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The principle of the Lord’s recovery is seen with Daniel (“God is my judge”), Hananiah (“Jah has graciously given,” or “favored of Jah”), Mishael (“Who is what God is?”), and Azariah (“Jah has helped”); “Daniel and his companions” were absolutely one with God in their victory over Satan’s devices; they were men who turned the age of the captivity of God’s people to the age of their return to the land of Immanuel for the building of God’s house and God’s city for God’s expression and authority—Dan. 2:13, 17; Isa. 8:8; cf. Rev. 17:14:
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In God’s sight, an overcomer is a “man of preciousness,” even “preciousness itself,” a person whom God can use to turn the age—1 Pet. 2:7; Dan. 9:23; 10:11, 19.
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Christ as the unique Overcomer includes all the overcomers; the unique Overcomer dwells in our spirit to make us His overcomers— John 14:30; Dan. 2:34-35; Rev. 19:7-21; 1 John 5:4, 18-19; Rev. 3:21.
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The Lord needs to raise up men who turn the age for the recovery of God’s expression and authority; among fallen mankind God’s expression is torn down and His authority is denied; Daniel and his companions truly allowed God to be expressed through them and were truly under God’s authority—Gen. 1:26; Dan. 3:14-30; 4:17, 26; Rev. 22:1-2.
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Daniel had companions with whom he was absolutely consecrated to God and separated unto God from an age that follows Satan—Dan. 1:4-8; 5:12, 22; 6:10:
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All those who are used by God to turn the age must be Nazarites— voluntarily consecrated ones who are sanctified absolutely and ultimately to God—Num. 6:1-8, 22-27; Psa. 110:3; Luke 9:62; Phil. 3:13-14.
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Although Daniel and his companions were still very young, they stood up as an anti-testimony, similar to the way that Antipas did in the church in Pergamos—Rev. 2:13.
Morning Nourishment
Dan. 1:8 But Daniel set his heart not to defile himself with the king’s choice provision and with the wine that the king drank, so he requested of the leader of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.Rev. 2:13 …You hold fast My name and have not denied My faith, even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
How did God use Daniel to turn that age? There is an important principle with Daniel as also with Samuel. It is voluntary consecration. Samuel was a Nazarite. A Nazarite was a person who consecrated himself voluntarily (Num. 6). We can see the same principle in Daniel. Apparently, Daniel was not a Nazarite. Actually, he was, because a Nazarite was a person who did not drink any wine or strong drink. What is the meaning of not drinking wine or strong drink? It means to not enjoy any pleasures of this life. This is the principle with Daniel.
What the king of Babylon drank, as well as his meat and grains, must have been offered to the idols. At least those meals were not clean according to the ordinances on cleanliness in Leviticus 11; it was defiled food. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, “Men Who Turn the Age,” p. 511)
Today's Reading
Daniel refused everything that men enjoyed and boasted of. He refused everything that would offer him some position in the world. He was a voluntarily consecrated one.A little spiritual pursuit or a little godly living before the Lord is not enough to be used by the Lord to turn the age. All those who are used by the Lord to turn the age must be Nazarites; they must be voluntarily consecrated ones…. [Voluntary consecration] means that when everyone else on earth seeks after the world and enjoys the world, I separate myself from it….The Bible records that in those days the king of Babylon chose a group of young men from different races to stand before him. The opportunity of being chosen was something beyond one’s dream because the king would give them good food and drink for three years so that they would be fair and fat in the flesh to stand before him in the palace….Yet Daniel and his three companions vowed, saying, “We forsake such opportunity. We will not enjoy the food and drink here. We cannot be the same as other people. We must take another stand. Other people do not have God and are not for God, but we are for God.”
They expressed God this way because they submitted themselves to His authority. While the whole earth denied God’s authority, they acknowledged God’s authority. While the whole earth had men as kings, they had God as their King. The first characteristic of Daniel was that he was a separated person…. Although Daniel and his three friends were still very young, they stood up to be an anti-testimony. This anti-testimony is a separation….When we read Daniel 1, we must grasp the meaning of this picture. These men did not follow the tide of Babylon at all. They were the separated ones. They could not eat what others could eat. They could not drink what others could drink. They could not do what others could do. They were clearly different from others in everything. (CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, "Men Who Turn the Age," pp. 512-513, 519)
In Greek Antipas means “against all.” Antipas, a faithful witness of the Lord, stood against all that the worldly church brought in and practiced. Hence, he became a martyr of the Lord. In Greek the word for martyr is the same as that for witness. Antipas, as an anti-witness, bore an anti-testimony, a testimony against anything that deviated from the testimony of Jesus. It must have been through his anti-testimony that in his days the church in Pergamos still held fast the Lord’s name and did not deny the proper Christian faith. (Revelation 2:13, footnote 3)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, "Men Who Turn the Age," chs. 1-2