Segment 5 - Daniel 6
The Question
of Loyalty
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Daniel Springs the
Trap
“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.
Then these men went as a group and
found Daniel praying and asking God
for help. 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
man except you, O king, would be
thrown into the lions’
den?’ The king answered,
‘The decree stands-in accordance
with the law of the Medes and
Persians, which cannot be
repealed.’ Then they said to the
king, ‘Daniel, who is one of the
exiles from Judah, pays no attention
to you, O king, or the decree you put
in writing. He still prays three
times a day.’ When the king
heard this, he was greatly
distressed; he was determined to
rescue Daniel and made every effort
until sundown to save him.” (Daniel
6:10-14)
Did you notice how
fast Daniel willfully disobeyed the
king’s decree? Why did one of
the kingdom’s highest officials
publicly defy the law of the king?
The answer lies in the fact that
Daniel understood the motives and
reasons behind the loyalty test.
Daniel remembered his three friends
and their fiery furnace test, and he
knew he was being tested just like
them. Evidently, notification of the
decree came suddenly and without
warning to Daniel. I find it
interesting that Daniel did not go to
his immediate superior, King Darius
and plead his case! When Daniel
learned of the loyalty test, he ran
to (not from) his prayer room. This
action says volumes about
Daniel’s loyalty to the God of
Heaven!
When Daniel humbled
himself by wearing sackcloth and
ashes, Daniel’s heart was ready
and willing to submit, even to death,
if that was God’s will. Daniel
was willing to do anything God
required of him to facilitate the
release of his people. Daniel’s
loyalty to God was extraordinary and
God’s approval of Daniel was
amazing. In fact, Daniel’s
loyalty became the very tool that God
used to glorify His name before the
Medes and Persians so that He could
deliver the Jews from captivity! If
the plot to kill Daniel was clever,
God’s use of the situation was
even more so. God used the
administrators’ hatred of
Daniel, Darius’ affection for
Daniel, Daniel’s loyalty, and
ultimately, the lion’s den to
set Israel free from slavery. Watch
how these elements combined to
accomplish God’s plan.
King Darius Humiliated
The next morning,
“… 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!’ 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 ring of the
nobles, so that Daniel’s
situation might not be changed. 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.” (Daniel 6:16-18)
Daniel was quickly
arraigned before King Darius. When
the king saw his elder statesman in
sackcloth and ashes, he became
furious with his administrators. He
saw through their plot immediately.
Daniel, “the Jew,” was no
rebel and Darius knew it. In fact,
Daniel was the only administrator the
king could trust! According to law,
however, Daniel did not offer
excuses, plead his case or beg for
his life. Even more importantly, he
did not swear an oath of loyalty to
King Darius as his highest authority.
King Darius churned with grief and
anger. He condemned himself all night
for failing to consider the intense
hatred, his administrators had for
Daniel, “the Jew.” How
ironic the twist of events. Darius
was planning to promote Daniel, but
now he would have to kill him
instead. Darius knew Daniel was
unjustly condemned, but not even the
king himself could change the law of
the Medes and Persians. With these
words, “May your God, whom you
serve continually, rescue you!”
Darius bade farewell to Daniel.
The king gave the order and with his
own ring and the rings of those who
hated the Jew, Darius issued the
judgment requiring Daniel to be
thrown into the lion’s den.
Daniel was at peace. Darius was in
torment and the administrators were
on their way to a secret celebration
party.
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 from
the lions?’ Daniel answered,
‘O king, live-forever! My God
has 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 done any
wrong before you, O king.’ 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
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 he endures
forever; his kingdom will not be
destroyed, his dominion will never
end. He rescues and 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 to put his faith
in the God of Daniel. The tomb was
opened and “a dead man”
walked out! The king immediately
issued 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! When the intense
hatred of the Chaldeans for the Jews
is considered, the significance of
Darius’ actions really stands
out. Because of Daniel’s
loyalty, the God of Heaven was
exalted to the highest position by 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 the superiority of
one’s religion.
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 in this book for some
important reasons. First, remember
that God’s timing is always
perfect! Evidently, the lions’
den episode happened during
Darius’ first year, 538/7 B.C.
This allowed time for Darius to
become acquainted with Daniel and to
develop such confidence in him that
he wanted to make him the number two
man in his kingdom. As we are about
to see, the timing of the lions’
den event is too perfect to be a
coincidence!
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 him
something that he did not know he was
about 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,
and God did not rain down plagues on
Babylon like He did in Egypt. God had
a better plan in mind.
After Daniel violated
the king’s law, God rewarded
Daniel’s loyalty with protection
and enormous notoriety. (Who else has
spent a night in a den of wild and
ravenous lions and lived to tell
about it?) Simultaneously, God
eliminated an enormous obstacle that
stood in the way of delivering His
people. God granted Darius a legal
opportunity to purge his government
of men who were disloyal to the
higher interests of their king.
Politically speaking, the death of
these administrators made releasing
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 position in his kingdom and no
one dared to complain!
Evidently, King Darius
died soon after this event (the
following year) and King Cyrus (the
Persian) 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
lions’ den event and because he
was the highest official in
Darius’ kingdom, Daniel became
well acquainted with King Cyrus
during his ascension year. During
536/5 B.C., which was the final year
or seventieth year of captivity, King
Cyrus met with Daniel, and Daniel
informed the Persian king that the
God of Heaven had chosen Cyrus to be
a great king before he was even born.
Daniel showed Cyrus the writings of
the prophet Isaiah, where Cyrus is
called by name in Scripture a
hundred 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
lions’ den – the
king’s heart was moved at the
loyalty and devotion of this elderly
man to the Supreme God over Heaven
and Earth.
Daniel told 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. Cyrus was
honored to learn of God’s
approval and blessings, and he issued
the decree in Daniel’s presence
during the seventieth year, a Friday
year, in 536/5 B.C. Free at last!
Israel was free to enter Canaan a
second time. It is interesting to
note that Israel’s first full
year in Canaan after the Babylonian
captivity was a Sabbath year. This
beautifully parallels their first
full year in Canaan after Joshua led
them across the Jordan into the
Promised Land. In both cases, the
slaves had been set free to enjoy the
Sabbath year in the Promised Land.
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 his
realm and to put it in writing:
‘This is what Cyrus king of
Persia says: “The Lord, the God
of heaven, has given me all the
kingdoms of the 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
seventy years of captivity (counting
inclusively). It is amazing how God
took Daniel through the lions’
den so that he could present
God’s will to a pagan king who
controlled the province of Babylon,
as well as the territory of Canaan.
This decree was only possible because
Cyrus ruled over the province of
Babylon where the Jews were captives,
as well as the territory of Judea
where Jerusalem was located. God
solved the political and economic
problems. God’s timing is
perfect. His ways are so magnificent!
Remember, God required slaves to be
released at the end of the Friday
year (the sixth year), and this is
exactly what He did for the nation of
Israel. The captives were emancipated
from slavery in 536 B.C., a Friday
year.
Note: Although the
Bible does not indicate that Darius
died in 537/6 B.C. This point is
deduced from the course of events
recorded in Daniel 6 and Daniel 9 for
two reasons. First, even though they
were contemporary kings, Darius and
Cyrus could not rule over the
province of Babylon at the same time.
Second, history says that Cyrus had
been a Persian king for more than
twenty years before his first
year over the province of Babylon
took place. 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 the correct assumption,
Cyrus’ ascension year over
Babylon would have been 536/5 B.C.
The Bible confirms that Daniel served
under these two kings saying,
“So Daniel prospered during the
reign of Darius and the reign of
Cyrus the Persian.” (Daniel
6:28) One perspective of this text is
that Daniel prospered during the
reign of Darius, which 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.
However, it was not possible for
Daniel (in Babylon) to prosper under
a king who did not rule over Babylon.
Ancient history aside, the good news
is that we know the seventy years of
captivity were precisely fulfilled.
The Bible says, “’The
land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all
the time of the desolation it rested,
until the seventy years were
completed in fulfillment of the word
of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.”
(2 Chronicles 36:21)
1.
Babylon falls, ascension year for
Darius
2.
First year for Darius, lions’
den
3.
Darius dies, ascension year for Cyrus
First year for Cyrus,
frees the Jews
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