Daniel is a book of the divine revelation concerning God's economy. In chapters one through six, this book does not present God's economy in theology or in teaching but in a series of cases. There are at least six cases recorded in Daniel 1—6 which show us what God's economy is and how God's economy can be carried out. These six cases are illustrations.
Apparently the cases in chapters one through six stand alone and have nothing to do with each other. Actually these cases are all connected. For example, to find the crucial point of the second case, the great human image in chapter two, we must go back to chapter one. The secret of understanding chapter two is in chapter one. Likewise, the secret of understanding chapter three is in chapter two, and so forth. The case in chapter six is a conclusion to the five foregoing cases.
In order to describe the first case, in chapter one, we must paint a portrait. First, we must portray the figure of a fighting, overcoming general, Nebuchadnezzar, who has just returned from Jerusalem to Babylon with many captives following behind him. Second, we see four brilliant young men among the captives. Third, these young men are specially chosen from among the captives and then presented with the king's choice food. Fourth, they set their hearts to keep themselves for God, and they reject the royal food and eat vegetables only. Nevertheless, the four become very pleasant, happy, and healthy. Then as a result, God's presence, wisdom, and insight are with them, and they can understand things ten times better than all the others in Nebuchadnezzar's realm.
The second case is in chapter two. That great, victorious general dreamed a dream that he could not understand. Because he was blinded by worldly glory and power, he could not understand the dream and eventually forgot it. However, there was a person named Daniel who did not care for worldly glory and power, who had a heart for God, and who had the ability and the capacity to understand this dream. He had not only the right position and the right angle to understand but also an intrinsic capacity in his being to understand. Thus, when such an unknown matter was brought to him, he had the insight. He saw through the worldly glory and majesty related to human government. Then he gave the king a vision to open his eyes. But Nebuchadnezzar was void of the capacity to know God inwardly. Although outwardly he was helped by Daniel to see that God is the Most High God, nothing within him was touched. Regarding Daniel as a hero, this great, overcoming general worshipped him and offered him an oblation with incense. This is the scene at the end of chapter two.