In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. – Daniel 1:1-7

Albeit quick, this introduction sets up the entire story of Daniel very well. We see the destruction of the southern kingdom of Israel with the deportation of the Israelites as exiles to Babylon. We then learn that Nebuchadnezzar has intention with the exiles, as he schemes to bring in leaders of the exiles to groom and turn them into people that will help him assimilate the rest of the exiles. To do that, he chooses leaders from the tribe of Judah, most likely members of the royal family. Who he picks for this is key: they have to be prominent members of the kingdom to be recognizable to everyone else, but it can’t be the royal family, as they are “examples” Nebuchadnezzar uses as a fear and control tactic.

Basically, these are important people form the southern kingdom, but (and here is the key) they are NOT the ones responsible for the downfall of Judah. These chosen were not the ones who led Israel’s southern kingdom astray. They are innocent—as much as they can be, at least. Why does this matter? Well, things do not go well for them. And it sets up an important premise for the book: these main characters that we are following through the story are good. Though sinful as human beings, in as much as we know about them, live a righteous lifestyle and we see that consistently through the book of Daniel. Everything that happens to them in this book happens because they are living well – a life lived in devotion to God and they stay faithful throughout.

It is easy to look at our lives from rose-colored glasses and see ourselves as righteous individuals, thus making the trials we face NOT our fault (no one ever wants to blame themselves). However, more often than not, if we are honest with ourselves, a lot of our trials (or suffering) can be drawn from consequences of our own actions. Whether directly or indirectly, its our fault. This is not the case with Daniel and his friends. What happens to them in this book is not their fault and it is key we keep that in mind. Their trials are going to come because they are living rightly.

That means a few things for us today; 1) trials are inevitable (regardless of how righteous you live), 2) the reasons for our trials are many, and 3) what God uses those trials in our lives for is important to understand. Consider some recent trials you have faced. Were they because of your actions? What was God doing either in or through your life? Was there spiritual fruit born from that trial?

As we continue, we are going to learn more about these trials and the reasons they happen. Stay tuned!