Daniel was uprooted from Israel\nand taken to Babylon as a teenage POW. He may have been a descendant of King\nHezekiah, thus a Prince of Judah (2 Kgs. 20:17-18). Daniel was probably a eunuch\n(Dan. 1:3-7) and so he never mentioned a wife or children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His name means \u201cGod is my Judge.\u201d This matches a\nmajor theme in His writings\u2014God has the final verdict in the affairs of men.\nDaniel\u2019s visions describe earthly kingdoms as pawns on God\u2019s chessboard, which\nHe maneuvers to fulfill His will. Benjamin Franklin famously said, \u201cThe longer I live the more convincing\nproofs I see of this truth\u2014that God\ngoverns in the affairs of men.\u201dLike a master maestro, He\norchestrates global events to serve His purpose. With all the chaos in the\nworld today, it\u2019s reassuring to know that God is still in control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daniel\nserved in the highest levels of government during Israel\u2019s 70-year Babylonian\ncaptivity. Exile, by the way,is\n\u201ca prolonged absence from one\u2019s own homeland.\u201d Even though Daniel was in exile,\nhe still lived a lifestyle of excellence. \u201cDaniel was preferred above the\npresidents and princes, because an excellent spirit<\/strong> was in him\u201d <\/em>(Dan.\n6:3, KJV). In a sense, we are also in exile because we are misfits who don\u2019t\nbelong to this present world. This is merely our temporary home. The same God\nwho enabled Daniel to excel is with us. Consider four excellent qualities\nDaniel possessed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Daniel\u2019s\nCharacter: <\/strong>Daniel is one of a few Bible characters with no major flaw on his\nrecord, perhaps aided by the fact that he wrote his own book. (Autobiographies\ntend to be kinder to the subject than biographies.) Still, He was a politician\nwith no scandal. How refreshing is that? In fact, his enemies spied on him and\ntried to dig up dirt to tarnish his reputation \u201cBut they could find no\ncharge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault\nfound in him\u201d <\/em>(Dan. 6:4, NKJV). The only \u201cfault\u201d they found was that he\nprayed too much. No skeletons in the closet, no double life or secret sins\nlurking in the shadows. Daniel was a rare man of impeccable character and\nintegrity who lived above reproach both publicly and privately. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Character is a determination to do what is\nright no matter what the cost. Character, like the foundation of a house, is\nbelow the surface. Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooten said, \u201cYour character is more important than your\nreputation. Your character is what you really are; your reputation is only what\npeople think you are.\u201dIf we watch our character, our reputation\nwill take care of itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Character is formed when\nwe choose to do right when given the opportunity to do wrong. Every day we are\npresented with opportunities to sin. When we resist temptation, character is\nthe result. Daniel proved that we can live clean lives even in a corrupt culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Daniel\u2019s\nConviction: <\/strong>Conviction\noften involves doing what is not popular or not doing what is popular.\nConviction means you have set boundaries for your life. Some things are morally\nright; others are morally wrong. As the old saying goes, \u201cTake a stand for\nsomething or you will fall for anything.\u201d Daniel\u2019s conviction compelled him to\ntake an unpopular stand. \u201cBut Daniel purposed\nin his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the\nking\u2019s meat, nor with the wine which he drank\u201d <\/em>(Dan. 1:8, KJV). <\/p>\n\n\n\n King Nebuchadnezzar trained his captives for leadership with a three-year crash course on Chaldean culture. They learned the language, arts, sciences, religion, and all the ways of Babylon. He spared no expense feeding and training these future leaders. Included in this \u201ccollege\u201d was a daily buffet of \u201cChaldean chow\u201d or \u201cBabylonian baloney\u201d (heaping helpings of the king\u2019s meat and wine). But the \u201cunclean\u201d food violated Daniel\u2019s convictions, so he requested a simple substitute diet of vegetables and water. (Many churches today still utilize this type of \u201cDaniel Fast.\u201d) So why did Daniel and his comrades abstain from this food? What was the big deal? The king\u2019s meat was unclean for one of three reasons: 1. The meat was either soaked in blood and cooked extremely rare, which was common among the Gentiles but forbidden to the Jews (Lev. 17:11-12). 2. The meat was from an unclean species of animal forbidden by Mosaic Law and avoided by kosher Jews. 3. The meat was sacrificed to idols. In any event, the food violated Daniel\u2019s personal convictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After only a ten-day trial, Daniel and his friends looked healthier than those eating from the palace menu, so they continued their diet. Daniel followed his convictions rather than the crowd. What if he had gorged on the king\u2019s gourmet? There would be no book of Daniel for us to read because there would be no story to tell. Daniel dared to be different, and God honored him for it. As Jiminy Cricket told Pinocchio, \u201cLet your conscience be your guide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Daniel\u2019s Courage: <\/strong>Daniel\u2019s jealous enemies tricked King\nDarius into signing a bogus law that banned petitions to any god or man except\nhim for thirty days. Violators would be thrown into a den of hungry lions. The\ntrap was set, and they waited for Daniel to take the bait, but he ignored this\nlaw without fearing the fallout. It takes courage to disobey a decree knowing\nit may cost your position or even your life. But when they outlawed prayer, he\nprayed anyway! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nelson Mandella said, \u201cI learned that courage was not the absence\nof fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel\nafraid, but he who conquers that fear.\u201dSomeone else said, \u201cCourage is fear that has said its prayers.\u201d\nCourage is the moral fortitude to do what is right no matter what the cost.\nNormally, Christians should obey the law and strive to be model citizens.\nHowever, there are exceptions when man\u2019s laws violate our conscience and are\ncontrary to God\u2019s Word. In such cases, we need the courage to obey God rather\nthan man (Ac. 5:29). One author noted, \u201cThe lions showed no interest in Daniel.\nWhy should they? He was nothing but backbone and grit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.\nDaniel\u2019s Consistency: <\/strong>When King Darius realized his folly jeopardized Daniel\u2019s\nlife, he was distraught. Unable to reverse the absurd law, Darius sent Daniel\nto the lion\u2019s den. Notice what he said, \u201cYour God, whom you serve\ncontinually<\/strong>, He will deliver\nyou\u201d<\/em> (Dan. 6:16). Daniel made such an impression with his consistent faith\nand lifestyle that Darius knew God would save him somehow. Consistency is the\nhard part of Christianity. It\u2019s hard to do anything three times a day besides\neat. But Daniel prayed three times per day and consistently lived out his\nfaith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Success is rarely the result of one act of heroism. Success usually results from a lifetime of diligence, discipline, and making wise decisions. If you keep doing the right thing, eventually you\u2019ll be rewarded. God rewarded Daniel\u2019s faithfulness and spared him from the lions. Then King Darius wrote, \u201cI make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel<\/strong>. For He is the living God.\u201d <\/em>(Dan. 6:26)<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s remarkable how God used one POW to influence an entire evil empire. Truly, Daniel distinguished himself by his exceptional qualities. He dared to be different and what a profound difference he made! The same God is with us. He will use us too\u2014if only we strive for excellence in exile. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Daniel was uprooted from Israel and taken to Babylon as a teenage POW. He may have been a descendant of King Hezekiah, thus a Prince of Judah (2 Kgs. 20:17-18). Daniel was probably a eunuch (Dan. 1:3-7) and so he never mentioned a wife or children. His name means \u201cGod is my Judge.\u201d This matches […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":847,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846\/revisions\/847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}