Lives of Great Men
41
charge he was. The same characteristics marked his life. Speedily he
rose to the position of prime minister of the kingdom. Throughout
the reign of successive monarchs, the downfall of the nation, and the
establishment of a rival kingdom, such were his wisdom and states-
manship, so perfect his tact, his courtesy, and his genuine goodness of
heart, combined with fidelity to principle, that even his enemies were
forced to the confession that “they could find none occasion nor fault;
forasmuch as he was faithful.”
Daniel 6:4
.
While Daniel clung to God with unwavering trust, the spirit of
prophetic power came upon him. While honored by men with the
responsibilities of the court and the secrets of the kingdom, he was
honored by God as His ambassador, and taught to read the mysteries of
ages to come. Heathen monarchs, through association with Heaven’s
representative, were constrained to acknowledge the God of Daniel.
“Of a truth it is,” declared Nebuchadnezzar, “that your God is a God
of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets.” And Darius, in
his proclamation “unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell
in all the earth,” exalted the “God of Daniel” as “the living God, and
steadfast forever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed;”
who “delivereth and rescueth, and ... worketh signs and wonders in
heaven and in earth.”
Daniel 2:47
;
6:25-27
.
True and Honest Men
By their wisdom and justice, by the purity and benevolence of their
daily life, by their devotion to the interests of the people,—and they,
idolaters,—Joseph and Daniel proved themselves true to the principles
of their early training, true to Him whose representatives they were.
[57]
These men, both in Egypt and in Babylon, the whole nation honored;
and in them a heathen people, and all the nations with which they were
connected, beheld an illustration of the goodness and beneficence of
God, an illustration of the love of Christ.
What a lifework was that of these noble Hebrews! As they bade
farewell to their childhood home, how little did they dream of their
high destiny! Faithful and steadfast, they yielded themselves to the
divine guiding, so that through them God could fulfill His purpose.
The same mighty truths that were revealed through these men, God
desires to reveal through the youth and the children of today. The