The Real Deal About Daniel Verses and King James Bible Cure for Diabetes

My initial response to the idea of the Bible providing a cure for diabetes was absurdity. However, on a larger scale reflection, considering the whole scope of the Bible, there is a sense in which it most certainly does claim that (read to the end for details!).

However, in this article, which is quite long, I want to clear up the gimmicky claims about Daniel verses and King James Bible cure for diabetes that seems to be a misreading of the scriptures.

By the end of this, you will understand what the Bible does say, and what Jesus’ true word is.

How Does The Bible Claim To Cure Diabetes?

In short, it doesn’t. But that would make for a very boring unhelpful article!

Despite some gimmicky claims, the scripture does not speak directly about diabetes and very minimally about health. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care or have anything to say, it simply implies that the primary purpose of the Bible is different than we often perceive.

The Bible is God’s story.

That’s it–it’s his words of life that he chooses to share with humanity. It’s not a book about us (we should never approach the scriptures thinking, “now what does this have to do with me?”), it’s a book about him and his good news (gospel=good news)!

Now it is written for us (2 Ti 3:16-17), and some sections are not addressed to us, but it is important to realize that the main theme of the Bible is God’s gracious and merciful plan of rescuing and redeeming his people from their sin, which separates us from him and all that is good and right.

He does this through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus (1 John 4:9-10) for all who would trust and believe in him (1 John 5:10), giving our lives to him (1 John 5:3) with an aim of doing all we can to further his kingdom and bring him greater glory in response to his extravagant generosity. All other issues are periphery and find their aim in fulfilling this purpose.

How Does Diabetes Fit Into God’s Story?

Well, we first have to realize that in the beginning before sin entered the world (Ge 3), humans were created fully in the image of God without defect (Ge 1:26-27). That means everything worked perfectly including our endocrine (hormonal) systems.

Not only that, but we were created to live eternally!

We were never intended to die (Ge 1:17)–death came only through sin, or disobedience to God’s clear command (Ge 3). There is no sickness of any kind before sin. And there is no sickness or death once Jesus redeems, restores and renews his kingdom.

Revelation 22 speaks of a people dwelling in a rich and wonderful city with streets paved of gold in which nothing unclean (defective) will ever enter. His people will see his face and there will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain (Rev 21:4). There is reference to leaves on trees which are for the healing of nations (Rev 22:2) which may speak to his means by which he will bring about restoration of sickness.

His church will have resurrected bodies which will be “perfected” in ways we can’t even comprehend (2 Co 3:18). And so those who truly trust in Jesus realize that our hope (Ro 8:18-25) is not in this world or in this life, much less in our health (which will surely fail!), but in his eternal promises.

Our lives are described as ‘grass (1 Pe 1:24-25)’ and ‘mist (Ja 4:14)’ and ‘dew’–it’s barely discernable–there for a moment, then passes away. Like a flower flourishes in a field–the wind passes over it & it’s gone (Ps 103:15-16).

How depressing!!!

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear (love and respect) him (Ps 103:17-18). And while our bodies will perish, our souls go on into eternity (2 Co 4:16-18).

Stewardship

That said, it is right to take care of our bodies and do all we can to preserve and maintain our health (Ro 12:1). Our bodies are wonderful gifts from God and it is our responsibility to steward all he has given us very well (1 Co 10:31).

While there is very little prescriptive from a dietary standpoint, so much in scripture exhorts us to do things that require the use of our bodies and minds (commune with others, share the gospel, serve one another, celebrate together, study the word, etc). And we are certainly better equipped to do that if our bodies and minds are functioning as well as they could.

I can tell you that after I’ve pigged out on Thanksgiving, all I want to do is lie around and be lazy. Neither my body nor my mind is alert enough to focus on anyone or anything. Additionally, if I’m excessively obese, I am less able to help others move, rake my neighbors leaves, go for a hike with a friend and talk about his amazing creation.

Jonathan Edwards, probably one of the most brilliant minds to enter this world and incredible theologian in the 18th century used to study 14+ hours a day. He would write in his journals about how (this was way before dieting was a thing; few people were overweight as food was scarce and work was physical) he would restrict his food, limiting down to the morsel because he knew that even a bite too much would start inducing drowsiness and take away the focus he needed for his study.

Fasting

The Bible speaks of fasting as well (Mt 6:16), not for medical or health reasons, but as a spiritual discipline.

The purpose of Biblical fasting is to humbly turn our eyes off ourselves, giving up our preferences, such that they would be turned on Jesus. The time that we would normally take to eat (which is what our bellies want) we utilize for prayer and thanksgiving to God.

How often have you been truly hungry?

We live in such a day that many of us rarely, if ever, feel a true physical hunger. As we are much more accustomed to gratifying our “wanter,” our appetites. It is good self-discipline to tell ourselves “no” sometimes. The Bible does not give specific direction as to how to fast (it simply says “when you fast,” assuming that Christians will engage in this from time to time), and so there are many ways to prayerfully consider applying this.

Keep in mind that with diabetes comes a metabolic derangement that going long periods of time without food is not recommended, this is especially important if taking insulin. So perhaps, you might honor God by “fasting” from something that is less healthy, but that you are giving in to your appetite.

This would be a true sacrifice-perhaps it’s your weekly beer or cocktail, maybe it’s late night munching, perhaps it’s your weekly dessert. Pray about it and likely something will come to mind that will make you feel nervous like you don’t want to give it up–that’s probably it!

Gluttony

The flip side to fasting is gluttony (Pro 23:20-21; 28:7).

You could even argue that fasting is a means of combatting gluttony. Gluttony isn’t only an excess of food, but a giving in to that appetite whatever it may be. It is often tied with laziness and lack of self-discipline.

Giving into gluttony is an act of selfishness, which is why the Bible calls it sin. Eating in gratitude, in community, and in moderation are Biblical models for healthy and right dining contexts.

Exercise

There is only one prescriptive verse I’m aware of regarding exercise in 1 Timothy 4:8: “Physical training is of some value [but godliness is of value in every way].”

The intent of the text is that training our minds, hearts and souls to love God is of much greater value–again because it will go on into eternity, while our physical bodies will perish regardless of how much we train them!

However, he does say it is of some value–so God sees the physical care of our bodies as valuable (just not his highest priority) so we ought to take care of them.

Healing

Jesus heals people. Notice I didn’t say “healed.”

He did heal people while he was here on earth (there are a multitude of examples of him healing blindness, deafness, skin diseases, reproductive diseases, paralysis and many others) in bodily form. But he commissioned and empowered his disciples to do the same and we see this all throughout Acts (Acts 3:6-10; Acts 5:15-16; Acts 9:32-24 etc) and in church history, amazing examples of miraculous healing.

It is listed as a spiritual gift and we are encouraged to pray in faith that God might bring about healing as a temporary glimpse into what will one day be ultimate in the lives of believers, with a realization that we are still in a broken world and we do not always see his kingdom breaking through to the degree we would like.

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Specific Diets

There are no specific dietary recommendations in the Bible.

People ate bread, fish, meat, olive oil, vegetables, figs, honey, dates, wine etc.

Paul actually told Timothy to quit drinking water and start drinking wine in one of his letters. This was likely due to a medical issue he was having in which wine could have helped the healing process!

So we have to be very careful we don’t take anything out of context.

The book of Daniel has verses that tell wonderful stories about God’s faithfulness to his people in exiled Babylon, in sustaining the health of Daniel and his friends despite the fact that they chose not to partake in the king’s rich foods (which are not specified) by eating only vegetables.

The assumption behind the text is that naturally, the consumption of a larger variety of the foods served to nobility would have resulted in greater physical health, but that God miraculously made Daniel strong despite that because it was an honorable sacrifice…not because the foods were healthier.

Additionally, nowhere in the text does it command or exhort believers to follow that example.

Men and women of God are called to feast at times, to celebrate, to enjoy food, but in moderation.

Proverbs is full of principles for wisdom. There is a difference between a command, an exhortation, and a principle.

A command is: “You shall have no other Gods before me”-  very direct, no flexibility, literally telling us what to do.

An exhortation is: “Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” – Do you feel the difference? This is more of an encouragement, it takes a coaching tone, trying to motivate based on something previous.

An example of a principle is: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall”- this isn’t saying what to do, but more of a wise, general truism we can all relate to. Ever see a movie star or sports player get a bit cocky, then come crashing down? We read it and it ought to warn us to cultivate humility.

It is important to notice the difference, and what we see mostly in scripture, when it comes to health, is principles.

If the great commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves, then by principle, we ought to take very good care of our bodies, as a means to this end.

Is there a Daniel Bible Verse to Cure Diabetes?

The verse in Daniel has nothing to do with diabetes or even health or diet as it’s core meaning, but rather is a description of the faithfulness of God despite the odds.

The whole point of the passage is that when Daniel ate ‘only vegetables’ and presumably no meat, he appeared brighter and stronger than those who ate the kings rich food (which we are not given a description of) because it was a sacrifice of preference he chose to defer in an effort to honor God.

So it would have been more likely that he and his friends were weaker, but were stronger in spite of their diet as a result of God’s blessing and favor, not because of it. There is no command, suggestion, or prescriptive hint that we should do the same, and these verses have sometimes been taken very far out of context for the sake of profit.

What About King James Bible Cure for Diabetes?

KJV is not as accurate as some of the more modern Bible translations which are based on older manuscripts and the originals.

KJV was produced in 1611 under the mandate of a man who was very clearly not a Christian. And again, there are no direct references to a cure for diabetes.

Conclusion

Since dietary regulations in the New Testament are principally focused (under the Old Covenant there were commands which were fulfilled when Jesus came and announced all foods ‘clean’ or acceptable to eat), we should use wisdom to guide our daily decisions.

1 Co 6:12 says: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.”

We recognize this principle–it isn’t illegal to sit around on my couch all day and play video games….but, it also isn’t helpful or beneficial. It doesn’t give me life. It’s mind-numbing and does not facilitate what is most important to me.

Similarly, you can eat whatever you want. The Bible doesn’t say you should or shouldn’t eat bread or wine or figs or vegetables. But if you love him, don’t you want to eat the right foods in the right way–the way he intended your body to work best?

The love of Christ sets us free from strict legality, but we ought not abuse that freedom, but live to the fullest in light of it.

As I said at the beginning, when I’d heard of people proposing there were Daniel verses and King James Bible cure for diabetes, my initial response to the idea of the Bible providing any type of cure for diabetes was absurdity.

However, on a larger scale reflection, considering the whole scope of the Bible, there is a sense in which it most certainly does claim that!

Trust Jesus with the whole of your life, give yourself to him and to his glory. Find out what pleases him and love him and all the promises of the Bible are true for you, including his promise to resurrect, redeem, and restore your body (1 Co 15:35-58), and live with him in peace for all eternity.

It doesn’t get better than that!

I would warn that if you do see gimmicky claims, proceed with caution. Jesus takes offense to the manipulation of his words and those who have profited at the expense of deceiving people, which is what I believe is behind most of these gimmicky claims out there on the Internet, and why we wanted to share this article with you.

These gimmicky claims give people false hope and may set you up for disappointment and an inaccurate view of who God is. Jesus’ words are to be respected and applied only as he has intended.

I hope this has clarified any claims that there is an actual cure for diabetes in the Bible. But at the same time, shared the truth behind Jesus’ word.

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