17 Now AS for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. And at the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and 20 Azariah; therefore stood they before the king. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all 21 the magicians and enchanters that were in all his realm. And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
How did God honor the fidelity to principle which was shown by Daniel and his companions?
What special gift was bestowed upon Daniel?
What happened at the end of their course of study?
Who was their chief examiner?
With what honor did Daniel and his companions pass their examination?
What position was assigned them?
How did they rank with the educated Babylonians in the practical administration of affairs?
How long did Daniel remain in the province of Babylon?
NOTES.
1. THE experience of Daniel and his companions is an illustration of the divine plan for acquiring an education. Our part of the work of obtaining knowledge is to keep the body in the best possible condition by obeying the laws of God for our physical well-being, and then to apply the mental power to the utmost in seeking to grasp the truth. This opens the channel through which God imparts His own thoughts. Read Prov. 2: 1-9 for the inspired declaration of these principles.
2. To Daniel and his companions was granted the privilege of representing the true Gospel principles in Babylon. They were to set forth the fundamental experience of Christianity, the manifestation of the divine life in the flesh (1 Tim. 3: 16), and in them was to be demonstrated the superiority of the laws and principles of the heavenly kingdom. The work which Hezekiah the king, and others who followed him, failed to do in Jerusalem, was now to be done by Daniel and his companions as captives in Babylon. And this teaching of the truth was to be done, not by preaching sermons in certain set phrases, but by the experience of the fact in their lives. But this was altogether a matter of faith in God on their part. Only a living faith in divine principles would give them the courage to risk their all upon these principles right in Babylon. The result showed that to be right by faith in God and His Word is the experience of knowing how to do the right thing in the right way at the right time, when others fail, and that even a heathen can distinguish the difference between this genuine righteousness by faith and the highest degree of Babylonish wisdom. And thus was the message of justification by faith, the good news of a divine life dwelling in human flesh as its wisdom and power, the glory of God in His own temple, proclaimed as a reality amid the darkness and error of Babylon.
3. Two charges are usually brought against the diet which was originally given to man by his Creator. The first is that it tends to physical weakness, and the second is that it does not supply sufficient nutriment for the best quality of brain-work. The experience of Daniel and his companions is a sufficient answer to both these charges. Through them God set forth in Babylon the fact that health of body and vigor of intellect are both the natural result of living in harmony with the divine plan.
4. From the facts recorded in this first chapter of Daniel it is evident that there is the most intimate relation between diet and righteousness by faith. They are in fact simply the physical and the spiritual sides of the same great truth,—the gift of the life from God to man and the right way of receiving that life so that God may be glorified in the best possible service.
