Daniel 6:28 “Like Daniel”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

²⁸And this Daniel prospered in the kingdom of Darius and in the kingdom of Cyrus the Persian.

This verse concludes what some call the historical portion of the book of Daniel. The rest of the book will be records of various visions which the prophet saw, with some more accounts of how it all affected Daniel. I’m really looking forward to studying through those final chapters. Up to now, we’ve basically observed Daniel and how he dealt with life in this world. In chapters 7-12, we’ll get an extensive display of our friend interacting with the spirit world. As I get older, I am finding more and more the realization that this world in which we live is only a small bubble in an ocean of the spirit world which, though we cannot see it, surrounds us and engulfs our very being. I suspect that world has far more bearing on our lives than this world. The spiritual battles which are raging around us are probably the real battles which matter. I long to have eyes that see that world, to be driven by those far greater concerns.

All that said, however, here we are: Daniel 6:28 and this simple little verse, “And this Daniel prospered in the kingdom of Darius and in the kingdom of Cyrus.” We first met our friend as a young man, probably but a teenager, and, for myself, as I have studied these first six chapters and tried to learn from him, he has definitely become my hero. Speaking of the spirit world, I am amazed at how Daniel was very specifically created to be who he was. He was born just in time to be that young man right when Nebuchadnezzar, the head of gold, arose to power and carried off young Jewish men to serve in his court. Daniel’s life then spanned the seventy years of the Babylonian Captivity. By the end of his life, he has lived through the reigns of several Babylonian kings until finally the “Arms and Chest of Silver” displaced the Head of Gold, and now the second great kingdom, the Persians, are in control. By now, Cyrus has issued his decree that the Jewish people may return to Judea, and our Daniel is at the end of his life, easily an 80-year old man in that ancient world.

Like Esther, the Lord obviously raised him up specifically for “such a time as this.” His entire reason for existence was to be the Lord’s representative in the very highest offices of these worldly kingdoms. No doubt this access gave him considerable opportunities to provide for and protect the exiled Jews, but it also definitely gave him and his friends enormous opportunities to bring glory to God! No more were the Jewish people and their God just stories people heard about those people who lived in Canaan. The Babylonian Captivity brought those people right into the very palace of the king of Babylon—the very epicenter of evil in this world—and there, the Lord displayed His glory for all the world to see.

Wow. On the one hand, I’m sure Daniel would have rather lived out his life there in Israel. He’d rather have lived with his family there, probably married one of his cute Jewish girlfriends, had a family, lived out his life and died there. Instead, the Lord had an extremely important assignment for him—to go and be His representative in that epicenter of evil. This is where seeing the spirit world is so important. We’d all like to write the story of our lives and make sure it includes all the parts and pieces just the way we’d like them. I know for myself, and I suspect it’s true of everyone, very little of my life has turned out like I thought it would. In so many ways, I wish I could go back and re-write the story, but of course I cannot. We don’t get to write it beforehand and we don’t get to re-write it either.

It is what it is. I find my only sanity is to believe that the Lord has been carefully, meticulously controlling even my bad decisions, to produce in the end some beautiful tapestry which my eyes have yet to see. As has been often said, we all have to realize we are looking up at the underside of that tapestry. All we can see are the snarls of thread and splotches of colors. It will only be at the end, and probably from heaven itself, that we will get to look down and see the beauty of our lives as the Lord wove them to be. Certainly, we see that here in the life of Daniel.

His life was very, very different than what he could have possibly imagined (or wished) as a young man. Yet here he is. Through all the pain, all the heartaches, all the disappointments, yet because he was the Lord’s servant, he goes down through history as a great prophet and a man to be admired 2,600 years later! Even in his own world, the description of the end of his life is our verse, “And this Daniel prospered in the kingdom of Darius and in the kingdom of Cyrus.” The word translated “prospered” is a nice word that could be translated, “he did well,” “he was successful,” “life went well for him.” Probably what it means is that he got to end his life being respected and appreciated. I have read somewhere that there was even a ”Tomb of Daniel” in Susa of Persia—that apparently he was so greatly respected and appreciated that a great tomb was provided for him in his death. That would be so not unlike the Lord—after all the trials and pain, to allow Daniel to finish out his life in quiet honor.

Drawing things to a close, I think it also very encouraging to note what it said in verse 23, “And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” There you have it, the “secret” to it all. What made Daniel different? What made him “successful”? What enabled him to be a man of sterling integrity and godliness in the very epicenter of evil? “He had trusted in his God.” Trusting God was the engine that made Daniel who he was, and that simple little epitaph can be true of you and me too. Our stories are still being written. What will make the difference whether they are, in the end, worth reading? The question will be, “Did we or did we not trust our God?” It really is that simple.

As I sit here typing, I can only pray over and over, “Lord, make me like Daniel.” I don’t get to write the story of my life either, but if day by day and minute by minute I can just hang on to this simple plan, “Trust God,” then I can hope that somehow the Lord really is weaving it all into something eternally grand and beautiful—just like He did for Daniel.