356
Prophets and Kings
Heaven is very near those who suffer for righteousness’ sake.
Christ identifies His interests with the interests of His faithful people;
He suffers in the person of His saints, and whoever touches His chosen
ones touches Him. The power that is near to deliver from physical
harm or distress is also near to save from the greater evil, making
it possible for the servant of God to maintain his integrity under all
circumstances, and to triumph through divine grace.
[546]
The experience of Daniel as a statesman in the kingdoms of Baby-
lon and Medo-Persia reveals the truth that a businessman is not neces-
sarily a designing, policy man, but that he may be a man instructed by
God at every step. Daniel, the prime minister of the greatest of earthly
kingdoms, was at the same time a prophet of God, receiving the light
of heavenly inspiration. A man of like passions as ourselves, the pen
of inspiration describes him as without fault. His business transactions,
when subjected to the closest scrutiny of his enemies, were found to
be without one flaw. He was an example of what every businessman
may become when his heart is converted and consecrated, and when
his motives are right in the sight of God.
Strict compliance with the requirements of Heaven brings temporal
as well as spiritual blessings. Unwavering in his allegiance to God,
unyielding in his mastery of self, Daniel, by his noble dignity and
unswerving integrity, while yet a young man, won the “favor and tender
love” of the heathen officer in whose charge he had been placed.
Daniel
1:9
. The same characteristics marked his afterlife. He rose speedily to
the position of prime minister of the kingdom of Babylon. Through
the reign of successive monarchs, the downfall of the nation, and the
establishment of another world empire, such were his wisdom and
statesmanship, so perfect his tact, his courtesy, his genuine goodness
of heart, his 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.”
[547]
Honored by men with the responsibilities of state and with the se-
crets of kingdoms bearing universal sway, Daniel was honored by God
as His ambassador, and was given many revelations of the mysteries
of ages to come. His wonderful prophecies, as recorded by him in
chapters 7 to 12 of the book bearing his name, were not fully under-
stood even by the prophet himself; but before his life labors closed, he
was given the blessed assurance that “at the end of the days”—in the