In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of
Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it… And
the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring
certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes;
children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skillful in all wisdom,
and cunning in knowledge.” Daniel 1:1, 3, 4
As I read these verses in Daniel chapter 1, I noticed the statement, “children
in whom was no blemish.” The statement made me think of the description of the
people in 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an
holy nation, a peculiar people.” In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he depicts
this church that Christ loves, “and gave Himself for it; that he might sanctify
and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it
to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27
Obedience to God
Sanctification is obedience to the commandment of God. “True sanctification is
harmony with God, oneness with Him in character. It is received through
obedience to those principles that are the transcript of His character.”
Testimonies, vol. 6, 350. It is God’s desired purpose to implant in humanity
Christ’s nature, His character. This is the life and character we see in
Daniel. Not only was he obedient to the moral law of God, the Ten Commandments,
but he was obedient also to the laws of health. “In the experience of Daniel
and his companions, we have an instance of the triumph of principle over
temptation to indulge the appetite. It shows us that through religious principle
young men may triumph over the lusts of the flesh and remain true to God’s
requirements, even though it cost them a great sacrifice.” Sanctified Life, 23
When Daniel was instructed that he must eat the king’s provisions of meat and
wine for three years, he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself
with the king’s dainties. Melzar, the eunuch in charge of Daniel, tried to
persuade him by saying, “I fear my lord the king, who hath 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 he make me endanger my head to the king.”
Daniel 1:10
Melzar was deceived into believing that meat and an abundance of food is
necessary for good health and that a simple diet, a vegetarian diet, will
result in poor health and physical weakness. Similarly, today, the majority of
the people living in the U.S. have been deceived by the beautiful poster
hanging on our school room walls displaying the “Four Basic Food Groups.”
Deceptive Four Food Group Poster
Meat and dairy products occupy two of the four food groups, thus
emphasizing that in order to have good health, we must include in our diets six
to eight servings daily of foods that contain high amounts of saturated fat,
cholesterol, disease, and environmental contaminants. Animal products and rich
dainties are eaten regularly by Americans, and look at the results. Obesity,
high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, colon problems, and diabetes have
plagued our country in epidemic proportions. Not only adults by young children
also are suffering from obesity, acne, rotting teeth, and high cholesterol at
very young ages, because of lack of exercise and poor dietary habits. Today, my
friends, there is the same temptation facing God’s people in regard to diet as
was faced by Daniel in Babylon; it is called the Standard American Diet. The
first letter of each of the three words Standard American Diet reveals its
quality—SAD.
Paul warned his brethren in Romans 12:1, 2, concerning the condition in which
they were to keep their bodies. “I beseech you therefore brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to
this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” In these
two verses there are three points on which I would like to elaborate: First, is
it possible to “present our bodies a living sacrifice unto God”? The Bible
says, “this is our reasonable service.” Second, Paul not only pleads with us to
do this, but also warns us not to be conformed to the world. Beloved, have you
considered that being conformed to the world includes our eating and looking
like the world, not only in our dress, but also by our physical appearance?
Third, Paul admonishes us to be renewing our minds that we may prove, or
demonstrate, God’s acceptable and perfect will to mankind. Oh, friends, as
those who claim to be God’s remnant church, we need to know that “a close
sympathy exists between the physical and the moral nature. The standard of
virtue is elevated or degraded by the physical habits. Excessive eating of the
best food will produce a morbid condition of the moral feelings. And if the
food is not the most healthful, the effects will be still more injurious. Wrong
habits of eating and drinking lead to errors in thought and action. Indulgence
of appetite and spiritual powers.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 62
Paul understood the close sympathy between the physical, the mental, and the
moral nature. The Spirit of Prophecy gives us a most solemn declaration on page
63 of the same book. “It is impossible for you to increase in spiritual
strength while your appetites and passions are not under perfect control….The
brain nerve energy is benumbed and almost paralyzed by overeating.” My dear
Adventist friends, please stand up and take notice. “The brain nerves which
communicate with the entire system are the only medium through which heaven can
communicate to man and affect his inmost life.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 347
Good Circulation for a Clear Mind
In order to have a clear mind, there must be good circulation of the blood. The
blood carries nutrients and oxygen to all of our body tissues and organs; and
when we eat a high fat diet, the blood becomes thick and the circulation is
impaired. A high fat, high cholesterol diet and lack of exercise are two of the
contributors to heart disease, the number one killer in America. In fact, in
1987, C. Everett Coop, the Surgeon General of the United States, announced
publicly that of the 2.1 million people who die in this country every year, 1.5
million are dying from diet related disease. Also, on July 1, 1992, The
American Heart Association declared, “Lack of exercise is a major health risk
factor for heart disease, ranking it with smoking, high cholesterol and high
blood pressure. A poor diet and lack of exercise will affect your circulation.
If your circulation is not good, your brain will be affected—and the mind is
the only organ by which heaven communicates with man.
As we return to the story of Daniel, we read, “Daniel’s clearness of mind and
firmness of purpose, his strength of intellect in acquiring knowledge, were due
in a great degree to the plainness of his diet in connection with his life of
prayer.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 515, 516. “The plainness of his diet” consisted
of “pulse” and “water.” He refused flesh foods and wisely chose a vegetarian
diet and pure water. Interestingly, this is the diet that John the Baptist ate
in his preparation for the immense trials ahead. He ate locust and honey and
drank the pure water of the hills. Both of these men of God, in preparing for
the tests ahead, ate, in their most natural state, the simple
foods…provided—quite the contrast to the rich diet of Nebuchadnezzar. Both of
these men followed the diet instructions that God had sent through their
parents, a diet that Harvard Medical School reported on in April 22, 1991,
saying that eating red meat daily increases colon cancer risk and men eating
low-fat high fiber diets, much less red meat, and more vegetables, were 33-50%
less likely to get polyps than men on high fat, low fiber diets. Science is
fast coming of age. Research is pointing clearly and consistently to a
vegetarian diet being the best for men today.
Daniel, in his determination to remain faithful to the laws of health,
requested a ten day trial of only pulse and water. He was granted his request,
and while Daniel and his companions ate of the simple diet, others of the young
men ate of the king’s dainties. He strictly followed principle rather than the
demands of a powerful earthly potentate. By Daniel’s obedience to the laws of
God, which included the laws of his being, he was a fitting example of
“children in whom was no blemish.”
A Living Sacrifice
“God requires the body to be rendered a living sacrifice to Him, not a dead or
dying sacrifice….All should be very careful to preserve the body in the best
condition of health, that they may render to God perfect service.” Counsels on
Diet and Foods, 21
“Our first duty, one of which we owe to God, to ourselves, and to our fellow
men, is to obey the laws of God, which include the laws of health.” Ibid. In
fact, if “I violate the laws God has established in my being, I am to repent
and reform, and place myself in the most favorable condition.” Medical
Ministry, 230. And finally, “sanctification is not merely a theory, an emotion,
or a form of words, but a living, active principle, entering into the everyday
life. It requires that our habits of eating, drinking, and dressing be such as
to secure the preservation of physical, mental, and moral health, that we may
present to the Lord our bodies—not an offering corrupted by wrong habits but—‘a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.’” Counsels on Health, 67
Here was my answer. My duty to God, in presenting myself without blemish, is to
keep my body in the very best condition as possible and to obey the laws of
health! Ellen White writes, “Christ looks at the spirit, and when he sees us
carrying our burden with faith, his perfect holiness atones for our
shortcomings. When we do our best, he becomes our righteousness. It takes every
ray of light that God sends to us to make us the light of the world.” Letter
33, 1889. Jesus atones for my shortcomings and becomes my righteousness as I do
my best; that is, by the grace of God, I live up to all the light that he has
revealed to me. Beloved, are you obeying the laws of your being: Are you exercising
regularly and eating a diet that is to be of the simplest kind? Are you obeying
the light that our Lord has so graciously given to us on health reform—modern
manna from heaven? We claim to be God’s remnant church; and as the Jews were to
have an advantage because to them were committed the oracles of God, we, the
Seventh-day Adventist people, have been entrusted with these oracles again.
They not only contain the light on the Ten Commandments, but also the light on
the laws of health. “It is a duty to know how to preserve the body in the very
best condition of health, and it is a sacred duty to live up to the light which
God has graciously given. It we close our eyes to the light for fear we shall
see our wrongs, which we are unwilling to forsake, our sins are not lessened
but increased. If light is turned from in one case, it will be disregarded in
another. It is just as much a sin to violate the laws of our being as to break
one of the Ten Commandments, for we cannot love the Lord with all our heart,
mind, and soul, and strength while we are loving our appetites, our tastes, a
great deal better then we love the Lord.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 70. My friends,
this is our reasonable service.
It is interesting to note that the words reasonable service can also be
translated from the original Greek, “religious worship.” Also, it is no
coincidence that sanctuary language is used in Romans 12. To present ourselves
to God a living sacrifice, to keep our bodies in the very best condition, is
part of our religious worship to him. Remember, health reform is one branch of
the word to fit and prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. As Daniel
obeyed the health laws, he experienced greater physical stamina and an
increased power of endurance. As he obeyed the laws of health, he was blessed
with wisdom and understanding. His mind received the renewing and God could
then fill Daniel’s undefiled temple with the fullness of His Spirit. It was
then that the obedient, self-sacrificing man of God was blessed with the gifts
of the spirit—visions and dreams.
Priorities in Life
Friends, are we loving our appetites a great deal more than we love the Lord?
Are we spending as much time praying and studying as we are eating and
drinking? Are we practicing the eight laws of health that we can be fit vessels
undefiled and filled with the holy Spirit to demonstrate to a dark world all
the light that God has entrusted to us? Are we accepting with readiness the
light that God has blessed us with on health, or are we compromising with the
diet and lifestyle of Babylon? Are we waiting for the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, the latter rain, while we present to God our bodies as an unacceptable,
blemished sacrifice?
What if Daniel and his companions had made a compromise with those heathen officers
and had yielded to the pressure of the occasion by eating and drinking as was
customary with the Babylonians? That single instance of departure from
principle would have weakened their sense of right and their abhorrence of
wrong. Indulgence of appetite would probably have involved the sacrifice of
physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power. One wrong step
would probably have led to others, until, their connection with Heaven being
severed, they would have been swept away by temptation.” Sanctified Life, 23
Physical, Mental and Spiritual are Interrelated
Friends, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of obedience to the laws of
health. Again and again, I am finding statements from the Bible and the Spirit
of Prophecy that the physical, mental, and spiritual are interrelated, and many
times in this order. If the physical body is not being kept in the best
condition, the mind cannot be renewed and the spiritual discernment becomes
impossible. As in the paragraph above, notice the order of events: “physical
vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power.”
In Daniel 1, the experience of Daniel and his three friends, in strictly
following the laws of health passed their first test; and the four young men
were thus fitted for the extreme trials ahead. In Daniel 3, their second test
included the command to bow down to the image of gold or to be tossed into the
fiery furnace. The third test is recorded in Daniel 6, where a firm decree was
established, “that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty
days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.” Daniel
6:7. Did Daniel compromise with the demands of the Babylonian leaders? Brothers
and sisters will you stand when you are commanded to worship the mark of the
beast or be killed? Will you obey the dictates of man when you are commanded to
forsake the law of our God, the Sabbath? Our obedience to the laws of health
will determine whether we will obey God or man! Remember, this was the first
test for Daniel, not the last. The words of the prophet are clear, “the
controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they
had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the
victory over every other temptation of Satan.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 59.
“The reason why many of us will fall in the time of trouble is because of
laxity in temperance and indulgence of appetite….Nine tenths of the wickedness
among the children of today is caused by intemperance in eating and drinking.
Adam and Eve lost Eden through the indulgence of appetite, and we can only
regain it by the denial of the same.” Temperance, 150
The life of Daniel, a man in whom was no blemish, is
on record for our admonition to whom the end of the world is come. By beholding
Daniel, I realize the full potential that we may become in Christ—a people
without blemish, a people who “stand without fault before the throne of God.” I
know that I will not be eight feet tall if I am alive when the Lord comes; but
this I do know, that “our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and if we
fail to do all we can to place the body in the very best condition of health,
we are robbing God of the honor due to Him from the beings He has created.”
Medical Ministry, 295
By the Late Danny Viera