This is Sunday evening, August 4, 1974, in Richmond, Virginia. The ministry is given through Brother Stephen Kaung.
We do rejoice in the Lord for another opportunity to be together, to worship Him, and to study His Word. Will you please turn to the book of Daniel? Daniel Chapter 1. I think we will read the whole chapter.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: and he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god.
And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in certain of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles; youths in whom was no blemish, but well-favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and endued with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king’s palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
And the king appointed for them a daily portion of the king’s dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at the end thereof they should stand before the king.
Now among these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
And the prince of the eunuchs gave names unto them: unto Daniel he gave the name Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, Shadrach; and to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-nego.
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Now God made Daniel to find kindness and compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs.
And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your food and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the youths which are of your own age? so would ye endanger my head with the king.
Then said Daniel to the steward, whom the prince of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the youths that eat of the king’s dainties; and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.
So he hearkened unto them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths that did eat of the king’s dainties.
So the steward took away their dainties, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them pulse.
And as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
And at the end of the days which the king had appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.
And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.
And in every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his realm.
And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.
In the past, we have had fellowship briefly on two of the three major prophets during the period of the exile. We fellowshiped somewhat on Jeremiah and some on Ezekiel; and, God willing, this time we will focus our attention on the third one, Daniel.
Jeremiah began to prophesy much earlier than either of the other two, but Daniel continued on longer than the other two. Daniel occupied a very unique place in prophecy. Strictly speaking, he cannot be considered a prophet who prophesied as he was moved by the Spirit of God, as did the other prophets. As you read the book of Daniel, you find that he was recording what the Lord had shown him in vision. He was giving us the interpretations that were given to him.
So his prophesying was more or less like what we find in the Apostle John in the book of Revelation. Nonetheless, he was one of the greatest prophets, and his prophecy was of tremendous significance.
But, dear brothers and sisters, oftentimes we are more interested in prophecies than in the prophet. Whenever we think of Daniel, we think of what he prophesied; but we tend to forget who the prophet was that prophesied. In other words, God always emphasizes the vessel. If God does not have the proper vessel, then there will not be the right word.
So I think it is very important for us to understand the prophecies of Daniel by first knowing who Daniel was, what kind of a person he was, and what kind of a vessel he was in the hand of God. Then we will appreciate more the words that came through Daniel.
In a way, we know the life of Daniel probably more than that of the other prophets. The reason is that, broadly speaking, the book of Daniel is composed of twelve chapters. The first six chapters are historical, and the second six chapters are prophetic. As Daniel gives us his prophecy, in a sense God shows us what kind of a man this prophet really was.
The very name Daniel means, “God is judge.” Even though he lived in a time when the Gentiles held the government of this world, in a sense God was no longer called the God of the heavens and of the earth. He was the God of heaven. Yet that does not mean that heaven does not rule over the things of the earth.
Here you find the significance of Daniel’s name: God is judge. Even though the government of the world was now in the hands of the nations and not in the hands of Israel, God was still on the throne. He was still judging, and everything was still according to His plan. Daniel was His witness on earth among the nations.
We are told that in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, there was a power struggle between two great nations: Egypt and Babylon. If you study history, you will find that these two great nations were struggling against each other, seeking supremacy, ascendancy, and power. In that struggle, small nations, of course, suffered.
Israel was situated between these two great powers. When Babylon and Egypt came into conflict, King Josiah, as we remember, a good king, sided with Babylon against Egypt. He was killed in the battlefield by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt.
Judah, for a short time, became a vassal nation to Egypt, but that was only for a very short period. King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, and in the third year King Jehoiakim of Judah surrendered. At that time Nebuchadnezzar did not punish the nation of Judah very severely. He took away only some of the holy vessels from the temple in Jerusalem as a symbol of his victory, and together with them he took some young men of royal seed and of the nobles to Babylon as hostages.
Judah seemed to get away easily at that time. It was not until later that Babylon came back and destroyed Judah. But this was the beginning of the captivity of the children of Israel: some holy vessels were taken away from the temple of Solomon, and also some young men as hostages.
Among these young men was one whose name was Daniel. Most likely, when Daniel was taken away from his family, he was just a youth in his teens. We do not know exactly what age he was at the time, but most probably he was between fifteen and twenty. He could not have been more than that.
He was taken away from his home and from his country to a foreign country; and, so far as we know, he never had a chance to return. Just think of that: a young man suddenly uprooted and transplanted into foreign soil. What kind of a life can you expect for such a young man? It was tragic. There must have been great agony in the heart of this young soul.
When King Nebuchadnezzar selected some young men as hostages, the qualifications were very rigid. He was not taking just any young men he could get his hands on. If you read these qualifications, you find that they were very demanding.
First, they must be of noble birth—not commoners, but either from the royal family or from the nobles. We do not know whether Daniel belonged to the royal family or whether he belonged to the nobles. We only know that he had noble blood in him.
Second, they must be “without blemish, and well-favoured.” These were physical qualifications. The king wanted young men who were physically complete, with no blemish and with a goodly countenance, because they would one day stand before the king. The physical requirement was very high.
Third, they must be skilful in all wisdom, acquainted with knowledge, and understanding science. Think of that—the mental ability and the mental attainment. They were not only to be of noble birth and physically perfect, but they had to show great mental potential and already have some achievement in skill, knowledge, learning, and understanding. I think probably the science there was political science.
For a young man of that age to have already shown such potential, and already attained something in skill, knowledge, learning, and understanding, meant that he had a very bright future before him. If Daniel had been allowed to remain behind, probably one day he would have become prime minister of his own nation. He had great promise, and yet he was taken away.
They also had to possess the ability to learn. Not only must they have learned something already, but they had to be able to learn more. They needed great mental capacity. Of course, King Nebuchadnezzar did not lay down any spiritual qualification, because he was not interested in that.
But, dear brothers and sisters, this young man named Daniel was not only of noble birth; he was not only physically complete; he was not only a person of great mental capacity. As we learn from the book of Daniel, we know that he had great spiritual potential too. Even though he was just in his teens, there was something spiritually unique in that young man.
How important it is to have these spiritual qualities when a person is young. Oftentimes you find that what we learn spiritually in our later years is only the development of what we have learned in our younger years. Youth is the best time to learn. If we miss the chance, it is very difficult to learn anything new. I do not say it is impossible, but it is difficult.
Daniel had all these qualities, and with them he could have been of great usefulness in his own nation. He could have been used by God in his own nation in many areas. Yet, when he was only in his teens, he was taken away to a Gentile court.
I wonder whether Daniel cried before the Lord and said, “God, why? Why me?” Probably he did. But this young man loved God. He was taken into a Gentile place that knew not God, a nation that worshiped idols.
As a matter of fact, we know that God allowed the children of Israel to be taken into Babylonian captivity for the purpose of curing them of idol worship. Why? They, as the nation of God, should worship only God, and yet they worshiped idols. All right, go to that nation that worships idols most, and that will cure you of it.
If you like to eat certain things too much, probably your mother will say, “All right, go ahead and eat and eat and eat and eat.” Then you become tired of it and do not want it anymore. That is the way God dealt with His children Israel. After the captivity, idol worship was no longer a special sin of the nation of Israel. They were cured of it.
This young man was taken out of his native soil and transplanted into foreign soil that was in every way adverse to his spiritual life. Brothers and sisters, it is true that our growth has something to do with our environment. If you have the right environment, you will grow better, faster, and fuller. That is true. But there are exceptions to the rule, and Daniel was that exception.
He was taken into Babylon as a hostage. He was not put into slave labor like his brethren who were taken away the second time. When Ezekiel was taken, he was taken with a great number of the children of Israel, and they were put by the river Chebar to do slave labor, opening the royal canal.
But Daniel was fortunate. He was not taken to be put into slavery; on the contrary, he was taken to the royal court. The king gave command to give the king’s dainty food and the king’s wine to these young men, hostages from different nations—to feed them with the best that the world could give and to teach them all the learning and language of the Chaldeans.
Babylon at that time was just becoming the greatest power in the world, and the learning in the court of the Chaldeans was of the highest level. Daniel had an opportunity to learn.
Was Daniel not fortunate? On the one hand, he was unfortunate, as it were, because of the many young people in the nation of Judah, he was taken away as a hostage. “Why me?” Yet, on the other hand, he was fortunate because there was great opportunity before him—greater, even, than if he had remained in Judah.
By comparison, Judah was only a small nation. The learning of the Chaldeans was much higher than the learning of the Hebrews. A greater opportunity was open to him. With such mental capacity, certainly he could have learned much more than he ever could have learned in his native land.
You can react to such a situation by going to two extremes. On the one extreme, Daniel might have said, “I serve no one but God. I was taken here as a captive. I refuse to cooperate. Even though I am given all the opportunities, I refuse to eat. I will go on hunger strike. I refuse to learn. I am God’s servant. I am not going to serve a Gentile king. I refuse to accept my fate.”
Outwardly, that would appear very patriotic and perhaps even very godly. But if Daniel had taken that course, he would have missed God’s purpose.
On the other hand, he might have gone to the other extreme: “Well, I have to make the best of my life. Here are all these opportunities. Why not have it all?” Because of that, he might have plunged into it, forgotten his God, forgotten his country, and tried to make something of himself. That is another possibility, and probably many young people would lose their heads when such opportunities were given.
Humanly speaking, you can react in one way or the other, but neither is God’s way. Daniel found himself in a Gentile court, not by his own choice, with a great opportunity to learn. What did he do?
Even though he did not know what would happen to him in the future, he took what God had provided as his portion. In other words, Daniel took the opportunity as from God and learned. He and his three friends learned so diligently, and, by the blessing of God, they learned more than all the other young people. Is that not glorifying God?
Sometimes young people come to me and say, “Brother, I am saved now. What is the use of going to school? It is a waste of time.” I had the same idea when I was young. Thank God, He saved me when I was in my junior year in high school, so I had only one year to go.
After I finished high school, I was determined not to go to college and waste four years. I was going to Bible school. I was going to learn the Bible. I was going to serve God. When my father said no, I was so disappointed. In China, we were taught to obey our parents, so I went to college.
Young people now come to me and present the same question: “What is the use of learning all this worldly wisdom? I want to serve God. I do not want to do these things.”
You know what I say to these young people? I say, “If you do not seek it, and the Lord has put it in your path, take it as from God and learn everything you can for the glory of God.”
Many young people in school have no desire to study, and their marks are very low. Yes, they are a disgrace to God. Study for the glory of God. You do not know how to use these things; God knows. Whatever the Lord has provided for you, take it as from Him. Do it diligently. Learn more than anybody else. One day you will find that God will turn it to good.
Moses did the same thing. He learned all the learning of Egypt, and Egypt at that time was the greatest nation in the world. Of course, after he learned all these things, he thought he was great. He tried to depend upon his own learning to serve God, and he was a total failure.
After he had gone through death and resurrection, brothers and sisters, no one but Moses, who providentially had been trained in such a way, was qualified to lead a nation of so many people for forty years in the wilderness. Who could do that?
Daniel found himself in a circumstance that was not his own choice. So he took it as from God and learned everything he could. He surpassed the other young people. But that did not mean that he accepted everything without discernment.
Even though he learned all the learning and language of the Chaldeans—and part of the book of Daniel was written in Chaldee, not in Hebrew, from the second chapter to the end of the sixth chapter—there was something he was determined not to take.
On the one hand, you learn everything that God has provided, and you do it for the glory of God. But among the things you discern, there may be certain things that you should not and cannot enjoy. If you do, you will defile yourself.
Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the king’s dainty food and the wine. Put positively, this young man purposed in his heart to keep himself pure for God.
Even though he did not know why God allowed these things to happen to him—of all the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of young men—he had faith in God. He did not know why, but he knew Who was behind it all.
Brothers and sisters, oftentimes we do not know why, but do you know Who? As believers, we are not guided and governed in our lives by the things we see, but by the things unseen. In other words, we see the Invisible One, the Unseen One.
Like Moses, Moses was able to despise the wealth of Egypt and choose the reproach of Christ because he had seen the Unseen One, even Christ. Here you find this young man Daniel, even when he was so young. Think of that—just a youth. Let no man despise thy youth.
It is true that spiritual maturity takes time; that is true. But the seed must be planted early. Daniel did not know why, but he knew Who. Even though he was puzzled, in a sense, his faith did not waver.
Even though he did not understand God’s dealings with him, he was determined to keep himself pure for God. Oh, brothers and sisters, how precious is this purpose and this determination for a young man: to purpose and determine not to defile himself. That is to say, to purpose in his heart to keep himself pure for God.
He knew he was God’s. He knew his life belonged to God. He knew he was on this earth to serve God’s purpose and nothing else. He would not allow anything to defile him or disqualify him from serving God. He did not know how God could use him, but he made himself ready for God.
You may not know what your future will be, but one determination you must have: keep yourself pure for God.
Why would even the king’s dainty food and wine defile them? First, in those days the king’s food was the best food, and the king’s wine was the best wine. But before the king ate his food and drank his wine, all his food and drink were first sacrificed to their gods—to idols.
It was a nation of idol worship. Everything had to be sacrificed to the idols before even the king tasted it. Therefore, all this food had been sacrificed to idols.
Daniel knew that if he ate the king’s dainty food and drank the king’s wine, he would defile himself, as if he had participation with the devil and with demons. You remember in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul said that when a person partakes of things offered to idols, they are in fellowship with demons.
Daniel served the one true and living God. Even though, by all appearance, it seemed as if his God had not treated him very well, Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself. He would not take the food or drink offered to idols because he had to keep himself pure for God.
Now, brothers and sisters, you may not have this problem today. When I was young, I had this problem. Let me tell you my story.
After I was saved, once a year, according to an old custom in China, the whole family would have a reunion. Usually it came at the end of the old year. All the family members would come together. I came from a very big family—four generations living under one roof. I had many, many relatives.
Once a year, all our relatives would come together—uncles and aunts from my mother’s side and my father’s side, and whatnot. Over one hundred people would come together, and we would have a meal together to close the old year as a family reunion.
My grandfather, of course, was a Buddhist—not that he was really serious about it, but in China that was the custom. Before we ate, all the food was first offered to our ancestors. Then we would sit down and eat it.
Of course, our ancestors did not eat it; they could not. In my grandfather’s home there was always, in the parlor, a long table with tablets of our ancestors standing there. There was always food, fruit, candies, and other things there all year round. We, as little children, would always slip up and take them—you know, eat them for our ancestors.
But behind that there was more than respect for one’s ancestors. If it was merely respect for ancestors, that was all right. But behind it there was a spiritual thing involved. In our mentality, it was as if our ancestors were still living and receiving all these things. It was religious in that sense.
After I was saved, I had this problem. I had to be present, but I could not eat. It bothered me. I did not know what to do. I prayed much about it, although in such a matter you do not need to pray very much, because it is so clear.
By the grace of God, I determined that I had to be there, but I would not eat. Do you know how God opened a way for me? My aunt heard about it. So when they came, she cooked some extra food for me. I was not hungry at all.
But anyway, Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with food that was offered to idols.
Second, even if the food and drink had not been offered to idols, Daniel still would not have eaten them. Why? Because the king’s food and drink were the best that the world could offer. If you indulge in that, you will very soon be absorbed into a life of luxury and sensuality.
Daniel, as a young man, was determined to live a simple life—a disciplined life. Dear brothers and sisters, there are many things God may put in your way, but that does not mean you have to enjoy them to the full. God wants to know whether you know how to discipline yourself.
Remember that rich man—how he feasted and drank and made merry every day? He was not robbing other people. It was his wealth. It was not sin merely because he was not robbing others in order to enjoy what belonged to him. Yet he enjoyed them to the full, and because he enjoyed himself so much, he forgot his soul.
How easily we may become occupied with the things of this world—not necessarily sinful things, but the luxuries of this world. As we indulge ourselves in eating and drinking, we may begin to lose our soul.
How much better, dear brothers and sisters, that we as believers should live a simple life. I often think that God’s people today live too complicated a life. People say, “We need this and we need that,” and because of that, they must have two jobs or three jobs. It is not necessary. Life can be very simple, and a simpler life is actually more conducive to spiritual growth.
We need to live a disciplined life. Are we willing to deny ourselves? Not as ascetics—Daniel was not an ascetic at all. Usually he had dainty food, yes, according to his position. But he knew how to buffet his body and bring it into captivity, as Paul said.
How easily, when we indulge ourselves even in eating and drinking, even in legitimate things, and enter into luxury, our spiritual strength, as it were, dissipates. We need to gird our loins and live a simple, disciplined life. Especially for young people, God cannot use an undisciplined person.
Daniel requested that, instead of being given the portion of the king’s food and wine, he and his three friends should be given only pulse—that is, vegetables—and water to drink.
Now we would say that if a person ate such nutritious, good food as the king’s food, certainly he would grow fatter. In the old days, the fatter the better. Certainly he would have an advantage. But if a person ate only vegetables and drank water, how could he have a good countenance, even better than the other young people?
Here you find a matter of faith. Daniel, in denying the king’s food and drink so as not to defile himself, was living a life of faith. Even though logically speaking, by all human reasoning, the king’s food and drink would make him grow better physically, because he did not want to defile himself, he would rather take only pulse and water. He had faith that he would even grow better.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, how often, when you have to choose, you choose the way of faith instead of the way of logic or reasoning, and God honors it.
Of course, this does not mean that we should all be vegetarians. As a matter of fact, if you read Paul’s letters, you find that forbidding people to eat meat is a satanic doctrine. God does not want us to be vegetarians, nor does He want us to ill-treat our bodies or hurt them. God wants us to take care of our bodies because they are the temple of God. We can glorify God in our bodies.
But the principle behind it is this: are we living by faith, or are we living by sight and by logic? How do we live before God? What is more important: bread or the Word of God?
Will we turn stones into bread because bread is so important, or will we rather keep the Word of God and starve? Are we ready to starve to death in order to keep the Word of God? Are we living a life of faith?
Of course, God will not allow you to starve to death; but if He does, thank God for that. It is a life of faith. So, dear brothers and sisters, in this young man you find one who purposed in his heart not to defile himself, but to keep himself pure. Oh, what a purpose that is.
Well, you may say, “What is the use of making a will? The will is in me, but to do it is not in me.” Does God really want us to set a purpose? Does God really want us to be determined?
Remember, this purpose of Daniel did not come from him naturally. This purpose came from a pure heart. You remember Paul’s word to Timothy: flee youthful lusts; follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.
Because Daniel’s heart was pure toward God, out of that pure heart came this purpose. God purposed that purpose in him. That is Philippians 2:13:
For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for His good pleasure.
It was not that this young man determined everything by himself and tried to fulfill it all by himself. No. Because his heart was so pure before God, because he loved God and wanted to be pure for God, God purposed that purpose in him, and he agreed to it. He agreed to it.
Many young people have no purpose in life. No wonder many people today are just drifting along. They do not know where they are going. They have no goal and no direction. They are all played upon by the environment. They are weaklings.
But, dear brothers and sisters, we who are the Lord’s should have a purpose. God is a God of purpose. We need to have a purpose before God as His Spirit moves us—not our own purpose, but His purpose. We purpose because He purposes in us. We agree with what He wants, and we say, “You can have us.” We are determined that He will help us.
Daniel’s situation, of course, was very difficult. When you make a purpose before God, do not look at your circumstances. Do not consider your conditions and situations. Why? Because if you consider your situation, circumstances, and conditions, you will compromise.
Whenever you have a purpose before God, forget the conditions, forget the circumstances, forget the situation. Know only God. Between you and God there is a purpose, and that is a pure purpose. If you look at circumstances and conditions, you will compromise—no doubt about it.
But after you have purposed it, then open your eyes and see your conditions, because you have to face them. Daniel purposed in his heart without consideration of all the problems. He knew only his relationship with God, and that was it.
After he did that, of course, he began to consider his circumstances. He was not free to do what he purposed because he was a hostage and was under the king’s command. He had no liberty to choose what he ate or drank. It was all his assigned portion. He had a problem.
That is the reason you find Daniel requesting. First he purposed, and then he requested. He knew he had this problem. He did not know how to solve it, but by faith he requested the chief of the eunuchs, who was over all the young people, that he might be permitted not to eat the king’s food, but have only vegetables and water.
In requesting this, he was putting his neck out, because he was going against the king’s command. The chief of the eunuchs was afraid. He said, “If I do it, my head will be in danger. If the king finds you thinner than the other young people and discovers what has happened, I will be executed.” It could not be done.
Yet Daniel, with wisdom and faith, said to the steward, “Try us for ten days. Just try us.” With God, all things are possible. All things are possible to those who believe.
The Bible says that God granted favor. Even though the favor came through the steward and the chief of the eunuchs, it was granted by God. Here you find Daniel, in his young age, trusting in God and experiencing God in a real and living way.
That is the need of young people. Young people should know the Word by heart, just like Timothy, who knew the Scriptures from childhood. What a treasure and what a spiritual start that was. But, on the other hand, when we are young, we need to learn to trust God. We need to learn to know God in a real way, in a living way.
He purposed, he requested, and God granted. The result was that not only were he and his three friends physically better and fairer than all the young people, but after three years God gave them great wisdom and knowledge, surpassing all the young people—and not only the young people, but even the magicians and enchanters, the intellectual elite of the court with experience. They surpassed them in matters of wisdom and judgment. Why? They had spiritual discernment.
Brothers and sisters, if a person is faithful to God, God is faithful to him. If a man commits himself to God unreservedly, God will commit Himself to that person without reservation.
After three years, Daniel and his friends stood before the king. There is the last verse of Daniel 1: “And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.”
The first year of King Cyrus was the year when the decree went out allowing the children of Israel to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the house of God. In other words, seventy years of captivity came to an end at that time.
Daniel had been in captivity for seventy years already. If he was taken when he was in his teens, then he must have been between eighty-five and ninety years old—an old man. After seventy years, he still continued before God as he had begun. What a history!
Many people begin well in their youth, but they do not last to the end. Other people do not begin very well, but they seem to end quite well. But the best thing is to start well and continue to the very end.
This young man had such a life with God, such faith in God, such purity, and such faithfulness. God respected him and honored him. Even after seventy years, you find that he was brighter than ever before. The greatest prophecies of Daniel came when he was in his old age.
During those seventy years, he lived in Gentile courts. He lived through different kings, not only different kings but even different dynasties. He lived through the Babylonian Empire and the Medo-Persian Empire.
One king came and went. One dynasty came and went. One kingdom came and went. Things were changing around him, and basically they were just as corrupt. In the royal court there was corruption such as you could find nowhere else: the intrigues of the court, luxury, sin, corruption, jealousy, and ambition.
Daniel went through all these things for such a long period, and he was not corrupted. He could serve tyrants and yet maintain his dignity and integrity before God. He was not corrupted or defiled in any way.
In the Old Testament there were only two men of whom the Bible was silent concerning any faults, and Daniel was one of them. He was blameless before God. Even the world could not find any fault in him.
You remember those great men in the Persian court. They were jealous of him and tried to bring him down, but they could not find anything wrong with Daniel. Even though he was prime minister, the highest official of the government, managing all kinds of things, they could find no fault.
They said, “We will find something against him only in connection with his religion, with his God, because he prays to God.” That is how they caught him. Even in the eyes of the world, he was without fault.
Though outwardly serving a Gentile king, actually he was serving God, and he was His witness. Even though he lived in the court with all the earthly enjoyment around him, his heart and concern were with Jerusalem.
So far as we know, he never returned to Jerusalem, but he was the instrument of God in getting His people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the house of God. Brothers and sisters, this was the prophet Daniel.
God had His hand upon this young man, and God’s hand never left him throughout all his life. When he came to the end, as you read Daniel 12, God said:
Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end.
And the last verse says:
But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and shalt stand in thy lot, at the end of the days.
It is just like what Paul said in 2 Timothy:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith:
henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved His appearing.
This is the life. May the Lord encourage us all that we may give ourselves to the Lord and have a desire to keep ourselves pure for the Lord. If we have such a desire, He will preserve us.
Our Heavenly Father, Thou hast put before us Thy servant Daniel, the one greatly beloved. Thou art speaking to us because Thou art no respecter of persons.
O Lord, do apprehend every one of us here as Thou didst apprehend Daniel. Create in us such a desire to be kept and to keep ourselves pure for Thyself.
O Lord, Thou art able to do it. We just press ourselves into Thy hands. Glorify Thyself through Thy people, not only here, but through Thy people all over this earth, because Thou art worthy. In Jesus’ name, amen.