Danile Lesson 3 - Fairhaven Baptist Church

Daniel

Lesson 3

Text: Daniel 1:8-21 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. 10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. 11 Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, 12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. 13 Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. 14 So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. 15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat. 16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse. 17 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. 21 And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.”

Daniels Plan vs.8-13
1. Daniel purposed…not (to) defile himself…”
  1. A lot of our failures are because we do not determine to be successful.
    1. When I’m working with wood, I always do better when I have a plan.
    2. I will watch some shows on building, and more often than not, the successful ones are the ones who have a good set of plans, and an idea of where they are going.
    3. Counter wise, when I do not use plans, I go through a lot of wood.
    4. Daniel Planed, He had an idea, and a path he was prepared to take,

Plans are no good without application,
1. Daniel, purposed, but then vs.8 “he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself”
2. He implemented the plan,
3. I Think it is interesting to see how he implemented the plan as well,

look at vs.9 “God had brought Daniel into favor”
God had given Daniel and his friends favor in the eyes of the people in charge of them,
- There are a couple of things we can infer from this,
- First, Daniel must have been a likable person.
  - Even if God gives someone favor, and they are a jerk, the others will still not like them.
  - Daniel must have developed an amount of trust as well.
Because of this, Daniel used his influence to ask this question,
- I have spoken before about the influence we have earned with others,
  - we have earned the right to be heard by some people.
  - We have even earned the right to be trusted by some.
    - Daniel used this in order to advance his purpose.

By the way, Daniel requested of the prince of the eunuchs,
- he didn’t demand it, He didn’t throw a fit, he requested.
- But he did request,
  - all the best intentions in the world will not replace simply making our request known.
  - How many people get frustrated because of something, like working on Sunday, yet they have never asked for Sunday off? They think the owner or the boss should know their thoughts.
    - The same is true in all our relationships, don’t expect others to be able to read our minds, talk about it. (how many arguments could we have avoided if we would have simply made our likes and dislikes known?)

People of the world have different concerns, vs.10
1. The eunuch was not necessary a bad person, or an evil person,
  - it was just his concerns were not on the same plane as Daniels,
  - He was serving another master, Nebuchadnezzar.
    - And he was frightened to go against him.
2. We should remember as Christians our values and ideas are not what are held in high regard in the world.
  - They have their own ideas, and desires.
  - But we should try to live a life to show them the benefits of our life.
  - How could we ever possible convince the world that Christianity is a better alternative to living wordy when our people are sad, depressed, angry.
    - When Christians speak harshly, insult, ridicule, demean, others it is a bad look on Christianity.
3. However Daniel addressed Melzar’s concerns by saying let us prove it to you,
  - vs.5 tells us this was a 3 year process,
  - Daniel said, give us 10 days,
  - This is another reason all churches should be bible institutes, so we can day “Let me prove it to you”
    - I Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”
    - Can we prove why we believe what we do in a non aggressive, and loving way?

The Daniel Diet, vs.14-16
1. They ate PULSE,
  1. simply put this means vegetation,
    - He abstained from the meat, and wine of the kings provision of the kings table.
  2. I am no doctor or dietitian, but I want to make a couple of comments of warning about this diet.
    - First, we do not know how well balanced the diet was, in the middle east there are a great deal of plants to choose from in order to get complete nutrition meals.
    - Certain practices of irrigation allowed the fields to be replenished with nutrition’s. (this is not the case with the product we pick up at the super market)
      - also figure in the “de-evolution” of product???
    - Also, these Hebrew young men were in their prime,
      - they grew up in this environment, and were use to this type of food.
      - Their body’s were accustom to it.
    - Make sure to make wise and informed decisions before altering diet’s in a drastic way
The Kings Assessment, vs.17-21
1. The results belong to God,
  1. after the time was over, and the Hebrew men began to flourish, it was not their diet, it was not their heritage, their raising, their education, it was God
  2. for three years, these men were trained, and taught, along with others, but upon comparison, they were 10 times better than the others.
    - Why? Because their education was better? No they went to the same courses, the same schools the same teachers, it was their God.
  3. We can try to give our children all the advantages we can think of, but if we do not lead them to Jesus, it is all for naught.
    - III John 1:4 “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”