2024-04-21 - Daniel 1:3-21 (3)
Notes
Transcript
A New Diet - Part 3
A New Diet - Part 3
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14 So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days.
So Daniels proposal was accepted for a 10 DAY TRIAL!
15 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.
16 Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
God honored them b/c they honored God.
5901 When one seeks the honor that comes from God only, he will take the withholding of the honor that comes from men very quietly indeed. - George MacDonald
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Daniel 1:8-21
This should not be a means to say that the Bible endorses vegetarianism.
1 Timothy 4:3–5 “forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”
Genesis 9:3 “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.”
Exodus 15:26 ...“If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
As a result of the 10 day trial, the steward made permanent their diet of vegetables and water.
Application 2: God can give you as a Christian and us as a church, favor in difficult places. Perhaps our outreach in our own lives or as a church is daunting to us, but God can do it if we honor Him with what He is inviting us to do. So when we meet again to look at our list of things we feel God may be inviting us to do with Him. Like Daniel lets:
Now, determine in our hearts that we will:
Join God
Honor God
Serve God no matter how hard it is.
17 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.
God blessed them abundantly.
Perhaps a question you have is one that others have had over the millennia. “Was it wise for Daniel and his friends to learn the worldly wisdom of these false religions?”
2 arguments here are this:
1. We should only study God’s Word and from this we can share the Gospel and we should not get involved in unbiblical and false materials.
2. This is the Moses’, Daniel’s and the Apostle Paul’s approach and it is mine. However it MUST be said and with caution and warning. Don’t do this without first having a good understanding and knowledge of the Bible. Or you could fall prey to false teachings. The approach is, yes a man or women of God who knows his or her Bible throughly should study the false teachings so that he or she can address them in his or her community when sharing the Gospel.
Examples:
Moses: Acts 7:22 “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.”
Apostle Paul:
Here Paul quoted the Greek poet Menander in 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
Here Paul quoted Epimenides (poet), Aratus (poet) & Cleanthes (stoic philosopher) in Acts 17:27&28 “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;” “28 And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms.”
Here Paul quoted Epimendes Titus 1:12 “One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.””
And here we see that Paul asked Timothy to bring him his books and parchments, which were probably copies of some of the Old Testament Scriptures and possibly some of the classical writers.
THE POINT HERE IS THAT: Paul knew the classics and sought to use what he knew to reach people with the truth of God’s Word.
“Beware of the atmosphere of the classics,” Robert Murray M’Cheyne wrote in a letter to a friend. “True, we ought to know them; but only as chemists handle poison—to discover their qualities, not to infect their blood with them.”
By understanding the mind-set of the Babylonian people, especially the king’s magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers, Daniel and his friends were able to show them the superiority of God’s wisdom.
18 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.
19 Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king.
We don’t know how many there were that went through the schooling for the past 3 years here but we do know the king was wise in being the one to test them, especially if they were to advise him.
What we do know also is that its interesting how many more times wiser Daniel and his 3 friends were. Again they honored God and God honored them.
20 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.
Ten Times is an idiom meaning many times. Also it could mean completeness, the number 10 meaning complete. Also its interesting to see that they did the special diet at the beginning for 10 days and now it says that the king found them 10 times wiser...
The Magicians - Were men who dealt in the occult
Enchanters - used incantations to accomplish their purposes
Sorcerers - Specialized in casting spells
Astrologers - Studied the movements of the stars and their influence on events
Diviners - Sought to see the future by using various methods.
AND ALL THESE WERE FORBIDDEN BY THE LAW OF MOSES (Deut. 18:9-13)
21 Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.
Conclusion:
Application #2
Saved: Friend, if you have trusted Christ as your savior, God wants you to grow closer to Him. Daniel and his friends did this. What step does God want you to take next in order to follow and serve Him faithfully?
Be Faithful to God and he will give you favor as he did for Daniel. Be like Daniel, be a person of integrity.
Unsaved: Maybe some of this doesn't make sense, its hard to understand whey Daniel would do this? Does the idea of God and who He is seem distant? Perhaps its b/c you don’t have a personal relationship with God.
For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
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