A TEST OF
LOYALTY
Lesson 41
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King Darius
Exhilarated
“At the first
light of dawn, the king got up and
hurried to the lion’s den. 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?’ Daniel
answered, ‘O King, live forever!
My God sent his angel, and 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.’
The king was overjoyed and gave
orders to lift Daniel from the den.
And when Daniel was lifted from the
den, no wound was found on him,
because he trusted in his God. At the
king’s command, the men who
falsely accused Daniel were brought
in and thrown into the lion’s
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. Then King Darius wrote
to all the peoples, nations and men
of every language throughout the
land: ‘May you prosper greatly!
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 endures
forever; his kingdom will not be
destroyed, his dominion will never
end. 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.’ So Daniel prospered
during the reign of Darius [the Mede]
and the reign of Cyrus the
Persian.” (Daniel 6:19-28,
insertion mine) Thoughtfully consider
the profound experience of Darius
that morning. Upon hearing
Daniel’s voice, a pagan king was
given every reason that morning to
put his faith in the God of Daniel.
The tomb was opened and “a dead
man” was received by the living!
The king immediately published
another decree requiring every person
in his kingdom to fear and reverence
the God of Daniel, “the
Jew.” The news about
Daniel’s miraculous deliverance
was told everywhere! Only when you
consider the Chaldeans intense hatred
for the Jews does the significance of
Darius’ actions stand out.
Because of Daniel’s loyalty, the
God of Heaven was exalted to the
highest position through the eyes and
lips of a heathen king. This
demonstrates an interesting point
that all religious people would do
well to remember. The objective of
serving the God of Heaven is to bring
honor and glory to God, not to self.
Israel Set Free
The story of
Daniel’s miraculous deliverance
and the immediate destruction of his
enemies by the same lions that
refused to eat him have been closely
examined for some important issues.
First, remember that God’s
timing is always perfect! Evidently,
the lion’s den episode happened
during Darius first calendar year,
538/7 B.C. This allowed time for
Darius to become acquainted with
Daniel and develop such confidence in
him that he wanted to make him number
two man in his kingdom. As we are
about to see, the timing of the
lion’s den event was also
perfect!
God used the hatred of
the administrators and the loyalty of
Daniel in a way that no one could
have anticipated. I believe the
events unfolded as follows: When
Daniel sought the Lord in sackcloth
and ashes for instructions on what he
should do to facilitate the
deliverance of Israel, God heard
Daniel’s prayer and gave Daniel
something that Daniel did not know he
was to need. God gave Daniel peace in
the face of death. This peace is
reflected in Daniel’s courageous
action after he learned about the
law. God did not give Daniel wisdom
to outfox the evil administrators,
nor did God rain down plagues on
Babylon like He did in Egypt. God had
a better plan in mind.
After Daniel violated
man’s law, God honored
Daniel’s loyalty to His law with
protection and enormous notoriety.
(No one had ever spent a night in a
den of wild and ravenous lions and
lived to tell about it.)
Simultaneously, God eliminated a big
obstacle that stood in the way of
delivering His people. God granted
Darius a legal opportunity to
purge his government of men who had
proven their disloyalty to the
interests of the king. Politically
speaking, the death of these
administrators would make the release
of the Jews a manageable problem for
the king; even though Darius did not
know the Jews were about to be set
free. After Darius destroyed the
administrators who hated Daniel, the
king promoted Daniel to the number
two positions in his kingdom and no
one else complained!
Evidently, King Darius
died the following year after the
lion’s den event and King Cyrus
absorbed the territory of Darius into
his expanding kingdom. Therefore, the
ascension year of Cyrus over the
province of Babylon was 537/6 B.C.
and his first calendar year was 536/5
B.C. Because of Daniel’s
notoriety from the lion’s den
event and because he was the highest
official in Darius’ kingdom,
Daniel became well acquainted with
King Cyrus during his ascension year.
During the spring of 536/5 B.C.,
which was the 70th year of
captivity, King Cyrus met with
Daniel. Daniel informed the Persian
king that the God of Heaven had
chosen him to be a great king before
he was even born. Daniel showed King
Cyrus the writings of the prophet
Isaiah where Cyrus is called by name
in Scripture years before Cyrus was
born. (Isaiah 45:1-4) When Daniel
explained to King Cyrus why he was
fasting and praying – the
behavior that ultimately sent him to
the lion’s den – the king
heart was moved at the loyalty and
devotion of this elderly man to the
Supreme God over Heaven and Earth.
Daniel informed Cyrus that the God of
Heaven had appointed the Persian king
to set the Jews free, “without
price or reward,” (Isaiah 45:13)
for the purpose of rebuilding His
temple. This same God of Heaven had
delivered Daniel from the lion’s
den and the rest of the story is
history. Cyrus issued the decree in
Daniel’s presence in the 70th
year, a Friday year, in the spring of
536 B.C. The Bible says, “In the
first year of Cyrus king of Persia,
in order to fulfill the word of the
Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord
moved the heart of Cyrus king of
Persia to make a proclamation
throughout the realm and to put in
writing: “This is what Cyrus
king of Persia says: “The Lord,
the God of Heaven, has given me all
the kingdoms of earth and he has
appointed me to build a temple for
him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of
his people among you may his God be
with him, and let him go up to
Jerusalem in Judah and build the
temple of the Lord, the God of
Israel, the God who is in
Jerusalem.”’” (Ezra
1:1-3) The timing could not have been
more perfect. The decree of Cyrus
ended the 70 years of captivity
(counting inclusively). It is amazing
how God took one loyal man through
the lion’s den so that Daniel
could present the will of God to a
king who now controlled the province
of Babylon, as well as the territory
of Judah where Jerusalem was located.
The greatest problem was solved.
God’s timing is so perfect. His
ways are magnificent! Remember, God
required the release of slaves during
the Friday year (the sixth year) and
this is exactly what He did for the
nation of Israel. The decree of Cyrus
occurred in 536 B. C., a Friday year.
Note: The Bible
does not indicate that Darius died in
537/6 B.C. For two reasons, this
point is deduced from the course of
events recorded in Daniel 6 and 9.
First, even though they are
contemporary kings, Darius and Cyrus
did not rule over Daniel or the
province of Babylon at the same time.
Second, history says that Cyrus had
been a Persian king for more than 20
years before his first year
over the province of Babylon came
about. In order for Cyrus to become
king over the province of Babylon,
death had to eliminate Darius from
the throne in 537 B.C. If this is a
correct assumption, Cyrus’
ascension year over Babylon is 537/6
B.C. and Cyrus first calendar year is
536/5 B.C. The bible confirms this
scenario by saying, “So Daniel
prospered during the reign of Darius
and the reign of Cyrus the
Persian.” (Daniel 6:28) This
text can be understood from the
perspective that Daniel prospered
during the reign of Darius that was
followed by the reign of Cyrus. Of
course, this text can also be
interpreted to mean that Daniel
prospered during the co-regent reign
of both kings, but it seems evident
that both kings did not rule over
Daniel or the province of Babylon at
the same time. Other facts may come
to light in the future that offers a
better answer. Ancient history aside,
the good news is that we know the 70
years were fulfilled in a timely way.
The Bible says, “The land
enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the
time of its desolation it rested,
until the seventy years were
completed in fulfillment of the word
of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.”
(2 Chronicles 36:21)
Calendar of Events
JULIAN YEARS
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
| January |
January |
January |
January |
|
| 539 B.C. |
538 B.C. |
537 B.C. |
536 B.C. |
535
B.C. |
Tuesday Year
67th year |
Wednesday Year
68th Year |
Thursday Year
69th Year |
Friday Year
70th Year |
|
| Spring |
Spring |
Spring |
Spring |
|
Jewish Years
1. Babylon falls,
ascension year for Darius
2. First year for
Darius, lion’s den
3. Darius dies,
ascension year for Cyrus
4. First year for
Cyrus, frees the Jews
End Time Parallels
As we see how God used
the loyalty test to set His people
free, it is easy to compare the
parallels of the Great Tribulation.
Here are some parallels for you to
consider: Revelation 13: 8 says,
“All inhabitants of the Earth
will worship the beast – all
whose names have not been written in
the book of life belonging to the
Lamb that was slain from the creation
of the world.” This text
implies that false worship will
become a matter of law during the
Great Tribulation because all of the
world will not voluntarily worship
the beast. In other words, when the
world is squeezed by threats
of severe punishment, “all
inhabitants of the Earth” will
worship the beast, except those who
have a higher loyalty to the worship
of God. The human race is about to be
squeezed very hard. That ancient
serpent, the devil, the roaring lion
from the lion’s den, is about to
make war upon the saints. (Revelation
12:17) Revelation 13 predicts the
devil will wage war upon the saints
for 42 months using circumstances
that can squeeze us to a point
that our highest loyalties are
revealed. He will force with the
penalty of his laws. (Revelation
13:5) The end result is that the
saints will be legally
persecuted! “He [the Antichrist]
was given power [from God] to give
breath [life] to the image of the
first beast [the
one-world-church-state which the
devil will set up], so that it could
speak [decree laws] and cause all who
refused to worship the image to be
killed. He also forced everyone,
small and great, rich and poor, free
and slave, to receive a [visible]
mark on his right hand or on his
forehead, so that no one could buy or
sell unless he had the mark, which is
the name of the beast or the number
of his name.” (Revelation
13:15-17, insertion mine) There it
is! The coming loyalty test will boil
down to survival. Those people who
are loyal and worship God will be
hunted down as criminals and shut off
from the necessities of life. The
saints will be forced to live by
faith in God because they will not be
able to obtain the necessities of
life. However, those people who have
the highest loyalty for personal
survival will submit to the mark of
the beast, a tattoo that will be
placed on the forehead or the right
hand. Officials in their devil’s
government will wear the devil’s
name tattooed on the foreheads. (This
is a counterfeit of what God intends
to do to the 144,000. They will wear
the name of Jesus and the Father on
their foreheads throughout eternity.
See Revelation 14:1) Ordinary
citizens will wear the literal
number, 666, tattooed on their right
hand. Billions of people will submit
to wearing a tattoo that they know is
evil in order to survive. This test
will prove where our highest
loyalties are!
Another parallel
between Daniel’s experience and
the Great tribulation is timing. Just
as God set His people free right on
time, God will set the saints free
from the curse of sin – right on
time. Several prophecies of Daniel
and Revelation tell us there are
important time-periods during the
Great Tribulation. God has
predetermined the number of days and
we know His timing is perfect!
There are many end
time parallels between Daniel and the
lion’s den experience and the
Great Tribulation. I have mentioned a
few to encourage you to practice
putting the Lord first in your life.
I encourage you to seek the Lord
thorough prayer and fasting. We want
god to use us in whatever way
possible to share the good news of
the coming King of kings. We pray for
the outpouring of Holy Spirit power.
We want to be sure that we are
willing to do anything that god asks
of us. If Daniel had been lax about
his loyalty to god, when the test
came he would have fumbled, faltered
and failed. Loyalty to God is a way
of life that requires practice and
determination. Webster describes
loyalty as being constant and
faithful, bearing true
allegiance. What Webster did
not know is that the highest loyalty
of every human being is about to be
revealed!
Quiz:
1.
What is your definition of loyalty?
2.
Is God going to test our faith on His
Sabbath day during the Great
Tribulation?
3.
Do you want to know what God’s
will is for you now?
4.
Can you see now that were fighting
against the forces of evil?
5.
Do you understand why the Lord will
test everyone’s loyalty during
the Great tribulation?
6.
Do you feel that we should fast
and pray for answers from God?
7.
Do you think you can live by
faith right now?
Notes:
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