with the king’s enticements. God had brought Daniel into favor with the prince of the eunuchs who was will ing to give him assistance in his sa cred commitment. While they could change Daniel’s name, they couldn’t change his nature. This new and dif ferent environment brought Daniel to a crisis in his life. Daniel knew that he couldn’t be defiled except by his own behavior. He had been taken captive, not because of his own sins, but as the result of the sins of his fathers. As a slave in a far country, he might have become bitter or dis couraged. Yet, as a teenager, far from home and loved ones, he firmly resolved in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s delicacies. These young men, while they were going through the Baby lonian university, didn’t have to ac cept everything they heard. As far as eating heathen food, this was a serious issue. A portion of meat on the king’s table would first have been dedicated to some heathen god. Daniel refused to contaminate him self. This decision was both moral and spiritual. It showed his purpose and high principles. The source of Daniel’s victory, and the secret of the blessing attending him there after, can be summed up in the state ment, “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.” Without question, Daniel’s decision resulted from the knowledge he pos sessed of the Holy Scripture. There was neither rudeness nor fanaticism in Daniel’s stand for what he be lieved to be right. He merely politely requested to be excused from eating and drinking forbidden food. Daniel would not surrender his faith or re nounce the Word of his God. What an example he leaves for all believ ers! Let every young person be as sured that it does matter how you make decisions. Guard your deport ment at all times.
C hapter F our F or your interest , an entire com mentary on the book of Daniel can be purchased from the Biola Book Room here in La Mirada. In addition to the one the Lord allowed me to write, there are several others in which you’ll be interested. In verse nine of Daniel, chapter one, we see how the chief eunuch was convinced Daniel’s request was made in sincerity and upon the basis of principle. Of course, it was God who caused the man to react to Daniel in this favorable manner. Let us “dare to be a Daniel” and deter mine that we will be true to our Lord, whatever the cost or conse quences. Proverbs 16:7 tells us: "When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” At first the prince of the eunuchs was fearful for his own safety. He had a point. In essence, he was say ing to Daniel, “If you lose weight because of the change in diet, ap pearing pale and undernourished, it may cost me my life.” The eunuch was not a believer in the true God. As a pagan, he was only doing what could be expected. From verse 11-13, it seems that there was one by the name of Melzar who was given the oversight of Daniel and his companions. So, in the same courteous manner in which Daniel had answered the chief of the eunuchs, he now approaches the chief’s subordinate. This second ap peal is simply another sincere effort by Daniel to keep from sinning against his better knowledge (James 4:17). Daniel was certain that God would honor his stand for the right. The great care that Daniel and his friends exercised in doing the will of God shows how clearly they dis cerned the issues at hand. The trou ble with most of us is that we don’t 7
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