Ashley Beach-Author and Storyteller

In my last post, I shared about Sight and Sound’s production of Daniel. I wanted to continue my thoughts and share another aspect of the show that really stood out to me.

When I watched Daniel, the idea of what it meant for Daniel and his friends to be taken as servants in the palace of the foreign king that had taken over not just their land, but all the lands around them, really sunk in and came to life. In my last post, I shared how Jeremiah lamented over Israel and cried out for them to return to God time and time again because he knew what fate was in store for his people if they didn’t turn back to God. God had warned the people of Israel through Jeremiah that they would be taken into captivity and God’s power would be seen and displayed somewhere else if they didn’t turn back. The people of Israel did not turn back to God and were taken into captivity under the rule of the young ambitious king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The fact that Jeremiah had preached for years and years for the people to turn their hearts back to God and didn’t makes it absolutely incredible that young men like Daniel, Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego were raised to be so strong in their faith. The king of Babylon took young people from the royal lines in each country he took over because they would have been the most influential people of their respective countries. Being young, they would have been easily influenced and they took great pains to indoctrinate those taken to serve in the palace. These young people would have been taught to serve and worship the gods of Babylon and to live their lives as Babylonians. They were no longer Israelites or Egyptians or Assyrians. They were servants of Babylon and forced to dress and eat and live as Babylonians.

As I mentioned, the fact that Israel lived in rebellion against God for so many years makes the fact that Daniel and the other men taken with him were strong men of faith absolutely incredible. They were some of a few families that still believed in God and trusted in Him. They had been raised to serve God and had been taught the Law and Scriptures their whole lives. They were taken as servants in the palace of Babylon because of their status in the land and because they were young and pliable, able to be bent to the ways of Babylon. But, from the moment they were taken, they did not turn away from their God. Even when they were no longer in Jerusalem or able to worship their God in the temple, the place where God’s presence had dwelt among men from the time it had been built by Solomon, they chose to worship God in the foreign land where they now lived. They displayed as perfectly as possible what it means to be respectful to those in authority over us while still being true to God above all else. When faced with decisions that contradicted the Scriptures, they prayed to God for wisdom and for ways to stay pure and true while still serving the king God had placed in charge of their lives. Their dedication to God made them stand out among everyone around them and gave them opportunity to be raised to high positions within the palace, much like Joseph and Esther.

Another thing that stood out to me in this production was the power and presence of God even in a completely pagan land. God had chosen Nebuchadnezzar to be the king of Babylon at the time to show that His power was not limited to one people or sect. God called Nebuchadnezzar his Chosen Servant. We cannot imagine in our day and time what it is to experience a take over like they did when Babylon took over. What it is to be taken from your home and family and thrown into a new life that you have no control over. Told what to do and how to believe and how to live. And if you didn’t, to be mercilessly killed for not bowing to the authority placed over you. It is a very unsettling thing to experience. Your identity is stripped away and you’re given a new name that goes against everything you were raised to believe and trust. God has always been present in the world and we see throughout the Bible how God’s presence and Spirit came upon different people, and though His presence can not be contained to one man-made place, when Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, it was a known place where God’s presence would continually dwell among His people. They could go to the temple and pray to God and worship Him there and the high priests would enter the Holy of Holies to ask forgiveness on behalf of the people. When Daniel and his friends were taken captive, they were taken from the place they had grown up knowing where God’s presence dwelled. One interesting thing Sight and Sound brought out in their production was Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s, sense of loss of the presence of God when they were removed from their homeland. They couldn’t imagine how God could be present in such a pagan land and didn’t know how their faith could remain strong away from their families and the temple. Contrary to their doubts, God showed up in Babylon time and time again and made Himself known to them, the people, and even the king.

Nebuchadnezzar is known for having his dream about the statue made of different elements. Much like Pharaoh with Joseph, no one was able to interpret the king’s strange dream–except Daniel. Daniel sought God, and God came to him in his captivity in Babylon’s palace and revealed the meaning of the dream to him. He felt God’s presence in a surprising way and was able to share who God was with Nebuchadnezzar. Unfortunately, Nebuchadnezzar took the dream to elevate his own status and took it to show how powerful and amazing he was in his humanity. Even in the incredible moment when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown in the fiery furnace because they refused to bow to the king’s idol he had made of himself, Jesus Himself showed up in the fire and kept them safe, keeping them from being singed or burned or even having the smell of smoke on them. Nebuchadnezzar witnessed this incredible event with his own eyes and saw that their God was a powerful Being, but even after seeing God’s incredible power, he still saw himself as the ultimate king and added Israel’s God to his list of other gods he served. Years later, Nebuchadnezzar had another dream that required Daniel’s interpretation. God had told Daniel that unless Nebuchadnezzar softened his heart and worshiped God as the one and only God, he would be given the mind of a beast. Nebuchadnezzar continued to live within his own selfish pride, so God gave him the mind of a beast to show that He was the one who put Nebuchadnezzar on the throne and He could just as easily take the throne away from him. In the show, Nebuchanezzar’s wife asks Daniel how a loving God could do this to someone He supposedly loves. Daniel tells her that God corrects those He loves and sings a beautiful song about how God created the world and everything in it to be good. This incredible scene ends with Nebuchadnezzar finally seeing the God of the Universe for who He is and surrendering his heart to God. After this moment, Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon under God’s authority and turned the nation of Babylon to God. At the end of the show, they show Daniel and Ezra and Jeremiah carrying lanterns and singing of God’s everlasting kingdom to one day come where there will be no more death or pain and God will reign forever as King of Kings. Nebuchadnezzar joins them with his own lantern, which is such a beautiful picture showing that even an evil, prideful king like Nebuchadnezzar, will be in the kingdom of God because he surrendered his heart to God.

God showed up in Babylon time after time. God showed up in a place and time where no one expected or hoped Him to be. God showed that even though an evil and prideful king was on the throne, He was still the one with the power and authority to take the throne away from Nebuchadnezzar or show His power and authority through Nebuchadnezzar’s drastic heart change. He showed the people of Babylon that He could save three men who had remained faithful to HIm from being burned alive in the fiery furnace and showed Himself to all those witnessing this event. He showed Himself when He wrote on the wall when Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson took over the throne and turned the people further away from God than what they had been before. He showed Himself in the lion’s den when Daniel was thrown in for praying to God and remaining faithful to Him, even after all these years of captivity in a foreign land. Daniel’s faithfulness to God changed Nebuchadenzzar’s heart. He prayed relentlessly for his people that remained at home. He prayed for the king. He prayed for his friends and himself to remain strong despite the difficult circumstances they faced. God became known to millions because of Daniel’s faithfulness and his willingness to be used however God saw fit no matter what he faced in life.

The message of hope in this story is awe-inspiring and such a needed reminder in this day and age. It is a pointed convicting story to me forcing me to look at my own faith in God and how Daniel’s faith and pursuit of God challenges me to be far better than I am in my own walk with God. It is a tearful reminder that God can change anyone who’s willing. Nebuchadnezzar was known as God’s Chosen Servant, first to show that God has authority over all rulers and no one is in a ruling capacity without God’s hand being in it, and second to show that even the hardest, most prideful hearts can be changed by God’s overwhelming mercy, love, and grace.

God is ever-present no matter where we are and what we are facing. Even when we don’t believe in Him or trust Him, He’s there with us, always working. He loves everyone so much and is calling for us to Come Home. God is ALWAYS in control. And no heart is too hard or too far from God’s love to be rescued and used by God. Trust in the power of God and His Story that He is writing with your life.