We have been reading through the Book of Daniel and thus far going through chapter by chapter. Therefore, if you have been to church over the previous five weeks you would have read and studied the first five and now 6 chapters with us.
The first four chapters were ultimately about King Nebuchadnezzar’s salvation and included a couple of dreams and the famous Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego in the fiery furnace story. Last week there was one chapter dedicated to one of Nebuchadnezzar’s successors King Belshazzar. We read the story of the writing on the wall and the fall of the Neo-Babylonian / Chaldean Empire. Also in Chapter 5 we are introduced to a new king – Daniel's third leader whom he served under, King Darius the Mede. Chapter 5:30-31: “That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.”
This is where today’s story picks up... but maybe I should do a sidebar first, before we read the chapter. I was looking up where the different kings are mentioned in the Bible and in history. Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned a lot and Ezra-Nehemiah takes place at the time of Cyrus, who is the next king Daniel will serve under. King Darius the Mede, however, isn’t mentioned anywhere other than the book of Daniel – either in the Bible or in history as far as we know. There was a Persian King known as ‘Darius the Great’ who is very famous in history – but he wasn’t around until after Cyrus. Darius the Mede, however, is before Cyrus. I followed that rabbit hole a little bit and came up with two ideas (of the very many out there) that I liked. One, Daniel obviously isn’t chronological and so ‘Darius the Mede’ could be ‘Darius the Great’. (I won’t go into that too much) and two, maybe ‘Darius the Mede’ is ‘Cyrus the Great’ or a ruler under Cyrus. Daniel 6:28 can actually be translated as “So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, that is, in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”
Another question, besides ‘who is Darius the Mede?’ that I found interesting is the question, ‘who are the Medes and the Persians?’ Do we know this? We know the Persian Empire? They fought against the Greeks a lot – Xerxes, Darius, Cyrus. We remember Xerxes from the book of Esther. The Persians and the Medes are two different groups of Iranians who are very closely related. Just like Tseshaht and Hupacasath are two different groups of Nuu-chah-nulth People (also Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht); so the Medes and Persians are two nations of Iranians. Iran and the Iranian people, of course, still exists today in the same general area. Alright... to the scriptures... Babylon has fallen, the Iranians have taken over, and Darius is in charge. Reading from 6:1-5:
It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 2 with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. 3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5 Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”
Daniel is a high-ranking government employee. But he is somehow able to keep working for many years in various administrations. He was Nebuchadnezzar’s right-hand person and third in command (albeit newly appointed as such) for Belshazzar and now he is one of three top administrators for Darius. His fellow administrators don’t like Daniel for some reason: it could be prejudice, because he isn’t an Iranian but the Medo-Persians / Iranians did work well with the foreigners in their ranks and according to the books of Ezra-Nehemiah (which take place around this same time), the Hebrews seem to even have had a somewhat favoured position in the empire – but that can go back and forth – we also know the similar story of Esther, Haman and Mordechai which took place in the Persian Empire as well.
It could be that his co-workers just didn’t like him. It could be that he was old and crochety – certainly Chapter 5 can be read that way. It could be that the other officials were jealous. It could be because he was the boss’ favourite, It could be a bunch of things but for whatever reason, Daniel was that one co-worker who nobody seemed to like – accept the boss. Anyway, he was about to be promoted and his co-workers did not like it at all. They tried to find something that he was doing that was not quite right so they could rat him out but Daniel was a stickler for the rules. Verse 5: Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” Verse 6ff:
So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! 7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. 8 Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” 9 So King Darius put the decree in writing.
There are a few things here. Obviously, this group was intentionally being tricky. They knew Daniel prayed to YHWH so they tricked the King into making it a capital offence to pray to anyone accept the King. There could be a few reasons that the king may go for that. He may think that he is a god or he may be so vain that he thinks that everything should be about him. These are possible motives but the fact that this is only for a month, not forever leads one to believe that it is something other than just that. If he actually wanted everyone to worship him and him alone he could have decreed it from now on instead of just for a time. I would imagine that there certainly was a certain amount of hubris in his command but it seems that it was as much about establishing his authority as anything else – similar to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. He had newly conquered a lot of his kingdom and wanted to make sure that everyone was loyal to him. Anyway, the plotters flattered the king into doing what they wanted.
They were tricky too: look at Verse 7: the plotters tell the king that “The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed ...[with their request]” This was obviously untrue because Daniel was 1/3rd of the administrators and he didn’t agree. His colleagues thought that they could trick their boss into getting rid of his favourite employee. (Honestly, I don’t know how they could think that would go well for them. I think I am an alright boss. And if my employees pulled something like this, I can’t imagine that working out well for them at all.) But – they did it. Part 1 of their plan is complete: They convinced the King to agree to throw anyone to the lions who is caught praying to anyone other than the king. He fell for it.
Now, the moment of truth – how well do they know Daniel? Will he take the bait. We should note here that there is no religious law or practice that we know of now that states that Daniel had to pray to God three times a day; there is no command in the Bible that says that he needs to pray towards Jerusalem every day. It is just something he does in his personal devotions – it is not mandated by religious law or Judean tradition; it is just something he does; so, will he keep praying to YHWH after the law is published – and can they prove it; or will he be sneaky like deceiving people who smuggle Bibles into foreign countries today or who have secret Church meetings? Will he be tricky or will he be bold for the gospel? They are waiting. What will Daniel do? Verse 10-12a:
10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. 12 So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”
When there is trouble, the first thing Daniel does is go home and pray. That makes sense. It says he goes home, into his house, and he goes to a room upstairs. The windows in that room face Jerusalem. He went to that room and knelt down to pray three times a day, as he had always done. Now the plotters – I don’t know how many of them there are. Are there just his 2 hitherto equals or are there others as well? It says there is a group of them so I imagine that a group is more than two people - The plotters, go as a group and sure enough they catch him praying; so, as was their plan, they run to the king and remind him of the law and that it can’t be changed and that anyone who breaks that law is to be thrown to the Lions. 6:12-14:
The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
13 Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” 14 When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.
15 Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”
I find it interesting that when they tell on Daniel – remember that Daniel is one of the 3 top administrators in the kingdom and he is being promoted to number 2 behind only the King – sort of like Darius’ Prime Minister - and his fellow ruling elites refer to him as “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, [who] pays no attention to you.” This reminds me what we are hearing about in the USA today with ICE. Or in Japan: their Prime Minister just won an election with a platform of keeping the foreigners out and possibly limiting / not letting them practice their religion or cultural traditions. Or – it is Olympics time – remember the Paris Olympics? Not only did they seemingly mock God, Christians and Christianity in their opening ceremonies, but they also banned Muslim women athletes from wearing the hijab let alone the barkha. In Canada too we have just tightened our restrictions on people from other countries being able to live and work here – and Quebec (Law/Bill 21) does not allow the turban, the hijab, the crucifix, or other symbols of religious worship for anyone who is a government employee like Daniel was. The group’s deriding comment about Daniel is that he is a foreigner and they attack him via his religious worship. Much like is happening today in Canada, the USA, and other western and even eastern countries.
The king isn’t concerned about that. He made Daniel number 2 in his Kingdom: Daniel in Babylon after Isreal falls is again reminiscent of Joseph in Egypt before Isreal was founded. The king is very hesitant to kill Daniel and so at sundown it appears that the whole group (however large it is) that wants Daniel gone, goes to the king to remind him of his duty –because of their country’s version of Quebec’s Bill 21- to throw Daniel to the lions, vv. 16-19:
16 So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. 18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.
19 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
I find this very interesting. The king obviously does not want to lose Daniel. Lots of people want Daniel out of the way, but the king is not passive in this story. He actively wants Daniel to somehow survive. He has hope that somehow Daniel might make it. He can’t sleep at all that night. He doesn’t want to eat. He doesn’t want to watch anything or do anything. He just wants it to be tomorrow to find out what will happen. You know what it is like when the die is cast, there is nothing you can do but pray and hope. Maybe it is like when you have written an exam and everything is riding on your mark and you have to wait to find out how you did, or you wrote a proposal, or applied for a job and you don’t know what happened; or maybe there has been an accident and you don’t know if your family member was in the accident or not and you are just praying that she is okay. My father-in-law was a politician. They would fight a whole campaign and then on election night after the polls were closed just sit glued to the TV to see the results coming in. There is nothing more that can be done. You just watch and pray that not only your team wins but that you survive. You are not defeated.
The example of powerlessness and waiting that comes to my mind is when I was in grade six. Of course there was no internet when I was in Grade 6 – and I didn’t do my homework one day, I forgot – and here it is Wednesday night and the school library is closed and Thursday, the following morning, the teacher will ask for a random group of students to present their assignments – and like I said there is no internet and no way for me to do my homework before tomorrow. So I prayed that I would not be in the group that is picked to present the next day. I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t want to do anything. I just needed to find out my fate. I think this is what it is like for Darius. He has tried to think of something that he can do to save his friend and/or prized employee but he can’t. All he can do is wait through the night – hoping.
As he seals Daniel in the lion’s den he says, Verse 16, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” And then after the sleepless night, Verse19-23,
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
21 Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”
23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
The King is relieved; the king is overjoyed. God had saved Daniel from the lions as he saved his companions from the furnace many, many years before. God protected him. The king is relieved. He is overjoyed. He had hope; he had faith – he did race to the den of lions as fast as he could, as early as he could. He was hoping – I am reminded of the Disciple John, on Easter morning, when he ran faster than anyone and arrived at the empty tomb. As one might expect to see the lifeless body of Jesus, one might expect to see the lifeless body of Daniel – but each were alive! John said, he believed but he still did not understand! and remember too in the Gospels, the centurion who came to Jesus asking Jesus to save his little girl – he said before he saw that his daughter was alive, “I believe, help my unbelief.” These are Darius’ feelings. He has experienced the miraculous salvation of YHWH. He is overjoyed. Verse 24:
24 At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
This is interesting. The king who was so concerned about the laws of the Medes and the Persians that he signed the assumed execution of his trusted official, his friend because it was the law, he here quickly decides that not only should all his friend’s accusers die but so should their families – and apparently God agrees because they all seem to have died quickly - before they even hit the ground. The officials, however many of them there were, took quite a chance (because apparently this outcome was always a possibility) and it cost not only them but also their whole families their lives. I do wonder how many lions there were and how hungry or angry they were. I do wonder how many people died that day – 10 officials and all of their wives and kids? 50 officials and all their families? 100? I don’t know but their gamble didn’t pay off and the stakes were very high. They gambled that they could defeat Daniel by tricking the king, but even though they successfully tricked the king, Daniel’s God defeated them and the king was keen to see that they experienced the consequences.
God saved Daniel in a miraculous way just as King Darius hoped beyond hope and maybe didn’t even quite dare to believe. This brings us to the point of this chapter, as Dairus speaks up on his version of a Testimony Sunday for all the hear, verses 25-28:
25 Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth:
“May you prosper greatly!
26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.
“For He is the living God
and He endures forever;
His kingdom will not be destroyed,
His dominion will never end.
27 He rescues and He saves;
He performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Daniel’s salvation from the lions, as well as a means to the king’s salvation, seems to be a metaphor, a real-life object lesson for King Darius’ salvation. Just as the first four chapters of Daniel spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar’s salvation story and his testimony to the Most High God; so too chapter six speaks to King Darius’ salvation and his testimony. PTL. Again, the words of the king to all the nations of the earth:
26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.
“For He is the living God
and He endures forever;
His kingdom will not be destroyed,
His dominion will never end.
27 He rescues and He saves;
He performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
And as He rescued Daniel, so He rescued the king, and so He can rescue us from everything we are facing today.
Let us pray
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