Daniel’s Dozen, Part 3: Friendship and Compassion

Years ago the communist government in China commissioned an author to write a biography of Hudson Taylor with the purpose of distorting the facts and presenting him in a bad light. They wanted to discredit the name of this consecrated missionary of the gospel. As the author was doing his research, he was increasingly impressed by Taylor’s saintly character and godly life, and he found it extremely difficult to carry out his assigned task with a clear conscience. Eventually, at the risk of losing his life, he laid aside his pen, renounced his atheism, and received Jesus as his personal Savior.

Whether we realize it or not, our example leaves an impression on others. Daniel’s certainly did.

We continue painting the portrait of what real, down to earth Christlikeness looks like by exploring these twelve godly traits of Daniel. They point us to Jesus, for what was true in Daniel was “a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Col. 2:17).

By way of review, Daniel pursued holiness in a very unholy place. He was in the world but not of the world. This took much wisdom, which God granted him, yet even at a young age, he was and remained humble throughout his life. One way he showed his humility was by being a loyal friend, number five on our list.

When the bad man Arioch came to execute the wise men and wise boys in training, Daniel wisely bought time. He then went to his dorm room and informed his three friends (see 2:17). When we are introduced to Daniel, his three friends are along side (see 1:6). The plan of veggies and water wasn’t for Daniel alone, but for the four of them (see 1:12) together.

After the prayer meeting, God granted Daniel extraordinary insight to know the dream and the interpretation. Daniel shares this with the king and he’s blown away, as you would expect, practically worshipping Daniel. Daniel was then greatly promoted, made wealthy and made ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon, most of whom were probably three times his age.

But he did not forget his friends. Daniel made sure they were appointed to positions of authority. This was both wise and friendly (see 2:49).

Daniel was no lone ranger. He was no, “what is in it for me” employee. His friends stood with him and he remembered them later, not letting the instant fame, fortune and power go to his head.

Proud people don’t generally have close friends because you can’t get to know them. Proud hearts won’t reveal weaknesses and sins, dreams and joys. This is especially true of guys, as we keep aloof from each other, competing with each other on basically everything, including who can appear to be the most spiritual.

Guys, we ought to pursue the closest of friendships with our wives. But after that, we need other men. Our friendships must ultimately be based on a shared common faith in Christ and a common direction of life and ministry for the essence of friendship is fellowship and light can not have fellowship with the darkness. We can befriend an unbeliever but we can’t be mutual and deep friends with an unbeliever.

If you haven’t lost a so called friend in following Christ, you haven’t been following Christ very long or very closely. It is an inevitable consequence of walking the narrow road with Christ and not the broad road to destruction. Servants of Satan can not be friends with servants of Christ, for you have nothing of ultimate worth or truth in common. We are to love unbelievers, not trust them.

But Daniel and his three friends had much in common. They shared a loyal friendship forged in the fires of captivity and a mutual resolve to honor God no matter what and a mutual humility of seeing their need for one another.

He was exiled with them, prayed with them, studied with them, learned together, matured together, worked together and sought each others best.

Being a friend and having friends is Christ-like because it takes humility, wisdom, time and selflessness. It takes being in the world but not of the world.

Discover the rich principles of friendship from these words of our Lord: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:12-15).

Daniel’s sixth godly trait was his remarkable compassion for his people. God gave him many visions of the future, both near and far, that pertained especially to the Jewish people. Though the story ends great, the process of getting there would include wave after wave of suffering under various monarchs, until Antichrist, the worst of all, nearly wipes them out.

As Daniel received these visions, he had strong reactions like distress, alarm, paleness, exhaustion, sickness and astonishment. Not only that, but the plight of future Jews he didn’t even know led him to mourn for three weeks and to fast from tasty food, meat and wine (cf. 7:15, 28; 8:27; 10:2-3).

Why such reaction? It all flowed from the springhouse of his compassion. What was coming upon the Jews tore him up. Yes he saw the end. Yes he knew and taught that God was in control. And yes he was comforted by their ultimate victory and salvation. But the process of getting there was literally gut-wrenching for this man of compassion.

A little over 500 years later another Jewish man with knowledge of what was coming upon the Jews in both the near and distant future stopped in His tracks when He saw the city of Jerusalem and wept over it “because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” His name was Jesus, the perfect model of friendship and compassion.