Scripture Reading: Dan. 1—6
Ⅰ
The principle of the Lord's recovery is seen with "Daniel and his companions" (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah), as overcomers who were absolutely one with God in their victory over Satan's devices—Dan. 2:13, 17; cf. Rev. 17:14; Matt. 22:14:
A
In his devilish tempting of Daniel and his companions, Nebuchadnezzar changed their names, which indicated that they belonged to God, to names that made them one with idols—Dan. 1:6-7.
B
The name Daniel, meaning "God is my Judge," was changed to Belteshazzar, meaning "the prince of Bel," or "the favorite of Bel"—Isa. 46:1.
C
The name Hananiah, meaning "Jah has graciously given," or "favored of Jah," was changed to Shadrach, meaning "enlightened by the sun god."
D
The name Mishael, meaning "Who is what God is?" was changed to Meshach, meaning "Who can be like the goddess Shach?"
E
The name Azariah, meaning "Jah has helped," was changed to Abed-nego, meaning "the faithful servant of the fire god Nego."
Ⅱ
Daniel and his companions were victorious over the demonic diet—Dan. 1:
A
Nebuchadnezzar's devilish temptation was first to seduce the four brilliant young descendants of God's defeated elect, Daniel and his three companions, to be defiled by partaking of his unclean food, food offered to idols.
B
For Daniel and his companions to eat that food would have been to take in the defilement, to take in the idols, and thus to become one with Satan— cf. 1 Cor. 10:19-21.
C
When Daniel and his companions refused to eat Nebuchadnezzar's unclean food and chose instead to eat vegetables (Dan. 1:8-16), in principle they rejected the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (cf. Gen. 3:1-6) and took the tree of life, which caused them to be one with God (cf. 2:9, 16-17).
D
The Lord's recovery is the recovery of the eating of Jesus for the building up of the church—vv. 9, 16-17; Rev. 2:7, 17; 3:20.
E
We can eat Jesus by eating His words and by being careful to contact and be with those who call on Him out of a pure heart—Jer. 15:16; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Cor. 15:33; Prov. 13:20.
Ⅲ
Daniel and his companions were victorious over the devilish blinding that prevents people from seeing the great human image and the crushing stone as the divine history within human history—Dan. 2:
A
The corporate Christ as the stone and the mountain, the Bridegroom with His bride, the corporate man of God with the breath of God, will crush and slay Antichrist and his armies by the breath, the sword, of His mouth—vv. 34-35, 44-45; 2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 19:11-21; Gen. 11:4-9; cf. Isa. 33:22.
B
Christ, as the living and precious stone, foundation stone, cornerstone, and topstone of God's building, infuses us with Himself as the preciousness to transform us into living and precious stones for His building—1 Pet. 2:4-8; Isa. 28:16; Zech. 3:9; 4:7, 9-10.
Ⅳ
Daniel and his companions were victorious over the seduction of idol worship—Dan. 3; cf. Matt. 4:9-10:
A
Whatever is not the true God in our regenerated spirit is an idol replacing God; whatever is not in the spirit or of the spirit is an idol—1 John 5:21.
B
The enemy of the Body is the self that replaces God with its self-interest, self-exaltation, self-glory, self-beauty, and self-strength; in and for the Body we deny the self and do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord—Matt. 16:24; 2 Cor. 4:5.
C
Daniel's companions had a true spirit of martyrdom; they stood for the Lord as the unique God and against idol worship at the cost of their lives, being thrown at the command of Nebuchadnezzar into a blazing furnace—Dan. 3:19-23.
D
When Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, he saw four men walking in the midst of the fire (vv. 24-25); the fourth one was the excellent Christ as the Son of Man, who had come to be with His three suffering, persecuted overcomers and to make the fire a pleasant place in which to walk about.
E
The three overcomers did not need to ask God to deliver them from the furnace (cf. v. 17); Christ as the Son of Man—the One who is qualified and capable of sympathizing with God's people in everything (Heb. 4:15-16)— came to be their Companion and take care of them in their suffering, by His presence making their place of suffering a pleasant situation.
Ⅴ
Daniel and his companions were victorious over the covering that hinders people from seeing the ruling of the heavens by the God of the heavens—Dan. 4:
A
As those who have been chosen by God to be His people for Christ's preeminence, we are under God's heavenly rule for the purpose of making Christ preeminent—vv. 18, 23-26, 30-32; Rom. 8:28-29; Col. 1:18b; 2 Cor. 10:13, 18; Jer. 9:23-24.
B
"He is able to abase those who walk in pride"—Dan. 4:37b.
Ⅵ
Daniel and his companions were victorious over the ignorance concerning the result of the debauchery before God and the insult to His holiness—ch. 5:
A
Belshazzar's taking the vessels that were for God's worship in His holy temple at Jerusalem and using them in worshipping idols was an insult to God's holiness (v. 4); he should have learned the lesson from Nebuchadnezzar's experience (4:18-37); however, he did not learn the lesson and suffered as a result (5:18, 20, 24-31).
B
"An excellent spirit and knowledge and insight, and the interpretation of dreams, the declaring of riddles, and the resolving of problems [lit., knots] were found in this Daniel"—v. 12a.
C
"You…, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this; but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of the heavens; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and of gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see nor hear nor know. But the God in whose hand is your breath and to whom all your ways belong, you have not honored"—vv. 22-23, cf. v. 20.
Ⅶ
Daniel and his companions were victorious over the subtlety that prohibited the faithfulness of the overcomers in the worship of God—ch. 6:
A
The center of Daniel 6 is man's prayer for the carrying out of God's economy; Daniel depended on prayer to do what man could not do and to understand what man could not understand; there is no other way to bring God's economy into fullness and into fulfillment except by prayer; this is the inner secret of this chapter.
B
Daniel prayed three times daily with his windows open toward Jerusalem; through his gracious prayer God brought Israel back to their fathers' land (v. 10; cf. 1 Kings 19:12, 18); God will listen to our prayer when our prayer is toward Christ (typified by the Holy Land), toward the kingdom of God (typified by the holy city), and toward the house of God (typified by the holy temple) as the goal in God's eternal economy—8:48-49.
Morning Nourishment
Dan. 1:3-4 Then the king told…the chief of his eunuchs to bring some of the sons of Israel,…children in whom was no defect, who were good in appearance, who showed insight in all wisdom, understanding in knowledge, and apprehension in thought, and in whom was the ability to stand in the king’s palace…7 And the leader of the eunuchs gave them names…
The book of Daniel has just two sections. The first section, comprising chapters 1 through 6, concerns the victory, in their captivity, of the young descendants (including Daniel) of God’s degraded elect over Satan’s further devices. This victory was over the demonic diet (1:3-21); over the devilish blinding that prevents people from seeing the great human image (the totality of human government throughout human history) in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (ch. 2); over the seduction of idol worship (ch. 3); over the covering that hinders people from seeing the ruling of the heavens by the God of the heavens (ch. 4); over the ignorance concerning the result of the debauchery before God and the insult to His holiness (ch. 5); and over the subtlety that prohibited the faithfulness of the overcomers in the worship of God (ch. 6).
In his devilish temptation of Daniel and his companions, Nebuchadnezzar also changed their names, which indicated that they belonged to God, to names that made them one with the idols. The name Daniel, which means “God is the Judge,” or “God is my Judge,” was changed to Belteshazzar, meaning “the prince of Bel,” or “the favorite of Bel” (Isa. 46:1). The name Hananiah, which means “Jah has graciously given,” or “favored of Jah,” was changed to Shadrach, meaning “enlightened by the sun god.” The name Mishael means “Who is what God is?” but his name was changed to Meshach, meaning “Who can be like the goddess Shach?” The name Azariah, which means “Jah has helped,” was changed to Abed-nego, meaning “the faithful servant of the fire god Nego.” (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 6, 10-11)
Today’s Reading
The captivity to Babylon was the utter destruction of the testimony of God’s elect in the worship of the unique God, Jehovah, by the carrying of some of the vessels of the temple of God into the land of Shinar and their being put into the temple of idols (2 Chron. 36:6-7).“The king told Ashpenaz, the chief of his eunuchs, to bring some of the sons of Israel, including some from the royal seed and from the nobility…” (Dan. 1:3- 4). Among such sons of Israel were some young overcomers whom God used to gain the victory over Satan’s devices. Satan might have thought that God had been defeated and that on earth there no longer was the worship of God. The elect of God had been defeated, and God’s purpose on earth had suffered loss. However, God was not disappointed, for He still had some overcomers—Daniel and his companions. In His sovereignty He had arranged for these young people to be taken to Babylon, where they were His overcomers.
In principle, all the temptations that come to us are related to eating. Nebuchadnezzar’s devilish temptation was first to seduce Daniel and his three companions, the four brilliant young descendants of God’s defeated elect, to be defiled by partaking of his unclean food, food offered to idols… To Daniel, that choice food was actually the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That tree is something attached to Satan and even one with Satan, but the tree of life is something attached to God and one with God. To eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is to become attached to Satan; to eat of the tree of life is to become attached to God. When Daniel and his companions refused to eat Nebuchadnezzar’s unclean food and chose instead to eat vegetables, they were actually rejecting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and taking the tree of life. Thus, even in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace there were the two trees. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 8-10)
Further Reading: Life-study of Daniel, msgs. 1—2
Morning Nourishment
Dan. 1:8 But Daniel set his heart not to defile himself with the king’s choice provision and with the wine that the king drank, so he requested of the leader of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.16 Therefore the steward withheld their portion of the choice provision and the wine that they were to drink and gave them vegetables.
The choice food was defiling, not clean, for it had been offered to Nebuchadnezzar’s gods. For Daniel and his companions to eat that food would have been to take in the defilement, to take in the idols, and thus to become one with Satan. If they had done this, God would have been finished and would have had nothing on earth for Himself and His interest. Then Satan could have boasted and said, “God, You have been completely defeated. You have nothing on earth to represent You and to be one with You.” God had been defeated in His elect. Now if their descendants in the captivity, the younger generation, had followed in the steps of their fathers, God would have been fully defeated. But Daniel and his companions were for God. They were attached to God, they cleaved to God, and they were one with God because they took God in.
To eat Nebuchadnezzar’s choice food is to take Satan as our supply and to become one with Satan. I am concerned that you may be eating the choice food provided for you by today’s Nebuchadnezzar. If we are careless in our eating, in our shopping, in where we go, and in what we do, we may take in something related to idols, something demonic. We are what we eat. If we eat godly food—that is, if we eat God-food, God as our food—we will be one with God. (Life-study of Daniel, p. 10)
Today’s Reading
[In Daniel 1 we first see] the figure of a fighting, overcoming general, Nebuchadnezzar, who has just returned from Jerusalem to Babylon with many captives following behind him. Second, we see four brilliant young men among the captives. Third, these young men are specially chosen from among the captives and then presented with the king’s choice food. Fourth, they set their hearts to keep themselves for God, and they reject the royal food and eat vegetables only. Nevertheless, the four become very pleasant, happy, and healthy. Then as a result, God’s presence, wisdom, and insight are with them, and they can understand things ten times better than all the others in Nebuchadnezzar’s realm. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 33-34)In Revelation 2 and 3 there are seven epistles directly from the Lord Jesus to the churches. At the end of each epistle there is a promise…These promises are not only for the future but also for today…Surely we will eat the tree of life in the future, because Revelation 22 tells us so, but we can also enjoy the tree of life today. The Bible has a principle that whatever will be there as the full taste, we have today as the foretaste. We can eat of the tree of life, the hidden manna, and the feast today.
The entire Bible is [consistent] with the matter of eating to produce the building. Even in Genesis 2 there is the revelation of eating the tree of life… The Lord’s recovery is the recovery of the eating of Jesus for the building up of the church. This is not only for this age but also for eternity…We need to eat Jesus to grow, to be transformed, and to be built together. Then we will have the building of the church.
By this way the Lord is going to fulfill His prophecy regarding the building up of the church. This prophecy is fulfilled by eating Jesus…Eating keeps the oneness. Eating builds up. If you are divisive, that means you are wrong in the matter of eating. If you are right in the matter of eating, surely you will be united and even uniting. You will be the ones who are built and who are building others. When will the Lord build His church? Now! How will the Lord build His church? By our eating Jesus! (CWWL, 1972, vol. 3, “The Greatest Prophecy in the Bible and Its Fulfillment,” pp. 483-484, 486-487)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1957, vol. 3, “Men Who Turn the Age,” chs. 1—3
Morning Nourishment
Dan. 3:17-18 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the blazing furnace of fire, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image that you have set up.23 And these three men…fell into the midst of the blazing furnace of fire
bound up.
In Daniel 3 Satan’s strategy was to seduce the young overcomers among God’s defeated elect in the worship of idols through Nebuchadnezzar’s blindness (vv. 1-7). Nebuchadnezzar made a great image of gold, sixty cubits (ninety feet) in height, and set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon (v. 1)…Nebuchadnezzar sent word to assemble the high officials and all kinds of officers and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that he had set up, and he commanded all the peoples, nations, and languages to worship his golden image (3:2-5). Whoever did not fall down and worship was to be thrown into the midst of a blazing furnace of fire (v. 6).
Daniel’s three companions, the young overcomers among the Jewish captives, stood against the devilish worship and were accused by the Chaldeans (vv. 8-12). The Chaldeans were jealous of Daniel and his companions and took their refusal to worship the golden image as grounds to accuse them before Nebuchadnezzar. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 27-28)
Today’s Reading
Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, tempted the young overcomers by giving them another chance to worship his golden image, with the threat of throwing them into a blazing furnace of fire (Dan. 3:13-15).The three overcomers answered, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the blazing furnace of fire, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king” (v. 17). Their response to Nebuchadnezzar was impolite and very bold (vv. 16-18). Yet there was still something of the natural thought in their response. They said that God was able to deliver them from the blazing furnace. Actually, God did not need to deliver them from the furnace. He kept them in the furnace and made the fire of no effect (v. 25).
Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the countenance of his face was changed toward the young overcomers. He commanded that the furnace be made seven times hotter than usual, and that certain mighty men in his army bind the overcomers and throw them into the blazing furnace of fire (vv. 19- 21). The mighty men were slain by the flame of the fire, and the three young overcomers fell into the blazing furnace of fire bound up (vv. 22-23).
Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and said to his counselors, “Did we not throw three men into the midst of the fire bound up?…Look, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not harmed. And the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods” (vv. 24-25). This fourth one was Christ. Christ had come to be with His three suffering, persecuted overcomers and to make the fire a pleasant place in which to walk about.
Our natural thought is that we need to leave the fire of our circumstances. We may think that if we have a troublesome husband or a bothersome wife, we should pray and ask God to deliver us out of such a situation. But the Lord would say, “I do not like to deliver you from this situation in your married life. Instead, I will keep you there, and I will come and make your environment a pleasant place.”
When the enemy throws us into the furnace, we should realize that we do not need to ask the Lord to deliver us. He will come to be with us and take care of us in our suffering, making our place of suffering a pleasant situation…As the Lord was with those suffering overcomers in Babylon, so He will be with us in our suffering today. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 28-30)
Further Reading: Life-study of Daniel, msgs. 3—5
Morning Nourishment
Dan. 4:34-35 …His dominion is an eternal dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation;…He does according to His will…; and there is no one who can resist His hand…37 Now I…praise and exalt and honor the King of the heavens, because all His works are truth and His ways justice, and because He is able to abase those who walk in pride.
In His economy God administrates the universe in order to fulfill His purpose. His purpose is to give Christ the preeminence in all things…Apart from God’s having a people, there is no way for Christ to be made preeminent.
As those who have been chosen by God to be His people for Christ’s preeminence, we are under God’s heavenly rule…Under God’s heavenly rule, everything is working together for our good (Rom. 8:28)…Our [personal] universe includes ourselves, our families, and the church. In our universe many things happen day by day for the purpose of making Christ preeminent. We need to realize this and be submissive to God’s heavenly rule. (Life-study of Daniel, p. 79)
Today’s Reading
The earth is under the rule of a heavenly administration. The heavens rule for us, and Christ is for us. Furthermore, we are under God’s heavenly rule for Christ. The purpose of the heavenly ruling is to complete God’s elect so that Christ may be preeminent, that He may be the first—the centrality— and everything—the universality. Because the heavens rule, Christ is with us in all our situations. When we are sick,…when we are in turmoil, He is with us.In [Daniel 4] Nebuchadnezzar, who continued to walk in pride, was abased by God. God exposed him and showed him that he was not a gentleman but a beast.
In his dream Nebuchadnezzar saw a great, strong, tall tree, beautiful in foliage, rich in fruit, and good for food. This tree signified Nebuchadnezzar himself (vv. 20-22). In his interpretation [of verse 23] Daniel explained…that the Most High had decreed that Nebuchadnezzar would be driven out from among mankind, dwell with the beasts of the field, be made to eat grass as bulls do, and lose his reasoning for a period of seven times, until he came to know that the Most High is the Ruler over the kingdom of men (vv. 24-25). Verse 26 goes on to say, “In that it was commanded that the stump of roots of the tree be left, your kingdom will be assured to you after you have come to know that the heavens do rule.”
After Daniel exhorted Nebuchadnezzar [v. 27], God gave him twelve months to repent. However, there was no repentance and no change. One day while the king was walking upon the roof of the royal palace in Babylon, he looked at the great city and was filled with pride, saying, “Is this not Babylon the great, which I have built up as a royal house by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” (v. 30). While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice came down from heaven, saying, “To you it is spoken, King Nebuchadnezzar: The kingdom has passed on from you” (v. 31). God would teach him to know that he was nothing and the mighty God, the Ruler over the kingdom of men, the One who gives the kingdom of men to whomever He wills, is everything.
According to his nature and his being, Nebuchadnezzar was not a man but a beast. For this reason his heart was changed from that of a man’s, and a beast’s heart was given to him (v. 16)…In that very hour he began to eat grass as bulls do, his body became wet with the dew, his hair grew like eagles’ feathers, and his nails became like birds’ claws (v. 33).
As indicated by his praise at the end of chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar surely had learned the lesson to be abased and know God. In chapter 3 he set up a golden image because he was very proud. Chapter 4 follows to teach him a great lesson. Although he acted like a gentleman, he was a beast. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 79-80, 35-39)
Further Reading: Life-study of Daniel, msg. 6
Morning Nourishment
Dan. 5:22-23 And you his descendant, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this; but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of the heavens;…you have praised the gods of silver and of gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone…But the God in whose hand is your breath and to whom all your ways belong, you have not honored.Belshazzar (a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar and a king of Babylon) made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and he drank wine before them (Dan. 5:1). Here we see Belshazzar’s debauchery before God. Debauchery is an overindulgence in eating and drinking for an adulterous purpose.
Belshazzar, under the influence of the wine, commanded men to bring the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his forefather had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, that he, his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them and praise the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone (vv. 2-4). They took the vessels that were for God’s worship in His holy temple at Jerusalem and used them in worshipping idols. That was an insult to God’s holiness. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 41-42)
Today’s Reading
At the very moment that they were drinking wine and praising their gods, the fingers of a man’s hand came forth and wrote opposite the lampstand upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace (Dan. 5:5a). When Belshazzar saw that part of the hand that wrote, his countenance changed and his thoughts alarmed him (vv. 5b-6). The joints of his hips loosened and his knees began to knock together. He was a threatened man and had no peace to drink, no peace to continue his debauchery.Before reading the writing and interpreting it, Daniel reminded Belshazzar of the experience of Nebuchadnezzar recorded in chapter 4. Daniel regarded what happened to Nebuchadnezzar as a lesson not only for Nebuchadnezzar but also for all his descendants. For this reason Daniel referred Belshazzar to his forefather’s lesson in a rebuking tone. Nebuchadnezzar had been severely disciplined by God and, after he had learned the lesson, offered praise to God. Belshazzar should have learned something from this lesson, but he did not care about it at all…Belshazzar was not expecting such a rebuke.
There is no indication in the record that Belshazzar repented or had some kind of change. Probably there was no time for him to repent. I believe that while Belshazzar and his lords were engaging in debauchery, the Median army was approaching the city. Soon after Daniel interpreted the writing, the Median army entered the city and the palace and killed Belshazzar. Thus, 5:31 concludes, “Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty- two.” That ended the Babylonian Empire.
In the first five chapters of Daniel, there are a number of lessons for us to learn. For instance, the lesson in chapter 1 is that we should not care for the worldly choice and the worldly taste but set our heart on God and have a taste only for vegetables, that is, for simple food. We should receive only simple things. If we do this, we will be one with God and will become wise.
In chapter 5 concerning the case of Belshazzar, we see the importance of being serious with God and not disregarding any spiritual lesson. Belshazzar did not benefit from the lesson learned by his forefather…This should warn us that our achievement may make us proud, and this may usher in God’s judgment. God’s judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar reduced him to nothing… (4:35). In verse 37 concerning the Lord, Nebuchadnezzar went on to say, “He is able to abase those who walk in pride.” Belshazzar should have learned the lesson from Nebuchadnezzar’s experience; however, he did not learn the lesson and suffered as a result. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 42-46)
Further Reading: Life-study of Daniel, msg. 7
Morning Nourishment
Dan. 6:10-11 …When Daniel came to know that the writing had been signed, he went to his house (in his upper room he had windows open toward Jerusalem) and three times daily he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, because he had always done so previously…These men assembled and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.Daniel 6 is very crucial because it shows us how God carries out His economy with His elect for Christ’s coming. God desires to carry out His economy, but man is needed to pray for His economy on earth. God carries out His economy on the earth through His faithful channels of prayer. Satan’s strategy is to frustrate the prayer that is for God’s move. Thus, the center of this chapter is man’s prayer for the carrying out of God’s economy.
God’s move is like a train, which must have rails for its move. Man’s prayers are like the rails that pave the way for God’s move to go on. There is no other way to bring God’s economy into fullness and into fulfillment except by prayer. This is the inner secret of this chapter. (Life-study of Daniel, p. 47)
Today’s Reading
In Daniel 6:4 through 9 we see the subtle attack of Satan on Daniel concerning the worship of God.Being jealous of Daniel, the chief ministers and satraps “sought to find a ground for accusation against Daniel from the perspective of the kingdom, but they could find no ground for accusation or fault, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or fault was found related to him” (v. 4). Therefore, the chief ministers and satraps, with the high officers of the kingdom, took counsel together that the king should establish a statute and make firm an edict that anyone who made a petition within the next thirty days to any god or man besides the king should be cast into the lions’ den (vv. 5-7)…The intention of the chief ministers and satraps was to destroy Daniel, but Satan, who was behind them, wanted to stop or cut off the channel of prayer God was using for the carrying out of His economy.
Verse 10 reveals Daniel’s faithfulness in the worship of God…He had read Jeremiah’s prophecy that the children of Israel would serve the king of Babylon for seventy years (9:2b; Jer. 25:11). Standing on this word, Daniel must have prayed many times for the fulfillment of this prophecy and for the return of the captives. He would not let anything stop or frustrate his prayer. He knew that his prayer was for the carrying out of God’s economy concerning His elect. Therefore, his prayer was a serious matter. Today prayer is the lifeline in the Lord’s recovery. The more Satan tries to frustrate our prayer, the more we should pray.
Daniel 6:25 through 28 reveals God’s victory over Satan in the worship of God on earth, even in a Gentile kingdom, through the overcomers in the captivity of His defeated elect. Daniel’s victory over the subtlety that prohibited the faithfulness of the overcomers in the worship of God was the last step of the victory over Satan’s devices. Without these overcomers, God would have been fully defeated by Satan, having nothing on earth for Himself.
When Satan sent Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the holy city with the temple in order to take away God’s worship and service, it seemed that God was defeated and that His interest, worship, and service on earth were destroyed. Yet under God’s sovereignty, four of the young men selected by Nebuchadnezzar to stand in the king’s palace became overcomers to keep God’s worship and service. God had four young overcomers living in the palace day by day, yet they were absolutely one with God. This was a shame to Satan and a boast to God…Today, as long as there are some overcomers on this earth, regardless of the number, God will have reason to boast. When God sees today’s overcomers standing on the ground of the church, He will be happy and pleased. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 48-52)
Further Reading: Life-study of Daniel, msg. 8