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THE VEGETARIAN QUARTET |
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When I come to this section of Daniel I always think of the words of the children’s song:
Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone! Dare to have a purpose firm! Dare to make it known!
We first met Daniel and his three companions in verse 6 where we learned that they was some of the young men that were carried away into Babylon for the purpose of being molded and shaped into a Babylonian servant of Nebuchadnezzar. As we move into verse 8 we began to learn more about these fascinating young men.
As we saw in our last study, the world is always seeking to mold the Christian and the Church into its image, but there are Daniel’s who refuse to be shaped by the world. In Daniel and his companions we have an example of those who draw a line in the sand and take a stand for the Lord. They refused to be made into what Nebuchadnezzar wanted to make them. Vance Havner said of Daniel that he was a prophet of God who “set a standard for all time.”
One of the things that disturbs me about this present generation is how Christians and Churches are letting the world shape who they are and what they do. Standards are being lowered or abandoned altogether with the motive of being more accepted by the world around us. Black and white has been replaced with a shade of gray in order to be more attractive. Oh, we use such phrases as “seeker friendly” or “seeker sensitive” to justify or explain our purpose, but it is really nothing more than becoming like the world to reach the world. That has never been God’s method and has never been the means of reaching the world.
Like Daniel, we must recognize that the ultimate purpose in life is pleasing God. It is only when a Christian or Church pleases God that it is truly effective in reaching those around us. Daniel could have easily yielded to all the designs and plans of Nebuchadnezzar and justified it by saying, “If I become like the Babylonians I will be able to reach the Babylonians.” However, he chose a different path and the result is his life is still reaching people today.
There are two words in verse 8 that determined the eternal impact of Daniel’s life and they are the words, “But Daniel.” If it had not been for those two words we would have never heard of Daniel and his companions. These four Hebrew boys were not the only ones that were carried into Babylonia. There were many more, but we know nothing about them. Why is that? They yielded to the pressures of Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon and became one of them.
“But Daniel!” He and his three companions refused to yield. The stand he took made him an eternal testimony of one whose highest aim was to please God. Let’s look at the stand these four Hebrew boys took. I am calling them the Vegetarian Quartet. You will understand my description shortly.
Let’s began by first noticing:
1. THE DECISION OF THE FOUR
When we read the words, “But Daniel” in verse 8, it includes Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Unfortunately, we better know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I say unfortunately, because if you remember from our last study we saw that these were the Babylonian names that were given to them. The changing of their names was one of the methods employed to change who and what they were.
The context indicates that Daniel’s decision was their decision as well. What was the decision made by these four Hebrew boys? We read in verse 8, “But Daniel purposes in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.”
In our last study we looked at verse 5, and how “the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.” This was another way of attempting to change who and what they were. It was another method of making Babylonians out of them and servants of Nebuchadnezzar.
But Daniel and his three companions made the decision they would not defile themselves with the meat and wine of Nebuchadnezzar. They purposed in their hearts that they would not eat of such. Now, let’s look at this decision closer. In their decision we see:
a) Their Convictions
There were reasons why Daniel and his companions refused to eat of the king’s meat and drink his wine. For one thing, the Mosaic Law was very clear and strict about one’s diet and there were certain foods that were considered unclean.
In Leviticus 11 we are given an extensive list of animals, fish and fowls that were acceptable and prohibited. For example, we read in verse 4 that “the camel…is unclean unto you.” I am not aware that Camel burgers have ever been a popular item, but for the Jewish people they were on the prohibited list. Also in verse 7 we read, “And the swine…he is unclean to you.” Pork was not on the approved list of meat. Pork chops and sausage biscuits from Hardees were not acceptable. We would say that such meats were not kosher. I have a suspicion that pork was part of the king’s meat. For Daniel and his companions to eat such meat would have been a violation of God’s command.
There is another reason why these Hebrew boys refused to eat the king’s meat. This was food from animals that were slaughtered ceremonially and offered to Babylonian gods. For them, to eat such meat would mean they would “defile” themselves. The word “defile,” means “to soil” or “desecrate.”
These boys were carried away from their homeland and taken into Babylon. When they sat down at the table, a big thick pork chop was placed before them. If that was not bad enough, it was meat that had been offered unto idols. What were they going to do?
It would seem that the rest of the captives ate of the meat and drunk the wine. Nothing is said about others taking a stand, so I think we are safe in assuming that they dug in and ate what was put before them. I can imagine that some reasoned, “We have to live.” Maybe others said, “I don’t a choice.” Still others may have said, “Nobody will ever know.” Then there were those who looked around and saw others eating the meat and drinking the wine and said to themselves, “Everybody else is doing it.”
But not Daniel, Hanianiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To eat the meat and drink the wine would have been an act of desecration. As far as they were concerned, it would be a violation of God’s commands and a compromising of their convictions. And for these boys, God’s commands were not to be broken in any circumstance and their convictions were not for sale.
I think of the definition that attorney David Gibbs, Jr. of the Christian Law Association gave of a preference and a conviction. He said that the, “Difference between a conviction and a preference, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. A preference is a very strong belief, held with great strength. You can give your entire life in a full-time way to the service of the preference, and can also give your entire material wealth in the name of the belief. You can also energetically proselytize others to your preference. You can also want to teach this belief to your children, and the Supreme Court may still rule that it is a preference. A preference is a strong belief, but a belief that you will change under the right circumstances. Circumstances such as: 1) peer pressure; if your beliefs are such that other people stand with you before you will stand, your beliefs are preferences, not convictions, 2) family pressure, 3) lawsuits, 4) jail, 5) threat of death; would you die for your beliefs? A conviction is a belief that you will not change. Why? A man believes that his God requires it of him. Preferences aren’t protected by the constitution. Convictions are. A conviction is not something that you discover; it is something that you purpose in your heart (cf. Daniel 1, 2-3). Convictions on the inside will always show up on the outside, in a person’s lifestyle. To violate a conviction would be a sin.”
Refraining from defiling themselves with the king’s meat and wine was not a preference with Daniel and his companions. IT WAS A CONVICTION. They knew what God required of them and to violate His commands would be a sin.
Furthermore, their decision spoke volumes about:
b) Their Commitment
Their refusal to eat the king’s meat and drink his wine revealed the depths of their commitment to God and His Word. Serving God, honoring God, and obeying Him was more than a religious practice. It was the purpose of their lives. They were committed to serving God, honoring God, and obeying God and nothing or no one would cause them to abandon their faith.
One commentator said, “The command of the king, that the young men should be fed with the food and wine from the king’s table, was to Daniel and his friends a test of their fidelity to the Lord and to His law.”
Let me ask you, what would you have done? If you were in the same situation, would you have reasoned and justified eating the meat and drinking the wine, or would you have said no? Do you live by preferences or convictions? Is your commitment of the kind that obeying God is non-negotiable?
I think about a fellow who asked a friend, “What kind of flower is that in your buttonhole?” “Why, that’s a chrysanthemum,” answered the friend.
“It looks like a rose to me.”
“No, you’re wrong. It’s a chrysanthemum,” insisted the friend.
“Spell it,” the fellow said.
“K-r-i-s-, no it’s K-h-r-y-, no it must be C-r-i-s-...you know what, I believe you’re right. It is a rose.”
For many Christians their commitment withers quickly when faced with hardship or strong demands. Some Christians will violate God’s commands for a job promotion or a sale. Some will buckle under peer pressure. Some will let the situation determine what they do. They are like all the other Hebrew boys that were carried into Babylon. They only thought about themselves—surviving. Not Daniel and his companions. It was what God said and what He thought about it that mattered most to them.
G. Campbell Morgan told the story of the English actor Macready. An eminent preacher once said to him, “I wish you would explain something to me. What is the reason for the difference between you and me? You appear before crowds night after night with fiction, and the crowds come wherever you go. I am preaching the essential and unchangeable truth, and I am not getting any crowd at all. Explain that to me.” Macready answered, “It is quite simple. I can tell you the difference between us. I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction.”
Some Christians treat God’s commands as though they were fiction and not truth. Oh we say, “I believe the Bible! I believe God what God said. Yes sir! I am a firm believer!” But then, on the Lord’s Day, we let things keep us out of Church. We fail to give as God has commanded. We never share our faith with others. No, we often live as if God’s commands were fiction, not truth.
Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone! Dare to have a purpose firm! Dare to make it known!
Secondly, notice:
2. THE DIET OF DANIEL
We read in verse 8 that Daniel “requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” Daniel’s voiced his convictions and commitment and asked if he could be excused from defiling himself with the king’s meat and wine.
We read in verse 9, “Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.” The word “favour” means “kindness” or “good will.” The words “tender love” is a plural intended to denote deep sympathy. God touched the heart of the prince and he was sympathetic to their plight.
However, his sympathy was overshadowed by the fear for his own life. We read in verse 10, “And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.” In short he was saying, “I would like to help you, but if I did it would be the axe man for me.”
Now there was something that he said that opened the door for Daniel. Notice:
a) Their Proposal
He said in verse ten, “You have to eat. I have been given the job of getting you ready to present to the king and if I bring you in there skinny as a rail and pale as ghost then the blame will fall on me.” Daniel jumped on this and made him a proposal. We read in verses 11-15, “11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.”
Daniel knew that the prince of the eunuchs was too scared to help them, so he made a proposal to Melzar, a guard that the prince had set over them. He said, “I tell you what. You let us go on a low carb diet for ten days with nothing but celery and carrots and give us a jug of water and I guarantee you we will be a healthy as a horse. We will look like Charles Atlas.” Now, you understand, that’s a Trivette translation. The word “pulse” simply refers to vegetables. Daniel was suggesting that they be put on a vegetable diet.
Now you all know that a vegetable diet is the way to loose weight, not gain weight. Nonetheless, Melzar agreed to the proposal.
That led to:
b) Their Proving
The end of verse 14 says that he “proved them ten days.” We read in verse 15, “And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.” After ten days they looked better than the whole bunch and had even gained weight.
Melzar was so pleased that we read in verse 16, “Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.” They held their ground, stood firm for God and were blessed by God for doing so.
God will always bless those who put Him first. Let me say it again:
Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone! Dare to have a purpose firm! Dare to make it known!
Lastly, notice with me:
3. THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF THE FOUR
When I come to the final verses of chapter one I think of what 1 Samuel 2:30 says. God had said to Eli through the man of God, “them that honour me I will honour.” If you put God first in your life and honor Him, He will honor you. That is God’s promise. Daniel and his companions are a wonderful example of that promise.
Notice:
a) How They Were Favored by God
We read in verse 17, “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” God made these boys into the valedictorians of the class. Plus, he gave Daniel the amazing ability to understand dreams and visions.
The Psalmist said in Psalm 119:98-104, “Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. [99] I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. [100] I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. [101] I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. [102] I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. [103] How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! [104] Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”
You would have thought Daniel wrote those words. Because he hated every false way and kept God’s commands, God made him wiser than all the rest.
Furthermore, we see:
b) How They Were Found by Nebuchadnezzar
We read in verses 18-20, “Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. [19] And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. [20] And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.”
The king examined each of the Hebrews and not only found that Daniel and his companions were the best of the lot brought from Jerusalem, but they were ten times better than his own magicians and astrologers.
Again, I remind you that if you honor God in your life, He will honor you. God blesses those who will obey His word and will in their life. Again, I remind you that there were more than Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah that were carried captive into Babylon. But the only ones we know about are those who took a stand for God. If you want to live a life that bears the mark of eternity upon it, draw the line in your life as did Daniel and his friends.
Reichel was conducting the final rehearsal of his great choir for the production of the "Messiah." The chorus had sung through to the point where the soprano solo takes up the refrain, "I know that my Redeemer liveth."
The soloist's technique was perfect—she had faultless breathing, accurate note placing, and flawless enunciation. After the final note all eyes were fixed on Reichel to catch his look of approval. Instead, he silenced the orchestra, walked up to the singer with sorrowful eyes, and said, "My daughter, do you really know that your Redeemer liveth?"
"Why yes," she answered, flushing, "I think I do."
"Then sing it!" cried Reichel. "Tell it to me so that I will know and all who hear you will know that you know the joy and power of Him." He then motioned the orchestra to play again.
This time she sang the truth as she knew it and had experienced it in her own soul, and all who heard wept under the spell of it. The old master approached her with tear-dimmed eyes, and said, "You do know, for you have told me."
As we shall see in future studies, how Daniel and his companions lived proved to others that their God was real. If you know the Lord, then LIVE IT! Live it in such a way that others will know it is real. Say no to the meat and wine of this world.
Let me say it one more time:
Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone! Dare to have a purpose firm! Dare to make it known! © 2006 by the Living Word |
