What Is A Daniel Fast?

Have you heard about the so-called “Daniel Fast?” What is it? Here’s what we know about it from the Bible.

It’s no fast at All

The Daniel fast is not really a fast at all because a fast is supposed to be going without food and sometimes without food and water. Daniel was not fasting for the reasons that most in the Bible and many Christians fast today. He was under some duress due to the fact that he was told to eat foods that the Mosaic Law forbids. King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had just besieged the city of Jerusalem and taken many of the people of Judah into captivity (Dan 1:1-12). The king had commanded that the cream of the crop of the youth in Judah be brought to him in order that he could instruct them in all the ways of Babylon (Dan 1:3-5) but he also commanded that these same youth partake of the king’s daily portion (Dan 1:5) which meant that they were supposed to eat unclean foods, which of course they could not. God gave favor to the chief of the eunuchs who allowed Daniel to avoid eating those things that the law of God forbid him to eat so 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.’ So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days” (Dan 1:12-14).

The End of the Ten Days

What diet did Daniel and the young men eat? We read this in Daniel 1:15-16 which says “At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.” Here is the actual so-called “Daniel Fast” which by the way, the Bible never calls it a fast because it wasn’t. This diet consisted of vegetables and we know they also had water so why it was called a “fast” is a mystery to be because that claim is never made in the Bible and it is clearly unsubstantiated. We don’t know if they had wine or not because that was not forbidden by the Mosaic Law. Many people assume it included fruit as well and it might have but the Bible only says it was vegetables and water. That’s it. It was not a fast, it’s was a diet which was allowable under the law. That’s all.

The Wrong Fast

The plethora of diets today is too numerous to count with the primary motivation being sell, sell, and sell so the “Daniel Fast” is yet another clever way to market something that is not biblical and had really nothing to do with Daniel and the young men in Daniel chapter one but has more to do with making a buck. The Daniel Fast is said to be anywhere from a month to twenty one days but the diet the men of Judah were on lasted only ten days. Even some “Christian” websites claim the Daniel Fast is a “spiritual experience” with significant health benefits. It may have significant health benefits but any diet that consists of natural foods like vegetables will be beneficial. The claim that it’s a “spiritual experience” is not claimed in the Book of Daniel at all so the belief that it’s a spiritual experience is simply sensationalism and has no Scriptural support. Other Christian references falsely claim that this diet allows the Holy Spirit to joins you in this experience as you open your heart to receive from the Lord. To me, that borders on the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. Further claims say that this diet allows one to enter into a deep spiritual experience with the Lord so He can work in your life and on your behalf. That makes God out to be a “quid pro quo” God where only if you eat this diet will He work in your life on your behalf. Again, there is no biblical support of this at all and in fact, it puts demands on God by something that we do. That is contrary to biblical doctrine.

Other Claims

Other websites, both Christian and non-Christian even sell books on the Daniel Fast, which supports my earlier statement that this is only intended to sell books and make money. These diets include vegetables of course but it also includes a wide assortment of fruits, grains, legumes, oils, and even whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas, rice cakes and popcorn. These types of diets have nothing to do with what the young men of Judah ate. It’s not even close. These diets have the false intention of making you more “spiritual,” whatever that means, and to draw you closer to God, which sounds dangerously close to works-righteousness.

Conclusion

I think we do well to eat more whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and drink more water, but the Daniel Fast is not from the Bible because the young men of Judah didn’t fast. Neither did they do it to draw closer to God or to make them more spiritual. They did it as an act of obedience to God. And the fact is that it wasn’t a fast at all and neither are the so-called “Daniel Fast’s” destroys their legitimacy. Their motivation might sound good but it’s just another marketing tool designed to make money and it has nothing to do with biblical principles or true spirituality.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.