In Enemy Territory

As I watched the animated video about Daniel today with my two-year-old son I was impressed with the faithfulness of Daniel from his childhood all the way until the end of his life.  Despite living nearly his whole life among a foreign people, he never forgot his religion or who he really was.  I’m reminded of the phrase from Elder Packer in a talk he gave to the youth of the Church: “With all that is going on in the world, with the lowering of moral standards, you young people are being raised in enemy territory.”  That was certainly true of Daniel and his companions Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.  They were raised in a culture completely foreign to them and hostile to their belief in the Law of Moses and Jehovah.  I believe their experience living away from their native Jerusalem is a guide to all of us as we live our time on earth away from our heavenly home.   

               Daniel and his companions were taken from their native home in Jerusalem as children to be in the court of the king of Babylon.  They were forced to leave their culture in which they had been surrounded by a temple, priests, and the Law of Moses.  In the same sense, we left our heavenly home where we had been in the presence of our Father in Heaven, coming here “trailing clouds of glory” as Wordsworth put it.  We came down to a world that is in many respects hostile to our true heritage and which seeks to mold us after its fashion.  Daniel and his Israelite companions were even given new Babylonian names which must have been an attempt to get them to forget their Jewish heritage.  Over the course of their lives the culture in which they lived sought to assimilate them, trying to get them to learn the Chaldean language, eat the Babylonian food, and worship its gods and idols.  And yet despite this the Israelites never forgot who they were and always stayed true to their heritage and their God.  This is exactly the way that we are to live in this fallen world—despite the fact that we are in enemy territory, we must never forget who we really are and see past the things of the world that seek to make us forget the Lord.  I love the description of how Daniel prayed, “He went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God” (Daniel 6:10).  Even many years after first being taken from his home, he never forgot that he was from Jerusalem and not from Babylon.  He looked to God and his homeland daily, seeking to be true to that heritage.  We likewise encourage each other in the Church with these words: “Remember who you are!”  Remembering that we are children of God and that we came from His presence prepared for this earthly journey can help us to not get deceived by the things of the world that bombard us. 

               In addition to looking back to our heritage, Daniel also showed us I believe the importance of being able to look to the future in God’s grand plan.  Not only did Daniel see beyond his own time in interpreting the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, he had many visions of the future.  Looking at just the chapter headings for the book of Daniel he had visions of the coming of the Messiah, the last days and the events leading up to the Second Coming, and the final deliverance of Israel.  His eyes were on the future and the ultimate triumph of Christ and His Saints.  Surely those visions helped him to survive spiritually among the heathen nations he lived with, and we too must look to the future and the “great things [God] hast prepared” for those who, like Daniel of old, trust and wait upon the Lord (D&C 133:45).