Daniel 1:17-20 English Standard Version
17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.
I am no Daniel. No one is as gifted as Daniel. The issue here is what God has gifted us above and beyond what is natural in our nature which is given to us to serve God.
Just as in the Babalonian exile our gifts will prove us to be more than the worldly. More isn’t better, that is judgment. More is a condition of having a God given gift meant to serve God. In that we must be obedient to His calling in order for those gifts to glorify God.
Possessing something that others do not does not make us superior. It only makes us different.
Why are we different? The obvious answer is we have paced our faith in Christ. That is not something that is obvious for the worldly. They will judge us by their own standards. We must not allow their judgment to interfere with our obedience of faith.
That is being like Daniel even if we do not have his most excellent gift.
Arguments for a late (2nd century BC) dating:
Anti-Prophetic Argument
One of the first people to dispute the traditional dating of Daniel was Porphyry, a pagan philosopher whose arguments have been preseved by Jerome. He argues that some of the prophecies in Daniel are so congruent to the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the book must have been written during his time (175-164 BC). (source The Stack Exchange)
Daniel’s prophecies were so accurate that scoffers declare it was written after all those prophecies were fulfilled.
Faith tells us otherwise. That is what is missing in the scoffers.
Faith in Christ makes all the difference.