A question. What are angels saying about you? Are you well known in heaven? C.S. Lewis teased this question in his Screwtape Letters when he wrote of a demon tasked with shepherding a man into hell—and how the demon failed. The storyline overlaps with Bible imagery from the book of Daniel that we’ll pursue below.
But first, the Bible is where God offers his point of view. It’s tangible, available, sometimes awkward, but always true. It speaks of a world that loves sin—mainly the evil of malignant self-interest. Think of political leaders today who portray good as evil and evil as good; and those who follow them. Of hypocrites who posture and pretend. The Bible warns against such careless arrogance. Against this backdrop Jesus is gathering his bride—a small but holy and blameless people who love him—and will ultimately dismiss all his enemies. Forever.
Within this aim the Holy Bible is full of unholy stories that expose evil at every turn. Only Noah walked with God in his day. And Elijah, with Elisha, battled tragic political leaders. Later, when Jesus—God’s one and only Son—entered humanity, the priests, religious leaders, and a Roman ruler united to kill him. Jesus, undeterred, came back to life for a time, then returned to heaven. His seemingly futile visit achieved God’s purpose to swallow death and to provide heaven and eternal life to his people—those united to Jesus in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.
One feature in the Bible narrative is Judah’s seventy-year exile in Babylon. The Judean people lost interest in receiving God as their God. So he confronted them. They were warned but they plugged their spiritual ears and tumbled into a tragic era as God’s temple was destroyed. Exiled Judean cities were repopulated by godless people. Bible writers—Jeremiah and Ezekiel among them—were broken hearted. While at the same time promising victory.
In this tragic period Daniel, an early Jewish exile in Babylon, became a spiritual star. He remained faithful to God even as he served as a regional administrator for his captors. With this status Daniel drew emperor Nebuchadnezzar toward, if not into, a real faith. This came after the king experienced personal chaos, as promised in a dream Daniel interpreted. The ruler later testified, “I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever” [Dan 4:34].
Daniel’s story shows how the natural-and-supernatural realms are overlapped realities. And ‘nature’—the world we experience each day—has a starring role in the Bible. In Ephesians 3:8-10, for instance, Paul wrote of how the church on earth displays God’s “manifold wisdom … to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” So that angels are paying close attention to God’s work among us.
Some people today who believe angels exist still view such beings are nearly godlike—beyond any capacity to learn or grow. But the Scriptures portray them as learning about God as they watch him work among humans. Peter said as much when he noted that Bible prophets shared “things into which angels long to look” [1 Peter 1:12].
There’s more. Job’s story tells us how God confronts angelic enemies. The book starts with God asking Satan what he thought of Job, a godly man. Satan’s cynical answer? Job only followed God because of the wealth, health, and success God gave him. In other words, Job’s sheltered life was a transactional balance of “good-for-good”—so Job was merely a moral puppet. God then allowed Satan to test this skeptical view by allowing the devil to strip Job of everything but his physical life. Job remained faithful and disproved Satan’s cynical premise that every human is essentially self-centered. Job’s faith was God-centered, not transactional.
Satan’s cynicism, however, is lived out among most people. He stirs human self-interests and then rules these souls in a desire-driven life. Job, was an exception. In the worst moments of his grief he famously stated, “Though he [God] slay me, yet I will trust him!”
Back to Daniel. He also broke Satan’s assumption about human vulnerability. Like Job, his life reflected of the overlapped realms of heaven and earth. As an exile he was an apparent victim. But Gabriel, an angel, explained that the opposite was true. This supernatural figure shared a broader picture of the nexus of warfare in heaven and on earth. The earthly powers of the Medes and Persians were fighting the kingdom of Greece. Alexander the Great, king of Greece opposed the Persian King, Darius III. Records of this contest are available in history books.
Daniel’s narrative goes deeper than our books do by revealing that earthly events are shaped in heaven. And in Daniel’s day the warfare on earth was linked to a heavenly battle between the “prince” of Persia and the “prince” of Greece (Daniel 10:20-21). The Jewish people were, in turn, supported by “Michael, your prince”—an angel aligned with God and the Judeans.
As believers we know this Bible portrayal of overlapped natural and supernatural worlds exists today. This, then, sets up God’s “providence” found in Bible texts like Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” As he did with Daniel and Job, God still shapes events. We are part of a grand, ongoing spiritual contest that even angels seek to understand.
And the link in Romans 8:28, “those who love God,” is crucial. Love was also central to Daniel’s narrative. Consider his heavenly reputation in Daniel 9:23, “for you are greatly loved”; in 10:11, “O Daniel, man greatly loved”; and again in verse 19, “O man greatly loved”. As a human Daniel had a special standing with God and the angels! His response of love reflected God’s prior love: he was loved, and he loved in return. So we see how God and his angels have favorites: those who respond. And, we can be sure even today, that all who love God are still favored.
This invites us to live as God’s treasured saints. Paul confronted the church in Corinth with this, both as a calling and a warning. “[F]or the [coming judgment] Day will disclose it [i.e. human values and choices], because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” [1 Cor 3:13-15]. This text is loaded with implications about how God relates to his creation—and about how God will eventually judge every soul.
So, what characterized Daniel’s heart? At least three qualities stand out. First, he trusted God with a whole heart. Even as an exile he maintained his spiritual boundaries, his times of Bible study, and his daily prayers. All this despite the Babylonian aim to convert him and his friends to embrace local idols.
Another of Daniel’s qualities was a firm faith despite life-threatening challenges. The book tells of him maintaining his daily prayers despite the prospect of being fed to lions for doing so. His love for God included prayers offered in a manner others could see. So his enemies set up a “decree” as a trap against such prayers; and Daniel didn’t flinch.
A third quality was his spiritual appetite. He read the Scriptures that had been carried into exile with him. In Jeremiah he found that the Babylonian exile would last for seventy year. So, using this promise, he prayed for his nation to be restored. In Daniel chapter nine, where Daniel acknowledged Judea’s national sin and expressed his own deep repentance for his part in these failings. His confession reveals a sense of corporate evil among his people. With sin as more than a breach of moral boundaries. Judea had degraded God’s “name” by ignoring him and Daniel confessed this wrong.
As an application: God loves humble hearts. We please him when we treat him as God. Not through short-term and transactional activities—such as tithing or in keeping spiritual disciplines. But in heart-based love, without expecting anything in return. Recognizing that he first loved us and invited us to taste and see his goodness. Faith is a core devotion, not compliant behaviors.
Let me offer a non-Bible-based addendum about Daniel. The first century Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote of Daniel’s role in bringing an end to Judea’s exile. Daniel, we know, was a student of Bible promises, as in his use of Jeremiah. So Josephus presumed he would have had Isaiah 44:28-45:1 with its promise of a coming “shepherd” named Cyrus. So Daniel, who worked for Cyrus at the end of his life, would have told Cyrus of his divine commission in Isaiah to send the Judean exiles back home. Cyrus, a Persian king, had overturned the Chaldean empire as described in the “handwriting on the wall” events of Daniel 5:30.
This snapshot from Josephus explains why a ruler like Cyrus would give up a huge slave force and tell them to go back home to reestablish their lost temple! Pharoah had been a counterpoint to this sort of prospect; so Cyrus the Great is still known for his startling decision.
I know we need to wait for a time in heaven to interview Daniel: what actually happened with Cyrus? But I’m willing to bet a heavenly drachma that Josephus was right. And that Daniel had yet another reason for his star role among the angels. He was faithful to God, and God was faithful in blessing and using him.
All that to say that we are, like Job and Daniel, created by Jesus for a unique role in this life—to live out the “good works” of Ephesians 2:10. So here’s a punchline: are any angels now watching our faith working through our love for Jesus? What’s our reputation? Will we get to meet Gabriel, Daniel, and maybe even Cyrus, in a day to come? I certainly hope so!
It’s an aim in life that will last forever.
