. One is one of the first journals I ever wrote. I started journaling in 1983, and I’m going to use my journal from 1988 in the book of Daniel, as well as my journal from 2005 and my journal from 2012. So let’s begin with my personal Bible reading journal on the book of Daniel from 1988. Concerning Daniel chapter 1, I wrote, Daniel stands by his convictions, did not want to defile himself with worldly pleasures like the king’s food. God blessed their convictions by blessing their bodies with strength, their minds with wisdom. Help me stand for Jesus. Bless my body with strength and my mind with wisdom, so I may be wise counsel. In 2005, I wrote in my personal Bible reading journal concerning Daniel 1, God’s Favor. Daniel and the others were blessed, quote, with no defects, good looking, showing intelligence and every branch of wisdom endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge. I wrote nice gift package. Daniel was also spiritually strong, and I quoted verse 8. Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself. And then I continue to write, God honored Daniel’s decision and granted him favor in the sight of the commander of officials. Daniel didn’t buckle to political pressure or the enticement of the world, the king’s table. He stood on his inner convictions, and God granted him favor. And in 2012, concerning Daniel chapter 1, I wrote, First, God keeps his promises. Israel is overrun by Babylon for disobedience. Next, God endows each of us with natural gifts. And I quoted that verse again. Youths, without blemish of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning, and competent. That’s a good list of gifting for Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then I continue to write, Next, we learn Daniel had inner strength. He resolved that he would not defile himself. His culture and religion mattered to him. Though in a strange place far away from home, he keeps his resolve. And I quoted verse 9, And God gave Daniel favor and compassion. I continue to write, Furthermore, God gave them learning and skill. Behind the scenes, God is working. What is he doing behind the scenes in my life? What gifting has he endowed me with? The book of Daniel opens with the fulfillment of others’ prophecies as Israel, Jerusalem, falls to the Babylonians. That was prophesied by many other prophets well before it happened. Jews were taken out of Jerusalem and taken to Babylon, and Daniel was among them. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is looking for some bright Jewish young stars to help him build his kingdom. Let’s look at verse 3. Then the king commanded Aspenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish of good appearance, and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace. Verse 6 says, among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah of the tribe of Judah. So those characteristics describe Daniel and Mishael. shadrach meshach and abednego that’s how we know daniel came from nobility or a royal family the names of these young jewish stars were changed by the babylonians daniel’s jewish name meant god is my judge they changed it to belshazzar o lady protector of the king Hananiah meant Yahweh is gracious. His name was changed to Shadrach, I am very fearful of the moon god. Mishael, whose name meant who is what God is, was changed to Meshach, I am of little account, or who is like Aku, one of the Babylonian gods. And Azariah, whose name meant Yahweh is a helper, was changed to Abednego, servant of the Shining One, or another Babylonian god. The names were changed because Nebuchadnezzar sought to assimilate the exiles into Babylon culture by obliterating their religious and cultural identity and creating dependence upon the royal court. These young Hebrews were schooled in the language and mythology of the Babylonians, and their food was assigned from the king’s table, reminding them constantly of the source of their daily bread. But in verse 8, we see the character of Daniel. The verse says, but Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine that he drank. And because of that, we see in verse 9, and God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. What a lesson from Daniel that if we resolve to stand spiritually, God can give us favor. Maybe Daniel didn’t want to eat the king’s food because it was sacrificed to idols. We don’t really know why. But we know he did not want to defile himself in a foreign land. So he puts the eunuchs to a test saying, just feed us vegetables and see how we do. Verse 15 says, That’s God’s favor. Verse 17 continues that favor. As for these four youths, that’s Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of their three-year training, and they were trained with many others, verse 19 says, 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. That’s God’s favor. That’s God’s compassion. Because Daniel resolved that he wouldn’t defile himself in a foreign land. How about you? Do you cave into the culture around you? Or do you have resolve to stand against the cultural pressures of our day? Daniel did in a foreign land. You too can stand on your convictions. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion. He may give the same two gifts to you. How would you like to be found 10 times better than everybody else around you because of God’s favor in your life? It happened to Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It can happen to you. Let’s pray. Father, thank you for the opening chapter of the book of Daniel. Thank you for the excitement we see as this young man, Daniel, stands firm in his convictions, even as an exile in a foreign land. And because of that, you grant him favor and compassion and raised him up to be a leader serving the king of Babylon. Help us see the same things in our life. Help us stand firm against the cultural pressure of our day. And Lord, grant us favor and compassion so that we may be examples to those around us because we serve the living God. In your name, we ask it and we pray. Amen.
