Has anyone here this morning ever ran a marathon? A marathon is always measured at 26.2 Miles. Have you ever heard of heartbreak hill? In the Boston Marathon, at mile 20, the runners come to what is called heartbreak Hill. Heartbreak Hill is the final incline of the Boston marathon. Even though the runners seem to cruise through the entire course up to this point, they know it's just a matter of time until they get to the hill. It is at heartbreak Hill that they will be tested.
But just like the runners in the Boston marathon, Christians should expect that there will be, at some point, opposition that will test us—our endurance, perseverance, and our principles. I don't know if you have ever thought of it this way, but it takes courage to be a Christian. Today we will be using Daniel 6 to talk about being courageous as we live the Christian life. Do you consider yourself courageous? Prayer
When Daniel 6 opens, King Belshazzar had been replaced by Darius the Mead. Up to this point in Daniel's captivity in Babylon, he was made an advisor to the king. He was the only one who was able to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. He was the only one who could not only interpret King Belshazzar's dream but also told him what the dream was. He was the only one that could interpret the handwriting on the wall. The other wise men and advisors to the king became jealous of Daniel. And our story begins.
Daniel 6:6-9 – “So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said to him, “May King Darius live forever. 7 All the administrators of the kingdom—the prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors—have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an edict that, for thirty days, anyone who petitions any god or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den. 8 Therefore, Your Majesty, establish the edict and sign the document so that, as a law of the Medes and Persians, it is irrevocable and cannot be changed.” 9 So King Darius signed the written edict.”
In hopes of playing on the pride of King Darius, the jealous administrators proposed a new law that for 30 days everyone in the kingdom would worship the king rather than their own god. They knew how devoted Daniel was to pray to God each day. The proposal was that anyone who broke the decree would be thrown into a den of lions.
Some people just love to pick a fight. It seems that they enjoy the challenge of the argument and the adrenaline that comes from the confrontation. They seem to relish the moment when someone stands up against them, and because they do, they put themselves in situations designed to cause a fight.
We see it in our society all the time, but we also see it in Christians. It's a good thing for us to witness for Christ and biblical standards, but we should make sure that we're not doing so with a contentious spirit as if to stir someone up into a conflict. Daniel didn't do that.
Daniel knew about this law that the king had put into practice, but he also knew that he wouldn't have to go looking for trouble. Trouble would find him on its own, just as it had for the past 80 or so years. Daniel is now an old man, he had lived most of his life in a hostile culture, and he had experienced time and again that there was no need to look for opposition.
All he needed to do was live faithfully, knowing that there would come a moment when his quiet faithfulness would encounter some conflict with cultural norms.
As a Christian it should be our goal to pursue peace. We shouldn't go looking for an argument. Instead, we should simply live confidently and faithfully in what God has required of his people. As a Christian, we should also pursue holiness. Both pursuing peace and pursuing holiness should be our goal. We should pursue godliness and at the same time seek to live in peace - until we can't anymore.
The writer of Hebrews asks us:
Hebrews 12:14 – “Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord.
Daniel 6:10 – “When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows in its upstairs room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.”
So Daniel heard of the edict of the king and did what he always did - he prayed anyway. Daniel was around 20 years old when he first was taken to Babylon. He had been in the administration of three different kings, and when Darius came to power, Daniel was probably around 80 years old. That means he had lived for six decades in Babylon. That was plenty of time to establish a daily rhythm.
For many of those 60 years, Daniel had been doing the same thing. Three times each day, he bowed facing his homeland and gave thanks to God. That's how the administrators found him - in prayer to his God. How did they know when to catch Daniel? Maybe it was because Daniel's routine was so established, so well known, and so unbreakable that they knew exactly when to catch him. The discipline that Daniel had developed gives us a powerful example to follow. Where did Daniel's disciplined life come from?
Commitment. Consistency and commitment are two essential ingredients for living a life of discipline. No matter what you are training for, that training will be full of stops and starts, of moving forward and stepping back. The commitment that Daniel exhibited was not just to pray, study, and memorize Scripture, but to make these things the essential components of our daily lives over the course of time.
Faith. To live a disciplined life, we have to also live a life of faith. That's because no discipline is pleasant when we're training ourselves in it. We have to believe and have faith that such training and sacrifice will be beneficial for us in the future.
Daniel trained himself to live a disciplined life of prayer, and because he did, he was also preparing himself to be ready to face any opposition when it came. Today, we say he was prayed up. Do you participate in spiritual training? In what ways are you training yourself for godliness? Do you pray daily? Do you read your Bible daily? Maybe it's time that we all do a spiritual training check on ourselves. Just as in Daniel's case, discipline prepares us for opposition. Then you too will be prayed up. Daniel was prayed up for this next episode.
Daniel 6:11- 13 – “Then these men went as a group and found Daniel petitioning and imploring his God. 12 So they approached the king and asked about his edict: “Didn’t you sign an edict that for thirty days any person who petitions any god or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “As a law of the Medes and Persians, the order stands and is irrevocable.”13 Then they replied to the king, “Daniel, one of the Judean exiles, has ignored you, the king, and the edict you signed, for he prays three times a day.”
When the men found Daniel, he was exactly where they expected, doing exactly what they expected. He was in prayer, praising God for what he knew was coming. They weren't surprised to find him there, and Daniel was likely not surprised to be found. He wasn't unaware of the law; nor do we get any sense that he tried to run or justify his actions. Instead, we get every indication that Daniel was fully prepared to accept the consequences for his life of faithfulness. Do you live such a faithful life that when trouble comes, there’s still a peace in your heart?
How devoted that is! Throughout the Book of Daniel, we see that Daniel had a true understanding and respect for authority. For instance, back in chapter one he asked permission from the chief eunich. In chapter 2 Daniel responded with tact and discretion. Now in this chapter Daniel distinguished himself above the other king advisors because he had an extraordinary spirit.
Even though Daniel was in a land that wasn't his own, he conducted himself with dignity, respect, and integrity. He was always respectful and never argumentative. Because of that, Daniel moved into places of importance in this foreign land all while maintaining his faithfulness to God. Daniel knew that even though he might not agree with the beliefs and principles of the Babylonian culture or the leaders of the land, he was still under their authority.
In our culture today, like Daniel, we too are living in a land that's not our own, and many times will disagree with the principles of those in authority over us. Am I right? But, also like Daniel, we have an opportunity and an obligation to submit to those authorities, not because we agree with them, but because we believe that authority ultimately rests with God. God is our authority.
But now comes the controversy. We see in this chapter that Daniel's respect for earthly authority only went so far. There was a moment when the law of the land directly contradicted the law of God, and to this Daniel could not bend.
So the administrators hatched this plan, and it worked just as they hoped. Daniel had broken the edict, but he had only done so because it directly contradicted the higher law of his God. They're going to be lots of times when we have to choose whether we'll honor God or bow to the assumptions and the cultural norms around us. And as we make our choices, we should expect opposition from the world. That is what happened to Daniel.
Daniel 6:16 – 17 – “So 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 continually serve, rescue you!” 17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing in regard to Daniel could be changed.”
The law was set, and it was unbreakable. Even though Darius didn't like what was happening, the King was bound by his own edict and couldn't go back on it. Daniel was thrown into the lion's den and the entrance was sealed up tightly. But what happened in the den that night? We don't exactly know, though perhaps the book of Hebrews gives us a little clue:
Hebrews 11:32-33 – “And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,. . .”
We don't really know for sure if the author of Hebrews had Daniel in mind, but maybe he did. If that's the case, maybe the lions simply had their mouths closed. The next morning, the rock was rolled away and there was Daniel in good condition.
Daniel 6:21-22 – “Then Daniel spoke with the king: “May the king live forever. 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths; and they haven’t harmed me, for I was found innocent before him. And also before you, Your Majesty, I have not done harm.”
Even with those words, we don't know the specifics. Did the angel forcibly close the mouths of the lions? Did he make them suddenly tame and not hungry? Did he lasso their mouths shut with some kind of heavenly rope? We don't know. What we do know is that Daniel wasn't alone in the den, just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren't alone in the fire back in Daniel 3.
Do you know what this assures me of? We're never alone. No matter how lonely we might feel, no matter how desperate our circumstances, no matter what happens around us, God has given us his Holy Spirit. He'll never leave us or forsake us. What happened in the den that night? The presence of God was there. That's the same thing that will happen in any den we find ourselves in.
Daniel 6:23-27 – “The king was overjoyed and gave orders to take Daniel out of the den. When Daniel was brought up from the den, he was found to be unharmed, for he trusted in his God. 24 The king then gave the command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den—they, their children, and their wives. They had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. 25 Then King Darius wrote to those of every people, nation, and language who live on the whole earth: “May your prosperity abound. 26 I issue a decree that in all my royal dominion, people must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For he is the living God, and he endures forever; his kingdom will never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end. 27 He rescues and delivers; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for he has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
King Darius was overjoyed to find that Daniel, the man he had grown to trust and appreciate because of his life of distinction, had survived. Not only had he survived, but he had survived miraculously. Not only was Darius excited that Daniel was safe, he also realized that he had been made a puppet in the plot against Daniel. So Darius immediately ordered not only the administrators but their families to be thrown in the lion's den to be devoured.
Our God is a God of Justice, and justice was served. It's interesting that Justice was executed at the hands of King Darius, the very authority that God had instituted in the land. Daniel didn't need to make his case, he didn't need to seek retribution on his own. God took care of it and we can learn a lesson from it.
We don't need to live with the idea of getting even when we're mistreated. We can trust that God knows and sees exactly what's going on. In the end, He will make all things right.
But justice wasn't the only thing that happened. Not only was King Darius excited, but he was also changed. After justice was executed, Darius issued a complete reversal of his previous edict. Instead of requiring all the kingdom to bow down and worship him for 30 days, Darius required that people of every tribe and tongue and nation in his kingdom worship the God of I srael.
Think about that for a minute. What did Daniel do? He stood in faithfulness by bowing to God. That's it. And the result of that simple act of faithfulness was a decree of worship based on the testimony of a pagan king.
God was honored throughout the world, and it all started with one man's commitment to do what he knew to be right in the eyes of God. Shouldn’t we do the same? The true hero in this story wasn't Daniel. It was God. Daniel was just the one who trusted God.
Maybe there are some choices in front of you today that require you to stand with courage and faithfulness. If so, don't underestimate the impact of your choices. God has a way of multiplying your acts of faithfulness. Do what you know to be right in his eyes. And what is right, is that you know His Son Jesus.
