In the book of Daniel, Daniel said, “now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall you make me endanger my head to the king. Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah ...”, and in chapter one and verse twelve Daniel said, “prove your servants … ten days” where we read,
Prove your servants, I beseech you, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
The verse reads, “Prove your servants, I beseech you, ten days;” Daniel began with the words, “prove your servants”which means “assay, try and test your, Melzar's, subjects or bondmen”, “I beseech you” or “I, Daniel, pray and entreat you, Melzar”, “ten days” which means “for a ten day length of time”. Daniel appealed to “Melzar” to test him and the other Hebrew children for the length of ten days with the following.
The verse goes on to say, “and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.” Daniel continued with the words, “and let them give us” which means “and allow and permit them, those who provided the meat and drink, to grant, bestow and assign to us, Daniel and the Hebrew children” “pulse to eat” or “vegetables to consume and devour”, “and water to drink” which means “and refreshing water to imbibe”. Daniel asked that he and the other Hebrew children be allowed to consume vegetables and imbibe refreshing water instead of the king's meat and wine.
When we meditate upon Daniel's words in this verse, we learn how he humbled himself as a “servant” when he desired that “Melzar” test he and the other Hebrew children for the length of “ten days” by allowing them to eat vegetables instead of King Nebuchadnezzar's meat and to drink refreshing water instead of the king's wine. Daniel was “purposed in his heart not to defile himself”, and he presented an alternate solution to “Melzar” who was the overseer of them. We shall see more of Daniel's desire in our next verse, but for now let us consider the wisdom employed by Daniel for this situation. Rather that being openly rebellious to the king's offering, he humbled himself and offered a suggestion. God wants us to be fully committed to Him, even as He is fully committed to us. He proved His love and commitment to us when He sent His Son Jesus to be crucified on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and when He raised Him from the dead, He made the way for us to be forgiven of our sins and granted everlasting life with Him when we believe and trust in Him. In addition, God will give us the wisdom of His Holy Spirit for all types of situations as we fully surrender to Him and His Son Jesus.
Next time Daniel says, “let our countenances be looked upon”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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