One of the better known bible stories is about Daniel who was thrown into a lions den, and survived through prayer and an angel sent by God. Daniel had three lesser famous friends called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who prayed to God and were saved from a fiery furnace. Shadrach’s original name, before his exile in Babylon, was Hananiah.
Hananiah, how long have you known Daniel?
I have known Daniel for as long as I can remember. Our families were considered royalty under Jehoiakim, King of Judah. Daniel was always considered special by all those in the royal household, and was revered as a descendant of King David. Daniel, Misha-el, Azariah, and I are all about the same age. We were young men when the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, attacked Judah.
Who was Nebuchadnezzar, and why did he attack Jerusalem?
King Jehoiakim had been paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar in order to avoid a war with him, but when he attacked Egypt and was repulsed, Jehoiakim stopped paying the tribute and backed the Egyptian rulers. This led to the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiakim died during the siege and Jeconiah became king, but shortly after he rose to king Nebuchadnezzar’s army conquered us. Nebuchadnezzar installed Zedekiah as king in Jeconiah’s place because Zedekiah would do whatever Nebuchadnezzar wanted. Our city and the temple were pillaged. Beautiful treasures, some of them dedicated by King Solomon, were taken. All of the prominent citizens, our skilled craftsmen, our king Jeconiah, and about 10,000 of our people were sent into exile in Babylon.
How were you treated in Babylon?
I can’t speak for the general population, but most of the royals were well treated. My friends, Daniel, Mishael, Azariah, and I were among those chosen to be trained to enter King Nebuchadnezzar’s service. We were taught the Chaldean language, and then read the Chaldean literature. The Chaldeans were the people who occupied the area called Babylon at the time, and Nebuchadnezzar was their king. He ordered that we be given the best of their foods and drink. Daniel felt strongly that we should maintain our beliefs and culture. Therefore, he would not partake of the meats and wine offered to us. It’s a good thing that he developed such a good relationship with the chief chamberlain, because refusal to eat what was offered could have had some negative results for us from our captors. Daniel convinced them to let us eat vegetables and water only. Mishael, Azariah, and I knew this was the best thing for us as well, and so we followed Daniel’s advice, ate only vegetables, and thrived.
The Chaldean leaders wanted us, the best and the brightest from Judah, to join them and be a part of their culture. We were given Chaldean names. Daniel was called Belteshazzar, meaning Bel protect him. Bel was the name of one of their gods. My name, Hananiah, was changed to Shadrach, Mishael was known as Meshach, and Azariah was called Abednego. We answered to these names as this was not an issue worth fighting. Behind the scenes we were all committed to honor our beliefs, and not to forget where we came from. One of our priests, Ezekiel, continuously preached that we are a chosen people. He always gave us hope for the future. A hope that we would return to our homeland, and restore our temple.
How did Daniel become so prominent in exile?
Daniel was a very righteous and God fearing man. He followed the commandments, he was faithful to the law of Moses, and was an example to others. God blessed him in many ways, and one of them was the ability to interpret dreams.
Nebuchadnezzar had a recurring dream. This dream allowed him no rest, and so he sought a meaning for this dream that kept him up at night. He called for the magicians, the enchanters, and sorcerers to come and interpret the dream. He expected that they would know what the dream involved without telling them anything about the dream. He was sure that they would conspire to deceive him with a false message if he told them what the dream was about. When they were unable to do as the king wished he ordered them put to death.
Enter Daniel. He asked Mishael, Azariah, and I to continuously pray to God to reveal the mystery of the dream to him. When Daniel came before the king he told him that there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. Daniel told him that the dream had also been revealed to him so that he could make the meaning known to the king. When Daniel shared the meaning of the dream to him, Nebuchadnezzar said, “Truly your God is the God of gods and Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries.” It seemed that Nebuchadnezzar had accepted our God as the one true God.
What happened that you, Mishael, and Azariah, also known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were tested in fire?
Although the king was in awe of the God of the people from Judah, he also believed in many other gods. He had a golden statue made and set up for all to see. He ordered when anyone heard the sound of a musical instrument, the people must fall down and worship the statue. Anyone who did not fall down in worship of the statue would be thrown into a white hot furnace. It became known that the three of us known in Babylon as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were not falling down in worship of the statue. We were brought before the king. We told the king that we would not worship his statue. If we were thrown into the fire we would pray to our God for deliverance. The king was furious, had us bound, and thrown into the furnace. We began to march around and pray as loud as we could to our God. After a time, Nebuchadnezzar came to the opening of the furnace and called for us to come out. The king and his court could see that the fire had had no power over us. Not a hair of our heads was singed. There was not even a smell of fire about us. The king was once again convinced of the power and righteousness of our God. He acknowledged that there is no other god like ours.
Did King Nebuchadnezzar then accept the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob as his God?
Sorry to say, he verbally acknowledged the power of our God, but he had not fully accepted Him as the one and only God. God gave him a final dream that was terrifying for him. After seeking answers from various magicians about the meaning of the dream, he asked Daniel for help. Daniel explained the dream to him as follows: “You shall be cast out from human society and dwell with wild beasts; you shall be given grass to eat like an ox and be bathed with the dew of heaven; seven years shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High is sovereign over human kingship and gives it to whom he will.” Daniel further advised him to be sorry for his sins, do good deeds, and be kind to the poor, but sadly old Nebby did not listen.
Then one day while he was pridefully thinking about all he had accomplished in Babylon, and giving himself full credit for all the splendor he suddenly found himself in an entirely different place. He was in the wild, eating grass like an animal, living out in the rain and wind. He was like a wild animal for seven years. When his ability to reason returned to him he was restored to his kingdom, but this time fully committed to God – the one and only true God.
How long did the four of you live in exile?
We were young men when we were captured and began living in exile. We outlived Nebuchadnezzar, and then served under his son Belshazzar. Next came Darius the Mede, and then Cyrus the Persian who gave us our freedom. When we finally received our freedom we were more than 80 years of age
How was your service to the king under Belshazzar?
Meshach, Abednego, and I were closely connected to Daniel, and Daniel was so well thought of that we were all treated well. Daniel through his God given understanding and wisdom always and everywhere taught the Chaldeans, and especially their leaders about God. Nebuchadnezzar got this lesson several times through differing dreams, but it took something more drastic than a dream to finally turn him around. Belshazzar was just as hard hearted as his father. He had been taught about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but he considered Him no higher than all of the other man made gods of the Chaldeans.
Belshazzar gave a banquet for his friends, and decided to use the precious vessels stolen from the temple in Jerusalem to serve his guests. While they were drinking wine from the temple vessels, they were also praising their gods of gold and silver. All of a sudden there appeared on the wall a hand. The hand wrote a message on the wall, but no one could understand what the writing said. As humans repeat history Belshazzar did what his father had done and consulted many others trying to know what the writing said, and finally called upon Daniel to solve the conundrum. The writing said, “MENE, TEKEL, and PERES.” Daniel told him these words meant that the days of his kingdom were at an end, and the kingdom would be divided and given to the Medes and Persians. “That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was slain.”
Were conditions better under Darius the Mede?
King Darius recognized the exceptional qualities in Daniel. Darius and Daniel got along very well, and so Mishael, Azariah, and I, Hananiah, also got high positions in the government and did very well. Daniel was put over a group of officials, and the king was even thinking about putting him over the entire kingdom. Envy is a special evil, and some of the ministers of Darius were very jealous of Daniel and looked for a way to bring him down. They knew what a devout person Daniel was, therefore the plan to eliminate Daniel involved his piety. They approached the king with a proposal. Everyone agreed a proposition should be put into effect stating by royal decree anyone praying to anyone but the king should be thrown into a den of lions. The king agreed, and the proclamation was issued. The next step was finding Daniel praying to God, and of course they did. When Darius learned what had happened he felt terrible about it, and did not want to throw Daniel into the lions den, but he had no choice. Daniel was thrown into the lions den, and the king went home sick at heart thinking about what his friend was facing. But the next morning when the king approached the den, Daniel answered his call saying, “My God sent his angel and closed the lions mouths so that they have not hurt me. For I have been found innocent before him; neither have I done you any harm, O king!” Daniel was brought up out of the lions den, and Darius wrote to all the nations of the earth that the God of Daniel should be reverenced and feared.
Daniel remained faithful to God throughout all his years in captivity. This was not easy to do because he was surrounded by people who were essentially godless. Their culture was totally opposite to what we believed, and our challenge was to hold close our beliefs, while surviving in Babylon.
How was Cyrus the Persian a different leader?
When Cyrus the Great defeated the Babylonians and became king, we knew right away that he was different. We learned that he believed in one God. He wanted everyone to be able to worship in their own way, but beyond that he also freed all those who had been captive. As the days increased with Cyrus as king he decided not only to free us to return to Jerusalem, but to help us return and rebuild our temple, and returned to us the items pillaged from the temple by Nebuchadnezzar.
Did Daniel return to Jerusalem after Cyrus released him from captivity?
I know that Daniel remained in Babylon for a time after we were given our freedom. There is a record of him being there in the third year of King Cyrus reign. I have no knowledge if Daniel ever returned. It is possible he did not because we were quite old by the time we were released. I know that he continued to have visions, and was a good and righteous man all of his life who prayed and fasted and held strong to the beliefs of his ancestors.
My whole life has been blessed by my friendship with Daniel for he has made me a better person than I otherwise would have been. He truly was sent by God.
