And he said to me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright: for to you am I now sent. ~ Daniel 10:11
Why was Daniel greatly beloved? An angelic being speaks those words to him on several different occasions in the book of Daniel.
In Ezekiel, God makes reference to Daniel, Noah, and Job as examples of the epitome of righteousness among mankind:
Son of man, when the land sins against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out my hand on it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine on it, and will cut off man and beast from it: Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, said the Lord GOD. ~ Ezekiel 14:13, 14
Noah. Daniel. Job. What was so noteworthy about these three men? Apparently, God thought they were special.
Noah was the eighth man from Adam. In such a short span of time, the earth was corrupted. Humankind was so wicked that they were in danger of killing each other off. So, God rescued the one man he found worthy of the breath in his nostrils, along with his family, and he destroyed the rest in the Flood (Genesis 6-9).
Noah is described as a “preacher of righteousness” in the New Testament (2nd Peter 2:5) The Greek word for preacher in this verse means a herald, proclaimer, crier, preacher. In other words, Noah proclaimed the truth, calling people to repent and turn back to God. For 100 years he worked on the construction of the ark, and it is likely that he preached – begged his countrymen to repent – that whole time.
When the flood waters subsided, and Noah and his family left the ark, the first thing he did was build an altar and sacrifice. Of all the animals in all the earth, the only ones that survived were the animals Noah and his family cared for that long year in the ark. They went into the ark with seven of each clean animal. That would have been the cattle, sheep, goats, deer, etc. As a goatherd, I know that only one male is needed for every dozen or so females, so I’m guessing that the “seven” of each clean animal was a male and six females, and by the time they came off the ark they probably had already given birth to their young.
Still, there were few animals at that point, and Noah could have chickened out – saved back those few to multiply. But instead, he believed God had everything under control and was well able to make sure those few multiplied into millions. He took some of these animals and offered them as a sacrifice to God, and it says that God was pleased. Noah believed God. He believed him when he told him a flood was coming. He believed him for 100 years while he built the ark. He believed him when he went in the ark and God closed the door. And he believed him when he started a new life in a new world.
The story of Job is one of those that many Christians superstitiously avoid reading, for fear God will do the same thing to them. (See the book of Job.) God brought Job to the attention of Satan (Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil?)
Now, why would God do that? Why would he intentionally direct Satan’s attention to that just man? It’s almost as if he gave the enemy permission to tempt Job.
Well, of course that’s what he did. God provoked Satan to attack Job – by God’s own admission, a “perfect and upright man.”
God did it.
God put his best man to the test. In the same way that a coach will put his best athlete to a task that no one else can do, or a drill sergeant will require more of his best recruit. The best receive the greatest test. Job surely was put to the hardest test imaginable. He lost his wealth. He lost his children. He lost his livestock and everything he had worked for all his life. He lost everything he owned, and in the end he lost even his health and the respect of his wife and friends. But Job never turned away from God. He trusted God, and God proved himself faithful. He restored what had been taken, and he honored this faithful servant before all people.
And Daniel? The man best beloved? What would you do if the Archangel Gabriel referred to you as “highly esteemed” and “most beloved?” What an honor! How did Daniel merit such an honor?
Daniel was just a boy when he was taken captive by the foreign armies that besieged Jerusalem and destroyed it. He was from a noble or royal family and was taken to the palace of the heathen king to be prepared for service at court.
Right off the bat, this young man stood his ground for God, asking that he and his companions be spared from eating the king’s food, preferring instead to eat only vegetables and drink only water, rather than be defiled by eating unclean things. And when the king determined to put all the wise men in the capital to death for not interpreting his dream, Daniel stood and asked the officer in charge to give him a few days to consult with his God and see if he might be able to interpret the dream. When he was successful in his interpretation, Daniel was elevated to a position of great authority in that foreign land.
Daniel served under many kings and distinguished himself in many ways, but a time came when he was put to the test. His jealous peers set him up, to be condemned by a king that actually had a great deal of respect for Daniel. This is the famous story of Daniel in the lion’s den. When the lions refused to attack Daniel, the king took him out and threw in his accusers, who were immediately ripped to pieces by the ferocious beasts.
“My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me,” Daniel said, “for as much as before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no hurt.”
Daniel was faithful – both to God and to the rulers that he served. He was courageous, standing by his God and his commands, even at the risk of his life. And he believed God was well able to save him.
These three great men of the Bible were real people. They were men we should admire and aspire to imitate. All three risked their lives, their liberty, and their reputation to honor God. Most of all, they believed God. They trusted God. And God honored that.
The Bible says that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Faith -- trust in God -- is the key.
Abraham was called the friend of God, and scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” God also put Abraham to the test – he asked him to sacrifice the child of laughter. But Abraham believed God loved him and loved his son, and he did not withhold even that precious thing from him.
In Titus 2:14 it says that Jesus gave himself for us that he might make for himself a people that are truly his. The New King James Version says it this way:
“…that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people.”
A peculiar people. I guess that’s what God is looking for – someone out of the ordinary. Someone who dares to believe that God means us good.
A man or woman who knows God and trusts him even to death can be one who is greatly beloved. We can, in God’s eyes, be highly esteemed. Are you willing to chance it?