God Gives Wisdom: Daniel 1:17-21
To speak meaningfully to the world, we must be willing to be the tool in God’s hand that bridges the gap between God’s truth and the world’s understanding. Ministry doesn’t happen in isolation. To reach the world, we must be able to speak truth into a context we understand.
When the time comes, Nebuchadnezzar asks to examine the young noble Hebrew children. Nebuchadnezzar knows the successful integration of the young Hebrew children will bear fruit regarding the process of integrating the remaining Hebrew people into the Neo-Babylonian Empire. It is important for this interview to go well.
God gives these Hebrew youths the ability to learn. They learn the Babylonian literature, which is likely religious in nature. What’s neat in this story is that God isn’t bothered by Daniel’s instruction in the Babylonian ways. God is the source of their wisdom; they can only do it because God enables it. When Nebuchadnezzar interviews these youths, he finds them ten times better than any of the other youths being tested. The interview goes well indeed.
Why would God want Daniel and the other youths to learn the religious scriptures of the Babylonians? One great reason is to enable Daniel and the rest to sift truth from falsehood. The Babylonians were great astronomers and mathematicians. They had considerable knowledge of celestial events that were useful for life. In fact, the magi God calls to come visit Jesus around the time of His birth were likely trained in the same religion, math, and science Daniel and the other youth were taught. This Babylonian knowledge certainly isn’t to be equated with God’s Word, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t usefulness contained within.
There is a fair bit of evidence that people close to God were trained in important writings of other nations. Abraham came from Ur, which helps explain some significant similarities between Hammurabi’s Code and the ethics found in the Bible. Moses was trained in the Egyptian legal and religious writings. In the New Testament, Paul was familiar with Greek writers and even quotes two Greek writers in the speech found in Acts 17:28.
God doesn’t want His leaders to be ignorant and unfamiliar to the world around them. To speak intelligently to the world, God’s messengers must understand the world. God’s people must be able to make connections with those potentially interested in learning about God. God’s messengers must be able to examine the world and sift truth from falsehood. God’s messengers must be able to take truth found in the world and show how that truth stems from truth found in God’s character.
That’s what God sets up Daniel and the other youths to do. God wants Daniel to learn what truth can be found among the Babylonians. God also wants Daniel to reveal God’s truth to them. Those tasks go hand-in-hand. To speak meaningfully to the world, we must be willing to be the tool in God’s hand that bridges the gap between God’s truth and the world’s understanding.
