They were the cream of the crop. Handsome, intelligent, well informed, well built and of royal blood, they were as close to perfection as humanly possible. For this reason they were chosen to be trained to serve in the highest capacity in the king’s court, as Advisors to the king. Their training was to include familiarizing themselves with the rituals of the Magi, learning the literature of the Chaldeans and being indoctrinated into the Babylonian religion. Being Israelites, they adamantly refused to conform themselves to what they believed were methods to corrupt them and get rid of their belief in God and replacing His worship of him with that of the Babylonian Gods. They even couldn’t eat royal food and wine from the king’s table.
Despite refusing to bow down to customs alien to them, the training program continued. The king and his courtiers allowed them to keep their customs and worship their God because he found them to be 10 times better than the Magi in the city, despite not observing the strict training regimen. One matter that he could not compromise was they had to keep their Babylonian names; they couldn’t identify themselves as Hebrews anymore. The names Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Hazariah were replaced by Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
The book of Daniel chronicles how they (especially Belteshazzar) rose in prominence through the reign of 3 kings despite going through all what the other Israelites went through. While fellow Israelites saw the walls of Babylon as prisons obstructing them from going back to their homeland, the 4 saw an opportunity to do exploits for their God and make Him known among their invaders, whose trust was in other worthless gods.
To put this ancient story into our current context, we can see how people who face similar circumstances react differently. Some, as eagles, choose to rise above the storm while others (who are the majority) crouch together in fear waiting for better days, or a return to more familiar territory. Like in the ancient Babylonian days, there are those who are still shocked by the changing and uncertain political landscape in Kenya and want to go back to when things were more favorable for them, while there are visionaries who take the opportunities that lie before them and rise to prominence in the nation and beyond. Vision doesn’t dwell on the past, but uses the present to chart its way to make the future bright.
How do we avoid the pitfalls of crying by the rivers in times of uncertainty instead of being fruitful and occupying the land we live in? The 4 wise men of ancient Babylon disclosed the secret to us, knowing the power of the great God and believing that His plans for us are always good, despite the situations we are in. How did they have this assurance? They constantly communed with God. Vision comes from revelation; revelation comes from fellowship with Him.
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