Segment 5 - Daniel 6
The Question
of Loyalty
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4. 430
Years of Rebellion
During the seventy
years of captivity in Babylon, God
raised up two prophets. Ezekiel was a
prisoner of war like Daniel, but
Ezekiel lived among the captives
while Daniel lived in the ivory halls
of power. Ezekiel was timid and
afraid of public speaking, so the
Lord prompted him to “act
out” various signs for the
elders of Israel to watch. Notice
this sign: “… This will
be a sign to the house of
Israel… [Ezekiel] lie on
your left side and put the sin of the
house of Israel upon yourself. You
are to bear their sin for the number
of days you lie on your side. I have
assigned you the same number of days
as the years of their sin. So the 390
days you will bear the sin of the
house of Israel. ‘After you have
finished this, lie down again, this
time on your right side, and bear the
sin of the house of Judah. I have
assigned you 40 days, a day for each
year.’” (Ezekiel 4:3,6,
insertion mine) This text is
important because we find the length
of rebellion to be a total of 430
years. (390 + 40 = 430) This number
should catch the attention of the
reader, because it is the same number
of years mentioned in Exodus 12:41.
These two separate and distinct
instances of 430 years have three
things in common: apostasy, timing
and vigil. First, the apostasy of the
Israelites in Egypt is no different
from the apostasy of the Israelites
in the promised land of Canaan!
Apostasy is the direction of fallen
man. Second, God’s timing was
perfect in both instances. The Bible
says that God delivered the
Israelites from Egyptian slavery
exactly 430 years later, to the
very day. (Exodus 12:41) If God
delivered Israel from Egypt on time,
then it should come as no surprise
that He sent them into captivity on
time as well. It should be noted that
when Israel had filled up their cup
of iniquity by violating seventy
Sabbath years, God sent them into
captivity! How do we know this?
Ezekiel performed the “430
day” sign for the elders of
Israel, because they knew there are
seventy Sabbatical years in 430
years. In other words, the Babylonian
captivity was seventy years in length
because that is the exact number of
Sabbath years Israel violated.
Remember God’s threat in
Leviticus 26:34,35? “Then the
land will enjoy its Sabbath years all
the time that it lies desolate and
you are in the country of your
enemies; then the land will rest and
enjoy its Sabbaths. All the time that
it lies desolate, the land will have
the rest it did not have during the
Sabbaths you lived in it.”
This text points to a significant
parallel between these 430-year
periods. Third, God keeps vigil. He
does not sleep. He is very much aware
of everything that takes place on
Earth and He steps into the affairs
of men when the timing is perfect. He
delivered Israel from the slavery in
Egypt on time, and He sent Israel
into captivity in Babylon on time!
Even more, the next text demonstrates
that God delivered Israel from
captivity right on time!
5. Prophecy
Fulfilled
The Bible says, “God
handed all o f them [the Jews] over
to Nebuchadnezzar. He
carried to Babylon all the articles
from the temple of God, both large
and small, and the treasures of the
Lord’s temple and the treasure
of the king and his officials. They
set fire to God’s temple and
broke down the wall of Jerusalem;
they burned all the palaces and
destroyed everything of value there.
He carried into exile to Babylon the
remnant, who escaped from the sword,
and they became servants to him and
his sons until the kingdom of Persia
came to power. 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 36:17-21, insertion mine)
Again, the reason for the Babylonian
captivity is simple and obvious. God
handed over Israel over to
Nebuchadnezzar because of disloyalty.
Israel refused to keep His Sabbath
days and His Sabbath years, so He
evicted them and the land rested for
seventy years.
Zooming Forward
Now that we understand
why the Jews were sent to
Babylon, we can zoom forward to the
fall of Babylon. Historians say
Babylon fell on Tishri 16 (around
October 13), 539 B.C. Darius began to
rule over the province of Babylon
during that year (his ascension
year), so Darius’ first calendar
year (according to the religious
calendar of the Jews) was 538/7 B.C.
The first year of Darius’ reign
was Daniel’s sixty-eighth year
of captivity. Daniel knew the end of
captivity in Babylon was near. Daniel
and his contemporaries knew that
Jerusalem had been besieged during
the Sabbath year of 605 B.C.
(Jeremiah 34:12-21), and Daniel knew
the seventy years of desolation
decreed upon Jerusalem (Daniel 9:2)
would have to end during a Friday
year. (Counting inclusively, 605 B.C.
minus 536 B.C. equals seventy years,
which is ten weeks of seven years.)
The Political
Situation in Daniel’s
Sixty-eighth Year
It was most unusual in
ancient times for a conquering king
to give a prisoner of war a position
of high authority in his government.
The possibility of treason or
rebellion was just too great.
Incredible as it was,
this happened to Daniel three times.
Nebuchadnezzar promoted Daniel to one
of the highest governing positions
after Daniel interpreted his dream.
Belteshazzar promoted Daniel to one
of the highest governing positions
after Daniel read the handwriting on
the wall. Finally, Darius promoted
Daniel to one of the highest
positions in the kingdom when Darius
became king. Do you think
Daniel’s promotion had anything
to do with his loyalty to God?
Daniel must have
believed that God placed him in a
very powerful political position
within the government of Darius so
that he, Daniel might facilitate
Israel’s release from captivity.
However, Daniel was nearing ninety
years of age, and he knew that if he
acted on his own he might interfere
with God’s marvelous ways as
Moses did when he wrongfully killed
the Egyptian. (Exodus 2:11-14) Daniel
also knew that if any of his actions
backfired, many Jews would suffer, as
in the days when Moses and Aaron
ordered the Hebrew slaves to rest
from their weekly labors before the
Exodus. (Exodus 5:5) Daniel was aware
that he would dishonor God if his
actions to free his people aroused
suspicion, jealousy or any hint of
rebellion against the Medes and
Persians. Many of the Chaldeans
intensely hated the Jews, and any
move on Daniel’s part to free
his people would probably he
construed as treason. If Daniel was
convicted in a court of public
opinion, he knew the punishment was
sudden death.
Note: Hatred
for the Jews erupted throughout the
Persian kingdom about seventy years
after Daniel died. The noble, Haman,
obtained a universal death decree
from king Artaxerxes for all the Jews
in the Persian kingdom, but God used
a strategically-placed Queen Ester to
save His people.
Daniel’s dilemma
also had other ramifications. During
the seventy years of captivity in
Babylon, the Jews multiplied and
integrated into the province of
Babylon. In some cities, the Jews
prospered, while others remained
servants or slaves of the Chaldeans.
When Darius began his reign over
Babylon, most of the captives from
Jerusalem had died. Therefore the
next generation had little attachment
to Jerusalem, a place they had not
seen. In fact, when King Cyrus set
the Jews free in 536 B.C., Ezra 2
indicates that a small minority of
captives, 29,818 Jewish males,
returned to Jerusalem.
Political and Economic
Problems
Daniel knew the
emancipation of his people after
seventy years in Babylon could cause
many problems for King Darius. If
large numbers of Chaldeans lost their
slaves, financial losses could
destabilize the economy and produce
social unrest. Daniel was also aware
that during the seventy years of
desolation, tribal nations had moved
into Jerusalem and a returning Israel
would be embroiled in wars and land
disputes unless there was a royal
land grant decreed by the king who
ruled over the territory of Canaan.
Therefore, any decree that freed the
Jews from the province of Babylon
would also require a land grant by
King Cyrus, who ruled over Canaan.
Daniel’s desire, of course, was
that his people would recover the
land they had lost, but the political
and economic problems of setting
Israel free greatly perplexed Daniel.
What could he do to facilitate
the freedom of his people? Even if
they were set free, how would he
motivate a majority of the Jews to
return to Jerusalem? Daniel’s
mind must have churned over these
issues for months. As a high
government official, he saw how a
significant exodus from Babylon could
be a political nightmare.
Jealousy Knows No
Bounds
From Daniel’s
point of view, the upcoming
seventieth year, 536/5 B.C., would
not be a very good year to attempt
the release of the Jews. Even though
Daniel held one of the highest
positions in the empire, Darius was a
king over the province of Babylon.
This meant a new administration was
in place adhering to a new set of
powerful nobles who hated the Jews.
As Daniel pondered his helpless
position, it became apparent to him
that Israel’s deliverance from
slavery would have to be an “Act
of God,” a miracle as great as
the Exodus from Egypt. To his credit,
Daniel faithfully carried out his
responsibilities within Darius’
administration, and Darius came to
explicitly trust his elder statesman.
The Bible says of this time period, “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.” (Daniel 6:3)
Sometime during
Darius’first calendar year
(538/7 B.C.), Daniel decided the best
thing he could do was seeking
God’s wisdom through fasting,
praying and wearing sackcloth and
ashes. Time was running out! The
seventieth year was approaching fast.
Therefore, Daniel sought the Lord in
utter humility to see what God wanted
of him. To be seen in sackcloth and
ashes was a sign of mourning or
extreme humiliation. To the Medes and
Persians, Daniel’s appearance
must have been very odd since he
usually wore clothing appropriate for
his exalted office. Regardless,
Daniel embarrassed (humbled) himself
before God as a man in sackcloth and
ashes, demonstrating that God could
use him in whatever meaningful or
menial way God desired.
Unbeknown to
Daniel, King Darius had planned to
promote Daniel above the other two
governors of his empire. Evidently,
Darius decided to do this because he
had contracted a degenerating health
problem. Darius favored Daniel
because Daniel was “pure in
heart,” a very unusual quality
among people in a political office.
Darius also wanted to make Daniel,
“the Jew,” his number two
man in the kingdom because this would
strategically protect his throne when
he became too weak to meet the
day-to-day needs of his office.
Unlike the other two administrators,
Darius knew Daniel would be loyal to
him instead of an inner or hidden
ambition to acquire his throne.
Darius knew that even an intelligent
Jew could not aspire to be king over
an empire of Medes. By putting Daniel
in the number two seat, Darius knew
his throne would be safe from the
schemes of ambitious politicians and
administrators.
Somehow, Darius’
plans were leaked to the two
administrators, and they were filled
with jealousy and rage. No self
respecting Mede or Persian would be
subject to a Jew! Jealousy and hatred
for Daniel, “the Jew,” led
them to search for anything they
could use to mar Daniel’s
reputation and disqualify him from
such a position of honor. They
closely studied Daniel’s
personal history, conducted
interviews and audited his finances
trying to find a flaw in his
character. They were unable to find
anything. The Bible says,
“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.
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 6:4,5) Given
the hatred and determination of his
enemies, and the notorious behavior
of politicians down through the ages,
these amazing words coming from their
lips!
Putting the Squeeze on
Daniel
Finally, the
administrators and satraps concluded
that the only way to stop Darius from
promoting Daniel was to prove to
Darius that Daniel’s loyalty to
his “Jewish” God was higher
than the loyalty to Darius. They
figured the question of loyalty would
prove their point. When it comes to
politics, kings have to be gods.
Their ego and government rests upon
nothing less than total submission
and devotion to their will. If
no one respects the king, how can he
be king? Therefore, ancient kings to
ferret out people with bad attitudes
sometimes used “loyalty
tests.” This may explain why
Darius did not quibble or hesitate to
issue a loyalty decree. Loyalty tests
were simple: During the specified
month, suspects were arraigned and
questioned before a court of
political leaders. If the suspect
freely confessed allegiance to the
king as his highest authority on
Earth, the suspect would then affirm
his loyalty to the king by swearing
an oath. However, if the suspect was
hostile toward the king or plotting
rebellion, a “loyalty test”
became a life and death issue, even
though the suspect may not have been
caught doing anything wrong. This is
why loyalty tests were so effective.
If the suspect refused to take an
oath affirming his allegiance and
submission to the king, he was
declared a rebel and killed
immediately. On the other hand, if he
lied about his allegiance to the king
and gave an oath of loyalty, his
sympathizers would see that the
suspect was a common coward and a
liar. Who could respect such a
disgusting person? This technique for
testing loyalty was simple and
effective. Incidentally, the Caesars
also used loyalty tests. Thousands of
Christians perished because they
would not bow down before the
“man-god,” Caesar. (John
19:15; Romans 10:9) During the Great
Tribulation, God will use a simple
loyalty test. A test of worship will
put the “squeeze” on every
person and our deepest loyalties will
be “squeezed out” for
everyone to see. (See Revelation
13:8-18.)
The Perfect Plot
The crafty
administrators asked Darius for
permission to conduct a “loyalty
check” for three reasons: First,
a loyalty test was a well-known
tactic. Since the province of Babylon
was a new territory for Darius, a
loyalty test appeared to be a
“good idea” to eliminate
those who might be rebellious.
Second, if Daniel should slip through
the thirty-day decree trap, Darius
would never know the real motives
behind the administrators’
request for the loyalty test. Third,
if Daniel were caught in their trap,
he would be “legally”
killed because the law demanded the
sudden death of anyone caught in
rebellion against the king. If Daniel
were destroyed, the administrators
would not be implicated in
Daniel’s death. The
“loyalty test” seemed like
the perfect way to eliminate Daniel,
or so they thought.
When the
administrators asked the king for a
loyalty decree, they must have known
that Darius did not know about
Daniel’s current state of
humiliation. If Darius had been aware
of Daniel’s behavior, praying to
his God three times a day in
sackcloth and ashes, this knowledge
would have foiled their plot. “So
the administrators and the satraps
went as a group to the king and said:
‘O King Darius, live forever!
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 man
during the next thirty days, except
to you, O king, shall be thrown into
the lion’s den. Now, O
king, issue the decree and put into
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.” (Daniel
6:6-9)
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