Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
1It was fair before Darius to appoint upon the kingdom the governors one hundred and twenty that they might be in the all of the kingdom, 2and above them three administrators which Daniel [was] one from them as that the governors might be ones giving to them the account and the king not to him one suffering damage. 3Then this Daniel was distinguishing himself upon the administrators and the governors because the spirit of the excellence [was] in him and the king [was] one intending to appoint him upon the all of the kingdom. 4Then the administrators and the governors were ones seeking a pretext to find to Daniel concerning the kingdom and not ones being able to find all of a pretext and corruption because he [was] trustworthy and all of a negligence and corruption [was] not found upon him. 5Then these men [were] ones saying, “Not we will find all of a pretext to this Daniel unless we find [it] upon him in the law of his God.”
These five verses ought to be printed in gold letters. Would to God they were the Magna Carta of every single born again believer in this world. As I have often lamented, Evangelical Christianity has seemingly devolved to the point where people’s daily lives and especially their jobs have become a complete non-issue. Faith has no relation to work, apparently. “Faith” is seemingly about church and about having devotions and maybe even starting a Bible study over lunch at work, but it has nothing to do with who we are or what kind of work we do. I would suggest there is even an underlying attitude that our jobs are just a “necessary evil,” a distraction from what “really matters,” that if we were all really spiritual, we’d quit our jobs and run off to do something “important.”
May I point out, that isn’t at all what we see in these five verses? What our gracious Lord has provided for us here is a beautiful model of exactly what faith ought to mean in every one of our lives. Here we find our man Daniel, a man of very real faith, and what has it produced in him? A character so sterling, even his most bitter enemies can’t find a fault in him. Notice what the text says of him. He “distinguished himself.” He had “an excellent spirit.” His accusers “could find no fault in him," because “he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.” They even acknowledged he was a man committed to “the law of his God.”
I hardly know where to begin. My head spins with the truths we find here in these five simple verses. This might take several posts. First of all, we should realize that our Daniel is no longer a young man. At this point in the story, he’s been in Babylon for at least 70 years. If he was 15 when Nebuchadnezzar drug him here, then he is at least 85 years old! At least! Note that, in our English Bibles, chapter 5 ended with the observation that Darius received the kingdom at the age of 62. Then here is our Daniel at least 85. In our world today, Darius would just be retiring and Daniel would have been “out to pasture” for over 20 years! I’m reminded that “the righteous still bear fruit, even in old age” (Ps. 92:14).
That is very encouraging to me personally. As I sit here typing, I’m 65 years old. Everyone wants to know when I’ll be retiring. The funny thing is, right now, I don’t really want to. I enjoy engineering and don’t know if I ever want to quit. Maybe I’ll be one of those old guys who dies at his desk? Then again, I may get to a point where I just don’t have the energy to do the “8 to 5” every day or where I just don’t have the mind for it any more. However, if I do have the energy and if I can keep up the ability to do the math, what if I was still working at 85? Daniel was. Why can’t I? I guess Daniel’s example just gives me some sense of freedom--his example allows me to think that I don’t necessarily have to be controlled by today’s cultural “norms” of retirement and old age, that in God’s eyes, there’s nothing wrong with working as long as I’m able.
One reason that is important, as we see in this passage, is realizing the Lord is still using Daniel, even as he works into old age. May we be reminded where Daniel is? He’s at work. He’s doing his job. As he’s doing his job, who’s he interacting with? A whole world of people who need the Lord. And the Lord is able to make Himself known why? Because here’s a believer (and an old one at that!) whose faith has made him a man of sterling character and very, very commendable work habits. The workplace may not care a whit about your faith, but they highly value people who do good work!
It is Daniel’s work that provides an opportunity for the Lord to call attention to his faith. It is because Daniel is exemplary at his job that anyone even notices or cares about his faith. May I inject here, it’s not because Daniel has “Jesus is Lord” printed on his hardhat. It’s not because he runs around at work making a lot of noise about his faith. It's because he does good work – which brings me back to our Magna Carta. What a shame that the modern church completely ignores (and even disdains) people’s jobs. The workplace is the one place where believers are literally swimming in people who desperately need the Lord. It is one of the most important places where our light ought to be shining. Daniel’s did and so can ours.
Is Daniel alone? Is he the only person in the Bible who did good work? Hardly. The Bible is filled from cover to cover with people whose faith was notable precisely because they did good work. Who can forget Joseph? “Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned…with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate” (Gen. 39:4-6). Then there is Mordecai: “Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes,…he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews” (Esther 10:3). We meet Boaz diligently looking after his harvesters, hailing them, “The Lord be with you!” and them replying, “The Lord bless you!” (Ruth 2:4). Ruth herself was an extremely hard worker: “She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning until now…” (2:7).
It has always been true and always will be that most of God’s people will not be pastors and missionaries or involved in any sort of “full-time ministry.” The vast majority will always be just simple folks who get up in the morning and go to work, have families, change diapers, mow grass, and live generally what would seem to be very unimportant lives. It would seem most of us have nothing more to offer the Lord than “five loaves and two fishes.” But think with me, what was the point of that story? What did Jesus say about those few fishes and loaves? “Bring them to Me.” And what did He do? He blessed them and broke them and fed thousands!
And what does Proverbs tell us? “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings…” (22:29). And why would the Lord have us work hard at our jobs, like Daniel? “Teach servants…to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in everything they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”
I have been studying these five verses for quite some time, specifically because their practical truth is so profound. I’m almost thunderstruck by our Daniel and the example he sets before us. My heart wants to just stay here and keep pondering this man’s work ethics and keep asking the Lord, “Make me like him.” Am I like him? Could the same things be said of me? Do others find me completely trustworthy? Is it true that I am “neither corrupt nor negligent”? If the Lord wants to showcase my faith, can He do it through my work? Yes or no?
I do want to stay on this passage a while, but, for now, may we all be greatly encouraged that our jobs, our otherwise “uninteresting” lives, are the very “fishes and loaves” the Lord wants to use to draw our world to Jesus. God help me to be content to be what He’s called me to be. May He help us all to fill our days with “loving God and loving people,” and may that be especially true at our jobs. May He take our few fishes and loaves, bless them and break them, and somehow touch the lives of thousands. He’s done it before.
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