Where He Leads I Will Follow: What He Feeds Me I Will Swallow

 

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel,  Daniel 1:8-9

 Lest we be deceived into thinking that only these four (Daniel, Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah)  faced this fate, we must consider the account of this defeat in 2 Kings 24:14-16. Here we learn that there were in fact 10,000 captives carried off to Babylon at this time, many of whom were taken to the King’s court (Daniel 1:3-4). Of these, we only hear about Daniel and his three friends requesting to be excused from the provisions of the king’s table. I’d imagine that the others felt all sorts of excuse or validation for consuming it. Perhaps they felt as though God had abandoned them. Perhaps they thought that if God had brought them to this place, He was giving them permission to make exception to their dietary restrictions. Perhaps they just didn’t care at that point. In any case, odds are high that Daniel et al faced criticism, even possibly persecution for their choice to abstain. It very well might have made others feel bad, pointed out their lack of faith, or even caused them concern about bringing down judgment from the king. They had to stand up against their own brethren, their fellow Israelites that had followed them into captivity, in order to do what they believed in their heart was God’s will.

 But peer pressure wasn’t the only obstacle in their path. The king’s steward was justifiably concerned about their request. He’d be given a task, indoctrinate these young men and align them with the court. One of the cleanest ways to do this was to separate them from their cultural and religious traditions, and eating from the king’s table completely did this. You see, not only was the meat they were served not kosher (prepared according to specific standards laid down by God for the Jews), it was also offered as a sacrifice to idols before serving it to the people. We read about this in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 8 where it talks about how food sacrificed to an idol is really just food, but if others who believe otherwise see you eat it, it could cause a stumbling block to their faith and that is even more important than your “right” to eat the food. You wouldn’t think of this necessarily being an issue today, but once, when my husband was in India, he was with another believer and, outside of a hindu temple, they were offered bananas that had been sacrificed to the gods. While he knew that this banana held no special power or poison, he knew that by accepting it and eating it, it would speak another message to the person who had offered it, so he declined.

 Back to the king’s steward. His job was to prepare these young men for service in the king’s court. He needed to both be sure that they were well nourished as well as cunningly separate them from their cultural heritage and align them with the king. If it got back to the king that these four were not consuming the food provided and they were suffering for it, the steward is likely the one who would face punishment. Daniel didn’t come to the steward and demand his rights, insist on accommodation for his religious preferences, no, the Bible says he, “asked the chief official for permission.” He was humble. He was respectful. And when faced with the steward’s concerns, instead of being insistent, he offered a compromise. Let us try it, he said. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll do it your way, no problem. He was solicitous and thoughtful in his approach, and it worked! Why did it work? Because he was so intelligent and charming? No, verse 9 tells us that, “God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel.” This all worked out because God was behind it, before it, in it all.

 Daniel and his friends obeyed God, and they did it in such a way that also honored God. They didn’t lord it over others, saying that they were better because of it. They didn’t accuse others, saying that everyone should do as they did. They didn’t insist on it as their right in any way. They were humble. They were respectful. They trusted God to put it all together according to His will. And, because of this, they showed up in verse 15 as healthier and better nourished than those who had been eating the choice food and wine. My son who is very into body building will extol to you the benefits and importance of protein in a diet of someone who is supposed to be being prepped for service, so you’d think that those eating from the meat of the king would have fared better, but this is one of those times where it is clear that God is at work and His ways are higher than ours.

Here’s the Thing: Daniel obeyed when it was hard, and he did it humbly. He sets an example for us of doing the hard thing and maintaining your witness while doing it.