Daniel 6: 1-5
We now have a change of administration in Babylon. Darius has conquered the capital city, and Belshazzar has lost the kingdom of his father Nabonidus.
Now Darius needs to establish his government.
(1) It seemed good to Darius to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, that they would be in charge of the whole kingdom,
So he's appointing district governors to administer the king's edicts over the various areas under his control.
(2) and over them three commissioners (of whom Daniel was one), that these satraps might be accountable to them, and that the king might not suffer loss.
And over these 120 satraps he set up three emirs or presidents, so that the order of authority would be orderly. And Daniel, even in his eighties, came out of retirement and became one of these emirs.
(3) Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom.
Now the presence of God with Daniel helped him to make extraordinarily wise decisions on behalf of his satraps under him, and King Darius is noticing the difference of how much better his districts are doing, and is considering giving him authority to also administer the whole kingdom.
(4) Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs;
The other officials are noticing, too, and they are jealous of Daniel. They know they can't compare with his wisdom, so they want to get rid of him.
(Sounds like stuff that's going on politically today! People never change.)
but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him.
Oh-oh, there wasn't anything wrong with any of his methods or dealings, what can they do to bring him down?
(Today they just make something up!)
(5) Then these men said, "We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God."
They knew that he was a Jew and would not compromise his faithfulness to his God. Even though he'd lived his whole adult life immersed in the idolatry of the society in Babylon, he had never wavered in his faith.
Can people say the same about us? Even when we aren't as engulfed with the worldly culture we live in as Daniel was, are we as faithful as he was, and known to be? Do our neighbors even know that we're Christians?
Have we been neighborly enough to let them know who we are, and that we are willing to help when needed? This is more necessary now than ever before. Many people today do not even know who their neighbors are!
If your church is broadcasting services online, have you shared this with your neighbor? Or with anyone else? (Mine is, and has been for several years already, so they have a head-start with all that is going on now; it's at fcfamily.org and they broadcast live on Sunday mornings at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 Central Time USA, or replay the recording on-demand.)
We as God's children are called to be Jesus' witnesses, to tell others what He has done for us. Every Christian should do the work of an evangelist, even if they don't think they have the gift of evangelism (in II Timothy 4: 5, Paul tells Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist" even though his gift was to be a pastor).
Jesus leaves us here after He saves us as His witnesses so that we will do His work, until His Return. He wants to build His Kingdom, both qualitatively and quantitatively--both in maturity and in numbers.
O my Father, please help us to be good children in Your royal family. Help us to help one another, and to love one another as You have loved us.
Send us out, Father, into all the nations of the world, casting abroad Your good seed of the Gospel, so that every living person will hear clearly to understand how much You love us all, and sent Your own Son to be our Savior and Redeemer.
Bring all of Your children to birth into Your family, Father, and fill Your great house with Your uncountable children; surround Your Great Banquet Table with Your chosen ones, to all enjoy eternal fellowship with You and with one another.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
