Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 150
Lessons from their lives – Talk 16 – Daniel – Innocence, Character, Gifting
Welcome to Talk 16 in our series, Lessons from their lives. Today our subject is Daniel, a man whose life powerfully affected world rulers and brought them to acknowledge the greatness of God. After the well known story of Daniel’s deliverance from the den of lions, listen to what the powerful emperor Darius wrote:
- I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. ‘For he is the living God and he endures for ever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.
- He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions (Daniel 6:26-27).
Note:
- God is still very much alive – he is the living God and he endures for ever
- It is possible to know him personally – the God of Daniel
- He does solve very real problems – he rescued Daniel from the power of the lions
- He most certainly does work miracles – he performs signs and wonders
- He does still intervene in human affairs – his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.
What kind of a man was Daniel who could demonstrate to the world of his day the reality and power of God? As we examine the story of his life we discover that Daniel was:
- Innocent in the sight of God
- A man of character
- A man gifted by God
Daniel was innocent in the sight of God
Note first that those who tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent (v.4)
But more importantly verse 22 tells us that he was innocent in the sight of God.
My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty (v.22).
Daniel was innocent in the sight of God? Isn’t that taking things a bit far? Surely no one is perfect. Absolutely right. The Bible says:
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God
We all like sheep have gone astray
If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves.
What then of Daniel? Look at verse 23.
The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
Here we see the reason for Daniel’s right standing with God. His innocence before God is linked with his faith in God. He trusted in God. He believed in his God.
I see in this a parallel with Genesis 15:6 where we read that Abraham believed in the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness.
The apostle Paul quotes this verse in Romans as he takes up his great theme of justification by faith. In chapter 3 we read:
Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. 20.
…a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 28.
And in Romans 5:1-2 we read:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand…
But faith in what?
Romans 3:22-25
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith…
Daniel was a man of character
In chapter 1 we discover that when Daniel went for training in the king’s palace…
Daniel 1:5, 8
- The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
- But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way.
The king’s meat and wine had been offered to idols and Daniel knew it. He could not pretend that he did not know it.
He knew that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
A choice lay before him:
disfavour with the king or disfavour with the Almighty God?
Daniel resolved not to defile himself.
He knew what was right and he stuck to it. No matter how much it cost.
Now let’s go back to the story of Daniel and the lions in chapter 6 and look at it in more detail.
Daniel had been appointed as one of three chief ministers in the kingdom. He distinguished himself so much among them by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
So the chief ministers tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so because he was trustworthy and wasn’t corrupt or negligent.
Finally they said, ‘We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.’ So they hatched a plot and went to the king and suggested that the king should issue a decree that anyone who prayed to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to the king himself should be thrown into the lions’ den. So King Darius put the decree in writing.
Once again Daniel was faced with a choice, to obey God or to obey men. His decision is well known. When he learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before (Daniel 6:10).
When the men found Daniel praying and asking God for help they reported it to the king who, sorry though he was to do it, ordered Daniel to be thrown into the den of lions. We’ll continue the story by reading Daniel 6:16-23:
So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, ‘May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!’
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed.
Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’
Daniel answered, ‘May the king live for ever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.’
The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
The whole story reveals Daniel to be a man of faultless character, a man of faith and courage, a man prepared to die rather than disobey God.
Daniel was gifted by God
Natural ability
When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem he led away captive certain of the most able young men to be trained in his royal palace.
Daniel 1:3-4
- Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility –
- young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.
Daniel was one of those young men, but he was not the only one. There were others like him. What made Daniel stand about from among the rest?
Supernaturally gifted
But Daniel’s gifts extended beyond the natural. He was supernaturally gifted. Daniel 1:17 reveals both the natural and supernatural dimensions in his life:
To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
As we read on in chapters 2, 4 and 5, Daniel’s supernatural ability to understand visions and dreams of all kinds is illustrated very clearly.
In chapter 2 he is able not only to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, but to tell him what the dream was! Daniel’s prophetic interpretation of this dream was of great historical significance revealing the course of world history for centuries to follow and culminating in the universal and eternal kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Daniel 2:44-45
In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure for ever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands – a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. ‘The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.’
Note the impact this had on Nebuchadnezzar:
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honour and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. The king said to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.’ (vv.46-47).
Compare Daniel 4:34-37 where Nebuchadnezzar praises God after coming out of a period of insanity that Daniel had predicted by his interpretation of another of the king’s dreams:
At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes towards heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honoured and glorified him who lives for ever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No-one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’ At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honour and splendour were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisors and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
How we need more people of prophetic insight in the church today through whom world leaders will be brought to their knees!
To summarise, Daniel was a person who was innocent in God’s sight because of his faith, a man of uncompromising integrity to whom God had given great natural and supernatural gifts. As a result he demonstrated to powerful world leaders that:
- There is a God who is the living God and who endures for ever
- It is possible to know him personally
- He does solve very real problems – he rescued Daniel from the power of the lions
- He most certainly does work miracles – he performs signs and wonders
- He does intervene in human affairs – his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.
Of course, we can’t all be like Daniel. But we can pray that God will raise up a prophetic voice that will change the hearts of national and world leaders. And if we are innocent in God’s sight because of our trust in Jesus, we can make sure that we are people of integrity and look to God to endow us with the supernatural gifts of the Spirit that will equip us for the task he has for each of us to do.