The Personal History of Dani’el
1: 1-21
Elizabeth Elliot, a Christian missionary, author, and speaker, was twice widowed; first by the martyred death of missionary Jim Elliot and then by the death of her second husband, theologian Addison Leitch. She tells of how helpful the Apostles’ Creed was to her as she mourned the loss of Dr. Leitch. She used it to answer the question: What things have not changed even though my husband has died? One might imagine Dani’el and his friends asking a similar question after being hauled off to Babylon in 605 BC, far from Judah and all that was near and dear and clear. They might have wondered, what had not changed even though they had been carted to Babylon? And the text of Dani’el Chapter 1 answers that question. ADONAI has not changed; He is still there, wherever “there” is. Dani’el Chapter 1 hammers this point home three times with the theological note: ADONAI gave, in verses 2, 9, and 17 (Hebrew: nathan, meaning to give). Dani’el will stir our souls in Chapter 2 with his ringing declaration to Nebuchadnezzar, “but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries (2:28a).” Indeed, it is the foundation of Dani’el Chapter 2. But in Dani’el Chapter 1 the writer makes a similar, yet different, point. He is saying, “There is a God in Babylon.” How, then, do we recognize His Presence.14
The book of Dani’el is also significant because it bridges the gap between Isra’el’s historical writings and the B’rit Chadashah. It records events in Jewish history during the Babylonian Captivity (see the commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule) that would have otherwise gone unrecorded because no other biblical author covered the topic as extensively as Dani’el. A rabbinic commentary on Dani’el provides the following concise historical background for the book. The declining years of the kingdom of Judah were turbulent and bloody. They marked the end of the glorious period that began with the crossing of the Jordan into Eretz Yisra’el (the Land of Isra’el) and reached its zenith with the reigns of David and Solomon. The decline led to the tragedy of the Temple’s destruction and Isra’el’s exile to Babylon. There, laying the groundwork for the future rebirth of Jewish national greatness, was a boy being groomed for royal ministry in the academy of Nebuchadnezzar’s court. His name was Dani’el.
The book of Jeremiah extensively covers the reasons for the divine punishment of Judah at the hands of the Babylonians. Dani’el records the perspective of those who were already in captivity. The book begins with a description of Dani’el’s life and time in exile. Verses 1-7 provide information about the deportations of Jews to Babylon and the selection of exiles by Nebuchadnezzar (see Ak – Dani’el’s Deportation to Babylon); verses 8-16 describe the testing of Dani’el and his friends (see Al – Dani’el’s Devotion to God); and verses 17-21 conclude with Dani’el’s blessing (see Am – Dani’el’s Reputation in Babylon).15
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