Daniel had resolved not to defile himself with the king’s food and wine. But taking a stand is just one part of dealing with difficult temptations that involve others and their expectations. One must not only take a stand, but do so in a calm and courteous way. God is concerned not only that we do what is right, but that we do it the right way.
As we noticed last time, Daniel “asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself” (Dan. 1:8) and while the chief of the eunuchs was favorably disposed towards Daniel, he feared that this would show badly on him if these young men failed the test, in this case a physical health test based on their menu.
So what Daniel does is to offer an alternative, a test, another way, but a different way, to accomplish the same desired results.
11 Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
Notice that in this case Daniel goes down the chain of command. He isn’t speaking to King Nebuchadnezzar, nor Ashpenaz, the chief of the eunuchs, but to the steward “whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over” them.
“Let us try another diet and see if we do not look as healthy (or even healthier) than the others,” says Daniel. Daniel didn’t go along with the crowd. He didn’t bow to the pressure of the herd. Instead, he boldly suggested another way to accomplish the very same purpose, a way that would allow him to remain ritually pure.
He saw another way (another alternative option) that would not only fulfill God’s will but it would also prove that the God of the Jews was better. Daniel put his own life on the line believing that God would protect him for doing what was right.
It is clear from v. 12 and following that all four of the young men were in this together (“Test your servants”). Daniel, however, appears to have been the leader among them as well as the spokesman to the authorities. Yet the decision was a mutual one made by all four young men
It is likely that Daniel did not want the credit for their appearance to go to this pagan king and his training process. He wanted God to receive the glory. So he proposed a way that would both please the Lord through his obedience and also glorify God by showing what God could do.
Why do I say that?
Believe me, this decision to stand against what the king was suggesting was an act of defiance against the god Marduk. Marduk was suddenly being challenged by Yahweh (through his representatives) right there in his very own city. By narrating the fact that Daniel and his friends prefer a different diet, the author establishes a base of operation for Yahweh within Marduk’s god-space.
The battle will culminate, in vv. 17-20, with Nebuchadnezzar’s examination and affirmation of the superiority of Yahweh’s representatives. Not only are these three representatives of Yahweh wiser and superior to all the other young men, but also to Nebuchadnezzar’s own counselors! The lesson is that if Yahweh can invade Marduk’s own “god space” and show himself superior there, he can certainly protect his people who have to live out the days of their exile in the land of Marduk or wherever they are.
Their decision to be obedient to God paves the way for a long life of faithful service to God even in enemy territory. All of that could have been far too easily sabotaged by giving in at this one “small” compromise. But they stood their ground in a seemingly insignificant situation, which I believe enabled them to stand their ground in much larger issues in their lives later on. We all have temptations to compromise. That’s why, like Daniel, we need purpose and resolution because if we compromise now, we’ll regret it later.
Now, the word translated “vegetables” is from the Hebrew word zērōaʿ, which has the basic idea of that which grows from “seed” (zeraʿ). This would include not only vegetables but fruits, grains, and bread made from grains (so Goldingay, 6). This would have been quite a healthy diet. The test, then, was simple: if after ten days the Hebrew youths looked fine, they could be allowed to continue the alternative diet.
Verse 14 says, “So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days.”
Again, that this steward “listened to them” and didn’t just dismiss them out-of-hand shows that God was working on their hearts to give Daniel favor.
“The vegetarian diet that Daniel proposed was probably not confined to one single item but included a variety of lentils, beans, seeds, and other similar food—spartan fare, indeed, but probably much more healthful than the rich, spiced concoctions, saturated with fats and spices, that the others were offered” (John Phillips, Exploring the Book of Daniel, p. 40).
Daniel’s personal choice of holiness had a powerful influence on three areas of his person (1:15-17, 20). First, Daniel’s body “looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food” (v. 15).
15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. 16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
Okay, you do realize. don’t you, that people normally go on salad and vegetable diets to lose weight, not gain it. Right? These were the guys who skipped the meat and deserts…and they gain weight. Obviously God was in this! Also, for this to happen in the space of just ten days is quite amazing. I mean, who has seen such drastic results from any diet in ten days? Anyone?
As Amir Tsarfati says, “When we determine to do what is right, the Lord will be there with us 100 percent of the time. He won’t just be watching us from a distance, rooting for us and hoping it all turns out okay. He will be intimately and intricately involved” (Discovering Daniel, p. 34).
This was a spiritual contest. Daniel had invited this comparison and God made sure that whether the comparison was done qualitatively or quantitatively then the Children of God still came out shining. And look at the use of the word all. Daniel and his friends were not ‘on average’ better than the others. Every one of Daniel and his friends were better than every one of the others.
Second, his spirit was in tune with God, who gave him a special ability to understand visions and interpret dreams of all kinds (v. 17).
17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams
Between verses 16 and 17 three years have now passed. The Lord had given all four Hebrew youths knowledge and skill in learning and wisdom. To Daniel alone, the Lord also gave the gift of understanding in all visions and dreams.
Here were men whom God could trust with learning. They soaked up knowledge with ease and used it for good purposes, for God’s glory, rather than their own.
When Daniel protested, he protested as a participant within the system, rather than an outside observer. This allowed him to be more sympathetic with those he served. We will see that in his relationship with Nebuchadnezzar and Darius in the following chapters.
Notice that these gifts came from God: “God gave them learning and skill…” Of course, this doesn’t mean that the young men didn’t study and apply themselves to learning, but behind and above it all, it was a gift of God to them.
God enjoys rewarding his children for their obedience. In 1 Sam. 2:30 we are told, “those who honor Me, I will honor” (NASB). How and when God chooses to honor his children, however, is his prerogative. Sometimes it may not be until glory.
Paul Tanner notes that these steps all contributed to the good results that we now see in their lives. First, they, likely from their upbringing back home in Jerusalem, knew what God desired of them. They had memorized the Torah. Second, that process of meditation helped them develop an inner conviction to obey. Third, whether planned ahead of time or given in the moment by the Holy Spirit, they had a wise implementation, wise in the way that they communicated. Fourth, they endured in their obedience and submission. The outcome: God blessed them and distinguished them.
The Babylonians could change everything—his diet, his location, his education, his language, even his name—but they couldn’t change his heart. Why? Because his heart was engaged with God’s Word.
Also, realize that visions and dreams were one of the ways that God communicated back then. Today we have the finished canon of Scripture from which to determine God’s will (Heb. 1:1-2).
We also see the academic abilities in verse 20.
“In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom” (v. 20).
Third, their political position was elevated. It soon became evident that these four young men outranked all of the others and, of those four, one was without peer. The king asked this one, young Belteshazzar, questions that stumped even the members of his own court who were themselves famous in both the colleges and the court. Daniel outshone them all. He was “ten times better” than they. “None was found like Daniel…”
Fourth, we see the personal continuation of Daniel’s ministry. Others came and went, whether wise men or kings, but Daniel continued “until the first year of king Cyrus” (v. 21). He was there at the beginning and the end of the seventy-year captivity. “We see him [then] standing in the shadows as that small band of pioneers set out for the Promised Land, an old man, his finger pointing to Jeremiah’s scroll and his hand raised in thanksgiving and prayer” (John Phillips, Exploring the Book of Daniel, p. 41).
Note: This verse does not say that Daniel died in the first year of king Cyrus. Daniel 10:1 records a vision given to him in the 3rd year of king Cyrus. The purpose of Daniel’s statement about King Cyrus is to show that Daniel’s career spanned into the period of the Persian domination of Babylon.
Daniel does not reveal much about his relationship with Cyrus; however, Cyrus proclaimed the emancipation of the Jews recorded in Ezra 1:1-4 and 2 Chronicles 36:22-23. Daniel may have given Cyrus the prophecy of Jeremiah that was fulfilled in 536 B.C., the first year of Cyrus, for him to read for himself.
Application
It is unlikely any of us with face a life-and-death decision over an issue of obedience. But we do face situations every day when we have a choice to say yes to God or yes to ourselves. Some of these may be big decisions, but most will be small. In those lesser times, the enemy may whisper in our ear as he did to Eve, “It’s really no big deal. Just this one time.”
Every decision as to whether we sin or not is a big one, because every sin is big. Not only does it separate us from our closeness with God, but it has a cumulative effect. Jesus told His disciples, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much” (Luke 16:10). I have seen far too many Christians shipwreck their faith after giving in to little sinful compromises.
Peace comes from knowing you are right with God. Hope comes from holding on to the promises the Lord gives to us when we are right with Him. Daniel experienced a bounty of spiritual blessings because of his faithfulness.
I read about a 400-year-old redwood that suddenly and without warning toppled to the forest floor. What caused the death of such a majestic giant? Was it fire? Lightning? A strong wind? A post-mortem examination revealed a startling cause. Tiny beetles had crawled under the bark and literally eaten the fibers away from the inside. Although it looked healthy on the outside, on the inside it was virtually hollow and one day finally collapsed.
The same thing happens when we refuse to stand our ground for Christ. Every time we compromise something bad happens in our soul. Eventually all those little decisions add up and we become hollow on the inside even though we may look great on the outside.
Devotion to God is something that even a teenager can experience, yet it is something that all of us have to maintain and nourish (regardless of our age or maturity). Devotion to God develops in proportion to the degree that we are “God-centered” in our lives. It is futile for us to expect that devotion and obedience will take place in our lives apart from being “God-centered.” Listen to the advice of Jerry Bridges:
The practice of godliness is an exercise or discipline that focuses upon God. From this Godward attitude arises the character and conduct that we usually think of as godliness. So often we try to develop Christian character and conduct without taking the time to develop God-centered devotion. We try to please God without taking the time to walk with him and develop a relationship with him. This is impossible to do.
As Bridges wisely advises, we must take the time to develop a relationship with the living God. Otherwise, devotion and obedience will never really develop in our lives. What are you doing to develop a God-centered devotion? Are you taking regular time to be alone with God? Are you communing with him in prayer and actively studying his Word?
It is sometimes easy to excuse ourselves in our thought life and actions because of the world we live in. If we are not careful, we begin to define our standards in relation to the world rather than in relation to God himself. We can be lulled into thinking that as long as our standard is just a little bit better than the world’s, we may think we are pleasing God (cf. Titus 2:11–13).
Look what God did for this courageous teenager:
• God protected Daniel (when he proposed the test)
• God prospered Daniel (during the test and afterward)
• God promoted Daniel (in the eyes of the King)
I cannot read this story without thinking of the words of God to Eli in 1 Samuel 2:30b, “Those who honor me I will honor.”
In 1873, P.P. Bliss wrote a gospel song about this story that became very popular but has in our day become virtually unknown. It is called “Dare to be a Daniel.” Likely you sang part of it in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School.
Standing by a purpose true,
Heeding God’s command,
Honor them, the faithful few!
All hail to Daniel’s band!
Many mighty men are lost
Daring not to stand,
Who for God had been a host
By joining Daniel’s band.
Many giants, great and tall
Stalking through the land,
Headlong to the earth would fall,
If met by Daniel’s band.
Hold the gospel banner high!
On to victory grand!
Satan and his hosts defy,
And shout for Daniel’s band.
Refrain:
Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known.
Grace Still Amazes 