There is another king on the world stage this week. His name is Darius or Darius the great. He was the fourth king of the Persian Empire, ruling the empire at its peak, when it included much of West Asia, much of eastern Europe, Central Asia, as far as the Indus Valley in the far east and portions of north and northeast Africa including Egypt, Libya and coastal Sudan. History tells us that he organized this vast and magnificent kingdom into provinces and places satraps over each one.
This is exactly what we read about in verse 1-2, “It pleased Darius to appoint 120 Satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 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.” I love great story telling. One of these three just happens to be Daniel, who rules over the 120 who rule over the Persian Empire. All this so that Darius would not suffer loss. Kings are always worried about losing out, and corruption was as bad then as it is now. But what better way to have a Christian whose integrity and honesty is supposed to be without reproach to take care of the whole kingdom.
Well Daniel’s integrity, honesty, and skills were so phenomenal that Darius planned to set him over the whole kingdom, as we read in verse three. He is not of this world but he sure is involved in its affairs. Faithfully serving. He was righteous in what he did. He did the right thing. And the rest of the guys couldn’t stand it. They are united in their need to get rid of him. They do not want anyone that always does the right thing over them. Especially if they want to shave some tax money here, or bribe here, or take advantage of someone there. They were ok with him as long as he was one of three, because they could always go to the other two. But it was just too much to submit to authority that held to right and wrong. That had a high standard of justice and would hold them accountable, that is too much.
It is hard for people still today. To be under authority. Someone they can’t manipulate, bribe or deceive. Someone that has authority, and decides what is right and wrong. People like control. We want to decide what is right and wrong. It was Adam and Eve’s problem from the beginning.
So, the politicians decide to get rid of him. As you well know, the easiest way to get rid of a politician is to dig up some dirt. Sadly, normally in our day and age that does not seem to be too hard. Scandals seem to fill the newspapers daily. But these guys struggled to find even one dirty deal, even one time when Daniel pocketed some tax money, even one bribe. Nothing. His record was spotless. I wonder how many Christians lives would bear up under this kind of scrutiny, where people can find nothing wrong. Now this is the Bible, and as we go through this story I hope it will begin to remind you of someone…
The righteous one is condemned to death because of his faithfulness to God.
- Conspiracy
- Judgement
- Salvation
Conspiracy
So what do these guys do? What is the conspiracy? We see the plans beginning in verse 5, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”
When we read verse 1-5 of this chapter it strikes me just how much it has in common with 1 Peter 2:11-17 “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, and honor the emperor.”
If Daniel is not a living picture of what it means to live a holy life in exile, I do not know what is. He serves the king with all that is in him. He is passionately involved, even though he knows these kingdoms would not last. Here is one who is living such a good life before the pagans that they can find nothing wrong with him. So they turn to his faith. Let’s get him with something which we know he will not back down on. The law of his God. Reminds me of Timothy where Paul tells him, everyone who lives a godly life will be persecuted.
So they come up with this plan that you can read about in verse 6-9. They get the king to make a law that no one is allowed to worship any other god except the king They get him to set it down in writing, as we read in verse 8-9, “’Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered – in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.’ So, King Darius put the decree in writing.”
Here are two laws that cannot be changed: The law of the Medes and Persians and the law of God. There is just one problem: this law is opposed to a higher law, which also cannot be changed. Here the law of humanity meets the law of God. The law of which Jesus said, “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” The law of humanity and the law of God. One must ultimately give. One must always be obeyed: always in every circumstance. At all times. Private and public.
Yes, we will live peaceably with all men as far as is possible for us. We will honor our government. We will pray for those in authority. We will work for their well-being. But we are not part of their kingdom. We are under a higher law. You cannot serve both God and the kingdom of this world. One or the other. The choice stands before Daniel. The line must again be drawn.
But there is something else I want you to notice, something more subtle. Here is someone that is righteous placed under the curse of a law that could not be changed. Isn’t that exactly what happened to Christ? Was not the righteous one placed under the curse of the law, exactly because the law of God is unchanging and holds people to the highest standard: a standard sinners are incapable of achieving? He died, gave us his life, so that we might live again according to his law of life.
So what does Daniel do? We read about in verse 10, “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows were open to Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” I love this detailed description of his prayer life. Three times a day he set a time apart to talk with his God. He went to a special place to pray. He had a place where he would go every day to pray. It was his prayer place. When he was there people didn’t bother him. It was a place where he could look west toward Jerusalem, the place where God promised to meet his people. The promised land. There he got down on his knees and he gave thanks.” What is remarkable is that the crisis did not drive him to his knees, but that he did not let it break his regular routine of prayer. Sometimes when life gets crazy, crisis hits, or things are turned upside down we pray less. Not Daniel. He did not pray more or less in crisis or in good times. Both came from his Father in heaven.
And then in verse 11 it says he asked for help. WOW! He asked God for help, when his death depended on him talking to God. That is faith, that God exists, and he is able to save from death. What does Jesus do before he dies? He prays. You see a pattern. A life that in the most desperate situations does not try to convince the king, or fix things himself, he prays. That is hard. We are tempted to want to fix things ourselves. Here is faith that is on public display backed up by a prayer life in total dependence upon God. Living in close communion with his God. He knew that not having communion with God is death. He breathed the air of prayer, of communions with God, of giving thanks.
And this is what they catch him on. This is the foundation of his life. The thing they cannot stand: His communions with God. A humble submission to his will.
You see as a Christian we should expect suffering exactly at the point where Christ’s holiness is shining forth most brightly. It’s easy not to work on holiness where its hardest to do it. But if we are not taking a strong stand in the area of life where we are the weakest, we are really not taking a stand at all. Prayer can be shallow when that happens, and we don’t really want God to change us. To not pray when there is too much pressure. Thirty days is not that long in the grand scheme of things. But for Daniel death was a better option than a life without God This brings us to our second point, the judgment
Judgement
Well, his colleagues can’t wait to betray him. They run to the king and tell him all about it after making sure he won’t change the rules which he made. They call him an exile from Judah. If you want to cast doubt on someone, call him an immigrant, or one of those guys. Identity politics. A common trick of corrupt politicians. It’s everywhere around us. Those are people from that group. Don’t trust them. He is not one of us. He is not trustworthy. Even in the church it can be like that. He is from that family, or she is so and so’s daughter. Discredit, rather than basing judgement on the individual’s integrity.
We read about the king’s reaction in verse 14, “When the king heard this he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.” The judgement is death. And no matter how hard this king tries he cannot save him. He cannot save people condemned to die under the law. Daniel was to face a pit full of hungry lions. Daniel was to die.
It is ironic that he made a law he can’t get around to save his own subjects. But God saves his people exactly because they obey his laws. Here is a man that suffered unjustly at the hands of sinners. He had not done wrong. And yet was punished for it. The words of Peter again ring true here, “For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
He entrusted himself to him who judges justly, and although Daniel did not follow Christ’s example, because he came before, he was the foreshadow of what was to happen to him. This whole chapter is the story of the Bible after the fall. Salvation through Judgement. And you find the height of it at the cross.
So the king throws him in, and puts a rock over the mouth of the den, and seals it with his own ring, so that his situation may not be changed. Then the king went home, got no sleep, ran back to the tomb to see if he was still alive, and Daniel’s voice calls back to him. God had saved this man from death. The whole world was coming at him, he had been thrown into the lion’s den and not one had touched him.
Now I want to just draw some comparisons: Daniel, who was righteous, was accused by those jealous of him on a trumped-up charge (Dan. 6:4-13). The king recognized the injustice of Daniel’s condemnation and sought to deliver him (6:14). Nevertheless, Daniel was condemned, given over to certain death; then placed in a pit with a stone laid on the opening and sealed by the king so that his situation would not change (6:15-17). At daybreak those who lamented the way Daniel was treated came and found that his God had delivered him (6:19-23).
Jesus was also declared innocent (Matt. 27:24; cf. Luke 23:4, 14-15, 22, 41) but accused by those jealous of him (Matt. 27:18) on trumped-up charges (26:59-61; 27:15-19). Pilate recognized the injustice and sought to release Jesus (27:15-19). Nevertheless, Jesus was condemned to death (27:26), and after they crucified him he was put in a new tomb, with a stone rolled over the entrance (27:60), which was later sealed so that his situation would not change (27:66). At daybreak on the first day of the week those who lamented the way Jesus was treated came and found that God had raised him from the dead (28:1-10).
This is absolutely astonishing. It was because Christ died, that Daniel did not die. Faith in God is blind sometimes. You have no idea what is coming. Trust anyways. You think Daniel would know what was going on, when over a hundred of the most powerful men in the world conspired to take him down. When they made his life miserable. At that point you might think, where is God? But he kept praying and giving thanks. Do you think he knew God would protect him? He didn’t. Yet he trusted. He had an unwavering faith that it was worth it. It is worth it. Because he had a security that not even the king had.
Bringing us briefly to the third point.
Salvation:
So as we have already seen the king shows up there early to see if the one guy he could count on was still there. All his might could not save him from his own law, maybe God could save him. This is exactly what happened, the king was prophetic, may your God save you., “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 o King.” God saved him because of his righteousness. Over and over and over again it is the righteous that are exalted and the proud, and wicked that are humbled. Here was a man that understood God will save the one who is righteous, who finds their refuge in God.
The one who trusts in God will not be forsaken. It is better to be a child of faith in a den of lions than a king in a palace without faith. Darius thought he would find the tomb of a dead person. Instead Daniel was there waiting for him, having tasted the breaking- in of the coming creation, where the lion will lie with the lamb.
A servant of God is immortal until his work is done, and then he awaits to be clothed with true immortality. This does not mean we won’t struggle, or be sick, or suffer. No, Daniel had to experience the lions’ den. But God will never let anyone of us die till our work is done, or maybe, rather, he is done with us.
In a fallen world we realize that there is a somber, broken side to salvation. The deliverance of Eve’s seed always comes with the bruising of their heel. The dark side of this is one is brought to salvation through judgement, but, there is an even darker end for those who stand opposed to God. They are devoured.
We see this so much more clearly in the New Testament with the death of Jesus. He had to die a terrible, cruel and painful death. He had to go through the pain and anguish of, literally, hell. But through that he was lifted up and glorified, and given the kingdom. And those that stand opposed to him, and his rule will be devoured, will be cast into not a den of lions, but what the Bible calls the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. O that the Spirit might open the eyes of everyone here so that we may see our end without the Savior’s blood!
Do you see how Jesus stands at the very center of redemptive history. This entire book is all about him. It keeps reminding us of him. Of the way to him. Of his faithfulness, and the call of our obedience. From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 21 this book shows us the glory of Christ, the centrality of his work. And this chapter is just one step on that glorious journey of making him more known.
The righteous one is lifted up and the wicked are cast down. King Darius lifts Daniel up and is overjoyed. Joy is visible also here as it was at the resurrection. Dear church there is a lesson for all here. Your God is the living God. The only one able to save from death itself! Our death is an entrance into life. The beginning of something so magnificently beautiful.
Jesus came to save us out of the pit, to lift us up. Do you trust him to do that? He will rescue you. He will save you. He is the one. He has gone through judgment to save you! You will live forever. Follow him. Follow the way of the cross. And I love how this historical part ends reaching forward telling us about the prosperity of the righteous, they will live forever and forever.
Amen.