#Exetweet

1/ "But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself." Daniel 1:8

In context, Daniel was being given..

2/...the king's choice food which consisted of meat and wine that were sacrificed to the pagan Babylonian idols. To partake would be an act of worship to these deities. The other Israelites, with the exception of Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael indulged in eating the food...

3/...and wine, thus they indulged in worship of the pagan deities. This would include Marduk whom they sacrificed children to.

Daniel and his friends could not good conscience eat the food and drink the wine. That is why verse 8 says, "But Daniel made up his mind"

4/ For "made up" the Hebrew uses the term שׂוּם (suwm) which means "to put/to set/to place" which denotes an act of volition.

The Greek word in the LXX used for "made up" echoes the exact same thought. τίθημι (tithemi) means, "to put/to place/to appoint".

5/ Tithemi denotes "To be resolved". Daniel resolved or placed upon his heart not to eat this food and drink sacrificed to idols.

As a Christian, whenever you are tempted to sin you have a choice to make, "Will I choose to disobey God or will I choose to obey Him?"

6/ To be tempted is not a sin. Our sin nature makes evil tempting to us. This is why God cannot be tempted to sin because His nature is holy and righteous, while ours is corrupt and wicked.

Those redeemed by God when faced with sin have a tough decision to make...

7/..."Do I sin and grieve the Holy Spirit or do I obey God and thereby show my love for him. Let me be clear, all sin is contempt for God while obedience to His precepts shows a deep love and appreciation for him. We will sin until we die because of our nature...

8/...but that doesn't mean I should choose to do it. I remember in my mid 20's when I was witnessing to a professing Christian that she told me that because she looked at men with lust and that was sin she might as well sleep with them. She said because she couldn't obey...

9/...the Lord that it justified her immorality. She said she enjoyed being immoral. What she revealed was that she was in fact an unbeliever.

None of us can keep all God's laws perfectly that is why we confess our sins to Him when we choose evil and repent.

10/ The Holy Spirit gives the ability to choose what is right. Read Galatians 5. The Spirit and the flesh war against each other which is why a Christian cannot enjoy sin.

Daniel chose not to compromise. He made up his mind to the point where his heart had to follow.

11/ He knew the truth, and to eat this food would be treason against God.

How was Daniel so wise as a teenager? By God's grace he gave him parents that taught him to never compromise God's word.

When a Christian sins it is a choice. When an unbeliever sins it is expected.

12/ What Daniel does first after resolving to not eat the food or drink the wine was to not make an ultimatum to Ashpenaz, but to ask for permission first.

"...he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself."

13/ When Daniel asked for permission he was showing respect to the man in authority over him. This gave Daniel the opportunity to explain why he couldn't eat or drink these things and how it would defile him.

This would have communicated to Ashpenaz the sincerity...

14/...of Daniel's request and that he would not compromise and eat the food. Daniel's respect for Ashpenaz allowed for Ashpenaz to open up to Daniel and tell him of how this could affect him. Daniel listened and cared about this man placed over him by the Lord...

15/...so in v12 he asked Ashpenaz to allow he and his friends to eat vegetables and drink water for 10 days and then judge who looked healthier.

God honored what Daniel did and after 10 days he and his friends looked healthier. Ashpenaz then changed the diet of all the boys...

16/...and put them on the same diet as as Daniel. This stopped the other compromising Israelites from continuing in their sin.

I often wonder if what Daniel and his friends did impacted these boys who compromised.

God blessed the 4 boys for their faithfulness & raised them...

17/...to higher positions within Babylon with which they would serve for God's glory alone.

When tempted to compromise again these 4 men never wavered to sin.