COURAGE
& CHARACTER
Two films that have captured my imagination in the
last few years have been “Braveheart” and
“Gladiator”. Both these movies capture the heart of men that dared to defy
empires by their sheer courage. As one watches these sweeping epics, their
majestic scenery and their stories of intrigue, tragedy and triumph, I am often
impressed by one thing that captivates my spirit. The bravery
of these men. Even though they are fictional characters, the story-lines
in these stories have been consistently an inspiration to me and have also been
to a generation of young men throughout the world.
The Bible has its own share of courageous men and
women. From people who defied empires and withstood the onslaught of evil, to
the ones who in a moment made the right choice that changed the course of
history. Some were warriors, others were prophets and some just used their God
given abilities and their devotion to God in making their statement to their
generation.
Daniel was one of those men who used his God given
wisdom to enlighten a king and his kingdom. Specifically, I wish to concentrate
on some key things that are seen in chapters 1 & 2 of the narrative which
show the courage and character of this young Hebrew. In chapter 1 we are
introduced to a number of the young men from the aristocracy and nobility of
Daniel’s
abilities were much more than skills in learning the Babylonian culture,
language and all kinds of knowledge understanding. He had an ability to
interpret dreams and see visions. As many kings of those days they relied on
wise men, enchanters and magicians as stated in verse 20 but Daniel and his friends wisdom and understanding superseded them all.
In chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that
troubled him. As usual he brought in the astrologers, enchanters and magicians
that he relied upon for wisdom. The king was very keen on getting the right
answer and decided that they needed to tell him the dream instead of them
hearing what it was and attempting to interpret it. The wise men were unable to
do this and ultimately the king ordered them to be executed. When Daniel
received this information he requested from the official in charge an audience
with the king in which requested some time. He did not ask for the dream to be
told to him but rather he would tell the king; which is exactly what the king
required. Daniel returned to his friends in chapter 2 and verse 17 & 18 to
request they would join him in asking the God of Heaven for mercy in this
situation. The result of failure would be that all the wise men of
What we see in Daniel is courage and character; an
ability to stand up for his faith in the face of possible death and fierce
opposition. The result for him was a promotion to a high position in the
By: Pastor
David Jones