The Book of Daniel, But Daniel Purposed In His Heart!, Daniel 1:8-16 - Lesson 5

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, four exiles from Judah, have accepted the fact that they are to attend Babylonian schools, have accepted the fact that they will be called by new Babylonian names, and that they will, upon completion of their schooling, serve in the government of this heathen nation.

But there is one thing in the program of the king of Babylon which rubs the wrong way and that concerns the diet that the king has planned for them.

These men were under the law given by Jehovah to the Jews which included detailed instructions as to their diet for they were forbidden to eat unclean foods.

We have learned that God has told the exiles that they will be in this foreign land for 70 years and that they are to settle in, to build houses, to plant gardens, and to take wives and to bear children.

They are to seek the peace of the city in which they dwell.

They are not to be rebels kicking against God’s will for them at this time.

Even in the matter of their diet some could conclude by the writings of Exekiel that it was God’s plan for them to eat defiled food during their exile.

Ezekiel, who was a contemporary of Daniel, wrote of this in Ezekiel 4:10-15,  And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.  And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.  And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.  Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.  Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.

This scripture indicates, at least at the beginning of the exile, that food was be at a premium and any food that was available would be treasured regardless of its purity as far as the Jew was concerned.

Twenty shekels a day is 8 ounces of food and even water was to be measured out to each, no more than a sixth of a gallon from time to time.

So for the most part many of the exiles were not in the position that Daniel and his friends found themselves in.

For Daniel was in the court of Nebuchadnezzar and was to be assigned a daily portion of the king’s meat and of the wine from his table.

I think we can believe that Daniel knew that eating unclean food was to be the result of God’s judgment upon Judah but under his circumstances he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself in the eating of such food.

We read of this in today’s passage in Daniel 1:8-16,  But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.  Now God had brought Daniel into fervor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.  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.  Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,  Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.  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. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.  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.  Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.

Daniel knew it was God’s will for him to be in Babylon and to be under the authority of Nebuchadnezzar in general and under the prince of the eunuchs and his immediate superior Melzar, in particular.

And living within God’s will required submission to authority otherwise his life would be at risk.

So it was a formidable task that Daniel took on to keep from defiling himself with the king’s meat and wine while at the same time striving to keep from having a confrontation with his superiors.

There will come a time when confrontation in Daniel’s life will occur but we see here that this occasion does not call for disobedience.

There is much to learn in how Daniel accomplished this tricky "between a rock and a hard place" dilemma.

But the first step occurred when Daniel purposed in his heart.

With his whole heart he vowed that he would not defile himself by eating the king’s meat.

Now this purposing in his heart could have led Daniel in several directions.

It could have resulted in rebellion against the king’s demands but it did not, for Daniel chose to work within the system in which God placed him.

He could have taken a position of "I get my way or else I go on a hunger strike".

He could have caused trouble for Ashpenaz and Melzar but he chose to go another way.

He first purposed to not eat of the king’s food but in a submissive manner he asked permission from Ashpenaz to abstain from the king’s food.

Instead of demanding with sanctimonious speech and claiming a religious foundation Daniel requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

There was no call to preach a sermon here, no call to denounce the idols and the religious views of the Babylonians, no call to bring up their rebellion against the God of the Jews.

Daniel simply went to the heart of the matter, that of purposing in his heart not to defile himself.

Daniel kept it simple!

God honored his loyalty by preparing in advance the heart of Ashpenaz, for we see the eunuch gave Daniel a courteous, sympathetic reply.

We are told in verse nine:  Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

This request from Daniel was not extended to a man who did not know the testimony of Daniel for Daniel’s behavior was such as to put him into a favorable position with Ashpenaz even to the place where there was tender love for this young man.

In spite of Daniel’s short time in the palace Ashpenaz saw in Daniel something out of the ordinary, and with God working in his heart, Daniel’s sweet spirit won his favor and he was willing to reason with him.

I know, and you know, that requests are more than not, granted to those with whom you have a good relationship, to those whom you trust.

But in spite of this relationship Ashpenaz did not grant Daniel’s request for fear of the king but because of this relationship Ashpenaz did tell Daniel the reason why he could not grant it.

Had not this good relationship existed, Ashpenaz no doubt would have simply said no and demanded obedience without any explanation.

Ashpenaz knew to whom he was responsible and he feared his own neck.

Nebuchadnezzar had full power over life and all of his servants avoided his wrath by every means.

Why should Ashpenaz test his patience at all by granting such an exception as this request of Daniel?

Nebuchadnezzar’s program was designed to have fit and hearty young men in his three year training program and the food that they ate was selected to encourage that fitness.

So their appearance was everything.

Ashpenaz wished no deviation from that program which could result in Daniel’s appearance being unsatisfactory and thereby bring wrath against the chief of the eunuchs.

So this information revealed to Daniel that his actions not only affected himself but it also affected his superiors.

One lesson we see immediately that every subordinate should learn is to always be concerned as to how his actions will affect his supervisor.

A subordinate must remember to consider whether or not his actions will enhance his supervisor or will it detract from his supervisor.

Every request should be filtered though this principle.

Here we see a clear example of Daniel desiring to please God but at the same time desiring to also please men.

From the information gleaned from Ashpenaz Daniel realized that the goal of his superiors was related to performance in the Babylonian schools and not related to any desire on their part that he eat Babylonian food.

Eating Babylonian food was not a religious exercise.

It was not important what he ate, what was important was his physical and mental condition that resulted from what he ate.

So knowing this, Daniel came up with an alternate plan.

I think here again we have a lesson that ought to be a principle with subordinates.

Many times people only bring problems to their supervisors as if a supervisor can at all times come up with the perfect solution.

The principle that Daniel uses here is one which every supervisor I have known desires of their employees.

It is the principle that the employee who has a problem propose the solution to the problem and simply present it in order to get approval of his solution.

The way to get something that fits your needs is to propose a solution or at least several different options in order to get something that will satisfy your need instead of a top down solution which in the end you may not want.

This is what Daniel did.

Daniel proposed to his immediate superior, Melzar, an alternate eating pattern for a ten day period of time for himself and his three friends.

He knew that the goal of the Babylonian authorities was peak mental and physical performance so he proposed that a control group of four people be established that would at the end of a ten day period be compared to the remainder of the Hebrew trainees.

This is research in its most basic form.

The menu for the control group was pulse and water.

Pulse means something that results from that which is sown which would fit the vegetable group of foods.

It also includes edible seeds which are cooked, as lentils, beans, chick peas, and so on.

So Daniel proposed that he and his friends be allowed to eat a simple meal of vegetables for ten days and then their condition compared with the rest.

Note also that this is an act of faith on Daniel’s part for he gives God an opportunity to intervene on the behalf of one of his children.

Now Ashpenaz had feared that the faces of those who had eaten food other than that which the king provided would communicate to the king a fretful spirit and a noticeable difference between their faces and those who had eaten the kings food and wine.

Daniel simply proposed a test of that hypothesis.

If Daniel’s group could match or surpass the others, then the goal of the Babylonian officials was met, yet in a way that did not defile the Hebrew young men.

Also this was a controlled test for a short time, the king not even being involved.

There was no reason to deny the test.

Daniel’s proposal shows his submissiveness because it seeks the permission of the one directly in charge; it seeks to fulfill the purposes of Daniel’s superiors, but not by their means.

The proposal made sense and therefore was accepted. From the results of this test it would seem God divinely intervened not only making the condition of Daniel and his friends markedly superior, but in a very short period of time.

Daniel’s obedience to God’s word was rewarded. It happens every time!

Daniel’s proposal not only preserved the purity of these four Jews, but it did so in a way that benefited their superiors.

After all, if Daniel and his friends were so obviously superior to the rest, the king would give some of the credit to those in charge of them.