Year 9, Day 335: Daniel 1

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Something strikes me about Daniel.  Notice that Daniel isn’t forceful in any way.  Daniel is brought to Babylon and set up royally in the palace.  He’s given lavish food.  But he doesn’t want any of it.  He wants to abide by His God’s might, not the might of Babylon and whatever gods the food may have been blessed by.

To this end, though, Daniel doesn’t make demands.  In verse 8 we are told that Daniel asks the person over him if he would be allowed to not defile himself.  In the conversation, Daniel proposes a small simple test that wouldn’t be much of a risk to anyone’s health.  Daniel is a person who moves subtle, gently, and gives grace to those around him.

It works.  The authority over Daniel feels comfortable listening to Daniel and allows the trial.  It goes well.  God blesses Daniel and his friends.  They prosper in Babylon under Gods care.  They prosper, not because of some radical hard line in the sand that Daniel metaphorically drew.  They prosper because Daniel is willing to go about God’s will in a peaceful and graceful manner.

So often people of faith – any faith – react as though dialogue and communication are swear words and anti-religious.  We shouldn’t ever compromise our faith, of course.  Dialogue, though, is one of our main tools!  Look at Jesus and how He did ministry; He did it almost exclusively through dialogue and conversation.  When people of faith act in a way that severs communication, then we have lost plain and simple.

Daniel wins because he acts graciously.  He gives the people around him room to think.  He allows the people around him to see the example God makes out of him.  Rather than forcing people into a corner and forcing them to choose, he allows people to warm up to him and embrace his ideas and see the sanity contained within them.

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