Daniel 1:10-15 [A Comparison Between What Seems Reasonable in the World and the Word of God]

[Things to Meditate On]

1. Daniel and his three friends were taken captive in order to serve Babylon and the king of Babylon (verses 3-5). During their training period, the prince of the eunuchs tried to have Daniel and his friends eat the king’s meat and drink his wine. However, Daniel and his friends refused these things and said that they would eat vegetables, so that they would not do anything contrary to the word of God’s law. The prince of the eunuchs did not want to accept this, because if they ate only vegetables and looked worse than the other young men who ate the king’s meat, even his own life could be put in danger. But at Daniel’s request, he tested them for ten days, and as a result, he came to see that Daniel and his friends looked better than all the young men who ate the king’s meat.

Through this passage, we can learn that between “what seems reasonable according to the world” and “the word of God,” following the word of God is what truly benefits us.

2. The faith of Daniel and his three friends above is contrasted with the Israelites in the wilderness in Numbers 11 below.

Numbers 11:4-7 “4And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 6But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. 7And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.”

At that time, the people of Israel were in a barren wilderness where there was nothing to eat, yet by the grace of God they were eating something called “manna,” which no other nation had ever eaten. However, they were not satisfied with it. Instead, they lusted and demanded the things they wanted to eat, saying that their strength had dried away because they had nothing but manna to eat. We cannot find in them the kind of faith that Daniel and his three friends had.

3. What about Jesus? The devil tempted Jesus, who had fasted forty days and forty nights and was hungry, telling Him to command the stones to become bread and eat. But Jesus chose the word that proceeds out of the mouth of God rather than filling His hungry stomach.

Matthew 4:2-4 “2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

[Decision and Application]

The faith shown above by Daniel and his three friends, and the example of faith personally shown by Jesus, teach us that we must not live according to what seems reasonable in the world or according to human logic, but according to “the word of God.” On the other hand, the Israelites who came out of Egypt ate “manna” in the wilderness, yet were not satisfied with it. With worldly thoughts, they demanded meat that they believed would strengthen them. They did eat the meat they desired, but in the end, they all died in the wilderness. And the Bible explains the reason they died in the wilderness: it was not because their strength dried away as they had worried, nor because of the harsh conditions of the wilderness, such as lack of water, the heat of the day, or the cold of the night. Nor was it because of the strong enemies around them. Rather, it was because they did not believe and obey the word of God (Hebrews 3:15-19).

[Joshua and Caleb, who fully believed and obeyed the word of God, were able to enter the land of Canaan promised by God together with the second generation born in the wilderness (Numbers 14:24, 30).]

Hebrews 3:17-19 “17But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

Through such past mistakes, we can also learn how beneficial it is for us to believe and follow the word of God. To people’s eyes, it may appear that everything in this world happens according to worldly learning and methods, and according to human thoughts or experience. But in reality, everything happens according to “the word of God” written in the Scriptures. This is why the apostle Paul said that the rudiments of the world and the commandments and teachings of men, even if they have an appearance of wisdom, are of no profit to us at all (Colossians 2:20-23). Only the word of God abides forever (1 Peter 1:24-25), and only the will of God shall fully stand (Proverbs 19:21). The example of Daniel and his three friends is just such a case. The result that they looked better than all the young men who ate the king’s meat, even though they ate only vegetables, proves that all things are done according to the will of God. King Nebuchadnezzar of great Babylon, recorded in the passage below, is also an example of one who at first proudly thought that he had built great Babylon by his own power, but later came to know that it was possible only because God had allowed it.

Daniel 4:29-33 “29At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 30The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 33The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.”

Daniel 4:34-35 “34And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”

Likewise, we too must have the faith that “all things are done according to the word of God,” and in every environment and situation, we must resolve to “live according to the word of God,” just as Daniel and his three friends did. Even if doing so may put our lives in danger, we must be persuaded that such a moment is precisely when we must believe and rely all the more on the words of Jesus. When we resolve in this way to live according to the words of Jesus, Jesus will surely fulfill His words to us exactly as He has spoken.

Romans 8:38-39 “38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2 Corinthians 1:8-10 “8For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 10Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.”

Amen.