Kingdom men in Babylon’s kitchen, By Ayo Akerele

Text: Daniel 1:8, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself”

The book of Daniel began with the story of the invasion of Judah, a key city of israel by Nebuchadnezer, king of Babylon between 606-605BC. Among those captured in this invasion were four men, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. After they were captured and taken to Babylon, their names were changed.

You need to understand why Nebuchadnezer changed their names. Babylon had so many gods and idols. Some of these gods include Bel, shadrach (another word for the god Aku), Meshach (another synonym for the god, Aku), and Nebo or Negro. Now, see the names given to them by Nebuchadnezar

“To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego” (Daniel 1:7).

Let me tell you what their original names mean.

Daniel means “God is my judge”

Hananiah means, “the Lord is gracious”

Mishael means, “Who is like the Lord”

Azariah means, “the Lord is my helper”

However, to brainwash these four boys, Babylon changed their names, giving them names after their gods. It was a kind of an induction process. It was a kind of humiliation of the God of heaven. To them the issue here is, “we can’t allow you to bear the names that honor God almighty. You must bear names that honor our gods”.

So, to corrupt them and to thoroughly transform their godly culture to a corrupt one, they had to be re-christened and then taken to the kitchen of Babylon. Now, I am using kitchen here as a figurative expression, it is where menus of life are cooked. It is where values of life are shaped. For a child of God in our contemporary world, a kitchen might represent the church you attend; the organization you work for; the business relationships you keep; your marriage; the schools you attend, all of these places are kitchens of life where values are shaped, positive or negative values. And sadly, these are the places where Satan and his agents invade to corrupt culture and re-Christine believers.

In Daniel 1:4-7, an interesting episode occurred. The king of Babylon needed to hire very gifted people to work with him. Now, I want you to note something. Babylon is that representation of evil. You must not be found in Babylon. Note that Daniel was forced there. You should not see Babylon as an option. Run from Babylon. But sometimes in life, we don’t choose our Babylons, Babylon may choose us.

You may not choose to work in that organization, but you just got a job there only to discover that your direct manager is an agent of the devil

You may not choose to engage in a corrupt business activity. People may bring it to your doorstep even within a legitimate business transaction

You may not choose to marry a bad man. 5 years into your marriage, your husband may backslide, bringing Babylon to you

If you stumble at Babylon,. Don’t fret. You are part of the Daniel generation. And in fact, all genuine followers of Christ are part of the Daniel generation in these last days.

You need to understand the environment in which Daniel and his three friends were living. This was not a democratic environment. It was a monarchy where the king held absolute power over human lives, he can order you killed for disobeying him. Daniel and his friends were to be trained for three years? Why? Babylonian libraries held thousands of books and literature that they developed as part of their global strategy to conquer the world through brain washing. They forced slaves and captives to read those books so that they would be brainwashed.

These techniques are also used in various tyrannical societies around the world, China, North Korea, Syria and many parts of the Middle East.

And to shock you, many of the books and materials that are children are reading in their schools are also being adulterated with Babylonian contents, just to brain wash them with errors. We must be alive to the fact that we are the Daniel Generation.

Then they mandated them to eat their food and to take their drink, but Daniel refused (Daniel 1:8). Why? Traditionally, the meat and drink prepared in the kitchen of Babylon are first dedicated to idols before being served to slaves.

God had warned the Jews never to eat any food offered to idols (Leviticus 11, Exodus 34: 14-15). Also, there are many new testament references mandating a child of God to abstain from food dedicated to idols in any form (Hebrews 11:24-26; Hebrews 7:26; 2 Corinthians 6:14)

Daniel was around 16 years at that time, and he remembered this law, Daniel had to bible. He was living in an extremely corrupt society, far worse than ours today. You see, we don’t have any choice at all. Romans 2:1 says, “we are inexcusable).

Daniel, a 16 year old boy remembered God’s word and abstained from these pollutions by PURPOSING IN HIS HEART (Daniel 1:8).

In this time and age, you have to be intentional as a kingdom person not to defile yourself. No generation makes is easier to be defiled like ours.. It’s so easy and simple to eat and drink from the kitchen of Babylon. The costs are really very low, but the consequences are deadly. IF DANIEL HAD DONE THIS, IT WOULD HAVE COST HIM HIS GLORY. Let me tell you what you must do to develop the capacity to be part of the Daniel generation

Daniel generations are men and women of purpose, they don’t live carelessly. They are focused on God’s plans for their lives.

Daniel generations put the word of the Lord in their hearts, they don’t forget it. David in Psalm 119: 11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You”

Daniel generation have zero tolerance for defilement. They are intentional about keeping themselves pure from sin

Daniel generation are men of strong faith, they can take any risk to please God and do His will. Paul says in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain”

Daniel generation are believers whose light shines in the darkness of Babylon. They are not compromisers

Ayo Akerele, a leadership and system development strategist, and minister of the word, writes from Canada and can be reached through ayoakerele2012@gmail.com