The Temptation of Daniel

Solomon wrote that there was nothing new under the sun. In all of his wisdom, he appears to be correct. Times change but they stay very much the same. Today there are many distractions and things to tempt us but they are in essence the same as they have always been. Pride, the search for popularity, ill-gotten gain, gossip – the list goes on and on. We have found new ways of sinning but the sins themselves and the temptation that prompts us to sin is the same as it always has been.

For this reason it is important to study the book of Daniel. Daniel 1 opens with Daniel as a captive who has been taken from his home. We think that teenagers have it tough today – and they do – but imagine being a teenage boy who was taken away from his parents and forced into the service of a foreign king who worshipped false Gods. The temptation to conform must have been tremendous but Daniel and his friends stood their ground.

In Daniel 1, Daniel faces a crucial test. He must decide whether to eat the king’s food or to abstain because his conscience didn’t allow him to partake. This is very much like the temptation to smoke or drink today because everyone wants to fit in and be accepted. The temptation for Daniel was even greater because if he didn’t conform he could get into a lot of trouble. There was no risk of getting caught because there was no one to find out who would care. It was simply a matter of whether he would do what was right even when no one else was looking.

Daniel offered a test to determine if abstaining from the king’s food was better for him or at least comparable. God had blessed Daniel with wisdom and he used it to get himself out of a difficult situation. After ten days of eating nothing but vegetables and drinking water Nebuchadnezzar’s chief official found Daniel and his friends looking more healthy than those who had eaten the king’s food.

In the gospels we learn that Jesus confronted temptation by recalling scripture and applying it to the situation. Although Daniel doesn’t quote scripture he nevertheless knows it and determines to be obedient to God rather than man. Daniel sticks to his principals and is blessed because of it.