GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
DANIEL 1:18-19
Click to listen to this devotion.
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found no one like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. So they entered the king’s service.
This examination day is thrown out of chronological order in the book, since the third year of education for these young men would have been 602 BC. The events of Chapter 2 happened in Nebuchadnezzar’s second year, which was 604 BC, two years before Daniel and his friends were finished with their three years of study and training. We will examine this detail again when we consider Daniel 2:1, but for the moment we will simply understand that Daniel had already been in close contact with Nebuchadnezzar and had saved the lives of all of Nebuchadnezzar’s astrologers, enchanters, magicians, and their young students (including his own life), two years before the examination mentioned here. This meant that the king would already have been impressed with this young man and his companions, and he already knew about Daniel’s abilities.
I understand the chronology this way:
605 BC Nebuchadnezzar’s first year; Daniel is captured (1:6)
Daniel’s first year of training begins.
604 BC Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (2:1)
Daniel’s second year of training begins.
603 BC Daniel’s third year of training begins.
602 BC Daniel completes his training
Daniel’s examination with Nebuchadnezzar (1:18-19)
We will need to reserve our opinion for the moment about when the events of Daniel 2:48-49 took place. Would the King of Babylon elevate the equivalent of a college sophomore to becoming a governor of a territory and an important official in his cabinet, two years before that sophomore graduated from school?
Once again there is an echo of the life of Joseph in Egypt. Pharaoh had examined Joseph and was amazed by the young man’s wisdom and insight, as well as his ability to make clear, logical plans for a nation. He said, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?” (Genesis 41:38). And again, “There is no one as discerning and wise as you” (Genesis 41:39).
But this verse also hints to us about something wonderful. The King already knew Daniel’s worth before his examination day. Daniel would have looked forward to this day, not with dread, but with happy anticipation and joy. This is precisely what Judgment Day will be like for the Christian.
About Judgment Day: Jude quotes the patriarch Enoch about that day, who says that God will come “with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone” (1:14-15). This matches the words of the prophets: “Before me every knee will bow, and by me every tongue will confess” (Isaiah 45:23). And who will be judged? Everyone: First, the devil and the wicked angels “who have been kept until the judgment of the great day in eternal chains” (Jude 1:6). Second, all mankind: “I will sit to judge all the nations on every side” (Joel 3:12). Finally: the Antichrist will be singled on that day. “He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked one” (Isaiah 11:4).
We will confine ourselves here to our own appearance before Christ in judgment, since there will be an opportunity to speak about the rest of that day later in Daniel’s book (chapters 7-12). Those people who have not died but who still live on the Last Day will be there before the Son of God, but also all of us who have died will be reunited, body and soul, and it will be fitting and proper that the very first act for us in the resurrection will be the judgment, just as a baby is carefully examined as soon as he is born, to see whether he is breathing, can hear, can see, is healthy, and so on. So also in the rebirth of the resurrection the Lord will come to inspect and to judge.
This judgment begins in all with the secret things, the things deep in the heart of each person. For Paul says: “Therefore judge nothing ahead of time, until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and he will reveal the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5). The evidence for each person will not be new or startling; it will not be foreign or alien to any of us. It will be very familiar: the actual thoughts, words, and deeds of our own lives, shown to us item by item, as in an audit or a checklist. But since the motives are brought to light first, as Paul shows, the believer will be shown what he has done out of faith, for all of those things that were not done in faith (that is, sins) are already washed away clean in the blood of Christ, leaving him to say: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).
Like Daniel in his examination before Nebuchadnezzar, a familiar face and with a shared and happy past, we who have faith in Christ have nothing to fear of the Last Judgment. There he will be, with the familiar nail marks in his hands and feet, the spear wound in his side; the flesh that was crucified and humiliated for us, for our salvation. And now, on that day, our salvation will have come.
Until that day, we have a few tasks to carry out, and especially these three: To give God glory in everything we do, to live in thankful obedience to him, and to share his gospel of forgiveness with those who don’t know it.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Listen or watch Bible classes online. https://splnewulm.org/invisible-church/
Archives at St Paul’s Lutheran Church https://splnewulm.org/daily-devotions/ and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2025
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Daniel 1:18-19 Your final exam