Dare to be a Daniel

Product Information

Daniel 1:20 (NKJV) – 20 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. God was working behind the scenes for these faithful individuals. " God granted Daniel favor..." (v9). " God gave them knowledge..." (v17). Daniel’s God is always working behind the scenes for His followers who are determined to be faithful to Him - even when He doesn't appear on center stage! The whole Bible—from start to finish—is about Jesus (v. 44). In particular, it is about His suffering, death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins (vv. 46-47). That means that the whole Bible is about the gospel, the good news that God saves sinners in Christ Jesus. Unless we come to terms with what Jesus is saying in this passage, what we say about human examples of faithfulness in the Bible will turn into mere moralism. What it means to be a believer will be answered with nothing more than "Be brave like Daniel,""Be valiant like David," etc. It is not for me to stress the war hysteria, jingo patriotism that was generated, encouraged and gradually grew into a frenzy. All industries except war industries were depleted of workers, prices rose, wages rose slowly, the unemployed army had gone into the fighting army. The hotels were glad to take anyone into slavery, so in the catering trade entered men and women refugees, too old for the army, as cooks, chambermaids etc. Some had never seen the inside of a kitchen before, but the wages were good and everybody was happy. VERY much of our future life will depend upon our earliest days. I like a remark of Mr. Buskin’s, that I remember to have read, though I cannot quote it verbatim. He says, “People often say, ‘We excuse the thoughtlessness of youth,’” but he says, “No, it never ought to be excused. I had far rather hear of thoughtless old age, when a man has done his work; but what excuse can be found for a thoughtless youth? The time for thought is at the beginning of life, and there is no period which so much demands, or so much necessitates, thoughtfulness as our early days.” I would that all young men would think so. They say that they must sow their “wild oats.” No, no; my dear young friend, think before you sow such seed as that, and remember what the reaping will be. See whether there is not better corn to be found than wild oats, and try to sow that. Then think how you will sow it, and when you will sow it; for, if you do not think about the sowing,—

At the time of the lion story Daniel was in his 80’s or 90’s – without much hope that he would ever get to return to his homeland. Still, it’s in the midst of these less than ideal circumstances that he shines. What a sight met the eye! It was just a room about five yards by five with one small window, sawdust on the floor, gas, hot-and-cold water pipes all along the walls, alive with rats at night, mice and beetles on the floor. That was the general scene of all kitchens in the City of West End. Some were on the top floor, some in the basement, some a little larger. That is all that might be slightly different. The publishing history of “Dare to be a Daniel!” (published in 1992, written in 1942, published as “The French Cooks’ Syndicate” 1945) And being a truth agent is a big part of what it means to be conformed t the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29), follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21) and walk as He walked (1 John 2:6). When Jesus was being grilled by Pontius Pilate and asked Who He was, His answer was something we sometimes forget. We readily understand that Jesus came to serve and seek and save the lost (Mark 10:45; Luke 19:10). But Jesus’ response to Pontius Pilate spoke of declaring God’s truth as being central to His purpose: Many large restaurants and hotels had a servants’ hall, mostly used for ‘meals’. Generally, they served vile stuff at the very best, and sometimes even rotten. You either had to have that or go without, and so the waiters never went into the staff hall. They used to take tasty bits left on customers’ plates, hide them and wait for a chance to eat them, or during their two or three hours rest time from three to six, they would go to a nearby cafe and have a real good meal. But for this meal they would have been physically unable to carry on, so that is where a great portion of their tips went.There is something very important in these questions. They get at the heart of how Jesus Himself commanded that we read the whole Bible; namely, as being about Him. We see this in Luke 24:44-47 (among other places): How exciting! Why ruin such a future by verbalizing their faith in the one true God? Why risk their lives when a little compromise would eliminate so many problems and so much stress? At the very least they could conform to the king’s commands and eat his top-notch food! And if they were silent now, maybe they could get a word in for God later - after they had established a reputation for good behavior. A little compromise now might even be a subtle way of reaching the Babylonians when the time was right. Why force things? Why go against the flow? Why be outspoken about their faith in the God of Israel? Daniel 3:17–18 (NKJV) – 17 If that is the case, 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. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Now, in our own case, what are the particular temptations to which we, as believing men and believing women, are exposed? In two future posts I will be turning to the Old Testament to see how we can apply the principles described above to texts that are not explicitly mentioned in the New Testament. It is extraordinary how some so-called Socialist Parties can perform acrobatic feats of complete change. They used to say Socialism was the only hope of the world’s workers, now (1944) when the government talks about a new world, such as the Beveridge Bubble, Town Planning, improved education, green belt and the Catering Act, these self-styled socialists call it social advance. I want to know what the advance leads to. If it is true that the interests of the capitalist class are absolutely opposed to the interests of the working class, then all reforms of a capitalist state must be in the interests of the state, which is the controlling force of the capitalist system, and can never be in the interests of the working class. Of course, a few sections of workers in various industries may for a period gain a slight improvement in their wage-slave conditions, but they remain wage-slaves.

Collections

Now, first, look at Daniel’s temptations. In his case, the temptation was very specious. He was bidden to eat the portion of food that, every day, came from the king’s table. Could he want any better? And he was commanded to drink the measure of wine, generally the best in the world, that was sent from the king’s table. He might have fared like a prince. Could he have any objection to that? He had no objection except this, that it would defile him. Do you understand what he meant by that? There were certain foods used by the Babylonians, such as the flesh of swine, the flesh of the hare, and of certain fish, that were unclean, and when these came from the king’s table, if Daniel ate them, he would be breaking the law of Moses as given in the Book of Leviticus, and thus he would be defiled. Remember that the food which was allowed to Israel was to be killed in a certain way. The blood must be effectually drained from the flesh, for he that ate the blood defiled himself thereby. Now, the Babylonians did not kill their beasts in that way, and the eating of flesh which had not been killed according to the law would have defiled Daniel. You know how careful the Jews are to this day with regard to the butchering of the food they eat. More than that, usually such a king as Nebuchadnezzar, before he ate food, dedicated it to his god. Bel-Merodach was greatly venerated by Nebuchadnezzar as god, so that a libation of wine was poured out to Merodach, and a certain portion of food was put aside, so that, in fact, it was offered to idols; and Daniel felt that he would be defiled if he ate of meat which might be unclean, and which was certain to be offered to idols; it would be breaking the law of God, so Daniel would not eat it. Daniel 2:44 (NKJV) – 44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. But not just because we’re inspired by great heros like Daniel – but because thru the stories of Daniel we see that God really is in control.