Daniel~ a man who stood faithful in the face of tests and death

The next picture we see here is that of Daniel. Daniel was a great man of faith who stayed faithful even when those around him tried to steer him away from his walk with God. Let us take a closer look at this great man, shall we?

When King Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem during the reign of King Jehoiakim, he was took back to Babylon some of the vessels of the house of God, and had them put into the house of his false god. Then the King had Ashpenaz, the master of the his eunuchs, bring men who were healthy, smart, & knowledgeable in science. Among these men there was taken four faithful men. These men were none other than Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were given new names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. With them was a young man named Daniel.

These men was put to test many times in this strange land that didn't worship the one true God and had customs that went against their beliefs. Yet they stood faithful to their God. For example when they were given food that would go against following the diet that God had told his people to follow, they choose to stay true to it (Dan. 1:6-21). In this we see that they had self-control.  When King Nebuchadnezzar had an idol that looked like him made and had everyone bow down to it. Daniels 3 friends did not do so and ended up being put into a fiery furnace, but God spared their lives (Dan. 3).

Like his friends, Daniel stayed faithful to God. What helped him do this is because he talked with God daily. We see him faithfully praying to God three times a day even when a law was made that said not to pray to anyone else but King Darius for 30 days, or be thrown into a lions den. God honored Daniel's faithfulness by keeping the lions from eating him (Dan. 6).He was also a man of courage as he was not afraid to stand on his beliefs Dan. 1:8; 6), as well as speak the truth to the Kings when they asked him (Dan.2; 4; 5).

I believe that God let Daniel know the future and gave him prophecies of the future of God's people, because of his faithfulness to God (Dan. 7-12).   Evenwhen Ezekiel prophecied of the judgement of God's people, he spoke of how God would deliver Daniel because of his righteousness (Ez.14:14).