What is the Daniel Fast? Should I Follow the Daniel Fast?
The Question: What is the Daniel fast and should I follow it?
The Answer From Pastor Paul Holt: The “Daniel Fast” is derived from the opening chapter of the book of Daniel (Daniel 1:8-14) where he and three other Israeli young men are not willing to defile themselves with food prohibited by God.
At the beginning of the Babylonian conquest and occupation of Israel, King Nebuchadnezzar took the best and brightest of the recently defeated kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 24:13-14). The goal was to reeducate, train and condition these young men to be leaders in the Babylonian kingdom.
The vast majority of these young men were more than willing to do as they were told and submit to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel and his three companions were not like the others, they knew the commands of God but they also knew the nature of their new king. All of the meat that they were given was unclean for one reason or another.
It might have been unclean (not allowed by God) because of the source; pork, shellfish, carrion and so on. Or it was unclean because of it’s use in the worship of false gods (meat sacrificed to idols). How it became unclean or unacceptable was not the issue, the issue was that the Lord that they served commanded them not to eat it and they valued God above their own lives.
This is why they took meat off the menu and told their trainer to test the matter and see if an all vegetable and fruit diet would put on the needed muscle. The narrative in Daniel 1 was about obedience to God not the vegetable diet.
Today, there are several books that put forward the teaching that biblical health can be obtained by following a diet restricted to just fruits and vegetables. This fad is a result of poor biblical teaching and a non-biblical worldview.
If you are interested in what the bible says about maintaining a healthy weight, I would humbly offer my free book on the 5 Biblical Secrets to Healthy Weight. Again, it’s free and you will get my newsletter to top it off!
