Dietary Decisions
Daniel 1:4-21
A few years ago, a new diet plan was introduced through the Christian market. This diet plan includes healthy eating, spiritual exercises, physical activity, community support, and tools to help dieters maintain their healthy habits. Beyond that brief description, I personally do not know much about “The Daniel Plan.” One primary goal of the plan is to assist people in living healthier so that they might serve God better. This is an amazingly worthy goal, and it is in line with Daniel and his companions' request for an alternative diet from the other young men in Nebuchadnezzar’s court.
My preferred method of weight control is running. I do not enjoy following a specific diet. Yet, I do know, as a marathon runner and running coach, that a healthy diet is important for success in any race or training program. At the start of every Cross Country and Track & Field season, I teach athletes about nutrition and hydration. I emphasize the importance of proteins like almonds and antioxidants from berries and dark chocolate. A healthy diet enables an athlete. A healthy diet also enables everyone else to complete the tasks before them, including serving God to the best of one’s ability.
The specific diet requested by Daniel and his companions seems to have consisted of vegetables and water. We do not know the specific vegetables served to Daniel and the other young men from Israel. Through this wise choice, Daniel and his companions were both more physically and spiritually healthy than the rest of the young men. This enables greater service to God.
There are various reasons why Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego might have chosen this diet. Why would eating the food from the king’s table have defiled these young men? One possibility is that the foods included items considered unclean, such as pork. Another possibility is that this food had first been sacrificed to false gods, thus being seen as unclean for the Israelite. If this were the case, vegetables may also have been placed on the altars of false gods. What made the vegetables acceptable? A third possibility is that the food on the plate consisted of meat from which blood had not been drained. Eating such meat would be a clear violation of Israel’s purity laws. While these are all possibilities, it seems that the most likely reason is that those who shared the food specifically offered by the king then entered into a covenant with the king.[1] This would cause the young men to enter into a specific relationship, which would have divided their allegiance. They knew they could not honestly serve both God and King Nebuchadnezzar. In exile, these young men deemed it of utmost importance to serve God and God alone!
They chose this diet and requested the opportunity to partake only of vegetables to more fully commit to God and service to God. Defilement, in the minds of these young men, means not fully, and therefore not truly, being in relationship with God. Their chosen diet also sets them apart from the other young men in the court. Only these four men, amongst all those in Babylon's training program, follow God and God alone.[2]
In response to the faithfulness of these young men, God blesses them, providing them with a robust appearance. This appearance occurs miraculously, as the diet of meat and wine is the usual cause for such an appearance.[3] God also provides them with knowledge and understanding. In this, God shows His willingness to bless and provide for those who are faithful in the midst of exile.
We, like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, need to carefully evaluate ourselves. We should discern if the temptation to have dual allegiances exists in our lives. Many things and people seek to pull us away from following and serving God alone. When we serve and follow other things, we live in defilement. Instead of being defiled, we must set aside other possible allegiances; we should follow God alone!
In this, God blesses us! When we follow God alone, God directs us in following his will. God will help us discern what it means to be his covenant people, even at those moments when we live in exile.
Prayer: Trustworthy God, you desire to be in a relationship with each one of us! You long to lead us on a path of righteousness. You wish to nourish us so that we can grow in your grace. Enable us, then Lord, to commit to you and you alone! Take away those idols and other things that we worship, those things that distract us from you. Take away our divided allegiance so that we might know you more fully! In Christ’s holy name, Amen!
[1] W.
Sibley Towner, Interpretation: Daniel. (Louisville: John Knox Press,
1984), 24-25.
[2]
Ibid., 28.
[3]
Tremper Longman III, The NIV Application Commentary: Daniel. (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 53.
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