The truth about the "Daniel Fast"

At various times in my life, I have gone on a “Daniel fast”; we'll talk about the quotations later. Usually, many churches call for it at the beginning of a new year, while in certain places, it is observed regularly at anytime during the year. If you are not familiar with the “Daniel fast”, here is a simple way to present it: it is usually a period of 21 days where a person eats mostly vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc. - nothing processed and no animal products, including diary. During the “Daniel fast”, water is the only drink “allowed”. The practice is based on two passage of scriptures in the book of Daniel, chapter 1 verses 8 - 16 and chapter 10 verse 3. 

The passage in Daniel 1 is where Daniel and his three friends refused to eat the King’s food so they wouldn't  defile themselves. Daniel requested vegetables and water to ensure they were not defiled; after ten days, their appearance was better than those eating the food assigned by the king. Based on this, the king's steward agreed to give the four Hebrew boys only vegetables during their three years of training. It is clear that this passage is referring to a diet Daniel and his friends went on to avoid defiling themselves, it wasn't a fast; obviously, they were not fasting for 3 years. That said, the diet is definitely something that was shown to be good for the body; similar diets have been promoted in our day for good health. 

In Daniel 10:3, Daniel was mourning, not fasting; this is why I put “Daniel Fast” in quotation marks. Daniel never described this period of his life as a time of fasting, but rather a time of mourning. Granted, there are a number of times in the scriptures where people fasted while they mourned (2 Samuel 1:11-12; 2 Samuel 3:35; Jonah 3:5), but when this was the case, the scripture clearly states that they were fasting and mourning. There are also a number of passages that states people were mourning, but with no fasting (Numbers 20:29; Deut 34:8; Deut 21:12-13); so, we cannot equate Daniel’s mourning to a fast, the Bible does not say he was fasting. Daniel also neglected taking care of his body; I am yet to hear a sermon or read on the topic of the Daniel Fast that covered this part of neglecting to refresh or groom the body. The reason is simple, Daniel 10 was not a fast, but a time Daniel was mourning, humbling himself before God to set his heart to understand a vision. Why is this important? what is the point in bringing this up? For a couple of reasons:

1. Daniel’s diet during this time of mourning was not intended to be a guide for a different way of fasting. For examples of fasting in the Bible, please read Matthew 4:2; Acts 13:2-3; 2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Jonah 3:5; Jeremiah 36:9 etc. These examples are complete abstinence from food for a period of time, not an adjusted diet. Based on these examples, as long as Daniel was eating, he was not fasting. It is only a bible fast if there is total abstinence from food for a period of time - it doesn’t have to be 21 days or 7 days or 3 days; it can be a day or just skipping one or two meals to focus on prayer and the word. There is no other example of “Daniel’s Fast” in the scriptures and Daniel’s behavior in Daniel 10 is consistent with mourning. We also see Daniel fast in Daniel 9:3, he wasn't on a diet here, he gave up food entirely, which is consistent with the examples given above.  

2. There are books and articles prescribing what can or cannot be eaten during a Daniel Fast, this are based on several interpretations of what Daniel meant by “no pleasant food” in Daniel 10:3 and vegetables mentioned in Daniel 1. This is problematic because for people that already consider vegetables pleasant (unfortunately, I am not one of them), going on a fast that is mainly vegetables does not make much of a difference to them. More so, the selection of what Daniel chose to avoid was not prescribed to him by anyone or God for that matter. He decided what was unpleasant food. The definition that has been adopted is a modern creation. The point is, if you do choose to avoid certain foods to humble yourself before God, you are the one that knows the foods that hit home for you, not a man made prescription. If you would like to humble yourself before God by going on a diet of unpleasant foods, what is unpleasant is defined by you and it is between you and God.

3. Daniel 10 tells us that Daniel’s mourning was in the first month of the year; this is the same month when the passover and festival of unleavened bread is observed. Based on the timing the angel provided, it appears Daniel’s mourning started the third day of the first month and lasted till the angel appeared to him on the 24th day of the month. Why is this important? The process of the passover starts on the 10th day of the first month (Exodus 12) with the selection of the passover lamb; the passover lamb is killed at twilight on the 14th day of the first month and then eaten that same night. The 7 day festival of unleavened bread follows the passover, Jews are not to eat anything that is leavened during this time; this is observed from the night of the 14th day of the first month to the evening of the 21st day of the first month. Was Daniel also mourning in recognition of the fact that the month was a time they were to be observing these commands of God, but they were not in Jerusalem to do so? These commandments had to be carried out in the place God had chosen, which was in Jerusalem (Deut 16:2, 16). The Bible is silent on if this was part of why Daniel was mourning, so I am not going to try to draw a conclusion.  What we can say is that the first month is important to Daniel as a Jew; the month, among other things, would have served  as a reminder of their displacement from the promised land.

4. That said, Daniel 10:12 tells us exactly why Daniel was mourning, he wanted to humble himself before God and set his heart to understand the vision. So, Daniel had two goals in mind in going on this diet and mourning: humble himself and to get clarity on the vision. Well, it worked; God sent an angel with the answer to his request. What we can take away from this is, while it is not a fast, changing our diet to something that is not pleasant to us, can be a way we humble ourselves before God. As in the case of Daniel, God acknowledged it (Daniel 10:12) and heard his prayers. Personally, I have experienced God honoring this type of humbling of oneself to seek his face. 

Please do not go away from reading this post thinking there is no place for the Daniel diet; there is, it is a way to humble ourselves before God. Actually, I wrote this post on Day 20 of a Daniel like diet, basically no meat or animal products which I really enjoy. I jokingly call myself a “meatetarian” or carnivore. That said, this is not a fast, it is a diet during a period of humbling myself before God; like Daniel, it was a period where I needed to get understanding of certain things going on and I can honestly testify that I got clarity and answers. I have also heard people say they got healed of one health issue or the other during a Daniel diet, it is not surprising at all; the Daniel diet is a healthy diet that gives the body what it needs and avoids the over processed diet that we (at least in the USA) are exposed to daily. 

To summarize, the Daniel diet is a way to humble ourselves before God, it is not a substitute to fasting. When God leads us or we decide to fast, it is a time to abstain from food completely. 

Please read the Bible verses I have shared in this write up, don’t just take my word for it; study it for yourself with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Shalom!

His will?

Mathew 7: 21

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter"

We can do so much in the name of God and still not enter into the kingdom of God! The very thought of this is humbling and a warning that religion, spirituality, the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are no guarantee of spending forever with the Master.

It is apparent from Mathew 7: 21-23 that a man can move mountains, heal the sick, raise the dead and do so many things in the name of Jesus and not be in God’s will and could be in complete disobedience to God. Verse 23 calls such people wicked, evil doers, and other descriptive words depending on the version of the bible you read. Healing, raising the dead in themselves are God’s will because they are based on his word; the life of the person through which these signs and wonders are accomplished is what is brought to question in this bible verse. What matters to God as verse 21 explains is that we are obeying God i.e. that we are in his will for our lives. It is just as 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 explains about love; we could do all kinds of admirable things but without love, it is nothing. Why is it nothing? Because the love command, which is the will of God is more important to him than the acts that are suppose to portray love.

In our days, very little time is given to personal bible study, which is the number one place where the will of God is made known to us. There is also the will of God for each person’s life that is unveiled in his presence, but spending time to know the will of God has been overlooked, and sometimes the very principle of waiting on God to know his will has been left only to pastors. So many Christians depend on their pastor to know the will of God for their personal lives; I do not despise pastors confirming what we have received from the Lord, but basing major decisions of our lives solely on what a pastor tells us to do without receiving a confirmation from God ourselves is not for the new testament believer. Many people are in trouble or serious problems because they made a major decision solely based on what someone told them that God “said”! Let us spend time in his presence to know what he thinks about various situations in our lives before we make a decision. If we are truly his child, we will hear him speak to us. We will not be going into more details in this area of God’s will because this article is not focused on knowing God’s will in regards to decisions like choosing a career, where to live, who to marry and things that are very specific to our individual everyday life decisions. This article is more directed towards God’s will written down in the scriptures for us to understand. 
 

We cannot live a victorious Christian life if we are not a student of the word of God. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith (1 John 5:4).  So, if our faith is the key to victory, we have to meditate on God’s will (his word) because faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17); faith is absent when the will of God is not known. Knowing the will of God requires a level of sacrifice that many of us are not willing to pay; the time to spend in the scriptures to get to know his will, the time to be quiet in his presence, and the humility to accept his Word to be the only way. There is only one way to knowing the written will of God, and that is to spend time in it. Because of the lack of study of the word of the Lord, there are a number of things people believe about God’s will that are not scriptural. For the remainder of this article I would like to talk about some things that some believers have come to believe to be God's will.

I have heard it preached a number of times that there are three levels of God’s will i.e. there is a good will, the pleasing (or acceptable) will and the perfect will of God. This is usually supported by quoting Romans 12:2. The bible passage reads as follows:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

I am not an English language major, and neither by any standard can I claim to be an authority in the English language; however, I know that the comparative and superlative of good is better and best respectively. One of the definitions of the word Good in the dictionary is “that which is pleasing”, and another definition for good is “complete”. One definition for perfect is complete. So, we see that the three descriptive words used in this passage were referring to the same thing. There is nothing like three levels of God’s will, there is only one will of God concerning situations, circumstances, and our life and we need to find it out and not settle down with just anything.

I have often heard believers say that a sickness or disease is God’s will to teach them this or that; this is not scriptural. It is never God’s will for us to be sick or have any sort of illness. This state of mind only prevents us as believers from exercising our authority and living a life free of sickness and diseases. 

Galatians 3:13 reads:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree”.

Sicknesses and diseases are under the curse, why do some believers then believe that it is God’s will to use sickness or disease to teach them something? How does sickness and disease in the life of his children bring him glory? James 1:17 clearly states that Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. Sickness and diseases are not a good or perfect gift; they are not from our father. How would a father put sickness on his child? Matthew 7:11 also explains: If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him. Our God gives us good things and not evil. 

Isaiah 53: 5 reads:But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 

Another school of thought is that it is God’s will for them to suffer for sins committed in the past; my brothers and sisters, the scripture above clearly shows us that Christ paid for every single one of our sins. 2 Corinthians 5:17 also states Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Halleluyah! When we come to Christ, our old man that committed the transgressions is gone, and the person we are in Christ never sinned! However, there is a kind of pain and suffering that believers will have to endure, and that is the pain and suffering that comes from persecution due to our faith in God. 2Tim 3:11 shows that this is the kind of pain and suffering Paul suffered and Rev 2:10 talks about the same kind of suffering.  There is no scripture to back the belief that God teaches us lessons by bringing us under the curse. It is the devil that does this and we have been given the authority to live above him, his agents, and his appearance in any form or shape, which includes sicknesses and diseases.

Ephesians 1:20 – 21 and Ephesians 2:6 reads

Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places^, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

We need to give ourselves to the ministry of the word to enjoy the fullness of life that God has for us, because only in the Word can we become acquainted with his will. The bible declares “and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. How free we are depends on how much of his will we know and live by. It is not enough to know his will; we have to live out his will. Only in obedience to his word do we get the promised results. Isaiah 1:19 reads: if ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.  

Lastly let us remember verse 21 of our text: “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter" Sons and daughters of God, let us not be foolish; let us understand what the will of God is (Eph 5:17).