We Remember The Ones Who Are Different: Daniel 1-3

The early chapter of the book of Daniel tell what happened when four of the Hebrews captured and exiled by Nebuchadnezzer are sent to Babylon. We don’t know how many other youths from the noble and priestly parts of Israel’s society were taken captive, but since 2 Kings 24:14 says 10,000 captives in all were taken, it must have a large number.

How many of them do we know about? Four. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. 

We know of them as youths at the special royal academy that Nebuchadnezzer had set up to train young men from all over the empire in service to his empire. When these four alone made it a point to keep the restrictionsthat the Law of Moses gave for eating foods. And we know of three of the four years later, when as Imperial officials, they alone would not worship the idol that Nebuchadnezzer had set up.

Had Daniel and his friends eaten pagan food there would have been nothing left to distinguish them from the rest. Had they bowed down to worship the idol, they would have just been part of the crowd. 

Modern thought says to go along, accommodate and convert by overtime by coexisting. But God wants us to be different in regard to the things that He commanded. This is not odd for the sake of being odd, but different in the things that God has decided. (Rf. 2 Cor. 6:17,18