T-48: Let's Make a Deal!

We know that God uses all things according to his purposes but I think that sometimes we forget that God is sovereign over believers and non-believers alike. He IS whether someone chooses to believe or not. It’s the same with gravity; denying its existence no more removes you from its effect than accepting it, it simply means that you are surprised when you find yourself smacking into the ground after jumping from a height. I know that there will be many surprised expressions when judgment day arrives.

Our text today illustrates the manner in which our sovereign God effects and uses non-believers to accomplish God’s will. Consider…

Daniel 1:9-14 (NIV)
9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned yourc food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 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.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
[1]

You may recall that in V8, Daniel has asked the chief official for permission to forego the king’s buffet and wine so as not to defile himself. In the normal course of events, the captor would have no interest in accommodating the requests of the captives. Were it not for the hand of God the book of Daniel would have been very short; no more than nine verses. ;) But God was moving among the Babylonians and as V9 tells us “God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel.” God stirred the heart of the unbeliever to be receptive to Daniel’s request.

That is not to say that this unbelieving official was wholeheartedly in support of Daniel and his friends. To the contrary, this official’s chief concern was for his own safety! This should be of little surprise for the chief concern of the unbeliever (and sadly that of many believers) is self. The official expressed this concern by his reply “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” As stated, this official is afraid of the king knowing full well that if he failed in his assignment, it would not be detention hall or remedial training, it would be death. And we can see in the official’s statement his presumption that the king always knows best in that the official assumed that if the boys did not eat what was prescribed for them, they would, by comparison, be in worse shape than those who did follow the kings orders. But I will also point out that the fact that the official even considered the question and gave Daniel an opportunity to ‘make his case’ is proof positive of God’s power in this situation.

And so Daniel offered a deal. In respectful tones and with words chosen so as not to offend, Daniel requests that the official participate in an experiment; vegetables and water for ten days and then a visual inspection. And beyond that there were no conditions! The official was ‘free’ to adjust his treatment according to his interpretation of what he observes. No assumptions, no presumptions, no arguments, no demands, just a simple and non-threatening request.

So the official agreed.

God had predisposed the unbelieving official to be favorable towards Daniel. Daniel had resolved to be faithful to God. Daniel conducted himself in a reasonable and gracious manner such as becomes a believer. God honored the discipline of Daniel and stirred the heart of the official to accept the challenge.

How many times have we, as believers, come into the presence of an unbeliever who is sympathetic to our cause? How many times have we disrupted God’s plans by not showing the faithful obedience that Daniel exemplifies for us in today’s text? How many times have we ‘made our case’ by way of argument, badgering and generally bad behavior? How many blessings have we foregone because by our actions and our words we have created situations where God is not honored and therefore cannot honor us? How many times have we, by our words and actions, served only to harden the heart of the unbeliever?

Daniel, a mere boy, teaches us volumes about faith, discipline, courage, grace, humility, meekness, self-control and respect. I’ve got a long way to go to be like Daniel.

שָׁלֹם

Carl
c The Hebrew for your and you in this verse is plural.

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.