Daniel and the Cost of Discipleship
God’s people are aliens in the world. We are foreigners to the world system. We are sojourners through a land that is not our home. Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20), where our King is seated on the throne of God (Ps 110:1; Heb 1:3; 8:1; Rev 7:17).
Human government is subject to the authority of heaven’s dominion (Rom 13). King Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim 6:15). The Old Testament book of Daniel teaches us much about how God’s servants are to navigate the challenge of dual citizenship and allegiance.
As slaves of Christ (Eph 6:6), we serve our King as ambassadors of His kingdom in the kingdom of this world (2 Cor 5:20). The ruler of this world is Satan (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), the devil, who cares nothing for his subjects. In fact, it is the dark lord’s work to blind the minds of his slaves so they miss being set free by the Gospel light (2 Cor 4:4). Our task is to speak the truth in love to the citizens of this world (Eph 4:15). We declare and demonstrate our allegiance to Christ in service and worship, while behaving as good citizens in the nations we occupy.
Daniel was serving in King Darius’ Medo-Persian government, which took power when King Nebuchadnezzar’s idiot son, Belteshazzar, fumbled the Babylonian kingdom over to Darius the Mede. This was shortly after Belteshazzar had received it from his very capable father.
Daniel was very gracious toward those who served in the king’s court when he was young. Daniel and his friends had favor with Yahweh in a number of situations recorded in Daniel’s book. On each occasion, we see prejudice becoming a persecution of the Hebrews. The same was true for Esther and Mordecai.
It was Yahweh’s favor that exposed the malice of those opposed to the Jewish exiles. Daniel had divine favor with his nutrition regimen, dream interpretation, handwriting interpretation, and now his worship of Yahweh in Daniel chapter 6.
The opponents of God’s people conspired to harm Daniel using legal means. They produced a bill that required the king signing it into law. In essence, the statute prohibited Daniel’s regular routine of prayer to Yahweh, three times each day.
In their indictment of Daniel, they were also putting King Darius in a position of complying with his own law. The political threat was too great for Darius to exercise a “presidential pardon.” Instead, he was persuaded to follow the letter of the law of the Medes and Persians.
Daniel was truly valued by the emperor; but this was not enough to release him from the indictment, the prosecution, nor the judgment. Even with a friend in a very high place, Daniel was subject to an irrevocable injunction. It would take a miracle from Yahweh to preserve his life.
At times, Christians are arrested and jailed for their defiance of unjust laws. Changing the gender of a child is an abomination in the eyes of God; but certain governments have made it the law of their land. To protest such abusive practices toward children has landed Christians in jail. There is nothing new under the sun, that is, in this world of sin and rebellion toward Yahweh, the Most High God, and His Christ.
Those who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12). A God-pleasing life-style, marked by holiness, will draw the ire of the wicked. It is common for the wicked to run governments. The light of Christ shines in their darkness; but the darkness does not comprehend nor does it receive the message of Christ’s reign (Jn 1:10–11).
Conspirators will work together, even when they do not like one another, in order to take out a shared opponent. Pilate and Herod did this regarding Jesus. Opponents pursue a scenario that entices believers toward hypocrisy. Daniel would either prove to be a charlatan Jew; or he would pay the ultimate price of allegiance to Yahweh…death.
Daniel lived and worked above reproach for decades. His antagonists could find no corruption in his handling himself in government affairs. One might think this behavior would win the admiration of peers; but that logic does not work in a competitive world mired in sin. Daniel’s fellows in government displayed jealousy and envy. Their motive in attempting to entrap both Darius and Daniel was hatred.
Daniel’s public display of faith also shows us that we are not to hide our light under a bushel. Daniel was not ashamed of the personal relationship he enjoyed with Yahweh. This, of course, gives us an example to follow. Throughout the book of Daniel, we are encouraged to look for Jesus Messiah. Daniel and his friends prefigure Christ in the world. Daniel was not sinless; but Jesus was without sin (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15). He was the Holy One of Israel, in their midst. The Jews and the Gentiles hated Him without a cause. They did not want this man to rule over them. That was true for both Daniel and Jesus Messiah.
Men and women of God, in every age, experience the tension of life and ministry that is resisted by the godless. This must never deter us from declaring who we have placed out trust in.
We learn from the whole Scripture that faith is tested in a myriad of ways for us to see what kind it actually is in truth. Daniel went to the lion’s den for his faith and obedience. Jesus died on the cross at the hands of evil men. The apostles followed the example of the prophets, in suffering loss, even death, for the cause of the kingdom of Christ. Many saints today are positioned in the same place of tested allegiance.
The world will never be reformed from its penchant for evil doing, until it is finally judged on the last day. We should expect evil encroachments; and prepare for them by studying the book of Daniel and the life of Christ. In observing kings, government officials, and the behaviors of nations at enmity with Yahweh and Christ, let us never place our faith in the human government to which we are subject.
Christ demands our full allegiance; but He knows what it means to be in the world, while not being of it. Let us, therefore, pray like Daniel and Jesus that our God will be a very present help in our time of need.
Our lives are but a vapor here. There is a meaninglessness to any life apart from Christ; but blessed is the man who walks in Christ and whose faith is tested and proved to be gold, not dross. My dear reader, in the world you will have trouble, but Christ has overcome the world and so have you…by the faith He has given you to live for Him (1 Jn 5:4).
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
June 10, 2025
Daniel 6:1–15
