Daniel – Chapter 6a
Chapter 6 Outline
I. A Dawn of Devotion
II. A Morning of Deception (6:1-9)
a. Daniel’s Appraisal (6:1-3)
b. Delegation’s Anger (6:4-8)
c. Darius’ Agreement (6:9)
III. A Noon of Decision (6:10-13)
a. The Commitment (6:10-11)
b. The Conspiracy (6:12-13)
IV. An Evening of Disappointment (6:14-17)
a. The King’s Labour (6:14)
b. The Medo-Persian Law (6:15)
c. The Den of Lions (5:16-17)
V. A Night of Deliverance (6:18-23)
a. The Misery of the King (6:18-19)
b. The Miracle of God (6:20-22)
c. The Morale of Daniel (6:23)
VI. A Morning of Destruction (6:24)
VII. A Future of Decisions (6:25-28)
a. The Potentate’s Cry (6:25)
b. The People’s Choice (6:26-27)
c. The Prophet’s Completion (6:28)
Message
Have you heard the story of the forty martyrs of Sebaste? In the famed Twelfth Legion of Rome’s Imperial Army there were forty soldiers who professed their faith in Jesus Christ. One day their captain informed them that Emperor Licinius had sent out an edict commanding all soldiers to offer a sacrifice to pagan gods. These Christian warriors said, "You can have our armour and even our bodies, but our hearts’ allegiance belongs to Jesus Christ."
Because of their stance they were marched onto a frozen lake in the midwinter of A.D. 320 and stripped of their clothes. At any time they could renounce Christ and be spared from death. Instead, they huddled close together and sang their song of victory, "Forty martyrs for Christ." That freezing night saw thirty nine men fall to their icy graves. When there was but one man left he stumbled to the shore and renounced Christ. As the officer in charge of guarding these men listened to their singing, he had secretly come to believe in Christ. He immediately replaced the man who had renounced Jesus and he walked out onto the ice. He threw off his clothes and confessed his faith in Christ. At sunrise the Roman soldiers found forty men who gave their all for the cause of Christ. Those forty brave men demonstrated a faith that was consistent.
Daniel was a man who possessed a consistent faith. As a young man he was Separated – Chapter 1. As a middle aged man he was Sold Out – Chapter 5 As an older man, he was Surrendered – Chapter 6 [Pastor Alan Carr – www.sermonnotebook.org]
In Chapter 6 of Daniel we will spend a day in the life of the Prime Minister of Medeo-Persia. Remember, Daniel is no longer a teenager at this point of his life – he is well into his eighties. This just proves that age is no barrier to serving Christ.
I. A Dawn of Devotion
So how did Daniel begin each day? He prayed to the Lord. We are told in Daniel 6:10 that he prayed three times a day, Psalm 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
Daniel started each and every day with the Lord, and it’s a good thing that he did with the amount of trials and tests that came his way.. “Watch and pray!” was our Lord’s warning.
How important it is to start the day with the Lord.
Abraham had this habit - Genesis 19:27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:
David did - Psalm 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
So did our Lord Jesus Christ - Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
II. A Morning of Deception (6:1-9)
a. Daniel’s Appraisal (6:1-3)
In these verses we can see that there were actually 124 people involved in ruling the kingdom – Darius the king, three presidents (of which Daniel was Number 1) and 120 princes. We see that Darius was so impressed with Daniel that he was planning to make him the official second ruler.
A wise leader first gathers information, and Darius soon learned about Daniel and the reputation he had for honesty and wisdom, the Bible says that Daniel had an excellent spirit. The king appointed Daniel as one of the three presidents and their role was to manage the affairs of the affairs of the 120 princes and they reported directly to the king.
b. Delegation’s Anger (6:4-8)
Verse 4-5
The problem with Eastern courts was that they were always hotbeds of bribery and corruption with people in power feathering their own nests. That is why the people under Daniel came to hate him. He stood in the way of them lining their own pockets.
He set a steady pace and it was hard for some of them to keep up with him. There would be no slacking under his eagle eye and no chance to cook the books and siphon off some extra cash to be deposited in a safe place until needed.
What an awesome testimony Daniel had before and among the unsaved. These conniving men could never tempt Daniel to do anything illegal, but they could attempt to make his faithful religious practices illegal.
Verses 6-8
Darius must have been impressed when 122 government officials assembled in his throne room to have an audience with him – and how he must have fallen for their flattery – king Darius, live forever. “Wow, they love me that much as king they want me to live forever so that I could reign forever.”
Isn’t it amazing how much trouble we can get ourselves into when we allow flattery to go to our head – all of a sudden pride rears its ugly head and we find ourselves acting in a way that is not like us at all..
The Medeo-Pesian kings didn’t have the same absolute power that Nebuchadnezzar had known. No doubt, Darius was curious as to what kind of decree the presidents and princes wanted him to sign. Because he did not have the absolute power that the Babylonian king had, he would have to handle a petition signed unanimously by his counsellors very carefully.
c. Darius’ Agreement (6:9)
When at length the petition was presented, the king allowed the flattery to go to his head. He threw caution to the wind and signed the decree. In his haste he failed to notice that the decree was not unanimous. One very important name was missing, the name of the chief of the presidents and princes, Daniel.
It was a ludicrous decree that should not have been signed in the first place. If taken to the extreme it would mean that a child at home couldn’t even ask his parents a question.
III. A Noon of Decision (6:10-13)
a. The Commitment (6:10-11)
It didn’t take long before Daniel heard about the decree. You can just imagine what this ungodly crowd were saying to themselves. They thought they were in a win win situation – They had Daniel if he prayed because the decree expressly forbids him to do so. They had him if he didn’t pray because they would tell the king that Daniel refused to sign the petition.
What would Daniel do next? Would you have expected him to do anything different? Of course not, his godly character and his constant spiritual walk with the Lord was not about to change or be compromised because of a piece of paper.
He could have made an excuse and compromised his prayer life, he could have “gone with the crowd” used the excuse of the decree to hide, he could have even said that he would be more use to the Lord alive than dead and not prayed for 30 days – Not Daniel, he refused to compromise and he would rather be eaten by the lions than to miss one prayer meeting.
It was his custom to pray at a certain window that faced Jerusalem – I know what you’re thinking, he could have prayed anywhere, in his private prayer closet without being seen. Daniel does not pray for show or for the public to see him, he prays in accordance to God’s Word. Acts 5:29 We ought to obey God rather than men.
Solomon, during his prayer of dedication of the temple urged the people, no matter where they were, especially those who were carried away captive to a foreign land, to pray toward the temple... 1 Kings 8:48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:
Someone once said, “You pray as your face is set, towards Jerusalem or Babylon.” Most of the world begins the day looking towards the world and hoping to get something from it, but the Christian looks to the Lord and His promises and enters each day by faith.
Daniel’s enemies watched as he knelt before the open window and lifted up his hands towards Jerusalem in prayer. They thought that they had him, but Daniel had peace in his heart. He was praying, giving thanks, and making supplication, and this is the formula for peace.
Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. [7] And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
This was not a crisis prayer meeting; Daniel was used to praying and had been since he was a teenager. He knew from Jeremiah’s prophecy that the captivity would last for 70 years, he knows that it is getting close to that time so he constantly prays for his people and asks God to keep His promise. His prayer time was a way of life – he was committed.
b. The Conspiracy (6:12-13)
And so the trap was sprung. Unfortunately for the conspirators they had caught the wrong man. They thought that they had Daniel cornered, whereas they had actually trapped the king himself. Darius was not at all pleased that he had been “played” and the conspiracy was not a good idea, as the presidents and princes were about to find out.
