by God does reward his faithful and obedient children, but are we ‘seeing’ those rewards? Sometimes they might not be what we think a reward should be.
Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”
I have to go on a mini-rabbit trail for a brief moment to further explain Daniel’s reward. Our bodies are not for us to do as we please with them. A Christian can’t do what she wants with her body. We are “bought with a price” as noted in 1 Corinthians 6:20. We must abstain from sins that defile our bodies. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, and we drag him into everything we do.
Daniel decided he wasn’t going to drag his Saviour into the sins of eating and drinking things that would defile his body. He didn’t do it for God to reward him – he just did it because it was the right thing to do.
It is always the right thing to obey our Heavenly Father.
So how did God reward Daniel and his friends?
Daniel 1:17 “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.”
God rewarded their obedience with wisdom.
Daniel got an extra reward of being able to interpret dreams. I wonder if when Daniel discovered he could interpret dreams did he think, “That is strange. What good will this talent/reward do me?” Little did he know what God had instore for him in the future and being able to interpret dreams was going to be a huge blessing for Daniel.
Yes, God rewards his children but sometimes in ways we may not see or understand. But God has a reason for everything in his ultimate plan to see souls saved. After some events in the book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar had this to say about Daniel’s God.
Daniel 3:28-29 “…Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.”
Daniel 4:37 “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.”
I think we can say King Nebuchadnezzar will be in heaven someday. Is it totally because of Daniel and his friends’ obedience?
No!
It was because of their rewards for their obedience and their obedience to use their rewards to glorify God.
God knew what reward he had to give Daniel and his three friends. He knew he could depend upon them to be obedient to him. Since God could depend upon these men to be obedient, he could give them unusual rewards of wisdom and dream interpreting because God knew it would lead to miraculous things being done in Babylon.
These men did not obey God because they sought a reward. They obeyed because it was the right thing to do regardless of their physical comfort. They could have fared sumptuously on the King’s food and wine. But they choose not to be physically comfortable and to live with the food and water they knew God would want them to eat and drink.
History Lesson Time:
Let’s explore a bit of history. Daniel lives through King Nebuchadnezzar and then his son King Belshazzar. I think it interesting that Daniel’s Babylonian name was Belteshazzar. King Belshazzar wasn’t as familiar with Daniel as his father had been. He wasn’t aware of Daniel’s wisdom and talent of interpreting dreams because when Belshazaar had his dream other people had to tell him this:
Daniel 5:11 “There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezaar thy father, the king, I say, they father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers:”
Daniel is called in again and interprets King Belshazzar’s dream. Daniel is promoted in the kingdom:
Daniel 5:29 “Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
In the same night King Belshazzar is slain and King Darius steps onto the scene.
This is the King that has Daniel thrown into the lion’s den. So, I’ll save time here with that story.
But what we will focus on again is the impact that Daniel had in Babylon because of his continued obedience to God; specifically, his obedient prayer life. Daniel’s impact was great in Babylon way before the lion den event, because when he is thrown in, King Darius has this to say, “… Thy god whom thous servest continually, he will deliver thee.” Daniel 6:16
I had something similar said to me once on a commercial airline flight into Florida. It was night; we couldn’t land because of a horrible storm with lightening flashing all around us. The plane circled and circled the airport waiting for clearance to land. A lady whom I was sitting next to had this to say, “Oh we are not going to crash. I can tell. God isn’t finished with you yet. We will be fine.” She was very confident in what she said. She sat back and relaxed during the storm. That was a sombering thought to realize the my 2 hour testimony had had such an impact on a complete stranger.
Back to Daniel:
While Daniel was in the lion’s den, King Darius can’t sleep all night but in the early morning went to the lion’s den. Daniel is alive and King Darius now has this to say to his kingdom:
Daniel 6:26 “I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men treble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.”
Then:
Daniel 6:28 “So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”
In Summary:
Because God could depend on Daniel to be continually obedient, God gave him an unusual reward of wisdom and dream interpreting.
The Results (I discussed with my husband):
- King Nebuchadnezzar is probably saved and in heaven today.
- His son King Belshazzar could be saved, but there isn’t enough scripture to say a definite ‘yes’. But given the Father’s stand and what all King Belshazzar was exposed to through Daniel’s life, probably.
- King Darius possibly saved as well because of his stand in verse 6:26 above.
- King Cyrus possibly saved as well. Daniel 6:28 says Daniel prospered under his reign as also. Ezra 1:2 says, “Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, the LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth…” Cyrus acknowledged everything he had was because of God.
- And only God knows of all the inhabitants of each kingdom that were saved as a result of the several Kings acknowledging the true God to the inhabitants of their kingdoms.
Wow, how many people were really saved because of Daniel and his friends’ continued obedience and Daniel’s use of an unusual reward/talent from God – dream interpreter? Only God knows.
How many people are saved as a result of our continued obedience to God and our use of what could be an unusual reward/talent in our lives?
Clip art free from: https://www.freebibleimages.org/
