Pure Heart in a Pagan Land

Daniel is indisputably one of the great heroes of the faith. God Himself refers to Daniel in the book of Ezekiel, twice declaring of Jerusalem,

“Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 14:14,20)

He again mentions Daniel later on in the same book, saying derisively to the prideful prince of Tyrus, “Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee” (Ezekiel 28:3)

This shows that Daniel was well and widely-known for his wisdom and his righteousness throughout the Babylonian empire. The book of Daniel records many instances of Daniel standing up for righteousness, whatever the cost. But all that didn’t just happen.

It began with a decision.

Daniel was taken captive in the first Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 605 BC. (2 Kings 24:1-2) He was apparently either from the royal family or else one of the leading families of Judah, and was chosen in response to Nebuchadnezzar’s command to bring him

“Children in whom was no blemish, but well-favoured, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.”(Daniel 1:4)

This long list of accomplishments tells us what kind of education and looks Daniel had, but it isn’t until verse 8 that we find out what kind of heart he had.

The king was generous with the new arrivals, giving them meat and wine from his own table, and giving them three years to “catch up” with their Babylonian training before being brought into the kings’ presence. But there was a problem. The food so generously provided to the captives was defiling in the eyes of the Judean captives, who had apparently been brought up to follow the law.

What could they do? They were far away from home, and no one in Babylon was likely to care what their religious beliefs were. To refuse anything the king commanded was extremely dangerous and could even be fatal. The captives had no rights, no way to make their captors understand the importance of adherence to God’s laws. Even to attempt it must have seemed futile. This is the situation in which we find Daniel in verse 8.

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank”

This is the beginning of the amazing and miraculous things God did for and through Daniel. Not only did the man in charge of him listen to his appeal, the proposed “experiment” of eating only the part of the king’s food that would not defile them was widely successful.

It is easy to look at a man like Daniel and think that it was somehow just easier for him to stand up for righteousness. But Daniel wasn’t just naturally a “better person” than the rest of us: he made a choice to focus on doing right, whatever the cost.

His heart was set on following God, and that purity of heart helped him to stay strong against peer pressure (Daniel 1), against the intimidation of a prideful king (Daniel 2-4), against the offer of a wicked ruler’s wealth (Daniel 5:16-17), and even against the threat of a gruesome death. (Daniel 6)

Whatever test came Daniel’s way, he passed it, not because he was perfect, but because he had a pure heart committed to obey God.

Purity of heart is rare, because our hearts are naturally “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9)

To get our hearts pure, we simply confess our sin and ask for forgiveness. Then we strive to keep our hearts pure by memorizing God’s Word (Psalm 119:11) and going to God immediately when we sin, knowing that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)

The closer our relationship to God, the purer our hearts will be.

After the final destruction of Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the captives in Babylon with a message from God. I wonder if Daniel found comfort, strength, and encouragement in these words then as I do today:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.”

(Jeremiah 29:11-13)