Commemoration of Daniel the Prophet and the Three Young Men
December 17
Praise, all you people, the name so holy
Of Him who does such wondrous things!
All that has being, to praise Him solely,
With happy heart its amen sings.
Children of God, with angel host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Alleluia, alleluia! (LSB 797:5)
Today, we remember Daniel the Prophet and the Three Young Men.
At the time that he defeated Judah and captured Jerusalem, the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar took captive a number of young noblemen. He carried them back to Babylon to be brought up and trained in the literature and language of the Chaldeans. Among these were four of note: Daniel, Hananniah, Mishael, and Azariah. The king commanded them to be educated for three years and then to serve at his pleasure. They were to eat the king’s food, all of which had been offered to his idols.
Though carried far away from their native land, Daniel and the others remained faithful to the God of Israel. They declined to eat the king’s fare, surviving instead on vegetables and water, yet they were preserved in their health. Daniel was given the gift of interpreting dreams. When Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream, he refused to reveal it and demanded that his counselors tell him the dream and its interpretation or be killed. The four young Judeans prayed, and the dream and its meaning was revealed to Daniel. Daniel and the three received high office as a result.
The king famously demanded Hananniah, Mishael, and Azariah (all of whom he renamed in honor of his own gods) to bow down to an image he made. With great resolve, the Judeans stood fast and refused. They were tossed into a massively overheated furnace, but one “like the son of the gods” appeared in the furnace and sheltered them. They came out of the flames unhurt and even without the smell of smoke jupon their clothes. The king was thus brought to confess that their God was indeed true and mighty.
Later, Daniel was maliciously accused under the reign of another king in the Persian Empire that succeeded the Babylonians. Despite a royal decree, he continued to pray three times a day toward Jerusalem. He was thrown into a lions’ den and left overnight. But the Lord shut the lions’ mouths, and Daniel’s life was spared. In both the fiery furnace and the lions’ den, the Church has always seen types of Christ’s victory over death and the grave and hints of the resurrection.
Daniel also had many visions about the end times. He foresaw the enthronement of the Son of Man, coming on the clouds and with great glory. He foretold how the Lord would establish a kingdom that would last forever. He foresaw the resurrection of the dead, when the righteous would shine like stars.
The Greek translation of Daniel contains a canticle that the three young men sang in the furnace, the Benedicite Omnia Opera, of which the hymn stanza above is a paraphrase.
Prayer: Lord God, heavenly Father, You rescued Daniel from the lions’ den and the three young men from the fiery furnace through the miraculous intervention of angels. Save us now through the presence of Jesus, the Lion of Judah, who has conquered all our enemies through His blood and taken away all our sins as the Lamb of God, who now reigns from His heavenly throne with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
William Weedon Celebrating the Saints 226-227