Singing the Songs of the Lord in a Strange Land January 16, 2005
Daniel 6
Dare to be a Daniel
This is a great story, and a popular story. Even people who have never read the Bible know the story of Daniel in the lion’s den, at least by name, or by many songs that have been sung about it.
We began the book of Daniel with a Daniel as a young man, exiled from his homeland, and taken into the king’s court with many of the other noble young men of Judah. We now come to, not quite the end of his career and life, but close to it. Even if Daniel were 14 when he was exiled (we don’t know his exact age, it could have been anywhere from 12-20) he would be 80 by time Darius the Mede took Babylon for Persia.
We often tell this story as a children’s story, and invite children to “dare to be a Daniel,” which is good and fine, but it is actually an old man’s story, and we should invite the octogenarians in the crowd to dare to be a Daniel just as much as the children.
Daniel begins his life in Judah, in the land that God had promised his ancestors to be theirs as long as they served him. The difficulty is that they never truly served Him, and after many generations of disloyalty and abuse, God’s patience ran out, and he removed them from the land by sending Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon to capture and destroy Israel and Judah. Daniel is exiled and walks the long journey to Babylon as a youth, where he is chosen to serve in the Kings court with the wise men of Babylon – the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, who would advise the king.
Daniel remains faithful to his God, and God blesses him for it – Daniel’s God-given wisdom is far and above anyone else’s wisdom. His ability to interpret dreams brings him great advancement – he is placed as chief over all the wise men at a very young age, and placed as second in the kingdom under Nebuchadnezzar. After Nebuchadnezzar dies, Daniel is all but forgotten, but once again shows the power of God’s wisdom to the king, and is place as third ruler in the empire, just hours before the empire falls to the Persians.
When Darius sets up to rule Babylon for Cyrus of Persia, he appoints 120 Satraps to help him govern through out the land – to be sure that all the commerce that is supposed to come his way does. Over the 120 satraps, he appoints 3 administrators, one of whom is Daniel – his reputation must have carried over to the new regime. Daniel did his job so well that Darius was about to set him as administrator over the whole kingdom.
When the other two administrators and some of the satraps get wind of Daniel’s up and coming appointment, they are none too happy to have him as boss. “Why is he being promoted when it should be me!”
– I imagine that power struggles like this never happen in your place of work, or school… You’d almost think that these guys were Canadians! – when one daisy gets to tall, you lop off its head.
They start to try to find the dirt on Daniel, but they can find none – this might have been part of their problem with Daniel- he was incorruptible – they were supposed to see that the flow of resources went Darius’ way, but they probably made sure that some of the flow filled their pockets as well – Daniel would have nothing to do with it, and as their very adept boss, he could probably catch them up in their corruption. Daniel is squeaky clean, so they have to go after him another way – through his faith. Daniel is not actually persecuted for his faith – these pantheists could care less which god Daniel prayed to – he is persecuted for his productivity using his faith.
Darius has decentralized economic power in his region, so, in their plot, they suggest that he centralizes religious power – in his own person. It’s hard to know if they were inviting Darius to set himself up as a god, or as the sole mediator between the people and the gods, but all the same Darius, in a fit of self serving arrogance, likes the idea and makes the intractable decree that everyone under his reign should pray only to him for the next month, those who pray otherwise would be thrown to the lions. Beyond the kings vanity, the suggestion that the administrators and satraps give assures Darius of his continued central place in the government while at the same time delegating authority to others.
There is a great temptation in people and institutions to set themselves up as God’s or “the gods’” exclusive agent. “If you want to talk to HIM, you have to go through me.” We can also place this role on people by thinking that God will hear certain people more than others – such as pastors, or popular speakers. The bible teaches us that through Christ we have free and open access to God. The only mediator we need is the one we have – Jesus Christ. If someone else claims exclusivity, or deeper access, run in the other direction, into the arms of the Father.
This is what Daniel does – he continues to pray to God the way that he always did, in his home with the windows open. Not in public, but not in hiding.
The conspirators spy him out and drag him to the king
The king is horrified – not at what Daniel did, but at the law he has made. He realizes he has been hoodwinked and spends the day trying to find a loophole in his own law that will keep his prized leader and advisor out of the lion’s belly. He can’t do it. The administrators and satraps come back and tell him to obey his own law. Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den
Daniel as our example
“They could find no corruption in him” - Daniel’s Character
I remember years ago when the democratic candidate, Gary Hart, got tired of the press’ constant innuendo of scandal in his life and through down the glove, daring them to catch him in a real scandal – it took about a week and they dug up enough real dirt to ruin his chances forever.
Daniel doesn’t dare any one, but his rivals and enemies try as hard as they can to find something to pin on him, but he is so above reproach that they can’t even manufacture a scandal in regards to his leadership and business dealings.
We are too be the same:
1 Peter 2
11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
“flee from even the appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22
I’ve heard Christians complain too often of persecution, when what they are being persecuted for is bad behavior or incompetence, not their faith. As Christian’s we should live our lives so that the only offensive thing in our life is our faith and our good character.
They can’t attack what is wrong with Daniel, so they go after what is right – Daniel’s faith. They knew that Daniel prayed only to the God of Israel.
“As was his custom” - Daniel’s Prayer Life
I imagine this old man going up to his chamber and, like he had done since he was a boy, opening the windows that looked toward the now destroyed temple, going to the shelf and pulling out his prayer mat, lying it down on the floor and then taking his old bones into a kneeling position to pray, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Regular
Three times a day, Daniel would pray at set times – as for content, he gave thanks, as we will see later in the book, he also prayed for Jerusalem, and confessed his people’s sins.
Daniel had the scriptures, and he was following the pattern set in 1 Kings 8:35-36 and in Psalm 55:17
1 Kings 8:35-36
When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.”
Psalm 55:17
Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress
And he hears my voice.
We too need to keep regular times of prayer – if we create the habit now, in the good times, it will be there for us in the bad times.
I think that if an order came down in our country like Darius’ there would be some Christians that would have to start to pray regularly, just to defy the order!
When we see Daniel’s prayer life described in the next 6 chapters, it is an amazingly exciting prayer life – he receives messages and dreams and visions from God, he has conversations with angels and other heavenly beings, he is given prophesies about the future. Daniel’s experience may have been extraordinary, but if you complain that you never hear from God, one question you may want to ask you is are you praying regularly? If you want to hear his voice, you need to spend time with him.
Quiet
Just as in the first chapter when Daniel went quietly to the official to ask for an exemption from the pagan diet, he does not bring attention to himself 66 years later in his prayers. He prays with his windows open yes, but it is the second floor and they are open for Jerusalem, not for the eyes of onlookers. Daniel’s enemies had to strain themselves to spy him breaking the law.
Jesus says; “when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.”
– Matthew 6:6
“When Daniel heard about the law forbidding his prayer, he did not rally the troops for a strike or armed resistance, he prepared himself for death. … Christians do not fight for their beliefs by assaulting or killing, but by dying. - Tremper Longman III
There are times when we need to speak loudly and fight for justice, but as Gerald Vadesan says it needs to be justice, not “Just Us” – our cries for justice should always be first and foremost for others who are oppressed.
1 Thessalonians 4:11
“This should be your ambition: to live a quiet live, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we commanded you before. As a result, people who are not Christians will respect the way you live.
Ending well
As I reflected on Daniel’s age in this story, I thought that the other example that he gives us is ending well. I remember when my Dad decided to resign from his leadership role in the denomination and go back to pastoring a local church, one of his colleagues came to me and told me how proud he was of dad. That so many people in administrative jobs end up just drifting into retirement in their last number of years, but that Dad was committed to ending well.
When Carl & I attended Mr. Rainey’s funeral, he commented on the pastor who took the service. He was not-recently-retired but still had a great passion for God and His Word. Carl said that he hoped that when he reached that age that he would be as passionate.
Daniel took life risking quiet stands for his faith as a young man, and he took life-risking quiet stands as an elderly statesman who had much more to risk. He had only grown in his commitment and faith as he aged.
Carl’s goal is not a bad goal to have – to end well, to have a good old age – and the decisions that we make now will feed into that old age. You need to ask the question Who do I want to be when I grow old? Do I want good relationships with God and the people I love, or do I want to die alone – the decisions you make now build your future. Do you want to be that scary grumpy old man/woman on the street? Or do you want to be the old sage, full of grace and wisdom – you build that future in Jesus Christ.
The power encounter in the lion’s den
The lion’s den was most likely seen less as an execution and more as a trial by ordeal – trial by ordeal is simple – you placed a person in great peril, if they survived, it must be because the gods intervened and you are innocent. If the lions eat you, you are guilty, and if they don’t, you are innocent. Most people were found guilty.
The king who made the law spends the night in agony – he has just thrown his most trusted leader to the lions, Daniel on the other hand, was relatively comfortable – I have this illustration of Daniel earnestly praying in the den surrounded by lions – I think it is a better picture of Darius that night. Daniel was either sleeping or singing praises and thanksgiving to God who had sent an angel to shut the lion’s mouths.
What the leader of much of the known world could not do with all his power, God did with one angel – he saved Daniel from the lions.
In the lion’s den, God shows that His Kingdom is so much more powerful that any human empire. In spite of present appearances, God is in control.
Darius comes to the den in the morning with the faint hope that Daniel’s God has saved him. And his hopes come true. Daniel survives the ordeal, is proved innocent, and his conspirators proved guilty.
Proverbs 28:10 comes true:
“Those who lead the upright along an evil path
will fall into their own trap,
but the blameless will receive a good inheritance.”
The conspirators are thrown into the lion’s den and are torn to pieces before they are able to hit the ground.
Daniel, on the other hand prospers under Darius and Cyrus.
Darius proclaims the glory of the one and only God to everyone under his rule.
Jesus and Daniel
So here is this story of a man who is framed on false charges by rulers jealous of his power, he is arrested while in prayer in a private place. The ruler works for his release, but is unsuccessful, and he is handed over to be executed. The sentence is exacted, but in the morning, he rises out of the den alive, proclaimed innocent and lifter to a high place in the kingdom.
Sound familiar?
This is what Peter says about Jesus on the day of Pentecost:
Acts 2:22-24
“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
The big difference between Jesus and Daniel is that Jesus died. The ordeal that Jesus went through was not just the cross, but death itself. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus rises out of the tomb on the morning of the third day. Daniel came out of the den with out a scratch, Jesus, on the other hand bears the scars of death. But his victory over death is far greater than Daniel’s victory over the lions. And Jesus is lifted to the highest place in God’s Kingdom.
Jesus is our representative. So that when we give our self to Jesus, and we place our lives in Him, the Spirit unites with him, so that his victory over sin and death becomes our victory over sin and death. His proven innocence (by coming through the ordeal) becomes our innocence, and his goodness is applied to our lives. So in his victory we are victorious, in his exaltation, we are exalted with him up into the highest heaven!
Do you want Daniel’s character and relationship with God? Do you want to end well as he did? The first step is to join in the victory that Jesus won. Give your life to him, and you too will have victory over sin and death. You too will have a restored relationship with the King of Heaven!
If you have already been united with Jesus in his death and resurrection, then I invite you to live in the victory that he won. Build an excellent character by following his way, pray regularly and daily, and make plans to end well.
