Daniel 1.9-God Causes Ashpenaz To Be Kind And Merciful Toward Daniel Because Of His Obedience
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday December 13, 2011
Daniel: Daniel 1:9-God Causes Ashpenaz To Be Kind And Merciful Toward Daniel Because Of His Obedience
Lesson # 14
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 1:1.
Daniel 1:9 records the Lord rewarding Daniel for his obedience by causing Ashpenaz, Nebuchadnezzar’s officials’ commander to be kind and merciful to him.
Daniel 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, 4 youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service. 6 Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego. 8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials. (NASB95)
Verse 9 is composed of the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “now” and this is followed by the third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb nā∙ṯǎn (נָתַן) (naw-than), “granted” and then we have the articular masculine plural form of the noun ʾělō∙hîm (אֱלֹהִים) (el-o-heem), “God” which is followed by the object marker ʾēṯ (אֵת) (ayth), which is not translated but is marking the masculine singular proper noun dā∙niy∙yē(ʾ)l (דָּנִיֵּאל) (daw-nee-yale), “Daniel” as the direct object which is followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the masculine singular form of the noun ḥě∙sěḏ (חֶסֶד) (khed-sed), “favor” and then once again we have the conjunction wa (וְ) (waw), “and” as well as the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “to” and its object is the masculine plural form of the noun rǎ∙ḥǎmîm (רַחֲמִים) (rakh-am), “compassion” and this followed by the preposition lĕ (לְ) (lamed), “in” and its object is the masculine plural construct form of the noun pā∙ně(h) (פָּנֶה) (paw-neh), “the sight of” and then we have masculine singular construct form of the noun śǎr (שַׂר) (sar), “the commander of” and this is followed by the articular masculine plural form of the noun sā∙rîs (סָרִיס) (saw-reece), “the officials.”
The conjunction wa is a marker of cause indicating that God caused Ashpenaz to be sympathetic to Daniel “because” Daniel was obedient to Him when such obedience could have cost him his life.
So in other words, the conjunction is emphasizing that “on the basis” of Daniel’s determination not to defile himself in order to remain obedient to God, God caused Ashpenaz to be sympathetic to him in order that Daniel might not defile himself ceremonially.
In other words, Daniel’s determination to not defile himself in order to please God is “the reason why” God caused Ashpenaz to be sympathetic to him and allow Daniel to choose his own diet.
The noun ʾělō∙hîm means “God” and emphasizes the transcendent character of God.
Thus, the word emphasizes that Daniel’s God is transcendent of His creation and creatures and thus superior to the gods of the Babylonians or the god of Nebuchadnezzar, Marduk.
It refers to the Lord’s complete sovereign power over Nebuchadnezzar and all the rulers of the earth.
Here it emphasizes that Daniel’s God is sovereign over Ashpenaz in that He caused the latter to be sympathetic to Daniel.
The verb nā∙ṯǎn means “to cause to be given” indicating that God “caused” Daniel “to be given” kindness as well as compassion in the judgment of Ashpenaz, Nebuchadnezzar’s officials’ commander because Daniel determined in his heart to obey Him.
It denotes that God caused Daniel to be given kindness and compassion in the judgment of Ashpenaz in the sense that God caused Ashpenaz to judge with kindness and compassion with respect to Daniel.
In Daniel 1:9, the noun ḥě∙sěḏ means “kindness” referring to the kindness one person performs for another and here it denotes the kindness that God caused Ashpenaz to perform on behalf of Daniel.
These acts of kindness are described in Daniel 1:10-16.
It involved Ashpenaz allowing Daniel to abstain from eating Nebuchadnezzar’s fine food and wine.
It also involved Ashpenaz allowing Daniel to choose his own food and drink, which was vegetables and water.
This was so that Daniel could remain obedient to the dietary regulations of the Mosaic Law and as a result remain ceremonially clean with respect to the Law.
The noun rǎ∙ḥǎmîm is the plural referring to “acts of mercy” or “merciful acts” indicating that God caused Daniel to be given kindness in the form of merciful acts in the sight of Ashpenaz.
The word denotes that Ashpenaz did not consider Daniel worthy of punishment for refusing to partake of Nebuchadnezzar’s fine food and wine.
It denotes that Ashpenaz withheld judgment of Daniel.
The preposition lĕ is prefixed to the construct form of the plural noun pā∙ně(h) in order to form the preposition lipnê, which is used to indicate that something is being described from the perspective of the object of the preposition.
The object of the preposition is Nebuchadnezzar’s officials’ commander, Ashpenaz.
Thus, this preposition is describing Ashpenaz’s attitude toward Daniel or judgment of Daniel.
As was the case in Daniel 1:7 and 8, śǎr in Daniel 1:9 means “overseer” or “commander” and is modifying the noun sā∙rîs, “officials.”
It is used to describe Ashpenaz and denotes that he was the “overseer” or “commander” of Nebuchadnezzar’s officials.
As was the case in Daniel 1:3, 7 and 8, the noun sā∙rîs in Daniel 1:9 is used to describe Ashpenaz and means “officials.”
Daniel 1:9 is emphasizing with the reader that based upon Daniel’s determination not to defile himself in order to remain obedient to God, God caused Ashpenaz to be sympathetic to him in order that Daniel might not defile himself ceremonially.
Daniel’s determination to not defile himself in order to please God is the reason why God caused Ashpenaz to be sympathetic to him and allow Daniel to choose his own diet, thus, Daniel 1:9 teaches that God rewarded Daniel for his obedience to him.
He is rewarding him for his obedience which could have very well resulted in his death.
Daniel’s obedience demonstrated his love for the Lord.
The believer who obeys the Lord demonstrates his love for the Lord since if you love the Lord you will obey Him (John 14:15).
Obedience to the will of God not only demonstrates one’s love for God but also is absolutely essential in order to experience fellowship with God (John 15:10-11; 1 John 2:3-4).
Therefore, the test of fellowship with God is obedience.
Obedience begins with the believer’s thought process, which must be conformed to the will of the Father (Rm. 12:1-2; 2 Cor. 10:3-5).
This obedience will then manifest itself in the believer’s words and actions since thought precedes word and action and will serve as a protection for the soul against false doctrine that is propagated by the kingdom of darkness (2 Corinthians 10:5-6).
Obedience to Bible doctrine purifies the soul (1 Peter 1:22-23).
Obedience on the part of the believer demands denying what self wants in exchange for what God wants.
Denying self-means sacrificing even legitimate things in life such as family, friends and other relationships in order to accomplish the Father’s will (Luke 14:26-27).
If you love God, you will deny self and take up your cross and you cannot love God without first denying self.
Self-sacrifice springs from self-denial (Luke 9:23-24).
Daniel’s obedience to God also demonstrated his faith in the Lord or in other words that he trusted in the Lord.
Daniel 1:9 illustrates the principle taught in Proverbs 16:7.
Proverbs 16:7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. (NASB95)
Daniel’s obedience to the Lord caused him to be pleasing to the Lord, thus consequently, God caused Ashpenaz, whose people took Daniel and his fellow Jews into captivity, to be at peace with him.
This verse also illustrates another principle taught in the Word of God that appears in Psalm 106:46.
Psalm 106:44 Nevertheless He looked upon their distress when He heard their cry; 45 And He remembered His covenant for their sake, and relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness. 46 He also made them objects of compassion in the presence of all their captors. (NASB95)
God made Daniel an object of compassion in the presence of his captors.
He caused Ashpenaz, his captor, to treat Daniel as an object of compassion.