July 8, 2011 – Daniel 1

Here we have the beginning of Daniel’s story. It is pretty believable that the groups that stayed away from the large banquet foods and wine and had only veggies and water would be healthier. We also see this idea of the conquering kingdoms to take their pick of the liter of the conquered group. They would take these “best of the victims” and envelope them into their culture. In doing this they made themselves stronger by growing and learning, taking the best of pieces, but they also left chinks in their armor by allowing these few to move up in their ranks. Even though many grew into fully believing everything of the conquering lands, you always risked that someone may grow powerful, yet still retain the beliefs of home. That is kind of what happens with Daniel and his friends.