Daniel
Chapter 6
Vs. 1-
Darius is the new king over Babylon. It is no longer the “Babylon Empire” but it is the Medes-Persian Empire. It is still in the city or area of Babylon. In this chapter It is ruled now by other people.
(Persia is the country of Iran.) (Babylon is in the country of Iraq.)
Darius has divided his very large kingdom into 120 provinces or “states” areas. He put a man in charge over each one. Then he put 3 men over them. One of these 3 men was Daniel.
In the King James Version, it says that Darius saw that Daniel had an excellent spirit in him. That is why he chose Daniel.
(What a wonderful testimony ! To have a king who did not worship the God of heaven, to pick you because you had “an excellent spirit in you”. Do people think that about us? Do we have an “excellent spirit” in us?)
Vs. 4 Darius liked Daniel so much that he was thinking to make Daniel the leader over all of the kingdom—–next to Darius of course.
When the other men saw how the king felt about Daniel and that he was thinking of making Daniel a higher leader they tried to find fault—something wrong to blame him. Daniel was so honest, and wise, and careful, that they could not find any fault in him.
They finally decided that if they were going to be able to blame him for anything it would have to be about religion. They knew that Daniel worshipped the God of heaven. They all worshipped idols and even prayed to the king.
Vs. 6-10 The men planned a way to get Daniel in trouble. They went to the king and asked him to make a law that would be for 30 days. The law would say that no one could pray to any idol or god except the king for 30 days. If anyone broke the law and prayed to any other person, they would be thrown to the lions.
The king was a proud man. Kings who were as great as Darius knew that people had great respect and honor to him. After all, the king could say someone could live or kill them. So people had great fear of the king.
The king felt very proud and this law made him feel even more important so he signed the law.
In the kingdom of the Medes-Persians, a law could not be wiped away or done away with. A new law could be made that went against the old law, but once a law was made you could not change it.
Daniel heard about the new law. But Daniel decided that he was going to be true to the God of heaven. Daniel would not pray to any other god only the God of heaven.
So Daniel did as he always did. He knelt in front of his window, facing Jerusalem,
And prayed 3 times a day. Daniel did not hide to pray. He stood true to God and he let people know that he was standing true to God.
The men who were jealous saw him praying to the God of heaven. So they went in and talked to the king about it.
Right away the king saw that the men did this law just to get Daniel in trouble.
The king was angry with himself for not seeing their plan. He was so upset about Daniel. He spent the rest of the day trying to think of a way to save Daniel.
In the evening, the men came back to talk to the king. They reminded him that the law of the Medes-Persians can not be changed. So the king had to go along with the law. He had Daniel brought in.
Daniel was put into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May the God you serve and pray to save you.”
(I wonder had Darius heard of the stories of how God had saved the 3 men from the furnace of fire?)
A stone cover was put over the den. The king put his seal on it.
This “seal” was probably a cord, rope, string of some kind. It would be laid over the stone and each end of the cord would put held in place with a circle of wax or clay.
The wax or clay would have with the print of the king’s ring on it. The king’s ring would have a face or words carved in it. And when it was pushed into the wax, it left a mark that showed it was the king’s ring and law.
It meant that who ever would move the stone would have to move the cord and break the ends away from the clay or wax. The punishment for anyone to break the seal was death.
The king went back to his house. He would not eat. He would not let them play music. He was so upset and worried. He could not sleep all night.
Early the next morning, the king went to the lion’s den
In his heart, the king must have believed that Daniel’s God must be able to save Daniel.
When the king got to the lion’s den, He had the stone taken off and he called down into the den, “Daniel, was your God able to save you?”
Imagine how the king waited to hear Daniel’s voice or not.
Daniel did answer. Daniel called back—-”Oh, king, live forever! My God has shut the mouths of the lions so they could not hurt me. I have been found “not guilty”. I have not done anything against you, king.”
(There was a idea—in those days—that if a punishment was to be given a man—-that if he was “not guilty” he would escape the punishment.
Long ago, people who thought a woman was guilty of being a witch would “burn” the woman in a fire. The thinking was, if she is not guilty, she will not burn up. But if she burns up, she is guilty.
That is not right thinking. God does not reach down and save every person who is blamed for doing wrong. Many people have been punished, suffered, been put to death who were not guilty.
It took many years of history before that idea stopped. People today have a different understanding of things.)
So that was the reason Daniel answered the way he did to the king.
The king had Daniel lifted out of the den. Then the king took the men who planned this thing and put them in the lion’s den. The king also took the men’s wives and children and put them in the lion’s den, also.
The lions jumped up and took the people as they fell. The lions ate them.
Putting the wives and children in the den, too seems so hard and mean to us.
But in that day the families often had to suffer with the man of the family.
It reminds us that what the man of the family does hurts his family. A man who drinks, gambles, uses drugs, will not work, plays around with other women, cheats,
etc. brings hurt not just to himself but to his family.
The king sent out a message to everyone in the kingdom. It said:
“ I make a law that everyone should fear and respect the God of Daniel.
He is the living God. He will be forever.
His kingdom will never be destroyed. He will rule forever. He saves people.
He does wonderful miracles and signs in the heaven and earth.
He has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”
So Daniel kept being the leader and did well. He was the leader during the time of king Darius, and later the king of Cyrus, the Persian.