Dan 1:3-4 | KingComments | STEP | Nebuchadnezzar wants to train a number of young Judean men to serve at his court and to give them an important position in his country’s government. He acts according to the principle ‘he who has the youth, has the future’. In , a profile of these young men is given. Among them are Daniel and his three friends. Daniel belongs to the Judean nobility. He was brought to Babylon at the first transportation. The prophet Isaiah prophesied the deportation of these men to Babylon: And [some] of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon” ( ). These men are chosen to increase the glory of Nebuchadnezzar. But God uses these young men from Judah to provide a testimony for Himself in Babylon with the most powerful man on earth. In order to free them completely from their own way of thinking and to introduce them into Babylon’s way of thinking, a program with three main points must be followed. In order to do good service, the first point is “to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans”. This part of the program focuses on their mind, what they should take in, in their mind and how they should pass on their knowledge in words to others. This is in contrast, to being taught in “the sacred writings” ( ) and speaking “the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” ( ). As a current application we can look at the Bible translation we use. Is it a reliable translation? We can also think of the songs we sing. The use of these means, form our spirit and our language. Therefore, it is good to ask ourselves what we read and sing.

‏ Daniel 1:3-4

Education

Nebuchadnezzar wants to train a number of young Judean men to serve at his court and to give them an important position in his country’s government. He acts according to the principle ‘he who has the youth, has the future’. In Dan 1:3-4, a profile of these young men is given. Among them are Daniel and his three friends.

Daniel belongs to the Judean nobility. He was brought to Babylon at the first transportation. The prophet Isaiah prophesied the deportation of these men to Babylon: And [some] of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon” (Isa 39:7). These men are chosen to increase the glory of Nebuchadnezzar. But God uses these young men from Judah to provide a testimony for Himself in Babylon with the most powerful man on earth.

In order to free them completely from their own way of thinking and to introduce them into Babylon’s way of thinking, a program with three main points must be followed. In order to do good service, the first point is “to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans”. This part of the program focuses on their mind, what they should take in, in their mind and how they should pass on their knowledge in words to others.

This is in contrast, to being taught in “the sacred writings” (2Tim 3:15) and speaking “the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” (Tit 2:1). As a current application we can look at the Bible translation we use. Is it a reliable translation? We can also think of the songs we sing. The use of these means, form our spirit and our language. Therefore, it is good to ask ourselves what we read and sing.