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King Nebuchadnezzar went to war with the Hebrews and won. The Babylonians took children from parents to train in their own schools. Broken hearted parents watched as their children were dragged off. They just knew they would never see them again. It was such a sad time for the Hebrews.
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 Among
the captives in 607 BC,
were four carefully raised boys who determined to serve God no matter what
happened to them. Their names were Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. These
young men were in the age ranges of 18-20 years. These boys chose to be
different. They determined to honor God even if it brought death. These
boys were very good students in sciences. They had been raised with the
best education expecting they could possibly be king in the Jewish nation.
Daniel had a godly mother who carefully taught him the story of Nadab and Abihu over and over. He learned the effect of strong drink on the body and its dangers in changing the abilities of the mind. By Scripture and by song, the mothers of Daniel and his three friends carefully taught their children, forming characters that would stand the hardest tests of peer pressure. These things were not taught in the schools of the time. Most young men in the capital of Judah were wild and reckless. |
 The
Babylonians took gold dishes and pitchers out of the sanctuary that had been
dedicated to Jehovah. They put them in their own temple full of their collection
of strange gods. They always collected gods from the countries they
conquered. They thought this would make them a stronger nation. Since they
had won the battle with the Hebrews and captured them, they were sure
their god collection was stronger than the Hebrew God Jehovah. |
 There is a very interesting history behind Babylon. It was
originally founded by people who were grandchildren of Noah. They built
the tower of Babel. They did not like being around people who worshipped
Jehovah, so they built up their own system of gods. Marduk was one of
their chief gods. They had many that they believed in. These were all made
up gods.
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  Marduk
was also called Bel, one of their chief gods. Hoping to get Daniel to
worship Babylonian gods, king Nebuchadnezzar changed Daniel's name to
Belteshazzar which meant "prince of Bel". So now Daniel, which
meant "judge for God", was called the prince of Satan or Bel
their chief god. Bel is another name for Satan. Any teenager going through
natural identity crisis, would soon identify with whatever was popular,
but NOT DANIEL. He had access to a secret power which the king soon
learned about. |
Ha naniah
meant "Gift of the Lord". He was given the name of Shadrack which
meant servant of the moon god. The moon god was Aku.
This is the symbol for the Babylonian made up moon god. |
| Azariah meant "Whom Jehovah helps". He was renamed Abednego which meant "Servant of Nebo". Nebo was claimed to be the prophet of Marduk. One who interpreted the will of Marduk. King Nebuchadnezzar had the first part of his name from NEBO. |
| Mishael
meant "one who is what God is". He was renamed Meshack "Who is
what Aku is" Aku was the Sumarian
moon god of sin. |
 King
Nebuchadnezzar served Satan. Satan desired to rule the whole world. This
is what the king Nebuchadnezzar wanted to do also. The kings heart is in
the hand of the Lord. God arranged for King Nebuchadnezzar to choose these four
Hebrew young men.
Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart [is] in the hand of the LORD, [as] the rivers of water: he turns it where ever he wills. The king loved these young men like his own sons and gave them names of his gods. He fed them kings food. He started them in language studies. For three years they studied the Chaldean language and the wisdom of Babylon. The king had high hopes that all these teenagers would soon worship his gods too. |
  These
fine 4 young men were given the best of the Babylonian food but this was a
problem. This was not what they knew was best for their bodies. Also the
food was offered to idols before given to them. Now, what could they do?
If they offended the soldiers and king, they could die. Was it really worth making
a fuss about? Why not just pretend to eat it? THIS WAS A BIG TEST. Obey
God and risk their lives, or disobey God and try to please the king? |
 Should
they break God's law stated so plainly in Leviticus
11 and Numbers 11? If they ate meat and drank wine offered to
idols, it would be an act of worshiping the gods. It was bad enough to be
named after the gods. They took their problem to God in prayer. This is
the secret of their power. They asked God what to do. After praying, they
resolved to keep the 10 commandments and not worship idols, and not kill
their bodies by eating the kings diet and drinking his wines. |
  These
four boys had been carefully trained in the very best food for strength
and intelligence. They thought about the good food their parents had fed
them. They had food called "pulse".
This was simple food of fruits, grains and nuts. This is what they ate
back home. This was why they were so intelligent and strong. |
 The
fruits could be fixed in so many ways. It was simple yet so delightful in
flavor and packed with energy for their growing muscles and brains. God
had created their bodies and advised as to the very best foods to eat. By
obeying His laws, they had the absolute best performance in school. |
| They
drank only water or fresh grape
juice. The fermented wines were harmful to brain cells. They knew
there was danger in drinking this. They decided they would refuse the wine
and kings meat. |
  This
brought a fear to the heart of the servant Melzar whom the king
Nebuchadnezzar had appointed the responsibility of making sure they had
food. He was really upset. Daniel prayed for help and asked Melzar to give
them a 10 day test. At the end of the test, they could compare their
strength with the others in school. The difference at the end of 10
days was remarkable. It was convincing to Melzar that this
diet would do no harm. |
  Daniel
was rewarded for his trust in God. He followed God's diet plans, and
refused also to break the second commandment regarding idol worship. All
four boys excelled and received the blessing of God. They did so much better than
the rest in their school. After graduation, the king was so
impressed, he gave them the highest positions in his government. |
The pure fresh grape juice is what
Daniel chose to drink. 
Daniel always went on this special diet when he wanted answers from God to his prayers. Eating a simple diet is one way of fasting when one is praying for something very important. I want to always be on this special diet, so that I will have a very clear mind and know God's plan for me in the end of the world. We are in the very end of time and need special information from God. We need the strongest bodies so we can do the most missionary work and have the least amount of sickness of anyone in the world. |
| Because of their health choices, they were able to resist temptations to sin. In the kings palace there were many temptations. Keeping in touch with the invisible God of the universe, they walked with God as did Enoch. |
| For more information on health, there is a section of 21 lessons on healthful living placed under the lesson 20 of Basic Bible on the Web site. Or one can get a CD of the Basic Bible lessons which have nature stories, lessons 1-39 on basic Bible lessons on issues important for salvation, and health lessons. The lesson 20 is on health. It has 21 more health lessons under this section. |
1. What year was Daniel and his 3 friends taken captive? 2. How did the parents know ahead of time to prepare their sons for this crisis in their lives? 3. What special things did the parents do to get their boys ready? 4. What was the name of the king of Babylon? 5. Who was the master builder of the original tower in Babylon and what relationship did he have to Noah? 6. What happened to that original tower and later what did people do with the mess? 7. Why was the tower built? 8. Who was the chief god of Babylon? 9. Why did the Babylonians have a collection of gods? 10. What 2 reasons made Daniel and his friends unhappy with the diet they were offered in Babylon? 11. What were the Hebrew names of the 4 special captive teenagers?
13. What new name did Hananiah get? 14. What new name and meaning did Azariah (Whom Jehovah helps) get? 15. Who was the made up god named NEBO? 16. Did the king have this name in his name? 17. How many days did the diet test last? 18. Where in the Bible are God's diet health laws and drink laws |
| Sources: Daniel chapter 1, Prophet and Kings pages 479-490 |
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