Daniel 1:5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.
For the youths taken to Babylon, because their origin was one of royalty and nobility, one would have expected that they were ready to stand before a king. But an entire training programme lasting three years was to be organized for them. At the end of the time, they were to be called to stand before the King.
In other words, for whatever outcomes expected, there was a timeline assigned. Thus, even though organized under strict supervision, whatever they did within their training period, whether they chose to be serious or used it as an avenue for mischief didn’t matter. What mattered was results would be being sought from them.
King Nebucchadnezzar went out of his way to ensure these youths brought into Babylon became ‘capable of entering the king’s service’, and so fed them from his own kitchen. After their training phase, when Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah stood before Nebuchadnezzar, they were ten times better than everyone else, and the king knew it. They had proven themselves capable of standing before the king.
It is on this wise that we realise that ‘just because you are royalty or nobility, does not automatically mean you possess the knowhow to stand before kings. There is “a how” to standing before kings and “a what to know” before you do. Otherwise, what is meant to be an occasion for honour could become one for disgrace.
#sly
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