Daniel: Part 5 – The Progressive Maturation of a Believer in the End Times from Immaturity to Full Stature and a Redeemed Body
Dan 1:5 And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.
In our allegorical interpretation of the book of Daniel, we have seen that the king (Nebuchadnezzar) represents the natural mind in a believer in Christ. Every Christian knows that in order to live a godly life in Christ Jesus we need to daily partake of our spiritual food which is the Bible. Therefore, spiritually “the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat” means that the natural mind determined to read the Bible every day.
The “king’s meat” would be the scriptures that the natural mind specifically chose to read. The word “appointed” as in “the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat” means “to be divided out.” So the natural mind was dividing out certain portions of scripture to be read daily. These Scriptures were “the king’s meat.” Ordinarily in the Word we would consider the meat of the Word to be very deep understandings of spiritual things that can only be understood by more mature believers with considerable knowledge of the Word. However, that is not the case here. The word “meat” in the original Chaldea language in which this was written actually means “delicate food, pleasing, light and mild.”
So the natural mind is picking and choosing what it wants to read. It likes the promises of all the good things God has for his people but just passes over difficult passages such as Luke 9:23: “and He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’”
His wine would be the wine that makes one have a merry heart but avoid the wine in the “cup of suffering” that Jesus had to drink. (Matt 20:22 “But Jesus answered by saying to them, ‘You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?’”)
Another aspect about wine can be seen in the definition for the Chaldea word “wine.” The natural mind also drinks wine. The Chaldea language in which Daniel was written tells us this is “wine as fermented.” Fermented, according to Webster, means to boil and be agitated. When a mind takes in wine that is boiling and agitating, it is taking in thoughts that cause it to worry. The natural mind’s diet of mild, delicate and light scriptures, is not sufficient to bring it into a faith in Christ where it does not worry.
Now let’s examine the last part of this verse:
so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.
This last part of verse 5 is to establish what the outcome of this pursuit of God through his Word is to be—that they would become perfect and complete in Christ. We see this in the spiritual interpretation of the number three which is “divine perfection and completion.” This is divine in that only Christ can bring us into this state of wholeness; nevertheless, we have our part to do by humbling ourselves before him with prayer, daily studying the Scriptures and then incorporating them into our lives. It cannot be merely knowledge; it must be a changed life.
At the end of all this preparation they would then be brought into the presence of the king with maturity and a readiness to do his work. In the literal understanding of Daniel this would have been king Nebuchadnezzar. However, for our spiritual interpretation, we are the ones being prepared so we can stand before King Jesus in maturity of relationship and fully prepared for him to do his work through our lives.
For clarity let’s read this verse again and then see my complete interpretation below it:
Dan 1:5 And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.
Interpretation:
The natural mind, (King Nebuchadnezzar), thinks it will come into maturity by dividing out certain parts of Scripture in daily portions (daily provision – nourishing them three years). On the surface the word “meat” would cause one to think this would imply seeking deep spiritual insights into the Word. However, in the Chaldea, the word “meat” means “delicate food, pleasing and light, mild.” We can see that the natural mind is willing to daily go to the Word, but it picks and chooses what it likes…that which is mild and pleasant. No deep convicting scriptures requiring death to self will be sought by the natural mind!
The natural mind also drinks wine. The Chaldea language tells us this is “wine as fermented.” Fermented, according to Webster, means to boil and be agitated. When a mind takes in wine that is boiling and agitating, it is taking in thoughts that cause it to worry. The natural mind’s diet of mild, delicate and light scriptures, is not sufficient to bring it into a faith in Christ where it does not worry.
If we choose to live according to the dictates of our natural mind, we will not be prepared to stand before our King in the Day of Judgment which is even now upon us. As we shall see in our next verses, Daniel (as our spiritual mind) will enable us to stand before King Jesus as we partake daily of spiritual vegetables! We will have to come to verse nine before I reveal what spiritual vegetables are. I encourage my readers to take a good Webster’s Dictionary (such as one with the word “college” in the title) and check the definition of “vegetables”. Not all dictionaries will have a thorough definition of that word. Pray and ask the Lord to give you a spiritual insight into what “vegetables” are spiritually. Insights such as this make Bible study fun! Why do crossword puzzles or Sudoku puzzles when one can study the Scriptures? Please read my article on “Principles of Bible Study” to learn more about how to dig out the true buried treasures from the Word.
One more thing here, the Hebrew/Chaldea definition of “appointed´ as written above, is “to be divided; to be divided out.” This might cause one to think of 2 Tim. 2:15 which states, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” However, the Greek word “dividing” used here actually means “rightly dealing with a thing.” What is intended here is not ‘dividing’ Scripture from Scripture, but teaching Scripture accurately, carefully discerning each nuance” (The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible).
