The Lord said to
me…”I will test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)
The Plumbline is
a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.
# 3 Daniel Devoted to God
Daniel
1:8-15 (NLT) 8 But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the
food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for
permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. 9 Now God had given the chief
of staff both respect and affection for Daniel. 10 But he responded, “I am
afraid of my lord the king, who has ordered that you eat this food and wine. If
you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the
king will have me beheaded.” 11 Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been
appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah. 12 “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,”
Daniel said. 13 “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the
other young men who are eating the king’s food. Then make your decision in
light of what you see.” 14 The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and
tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three
friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been
eating the food assigned by the king.
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Nebuchadnezzar had made
abundant provision for the captives. Theirs was a life of luxury, not
deprivation, for they were given a portion of food and wine daily from the king’s own table. However, this food
did not conform to the requirements of the Mosaic Law. The fact that it was
prepared by Gentiles rendered it unclean. Also no doubt many things forbidden
by the Law were served on the king’s table, so to partake of such food would
defile the Jewish youths. Further, without doubt this royal food had been
sacrificed and offered to pagan gods before it was offered to the king. To
partake of such food would be contrary to Exodus 34:15, where the Jews were
forbidden to eat flesh sacrificed to pagan gods.
Similar problems would
arise in drinking the wine. To abstain from the Old Testament prohibition
against “strong drink” (e.g., Prov. 20:1, kjv;
Isa. 5:11, “drinks”), Jews customarily diluted wine with water. Some added 3
parts of water to wine, others 6 parts, and some as much as 10 parts of water
to 1 part of wine. The Babylonians did not dilute their wine. So both the food
and the drink would have defiled these Jewish young men. Daniel knew the requirements of the Law governing what he should
and should not eat and drink.
Daniel’s desire was to
please God in all he did. So he resolved
that even though he was not in his own land but in a culture that did not
follow God’s laws, he would consider himself under the Law. He therefore asked the chief court official
to be excused from eating and drinking the food and wine generously
supplied by the king. Daniel was courageous, determined, and obedient to God.
The chief official’s reserve
to grant Daniel’s request is understandable. He was responsible to oversee the
young captives’ physical and mental development so they would become prepared
for the roles the king had in mind
for them. Evidently these youths held a strategic place in the king’s plans, so
he wanted them well trained. If the men had been of little consequence to the king, their physical conditions would
not have mattered and Ashpenaz would not have risked the loss of his life. Daniel had trusted his situation to God who intervened on Daniel’s behalf to
move the official’s heart to show favor and sympathy to Daniel.[1]
[1] Article
adapted from The Bible Knowledge
Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
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