Dr. David VanDrunen, professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Seminary California and the author of many books including Divine Covenants and Moral Order: A Biblical Theology of Natural Law offers a good reminder of the relevance of Daniel’s ordeal in Babylon to contemporary audiences.
He writes,
Daniel and his friends find themselves away from theocratic Israel and in the center of pagan social and political life. Given that contemporary Christians have no theocratic homeland but are called to live in many nations and many social settings, we might suspect that the stories of Daniel 2-6 provide much relevant grist for reflection about how Christians today ought to undertake faithful engagement in and service to their societies. The NT confirms this suspicion when it portrays the Christian’s identity in the world in terms of “exile” (1 Pet. 1.1, 17) and uses the ancient city of Babylon as an image for describing the cities in which Christians live today (1 Pet. 5:13; Rev. 18).
David VanDrunen, Divine Covenants and Moral Order: A Biblical Theology of Natural Law (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2014) pg 196.