Miracles at the last moment -15

Introduction 

Daniel 2:46,48 “Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.”

            In the above passage we see Daniel was exalted by the Lord God and the king himself fell down before him. Daniel and his friends were more or less like refugees when they came to Babylon. They were so oppressed and afflicted in the new place. When we read from Daniel chapters one to six, we can see they faced three major afflictions. In Chapter one, they were taken to Babylon, Chapter three they face the fiery furnace and in chapter six they were put in the lion’s den. Despite of all these afflictions, Daniel had an unshakeable faith on the Lord almighty which paved the way for his victory.

Victory in Trials

Daniel 1:3-4 “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; 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.”

            Here we see the life of these young men who lived in the beautiful houses of Jerusalem. They faced a trial where they were taken as a captive to Babylon. This is due to the sins committed by their forefathers. This is clearly indicated in Jeremiah’s prophecy that is recorded in Jeremiah 25:11-12 / 29:10 which ultimately came to pass during BC 606-586. Though they were all taken as captives, Daniel believed that the Lord will not forsake him. He knew that the Lord will lead him and his people. One of the main reasons why they were victorious during this trial was they were spiritual devoted. They were socially experienced-, mentally keen and liked by other people. This attribute is more or less connected to the life of Jesus. In Luke 2:52 ‘And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.’ Daniel and the young men lived a sacred life in the sinful land of Babylon.

            In Daniel 1:5 ‘And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.’ In this passage we see it took three long years for them to get trained to face the King. We see the men who were brought up following the diet regime of the Bible were forced to consume foods offered to Babylonian idols. But they politely refuse to take them. If they had consumed, they would have disobeyed the commandment of the Lord. We read in Daniel 1:7 ‘Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.’ The boys were renamed by the prince of eunuchs. This is a sign of forceful conversion of a Jew into a Babylonian. Even in our lives, Satan might strive to convert us to lead a carnal life like others. But in order to be victorious like Daniel, we have to stand against these trials. We the children of God should never compromise on our spiritual guidelines. Like we read in Romans 12:1-2 ‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’

            Despite of all these conversions in terms of food, names and language, Daniel and his friends did not give up. The faith that they had on the Lord God made them to overcome all trials and temptations.

Victory by faith

Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

            In the above verse we see Daniel had a firm resolution in his heart where he made sure he will not defile himself. He was so determined and he kept investing his faith on the Lord. In Daniel 1:12,15 ‘Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.’ They set themselves in test and requested ten days to prove themselves. And in the end, everybody witnessed the result. The Lord honored the faith of Daniel. Though Daniel was given for a circumstance and tested, God did not forsake him. As we read in I Corinthians 10:13 ‘There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’ Even in our lives, we might be facing a lot of trials and temptations. But the Lord will come into the rescue and he will not make us suffer forever. If we make it a point to build our faith stronger during our trouble times, the Lord will honor it. Amen.