Daniel 1:8-21 - The Young Man Who Refused a King's Table - The Mysteries of God's Word

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Have you ever faced a situation where standing on your principles seemed impossible? Daniel's story begins with exactly this dilemma—a young man taken captive to Babylon, faced with royal food that violated God's law. 

This episode examines Daniel's courageous resolution not to defile himself with the king's food and wine. Rather than rebel openly, Daniel respectfully proposes a test: ten days of vegetables and water instead of the royal diet. The results are remarkable—Daniel and his three friends appear healthier than all the other young men in training. But the physical benefits are just the beginning.

The true power of Daniel's faithfulness becomes evident when God grants these four young men extraordinary wisdom, knowledge, and discernment. Daniel receives a special prophetic gift to interpret dreams and visions, setting him apart even further. When presented before King Nebuchadnezzar, they're found to be "ten times better" than all the magicians and enchanters in Babylon. This single act of obedience launches Daniel into a seventy-year career in the king's court, influencing generations and multiple kingdoms.

This story challenges us to examine where we might compromise our convictions to fit in. When we choose to honor God's principles—even in seemingly small matters—we open ourselves to divine wisdom that far exceeds worldly knowledge. What areas of your life need this kind of resolute commitment? Where might God be calling you to stand firm, even when everything around you pressures you to conform?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the name
of our Lord and Savior, jesusChrist.
Last week we began our study inthe book of Daniel and we
learned that King Nebuchadnezzarof Babylon had just come to
power and he came to siegeJerusalem.
And on that first siege onJerusalem he took some of the

(00:26):
most promising young men fromnoble families in all of Israel
that they might be trained inhis kingdom, and amongst them
were Daniel, hananiah, mishaeland Azariah.
And they were to be educatedfor three years.
And during their education theking was assigning them a

(00:46):
portion of his rich food and ofhis finest wine, and that is
where we pick up today in verse8.
But Daniel resolved that hewould not defile himself with
the king's food or with the winethat he drank.
Therefore, he asked the chiefof the eunuchs to allow him not

(01:08):
to defile himself.
And God gave Daniel favor andcompassion in the sight of the
chief of the eunuchs.
And the chief of the eunuchssaid to Daniel I fear my lord,
the king who assigned your foodand your drink, for why should
he see that you are in worsecondition than the youths who

(01:28):
are of your own age?
So you would endanger my headwith the king.
In our first three verses we seethat after Daniel was offered
this rich portion of food andthis fine wine, he resolved to
not defile himself.
And this fine wine.

(01:49):
He resolved to not defilehimself.
The Hebrew word for resolvehere means to purpose in your
heart.
Daniel made a resolution in hisown heart he would refuse to
eat this food of the kingBecause not only was it rich and
full of delicacies, but itincluded food that was unclean
by the laws of Moses.
The food and drink wascommitted to idols, and the laws

(02:13):
in Exodus 34 forbid this.
But furthermore, this paganfood would have included food
forbidden by God's law inLeviticus 3, leviticus 11, and
Deuteronomy, chapter 14.
So in doing this, daniel, fromthe very outset, stopped eating

(02:33):
food that he knew was uncleanaccording to the law that God
had given the Jewish people, andhe was showing that he stood on
God's word, on the principlesthat the Lord had given them,
and he wasn't going tocompromise.
This made Daniel stand out bothin the king's court and from

(02:55):
the rest of his people who wouldcompromise.
And when Daniel did this, godgave Daniel favor with the chief
officer who was in charge oftraining them all.
Now, God giving Daniel favor inthis way very likely means that
it was because Daniel waswalking in faith.

(03:15):
Daniel showed obedience andgracefulness in how he was
trained and his interaction withthe chief officer.
Through Daniel's trust in theLord, god, and his desire to
glorify God in all things, atall times, daniel found favor in
the sight of this chief officer.

(03:37):
And the chief officer gaveDaniel a very honest response.
When Daniel started to do this,he told Daniel I fear what King
Nebuchadnezzar is going to doto me if you don't comply with
the official policies.
And one of his thoughts waswell, if you guys aren't eating
the food that the king gives you, you're probably going to end

(03:58):
up skinny and unhealthy and thatis going to reflect badly on me
.
He says, you're going toendanger my head.
So if Daniel and his companionsstart to look unhealthy or thin
because they're not eating,which Daniel has stopped doing
at this point, theresponsibility would be on the

(04:19):
head of this chief officer.
Literally, he could very likelylose his head if Daniel and his
companions were not properlycared for.
And Daniel responds to theofficer and he tells him test
your servants.
Daniel tells this chief officerto give them 10 days of just

(04:41):
eating vegetables to prove thatthey will eat well and they'll
remain healthy.
And Daniel phrases this requestin the form of a test.
So the chief officer doesn'tfeel intimidated in any way.
He will be the judge of thistest at the end of ten days and,
based upon his judgment afterthe ten days, he will decide

(05:06):
whether Daniel and hiscompanions can continue on this
diet.
Verse 14 picks up saying so.
He listened to them in thismatter and he tested them for
ten days.
At the end of ten days it wasseen that they were better in
appearance and fatter in fleshthan all of the youth who ate

(05:27):
the king's food.
So the steward took away theirfood and their wine that they
were to drink and he gave themvegetables.
In verses 14 through 16, we seethat the test happened and the
test is going well.
After 10 days of eatingvegetables and drinking water,
daniel and his three companionslooked healthier than the rest

(05:50):
of the youth.
Daniel and his three companionslooked healthier than the rest
of the youth.
Now we know that just 10 dayson vegetables isn't going to
make a huge difference in weightone way or the other.
However, a vegetable diet withwater after 10 days would very
likely have begun to detox thebody.
It would have created a healthyglow on these boys and given

(06:17):
them extra energy.
And after the chief officersees Daniel and his three
companions looking healthierthan all of the other boys, he
allows them to continue on thisvegetable diet and he takes away
their portions of rich food andwine.
Picking up again in verse 17,.
As for these four youths, godgave them learning and skill in

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all literature and wisdom, andDaniel had understanding in all
visions and dreams.
I just want to focus on verse17 for a moment.
It says God gave them learningand skill in all literature and
wisdom.
So these four young men havecommitted their way to the Lord.

(06:59):
They've set themselves apartfor the Lord, despite the
incredible pressure from strictauthorities, peers practicing
dark magic and everything aroundthem telling them to conform to
a luxurious and self-indulgentculture.
But now that they've setthemselves apart, committing

(07:21):
their ways to the Lord, theyfind themselves the
beneficiaries of gaining wisdomand knowledge that come from the
Lord.
I'd like to read some passagesthat teach this in Scripture.
1 Kings 3.12 reads Behold, Inow do according to your word.
Behold, I give you a wise anddiscerning mind, so that none

(07:46):
like you has been before you andnone like you shall arise after
you.
Proverbs 1.7 reads.
Proverbs 2.6 says For the Lordgives wisdom.

(08:08):
From His mouth comes knowledgeand understanding.
Proverbs 3.7 reads Proverbs 3.7reads Do not be wise in your
own eyes.
Fear the Lord and turn awayfrom evil.
Proverbs 9.10 reads.
James 1.5 reads If any of youlacks wisdom, let him ask God,

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who gives generously to all,without reproach, and it will be
given to him.
And Ecclesiastes 2.26 reads Forthe one who pleases him, God
has given wisdom and knowledgeand joy, but to the sinner he
has given busyness of gatheringand collecting, only to give to

(09:04):
the one who pleases God.
This is also vanity and astriving after wind.
All of these verses that I justread teach us that knowledge
and wisdom come from the Lord,god himself.
It doesn't come from academia,it doesn't come from other men,

(09:25):
it doesn't come from acertificate or a degree.
Knowledge and wisdom come fromGod, and the fear of the Lord is
the beginning of knowledge andwisdom.
In addition to what we mightconsider godly knowledge and
wisdom, we are told that Danielwas given an understanding of

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visions and dreams.
This is a supernatural giftthat God gave Daniel.
It's a special gift of prophecyso that Daniel could discern
visions and dreams that Godwould give about the future.
This is a special gift ofprophecy.
Prophecy itself is simply thedeclaration of the word of God

(10:14):
to man.
But Daniel has a special giftof prophecy.
It's a unique gift of prophecy.
Daniel is given the ability tounderstand visions and dreams.
So not only is Daniel a prophet, but he has a special prophetic
gift.
Picking up in verse 18, at theend of the time when the king

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had commanded that they shouldbe brought in, the chief of the
eunuchs brought them in beforeNebuchadnezzar and the king
spoke with them, and among allof them none was found like
Daniel, hananiah, mishael andAzariah.
Therefore, they stood beforethe king and in every matter of

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wisdom and understanding aboutwhich the king inquired of them,
he found them ten times betterthan all the magicians and
enchanters that were in all ofhis kingdom.
And Daniel was there until thefirst year of king Cyrus.
In these last four verses weread that at the end of their
three years, daniel and hiscompanions were brought in by

(11:23):
the chief officer to presentthem before the king, king
Nebuchadnezzar, and whenNebuchadnezzar spoke with these
young men, daniel and hiscompanions stood out as the
cream of the crop.
Their knowledge, their insightand their wisdom that God had

(11:46):
given them during their trainingfar exceeded that of any of the
other young men.
And so Nebuchadnezzar put themin his court, and it says they
stood before the king.
So Daniel and his threecompanions were given an
official place amongst the wisemen in the king's court because
of their wisdom, and they wouldstand before the king daily,

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giving him wisdom and guidancein daily affairs.
And in verse 21, we're given alittle insight into Daniel and
his time in the king's court.
It says he was there until thefirst year of King Cyrus.
Daniel's time in the king'scourt of Babylon extended
throughout all ofNebuchadnezzar's reign and into

(12:29):
the other kings that wouldfollow in Babylon.
Daniel was there in the king'scourt the entire 70 years of
Babylonian captivity, from 607BC through 537 BC.
Daniel stood in the king'scourt.
Thank you so much for joiningme this week and I hope you join

(12:51):
me next week forNebuchadnezzar's Dream.
God bless you this week.