Daniel’s Outline of the Future
Outline
Introduction
Imagine a young teenager huddling with his family in the palace. The small closet is dark and cold. The only sounds are the whimpers of his younger sister, the soft prayers of his mother, and the screams of the people out in the street.
When newly crowned King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came marching to Jerusalem, Daniel and his friends had crowded along the top of the city walls to see this great fighting force and its mighty king. It had only been a short time since word had reached the royal courts of Judah that Nebuchadnezzar, crown prince at the time, had secured a resounding victory against the Egyptians and the few remaining Assyrians in a battle at Carchemish in Syria. Babylon’s King Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar’s father, had died soon after, and the most powerful crown in the world had passed to the man who was now approaching Jerusalem’s gates.
Those with more common sense than a group of teenage boys had found them up on the walls and hurried them away from their exposed location to a place of safety. Daniel was of royal blood, so his place of safety was the palace. The growing screams from outside the luxurious dwelling were the first indication that Nebuchadnezzar had not come on a social call. Soon, young Daniel could hear a skirmish—metal on metal, metal on wood. Then the crash of doors being kicked in echoed through the palace, the sound bouncing from one marble wall to another. He began shaking, pressing tightly up against the side of his mother.
Door after door was slammed open. Still, Daniel jumped and cried out when theirs was flung wide. A soldier, his uniform splattered with blood, stepped in, and Daniel’s mother began to plead for her children. Ignoring her, the soldier scanned their faces, finally locking eyes with Daniel. Stepping forward, he grabbed the boy by his wrist and yanked him to his feet. Daniel’s sister screamed. Before he had time to turn and say goodbye, he was pulled out the door and dragged across the palace floors. That was the last time he ever saw his mother.
Daniel soon found himself on the city streets. The scene was awful. The bodies of men, soldiers, and civilians were strewn everywhere. Some had their wives and children weeping over them, others were alone, draped over a stall or splayed across stone steps. The path Daniel and his captor were taking retraced his earlier steps back toward the gates of the city.
As they neared their destination, Daniel spotted a group of young men—all in their teens like he was. Each of them had some sort of connection to the crown, be it direct or indirect. They had all been lined up facing toward the gate. The soldier who was holding Daniel’s arm roughly pulled him to the end of the line and indicated that he should stand there. Soon, several others were deposited next to him, extending the row even further.
Daniel sweated as he stood, partly due to the sun and partly due to fear. To his right stood his cousin, Azariah.
“Do you know what’s going on here?” he asked.
Azariah shook his head, then he motioned with his chin and said, “No, but look over there.”
On a raised platform beyond a phalanx of guards, a man in his mid-twenties sat on a travel throne. One after another, men approached him, dropped to their knees, said a few words, then were dismissed with a short comment or a simple wave. Having been raised around the royal family, Daniel had seen kings in the past. But none had the presence, the stateliness, the sheer power of the young man he saw on that throne.
Soon, several Babylonian men approached the line of Judean youths. They were not dressed as soldiers. Instead, they looked more like men of the court—soft and clean-shaven. One by one, they examined the teens. They had each pull at their hair and show their teeth. There were a few they had remove their tunics so that they could examine their physiques more closely. At the end of each examination, one of the men either pointed toward the gate or toward the city. Immediately, a soldier stepped forward, took hold of the young men, and removed them in the direction indicated.
The men came to Azariah. After a thorough examination, he was pointed toward the gate. Daniel saw terror in his cousin’s eyes as he looked back before passing outside the walls. Then it was Daniel’s turn. Behind him was the palace and his mom. But for some reason, he had an unshakable feeling that his place was through the gate. Maybe it was because Azariah went that way, maybe it was because the soldiers who were taking teens back into the city seemed to be much rougher with them. Or maybe it was something bigger.
Ultimately, he didn’t have time to analyze his feelings. The Babylonian pointed toward the gate, and Daniel was led through. As he passed the throne where Nebuchadnezzar sat, he turned toward him. For a moment, his eyes locked with those of the king, who just happened to be looking his way. A flood of emotion flowed through Daniel unlike anything he had experienced before. Something deep inside this teenage boy told him that this would not be the last time that he would stare into the eyes of this king.
God had given Daniel a mission: to be a light to the Gentiles. Chances are the teen who was deported from his comfortable life in Jerusalem to a court in a foreign land was completely unaware of this plan for his life. But what we do see with Daniel and his friends was that despite not understanding God’s plan, they still trusted that He had one. So when God shifted their location and living circumstances because He needed them elsewhere, they didn’t kick or scream. They accepted their new normal, remained true to God, and waited for opportunities to be used by Him.
