Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
| SEEING JESUS IN |
| Daniel |
| A Righteous Life |
| Daniel 6:13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” |
Those of the king’s court, buttering up the king, had him sign a decree of worship for the king, and then leveraged this specific decree into a weapon against a man they could find no dirt on.
Daniel was of such a stellar character these men, peers within the court of the king, those who rubbed shoulders with Daniel, or knew those who knew him, understood Daniel’s righteous living, his righteous character, his stellar relationship with the king and could only lay a trap out of His allegiance to the God of Israel.
Of course this is the lynchpin of all traps that the righteous “fall” into, and once fallen into, find the Lord is sufficient to provide the strength, the wisdom, the patience and the outcome that honors Him the greeatest.
For Daniel, this trap was known by him, yet he went home and did that which had moments ago had become illegal, to the point of a death sentence.
A righteous life is not a life that considers the outcome of an action, other than how it affects the God we worship.
Daniel’s obedience in his prayers are but a shadow of the complete obedience of the Savior, of His utter disregard of the consequences His decisions would have on His own earthly existence, seeking only of pleasing the God of Israel, His Father above.
One difference between Daniel and the Master is that Jesus actually described the manor of His death, the method His enemies would use to cause His death and the motivation of those who pursued His death.
Daniel may not have been surprised by these circumstances. Jesus actually described His entrance into death!
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