Purposeful Surrender

It has been stated that you are what you eat. For some in the business world, the saying is, you are what you wear; clothes make the man. Some business people have the idea that if you want to project to others that you’re a success, you have to drive an expensive car and live in an expensive house.

Or what about the words of the song, “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” This actually has the phrase repeated 44 times in two minutes, with very little depth in the seven verses, which are only two lines each. What is being touted by the world as loving and kind is to do whatever is necessary to get along with people.

We won’t see that happening with our Old Testament friend, Daniel. In fact, I don’t believe we see that anywhere in the Bible. There are some things that we will soon see that went against the wisdom of that day, as well as that of today.

There are some things the Babylonians hadn't counted on. They could take Daniel away from God’s promised home, but they could not remove God’s promises from Daniel’s heart.

They could change the focus of the learning, but they could not remove the facts of the Lord’s leading.

They could tempt Daniel with the greatest delicacies to his diet, but Daniel would not reject his duty to his Deity.

They could even change his name attempting to give a false identity, but they could not negate his true identity in God.

Compromise was never an option for Daniel and his friends. They knew God’s promises were true and that He would not forsake them. They knew the miraculous victories which God had given His people many times. They belonged to God and would live accordingly, regardless of what this pagan culture would do to them.

My friends, please understand this basic truth: Completely surrender to God and His ways, and let Him take care of everything else.

Purpose - 1:8-10

Daniel 1:8–10 (NASB95)

But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials, and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the king.”

You might say that when Daniel made up his mind, that he had purposed in his heart what he was going to do. I often tell people that you need to have a plan between you and God so that when temptation and trouble comes your way, you won’t have to think about it; you’ll automatically know what you are supposed to do.

What exactly was it that Daniel had decided upon? Simply that he would not participate in going against the dietary laws of God at that time. We’re not told exactly what the reason was except that it would defile him. We do know from history that pork and horseflesh were commonly eaten during that time by the Babylonians. This would have been considered unclean to Daniel and his friends. For a Jew to be involved in eating this, would have caused them to be unclean before the Lord. This is the ceremonial negative.

There was also a potential moral negative involved. Historians state that quite often, the meat and other parts of the meal were offered first as a sacrifice to the false gods before being brought to the king. For Daniel and his companions, that would have been akin to worshiping the false gods in which they couldn't participate. The overriding concern by Daniel seems to be that he wished to do things God’s way and leave the outcome to God.

Notice that he didn’t organize a protest, sit-in, or a starvation plan. He sought permission of the one who was in charge, to avoid the food and drink that would defile him and the others. He didn’t demand it; he merely made a request. Why? He was showing his complete surrender to God and His ways, trusting that the Lord would work out all the necessary details. As we look at this, we see an excellent example of the importance for Christians to be polite and tactful and creative in dealing with opposition.

We see, in verse 9, that God had caused this leader to look upon Daniel with favor and compassion. Isn't it wonderful to see God in action? God was already at work, as his children were living in obedience and trust to Him.

Even here, we see that the commander was fearful of the potential results. Evidently, he felt that these top grade young people would not fare so well unless they ate what was provided for them from the riches and luxuries of Babylon. His fear was that his own life would be forfeited if these four young men looked poorly since they would not be eating the king’s food.

Proposal - 1:11-14

Daniel 1:11–14 (NASB95)

But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. “Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.” So he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days.

We know already that Daniel had purposed to honor God in all ways, trusting Him for the results. Now, Daniel looks to provide comfort and an option for the commander. He offers a proposal of a test to see if it would be okay. This commander was specifically in charge of the four young men we met last time in Daniel.

Daniel’s proposal is that there would be a 10 day test, where they would eat only vegetables and drink water. Just for clarification, the Hebrew word that is translated vegetables, actually means “That which grows from sown seed.” In other words, this would include fruit, vegetables, grains, and bread (made from grain). This wasn’t a protest or a statement by Daniel against meat. The Passover meal obviously involved meat. Instead, this was because of Daniel’s conscience and desire to honor God. As I mentioned earlier, the meat and the wine were ceremonially and morally unclean because of the connection with the false gods.

This 10-day test was actually an amazing option which Daniel presented. It wasn’t a very long time frame. 10 days out of 3 years of training is only .9%; less than 1% of the total time. This is going to have to be a God-thing for this to work out positively.

Daniel then lets the commander know that he can judge the four young men in comparison to all the others. Then Daniel and his comrades would abide by whatever ruling the commander made as a result.

I believe that God caused this commander to be sympathetic to their cause and he allowed this to proceed.

Product - 1:15-16

Daniel 1:15–16 (NASB95)

At the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the king’s choice food. So the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables.

We’ve seen Daniel’s commitment and purpose to honor God. When faced with something that Daniel felt would compromise his walk with the Lord, he graciously offered a proposal so as to continue to honor God.

In these verses, we see the result or the product of this trial. Interestingly, at the end of the ten day trial period, they looked better than all the youth who had been eating of the very best the king had to offer. Not only that, they were not getting scrawny, but were actually putting more meat on their bones. Even today, several nutritional experts recommend this type of diet.

As a result, they were allowed to continue eating the vegetables rather than the king’s choice food and wine. They were surrendered to God and His ways, and they had trusted Him to work out any of the details for His glory.

Positives - 1:17-21

Daniel 1:17–21 (NASB95)

As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. Then at the end of the days which the king had specified for presenting them, the commander of the officials presented them before Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and out of them all not one was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s personal service. As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm. And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.

We’ve observed how Daniel had purposed to honor God and trust Him, totally submitting to Him and leaving the results to God. When faced with whether or not to fit in to the culture and expectations and go against God’s dietary laws, Daniel wisely offered a proposal to the leadership. It was done with graciousness which continues to show trust in God. Then we saw that the product of their obedience was very positive and made an impression on those observing.

In these last few verses, we see that there seemed to be nothing but positive results. In all of this, Daniel makes it clear in verse 17 that it was God Who had blessed the four of them, not their Babylonian training. He states that they had been given knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams. Yes, they were the choicest and best of the young men from Israel. But without their commitment to God and His hand of blessing on them, they could not have succeeded as they did.

We may wonder why Daniel was given the ability to [understand] all kinds of visions and dreams. The Babylonians were firmly convinced that their gods spoke to them through dreams. In the Babylonian world; dream interpretation was a strong element in their wisdom. In addition, this gives us a bit of foresight into what is coming in the next pages with the different dreams and visions.

So, after 3 years, they are presented before Nebuchadnezzar. It almost seems like they experienced an oral exam, along with many others. As a result, they were the cream of the crop and entered the king’s personal service. They weren’t just good or even great; verse 20 says the king found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm. They were now placed in a position to give counsel and guidance to the ruler of the known world at that time.

It is helpful to understand a bit better the term magician. The word literally means engraver or writer. Stephen Miller explains it this way: Strictly speaking, ḥarṭōm seems to describe persons who wrote with a stylus on clay tablets, in this case the religious scribes or sacred writers who recorded and preserved the materials used in the Babylonian religious activities. These wise men meticulously chronicled, for example, the movements of the heavenly bodies in order to gain religious wisdom from them. There were a lot of strange and bizarre things to our understanding which was done by them, as well. Astrology played a large part in their activities, which has its focus on the multiple false gods. Many scholars state that though they were incredibly intelligent, they were heavily involved in black magic.

The term conjurer is a much darker, evil term. The Hebrew and Aramaic words mean incantation priest. They indeed conjured magic spells and incantations. It was said that they were often communicating with the spirit world. Though this practice is old and is set completely against God, it has experienced a renewed interest in the last several decades; even being presented as benevolent, loving towards all, earth-friendly, etc.

We may wonder about the significance of the last verse, verse 21. Let me give a little perspective. Daniel would not have lasted long if he would have done things the Babylonian way. However, because he did things God’s way, his leadership role allowed him to serve under four different kings. His work was for the remainder of the Babylonian Empire right up to the time of the Medo-Persian Empire, as seen from verse 21. Most scholars suggest Daniel lived 85-90 years or more.

Ponderings

One of the things which stands out to me is that Daniel did not cave in to what others may have thought of him or expected of him. Christian, when we concern ourselves about what others think, we begin taking our eyes off of the Lord. We will end up yielding to the pressures of our society and be of no impact on those around us for the cause of Christ.

We need believers who will concern themselves only with what God wants and thinks. We need Christians who will put Christ first in their lives and in all their decisions.

I love Warren Wiersbe’s description of Daniel: His consecration gave him courage; his faith made him faithful.

The world is full of enticements, attractions, and pleasures to distract the Christian or even to attempt to lure the believer into the ways of the world. We can be encouraged to follow the pattern of Daniel and his companions, as well as multiple other examples in the Bible; Completely surrender to God and His ways, and let Him take care of everything else.

Yet, understand that we may not experience the same kind of positive results on this earth. That’s okay! God is faithful and will reward us one day. Besides, we don’t live for Christ just to be rewarded. We do so because we want to show our love and appreciation for what He’s done for us in providing us salvation and eternal life.

There is also a good reminder that the Christian can have a positive influence on society, even through the political process. If that is what God is calling you to do, then do it for God’s glory, following the example of Daniel. We also can remember the principle that when society requires that you do something which dishonors God and causes you to disobey God, the Bible requires that we refuse to compromise; that we refuse to go along with the lifestyle and laws of the land. We obey God and serve Him.