Our preceding lessons about being “set apart” placed us on the launching pad anxiously awaiting to hear, “…three, two, one, we have lift-off!”  As set apart servants of the Living God, we are arrows in the hands of our well qualified Archer Who desires to see us share Him with the world. 

We are dwelling in a world that truly is far from God.  We are engaged in a daily struggle as the powers of darkness clash with The One True Light.  As I have read and studied and taught the Word for several decades, I have come to a firm realization.  Our culture of today isn’t any different than the biblical cultures described in Babylon, Corinth, Rome, Egypt, Persia, Assyria or any other locality or generation.  

All the way back through the days of Noah to the pristine Garden of Eden, the enemy has been sowing seeds of discord. Through technologies available today, we are able to see and hear about it on the hour, every hour, on a pocket-sized device.  This shrinking world suggests that sin seems to be winning.  Take courage! God is still God.  The enemy always sows evil.  We must take our stand as lights in a dark place. 

How DO we stand firm and live “set apart” lives?  These next few lessons will highlight the story of Daniel in the Old Testament.  I once heard a preacher say, “Well, if you’re looking for a true servant of God, read about the life of Daniel.  I dare you to try to find any dirt on Daniel!” 

He was NOT saying that Daniel was sinless.  He WAS saying that wherever Daniel is mentioned in scripture, he is doing his best to live a set apart life.  From a very young teenager all the way into his 90’s, he never wavered in his convictions.  When it came to his prayer life, you could set your clocks by his faithfulness. He was unafraid to speak the truth.  Hungry lions didn’t scare him.  He lived in a state of immediate confession of sin with repentance.  He considered his prayer life as an indicator of the state of his personal relationship to His Lord.  

Daniel was born in the land of Israel around the year 620BC.  His heritage was the tribe of Judah, the tribe of the Messiah yet to come.  Because of disobedience, the northern kingdom of Israel had fallen to Assyria in 722BC.  The southern kingdom of Judah would fall to Babylon in 586BC.  That year, the temple Solomon had built in Jerusalem would be destroyed.

The crumbling of Judah started long before the actual fall of Judah.  In His grace and mercy, God had sent many prophets to warn the people of both kingdoms.  Their messages had (for the most part) all been ignored.  Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon ordered his men to bring young men of Israel as some of the first captives taken in 605BC.  These were to be youths without defect, good looking, intelligent, wise, knowledgeable in every learning discipline.  They were to learn the language of Babylon and all literature. They were to be customized Babylonians.

For three years, they were to be brain washed so that they would fully become melded into the culture.  However, ole Nebby never expected those four teen-aged boys to be heart sealed unto God!  Daniel was one of four young men of Judah (the royal line!) chosen to serve in the court of the king of Babylon.  We know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  Daniel’s new name would become Belteshazzar.

Their first assignment was to be fed with food from the table of this pagan king of Babylon. They had already been kidnapped from their homeland.  All four endured name changes from Hebrew to Chaldean.  Stand taking time arrived.

As you read in Daniel one, their food ration was assigned to be delivered from the king’s table.  This food and drink were anathema to them, biblically forbidden.  They each determined not to partake of it.  They requested a vegetable and water diet.  Their caretaker agreed, facing the potential consequence of losing favor with the king and losing his head to the swordsman.  After ten days, these young men were healthy and fit. 

After three years of training, they met with the king, fluent in the local language, well prepared to serve in the courts of Babylon.  Pagan Babylon would soon discover they were loyal servants of God!