By O.S. Hawkins
There were many good things that came out of the Babylonian captivity. Israel never again followed after idols, not even until this day. The Old Testament began to come together under men like Ezra. The remnant returned to Jerusalem and in it was the seed of our Messiah. In captivity Daniel and the others carried the message of God to heathen lands. Centuries later when the Magi would come from the East to worship the Christ Child we would be reminded that they heard about Him because of the witness of a young man named Daniel that was handed down through the generations in their geographical vicinity.
There's an interesting plot that unfolds in Daniel 1:3-7. Nebuchadnezzar's plan was to gather the brightest young Jewish minds and bring them into the Babylonian environment and culture. He set out to re-educate them and to retrain them. His plot and plan was to eventually place them in charge of the coming exiles and then one day place them back in their home country to rule there on behalf of Babylon.
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It was a clever plot. These young men who accompanied Daniel into exile had impressive resumes (see Dan. 1:4). They were young men with no physical defects. They were handsome. They had high SAT scores. They were well informed. They were equipped to understand. They had social graces. Nebuchadnezzar's plan was to brainwash these monotheistic boys into polytheistic Babylonian leaders.
He set out to change their language (Dan. 1:4). To be accepted in any new culture one needs to learn the language. The first thing Nebuchadnezzar did was to change the language of Zion to the Babylonian language. Anyone on the mission field today knows the necessity of this. One of the first things missionaries do before engaging their various new cultures is to learn the language of the people.
Nebuchadnezzar also set out to change their literature (Dan. 1:4). Literature is the window through which most cultures present themselves. The king sought to fill these young minds with Babylonian philosophy, Babylonian science, Babylonian astrology, and Babylonian religion. His goal was to re-educate them away from the roots of their previous belief system and all of its traditional values. We're doing that in America today and simply call it "values clarification" in many public education systems.
Nebuchadnezzar not only set out to change their language and literature but also their lifestyle (Dan. 1:5). He appointed daily provisions of his own delicacies. In other words, these boys were provided with gourmet delights straight from the King's table. Now remember these boys were Jews and lived by a strict kosher diet. Nebuchadnezzar's intent here was far more than simply introducing them to new food, he was about the business of seeking to change their very lifestyle.