“A Diet for Success”
Text: Daniel 1:1-7
I. Welcome
II. Introduction
I’m currently reading a new guide or little commentary on the book of Daniel by Michael Whitworth entitled The Derision of Heaven. And we have a copy in the church library if you’re interested. But it struck me how relevant the account of Daniel and his friends is for Christians today. Regrettably, we have relegated the accounts of Daniel and his three friends to chiIdren’s classes while adults have little interest except in trying to decipher the apocalyptic passages of this great book. But I know of no better guidebook for people of faith living in a hostile environment. I know I still have at least three more lessons from our series on Mountain Top Experiences but I want to begin one from Daniel starting with “A Diet for Success.” We’re going to focus on the first chapter of this marvelous book this morning but we’ll start with a little history lesson to put this lesson in perspective. As always, we pray that you’ll open your Bibles as we study together for a few minutes but, more importantly, we hope you’ll search the scriptures daily like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 to make sure I’ve preached the truth from God’s word.
III. Lesson
Our reading indicated that there were four young Hebrew men in Babylonian captivity – a captivity foretold for the southern kingdom of Judah by both Isaiah and Jeremiah. So let’s cover the events leading up to their capture. I know this is a very busy timeline but hopefully it will help us visualize some history. First of all, in the upper left-hand corner is 722 B.C. marking the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel with the capture of the capital city of Samaria by the Assyrians. Underneath this event, we see the reign of Hezekiah in Judah from 715-686 B.C. I wish we had more time to discuss this next event but the Assyrian king Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem and King Hezekiah in 701 B.C. Yet the LORD miraculously delivered Judah out of the hands of the Assyrians by destroying their army during the night and Sennacherib returned home to Nineveh. At the time, Hezekiah was deathly sick but the LORD agreed to extend his life by 15 years. In the meantime, the king of Babylon heard of Hezekiah’s illness and sent letters and a present by his envoys. I want us to pick up what happened in 2 Kings 20:13-18 – And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures – the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory – all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”
So Hezekiah said, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.”
And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”
So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ” When Hezekiah died, he was followed by his son Manasseh on the throne of Judah for 55 years and then by his grandson Amon for two years. Finally, his great-grandson Josiah became king. His reign is in turquoise in the very center of the chart – 639-609 B.C. Josiah was a very good king but, even with all his reforms, God was still very angry with Judah. Turning to this map and the inset on the left, we see a clash of forces at Megiddo. This is where Josiah was killed in battle – a battle of his own choosing, not the LORD’s. Turn with me to 2 Kings 23:29 – In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went to the aid of the king of Assyria, to the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him. And Pharaoh Necho killed him at Megiddo when he confronted him. Jehoahaz, Josiah’s son, became king for three months until Pharaoh Necho put him in prison and made Jehoiakim, another of Josiah’s son, king instead. Pharaoh Necho and the Egyptian army were headed north to come to the aid of the Assyrians against the Babylonians under General Nebuchadnezzar, son of the Babylonian king Nabopolassar. In the upper right hand corner of the larger map, we can see where the clash of forces occurred along the banks of the Euphrates River at Carchemish. This is all world history but we want to back it up with the Bible so turn with me to 2 Chronicles 35:20 – a passage parallel to the last verse we read from 2 Kings: After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. And now to Jeremiah 46:1-2 on page 711 of the pew Bibles: The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the nations. Against Egypt.
Concerning the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, which was by the River Euphrates in Carchemish, and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: Nebuchadnezzar II defeated the Egyptian and Assyrian armies at Carchemish in the May/June timeframe of 605 B.C. His father then died in Babylon on August 15, 605 B.C. Shortly after taking the throne of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem for the first time and took some captives and some precious articles from the temple. Jeremiah said this occurred in the fourth year of Jehoiakim while Daniel 1:1 states it was in the third year. Jeremiah was using the Jewish way of determining regnal years whereas Daniel was using the Babylonian system. I like this particular map because it lists the kings in power during the Neo-Babylonian Empire’s existence from 625-539 B.C. I want to point out how the battle ended up in Carchemish. The Assyrian capital of Nineveh had fallen to the Babylonians, Medes and Persians in 612 B.C. The Assyrian capital then shifted west to Haran but it fell in 610 B.C. Carchemish then became the capital. From our text this morning, we learn that Daniel and his three friends are in a three-year training program. But I find it interesting that Daniel retained his Jewish name but Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego are still known by their Babylonian names. Please turn to Daniel 1 and learn about a diet for success – one that really works. The Truth for Today Commentary labels the first seven verses of this chapter in their outline as “The Trial of Faith.” Like their forefather Joseph centuries before, these four young men found themselves as slaves in a pagan land. What a challenge to anyone’s faith! And one of their first is to eat the same diet as Nebuchadnezzar II. Resuming with verse 8 which is called in this same commentary “The Choice of Faith”: But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king.”
So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. All of us, both young and old, face a test of our faith each day. We’re constantly making decisions that reflect whether we are Christians and allowing others to see Christ in us or that we are just like everyone else in our society. While there are many aspects to this event, I want us to notice three things from these verses. While all four of these men followed the same path, Daniel appears to be the leader and spokesman in this scene. The lesson for us is that any of us may be the unspoken leader within a group of friends. And they’ll follow our example. We need to make the right decisions because it will probably affect others. Secondly, notice that in verse 8, Daniel purposed in his heart – he decided to take a stand – not to defile himself by eating the portion of the king’s delicacies nor by drinking his wine. Daniel was committed to his God and he was willing to do whatever it took to maintain his purity and loyalty to God. May we each have that type of resolve. Finally, and this is related to the previous one, is the reason Daniel refused the king’s delicacies and his wine. While many have surmised that it was because of Jewish dietary laws or that the king’s food may have been sacrificed to idols, brother Whitworth suggests in his book that accepting food from the king’s table would reflect loyalty to their patron. By graciously declining his food for a simpler diet they gave God the opportunity to exalt them and, in return, allowed them to glorify the God of Israel. And now we come to the final section of the chapter designated “The Reward of Faith.” Let’s read these verses together and we’ll quickly see that these young men made a very wise decision: And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus. Because of their choices and resolve to serve God even in a pagan land, the LORD blessed these four young men – not only physically but also mentally. The same is true today, God will always bless us for doing right!
IV. Conclusion/Invitation
We spent a lot of time in world history this morning but I believe this will be helpful as we look at the book of Daniel again in future lessons. We did look at the first chapter of this book in our lesson “A Diet for Success.” Most of us adults have been on some type of diet but this one really isn’t about food choices – it’s about taking a stand to put God first in every aspect of our lives. For us today, it is spelled out in Matthew 6:33 – But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. As we close this lesson, what are you seeking first? You see, our priorities are reflected in the choices we make at home, at work, at school, at the mall, at the theater. Do our choices glorify God or Satan? We’re going to extend the Lord’s invitation this morning and each of us will make a decision. If you will repent of your sins and confess the name of Jesus before this audience, we’d be glad to immerse you into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Maybe you need to come back to the church and a right relationship with God. Or perhaps you’d like the church to pray with and for you. What is your choice as we stand and sing?
