Trained in the Ways of Babylon

Commenting on Nebuchadnezzar's strategy of defeating Jerusalem, as recorded in Dan. 1:3–7, Sinclair Ferguson observes: Nebuchadnezzar "weakened Jerusalem's prospects by exiling the cream of its youth, and he prepared for the future by giving them a thoroughly Babylonian education. . . . Nebuchadnezzar was not the last leader to see the value of infiltrating the colleges and universities to find candidates for his future service" (Sinclair Ferguson, Daniel, 34).