The whole idea of the Old Testament prophet’s being a health and wellness guru was given a bit of juice in January of this year when the superstar actor Chris Pratt announced on Instagram that he was going on a 21-day “Daniel Fast” (which is only slightly different from the original 40-day Daniel Diet Plan). Today I want to take a look at the initial Scripture passage that has given rise to this whole craze. First, though, some historical background:
Although some Bible scholars want to give the writing of this prophetic book a later date, according to the actual events described it dates to sometime around 600 BC and takes place beginning with Nebuchadnezzar’s successful siege of Jerusalem in which he captures the city, burning much of it down, and carries off both inhabitants and sacred vessels from Solomon’s temple, which he destroys. During the siege the inhabitants of Jerusalem run out of food, and then perhaps ten thousand of them are taken into exile by being marched off to Susa, the capital of Babylon, a distance of almost 850 miles. So believe me when I say that Daniel and his friends had no need of a weight-loss diet! They were probably skin and bones by the time they finally arrived in Babylon. (There are actually multiple sieges of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army, but I’m not getting into all those details here.)
Once they finally arrive, Nebuchadnezzar orders a choice of “Israelites from the royal family and nobility—young men who were healthy and handsome, intelligent and well-educated, good prospects for leadership positions in the government, perfect specimens!” (Daniel 1:3-4 MSG). How any of these young men could possibly have been “healthy” is beyond me, but perhaps they’d had a little time to recover from their ordeal, or at least their physical one. Remember, Daniel and his fellow exiles have seen unimaginable horrors during the siege (including cannibalism), the city’s capture, and the long journey to Babylon. Since these young men are from the higher classes it’s possible that their families have been spared along with them, but nothing about a conquered city is pleasant! Those of us who grew up with stories about Daniel in Sunday School have a very sanitized version in our heads.
Okay. Anyway, there Daniel is in the king’s palace, having been chosen as a good candidate for training in Babylonian literature and magic. Since he’s now a member of the royal household he and the other three young men are to be fed “from the king’s table,” a great honor. But Daniel purposes that he will not “defile” himself by eating that food, either the meat or the wine. Why is that? Is his purpose for health reasons? No, no, no! It’s a total subversion of Scripture to say that Daniel was a clean-eating vegetarian! Let me point out an astoundingly obvious fact:
No observant Jew can be a vegetarian. Why? Because all Jews were commanded to take part in the Passover meal, which included roast lamb. So at least once a year a Jew needed to eat meat.
What’s up, then, with the Daniel Diet, the real one in Daniel chapter one? Again, the answer is astoundingly obvious: His concern is with following the commands of God in Jewish ceremonial law. He’s not worried about his cholesterol; he’s worried about his ritual purity. He’s determined that he will not “defile” himself. If we picture the actual situation here we’re going to gain so much more spiritual truth than if we just think of Daniel as a Weight Watchers precursor. He’s going to stay faithful to God even in this pagan, luxurious court where his head can be off his shoulders at the slightest hint from the king. What issues would he have with this so-called “rich food”?
Daniel couldn’t be sure what type of meat was being served, for one thing. Remember, Jews were barred from eating a number of animals, not just pork. Other forbidden foods included shellfish, camels (!), and rabbits. Also, because of the mysterious verse in Exodus about not cooking a baby animal in its own mother’s milk (scholars aren’t sure of the reason for that prohibition), he’d also be concerned about the possibility of milk and meat in the same dish. Also, and this was perhaps the most important of all, Israelites were absolutely forbidden to eat blood, so it was supposed to be completely drained out of any meat. The eating of blood would result in the Israelite’s being “cut off” from among his people. (Leviticus 17:11). Commentators sometimes mention that the king’s meat might have been offered to idols before being served, but that idea comes from reading the New Testament back onto the Old. I don’t see that there are any verses forbidding this practice in the OT because there wasn’t supposed to be any idol worship in Israel in the first place. (I’m also kind of glossing over the whole wine issue. I don’t know why Daniel refuses the wine, as it was certainly allowed in Jewish society. Maybe because it was very strong? Not sure.)
Note that the diet Daniel requests for himself and his friends is seen as less healthy than the king’s food, not more. This little idea gets completely overlooked in discussions of his vegetables-and-water regimen. The chief eunuch is very worried that he’ll be in big trouble if these young men waste away on their limited food choices, and Daniel has to propose a test:
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see. So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. (Daniel 1:11-16 NIV)
Although it’s not completely spelled out in the passage, the implication is that God has miraculously intervened to have them look healthier than their counterparts. (I love the old King James wording: they were “fairer and fatter in flesh” than the others.)
The story of Daniel’s faithfulness and courage in the face of very real risk is much more valuable than the version being pushed today. For the next post I’m going to look at a further verse later on in the book that’s also used as diet advice, and I plan to whup up on that too. In the meantime, eat your vegetables—but not because Daniel tells you to!