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Daniel saw empires rise and fall around him, but one thing never changed: Daniel’s devotion to God. Daniel lived the eternal principles Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

1. The salt principle warns us against isolation. When the Jews arrived in Babylon as exiles, they were afraid, so they huddled together. In Jeremiah 29, God told them, (1) Move in and settle down. (2) Keep your identity as My people. Don't assimilate, but don't isolate. (3) Work and pray for the peace and prosperity of the city where I’ve sent you. Daniel was a perfect illustration of those instructions.

First, Daniel settled in with a secular job. In a very corrupt system Daniel was faithful, incorruptible, always responsible, and completely trustworthy; not negligent. As a result, he excelled and was promoted to the top in a pagan government. Secondly, everybody knew what he stood for. His windows were open when he prayed every day, three times a day, looking toward the city of God. Third, Daniel did not work for his own advancement or for his own people’s advancement, but for the peace and prosperity of the city.

Daniel was an example of salt. Salt, in ancient times, was a preservative. Salt was put in things to prevent decay. The salt principle affects what we do, how we do it, and where we do it. Salt does its best work in places where things are falling apart.

2. The hurt principle warns us against assimilation. If Christ-followers are different from the world, they should expect to be rejected by the world. Daniel succeeded because he didn’t compromise. Daniel’s excellence didn’t go unnoticed by the King—and it didn’t go unchallenged by the administrators.

The administrators were jealous of Daniel because he was about to be promoted, so they tried to dig up dirt on him. When they found none, they got more resentful, and their hostility grew.

The world cannot understand followers of Jesus. Don’t be offended. Jesus says it comes with a territory.

Miracle: God shut the mouths of the lions.

The miracles of the Bible point to two aspects of salvation:

(1) the salvation waiting for us in the future.
(2) the salvation that has been done for us already.

In the miracles, God is showing us what He wants the world to be like, what he originally wanted the world to be like, and what he's going to make the world like again one day.

The lions in the den, their mouths shut, not a scratch on Daniel, are showing us that one day God is going to fulfill Isaiah 11:6-7. “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with a goat, ….” The world will be restored. This is a foretaste of the Kingdom of God.

God doesn’t always deliver us from trials—sometimes He delivers us through them or in them. Sometimes the miracle is escape. More often than not, the miracle is endurance.

Because Jesus was the ultimate Daniel who went before the ultimate lions, because He received the punishment that we all deserved, we now can go into the lions’ dens of our lives with confidence.

3. The light principle. The administrators hated Daniel, but Darius loved him. Why? Because Daniel wasn’t just salt. He was light. He was attractive. He was beautiful in the way he lived.

If you follow the footsteps of Jesus, the ultimate Daniel, some people will really be mad at you; but others will fall in love with you and your God.

Study Questions

IN - PURSUE RELATIONSHIP

Share a dangerous situation, large or small, you experienced and how you came through it.
Describe a situation where it was difficult to choose between fitting in and doing what you knew was right. What made it challenging?

UP - PURSUE GOD

Read Daniel 6:1-10, 16-23; Matthew 5:11-16.

What are the character traits of both Daniel and his opponents? What got Daniel thrown to the lions?
How does Daniel remain engaged in Babylonian society without compromising his faith? What do we learn about being “salt” and “light”?

OUT - PURSUE MISSION

In what area of your life is God calling you to live more faithfully as “salt and light”? What would it look like to respond with greater courage, humility, and trust in Jesus?
Discuss with your group: In what situations do you find it most difficult to maintain your identity as a Christian? How can you pray for each other to take a stand?

Personal Reflection

What is stopping you from being salt and light in your circles of influence? What makes you afraid of opposition? Pray and ask God to give you courage and boldness to speak the truth with the love of Jesus despite any hurts.

The Word (NIV)

Daniel 6:1-10 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, ² with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. ³ Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. ⁴ At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. ⁵ Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”

⁶ So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! ⁷ The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. ⁸ Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” ⁹ So King Darius put the decree in writing.

¹⁰ Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Daniel 6:16-23 ¹⁶ So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

¹⁷ A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. ¹⁸ Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.

¹⁹ At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. ²⁰ When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

²¹ Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! ²² My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”

²³ The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Matthew 5:11-16 ¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

This Week's Writers: Elsa Henderson, Jorel Quemuel, Andy Ferdinand, Bruce McKay, Jem Ong, Sandi Somers, David McMillin