Daniel 1:1-7
1. Isolation, v. 3-4
“There is one thing a professor can be a absolutely certain of; almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative…Relativism is necessary to open-mindedness; and this is the virtue, the only virtue, which all primary education for more than fifty years has dedicated itself to inculcating. Openness- and the relativism that makes it the only plausible stance in the face of various claims to truth and various ways of life and kinds of human beings- is the great insight of our times. The study of history and of culture teaches that all the world was mad in the past; men always thought they were right, and that led to wars, persecutions, slavery, xenophobia, racism, and chauvinism. The point is not to correct the mistakes and really be right; rather it is not to think you are right at all.”
-Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind
2. Indoctrination, v. 3-5
Four things about this indoctrination process…
a) comes disguised as “education”
b) starts with changing a persons worldview- a worldview is a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world
c) the goal is to train them to think like Babylonians rather than Israelites
d) the ultimate goal is to instill in them a total dependence upon Nebuchadnezzar for everything they need.
“So this fall, virtual class discussion will have many potential spectators- parents, sibling, etc- in the same room. We’ll never be quite sure who is overhearing the discourse. What does this do for our equity/inclusion work? How much have students depended on the (somewhat) secure barriers of our physical classrooms to encourage vulnerability? How many of us have installed some version of ‘what happens here stays here’ to help this? While conversation about race are in my wheelhouse, and remain a concern in this no walls environment, I am most intrigued by the damage that ‘helicopter/snowplow’ parents can do in the host conversations about gender/sexuality. And while conservative parents are my chief concern-I know that the damage can come from the left too. If we are engaged in the messy work of destabilizing a kid’s racism or homophobia or transphobia-how much do we want their classmates parents piling on?”
-Matthew Kay, English teacher, Science Leadership Academy, Philadelphia, PA
3. Incorporation, v. 5
- Romans 12:1-2, The Message
vv. 8-21
4. Identification, v. 6-7
Hebrew namesBabylonian names
Daniel: “God is my judge” Belteshazzar: “Lady protect the king”
Hananiah: “Yahweh is gracious” Shadrach: “I am very fearful of God”
Mishael: “Who is what God is?” Meschach: “I am of little account”
Azariah: “Yahweh has helped” Abednego: “Servant of the god Nebo”
Two things to notice…
a) people over place
b) they maintained their status as exiles
I Peter 2:11-17
Mental worship…
How has not gathering for public worship affected you and what does that say about the role of weekly public worship? About you?
What are some ways that your faith informs and affects how you see the world?
Is there any water in your boat today and if so, how did it get there?
Do you live as an exile or have you learned to fit in with this world?
In the passage today, Daniel was creatively bold. What could you do right now that would be considered creatively bold?