Today, I am reading and commenting on Daniel 1-2.

There are two stories in today’s passage.  The first is about how Daniel and his friends sought to honor God by not eating foods which violated the laws He had given them.  The second is about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.  In the first story, Daniel and his friends chose to eat only vegetables and drink only water because there was no meat available to them which did not violate God’s laws (the meat available to them had probably also been part of an idolatrous sacrifice, but that isn’t spelled out in the passage).  Daniel and his friends were not healthier because they ate only vegetables, nor because they did not overindulge (in food and wine), as the other young men probably did.  They were healthier because they chose to honor God.

In the second story, Nebuchadnezzar chose not to reveal what he dreamed to his “mystics” because he realized that they would use the way he described the dream to make up a “meaning” for the dream which was whatever they thought he wanted to hear.  However, the “mystics” were not wrong to tell Nebuchadnezzar that what he was asking was impossible.  There is no way for someone to interpret a dream if they do not know what the dream was.  I find it interesting that Daniel and his friends were included in the execution order, but had not been included in the initial request to interpret the dream (I may speculate about what that tells us about the way Nebuchadnezzar’s court worked another time).  In any case, when Daniel learned of Nebuchadnezzar’s edict, his response was to pray, and to request his friends pray as well.  When God revealed Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and its interpretation, to Daniel, he refused to take credit for it.

From the first example, we may not see how following God’s instructions will have good consequences for us, but doing so will lead to our greatest joy.  From the second example, as Jesus said in Matthew, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  God may have placed something in front of us which we are incapable of accomplishing.  Remember that with Him, all things are possible.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Daniel 1-2.

My lovely wife married me 22 years ago on the 23rd of this month.  So I am going to wish her Happy Anniversary every day from now until then.

Happy Anniversary, Darling!

We often focus on Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.  However, today I am going to look at a few other things about that.  The first thing I would like to note is that Nebuchadnezzar’s request that his wise men interpret his dream without him telling them what the dream was suggests that Nebuchadnezzar had become skeptical of the mystical powers his wise men claimed.  When Daniel comes before the king, he denies having any mystical power and credits his interpretation entirely to God.  My understanding of what Daniel said was that anyone who put their faith in God could request what God had given Daniel and have an equal chance with Daniel of receiving the answer.  In considering this we should look at what Daniel did when he realized the danger he, and his friends, were in because of Nebuchadnezzar’s skepticism regarding his wise men.  Daniel went to his friends and asked them to pray, pleading with God for mercy.  Daniel himself then spent the night in prayer until God revealed the answer to him.  At that point Daniel thanked and praised God.  Additionally, when Daniel appeared before Nebuchadnezzar, he insisted that the credit for the interpretation belonged to God, not to himself.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Daniel 1-2.

I really like the story of how Daniel and his friends chose to eat only foods which met Jewish dietary laws.  The first aspect of the story shows us four young men who were brave enough to request of their captors a less enjoyable experience in order to remain faithful to their beliefs.  The second aspect of the story shows us that God rewarded them for their faithfulness by making healthier and more capable of learning than their counterparts.  From what is written and what we know of the diets of the elites of the day, the diet chosen by Daniel and his companions was probably healthier than that of their counterparts.  But the moral of the story is NOT that they excelled because they ate a healthier diet.  The moral of the story is that they excelled because they were faithful in honoring God.

I have often spent a lot of time considering the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.  However, today I want to focus on what this story tells us about our relationship with God.  When Nebuchadnezzar made his demand on the wise men present, their response was that only the gods can meet that demand and they are not available to us to ask.  Daniel had a different response.  He agreed with the other wise men in stating that only a god could provide what the king asked, but he saw it differently.  First, Daniel took the position that there was only one God, not many gods.  Second, Daniel believed that God would communicate with those who sought Him.  Therefore, Daniel turned to God in prayer, and asked his friends to do likewise.  The other wise men viewed the gods as beings who were inaccessible to men.  Daniel and his friends viewed God as one to whom they could turn for guidance.  Let us be like them: faithfully honoring God in the face of other’s skepticism, and prayerfully seeking His guidance.

I want to make one other point.  In the book of Daniel, his friends are mostly referred to by the Babylonian names they were given, but Daniel is mostly referred to by his Hebrew name.  Related to that is the fact that Ezekiel refers to a man by the name of Daniel who was legendary for his wisdom and righteousness.  So, the reason Daniel was not referred to more in the book of Daniel as Belteshazaar was so that people would see that he was similarly wise and righteous as his legendary namesake.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

In the year 2000, on the 23rd day of this month, my wife married me.  So here we are on day 11 of the 20 days that I am going to wish her Happy Anniversary for 20 years of marriage.  Happy Anniversary Darling!

Today, I am reading and commenting on Daniel 1-2.

I have read many people who interpret the actions of Daniel and his three friends as dietary advice and there have been times I have looked at this passage to consider its practical application.  However, the point of the passage is that Daniel and his friends were healthier than the other young men because they were faithful to God’s commands.  Now, I find myself looking at what we can tell about the diet of Daniel and his friends versus that of the other young men.  The difference which tells us anything useful is that Daniel and his friends drank only water while the other young men drank wine.  To me, this right here explains the difference between them, both initially and at the end.  We have here a bunch of young men away from their parents for the first time in their life given lots of tasty food and as much wine as they can drink.  They would have drunk to excess and eaten way too much of food that was not particularly good for them (and very little of what was good for them).  That would have left their minds a bit muddled for their studies.  Whereas Daniel and his friends were drinking only water and eating food which was sustaining, but probably not tempting them to eat to excess.  Their heads would have been clearer when it came time to study and learn.

Then in chapter 2 we have the story of Daniel interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.  This bears a resemblance to Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams.  Just as with Joseph, Daniel refuses to take credit for providing the interpretation.  Daniel insisted that his ability to interpret the dream was no reflection of any special skill or merit on his own part.  God chose to reveal something about the future to Nebuchadnezzar through the dream and Daniel was merely the conduit for God sending him the message.  Daniel did everything in his power to make sure that the glory for the interpretation he provided went to God.  Daniel and his friends were not healthier and smarter than their fellows because any of them had special insights into the correct diet for young men.  They were healthier and smarter because they faithfully followed God’s commands.  Daniel did not obtain Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation because he was smarter, wiser, or possessed arcane skills that others did not.  He did so because he asked God in fervent prayer for that answer and God provided it to him.  God could have used someone else to deliver the message.  Daniel was the one He chose because Daniel put his trust in God.