Pilgrim Series: Daniel

October 9, 2026

Part four: Displaced Daniel

Daniel and the lion’s den is a childhood story most of us know well. However, Daniel’s story involved so much more than being thrown into a den of hungry lions and being saved by an angel of the Lord.

Daniel lived as a displaced person in Babylon under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. When he was only a teenager, he was exiled from his home in Jerusalem. It’s hard to imagine how the Israelites felt losing their homeland, temple, place in God’s promised land, way of living, or even uniqueness as God’s chosen. There are millions in our world today that have some inkling of this sort of loss.

To be pushed from everything you’d ever known, and forced into a new land with a new king, new customs, new gods, and a new culture shocks one’s system. Being a teen is shock enough, but to have the entirety of your world turned upside down in a single moment seems unbearable.

Unlike Jacob, Daniel didn’t sojourn, and unlike Ruth, Daniel did not choose to be displaced. Like many refugees living in our world today, Daniel didn’t willfully consent to being violently removed from his native home to dwell in a foreign land.

To be displaced is a traumatic event. Then to be thrown into a country where you don’t speak the language, understand the culture, like the food, or understand customs and traditions is an ongoing barrage of mini-traumas, compounding to the point of dissociation, depression, and debilitating fear for many.

Displacement strips us

Daniel, along with three other young men, was given a unique opportunity, one that at the onset seemed like it could be a ‘good life’ of wealth and status.

Nebuchadnezzar selected Daniel and his friends to be trained for lifelong service to himself. They were elevated in this new land, placed in a school that would reprogram them in every way; down to the way they ate, looked, thought, acted, and worshipped. They were being programmed to be Babylonian–giving up their identity as God’s people.

Imagine for a moment…would you be willing to give up being American–eating burgers, speaking English, wearing blue jeans, celebrating Christmas, worshipping freely? This was the reality Daniel faced in Nebuchadnezzar’s proposition. All links to what made them Hebrew were stripped from them, including their names. Their outward appearance transformed entirely; all markings that signified them as children of God would be erased.

How would Daniel be who God created him to be in such a situation?

embracing our displaced status

When we become Christians, we enter a phase of displacement. We are choosing to align every aspect of our lives with Christ’s Kingdom–not the kingdom of this world. That means we begin the process of a full transformation. Transformation is the work of becoming like Christ in every way–to bear his image entirely. It is not easy work.

Daniel and his three friends took one approach as they embraced their new life in exile. They took advice from the prophet Jeremiah.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Jeremiah 29:4-7

Unexpected Advice

Jeremiah’s word encourages Daniel to embrace the world he found himself living in for the good of those living there. It’s a bit like Jesus saying in John 17 that we live in this world, but are not yet of this world. Our true home is elsewhere, but we live here for now so that we may share the goodness we have experienced in Jesus Christ.

Here is how God met Daniel while exiled from home:

God is with us: Jacob, Ruth, and Daniel lost their sense of place, yet God remained with them all. Daniel and his friends were not sent out alone. God does not abandon his children; he provides for our needs. Throughout the book of Daniel, we see verses like 1:7 showing God’s gracious gifts. “God gave them knowledge and understanding…” God cared for them when they needed saving after the king’s uninterpretable dream in 2:18-20: “Daniel urged them to plead for mercy from God[…and] during the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision[…] then Daniel praised God.”

Daniel’s survived the encounter among the lions, and it is assurance that God is not only with us, but fighting for us, saving us. God remains faithful and true to his children, giving what we need even in displacement. God watched over and protected Daniel in a foreign land so that his new life in Babylon did not need to be feared. John 17 is Jesus promising us the same protection as we live in this not-yet-home world today.

God seeks the welfare of the city: Daniel’s situation afforded him a placement in the care of the king, the head of the city. Eventually, though not always, he had the ear of the king through abilities God gave him. Daniel sought the wisdom of the Lord in all he did. He served with integrity for the betterment of all society–not just himself. Though most refugees don’t have the privilege of being near to the nations’ rulers, they/we can still participate in society and find ways to live according to the needs of all people. We have a responsibility on earth to love our neighbor.

Being a good citizen, even when it’s challenging, means following the laws of the nation, respecting the liberties we may or may not have in our newfound home. We aren’t to live as “we” and “them,” but as Jeremiah suggests, we are to become “us.”

God encourages cultural sensitivity: Daniel’s first year of training taught him how to live, look, and act Babylonian. There is no doubt that part of his education involved observing and learning from the culture around him. In many ways, I am sure he adapted to or even adopted many cultural practices that were abnormal to him. Though he remained devoted to his God, he assimilated into the culture in which he lived. On the outside, he looked the part, spoke the part, and acted the part. He didn’t do this to play a part or live a fake life, but because he was making Babylon his new home. The people around him became his community.

Learning to be a good neighbor means learning the culture of others. We are learning how to live in God’s Kingdom, while being sensitive to others so we can share God’s welcome. By showing respect and a posture of curiosity, we show love, and God wishes to spread his love.

Daniel learned to pray: Daniel’s story is overflowing with his prayers to God. He had a rich, vibrant and ongoing conversation with his Lord and that is how he gained wisdom, vision, and had insight into each situation that came before him. He did not act apart from seeking God in prayer. He loved God first and served others out of that relationship, and that is how he found favor in his often hostile environment. My favorite prayer Daniel prayed was his confession on behalf of Israel in (Daniel 9: 4-19). Daniel remained every humble, knowing how his people weren’t perfect and reminding us, that self-reflection, prayer, and openness to God’s transformation can happen no matter where we end up.

Home, here, now

Daniel teaches us that our physical location is not the end. Our truest place is in Christ–our home. And Christ lives in us; we are never far from home. God goes with us as we make our way out of exile. Our circumstances are opportunities for our soul to deepen in the assurances of God’s love, care, and hope.

Remembering always, God redeems even the worst of scenarios.

“How great are his signs, how mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation. Daniel 4: 3
“His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:14

ADVENT IS COMING!

This series has been preparing us to pilgrimage in Advent, which is starting in November. I invite you to join me in exploring wandering toward cosmic good news this Advent in my newest prayer guide, Advent: Wait, Watch, Waken, Wander

It offers a daily prayer reading and reflection for each day in Advent, leading to Jesus’ birth. Early purchases get a custom-designed Liturgical Calendar for free. Let’s wander together!