“Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.” Daniel 6:4-5
The excellent services and integrity of Daniel soon became a barrier to the ambitions of the princes and presidents with whom he was associated. Daniel’s integrity made impossible for any corruption, and his favor with Darius aroused the jealousy of his fellow officials. It was only natural under these circumstances that these men, most of them probably much younger than Daniel and anxious to get ahead, should try to find some means of disposing of Daniel. Daniel’s faithfulness was such that they could not put their finger on any error or fault in the execution of his office. Some other method must be found if Daniel was to be eliminated. The men themselves came to the conclusion that the only way they could trip up Daniel was to provide a conflict between official regulations and Daniel’s conscience and observance of the law of God.
They checked all of the things he had done, every single memo he had ever written. They dogged him, bugged his rooms, and had the Medo-Persian FBI follow every lead. They were burning with rage and envy. Finally, one of the conspirators came up with a brilliant idea. “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God” (Dan. 6:5). The governors broke into applause and congratulated each other on this skillful maneuver.
We can use the metaphor introduced by the apostle John to describe Daniel’s presence in Persia. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:5) Jesus came into a dark world as the Light, and the darkness did everything it could to snuff out that light. In a similar way, Daniel, by virtue of God’s blessing and his irreproachable character, was a beacon of light amid the pagans that governed the Medo-Persian Empire. Daniel represented an obstacle to those who wanted to profit from their positions through unethical means. We must be the light in the world.