God’s Word provides us with doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. Part of that is accomplished through the lives of Old and New Testament figures whose stories are told in the pages of the Bible.

From Adam and Eve to the apostles, we read of men and women whose stories are woven into that instruction. Most of those stories show the good, the bad and often the ugly. Even those God loved and used for his purposes were flawed. Noah did great things, but his story tells of a drinking problem. Abraham was flawed. He lied about his relationship with his wife Sarah, saying she was his sister.

Very few stories of godly men and women are all positive. But for a very few, God has chosen not to give us any negative sides to their stories. One such person was Daniel. Nowhere is he mentioned in a negative light. His frailties are not revealed to us. Why not? Was he perfect? Of course not. Let’s see if we can figure out why his frailties are not revealed.

Who was Daniel?

The first chapter of the book of Daniel tells us that after the fall of Jerusalem to King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was taken as a captive back to the king’s court. Commentaries tell us Daniel was still a teenager, probably about 17 or so. All those selected were to be gifted in wisdom, knowledge and wit. We can assume Daniel was all those things.

So, here we get into the first part of our quest to understand who Daniel was. He was an educated, intelligent Jew from Jerusalem—a teenager. His city had been besieged, conquered and its citizens led into captivity.

As a teen, how would you react to what happened to Daniel? Fear? Anxiety? Rebellion against the king? Perhaps a new sense of freedom? Would pride and vanity take over knowing that you were selected to serve the great Nebuchadnezzar?

Daniel didn’t react in any of these ways. “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8).

“So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ‘Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants.’ So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies” (Daniel 1:11-15).

This illustrates the wisdom of Daniel at a very young age, but also the desire to follow God regardless of the situation. God’s way came first. “As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams” (Daniel 1:17). Daniel wasn’t the only one who decided to follow God and His ways while in captivity.

“Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm” (Daniel 1:19-20).

They put God first and He blessed them with favor and wisdom. At the age of about 20, they were ten times better than ALL the magicians and astrologers in the realm—not just the other 20-year-olds.

The king’s troubled dream

“Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, ‘I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.’ Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, ‘O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.’ The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, ‘My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap’” (Daniel 2:2-5).

Nice guy. He wanted them to recount the dream and give its interpretation with the death penalty for failure. “However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation” (Daniel 2:6).

Daniel went in and asked the king for a little time. He then went to his friends and asked them to pray that God would give him the interpretation. There are times in our lives when we need to have the support of our friends to accomplish what might seem like impossible goals. As we build relationships in the Church, we can ask friends to pray for us as we go through trials.

Daniel had been part of the king’s advisors now for about a year. He was close enough to the king that he could go to him and talk to him, but his head was still on the chopping block like all the others. He was also very close to God. He had faith and God gave him the interpretation.

“But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these” (Daniel 2:28). This of course was the dream of the great image with the head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron with feet partly of iron and clay. God used this dream to reveal the future to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel and all of us.

As awesome as this was, the amazing part is that Daniel knew what the dream was about. Daniel used this opportunity to bear witness of God to the king of the world.

“The king answered Daniel, and said, ‘Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.’ Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king” (Daniel 2:47-49). Daniel, at the ripe old age of 21, became ruler over Babylon and chief administrator over the other advisors. Did this change Daniel? Did he become vain and puffed up?

What will your story tell?

Daniel went on to serve Nebuchadnezzar and at least three other kings into his old age. Not once do we read of him straying from his relationship with God, whether he was young or old. Throughout his life, we never see him get caught up in the society and culture of the world he lived in. There’s a lesson here for us.

We can have a successful life and career without becoming part of the godless society around us. We can resist mimicking societies’ styles, slang, music, etc., if they go against God’s commands.

At the beginning of this article, we saw that Daniel’s frailties were not revealed in his story. We sought the reason why. “And he said, ‘O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!’”(Daniel 10:19). In three separate passages, the archangel Gabriel told Daniel that he was a man greatly beloved—by God.

While we may never know why Daniel’s faults are not revealed to us, we do know that he was beloved by the great God of the universe. Surely, he had faults. But he was beloved by God, and his faults were not revealed to us. 1 Peter 4:8 tells us “love will cover a multitude of sins” (compare Proverbs 10:12). Could this be why God didn’t reveal any of his failings?

Whatever the reason might be, we see from Daniel’s example that following God’s way will give us His favor. And when God is for us, it doesn’t matter who tries to stand against us. That’s the story of Daniel, beloved of God.