Daniel, a leader with an unforgettable legacy

To kick off our 19th annual Treasures of Hope Christmas Store, we're profiling individuals who played a role in the story of Jesus' birth in #12DaystoTreasures.

God assigned the prophet Daniel an amazing role the Christmas story. It was a leadership role that left a legacy for eternity.

Daniel, along with other young Israelites were captured and taken to Babylon. Daniel served in high-placed positions both under the Babylonians and later the Persians. Dr. Charles Swindoll offers a good summation of Daniel's life and his influence in a pagan world.

Daniel was a well-learned man and eventually became to head of the Magi. Dr. Chuck Missler writes in A Christmas Anticipation: Who were the Magi? an interesting observation about Daniel's life:

One of the titles given to Daniel was Rab-mag, the Chief of the Magi.  His unusual career included being a principal administrator in two world empires-the Babylonian and the subsequent Persian Empire.  When Darius appointed him, a Jew, over the previously hereditary Median priesthood, the resulting repercussions led to the plots involving the ordeal of the lion's den.
Daniel apparently entrusted a Messianic vision (to be announced in due time by a "star") to a secret sect of the Magi for its eventual fulfillment. 

Daniel's leadership influence through a secret sect reached into the early years of Christ's birth when the Wise Men came to visit the Christ Child. But that's not all that Daniel's life touched. He played a role in signaling the time frame of Jesus's life and sacrificial death. In the Book of Daniel there is an end-time prophecy that was delivered by the angel Gabriel that includes clues about the Messianic era:

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined (Daniel 9:24-26).

According to Missler, the Book of Daniel offers a time frame when Jesus made His kingly entry into Jerusalem -- to the date!

What a legacy Daniel left the world. Despite the losses he faced by being taken from his homeland, despite living in a pagan world, God used Daniel in his interactions with kings and the wise men of his day. How is God building a legacy through your life? In the face of setbacks and rocky circumstances, can you sense His plans for you?

At Dallas Leadership Foundation, a core effort of our organization is to transform communities through collaborative, purpose-driven leadership. It's why we work in neighborhoods throughout Dallas, in schools, and in prison. It's why we host theTreasures of Hope Christmas Store for families every year. We want to give you hope about the life -- and legacy -- God has prepared for you.

If you want to donate toys and other items to Treasures of Hope so that we can make Christmas special for hundreds of Dallas families, please visit our online store at dlftx.org.