I just started in Daniel the other day and, as usual, was looking forward to the stories about Daniel and his friends in the first few chapters. I jumped in to chapter one and saw something that I had never seen before.
When the king asked for men to be gathered and trained for service to him, he specifically asked that all of them be from the Jews (1:3). Then Daniel and his three friends, in order to remain pure and undefiled (1:8), refused the king’s fancy food. After a bit of negotiation, they were allowed to do so provided they did not suffer physically as a result. You know how it comes out, they turned out to be most favored by the king in spite of their dietary rules.
So the question that comes to my mind is, what about all the other guys? They were ALL Jewish, but only the four mentioned in the story decided to keep kosher. The rest of them were all members of the royal family and nobles, shouldn’t they all have refused the king’s rich food?
I guess there have always been those who compromise with the world for perceived personal comfort. It still happens today. I wonder where I would have come out if I had been there?
- Rich
