By: Obed Pineda
Undoubtedly one of the examples that the title of this topic invites to the mind of the diligent student of the Bible is that of Daniel and his three friends. The reason these faithful men may appear in our mind’s eye is because the Scripture relates, “And Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the portion of the king’s food, nor with the wine which he drank; he asked, therefore, the chief of the eunuchs that he not be forced to defile himself” (Daniel 1: 8). Let us remember that as Jews, there were animals that they could not eat because God had classified them as unclean (cf. Leviticus 11:1ff). Additionally, there is no doubt that the food the Babylonians were providing for them was part of what had been sacrificed to the gods they served. God had warned “you shall not make an alliance with the inhabitants of that land; for they will commit whoredom after their gods, and offer sacrifices to their gods, and invite you, and you shall eat of their sacrifices” (Exodus 34:15). Let’s not forget that they were prisoners of Babylon because God was punishing the people of Judah for serving other gods. Daniel was not unaware of this important detail and therefore he made the firm decision not to sin against Jehovah his God. When the Scripture says that Daniel “purposed in his heart” it is revealing to us that Daniel made a judgment about the lifestyle that he tried to live in Babylon. Notice that, despite being Nebuchadnezzar’s slave, Daniel understood that he was still free to make decisions with his spiritual life and that he was still responsible for giving an account to God about those decisions. He understood that even in captivity, he had a responsibility to God rather than to men (cf. Acts 4:18-22, 5:27-32). This teaching from the past proves to us that holiness (like impiety) is a decision that the person makes. This denies the belief that holiness depends on the circumstance in which we find ourselves. It is foolish to ignore that Daniel risked his own life when he decided to defy King Nebuchadnezzar’s royal edict (cf. Daniel 1:9-10). However, Daniel exercised the words of the prophet Isaiah who said, “Take counsel, and it shall be made void; utter a word, and it will not stand firm, for God is with us. For Jehovah spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and taught me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: Do not call all the things that this people call a conspiracy a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not be afraid. To the Lord of hosts, him sanctify; let Him be your fear, and He be your fear” (Isaiah 8:10-13). The seriousness of the decision made by Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah shows the firm conviction of faith that these men had that it was the right decision to please the Almighty. The inspired amanuensis of the epistle to the Hebrews verifies that the decision of these 4 men in captivity pleased God, since by faith “they stopped the mouths of lions, they put out impetuous fires” (Hebrews 11:33d-34a, cf. Daniel 3:1ff, 6:1ff). They did not use their prisoner status as a justification for the Babylonian acculturation that Nebuchadnezzar sought to achieve (cf. Daniel 1:3-7). On the contrary, Daniel and his friends stopped the Babylonian influence from polluting their spiritual integrity; they did not allow their consciences to be dulled toward immorality (cf. Ephesians 4:17-19, 1st Timothy 4:2). The same is reflected in the scribe who also found himself in Babylon during the seventy years of captivity, but “had prepared his heart to inquire into the law of Jehovah and to fulfill it, and to teach His statutes and decrees in Israel” (Ezra 7:10). Biblical history suggests that Ezra was most likely born in captivity, since he led the second group of Jews who returned to Jerusalem approximately 80 years after Zerubbabel returned with the first group (cf. Ezra 1:1-2:2, 7:1-9). Note that the kings who granted the return of both groups are different; Cyrus and Artaxerxes. The world chronicle states that King Cyrus of Persia allowed the first group of exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem in 536 B.C., exactly 70 years later as Jeremiah prophesied (cf. Jeremiah 25:1-11, Ezra 1:1). King Artaxerxes I ruled the Medo-Persian Empire from 465-423 B.C., and the Bible says that Ezra was given permission to return with a second group of Jews “in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes” (Ezra 7:7). This establishes that Ezra’s departure from Babylon was between 458-457 B.C., confirming a gap of about 80 years between Zerubbabel and Ezra. This timeline also states that some 130 years had passed since the fall of Jerusalem and the third and last group of Jews were taken captive to Babylonian lands. Hence, it is evident that it is more likely that Ezra was born in Babylon, under captivity, than that he was over 130 years old when he led the second journey back to Jerusalem. This marvelous detail illuminates more intensely Ezra’s deep desire to want to re-establish Jehovah’s law in Jerusalem, since his eyes could never see the glorious Temple of Solomon. However, he already knew that Zerubbabel and the high priest Jeshua (called Joshua by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, cf. Haggai 1:1 and Zechariah 3:1) had finished rebuilding the temple (cf. Ezra 6: 14-15). Unfortunately, the people of Judah soon fell into the bad habit of practicing a formalistic religion born of a lack of knowledge of the Law (cf. Ezra 7:27-28, 9:1-4). Here is why Ezra “had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach Israel his statutes and ordinances” (Ezra 7:10). It is wise to learn that Ezra first dedicated himself to personally learning Jehovah’s law in order to live in obedience to Jehovah. The scribe’s diligence brings into full view the words of the psalmist when he writes, “Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of evil, nor has he been in the way of sinners, nor has he sat in the seat of mockers; but in the law of the LORD is his delight, and in his Law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1: 1-2). Ezra knew full well that the display of holiness before his countrymen would provide strength for the admonition that would come from his lips after him (cf. Ezra 9:5-10:8). The Holy Spirit explains that King Artaxerxes chose Ezra because he was a “scribe expert in the words of the commandments of the LORD, and in His statutes to Israel” (Ezra 7:11). Thus, let us not ignore that the Persian king sent Ezra to restore God’s law in Jerusalem and to teach it to those who had no knowledge of it (cf. Ezra 7:25). This excellent example of Ezra, verifies that the inspired David did not err when he said that the young man can achieve sanctifying his life, “by keeping Your Word” (Psalm 119: 9).