Daniel: Humble Servant, Faithful God

The book of Daniel is a favorite for many of us, but what’s the message for us? Does it teach us to eat our vegetables? After all, Daniel refused to eat the king’s meat, opting for vegetables. Does it teach us how to tame lions? I hope not. The overarching message is of God’s sovereignty over the kingdoms of mankind, culminating in His establishment of his own Kingdom through his chosen servant, the Son of Man (Daniel 2:44, 7:13). This video will help you understand the structure and message of the book:

As we consider the message of the book, we must start with the setting. Israel had split into two nations: Israel to the north and Judah to the south. The northern nation had rebelled against the Lord, and he gave them over to the Assyrian empire. The southern nation was in a cycle of faithfulness and unfaithfulness, until their sin was such an offense to God that he sent Babylon to conquer them. Nebuchadnezzar took a large part of the population back to Babylon, especially the national leaders. This is where we find Daniel, a young man from the king’s court, possibly a royal, living in exile in Nebuchadnezzar’s court.

So the book brings up the question of how to live faithfully to God while in exile in a foreign land. This is an important question for us, as we live as foreigners, subjects of Christ in the kingdoms of men. This is where Jeremiah 29 (Please read this chapter in preparation for Sunday.) becomes an important text, where the prophet directs God’s people, exiles in Babylon, to pursue the welfare of the nation they are in. Daniel models a humble servant of the Lord living in exile. We’ll explore these two ideas in the book: humble servants of a faithful God.