• Obedience to God (praying) is more important than obeying civil government (the king).
• The God of Daniel was not limited to the land of Israel but was present in Babylon (modern Iraq).
• God did not desert the Israelites, although He had allowed them to be taken into captivity (Babylon).
• Darius the King, a pagan idol worshiper, acknowledged the eternal power and reign of Daniel's God.

For He is the living God
and He endures forever;
His kingdom will not be destroyed,
His dominion will never end. (NIV)

Nebuchadnezzar crushed the rebellion of Jerusalem in March, 597 BC, and carried off the young king Jehoiachin and many young nobles to Babylon. Babylon with its hanging gardens was then the greatest city in the world. One of the captive nobles, Daniel, rose to a high position in the Babylonian civil service. Under Nebuchadnezzar's son, Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians. To solidify this great addition to the Medo-Persian empire, Babylonian civil servants (especially Daniel) were retained and given positions of authority. This model of assimilating and governing conquered territories was later adopted by Alexander the Great.

The 'native' Babylonians, although conquered themselves, were jealous of the 'foreigner', the captive slave Daniel , and the position of authority he was given over them.

Babylon is located in modern Iraq, and Persia was in modern Iran. Daniel, of course, was an Israelite. Each of these modern countries lays claims to this ancient history as part of their own culture.