HDWN? Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego… & Daniel

Happy Tuesday morning! Aren’t you so glad it isn’t Monday anymore?

This week we’re diving into another OT story… one that I, quite honestly, have heard 48927508 times and never connected. Today, we’re talking about the Judahite Dudes, none other than Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego (from the fiery furnace) and Daniel (from the lions’ den)! Did you guys realize these stories were interconnected? I sure didn’t! I can’t wait to dive into this!

Our story begins in King Jehoiakim of Judah’s third year as Regional Manager (ie King). In this fateful year, King Nebuchadnezzar (say that 5 times fast) of Babylon overtook the city of Jerusalem. The Lord handed over King J-Kim to King Chad, along with some of the vessels (aka sacred objects) of the house of God (capital G). Kind Chad takes these vessels back to Babylon with him as collector’s items and places them in the house of his god (lowercase g) (Daniel 1:1-2).

King Chad orders Ashpenaz (what a coincidence - that’s the name I had planned for my first child!), the chief eunuch - yes, this man was castrated - to bring some of the royal Israelites to Babylon. Ashpenaz isn’t told to bring back just any members, though… Here’s his checklist:

1. No physical defects

2. Must be hot

3. Must be “suitable for instruction in all wisdom” 

4. Knowledgeable

5. Perceptive

6. Capable of serving in a king’s palace

Ashpenaz (I just love saying that name!) is also tasked with teaching them to speak and read the Chaldean language (Daniel 1:3-4). The king assigns royal provision to the men Ashpenaz brings him, daily meals of his own royal food and drinks from his own royal wine. The men were to be trained for 3 years, and after those years, they would serve the king. Ashpenaz reviews all the royal Israelite resumes until he finds young men that fit all of the criteria. Among the men brought to Kind Chad were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Daniel 1:5-6). 

You might be thinking… “Okay, Daniel sounds familiar, but who on God’s green earth are those other 3 guys???” Well, the chief eunuch gives new names to these 4 handsome men. Daniel becomes Belteshazzar (what a coincidence - that’s the name I had planned for my second child!), Hananiah becomes Shadrach, Mishael becomes Meshach, and Azariah becomes Abednego (Daniel 1:7).

So Daniel decides that he cannot and will not defile himself with the king’s food and wine. Why? There could be a number of reasons… Maybe the food wasn’t kosher for Daniel and the boys to eat, meaning eating the food would go against Jewish law. Maybe the food had been offered or blessed under the Chaldean “lowercase g” gods, leading Daniel to reject it. Maybe eating the food would mean accepting King Chad’s favor or friendship. While we don’t know the exact reason for it, the Judahite boys do not want to eat or be associated with the king’s food and drink. Daniel goes to Ashpenaz and asks permission to not defile himself. While God granted kindness to David through the chief, the chief is high-key nervy that King Chad will have something to say about this. Ashpenaz tells Daniel, “Brother… if you don’t eat, you’re going to be skinny, and then King Chad will be super sus that you aren’t eating the food he gave to you. And you know what happens to me when he realizes you’re not eating the food he so graciously gave you? I GET KILLED!” (Daniel 1:8-10).

So Daniel starts chatting up the guard Chief Ashpenaz had assigned to the Judahite Dudes. “Test us for 10 days. Give us only vegetables to eat and water to drink (#vegans). Then, we’ll play hot or not - compare us to the appearance of those eating the king’s food. You can deal with us however you see fit once you’ve examined us.” The guard takes Daniel up on the deal and tests the Judahite Dudes for 10 days. At the end of the 10 days, the four men didn’t just look the same… they looked better and healthier than all of the other men eating the king’s food. Talk about a major glow up! Those boys were getting their veggies in! (And you should be too… your greens help you look better and feel  better - it’s Biblical.) So what does the guard do in response? He keeps on keeping on - he keeps replacing Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah’s food and drink with vegetables and water (Daniel 1:11-16).

Not only do these boys get a physical glow up, but a spiritual one as well. God gives these dudes knowledge and understanding in every kind of literature and wisdom. Could you imagine? It’s like God just hit the “install update” button on the four guys’ brains. BOOM! 

Daniel also gets a special little boost - he is now able to understand dreams and visions of all kinds (Daniel 1:17). This will come into play over the next few chapters, so keep this in the back of your noggin for now!

Fast forward a bit (and by a bit I mean a lot). 3 years are up and it’s time for Ashpenaz to present the Four Judahite Fellas to King Chad. The king checks out their updated resumes, and sits down for an interview with them. Among all of his interviewees, King Chad finds that there is no one equal to Daniel, Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abednego) (Daniel 1:18-19).

The Judahite Dudes earn promotions, and they each begin to attend the king. Obviously, they have to undergo performance reviews…  in every matter of wisdom and understanding, King Chad found the 10x better than all of the magicians and mediums throughout his entire kingdom (Daniel 1:20). Daniel remains in the kingdom until the first year of King Cyrus (Daniel 1:21)… but how long is that exactly? At minimum, around 70 years. Yeah… talk about a lifetime career. What’s retirement? It’s not like Daniel would know. 

Look at that! We're already done with the first chapter of Daniel. Only 11 more to go! We'll hit a few chapters at a time from here on out. Next week we’ll learn a lot more about King Chad… sounds like he’s been eating chocolate before bed, because the man is having some wild dreams!

Stay tuned for more updates on the podcast, possible fundraisers, and more! As always, this blog is written for the glory of God and for your encouragement! Come see me at Twelve! I’ll save you a seat myself.

I love you, but nothing compared to how much Jesus loves you!