BaptistWay: Opting for faithfulness

• The BaptistWay lesson for June 2 focuses on Daniel 1.

 • Download a powerpoint resource for this lesson here.

The story in Daniel 1 is about how far one should go to accommodate culture and when to draw the line. The text tells us Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, had taken captive several Judeans during his invasion of Jerusalem in 597 B.C.

Included among those exiles were Daniel and his friends (v. 3). Like the temple vessels stolen by Nebuchadnezzar (v. 2), Daniel and his friends were Judean treasures—the best of the best—young men who were smart, strong and useful as servants to the king. They met the king’s criteria: They were of royal or noble origin, and they were handsome. And they had “no physical defect” like unblemished sacrifices acceptable before God (v. 4).

So they, along with others, were chosen for a three-year Babylonian “seminary” of sorts where they would be instructed in Aramaic, wisdom, knowledge, insight and competency (vv. 4-5).

Daniel and his friends clearly accommodated their culture by being part of this training. Bestowed with Babylonian names (v. 7), they set out to prove themselves acceptable for the king’s service. Obviously, bearing Babylonian names did not bother them, and neither did serving in the king’s court.

Drawing the line

But the one area Daniel refused to accommodate was food (v. 8). How strange that this is where he drew the line, and it invites the question, “Why?” What was it about the Babylonian king’s food and wine that caused Daniel to refuse it?

Our narrator tells us Daniel refused the food and wine because it would “defile” him. Exactly why this is so never is stated. Commentators offer all sorts of opinions on why the food and wine defiled. Perhaps it had been presented before the Babylonian gods before being served at the king’s table, so Daniel refused to eat food and wine previously offered to idols.

Or perhaps the king’s table contained meat deemed unclean by Jewish dietary laws, such as pork and shellfish, although this would not explain the wine. Perhaps the issue is that the meat was not prepared according to Jewish slaughtering rituals, and therefore it was unclean. Or, maybe, since the Babylonian king was a pagan, the food served at his table inherently was defiled, though Daniel and his friends did eat the vegetables from that table.

Unfortunately, we do not know the precise reason Daniel considered the meat and wine defiling. Perhaps this simply was where he chose to draw the line. He would not eat the delicacies served by the king because he wanted to take a stand for his people who were in servitude. So he chose a diet similar to that of his fellow Jews—vegetables and water—thereby avoiding the defilement of enjoying luxury while others suffered.

Sending a message

Regardless, Daniel sent a message that what he ate mattered. Daniel requested the palace master serve him and his friends vegetables and water only. When the palace master expressed concern that if their health deteriorated his head was on the line, Daniel proposed a test: “Give us 10 days on our diet and decide then based on what you observe” (vv. 8-14).

Not only do the men pass the test, proving themselves “fatter” than those who ate meat and drank wine (v. 15), but verse 17 also indicates Daniel and his friends were endowed by God with every aspect of knowledge and skill in literature and wisdom. Further, Daniel was able to interpret visions and dreams.

At the end of three years, Daniel and his friends graduated to the king’s court, where they served 10 times better than any of the king’s magicians or sorcerers (vv. 18-20).

A message for today?

This text often makes Christian readers a bit uncomfortable. After all, we do not observe the Jewish dietary laws, and the idea that food defiles is foreign to us. While we recognize Daniel and his friends were blessed because they refused to cow down in one aspect of Babylonian culture, we’re not quite sure what this passage means for us.

Certainly, we can distance ourselves from the dietary aspect by suggesting this passage really is about how we can avoid assimilating into our culture too closely. We can think of numerous ways we could stand our ground on Christian principle rather than follow the crowd.

But why don’t we think of our diets as something important in our Christian walk? All of us recognize the text that tells us that our bodies are God’s temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). But when it comes to food, we tend to get a bit touchy. “Paul told us we can eat anything we want,” we grouse, failing to note the context: Paul was talking about food sacrificed to idols, not diet in general (Romans 14:13-23; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13).

But what if, like Daniel and his friends, we stop to consider what message our eating habits—especially in America—send to our world today? What impact do our diets have on sustainability, the environment, animal cruelty, diseases caused by gluttony and the overall human condition?

Obviously, the jury is out on how we can best address these complex issues, but perhaps the first place to start is with our own diets. Are we accommodating ourselves to a culture of over-indulgence? Or can we stand in solidarity with all creation by seeking to eat with a conscience?