Daniel in the Lion's Den -Daniel 6- Sermon Notes

It’s easy to miss the point.  It’s easy to not hear what the Lord is saying to you in your inner life.  It’s easy to listen to the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den and say well that’s a good story.  It’s easy to do this and that but not make a real substantive change in your eternal life.  Your life will be eternal, it’s just a question of where that eternity is spent…

Can we have open hearts and minds today to learn from the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den?

Can we invite the Holy Spirit into our midst to teach us, to give me the words and give us all the ears to hear?

God arranged this to happen in the life of Daniel for so many reasons, and you are one of those reasons, for you to hear this today, for you and I to have a chance to change, to come closer to who we could be in Jesus Christ… if only we would really have ears to hear what He is saying to us through His Word today.

Prayer

Father, make this moment real and present in our lives today.  I see the world slipping more and more into a vacant stare at entertainment and I just want today for us to be here… present… together talking about You and Your Word and What is Real, not AI and faraway wars, and politics, and worldly philosophies… You and what You have for us today.  Let us marinate in the life of your servant Daniel today and see Jesus is in it and see ourselves in it and see everything that you have planned for us… In Jesus Precious Name, Amen.

Pastor Brandon has done a great job reminding us of the name Nebuchadnezzar and what it means, do you remember?  But, the destroyer of nations isn’t in chapter 6 at all.  In chapter 6, we see king Darius, and his name means, “He that informs himself” or “He that carries the scepter” and we see Daniel, and his name means, “God is my Judge.”  Now it is interesting that the name Darius as a king in this region and time is not in the history books, and it seems that perhaps the king in between Belshazzar and Cyrus may have been simply called Darius as the sort of acting temporary king because at the end of the chapter it says during the reign of King Cyrus the Persian, but this Darius could have actually been the leader of the armies that defeated the Chaldeans, and that he had been charged with administering and ruling over these areas.  He had the power to appoint presidents, governors, satraps, etc… to make laws or decrees and generally rule over the area basically in the name of the King, being the extension of the King and seen by the people as the King himself, technically during the reign of King Cyrus.

Knowing this little bit of information about who Darius may have been can give us insight into him as we read this.  How was he tricked into making this decree? Why would he want to have a law that said this? Why was he so distraught over his mistake? 

Now, Daniel, “God is my judge.” really lives up to his name in this chapter.  This is toward the end of his life, he is probably in his 70s or 80s when this happens.

Daniel 6

1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom;

2 and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss.

3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other presidents and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

So the same Daniel that was awesome in his youth, and in better shape and smarter via eating vegetables, who wouldn’t bow down to any God but the true God, whos friends were rescued from the Fiery Furnace, who has interpreted dreams correctly for kings is still just crushing it in his older years.  Around the age of 80, He is appointed as one of three presidents but not only that, he is so good at it that the guy, Darius, who I think was the kings general, Gabyrus, who was set over the whole realm wants to give Daniel HIS OWN JOB!  He is so good at his job that his boss wants to give him HIS OWN JOB!  Darius/Gobyrus was looking for integrity in leadership.  He set all this administration up probably because when you take over other large nations there would be a lot of corruption and people lining their own pockets but he quickly saw that Daniel was different, he had an excellent spirit. So much so that he wanted Daniel, in his 80s to administrate the whole thing.

How are we supposed to work in our own jobs? As one working for men, or as one working for God?  Should we go above and beyond in our work and show impeccable integrity?   We seem to be being given an example of this in Daniel throughout this sermon series.  The world can’t judge whether you are a good committed Christian, honoring God in your heart of hearts, but they can easily judge whether you are lazy, and your testimony is ruined with people if they judge you to have a laziness, a poor work ethic, someone who is just there for the paycheck.  Not Daniel, and I hope, not you.  

If you have chosen to do the Daniel fast and be like Daniel for a while eating only vegetables, why not be like Daniel at the same time and be so good at your job that your own boss considers having you take their own job?

4 Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom; but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.

5 Then these men said, "We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God."

Why? It seems that if Daniel is showing integrity then they hate him because they lack integrity.  They probably want to be corrupt themselves and line their own pockets and Daniel is getting in the way.

6 Then these presidents and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, "O King Darius, live for ever!

7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an interdict, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.

8 Now, O king, establish the interdict and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked."

9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and interdict.

Now, here is where it makes the most sense to me that this was the general of the army, not an actual King.   King Cyrus was basically seen as a God and these conquered peoples that he was ruling over in the empire didn’t see Cyrus that way, so if Darius could make them worship Cyrus the king instead of their own deities for 30 days, that might be long enough to really please the king, to bring some unity to the conquered peoples, to bring some unifying structure to daily life, and he was told that ALL the presidents, the deputies and the satraps, the counsellors and the governors have agreed on this, WHICH WAS A LIE, because surely Daniel, being the best of the three presidents in the area did not agree.  So if everyone agrees, this could be a great show off to Cyrus the king that he is unifying all the people in the Medo-Persian Empire under the banner of Babylon.  So he does this.  And Daniel knows he does this.  

Now here’s where things get interesting and convicting on multiple levels.  As I worked on this sermon over the past month, I found myself unable to continue reading and writing often, because I needed to pray.  I was convicted that I needed to pray more, not just more often, but more earnestly, more honestly, more thankfully, more specifically, more diligently, with more structure, and more consistently. 

10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem; and he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

I think that Charles Spurgeon wrote a whole sermon on this one verse.  I first notice what it doesn’t say.  It doesn’t say that because of the decree, in order to show those fools what fools they are, he made a show of praying in defiance to the law.  It doesn’t say that he hid his prayers so that no-one would catch him justifying this, that prayer is in your heart between you and God anyway, so no-one needs to even know that he is praying, he could keep his eyes open, while he is going about his business praying in his head and no-one would be able to catch him.  How smart and crafty and cunning that would be.

I’ve had this type of thought before, when the mark of the Beast comes, why not just get it but not really mean it, so you can buy and sell and be able to help the other Christians who don’t get the mark?  BECAUSE IT IS THE MARK OF THE BEAST!  IT MEANS YOU BELONG TO SATAN!  So, don’t go down that road, we don’t need to buy and sell with the world when that happens, we have each other.  We’ll start a farm and catch rainwater and God will be for us so who can be against us.  You see, Daniel didn’t have this crafty way of getting around it.  He did what he had always been doing because it was the right thing to do before to pray to the one true God and so it’s not stubborn or contrarian to continue to do so… it is consistent, it is faithful, it is long-suffering.  The world will change it’s rules over and over again so don’t be ruled by the rules of the world.  Be ruled by your relationship with the Lord and His Word.

11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.

12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the interdict, "O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that any man who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?" The king answered, "The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked."

13 Then they answered before the king, "That Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no heed to you, O king, or the interdict you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day."

14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed, and set his mind to deliver Daniel; and he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.

I think Darius is fascinating right here, he realized his mistake and he couldn’t take it back, he wanted to rescue Daniel to deliver him, but he couldn’t find a way.  He was trying to do what he thought was good in the eyes of King Cyrus but now, this renowned advisor to kings who I think has really become a friend to Darius at this point, is going to be put to death because of his own foolishness.

15 Then these men came by agreement to the king, and said to the king, "Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance which the king establishes can be changed."

16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!"

17 And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.

18 Then the king went to his palace, and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.

There is a show of faith by Darius.  Seeds are being planted in his heart by what Daniel is going through, because God will be Daniels’ judge.  Darius is seeing that God is real and true and is hoping in the God of Daniel that he will be delivered from this.  Darius has probably heard the stories of Daniel’s friends in the fiery furnace and Daniel’s interpretation of dreams and the miraculous saving that his God can do, and he is hoping, for Daniel’s sake, that he will witness a similar miracle.  It reminds me of when we give a testimony and say God, do it again!  And, He does it again and again.  So, if you are in a lion’s den moment in your life or a fiery furnace moment in your life, know that God will do it again, it wasn’t just for Daniel it was for you.  Maybe that’s why we’re talking about this today, because you needed to hear this and really believe this today.  That God has a plan to bring you through this and bring you out on the other side.  Here we go:

20 When he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish and said to Daniel, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?"

21 Then Daniel said to the king, "O king, live for ever!

22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong."

23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of hurt was found upon him, because he had trusted in his God.

Be blameless before God and the blame put on you by the rules of the world will have to teeth.  We call it being saved for a reason.  If you trust in God and accept Jesus Christ as your offering for the sins you have committed and live for Him… you are saved from everything the world can throw at you.  You are now blameless before the only one who can actually judge you.  God is your judge.

24 And the king commanded, and those men who had accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions--they, their children, and their wives; and before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: "Peace be multiplied to you.

26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring for ever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.

27 He delivers and rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions."

28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Have you heard of the concept that Jesus can be seen in every chapter of the Bible? Well here you go.

•  A man without blame, faithful to God in all his ways, a man noted for prayer, was sent to his death because of the jealousy of those who wanted to prevent his exaltation.

• He was condemned to death by the plotting of his enemies and the law of the land, and thrown into a stone room meant to be his tomb. 

• A stone was rolled over the opening. But in all its power and ferocity, death couldn’t touch him.

• On a morning the stone was rolled away, he came out victoriously; he glorified God, and his enemies were judged.

• That’s a pretty good story 

– the story of both Daniel 6 and Jesus the Messiah.

Now, can we really hear what the Lord is saying to us through this story?  The beauty of what we do in sermons on Sunday morning is that each of us can hear a different thing in our heart.  Maybe  you heard, I need to pray more, more earnestly, more consistently, or maybe you need to approach your work as one working for the Lord, or maybe you are in the Lion’s Den over something right now and you need to have Faith that you will be delivered from this.  Maybe you feel a Lion’s Den on the horizon and you need to steel yourself to just continue to do what is right, not defiance for the sake of defiance, and not hiding, but consistently following the Lord, not the rules of men, or maybe you caught something else, that’s one of the beautiful things about the Holy Spirit, but I pray that this story, which isn’t just a story, which was God’s plan for you to consider and ponder with me today has benefited you and blessed you today.  As is our custom, if you need prayer for anything, we’d love to have you come up and we have people who want to pray with you up at the front.