What's the Deal with Daniel?

Passage: Daniel 6

Daniel is best known for a few punchy Sunday school stories – the most memorable of which is “Daniel in the Lions' Den”. Most of our familiarity with Daniel ends with this and the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. We seldom venture into the book itself, preferring to stick with the bedtime stories and smattering of moral lessons that get tacked onto them.

The Book of Daniel is somewhat more gritty, and infinitely more theologically rich than the Sunday School lessons suggest. As a young man Daniel is taken captive following a 605 BC siege of Jerusalem by Babylon. In exchange for sparing the city, the Babylonians are given the most lavish furnishings from the Temple of the LORD, as well as Jerusalem’s most promising young nobles. These are taken and “re-educated” (resistance is futile) to serve as attendants to the king of Babylon. In Daniel 1 we’re told they are supervised by Ashpenaz, “chief of his court officials” (NIV); other translations identify Ashpenaz as “chief eunuch”. The implication, restated with certainty by such commentators as Josephus, is that Daniel and his friends become eunuchs, too. The Hebrew captives are pressed into service, but distinguish themselves quickly. They are healthier and have a higher aptitude for learning than their Babylonian counterparts. They are also unwilling to fully “get with the program”, in particular refusing to give up their devotion to the God of the Israelites. This garners at turns condemnation (as in the cases of the fiery furnace and the lions' den) and admiration (as when Daniel interprets the kings’ dreams and when the angel preserves Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). By their presence in Babylon and their unwavering commitment to the LORD, Daniel and his friends bear witness to the undeniable reality and authority of the one true God.

The overarching theme of the Book of Daniel is that the LORD is God. In Daniel the Babylonian and Medo-Persian kings encounter the God of Daniel and his people. And God proves himself to be the ultimate power in their world. Nebuchadnezzar sees God’s authority in the interpretation of his dreams, in God’s preservation of the men in fiery furnace, and in God’s usurpation of the king’s own mental faculties. Belshazzar’s life is cut short when he defiles the objects taken from the LORD’s temple. Darius witnesses God’s power in his protection of Daniel and the elevation of Daniel to second-in-command of the kingdom. In each instance the king bows the knee to the greater authority.

In Daniel 7 the historical vignettes of Daniel’s life give way to Daniel’s own prophetic visions. Here, too, we encounter more explicitly the promises that are implicit in God’s dealings with and through Daniel. Daniel catches a glimpse of how history will unfold. At the end of the story, God will be revealed as ruler of all. Every king and kingdom will give way to God’s ultimate authority. And in the end God’s people – those who stood firm in the face of temptation and oppression – will be raised to eternal life in his kingdom. The call – to honor God with your life and to stand firm in the faith – resonates throughout history.