Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
17Then Daniel [was] one answering and one saying before the king, “Your gifts be to you and your rewards give to another, yet I will read the writing to the king and the meaning I will make known to him.”
Up to this point in the chapter, the main character has been Belshazzar the king. In our short introduction to him (and history would corroborate it), we have found him to be a selfish, arrogant, adolescent playboy, utterly unfit to manage so much as a Kool-aid stand, much less a nation. Now we get to hear from our man Daniel. In stark contrast, our Daniel is a man of absolute sterling integrity, someone we can all observe and admire.
I’m excited to pause and ponder everything our Daniel will have to say. He is a man’s man. If only there were more like him, the world would be a better place. The key, we already know, is that he is a godly man. That, in itself, should be encouraging for the rest of us, because it means whatever is admirable in him is accessible to us as well. I can’t interpret dreams like him, but that’s not what makes him so admirable. It’s who he is that garners our respect.
First of all, let us note again that when Daniel is called, he comes. We’ve already observed how, in spite of his amazing giftedness and qualifications, he has apparently been relegated to obscurity by the Babylonian court. Such treatment would have wounded the pride of lesser men, but, not our Daniel. No matter how he’s been treated still he’s ready to do his job, to do his part, to do what he can, even for the very man who has most insulted him.
Along those lines, I would suggest Belshazzar was deliberately belittling Daniel when he asked, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?” First of all, he knows very well he’s Daniel. It’s insulting to suddenly act like he doesn’t know him. Then he has to get that jab in—"one of the exiles.” Here is our Daniel, probably 80-90 years old. He’s served the Babylonian court for seventy years and yet Belshazzar has to call him an “exile.” Even under the terror of the handwriting, Belshazzar is still insolent. Even as he would ask for Daniel’s help, he has to insult him.
Yet, when he’s called, our Daniel comes. When it’s time to do his job, Daniel does it. Right off the bat, we all need to learn from him to do likewise. As we go about our jobs and live our lives, we too will be belittled, insulted, ignored, overlooked, and all the rest. When it happens, will we pull in our shingle and close up shop, or will we continue to do our job to the best of our ability? We’re surrounded by people who got overlooked and now they’ve shut down. They do the absolute minimum they have to so they don’t get fired, but they’re not contributing any more. They’re just coasting to retirement. The Lord didn’t put Col. 3:23 in the Bible for nothing: “And whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…”
Therein, I would suggest, is the “secret” to Daniel’s integrity. In everything he does, he is a servant of the Most High God. Whether people do or do not appreciate him is, in the end, irrelevant to Daniel, precisely because that’s not who he’s serving.
That is also important to see in this passage. Some people read into the story that Daniel is being cocky and even disrespectful to Belshazzar as he starts with, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else.” I think rather Daniel is wanting to make it clear he’s not just serving for the rewards. In spite of all his mistreatment, Daniel wants everyone to know he does his job because it’s his job – not just because someone offers him rewards. “Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.” Rewards or not, Daniel wants everyone to know he’ll do his job. Daniel is a man who is faithful. He’s someone you can always count on.
This brings us back to being servants of the Most High God. This world is constantly offering its “rewards.” It offers us pleasures and possessions and applause. Its rewards are often gilded with gold and seemingly delicious. It’s fine to receive those things and fine to enjoy them but, time and again, you and I have to decide whether that’s what we’re living for. Do I do it for the gold or do I do it for the Lord? Am I or am I not a faithful man? Can others count on me, no matter what? Like Daniel, our hearts need to always be saying, “Rewards or not, I will do my job to the best of my ability.”
This applies at work, but it also applies everywhere else in our lives. I need to be the husband I should be, the father, the church member, the community member, the friend, even simply the human being I should be, regardless of whether I think I’ll be “rewarded” or not and even if those very people insult and belittle me.
May we each be like Daniel and always being saying (at least in our hearts), “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else, nevertheless, I will...”
There is much to learn from Daniel, the man. May he first of all teach us to be faithful.
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