ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Falaite Tisema 1, 2023

LET US BE GIVEN VEGETABLES TO EAT

‘Omi mohuku kai pē

DANIEL 1:12-13

(DANIEL SAID,] "TEST YOUR SERVANTS FOR TEN DAYS; LET US BE GIVEN VEGETABLES TO EAT AND WATER TO DRINK. THEN LET OUR APPEARANCE AND

THE APPEARANCE OF THE YOUTHS WHO EAT THE KING'S FOOD BE OBSERVED BY YOU, AND DEAL WITH YOUR SERVANTS ACCORDING TO WHAT YOU SEE."

TANIELA 1:12-13

12 ‘o pehē, Fakamolemole, ka ke ‘ahi‘ahi ho‘o kau tamaio‘eiki ko kimautolu ‘o ‘aho hongofulu; ‘o ‘omi mohuku kai pē ke mau tokoni ‘aki, mo e vai moomau inu. 13 Pea ke toki sivi homau fōtunga ‘i ho ‘ao mo e fōtunga ‘o e kau talavou ‘oku kai ‘a e ‘inasi ‘o e tu‘i; pea ke toki fai ki ho‘o kau tamaio‘eiki ko kimautolu, ‘o fakatatau ki ho‘o vakai.

Daniel's dietary scruples in Babylon had nothing to do with him wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle. He wasn't writing a cookbook or working on a beach bod. Daniel was an exile. Living on unholy soil. Far from Jerusalem. Things were bad enough. He wasn't about to make them worse by defiling himself with food that God had prohibited (1:8). As a compromise, he asked for a simple test: let him and his friends eat only zere 'onim ("vegetables," a word formed from zera ["seed"]). Afterward, it was found that "they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh" than their counterparts (1:15). As happens repeatedly in the Scriptures, God blessed his children by means of food.

The spokes of human life have always revolved around the table. There is hardly a more fundamental human activity than eating. From the tree of life, to Passover, to the Lord's Supper, God has sanctified the table. He feeds, we eat, and thereby we partake of his blessings in this life, even as we await the wedding feast of the Lamb in his new creation.

Jesus, Bread of Life from heaven, fill our mouths with the food of salvation.