Commemoration of Daniel the Prophet and the Three Young Men
December 17
The Lord be with you
Daniel the prophet and the three young men—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—were among the leaders of the people of Judah who were taken into captivity in Babylon. Even in that foreign land, they remained faithful to the one true God in their piety, prayer, and life. On account of such steadfast faithfulness in the face of pagan idolatry, the three young men were thrown into a fiery furnace, from which they were saved by the Lord and emerged unharmed (Daniel 3). Similarly, Daniel was thrown into a pit of lions, from which he also was saved (Daniel 6). Blessed in all their endeavors by the Lord—and despite the hostility of some—Daniel and the three young men were promoted to positions of leadership among the Babylonians (Daniel 2:48-49; 3:30; 6:28). To Daniel in particular the Lord revealed the interpretation of dreams and signs that were given to King Nebuchadnezzar and King Belshazzar (Daniel 2, 4, 5). To Daniel himself, the Lord gave visions of the end times.
A Writing from Veit Dietrich (1555)
This is a prophecy that the king of Assyria would be defeated before Jerusalem and would retreat with shame, and the righteous would be saved, against all the hopes of the desperate hypocrites. And the prophet comforts them well, so that whoever keeps himself in God’s will and guards himself from sin shall be safe, as if he were on a high rock, and he shall have his bread and water, that is, his nourishment, even if everywhere else everything goes badly. He also promises the forgiveness of sins. And by doing so, he touches on the New Testament, in which the true enemy, the devil, shall be defeated, and the true Jerusalem, the Church, shall be made safe through Christ.
Appropriate prayers include remembering those whose circumstances require them to make a stand for Christ, that our Savior would be with then and guide them, for our ability to remain faithful, and for believers in areas where Christianity is persecuted.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert