THE KINGS Daniel 1:1-2 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzer king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the LORD delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
And so fell Judah into the hands of his enemies because of disobedience by the people of God, the Israelities. The book of Daniel is a marvelous book. I have gone thru it before but I like going over things that are really interesting again and again.
Daniel 1:3-4 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials to bring in some of the Israelities from the royal family and the nobility--young men without any physicial defect, handsome, showing apitiude for everykind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and quailified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.
The king wants young men from the nobility and the royal house of Israel. The best of the crop. Young, good looking, not fat or pimplely smart, quick to learn, intelligent and up to date on thought. Young men of the nobility and the royal families would be familiar with how service was in a palace. Of course, this time they would be the servers. Daniel 1:5-7 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service. Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: To Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshachi and to Azariah, Abednego.
And so they received the best education available at the time. It was comparable to a four year university of today, except their education centered on government and governing. There was other learning which is not common nowadays, like reading the stars, signs, divination, astrology, and magic. Now as we continue, we see that Daniel was not unquestionally submissive to the head official and the king. He was not rebellious, but he knew he had to place God foremost in his life, just as we must. So we see what actions he took to make his life better.
Daniel 1:8-10 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you."
The reason Daniel does not want to defile himself is that the Israelities had strict diets. (Leviticus 11 The chapter is full of descriptions and names of the creatures which should not be eaten) There is a strong possibility that these creatures were served as foods at a pagan king's table. As for wine, we all know how that affects the senses. But in Leviticus 10:8,9 (God tells Aaron, the priest and brother of Moses) Then the LORD said to Aaron, "You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent Of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for generations to come. You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean, and you must teach the Israelities all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses." The Tent of Meeting was the Tabernacle, where God met his People when they were wandering in the desert before coming into the Land of milk and honey and after escaping from slavery and the pharaoh of Egypt. So Daniel may have been part of the priesthood in Israel, perhaps a youth in training. He wanted to remain faithful to his LORD. The Lord is telling us here that we are to come with a clear head when we tabernacle with him, which; you as a Christian can do at any moment and any place. Do not present yourself drunk or out of your senses. In a state of drunkness, all your judgments are impaired. Therefore, you can not distinguish between the holy and the common. And our LORD desires that we be always be prepared. Daniel was a wise young man.