DANIEL'S EXCELLENT SPIRIT RECOGNIZED BY KING DARIUS.
WHEN the kingdom of Babylon passed out of existence, and the kingdom of the Medes and Persians took its place, King Darius, the Median, did not overlook Daniel. By some means in the transition of the dominion Daniel's wisdom and statesmanship and faithfulness were impressed upon the new administrator of universal empire. So, in the sixth chapter of the book of Daniel, we read that “it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; and over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first; that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was found in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.” Evidently the Spirit of God had endowed the king with a keen discernment and also with a courage of conviction, to place over his own influential countrymen a man who was only a captive of the conquered kingdom of Babylon. True, he was acting king when they came into possession of the kingdom, but even at that, the men who had been prominent in the victorious power would not expect to hold positions inferior to any of the conquered people, however high their station in the former government. The purpose of putting Daniel over all the princes631and other presidents in order that “the king should have no damage,” is not only a compliment to Daniel's honesty, but it shows a common trait of oriental princes, namely, a disposition to administer the affairs of their several provinces for their own personal advantage. They would collect all the revenue that they could with safety, in the name of the general government, and then withhold from the imperial treasury all that they dared to. In this way they would make enormous fortunes for themselves at the expense of the people and of the general treasury. It was the business of the three presidents to oversee and revise the financial administration of the provincial princes, and Daniel, as chief of the presidents, was in a position to hinder their accepting bribes from the princes to overlook their peculations. Generally speaking, oriental princes would not rest easy under a surveillance that materially restricted their dishonest practices. So it is not surprising that “the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom.” The fact that there were one hundred and twenty princes and two presidents, all skilled in the art of intrigue, engaged in this effort to pick some flaw in Daniel's administration, was a remarkable test of his ability, his honesty, his integrity. And it is a high tribute to his moral and political character that “they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful; neither was there any error or fault found in him.” Naturally men concerned in such a conspiracy would not readily give up the effort to find occasion against the object of their envy, just as the enemies of Christ pursued Him until they found pretext for His condemnation, altho the charges were sustained only by false witnesses. So Daniel's fidelity to truth was the very medium through which the princes decided that he could be caught in their trap. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Daniel's loyalty to the law of his God was known to these men, else they would not have conceived the scheme of entrapping him through that means. No doubt they understood that his resistance of the temptations that came to him to make private gain in conjunction with their plots was because the law of his God restrained him. Daniel would not be slow to make this fact known. We are not to suppose that this man who had been so richly endowed by the God of heaven would be a silent witness to the truth in the very country where his people had been sent to proclaim and exemplify it. It would be a grand impetus to Gospel work in our day if all professed representatives were so faithful to the principles of truth and righteousness that all their troubles in this world should be because of this characteristic. To this end the scripture enjoins us, “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” 1 Peter 4:14-16. This was the course pursued by Daniel, as is manifest by a further reading of the record. In another article we will note the trial of faith that came to him because of his fidelity to the law of his God.