December 1, 2021

“Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.” Daniel 1:12-13

When Daniel was speaking here, he and his three friends were only teenagers. Their entire world, as they knew it, had been abruptly changed. God’s people, due to their disobedience, had been violently defeated. This was the beginning of a seventy-year period of captivity (see Jeremiah 25:11, 2 Chronicles 36:21) under the heavy hand of the most pagan king of their day, the king of Babylon. These young boys, after seeing the destruction of their home and loved ones, were made eunuchs and placed under tremendous pressure to conform to the Babylonian way of life. Here we find another example of the preservation of God’s remnant:

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. v.8

Daniel didn’t know it at the time, but he was to become the prophetic mouthpiece to the entire world, both Jew and Gentile. One stunning piece of evidence of the effectiveness of his influence is that over 600 years later, wise men from the east (Matthew 2:1) came to worship the baby Jesus! It is fascinating that Jesus points His followers back to the book of Daniel for preparation for the end-times (Matthew 24:15).

Do we recognize that our subtle enemy is waging a battle for our minds? Our minds are the holy place of God’s temple. Satan wants to occupy that holy place (see 2 Thessalonians 2:4) and influence our decision making; his plan is to gain total control. Praise God, who has gifted us with the power to choose! He stands ready to strengthen and bless all who desire to honor Him with their choices!

Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. v.19-20