Firm Resolution
(TUESDAY. 7 JANUARY)
It appears that the four Hebrew captives do not object to their Babylonian names. Most likely there is nothing they can do about it, apart from using their Hebrew names among themselves. But in regard to the food and wine from the king’s table, it is certainly in their power to consume it or not. Thus, the free choice of the four men is very important here.
However, if an officer can change their names, he can also change the menu. There are two likely reasons why the four do not want to eat from the king’s table.
First, the meals from the king’s table may contain unclean meats (Leviticus 11). Second, food is first offered as a meal to the god’s image and then sent to the king for his consumption. Thus, when Daniel makes clear, without resorting to subterfuge or deception, that his request has a religious motivation, i.e., the food at the palace will defile him and his friends (Dan. 1:8), he is being very courageous.
As we look into the interaction between Daniel and the Babylonian officer, a few important points stand out. First, Daniel seems to understand well the difficult position of the officer, so he proposed a test. Ten days of consuming the alternative meals should suffice to demonstrate the benefits of the diet and thus to put down the fears of the officer. Second, Daniel’s certainty that the outcome would be so positive within such a short time span stems from absolute confidence in God. Third, the choice of a diet of vegetables and water points back to the food God gave humanity at Creation (see Gen. 1:29), a fact that perhaps influences Daniel’s choice as well. After all, what could be a better diet than the one God originally gave us?
Additional Reading: Selected Quotes from Ellen G. White
As Daniel and his fellows were brought to the test, they placed themselves fully on the side of righteousness and truth. They did not move capriciously, but intelligently. They decided that as flesh-meat had not composed their diet in the past, it should not come into their diet in the future, and as wine had been prohibited to all who should engage in the service of God, they determined that they would not partake of it… .
Daniel and his companions knew not what would be the result of their decision; they knew not but that it would cost them their lives; but they determined to keep the straight path of strict temperance even when in the courts of licentious Babylon… .
They discerned that through the grace of God their destiny depended upon their own will and action.—Ellen G. White Comments, in The SDA Bible Commentary,__ vol. 4, pp. 1166, 1167.
The little incidents of everyday life often pass without our notice, but it is these things that shape the character. Every event of life is great for good or for evil. The mind needs to be trained by daily tests, that it may acquire power to stand in any difficult position. In the days of trial and of peril you will need to be fortified to stand firmly for the right, independent of every opposing influence.
God is willing to do much for you, if you will only feel your need of Him. Jesus loves you. Ever seek to walk in the light of God’s wisdom, and through all the changing scenes of life do not rest unless you know that your will is in harmony with the will of your Creator. Through faith in Him you may obtain strength to resist every temptation of Satan and thus increase in moral power with every test from God.
You may become men of responsibility and influence if, by the power of your will, united with divine strength, you earnestly engage in the work… . Learn to reflect as well as to study, that your minds may expand, strengthen, and develop.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 561.
God does not control our minds without our consent; but every man is free to choose what power he will have to rule over him. None have fallen so low, none are so vile, but that they may find deliverance in Christ. The demoniac, in place of prayer, could utter only the words of Satan; yet the heart’s unspoken appeal was heard. No cry from a soul in need, though it fail of utterance in words, will be unheeded. Those who consent to enter into covenant with God are not left to the power of Satan or to the infirmity of their own nature… .
Marvelous will be the transformation wrought in him who by faith opens the door of the heart to the Saviour.—The Ministry of Healing, p. 93.
(TUESDAY. 7 JANUARY)
It appears that the four Hebrew captives do not object to their Babylonian names. Most likely there is nothing they can do about it, apart from using their Hebrew names among themselves. But in regard to the food and wine from the king’s table, it is certainly in their power to consume it or not. Thus, the free choice of the four men is very important here.
However, if an officer can change their names, he can also change the menu. There are two likely reasons why the four do not want to eat from the king’s table.
First, the meals from the king’s table may contain unclean meats (Leviticus 11). Second, food is first offered as a meal to the god’s image and then sent to the king for his consumption. Thus, when Daniel makes clear, without resorting to subterfuge or deception, that his request has a religious motivation, i.e., the food at the palace will defile him and his friends (Dan. 1:8), he is being very courageous.
As we look into the interaction between Daniel and the Babylonian officer, a few important points stand out. First, Daniel seems to understand well the difficult position of the officer, so he proposed a test. Ten days of consuming the alternative meals should suffice to demonstrate the benefits of the diet and thus to put down the fears of the officer. Second, Daniel’s certainty that the outcome would be so positive within such a short time span stems from absolute confidence in God. Third, the choice of a diet of vegetables and water points back to the food God gave humanity at Creation (see Gen. 1:29), a fact that perhaps influences Daniel’s choice as well. After all, what could be a better diet than the one God originally gave us?
Additional Reading: Selected Quotes from Ellen G. White
As Daniel and his fellows were brought to the test, they placed themselves fully on the side of righteousness and truth. They did not move capriciously, but intelligently. They decided that as flesh-meat had not composed their diet in the past, it should not come into their diet in the future, and as wine had been prohibited to all who should engage in the service of God, they determined that they would not partake of it… .
Daniel and his companions knew not what would be the result of their decision; they knew not but that it would cost them their lives; but they determined to keep the straight path of strict temperance even when in the courts of licentious Babylon… .
They discerned that through the grace of God their destiny depended upon their own will and action.—Ellen G. White Comments, in The SDA Bible Commentary,__ vol. 4, pp. 1166, 1167.
The little incidents of everyday life often pass without our notice, but it is these things that shape the character. Every event of life is great for good or for evil. The mind needs to be trained by daily tests, that it may acquire power to stand in any difficult position. In the days of trial and of peril you will need to be fortified to stand firmly for the right, independent of every opposing influence.
God is willing to do much for you, if you will only feel your need of Him. Jesus loves you. Ever seek to walk in the light of God’s wisdom, and through all the changing scenes of life do not rest unless you know that your will is in harmony with the will of your Creator. Through faith in Him you may obtain strength to resist every temptation of Satan and thus increase in moral power with every test from God.
You may become men of responsibility and influence if, by the power of your will, united with divine strength, you earnestly engage in the work… . Learn to reflect as well as to study, that your minds may expand, strengthen, and develop.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 561.
God does not control our minds without our consent; but every man is free to choose what power he will have to rule over him. None have fallen so low, none are so vile, but that they may find deliverance in Christ. The demoniac, in place of prayer, could utter only the words of Satan; yet the heart’s unspoken appeal was heard. No cry from a soul in need, though it fail of utterance in words, will be unheeded. Those who consent to enter into covenant with God are not left to the power of Satan or to the infirmity of their own nature… .
Marvelous will be the transformation wrought in him who by faith opens the door of the heart to the Saviour.—The Ministry of Healing, p. 93.
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