Daniel 1:17-20 English Standard Version

17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.

I am no Daniel. No one is as gifted as Daniel. The issue here is what God has gifted us above and beyond what is natural in our nature which is given to us to serve God.

Just as in the Babalonian exile our gifts will prove us to be more than the worldly. More isn’t better, that is judgment. More is a condition of having a God given gift meant to serve God. In that we must be obedient to His calling in order for those gifts to glorify God.

Possessing something that others do not does not make us superior. It only makes us different.

Why are we different? The obvious answer is we have paced our faith in Christ. That is not something that is obvious for the worldly. They will judge us by their own standards. We must not allow their judgment to interfere with our obedience of faith.

That is being like Daniel even if we do not have his most excellent gift.

Arguments for a late (2nd century BC) dating:

Anti-Prophetic Argument
One of the first people to dispute the traditional dating of Daniel was Porphyry, a pagan philosopher whose arguments have been preseved by Jerome. He argues that some of the prophecies in Daniel are so congruent to the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the book must have been written during his time (175-164 BC). (source The Stack Exchange)

Daniel’s prophecies were so accurate that scoffers declare it was written after all those prophecies were fulfilled.

Faith tells us otherwise. That is what is missing in the scoffers.

Faith in Christ makes all the difference.

Deuteronomy 16:20 English Standard Version (ESV) Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

This is a spiritual document and it is so hard in these present times to keep on track and avoid entering into the political arena. In order to achieve that, I can only address those portions of Scripture that lead us to understanding what is just, not political.

We can compare America to Israel spiritually. God was at the forefront of both adventures in history. American came about because people sought religious freedom and displaced the people who had possessed these lands for thousands of years. That is not political, that is historical.

The bible is full of history and we can learn from that history as it relates to God’s spiritual commands and man’s inability to keep His commands. There are consequences for both obedience and disobedience. One results in a blessing the other a curse.

If we look at what is just then we must accept that our consequences are tied to what God has said and if we can be obedient to keep God’s commands. The only difference between Israel and America is Christ, the Old Covenant vs the New Covenant. Consequences remain the same.

As long as we seek justice according to God’s standards of what is just, we will be blessed. Waiver from it and we will suffer the consequences. That is as much historical as it is spiritual. 

Israel as a nation suffered the consequences for disobedience and the bible shows us that. It was not the fault of the remnant that remained faithful to God but it was nationalistic. Daniel was faithful to God but was carried away to Babylon with all the others.

Being faithful to God has us in that same precarious situation, those of us that are faithful to God are being dragged along into history because of the disobedience of the nation.

Answering how that came about carries us into the politics which I must avoid.

So what are we to do? Remain faithful to our Lord and obey, just like Daniel did.