Daniel 1:4

Daniel, Godly among the Ungodly.

I have long admired Daniel for his steady, active trust in the Almighty and in particular the way his godliness shines while he is fully embedded in a godless and pagan organization. He sets out the pattern for us to follow in our own roles within secular endeavors.

Daniel was taken as a young man from his homeland to Babylon in the first wave of deportations by Nebuchadnezzar. He was selected among a group of youths who were heathy, good looking, intelligent, and discerning from the Jewish elite to be educated and assimilated into Babylonian culture and to serve in the king’s court. Daniel and his three friends did not resist education but they did resist assimilation.

Their training regimen immediately posed a challenge of diet regarding their obedience to the Law of God. Daniel resolved to obey God yet displayed wisdom in proposing to their overseer a test. Take note of his humility, respect, and discernment. God granted him favor with the official and with the result of the test. (Daniel 1:8-13)

The point here is not to proclaim some version of a prosperity gospel, but merely to point out that if you desire to be godly, the Lord can help you find the way because He wants that too.

In chapter 2, the king’s dream led to a threat against Daniel’s life but again he answers in wisdom. Arioch has been dispatched to slaughter the counselors for not interpreting the dream. Daniel is able to pause this rash decree by asking for time to receive the answer from God. The friends prayed for compassion and revelation and received both.

Daniel then continues to display wisdom and humility. He has Arioch take him before the king and gives God the credit for the answer. Daniel did not puff himself up in the king’s eyes as he could have. He informed Nebuchadnezzar that the answer was given not because of Daniel’s wisdom but for the benefit of the king. (Daniel 2:30)

Later the three friends had to face the fiery furnace due to their commitment to worship the Lord alone. They refused to bow to the king’s idol, informing him that God is able to spare their lives and that He would. And that even if He did not, they would not worship the idol. (Daniel 3:17,18)

In chapter 4, we find Daniel again interpreting a dream for the king. His response shows his respect and love for the pagan king, wishing God’s judgment could have fallen on an enemy instead and offering advice that might forestall the prophesied calamity.

Before Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel pronounced the judgment of God given by the cryptic message on the wall: MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN. He showed confidence and integrity by speaking forthrightly and by waving away the king’s offer of a rich bounty in exchange for knowledge.

In the Persian empire, Daniel’s peers were jealous of his power and prominence, so they hatched a plot to have him discredited and removed. With full knowledge of the danger, Daniel persisted in his habit of praying three times a day for his people and their return to their homeland.

The result was a night spent safely in the lion’s den and the destruction of his enemies. Daniel placed his trust in God, and God sent an angel to shut the lion’s mouths. (Daniel 6:21-23)

Also take note of his prayer in chapter 9. Daniel carries upon his own shoulders the shame that he lives in Babylon and not in Jerusalem. Though the wayward idolatries of his countrymen from the preceeding centuries had not been his, he takes them to himself and confesses the nation’s sins against God, pleading for mercy and restoration to their homeland. (Daniel 9:3-9)

This history does not show a trouble-free life, but it does display a God who is worthy of trust and four men who trusted Him. Such trust leads to obedience even in cases where that wouldn’t make rational sense to a secular mind. Faith can see things that cannot otherwise be seen, because it knows who God is.

Pursuit of wisdom for today from the Ancient of Days