When Darius the Median took the throne formerly occupied by the Babylonian rulers, he at once proceeded to reorganize the government. He “set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes; ... and over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.”Daniel 6:1-3.
(PK 539.1)
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The honors bestowed upon Daniel excited the jealousy of the leading men of the kingdom, and they sought for occasion of complaint against him. But they could find none, “forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.”Daniel 6:4.
(PK 539.2)
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Daniel’s blameless conduct excited still further the jealousy of his enemies. “We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel,” they were constrained to acknowledge, “except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”Daniel 6:5.
(PK 539.3)
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The wicked opposition to God’s servant was now completely broken. “Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”Daniel 6:28. And through association with him, these heathen monarchs were constrained to acknowledge his God as “the living God, and steadfast forever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”Daniel 6:26.
(PK 545.1)
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From the story of Daniel’s deliverance we may learn that in seasons of trial and gloom God’s children should be just what they were when their prospects were bright with hope and their surroundings all that they could desire. Daniel in the lions’ den was the same Daniel who stood before the king as chief among the ministers of state and as a prophet of the Most High. A man whose heart is stayed upon God will be the same in the hour of his greatest trial as he is in prosperity, when the light and favor of God and of man beam upon him. Faith reaches to the unseen, and grasps eternal realities.
(PK 545.2)
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Heaven is very near those who suffer for righteousness’ sake. Christ identifies His interests with the interests of His faithful people; He suffers in the person of His saints, and whoever touches His chosen ones touches Him. The power that is near to deliver from physical harm or distress is also near to save from the greater evil, making it possible for the servant of God to maintain his integrity under all circumstances, and to triumph through divine grace.
(PK 545.3)
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The experience of Daniel as a statesman in the kingdoms of Babylon and Medo-Persia reveals the truth that a businessman is not necessarily a designing, policy man, but that he may be a man instructed by God at every step. Daniel, the prime minister of the greatest of earthly kingdoms, was at the same time a prophet of God, receiving the light of heavenly inspiration. A man of like passions as ourselves, the pen of inspiration describes him as without fault. His business transactions, when subjected to the closest scrutiny of his enemies, were found to be without one flaw. He was an example of what every businessman may become when his heart is converted and consecrated, and when his motives are right in the sight of God.
(PK 546.1)
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Strict compliance with the requirements of Heaven brings temporal as well as spiritual blessings. Unwavering in his allegiance to God, unyielding in his mastery of self, Daniel, by his noble dignity and unswerving integrity, while yet a young man, won the “favor and tender love” of the heathen officer in whose charge he had been placed. Daniel 1:9. The same characteristics marked his afterlife. He rose speedily to the position of prime minister of the kingdom of Babylon. Through the reign of successive monarchs, the downfall of the nation, and the establishment of another world empire, such were his wisdom and statesmanship, so perfect his tact, his courtesy, his genuine goodness of heart, his fidelity to principle, that even his enemies were forced to the confession that “they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful.”Daniel 6:4.
(PK 546.2)
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