September 25, 2022

Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Daniel 1:12

It is interesting that the number ten is often associated with testing. Daniel and his three friends, as new captives in Babylon, did not want to defile themselves with food from King Nebuchadnezzar’s table. The king’s menu included unclean meats and fermented wine.

And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. (v.15)

The outcome of the ten-day test secured for the young boys a healthy diet without further confrontation during their supervised training period. One of the lessons for us is the reality of both physical and mental benefits of taking God’s word seriously. Later on, when being interviewed by 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.20)

In Daniel 3, one of the ten commandments suddenly becomes a test for Daniel’s three friends. They are invited to a dedication ceremony of a statue, not an unusual invitation. But once there, they were commanded to fall down and worship the statue of the king, an affront to the second commandment regarding idol worship. The boys remained faithful to God, who protected them from the death sentence in a fiery furnace. It is important to note that the boys, when called in by the angry king, pointed out:

“… our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the image which you have set up.” (3:17-18)

“Look!” [Nebuchadnezzar] answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (3:25)

Times of severe testing are ahead. Are we preparing? Are we helping others to prepare? Before being thrown into the fire, the boys maintained their faithfulness to the one true God, whether or not He would deliver them from the flames. Our God . . . is able . . . yet martyrdom was a distinct possibility.

“. . . so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.” Philippians 1:20b