Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
Daniel turned to Melzar, the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, young Hebrew captives being trained in Babylon to serve in the king's palace. After the chief feared for his own life if their abstinence left them looking ill, Daniel asked Melzar to excuse them from the king's meat and wine and to prove them for ten days on pulse to eat and water to drink, with comparison afterward. He refused the royal portion because it included meats pronounced unclean by the law of Moses and because food and wine first offered to false gods would defile him, dishonor God, and implicate him with idolatry. He also reasoned that luxuries, flesh meats, and stimulating drink would clog the mind, weaken moral and physical power, and unfit mind and body for God's service. God honored their firm, courteous, prayerful stand by cooperating with their temperance, giving them health and fair countenances, favor with their overseers, and knowledge and wisdom so that the king found them ten times better than all his wise men.
Officers and Captives
The verse names Melzar as the steward, attendant, officer and official whom the prince and chief of the eunuchs had set and placed and appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. It records Daniel speaking to him to ask for a more simple fare in place of the daily allowance of food and wine appointed from the king's table. The four named are young Hebrew captives in the palace at Babylon, placed under heathen oversight to be trained in the learning and tongue of the Chaldeans to stand in the king's palace and serve in the court. Their preparation for service in the Babylonian court depended on their own choices and actions as well as on divine grace, for they used their abilities fully and studied diligently and made the most of their opportunities.
The setting is a heathen land and an idolatrous court with corrupting practices, luxurious provision, and powerful temptation. There loyalty to God made the captives witnesses to His supremacy, the holiness of His requirements, and the results of obedience, representing the true God among heathen nations and refusing to compromise with idolatry while living in close connection with God. They chose to remain faithful to their religion even at the risk of displeasing the king, obeying God's physical and moral law and resisting sinful influences, and God favored and honored them with strength, health, comeliness, skill in Chaldean learning, understanding of visions and dreams, and intellectual power. In that same setting is seen opposition from those under the control of God's enemy against truth and righteousness and against God's faithful people.
Daniel spoke to Melzar in the palace chamber, earnestly appealing to prove thy servants. He turned to him after the prince of the eunuchs feared for his own life and for disfavor with the king, hesitating to grant simpler food lest such rigid abstinence make the youths look unhealthy, pale and sickly and deficient in muscular strength. The officer thought luxurious food from the king's table would make them ruddy and beautiful and promote physical and mental activity, while abstemious diet would bring the king's displeasure and endanger his own life.
Appeal and Trial
Daniel turned to Melzar, the steward and officer whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and asked to be excused from the daily allowance of meat and wine appointed from the king's table. He requested permission to eat and drink as conscience directed, asking for pulse to eat and water to drink in place of the king's provision. What he sought was a more simple, plain and abstemious fare instead of the luxuries and rich food of the royal cellar. The appeal came after the higher officer hesitated and feared that such rigid abstinence would make them look unhealthy and bring himself into disfavor with the king and even endanger his own life.
He proposed that the matter be decided by a ten-day trial, with their countenances and physical appearance afterward compared with those of the youths eating the king's meat. Melzar agreed to the test and granted the ten days on pulse and water instead of the king's food and wine. Ten days was short, yet the request was made in faith that the Lord would work for them on simple food in that time.
At the end of the ten days they appeared far more healthy and fair than those who ate the king's dainties, showing marked superiority not only in personal appearance but in physical activity and mental vigor, contrary to expectation. Their appearance showed no disadvantage from abstinence, while those who indulged appetite lost the advantage expected from luxurious food. They were therefore permitted to continue pulse and water as their food through their whole training for the duties of the kingdom.
Grounds for Refusal
Daniel's resolve not to defile himself with the portion of the king's meat and wine rested in part on the law of Moses, because that provision included swine's flesh and other meats pronounced unclean and food that law declared unclean. He therefore sought a simpler fare that would preserve clear mental powers and physical health for God's service, practicing temperance and trust in God while resisting temptation.
Refusal also came because the king's food and wine had first been offered to false gods, which consecrated the whole. Even to pretend to eat or drink would deny faith, implicate them with heathenism, dishonor the law of God and compromise with idolatry, and they regarded eating at the king's table as dishonoring God. They would not compromise with idolatry but remained loyal to faith in close connection with God, having learned truth and righteousness through religious instruction passed down across generations, and they determined to gain an all-sided true education to honor God, perfect Christian character, keep clear intellect, and stand as representatives of true religion amid false religions while keeping themselves from idols.
They had been taught and reasoned that this class of food — luxuries, flesh meats, stimulating drinks, and wine — would not keep mind and physical structure in the very best health to do God's service. The mind must not be clogged with articles difficult of digestion, and even healthful food must be restricted in quantity, with the food placed in the stomach kept under control and not surfeited by overeating, for such indulgence impairs digestion, confuses the brain, oppresses mind and body with a variety of flesh meats or meat of any kind, and fails to keep a healthful current of blood flowing through the veins for hard, stern labor. What would hinder character and spiritual growth and weaken them for God's work they refused, remaining firm on principle though surrounded by evil influences. Their conscientious refusal of the stimulus of flesh and wine was obedience to God's will in self-denial to honor Him by steadfast principle in all habits of life.
To comply with the king and his officers would have meant surrender of principle, compromise of truth, and apostasy from God, allowing an influence to come between them and their Maker. They decided to stand firm in integrity whatever the result, answering to God as the great Judge over all rather than to the judgment of men, choosing to be true whatever the consequences as the turning point in their Christian life. That refusal to yield to pressure of the occasion and to eat and drink as was customary with the Babylonians kept the sense of right and abhorrence of wrong strong and preserved physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power for God's service and for glorifying God. A single yielding would have weakened moral discernment and sacrificed health of body, clarity of mind, and spiritual strength, with one wrong step leading to others until connection with Heaven was severed and they were swept away by temptation and led further from God, while faithfulness in that first test protected physical powers and prepared Daniel to remain faithful in later tests even at the cost of life, showing God's honor must not be compromised for convenience.
Outcome and Blessing
The ten-day trial proved true temperance and its attendant blessings, for at its end the temperate youth appeared far healthier and fairer in countenance than those who ate the king's dainties and drank his wine. They showed marked superiority not only in personal appearance, with clear eyes and ruddy, healthful countenances, but in physical activity, strength, and mental vigor, contrary to the expectation that an abstemious diet of pulse and water would make them pale and sickly and deficient in muscular strength. Those who indulged appetite lost sparkle of eye and glow of health, while abstinence made a visible distinction in appearance between the Hebrew youth and those who indulged. The result gave a pattern for overcoming intemperance by standing steadfastly for the right, and pulse and water became their continued food through their whole training for the duties of the kingdom.
God cooperated with their obedience and blessed their efforts to honor Him, for power from above worked in harmony with their determination to banish from their diet everything that would defile. He gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, with strength, health, comeliness, and intellectual power, and He gave Daniel understanding in visions and dreams and skill in Chaldean learning. When the king examined them he found them ten times better than all the magicians, astrologers, and wise men in all his realm, and the education they gained by following their own course was better than that of any of the wise men in the kingdom. To those who close the door to temptation, deny appetite, and place themselves in right relation to God, the Lord will manifest Himself.
God brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs, so his request to eat and drink as conscience directed was granted. They gained the confidence of Melzar, the official responsible for them, who granted the ten-day test by which their condition could be judged, and the wholesome result led the authorities to regard them more highly than the other students. They had the privilege of following their own course in obtaining their education, received favor from God and people, and, remaining temperate in food, were raised to higher regard and the highest stations. Their request was granted because they had obtained favor with God and with men, proving that those who so depend on God can become mighty men.
Their simple diet kept their minds clear and left them free from the oppression caused by luxurious food and by eating carelessly simply to gratify taste, which impairs the digestive organs and confuses the brain. It left them never sick and better prepared physically for taxing labor and better prepared for study, enabling them to think and work vigorously. By obedience to God even in little things they gained strength of thought and memory, with healthful bodies and clear minds through carefulness in diet. Daniel's plan is thus a proved sum to be studied and tested, proving that health reform does not cause loss of physical strength but sustains it.
Manner and Character
Daniel won his way with the officer set over him and his three companions by courteous, respectful and considerate conduct, and on the strength of that favor he was able to present his request to be excused from the royal food and wine. He made his case with true courage joined to most perfect courtesy, without flying into passion, speaking defiance, or insistently demanding to eat and drink as he pleased. His religion kept him from harsh words and won the regard of those around him in the court, while he remained obedient to God and adapted himself to court practice only where it did not dishonor God.
Before he spoke he took the matter to God with his companions in earnest prayer to seek wisdom from the Lord, and then acted on the decision reached. He acted from purity of motive and determination of purpose to honor the Lord, a heart God read with pleasure, making the Lord his wisdom and divine philosophy the foundation of his education rather than walking in sparks of his own kindling. He sought the power that comes alone from God, that he might represent not himself and his own imperfections but the truth in righteousness, depending on the God whom he loved and served for grace to overcome and for strength and efficiency. When those who dedicate themselves to God without reserve do so with earnest prayer, the Lord honors their faith and blesses them with a clear mind.
He and his companions stand as earnest, whole-souled young men determined to be true to principle at any cost, reasoning that to fulfill God's purpose for them appetite must be kept under control so the mind would stay clear and keen to comprehend His instruction. He governed appetite not by impulse but by sound reasoning from Christian temperance, keeping the food in his stomach under his own control, refusing to clog the mind with hard-to-digest articles, to surfeit even healthful food by overeating, or to use wine and flesh meats. He brought all his habits, appetites and passions into conformity to God's requirements, putting from the mind all that is cheap and frivolous and discarding amusement-loving propensities as out of place in those living by faith. Though only a youth he had already seen the injurious effects of wine and luxurious living on physical and mental health, and he held God's approval dearer than the favor of the most powerful earthly potentate, dearer even than life itself, bound with his companions by truth to the throne of God, valuing God's favor above princes, refusing to turn aside or bow to any earthly mandate that detracted from God's honor.
Daniel stood first among the four, and his firm stand for what was right strongly influenced Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who looked to him as their leader; had he yielded to self-pleasing they too would have failed. His faithfulness in small things prepared him for greater responsibilities and helped shape a life faithful to principle even when greater test or sacrifice came. Their power to stand came from early religious training in the nurture and admonition of the Lord at home, which made them acquainted with God from childhood and preserved them in trial. Their minds had been stored with pure, sound, honest principles, with truth engraved on the soul and memory stored with precious truths of the Word, only dimly comprehended before but flashing out in captivity in time of need like concealed treasure and newly discovered jewels. Trust in God's blessing did not take the place of diligent study and strenuous effort; through God's grace their future depended also on their own choice and action, and they used their abilities fully, studied diligently, made the most of their opportunities, faithfully using their powers in secular, scientific and religious matters while God gave understanding, remaining humble and giving Him the glory without mixing their faith with Babylonian religion.
He is full of reverence and zeal for God, full of purpose, industry and toil, as true as steel to principle, one who would not fail nor be discouraged. He has not a vestige of pride or self-importance, but is weighed with the Spirit of wisdom from God, representing the sacredness of the work, magnifying the truth, and ever presenting before men and angels the holy perfume of the character of Christ, which is the sacred fire of God's own kindling. By nature he is as weak and helpless as any worker now, but he puts his whole dependence in God, and his true wealth of mind and soul culture is open to all who will make God first and last and best in everything.
Health and Temperance Lessons
Daniel 1:11 belongs to the history of Daniel and his three companions — Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah — resisting the king's food and wine in Babylon as an example of faithfulness under temptation, temperance, integrity and firmness in standing by principle. The chapter is full of instruction about consistency in eating, self-denial in eating and drinking, strict temperance in eating and drinking, and careful diet, and students who seek knowledge and mental ability are to learn this lesson to honor and glorify God. What is eaten and drunk influences the powers of the mind, and religious principle can overcome appetite even at great personal cost to preserve physical strength and to develop mental and spiritual understanding.
The history proves that health reform does not cause loss of physical strength but sustains it. It teaches abstinence from flesh, from meat from the royal table, from a great variety of food, and from fermented and intoxicating wine and stimulating drinks, including wine from the royal cellar and the prescribed luxurious bill of fare. No human testimony for the advantages of a meat diet or a great variety of food has any weight against faithful dedication, when the children of faith dedicate themselves to God without reserve with earnest prayer and the Lord honors their faith and blesses them with a clear mind. The original human diet was fruits and grains, and Daniel was among the godly people who ate no flesh. Those who choose God's guidance over flesh foods can receive strength, wisdom, and sound judgment from Him.
Daniel's plan was to banish from the diet everything that would defile, to take himself in hand first by regulating his own diet by the knowledge God had given, to govern appetite not by impulse but by sound reasoning from Christian temperance, to keep the food placed in the stomach under his own control, to avoid surfeiting even on healthful food, and to leave wine alone. It is a proved sum to be studied and tested by those who desire to come into right relation to God. Eating carelessly simply to gratify taste impairs the digestive organs and confuses the brain, so that neither can act its part as fully as God intended, while the mind must not be clogged with articles difficult of digestion and even healthful food must be restricted in quantity. Proper regard for the articles eaten keeps a healthful current of blood flowing through the veins and leaves mind and body fit for hard, stern labor, not oppressed with a variety of flesh meats or meat of any kind. In this way careful diet avoids irritable tempers and confused minds and supports clear thought, sound judgment, fitness for hard labor, and Christian character, and wisdom in avoiding indulgence that injures the body reasons from cause to effect about diet.
Preserving correct physical habits presents an example that elevates the moral standard, for those who are truly sanctified do the same wherever they are. Sanctification requires living in conformity to divine law in soul, body, and spirit, bringing appetites and habits of life into conformity to natural law and refusing to indulge appetite and passion at the expense of health and life, so that every faculty is preserved in full vigor for the service of Christ and for duty to fellow men and to God. It requires strict control of appetite and passions with the aim to present the body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, and people ruled by Christ can thus become faithful reformers whose influence leaves a lasting impression and reaches far beyond them. Daniel and his companions are held up as a model of care for the body and described as perfect men.
Refusal to depart from principle and to yield to the pressure of the occasion to eat and drink as was customary with the Babylonians kept strong the sense of right and abhorrence of wrong and preserved physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power. A single yielding would have weakened moral discernment and sacrificed health of body, clarity of mind, and spiritual strength, and one wrong step would have led to others until connection with Heaven was severed and he was swept away by temptation. Yielding to pressure and appetite would weaken the sense of right, physical vigor, clear thought, and spiritual power, and could lead further from God.
Daniel's mental clarity, firmness of purpose, and strength in learning were due in great degree to plain diet together with a life of prayer. His clear mind, firm purpose, ability to learn, and strength to resist temptation were due in great part to his plain diet and life of prayer. Their choice to remain true to principle rather than eating the king's food and drinking his wine helped preserve clear minds, so they could distinguish right from wrong and the sacred from the common, and God honored their loyalty with wisdom and understanding.
Witness Education and Application
Their loyalty made them witnesses in Babylon to the supremacy of God, the holiness of His requirements, and the results of obedience, carrying out the principles of truth to exalt Him and to show that there is a King above the king of Babylon, so that great men might become acquainted with the religion of the Hebrews and know that God reigns over all kingdoms and heathen nations might receive blessing through knowledge of Him. Their captivity gave them opportunity to make the true God known among idolatrous nations, remaining loyal in close connection with Him, refusing to compromise with idolatry, and receiving wisdom, knowledge and understanding to reveal Him.
They did not leave their religion behind but decided it was in the wise purpose of God that they had been taken to wicked, corrupt Babylon, determining not to devote time to complaint but to be cheerful and faithful in all business transactions, to preserve true worship and cheerful unselfish service, because God's compassion demanded the most unselfish service as His representatives and they would permit no slur to be cast upon God. Their faithful steadfastness while yielding to divine guidance allowed God to fulfill His purpose through them, showing what He will do for those who give themselves wholly to Him and wholeheartedly seek His purpose, manifesting Himself to them, setting a hedge about them so they were not corrupted amid temptations to indulge themselves, rewarding firm refusal of evil with rich blessings, and having heavenly intelligences cooperate with them. Their experience is a lesson for the perils of the last days to watch and pray and heed Daniel and Revelation, and for those connected with God's institutions to keep walking humbly so that same divine cooperation continues.
The account teaches students and schools that heavenly wisdom surpasses the learning of the highest schools, calling every learner continually to aim for the highest standard in order to gain cooperation with God, to make the Lord their wisdom and divine philosophy the foundation, to put the religious and spiritual side of training first, to see God behind the teacher with the teacher cooperating with God, to gain knowledge by diligent persevering effort and willing disciplined work in reverence for Him, and to prepare to endure trial by self-denial and obedience to strict temperance in eating and drinking and careful diet. It is held up as a pattern for youth, children, canvassers, ministers, workers and institutions to be temperate, to train abilities through close connection with God, to avoid wasting time on selfish motives and amusements and to resist sinful associations and unprofitable appetite-indulgence, to remain pure amid impurity and intemperance through strength of purpose, and to gather rays of light from heaven and shed them abroad as light-bearers. Those established, rooted and grounded in the truth entering worldly institutions and schools under heathen oversight should enter without pretension and without open controversy, live out what they believe without sacrificing principle, respect all rules and regulations, study the situation to see the best way to represent truth so the light shines forth, depend more on the power of God seen in the life than on words spoken, and when inquiry is aroused tell the simple story of truth as it is in Jesus and the Bible doctrines in simple language, keeping the living principles and observing the Sabbath while dropping seeds that under the Holy Spirit will spring up to bear fruit to the glory of God in the saving of souls, but those without decided connection with God are in danger of being led astray instead of diffusing light.
The experience works out lessons of value for those living in the present stage of this world's history, to be learned to a purpose and studied diligently from the highest standpoint, calling all to close the door to temptation, to deny appetite, to stand steadfastly for the right because it is right and never to sacrifice principle even in the slightest particular, to proclaim the thrilling truths appropriate for this time, to display true colors without shame by choice words and consistent course, propriety and earnest piety, confessing allegiance to God in words, habits and practices and refusing to bow to any earthly mandate that detracts from His honor, and to those who do so the Lord will manifest Himself with strength, wisdom and sound judgment and spread His shield over them. To comply would have meant surrender of principle, compromise of truth and apostasy, allowing an influence to come between them and their Maker, so their decision to answer to God as Judge rather than men was the turning point, leading in later years to open disregard of the king's requirements even in face of death, through which God vindicated His servants and spread knowledge of the true God throughout Babylon for which He had permitted their captivity. Faithfulness in this first test over food protected physical powers for God's service, showed He would not accommodate to circumstances at cost of honoring God, and prepared Daniel to remain faithful in later tests even at cost of life, proving God's honor must not be compromised for convenience and that when duty brings His people into trial He will protect them, unlike those who place themselves under temptation.
Faithfulness in the little thing entrusted to him gave character to his whole life, showing whatever is worth doing is worth doing well in smallest duties as well as work requiring largest sacrifice, first living faithfully and then working for others, being in the world but not of it, standing distinct in manner of dealing with purity of character and honesty, proving truth conscientiously believed sanctifies and makes its receivers sons and daughters of God, children of the heavenly King, members of the royal family faithful, true, honest and upright in small as well as great acts, acting in accordance with temperance principles, becoming faithful reformers whose self-denial and victory over wrong tendencies leave an impression never effaced, carried to all parts of the world and reaching throughout the world and beyond. Daniel's life as a man of business and earnest prayer, next to the king yet clinging to Jesus in perpetual presence with full joy, practicing strict temperance and self-control, prevailing with God as one of His noblemen and a missionary in the highest sense, training himself and educating others for the society of pure and holy intelligences, is the pattern for men placed in positions of trust bearing manifold daily responsibilities, showing that clear composed minds refusing what beclouds the brain are the standard for those entrusted with the safety of fellow men, unlike those given grave responsibility who indulge tobacco, liquor and stimulating narcotics and temporarily lose reasoning faculties, and that to those who ask in faith the Lord will grant wisdom to do His work acceptably and give similar grace amid moral darkness to those who work among worldly people.
Daniel became a youth tested in probationary time who stood firm to principle and was responsible for building character to stand the test of judgment, becoming a representative man and pattern of integrity worthy of imitation, an example of what a person united with God may become and encouragement for those facing trial, with solidity of character fitting youth for usefulness in the earnest work of this age. His position was gained not by forcing or rushing a way into prominence but through self-denial, connection with God, faithful work, and enduring trial while remaining true to principle. His thorough cooperation with Christ shows true health reform begins in a heart transformed by grace giving victory over hereditary and cultivated tendencies and diseased appetite, then works outward in converted intellect and outward reformation, gaining strength of principle and power to stand as faithful sentinel and true reformer. The small sums saved by such self-denial in refusing flesh meats and unhealthful food do more for upbuilding God's cause, building meetinghouses and supporting missionaries, than larger gifts costing no denial, and all who deny injurious indulgences receive strength, wisdom and sound judgment in return for obedience.
The body is God's property by creation and redemption, bought with a price, to be consecrated to Him with sanctified mind and purified soul as a living sacrifice, keeping it from defilement of appetite and passion in obedience to nature's laws which are part of God's law, so perception stays clear and every faculty stays healthy with calm nerves, clear brain and unimpaired judgment for service, and to educate an appetite for tobacco, liquor or anything hurtful is the sin of presumption. The lesson includes exercising body and mind in proportion and training mind and body proportionately so youth can endure testing and trial. All students should submit to divine discipline as Daniel did from purity of motive and determination to honor the Lord, not walking in sparks of their own kindling but welcoming the counsel of the Lord, climbing to the highest round of the educational ladder in philosophy, history, science and literary attainments yet counting all sacrifice of time and money worthless unless used for God's honor and human good, treating science and knowledge as stepping stone to highest purposes and knowledge enduring as eternity, keeping heaven and future immortal life continually before the mind, pondering the path on holy ground with angels about, and having Jesus as teacher every day and every hour. Holding to God with undivided heart under all circumstances means being kind and faithful to earthly authority and complying with its wishes in everything not conflicting with service to Jesus Christ, letting no one interpose between soul and God, praying much for grace to live Christ's religion, having an influence for good where placed, staying faithful amid opposition and temptations never met before, being set upon conviction of duty to observe the Sabbath and keeping it the best possible, and loving the Lord with all heart and soul without swerving whatever the circumstances.
Daniel turned to Melzar, the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, young Hebrew captives being trained in Babylon to serve in the king's palace. After the chief feared for his own life if their abstinence left them looking ill, Daniel asked Melzar to excuse them from the king's meat and wine and to prove them for ten days on pulse to eat and water to drink, with comparison afterward. He refused the royal portion because it included meats pronounced unclean by the law of Moses and because food and wine first offered to false gods would defile him, dishonor God, and implicate him with idolatry. He also reasoned that luxuries, flesh meats, and stimulating drink would clog the mind, weaken moral and physical power, and unfit mind and body for God's service. God honored their firm, courteous, prayerful stand by cooperating with their temperance, giving them health and fair countenances, favor with their overseers, and knowledge and wisdom so that the king found them ten times better than all his wise men.
Officers and Captives
The verse names Melzar as the steward, attendant, officer and official whom the prince and chief of the eunuchs had set and placed and appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. It records Daniel speaking to him to ask for a more simple fare in place of the daily allowance of food and wine appointed from the king's table. The four named are young Hebrew captives in the palace at Babylon, placed under heathen oversight to be trained in the learning and tongue of the Chaldeans to stand in the king's palace and serve in the court. Their preparation for service in the Babylonian court depended on their own choices and actions as well as on divine grace, for they used their abilities fully and studied diligently and made the most of their opportunities.
The setting is a heathen land and an idolatrous court with corrupting practices, luxurious provision, and powerful temptation. There loyalty to God made the captives witnesses to His supremacy, the holiness of His requirements, and the results of obedience, representing the true God among heathen nations and refusing to compromise with idolatry while living in close connection with God. They chose to remain faithful to their religion even at the risk of displeasing the king, obeying God's physical and moral law and resisting sinful influences, and God favored and honored them with strength, health, comeliness, skill in Chaldean learning, understanding of visions and dreams, and intellectual power. In that same setting is seen opposition from those under the control of God's enemy against truth and righteousness and against God's faithful people.
Daniel spoke to Melzar in the palace chamber, earnestly appealing to prove thy servants. He turned to him after the prince of the eunuchs feared for his own life and for disfavor with the king, hesitating to grant simpler food lest such rigid abstinence make the youths look unhealthy, pale and sickly and deficient in muscular strength. The officer thought luxurious food from the king's table would make them ruddy and beautiful and promote physical and mental activity, while abstemious diet would bring the king's displeasure and endanger his own life.
Appeal and Trial
Daniel turned to Melzar, the steward and officer whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and asked to be excused from the daily allowance of meat and wine appointed from the king's table. He requested permission to eat and drink as conscience directed, asking for pulse to eat and water to drink in place of the king's provision. What he sought was a more simple, plain and abstemious fare instead of the luxuries and rich food of the royal cellar. The appeal came after the higher officer hesitated and feared that such rigid abstinence would make them look unhealthy and bring himself into disfavor with the king and even endanger his own life.
He proposed that the matter be decided by a ten-day trial, with their countenances and physical appearance afterward compared with those of the youths eating the king's meat. Melzar agreed to the test and granted the ten days on pulse and water instead of the king's food and wine. Ten days was short, yet the request was made in faith that the Lord would work for them on simple food in that time.
At the end of the ten days they appeared far more healthy and fair than those who ate the king's dainties, showing marked superiority not only in personal appearance but in physical activity and mental vigor, contrary to expectation. Their appearance showed no disadvantage from abstinence, while those who indulged appetite lost the advantage expected from luxurious food. They were therefore permitted to continue pulse and water as their food through their whole training for the duties of the kingdom.
Grounds for Refusal
Daniel's resolve not to defile himself with the portion of the king's meat and wine rested in part on the law of Moses, because that provision included swine's flesh and other meats pronounced unclean and food that law declared unclean. He therefore sought a simpler fare that would preserve clear mental powers and physical health for God's service, practicing temperance and trust in God while resisting temptation.
Refusal also came because the king's food and wine had first been offered to false gods, which consecrated the whole. Even to pretend to eat or drink would deny faith, implicate them with heathenism, dishonor the law of God and compromise with idolatry, and they regarded eating at the king's table as dishonoring God. They would not compromise with idolatry but remained loyal to faith in close connection with God, having learned truth and righteousness through religious instruction passed down across generations, and they determined to gain an all-sided true education to honor God, perfect Christian character, keep clear intellect, and stand as representatives of true religion amid false religions while keeping themselves from idols.
They had been taught and reasoned that this class of food — luxuries, flesh meats, stimulating drinks, and wine — would not keep mind and physical structure in the very best health to do God's service. The mind must not be clogged with articles difficult of digestion, and even healthful food must be restricted in quantity, with the food placed in the stomach kept under control and not surfeited by overeating, for such indulgence impairs digestion, confuses the brain, oppresses mind and body with a variety of flesh meats or meat of any kind, and fails to keep a healthful current of blood flowing through the veins for hard, stern labor. What would hinder character and spiritual growth and weaken them for God's work they refused, remaining firm on principle though surrounded by evil influences. Their conscientious refusal of the stimulus of flesh and wine was obedience to God's will in self-denial to honor Him by steadfast principle in all habits of life.
To comply with the king and his officers would have meant surrender of principle, compromise of truth, and apostasy from God, allowing an influence to come between them and their Maker. They decided to stand firm in integrity whatever the result, answering to God as the great Judge over all rather than to the judgment of men, choosing to be true whatever the consequences as the turning point in their Christian life. That refusal to yield to pressure of the occasion and to eat and drink as was customary with the Babylonians kept the sense of right and abhorrence of wrong strong and preserved physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power for God's service and for glorifying God. A single yielding would have weakened moral discernment and sacrificed health of body, clarity of mind, and spiritual strength, with one wrong step leading to others until connection with Heaven was severed and they were swept away by temptation and led further from God, while faithfulness in that first test protected physical powers and prepared Daniel to remain faithful in later tests even at the cost of life, showing God's honor must not be compromised for convenience.
Outcome and Blessing
The ten-day trial proved true temperance and its attendant blessings, for at its end the temperate youth appeared far healthier and fairer in countenance than those who ate the king's dainties and drank his wine. They showed marked superiority not only in personal appearance, with clear eyes and ruddy, healthful countenances, but in physical activity, strength, and mental vigor, contrary to the expectation that an abstemious diet of pulse and water would make them pale and sickly and deficient in muscular strength. Those who indulged appetite lost sparkle of eye and glow of health, while abstinence made a visible distinction in appearance between the Hebrew youth and those who indulged. The result gave a pattern for overcoming intemperance by standing steadfastly for the right, and pulse and water became their continued food through their whole training for the duties of the kingdom.
God cooperated with their obedience and blessed their efforts to honor Him, for power from above worked in harmony with their determination to banish from their diet everything that would defile. He gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, with strength, health, comeliness, and intellectual power, and He gave Daniel understanding in visions and dreams and skill in Chaldean learning. When the king examined them he found them ten times better than all the magicians, astrologers, and wise men in all his realm, and the education they gained by following their own course was better than that of any of the wise men in the kingdom. To those who close the door to temptation, deny appetite, and place themselves in right relation to God, the Lord will manifest Himself.
God brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs, so his request to eat and drink as conscience directed was granted. They gained the confidence of Melzar, the official responsible for them, who granted the ten-day test by which their condition could be judged, and the wholesome result led the authorities to regard them more highly than the other students. They had the privilege of following their own course in obtaining their education, received favor from God and people, and, remaining temperate in food, were raised to higher regard and the highest stations. Their request was granted because they had obtained favor with God and with men, proving that those who so depend on God can become mighty men.
Their simple diet kept their minds clear and left them free from the oppression caused by luxurious food and by eating carelessly simply to gratify taste, which impairs the digestive organs and confuses the brain. It left them never sick and better prepared physically for taxing labor and better prepared for study, enabling them to think and work vigorously. By obedience to God even in little things they gained strength of thought and memory, with healthful bodies and clear minds through carefulness in diet. Daniel's plan is thus a proved sum to be studied and tested, proving that health reform does not cause loss of physical strength but sustains it.
Manner and Character
Daniel won his way with the officer set over him and his three companions by courteous, respectful and considerate conduct, and on the strength of that favor he was able to present his request to be excused from the royal food and wine. He made his case with true courage joined to most perfect courtesy, without flying into passion, speaking defiance, or insistently demanding to eat and drink as he pleased. His religion kept him from harsh words and won the regard of those around him in the court, while he remained obedient to God and adapted himself to court practice only where it did not dishonor God.
Before he spoke he took the matter to God with his companions in earnest prayer to seek wisdom from the Lord, and then acted on the decision reached. He acted from purity of motive and determination of purpose to honor the Lord, a heart God read with pleasure, making the Lord his wisdom and divine philosophy the foundation of his education rather than walking in sparks of his own kindling. He sought the power that comes alone from God, that he might represent not himself and his own imperfections but the truth in righteousness, depending on the God whom he loved and served for grace to overcome and for strength and efficiency. When those who dedicate themselves to God without reserve do so with earnest prayer, the Lord honors their faith and blesses them with a clear mind.
He and his companions stand as earnest, whole-souled young men determined to be true to principle at any cost, reasoning that to fulfill God's purpose for them appetite must be kept under control so the mind would stay clear and keen to comprehend His instruction. He governed appetite not by impulse but by sound reasoning from Christian temperance, keeping the food in his stomach under his own control, refusing to clog the mind with hard-to-digest articles, to surfeit even healthful food by overeating, or to use wine and flesh meats. He brought all his habits, appetites and passions into conformity to God's requirements, putting from the mind all that is cheap and frivolous and discarding amusement-loving propensities as out of place in those living by faith. Though only a youth he had already seen the injurious effects of wine and luxurious living on physical and mental health, and he held God's approval dearer than the favor of the most powerful earthly potentate, dearer even than life itself, bound with his companions by truth to the throne of God, valuing God's favor above princes, refusing to turn aside or bow to any earthly mandate that detracted from God's honor.
Daniel stood first among the four, and his firm stand for what was right strongly influenced Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who looked to him as their leader; had he yielded to self-pleasing they too would have failed. His faithfulness in small things prepared him for greater responsibilities and helped shape a life faithful to principle even when greater test or sacrifice came. Their power to stand came from early religious training in the nurture and admonition of the Lord at home, which made them acquainted with God from childhood and preserved them in trial. Their minds had been stored with pure, sound, honest principles, with truth engraved on the soul and memory stored with precious truths of the Word, only dimly comprehended before but flashing out in captivity in time of need like concealed treasure and newly discovered jewels. Trust in God's blessing did not take the place of diligent study and strenuous effort; through God's grace their future depended also on their own choice and action, and they used their abilities fully, studied diligently, made the most of their opportunities, faithfully using their powers in secular, scientific and religious matters while God gave understanding, remaining humble and giving Him the glory without mixing their faith with Babylonian religion.
He is full of reverence and zeal for God, full of purpose, industry and toil, as true as steel to principle, one who would not fail nor be discouraged. He has not a vestige of pride or self-importance, but is weighed with the Spirit of wisdom from God, representing the sacredness of the work, magnifying the truth, and ever presenting before men and angels the holy perfume of the character of Christ, which is the sacred fire of God's own kindling. By nature he is as weak and helpless as any worker now, but he puts his whole dependence in God, and his true wealth of mind and soul culture is open to all who will make God first and last and best in everything.
Health and Temperance Lessons
Daniel 1:11 belongs to the history of Daniel and his three companions — Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah — resisting the king's food and wine in Babylon as an example of faithfulness under temptation, temperance, integrity and firmness in standing by principle. The chapter is full of instruction about consistency in eating, self-denial in eating and drinking, strict temperance in eating and drinking, and careful diet, and students who seek knowledge and mental ability are to learn this lesson to honor and glorify God. What is eaten and drunk influences the powers of the mind, and religious principle can overcome appetite even at great personal cost to preserve physical strength and to develop mental and spiritual understanding.
The history proves that health reform does not cause loss of physical strength but sustains it. It teaches abstinence from flesh, from meat from the royal table, from a great variety of food, and from fermented and intoxicating wine and stimulating drinks, including wine from the royal cellar and the prescribed luxurious bill of fare. No human testimony for the advantages of a meat diet or a great variety of food has any weight against faithful dedication, when the children of faith dedicate themselves to God without reserve with earnest prayer and the Lord honors their faith and blesses them with a clear mind. The original human diet was fruits and grains, and Daniel was among the godly people who ate no flesh. Those who choose God's guidance over flesh foods can receive strength, wisdom, and sound judgment from Him.
Daniel's plan was to banish from the diet everything that would defile, to take himself in hand first by regulating his own diet by the knowledge God had given, to govern appetite not by impulse but by sound reasoning from Christian temperance, to keep the food placed in the stomach under his own control, to avoid surfeiting even on healthful food, and to leave wine alone. It is a proved sum to be studied and tested by those who desire to come into right relation to God. Eating carelessly simply to gratify taste impairs the digestive organs and confuses the brain, so that neither can act its part as fully as God intended, while the mind must not be clogged with articles difficult of digestion and even healthful food must be restricted in quantity. Proper regard for the articles eaten keeps a healthful current of blood flowing through the veins and leaves mind and body fit for hard, stern labor, not oppressed with a variety of flesh meats or meat of any kind. In this way careful diet avoids irritable tempers and confused minds and supports clear thought, sound judgment, fitness for hard labor, and Christian character, and wisdom in avoiding indulgence that injures the body reasons from cause to effect about diet.
Preserving correct physical habits presents an example that elevates the moral standard, for those who are truly sanctified do the same wherever they are. Sanctification requires living in conformity to divine law in soul, body, and spirit, bringing appetites and habits of life into conformity to natural law and refusing to indulge appetite and passion at the expense of health and life, so that every faculty is preserved in full vigor for the service of Christ and for duty to fellow men and to God. It requires strict control of appetite and passions with the aim to present the body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, and people ruled by Christ can thus become faithful reformers whose influence leaves a lasting impression and reaches far beyond them. Daniel and his companions are held up as a model of care for the body and described as perfect men.
Refusal to depart from principle and to yield to the pressure of the occasion to eat and drink as was customary with the Babylonians kept strong the sense of right and abhorrence of wrong and preserved physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power. A single yielding would have weakened moral discernment and sacrificed health of body, clarity of mind, and spiritual strength, and one wrong step would have led to others until connection with Heaven was severed and he was swept away by temptation. Yielding to pressure and appetite would weaken the sense of right, physical vigor, clear thought, and spiritual power, and could lead further from God.
Daniel's mental clarity, firmness of purpose, and strength in learning were due in great degree to plain diet together with a life of prayer. His clear mind, firm purpose, ability to learn, and strength to resist temptation were due in great part to his plain diet and life of prayer. Their choice to remain true to principle rather than eating the king's food and drinking his wine helped preserve clear minds, so they could distinguish right from wrong and the sacred from the common, and God honored their loyalty with wisdom and understanding.
Witness Education and Application
Their loyalty made them witnesses in Babylon to the supremacy of God, the holiness of His requirements, and the results of obedience, carrying out the principles of truth to exalt Him and to show that there is a King above the king of Babylon, so that great men might become acquainted with the religion of the Hebrews and know that God reigns over all kingdoms and heathen nations might receive blessing through knowledge of Him. Their captivity gave them opportunity to make the true God known among idolatrous nations, remaining loyal in close connection with Him, refusing to compromise with idolatry, and receiving wisdom, knowledge and understanding to reveal Him.
They did not leave their religion behind but decided it was in the wise purpose of God that they had been taken to wicked, corrupt Babylon, determining not to devote time to complaint but to be cheerful and faithful in all business transactions, to preserve true worship and cheerful unselfish service, because God's compassion demanded the most unselfish service as His representatives and they would permit no slur to be cast upon God. Their faithful steadfastness while yielding to divine guidance allowed God to fulfill His purpose through them, showing what He will do for those who give themselves wholly to Him and wholeheartedly seek His purpose, manifesting Himself to them, setting a hedge about them so they were not corrupted amid temptations to indulge themselves, rewarding firm refusal of evil with rich blessings, and having heavenly intelligences cooperate with them. Their experience is a lesson for the perils of the last days to watch and pray and heed Daniel and Revelation, and for those connected with God's institutions to keep walking humbly so that same divine cooperation continues.
The account teaches students and schools that heavenly wisdom surpasses the learning of the highest schools, calling every learner continually to aim for the highest standard in order to gain cooperation with God, to make the Lord their wisdom and divine philosophy the foundation, to put the religious and spiritual side of training first, to see God behind the teacher with the teacher cooperating with God, to gain knowledge by diligent persevering effort and willing disciplined work in reverence for Him, and to prepare to endure trial by self-denial and obedience to strict temperance in eating and drinking and careful diet. It is held up as a pattern for youth, children, canvassers, ministers, workers and institutions to be temperate, to train abilities through close connection with God, to avoid wasting time on selfish motives and amusements and to resist sinful associations and unprofitable appetite-indulgence, to remain pure amid impurity and intemperance through strength of purpose, and to gather rays of light from heaven and shed them abroad as light-bearers. Those established, rooted and grounded in the truth entering worldly institutions and schools under heathen oversight should enter without pretension and without open controversy, live out what they believe without sacrificing principle, respect all rules and regulations, study the situation to see the best way to represent truth so the light shines forth, depend more on the power of God seen in the life than on words spoken, and when inquiry is aroused tell the simple story of truth as it is in Jesus and the Bible doctrines in simple language, keeping the living principles and observing the Sabbath while dropping seeds that under the Holy Spirit will spring up to bear fruit to the glory of God in the saving of souls, but those without decided connection with God are in danger of being led astray instead of diffusing light.
The experience works out lessons of value for those living in the present stage of this world's history, to be learned to a purpose and studied diligently from the highest standpoint, calling all to close the door to temptation, to deny appetite, to stand steadfastly for the right because it is right and never to sacrifice principle even in the slightest particular, to proclaim the thrilling truths appropriate for this time, to display true colors without shame by choice words and consistent course, propriety and earnest piety, confessing allegiance to God in words, habits and practices and refusing to bow to any earthly mandate that detracts from His honor, and to those who do so the Lord will manifest Himself with strength, wisdom and sound judgment and spread His shield over them. To comply would have meant surrender of principle, compromise of truth and apostasy, allowing an influence to come between them and their Maker, so their decision to answer to God as Judge rather than men was the turning point, leading in later years to open disregard of the king's requirements even in face of death, through which God vindicated His servants and spread knowledge of the true God throughout Babylon for which He had permitted their captivity. Faithfulness in this first test over food protected physical powers for God's service, showed He would not accommodate to circumstances at cost of honoring God, and prepared Daniel to remain faithful in later tests even at cost of life, proving God's honor must not be compromised for convenience and that when duty brings His people into trial He will protect them, unlike those who place themselves under temptation.
Faithfulness in the little thing entrusted to him gave character to his whole life, showing whatever is worth doing is worth doing well in smallest duties as well as work requiring largest sacrifice, first living faithfully and then working for others, being in the world but not of it, standing distinct in manner of dealing with purity of character and honesty, proving truth conscientiously believed sanctifies and makes its receivers sons and daughters of God, children of the heavenly King, members of the royal family faithful, true, honest and upright in small as well as great acts, acting in accordance with temperance principles, becoming faithful reformers whose self-denial and victory over wrong tendencies leave an impression never effaced, carried to all parts of the world and reaching throughout the world and beyond. Daniel's life as a man of business and earnest prayer, next to the king yet clinging to Jesus in perpetual presence with full joy, practicing strict temperance and self-control, prevailing with God as one of His noblemen and a missionary in the highest sense, training himself and educating others for the society of pure and holy intelligences, is the pattern for men placed in positions of trust bearing manifold daily responsibilities, showing that clear composed minds refusing what beclouds the brain are the standard for those entrusted with the safety of fellow men, unlike those given grave responsibility who indulge tobacco, liquor and stimulating narcotics and temporarily lose reasoning faculties, and that to those who ask in faith the Lord will grant wisdom to do His work acceptably and give similar grace amid moral darkness to those who work among worldly people.
Daniel became a youth tested in probationary time who stood firm to principle and was responsible for building character to stand the test of judgment, becoming a representative man and pattern of integrity worthy of imitation, an example of what a person united with God may become and encouragement for those facing trial, with solidity of character fitting youth for usefulness in the earnest work of this age. His position was gained not by forcing or rushing a way into prominence but through self-denial, connection with God, faithful work, and enduring trial while remaining true to principle. His thorough cooperation with Christ shows true health reform begins in a heart transformed by grace giving victory over hereditary and cultivated tendencies and diseased appetite, then works outward in converted intellect and outward reformation, gaining strength of principle and power to stand as faithful sentinel and true reformer. The small sums saved by such self-denial in refusing flesh meats and unhealthful food do more for upbuilding God's cause, building meetinghouses and supporting missionaries, than larger gifts costing no denial, and all who deny injurious indulgences receive strength, wisdom and sound judgment in return for obedience.
The body is God's property by creation and redemption, bought with a price, to be consecrated to Him with sanctified mind and purified soul as a living sacrifice, keeping it from defilement of appetite and passion in obedience to nature's laws which are part of God's law, so perception stays clear and every faculty stays healthy with calm nerves, clear brain and unimpaired judgment for service, and to educate an appetite for tobacco, liquor or anything hurtful is the sin of presumption. The lesson includes exercising body and mind in proportion and training mind and body proportionately so youth can endure testing and trial. All students should submit to divine discipline as Daniel did from purity of motive and determination to honor the Lord, not walking in sparks of their own kindling but welcoming the counsel of the Lord, climbing to the highest round of the educational ladder in philosophy, history, science and literary attainments yet counting all sacrifice of time and money worthless unless used for God's honor and human good, treating science and knowledge as stepping stone to highest purposes and knowledge enduring as eternity, keeping heaven and future immortal life continually before the mind, pondering the path on holy ground with angels about, and having Jesus as teacher every day and every hour. Holding to God with undivided heart under all circumstances means being kind and faithful to earthly authority and complying with its wishes in everything not conflicting with service to Jesus Christ, letting no one interpose between soul and God, praying much for grace to live Christ's religion, having an influence for good where placed, staying faithful amid opposition and temptations never met before, being set upon conviction of duty to observe the Sabbath and keeping it the best possible, and loving the Lord with all heart and soul without swerving whatever the circumstances.