Daniel 1- The Daniel Fast


    Daniel was an exile, an Israelite living in Babylon, and not by choice. The Babylonians had conquered Judah and Jerusalem and they deported the majority of the people to live in Babylon. And Daniel faced many difficult decisions in his life of whether to conform to the rules of the Babylonians or whether to stay set apart and holy.

            Daniel’s first test came when he was being prepped to be a servant of the king. And during this period he was to be fed meat and wine. But Daniel knew that if he ate these things he would defile himself. The text isn’t clear as to why exactly this would defile Daniel, but my best guess is that it is because some of the meat that was being served was probably from unclean animals such as pigs that Israelites were not allowed to eat. And so Daniel asks for vegetables and water instead. And the risk that he is informed of is that if due to this vegetarian diet Daniel ends up in worse physical condition than the other servants, the king will not be happy at all. But he risks this in order to obey God, and he does not conform to the unclean diet of those around him.

            And the risk pays off, after eating this different diet he actually ends up looking in better physical condition than the other servants. Now some of you have maybe heard of the Daniel Plan or the Daniel Fast, it’s a dieting program based on this passage of scripture about Daniel intended to help us lose weight. It is based on the verse that says that Daniel ended up appearing better than the other young men. You can read the New York Times Bestselling book about it or even go to danielplan.com But, if I were you, I’d be very skeptical of such a dieting program because whoever created this diet plan seems to have overlooked one other key verse in this passage in which the scripture actually tells us that Daniel’s diet made him fatter than the other servants. In those days having some fat on you was a sign of wealth and it would add to the grandeur of the king’s palace if even his servants were well fed, so the better physical condition that the text refers to here is based on Daniel gaining weight from his diet and not looking hungry or impoverished. I think it’s pretty funny that a weight loss program has been developed based on this diet that made Daniel fatter than the others. Do not trust every teaching and program that claims to be biblical. Many misinterpret scripture and take bible verses out of their original context. It's amusing how people take this bible verse about Daniel remaining holy and set apart in a foreign land and think that its main application is meant to be in their dieting programs. When we apply it in this way we are not staying set apart from the culture that surrounds us, instead we are falling victim to the culture around us that so prioritizes looks and appearance. Humans look at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.

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