Diving into Daniel: The Four Youth Grow in Wisdom and Serve the King
Daniel 1:17-21 - Gaining wisdom from the first part of Daniel is essential for understanding the prophecies in the second part.
“As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s personal service. As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm. And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.”
Daniel 1:17-21 NASB1995
God gives the four youths knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom as they undergo their three years of training. Daniel was also given the gift to understand all kinds of visions and dreams. This talent will come in handy for him in the future, as we will see.
At the end of the training they are presented to King Nebuchadnezzar II. He talked to them and was quite impressed and found no other young men like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They entered the king’s service. He found them to be ten times better than all of the magicians and conjurers who were in his realm. Daniel and his friends do not practice occult arts as that would be a sin against God. Daniel will be shown as someone who goes to God in prayer when asked to interpret visions and dreams.
Daniel continued in his service at least until the first year of Cyrus the king. Cyrus and the Persian Empire conquered the Babylonian empire in 539 B.C. It is likely that Daniel saw the end of the 70 years of exile for the Jews and the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy that they would return. But for now and for many years, he serves the Babylonian Empire, yet he stands apart because of his faith.
This commentary by Ray Stedman, quoted on Precept Austin, tells us why the first six chapters of Daniel are crucial for understanding the last chapters of prophecy:
A second precaution God has taken in Daniel, and even more especially in the book of Revelation, is that he doesn't introduce the prophetic section first, but brings us through six chapters into an understanding of the moral character he requires of the reader before the prophetic program can begin to make sense. In other words, you can't understand the last section of Daniel unless you have lived through and understood what is involved in the first six chapters. There is no way to understand what the prophetic program means unless you first grasp the moral lessons of the first part of the book. There is no way to cheat on this. You can't just read it through, and then turn to the prophetic program and hope to understand. You will find that you get nothing out of it. You really have to carefully analyze these initial chapters, think them through, begin to walk accordingly, and experience them, before the prophetic program comes to life. That is the glory of God's book. You can't understand it with just the intellect. . . The first six chapters are for you if you are a teenager going to school where you are surrounded constantly by those who seem to have no interest in what God is like, or in the things of God. Daniel and his friends were themselves teenagers when they were first taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and carried off to the land of Babylon. As they began their career of faith, they did so with a total lack of understanding of life and with all the insecurity of a teenager in a hostile environment. The book records in these first six chapters the pressure they underwent as they stood for their faith in the midst of these difficult surroundings. [See this link to read the original: Daniel]
From the original article by Ray Stedman (in case you are wondering), the first precaution that God uses in Daniel (and in Revelation) is that He has enclosed the prophetic passages in symbolic language. We need to see the moral character of Daniel and his friends first and understand that before we attempt the later passages.
I’m excited about diving into this book. Every time I have read Daniel at a superficial level to “get through” it, I have been mightily perplexed at what I have read. Now, with research and prayer, perhaps I can become as wise as Nebuchadnezzar’s four young servants.
A painting of young Cyrus hunting boar - Artist unknown (Versailles palace)
Also, in case you are interested, although he doesn’t appear for many years, here’s what Gotquestions says about Cyrus:
Cyrus is a king mentioned more than 30 times in the Bible and is identified as Cyrus the Great (also Cyrus II or Cyrus the Elder) who reigned over Persia between 539—530 BC. This pagan king is important in Jewish history because it was under his rule that Jews were first allowed to return to Israel after 70 years of captivity.
In one of the most amazing prophecies of the Bible, the Lord revealed Cyrus’s decree to free the Jews to Isaiah. One hundred fifty years before Cyrus lived, the prophet calls him by name and gives details of Cyrus’ benevolence to the Jews: “This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him . . . ‘I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me’” (Isaiah 45:1, 4; see also 41:2-25; 42:6). Evincing His sovereignty over all nations, God says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please” (Isaiah 44:28).
Cyrus’s decree releasing the Jewish people, in fulfillment of prophecy, is recorded in 2 Chronicles 36:22–23: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: ‘Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.”’” Other Old Testament books that mention Cyrus include Ezra and Daniel.
King Cyrus actively assisted the Jews in rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem under Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest. Cyrus restored the temple treasures to Jerusalem and allowed building expenses to be paid from the royal treasury (Ezra 1:4–11; 6:4–5). Cyrus’s beneficence helped to restart the temple worship practices that had languished during the 70 years of the Jews’ captivity. Some commentators point to Cyrus’s decree to rebuild Jerusalem as the official beginning of Judaism.
Among the Jews deported from Judah and later placed under the rule of Cyrus include the prophet Daniel. In fact, we are told Daniel served until at least the third year of King Cyrus, approximately 536 BC (Daniel 10:1). That being the case, Daniel likely had some personal involvement in the decree that was made in support of the Jews. The historian Josephus says that Cyrus was informed of the biblical prophecies written about him (Antiquities of the Jews, XI.1.2). The natural person to have shown Cyrus the scrolls was Daniel, a high-ranking official in Persia (Daniel 6:28).
Besides his dealings with the Jews, Cyrus is known for his advancement of human rights, his brilliant military strategy, and his bridging of Eastern and Western cultures. He was a king of tremendous influence and a person God used to help fulfill an important Old Testament prophecy. God’s use of Cyrus as a “shepherd” for His people illustrates the truth of Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”
My next devotional examines Daniel 2:1-13 - Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and demands an answer, on pain of death, from his magicians, conjurors and Chaldeans.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please allow me to gain wisdom and understanding as I carefully study the Book of Daniel. I ask for the same faith that Daniel had to allow me to find the right resources and answers as the book study progresses. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Precept Austin was accessed on 3/20/2025 to review commentary for Daniel 1:17-21.
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 3/20/2025 to answer the question, Who was Cyrus?
The image of Cyrus was found on Wikipedia and is under a Creative Commons license. No alterations or changes have been made to the image.