The Prophecies of Daniel: Part 2, Who was Daniel
February 14, 2020
Jk Sellers
Daniel occupies a special place in Bible history: He held many positions and roles during his long and productive life. He was a counselor, chief wise man and minister to kings, a governor, an example of righteousness in exile to his fellow Jews, but most importantly, he was a prophet of God.
“Daniel was the second principal prophet during the Exile. He was the "prophet in the palace," while his fellow-laborer, Ezekiel, was a "prophet among the people." In the biography of Daniel we discover the remarkable career of a talented and spiritual son of Judah who left Jerusalem as a young hostage and lived to become a principal government official, first in the kingdom of Babylon and later in the kingdom of Persia.”[Skousen, Cleon W. The Fourth Thousand Years, Bookcraft, 1966, page 743.]
Daniel was a young man, though born into privilege in Jerusalem, came to know great tribulation and heartache while in exile.
“Like many of his brethren the prophets, Daniel was prepared and raised up as a minister to kings and emperors. At the time that Nebuchadnezzar first carried the Jews captive into Babylon (about 605 B.C.), Daniel was chosen as one of the choicest Jewish youths to be taken to Babylon and trained for service in the king’s court. Because of his righteousness and sensitivity to the promptings of the Spirit, he was greatly favored of God. The Lord blessed him with the gift of interpreting dreams and visions. This endowment soon made him an object of greater attention from the emperor, and he was raised to positions that enabled him to spend his life in service to the kings of the land. He became the Lord’s minister to those rulers. He was made chief of the wise men, chancellor of the equivalent of a national university, ruler of all the Hebrew captives, and, as governor of the province of Babylon, one of the chief rulers in both the Babylonian and Persian Empires. Though at times his life was endangered because of the jealousy of evil men, yet he lived so perfectly that the Lord continually protected and preserved him.” [Old Testament Student Manual; 1 Kings––Malachi, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2003, Page 297].
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Daniel’s Answer to the King, by Briton Riviere.
This is how the great 19th century theologian, Adam Clarke described this great prophet.
“He had served five kings: Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-merodach, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus. Few courtiers have had so long a reign, served so many masters without flattering any, been more successful in their management of public affairs, been so useful to the states where they were in office, or have been more owned of God, or have left such an example to posterity.” (Clarke, Adam. Commentary on the Bible, 1829, vol 4, page 327)
“The reputation of Daniel was so great, even in his lifetime, that it became a proverb. "Thou art wiser than Daniel," said Ezekiel ironically to the king of Tyre, Ezekiel 28:3; and by the same prophet God ranks him among the most holy and exemplary of men, when he declares, speaking relative to Jerusalem, which had been condemned to destruction, "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own lives by their righteousness," Ezekiel 14:14, Ezekiel 14:20.” (Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1829, vol 4, page 297)
Daniel Refusing the King’s Meat and Wine, by Del Parson
Spencer W. Kimball describes how it was Daniel’s purity of faith that brought him his earthly success as well as his gifts of revelation and interpretation of dreams.
“The gospel was Daniel’s life. . . . In the king’s court, he could be little criticized, but even for a ruler he would not drink the king’s wine nor gorge himself with meat and rich foods. His moderation and his purity of faith brought him health and wisdom and knowledge and skill and understanding, and his faith linked him closely to his Father in heaven, and revelations came to him as often as required. His revealing of the dreams of the king and the interpretations thereof brought him honor and acclaim and gifts and high position such as many men would sell their souls to get.” (Kimball, Spencer W. In Conference Report, Mexico and Central America Area Conference 1972, p. 31.)
The first-century Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, describes Daniel as one of the great prophets. Josephus also says that Daniel wrote several books and conversed with God.
“…it is fit to give an account of what this man did, which is most admirable to hear, for he was so happy as to have strange revelations made to him, and those as to one of the greatest of the prophets, insomuch, that while he was alive he had the esteem and applause both of the kings and of the multitude; and now he is dead, he retains a remembrance that will never fail, for the several books that he wrote and left behind him are still read by us till this time; and from them we believe that Daniel conversed with God; for he did not only prophesy of future events, as did the other prophets, but he also determined the time of their accomplishment. And while prophets used to foretell misfortunes, and on that account were disagreeable both to the kings and to the multitude, Daniel was to them a prophet of good things, and this to such a degree, that by the agreeable nature of his predictions, he procured the goodwill of all men; and by the accomplishment of them, he procured the belief of their truth, and the opinion of [a sort of] divinity for himself, among the multitude. He also wrote and left behind him what made manifest the accuracy and undeniable veracity of his predictions…” (Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews. Translated by Whiston, William, Kregel Publications, 1973. Book I, Book X, chapter XII, page 227, para. 7)
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Conclusion
When Daniel was a youth, he experienced the sack of Jerusalem and the ignominy of exile and forced servitude that was common in ancient times when a people was conquered by another. Did this dispirit the youth or turn him against the God he worshiped? No. Through all the trials he faced in his long life, Daniel kept the covenants he made with God and continued to follow the commandments of God. Daniel never wavered in his dedication to God even through the many trials of jealousy, resentment, bigotry, and murderous conspiracies he faced in the dangerous intrigue of palace life.
In return God blessed Daniel with inspiration and revelation, and through him blessed the lives of the Jews that lived with him in exile. I dare say that the future Israelites who would face even more devastation, death, and exile in 70 AD by the Romans would look to Daniel’s example of how to live a covenant life and prosper while living among the gentile nations who hated them. Daniel was truly one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament.
Note: From Daniel 2:4 to 7:28, the book is written in Aramaic. Daniel 1:1 to 2:3, then 8:1 to 12:13 are written in Hebrew.
JK Sellers
See also:
The Prophecies of Daniel: Part 1, The Historical Setting
The Prophecies of Daniel: Part 3, Daniel and Alexander the Great.
The Prophecies of Daniel: Part 4. Chapter 9, 70 Weeks-The Coming of the Messiah.
The Prophecies of Daniel: Part 5. Chapter 2 Nebuchadnezzar's Image.
The Prophecies of Daniel: Part 6. Chapter 7, Daniel's Four Beasts.
The Prophecies of Daniel: Part 7. Chapter 8, The Ram, Goat and the Little Horn.
The Prophecies of Daniel: Part 8. Chapters 10-12, The Wars of the Kings of the North and the South.
The Prophecies of Daniel Part 9. Daniel's Fourth Beast was not Rome. It was the Seleucid Empire.