Chapter 39—Daniel a Captive in Babylon

This chapter is based on Daniel 1.

Among the children of Israel carried captive to Babylon were men as true as steel to principle, men who would honor God at the loss of all things. In the land of their captivity these were to carry out God's purposes as His representatives. Their faith and their name as worshipers of the living God they were to bear as a high honor.SS 248.1

The fact that they were captives and that the vessels of God's house had been placed in the temple of the Babylonish gods was cited by the victors as evidence that their religion was superior to that of the Hebrews. Yet God gave Babylon evidence of His supremacy, of the holiness of His requirements, and of the sure results of obedience.SS 248.2

Daniel and his three companions were illustrious examples of what men may become who unite with God. From the simplicity of their home, these youth of royal line were taken to the most magnificent of cities and into the court of the world's greatest monarch. They were “children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science.”SS 248.3

Seeing in these youth remarkable ability, Nebuchadnezzar determined that they should be trained to fill important positions. He arranged for them to learn the language of the Chaldeans and for three years to be granted the unusual educational advantages afforded princes of the realm.SS 248.4

The king did not compel the Hebrew youth to renounce their faith in favor of idolatry, but he hoped to bring this about gradually.SS 249.1

By giving them names significant of idolatry, by bringing them daily into close association with idolatrous customs, and under the influence of the seductive rites of heathen worship, he hoped to induce them to renounce their religion and to unite with the worship of the Babylonians.SS 249.2