Daniel – Chapter 6b
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 (6:18-20)
b. The Miracle of God (6:21-22)
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
IV. An Evening of Disappointment (6:14-17)
a. The King’s Labour (6:14)
The king was sore displeased with himself – this literally means loathsome / stink. In other words the king hated himself for what he had done. Daniel was the king’s friend and his greatest help in the kingdom, the last thing Darius wanted to do was to sign Daniel’s death warrant.
I think Darius was also “displeased” because of the way he had acted. His pride got the best of him. He believed what his leaders were saying and it went straight to his head and he signed up for this new law. If only he had taken the time to consult with his most trusted advisor Daniel.
For an entire day the king ignored all the other matters concerning the kingdom and concentrated on freeing Daniel, but his attempts all failed. Of course, Daniel’s enemies were on hand to remind the king that he had to enforce the law whether he liked it or not.
b. The Medo-Persian Law (6:15)
The rigidity of the Medo-Persian law was not always a bad thing. Later in the days of Ezra, the adversaries of Judah wrote letters to Ahasuerus, the Persian king, hounding him to sign a decree that would prevent the Jews from their reconstruction work in Jerusalem. They succeeded (Ezra 4:1-24)
Later the decree of Cyrus was found, the original document that led to the Jews returning to their home and that changed the entire picture, the original decree had to stand.
But there was to be no loophole found for Daniel. The king toiled all day to find some way around this foolish decree that he had signed. His lords were right, there was no way around it, and the law could not be changed.
c. The Den of Lions (5:16-17)
Verse 16
The lions den was a large pit divided by a wall that could be pulled up to allow the lions to go from one side to the other. The keeper would put food in the empty side and lift up the wall so the lions would cross over and eat. Then he would lower the wall and clean the safe side of the den.
The lions were not fed that often, neither were they fed large amounts of food. Their appetites were kept keen just in case there was an execution. Living at the gnawing edge of hunger did not make these lions too tame..
Grieving deeply over his foolishness, Darius has Daniel cast into this den that would surely mean death. The king prays that Daniel’s God would deliver him because Daniel was so faithful to serve Him continually.
Verse 17
The king then had the pit covered and the rock sealed so that everything was done according to the law. Nobody in their right mind would dare to break the king’s official seal.
It reminds us of another stone that was sealed by the Roman authorities, used to seal a tomb that contained the body of our Lord, and yet Jesus came forth alive.
V. A Night of Deliverance (6:18-23)
a. The Misery of the King (6:18-20)
Verse 18a
The king had a bad night. The palace knew that something was wrong with him when he chose to fast rather than feast. It probably made the court feel uneasy to see the king like this… What would help him?
Entertainment? That’s it!! Bring in the band…Verse 18b The musicians and dancing girls were dismissed in haste. I know… Bed, let him sleep it off, things are usually better after a good nights sleep Verse 18c..
When you are out of God’s will, “things” do not help, you cannot find comfort in the things of the world……
How could the king sleep – terrible pictures came to his mind of his friend and trusted advisor trying to flee from a hunting lioness, being toyed with before being torn to shreds by these starving ravenous lions, …. Of course he couldn’t sleep – what had he done???
Verse 19
The king arose – this doesn’t mean arose from bed where he had slept, I don’t believe the king had any sleep that night. He was waiting for that sun to come up over the horizon. Arose – arise (out of inaction). The morning was here, now the king could act.
He went in haste (hurry / terrify) to the den of lions, you can see him calling for the seal to be broken and the stone to be removed even before he reached the pit.
Verse 20
“Daniel!!!” The king cries out. “Are you ok?” The king says something remarkable here. He confesses the Daniels God is “The Living God” not a dead idol, a miracle working living God.
b. The Miracle of God (6:21-22)
Isn’t this amazing, Daniel is always so quick to give God the glory. God could have closed the lions mouth by saying a word – 1 Kings 17:4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. God, as the Creator, has authority over the creation, they obey His voice.
God, in this instance, sent an angel to not only control the hungry beasts, but also to keep Daniel company, just as the Lord had walked with the three Hebrew boys in the furnace.
The book of Daniel reveals a great deal about the work of angels in this world. When we think of an angel delivering Daniel we think of Psalm 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
We even think of the angels ministry to Jesus in Mark 1:13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
We don’t know when angels are with us Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares, but we do know that they are present and are sent by God to assist us.
c. The Morale of Daniel (6:23)
When Daniel was removed from the lions den, he had no wounds, just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego showed no evidence of being any where near a fire, let alone in one.
VI. A Morning of Destruction (6:24)
Accuse = Devour, eat (slander). You reap what you sow… Proverbs 26:27 Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. Remember Pharaoh, he ordered all the Hebrew babies to be destroyed in Egypt, then at Passover all the Egyptian firstborn died.
Haman tried to destroy the Jewish nation and ended up being hanged on the gallows he had made for Mordecai (Esther 9:25) Even if sinners aren’t judged in this present life, they will face God after they die Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
It seems cruel that the families were destroyed along with the conspirators, but that was official Persian law. Jewish law prohibited punishing the children for the sins of the fathers Deuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
Eastern kings took a different view. They didn’t want any remaining member of a traitor’s family to conspire to kill the ruler who ordered the fathers execution. Also there is a lesson here for the parents – their sin will have a consequence on their children.
We were handing out tracts in town Wednesday and I witnessed to a teenager, went through the plan of salvation with her and gave her a tract and a John-Romans. After a little while the mum came up to me and threw the John-Romans at me and said, “How dare you give this to a child”
That mother’s sin of hatred towards God and His gospel will have an eternal consequence on her daughter.
VII. A Future of Decisions (6:25-28)
a. The Potentate’s Cry (6:25)
Darius’ first decree in this chapter declared that he was god, but this second decree declared that the God of Daniel was the true and Living God! By doing this Darius joined King Nebuchadnezzar by giving a public testimony to the power and glory of God.
God could have kept Daniel out of the lions den, but by rescuing him from the lions, God received great glory.
b. The People’s Choice (6:26-27)
The people had a choice. They could listen to the decree and fall before the Living God, or they could ignore the king and go on in their blind worship of their dead idols.
The theology expressed in this decree is as true as anything written by Moses, David, or Paul. Jehovah is the living and eternal God whose kingdom will never be destroyed.
Deuteronomy 5:26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
Psalm 145:13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
c. The Prophet’s Completion (6:28)
Since Darius the Mede is a “shadowy figure” in ancient history, nobody is sure how long he was on the throne for. Daniel 5:31 tells us that he was 62 when he took Babylon so he may have died after a few years and then Cyrus ascended the throne.
Regardless of time frames, what we do know is that Daniel was respected by Darius and Cyrus and continued to be a witness for the Lord. He lived to see Cyrus issue the edict that allowed the Jews to return to their land and rebuild the temple – That was during the first year of Cyrus’ reign and in Daniel 10:1 we see the prophet receiving a vision in the third year of Cyrus…
How it must have made Daniel feel after all these years of fervent prayer to finally see his people returning home..
