DropZone: Daniel

Welcome to DropZone tonight , we are going to learn about a character from the Bible tonight called DANIEL ....

When Judah fell to Babylon in the sixth century BC, most of the ruling families were taken captive along with King Jehoiakim. Daniel and his three friends likely were in their teen years when taken to Babylon as exiles from Judah. Nebuchadnezzar ordered Ashpenaz, a court official, to choose promising young men from the Israelite royal family and nobility for service in his court. They were to be selected because of their appearance, intelligence, and ability to learn. Daniel and his three friends(Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego )were among those chosen by the king’s officials to be thoroughly indoctrinated into the language, customs, and literature of the Babylonians. They would eat the same fine food as the king. For three years they would be trained to enter the king’s service Nebuchadnezzar wanted to change the young men’s ways of thinking, worshiping, and living. One thing he could not change was Daniel’s heart.

Daniel and his friends faced a real dilemma when the royal food and drink were set before them. These godly young men were faced with an issue of obedience and faith. Daniel demonstrated his faith when he made up his mind not to defile himself and asked permission not to eat the food. His request to be exempt from eating the king’s food was based on his deep religious conviction. Daniel remembered the dietary laws he had been taught. He knew that many of the foods eaten at the Babylonian court would have been considered unclean according to the Mosaic Law (see Leviticus 11:47). The royal food may have included forbidden meats. Daniel was afraid that he might unknowingly violate the commandment of God. He also knew that the food was first offered to idols before it was eaten. Eating the food would mean he acknowledged pagan gods.

At the end of ten days, their appearance would be compared with those who ate the king’s royal food and drank his wine. The experiment proved to be successful. Physically they were healthier and better nourished than the others. Mentally, they had superior knowledge and skill in wisdom and literature.
From then on, the daily diet of the four continued to be vegetables and water. Daniel and his friends responded to what was right and won a victory for their health and for their faith. They had faced the pressure to compromise and had remained loyal to God.
Do you ever find it embarrassing to make a choice that is different from your peers? Point out
that Daniel and his three friends were faced with a situation that caused them to be set apart.
( read Daniel 1:8-14) . So why was Daniel refusing to eat the royal food? (Refer Lev. 11:47) . Daniel remembered the dietary laws he was taught, and he also knew that the food may have first been offered to idols.) Daniel’s refusal to eat the king’s food showed obedience and self-control. Self-control helps an individual resist the urge to make choices that lead to harmful outcomes.

During the night we played some fun games ...

first a game with some decisions to make about how to balance matters in life ... handful relay