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"And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod
. . . . . and set it by Dagon. And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold,
Dagon was fallen upon his face before the ark of the Lord" (I Sam. 5: 1-3).
No such thing takes place at Babylon, however. Times have changed and, in
agreement with that change, Nebuchadnezzar could take the sacred vessels from the
house of God, and put them in the treasure house of his god without drawing upon
himself any visible sign of disapproval.
While this may have been so, God's attitude towards the evil nature of idolatry
remained unaltered, and uncompromising opposition to it in all its aspects was
manifested by Daniel and his three brethren. This we shall see set forth in three ways:--
1.
The refusal to eat or drink food that had been offered to idols (chapter 1:).
2.
The refusal to bow down to the golden image set up by Nebuchadnezzar (chapter 3:).
3.
The refusal to offer prayer to the king of Persia (chapter 6:).
The names of four of the captives of Judah who were chosen for preparation to stand
before the king were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Each of these names
contains a reference to the one true God, El, or Jehovah. The prince of the eunuchs
changed these names, introducing the nomenclature of heathen deities in the place of the
names of the Lord. Changed names, however, do not necessarily indicate changed hearts,
and so we read: "but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with
the portion of the king's meat" (1: 8). Daniel's purpose and his choice of "pulse" had no
reference to vegetarianism; it went deeper and constituted a protest against idolatry.
There were two ways in which Daniel would have become defiled by eating the king's
meat. The first relates to the case of slaughtered animals, in connection with which it is
written:--
"Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel . . . . . that eateth any manner of
blood, I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off
from among his people . . . . . for it is the blood that maketh an ATONEMENT"
(Lev. 17: 10, 11).
Here is the first great exposure of Babylonian error--it has no regard for the
atonement: it perpetuates, in its doctrine, the way of Cain.
The second reason for Daniel's action was that it was forbidden for the Israelites to eat
meat which had been offered to idols (Exod. 34: 15). Note also the following:--
"But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and
not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with demons" (I Cor. 10: 20).
That this wicked practice will be re-introduced with the revival of Babylon at the time
of the end, Rev. 2: 20 testifies: "That woman Jezebel, that teaches . . . . . to eat things
sacrifice to idols."