In verses 1 and 2 of chapter one it is easy to see fulfilled prophesy which introduces us to the main theme of the book of Daniel, that of prophesy.

Another theme of the book of Daniel is God’s sovereignty which of course is connected to prophesy for only the sovereign of sovereigns has the power to bring things about as He wills.

God’s sovereignty is displayed throughout the book as God reveals prophecies to the kings of Babylon, some of which are fulfilled in their lifetimes.

Testimony of God’s power, authority and sovereignty was always given by Daniel to the kings.

Daniel never claimed power to himself but always attributed it to his God, always ready to give God the glory.

We will see God’s sovereignty recognized in the times of deliverance of Daniel from the lion’s den and deliverance of his three friends from the fiery furnace.

The episode of the fiery furnace concerned a battle between two sovereign kings, one of this world, Nebuchadnezzar, against the sovereign of sovereigns, the sovereign of the universe, the God of Israel.

The three friends saw with their own eyes the power and majesty of Nebuchadnezzar, but with eyes of faith they saw the greater majesty and far greater power of their God and refused to bow down to a lesser king, a king with only earthly sovereignty.

This is what faith does, it gives you eyes to see where the real power dwells.

They recognized that Nebuchadnezzar could throw them into the furnace but they knew that their God had full power to deliver them if he so chose.

This is what they said as recorded in Daniel 3:16-18,  O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful (in other words they did not fret about this thing and wonder what to do, they knew what to do without being careful) to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

These men had absolutes in their lives which gave them utmost confidence in their decisions.

Daniel also, was always quick to lift up His God as sovereign over the gods of the Babylonians for Nebuchadnezzar challenged his sovereignty in the very taking of the temple vessels from Jerusalem.

To the victors go the spoils and the spoils mentioned in the first two verses of Daniel were the vessels taken from the temple.

There was more to that action than just the taking some golden vessels, for these vessels were symbols of the God of those vessels.

In those days wars that were waged between nations were wars waged between gods.

The nation that vanquished another nation assumed that their gods were the greater gods.

In this Nebuchadnezzar is throwing down the gauntlet.

My god is the greater god.

The god of Israel’s vessels are in my god’s house which proves my god the greater god.

In those days any battle was a battle between the gods of the nations engaged in warfare.

So we can expect to see this battle continue in the book of Daniel and we will see that Daniel waged this war in every opportunity he was given.

We are to remember that no one battle determines the outcome of the war.

And so this is true in this book for we will see the ultimate battle won by the God of Israel when Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged the victor:

Daniel 4:34-37,  And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:  And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?  At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.  Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

Nebuchadnezzar, like Israel, had become proud in the position and power God had given.

Nebuchadnezzar, like Israel, was humbled for a time, and then restored to give praise and glory to God.

And, as this was so with Nebuchadnezzar, it will also be so with Israel.

But Daniel was one of those rare men who lived a humble life, a life which God needed not to humble or abase, and he is given to us as an example of a man who pleased God.

He was not a man who exalted himself, a proud man whom God promises to abase, but he was a humble man whom God promised to exalt.

Put yourself in Daniel’s place.

Think of yourself as being taken from your homeland, from your family, your friends, and never seeing your home or your loved ones again.

Think of yourself being taken, for example, to Iran or Saudi Arabia, or Assyria, a land completely different from yours with different customs, religions and languages.

What would have been your reaction to this?

Would you have been bitter and would you have railed against God?

We will see in our study of this book that Daniel nor his friends chose to do neither.

They were not bitter and they did not reject their God in favor of the gods of the Babylonians.

God had allowed his people to be taken in captivity and yet Daniel and his friends yielded to God’s will in the matter and sought how to please God in the circumstances in which they now found themselves.

They truly knew the truth of Romans 8:28 and lived this truth,

It is easy to say all things work together for good, but when we are distressed and going though difficult times do we really believe that all things, even what we are going through will work for good?

From what we see of Daniel and his friends they believed that it did.

None of them fell in with the crowd and this put them in places where their faith was tested.

They did not believe that when in Rome do as the Romans do.

But they did not go out of their way either, to displease men.

They knew that God gave power and authority to men and respected that.

They knew that divine strength was available for the asking and they knew that supernatural power was at hand for the pleasing of God and the pleasing of men.

They chose to do what came supernaturally and because of this choice, God received the glory.

Daniel 1:3-7,  And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes;  Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.  And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.  Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:  Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.

In the days of old when kings went to war there was always an expectation of spoils, another name for booty or plunder.

Our nation has not seemed to grasp that truth for when we go to war there is no spoil to go around, in fact it seems the spoils of our wallets and purses go to the vanquished.

But in former days, to the victor goes the spoils and Nebuchadnezzar was the victor.

This is another event that had been foretold, an event which came about as a result of Judah disobeying the Word of the Lord.

Isaiah spoke during the days of King Hezekiah of the transfer of Judah’s sons to Babylon over 90 years before it occurred:

Isaiah 39:5-7,  Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:  Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.  And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

Now, note in verse three of chapter one of Daniel who was in charge of Daniel and his cohorts.

Now we are not told directly that Daniel was made a eunuch but the inference is strong based upon the prophesy of Isaiah and the fact that he was under Ashpenaz the master of the eunuchs.

It was a common thing for kings of old to have a staff of eunuchs to perform specific social functions such as attending to court business, doing domestic work, being religious specialists, government officials, military commanders, and guardians of women or harem servants.

Because of their impotent condition they were seen as more trustworthy and less interested in establishing a life apart from the court of the king.

They were made a particular way for a particular purpose.

The Apostle Paul expressed a similar conclusion in writing to the Corinthians about staying single in order to be like him so as to be totally dedicated to the Lord’s work.

So according to Isaiah the sons of Judah were to meet this fate in order to operate in the court of Nebuchadnezzar under Ashpenaz the master of the eunuchs.

To identify the cream of the crop I’m sure credentials were examined, resumes were prepared in order to single out the most gifted, the most educated young men available and take them to Babylon for positions of responsibility.

Daniel and his three friends stood out after this examination.

The cream had risen to the top and had revealed men who were physically and mentally without flaw.

These men were already highly trained and well versed in a broad range of knowledge and were proficient in many skills.

But they had to be fit for the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar in which they were to serve and therefore they required further education .

They were chosen because they already had the ability of stand in the king’s palace but they had to be taught the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans in order to function.

Ashpenaz the master of the king’s eunuchs, was not instructed to bring untaught children to Babylon but to bring those who were already highly trained and knowledgeable.

Nebuchadnezzar was not looking to raise little children in order to have a crop in 20 years but desired to choose those whose schooling had already been virtually completed before their captivity.

They were young men who had already been tested in life and were deemed worthy to serve in the king’s court.

They had to be teachable and they had to learn to speak, to read and to write in Aramaic the language of Babylon.

They needed language school.

Kind of what the Vestals are being required to do in order to serve in the court of the kings of China.

There is no indication in scripture that Daniel was put though anything which would strip him of his own religion and culture.

The Babylonians were believers in many gods and one tenet of the polytheist is that he is not offended by others who may believe in gods other than his own.

The fact is, and is still true, the thing that offends the polytheist is a belief that there is only one God.

We say that there is none other name given among men whereby ye must be saved and this absolute position drives the polytheist crazy.

The Babylonians did not hinder their captives from worshipping their own gods and practicing their religion, as long as they did not challenge the religion at Babylon.

We will see this tolerance exercised later on by the Persian King Cyrus who assisted the Jews in reestablishing their religion, even to the rebuilding of their temple.

Nebuchadnezzar was powerful enough so he was not afraid of inculcating his kingdom with skills, cultures and religions from other nations.

He seemed to welcome diversity as shown by bringing in the best men, already at adulthood or near, with the education and culture of their nation.

Nebuchadnezzar also provided those being schooled, with food from his own table.

This I’m sure was considered a great honor and a privilege and was not done in order to offend or defile the young men.

It was the finest food available and probably would have fit in the gourmet food category.

But this action provides a conflict which provides Daniel to take a stand for His God.