Daniel 6:10-18

TEXT: Daniel 6:10-18

10

And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; (now his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem); and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

11

Then these men assembled together, and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.

12

Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's interdict: Hast thou not signed an interdict, that every man that shall make petition unto any god or man within thirty days, save unto thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

13

Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the interdict that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

14

Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to rescue him.

15

Then these men assembled together unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no interdict nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.

16

Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.

17

And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.

18

Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep fled from him.

QUERIES

a.

Did Daniel deliberately provoke their wrath by praying, Daniel 6:10?

b.

How did the king labor all day to rescue Daniel?

c.

Why seal the stone?

PARAPHRASE

But though Daniel knew about the decree of king Darius, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem, and prayed three times a day, just as he was accustomed to do every day, giving thanks to his God. Then Daniel's enemies all gathered secretly at his house and found him praying there, as they knew he would, to his Jehovah God. They rushed back to the king and subtly reminded him, You have signed a decree, have you not, O king, that demands that any man who shall pray to any god except yourself, within the next thirty days, shall be thrown to the wild lions? The king answered, Yes, that is absolutely correct. And, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, my decree cannot be altered or abrogated! The satraps, presidents and others who had been spying on Daniel then said to the king, This fellow, Daniel, one of the Jewish captives, is paying no attention to you or your law. He is praying to his God three times each day. Hearing this, the king was very angry with himself for signing the law, and made up his mind he would try to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day trying to figure out some way to rescind the law or stop the execution of it, In the evening the men came again to the king and said, O king, there is nothing that can be done. You signed the law and it cannot be changed. Fearfully the king gave the order for Daniel's arrest, and so Daniel was brought to the den of lions. The king said to him, May your God, whom you worship continually and who has delivered you in the past, deliver you now. And they threw Daniel into the den of lions. A stone was brought and placed over the access into the den through which the animals were driven. The king sealed it with his own official signet ring, and that of his government, so that no one would dare rescue Daniel from the lions. Then the king returned to his palace and was awake the whole night in a state of deep depression and agitation of soul. He could not eat, he could not sleep and he had no desire to have his usual entertainment.

COMMENT

Daniel 6:10-11. DANIEL. WENT INTO HIS HOUSE. AND KNEELED. AND PRAYED Daniel did the only thing he could do. He was not deliberately courting martyrdom or persecution, but if he had evaded the issue he would have given the appearance of trusting his God only when it was physically profitable. Very plainly there were only two alternatives: (a) Continue to worship God as he had been doing all along and face the probability of death and trust in God; (b) Submit to the decree of the king, save his neck, and declare his unbelief and cowardice. Daniel believed God!

The original text indicates his chamber was an upper chamber. One of those rooms built upon some corner of the roof or a special tower-like chamber on top of the house, with latticed windows no doubt for coolness, where one could be alone for rest and meditation. Daniel, being one of the presidents, would have no mean place of abode. But he had some mean enemies! Praying toward Jerusalem seems to have its origin in 1 Kings 8:33 ff. His jealous contemporaries appear to have set up a watch at his window (all of them gathered so as to have plenty of witnesses). When they had seen enough they made haste for the king's palace.

Daniel 6:12-13. HAST THOU NOT SIGNED AN INTERDICT. DANIEL. REGARDETH NOT. These envious politicians are crafty psychologists. They are also liars. First they psych the king into an even more emphatic declaration of his decree and the absolute impossibility of its being revoked. Then they applied nationalistic prejudice to psych the king against Daniel by referring to him as that fellow (Daniel). one of the Jewish prisoners of war. To top it all off they exaggerated the truth in their own scheming imaginations into a lie and said that Daniel had no regard for the king. Now it is true that Daniel would not give precedence to any king or any king's law over God and His laws. However, it was not true that Daniel had no proper regard for the king's authority in other realms. In fact, it had already been recognized by the king that Daniel did have high regard for him and his country. But the king is under great pressure.

Daniel 6:14-15. THE KING. WAS SORE DISPLEASED. SET HIS HEART. TO RESCUE HIM. Darius was no moron, He knew he had been tricked. He also knew he was about to lose his most efficient, truthworthy, and loyal president which did not make him happy. No doubt the schemers were not prepared for this reaction. Just how Darius went about his attempt to rescue Daniel from this predicament we are not told. It is easy to infer, from Daniel 6:15, that he argued, reasoned, and attempted to coerce his advisors to relent on this decreethat he not be held to the irrevocable nature of a royal decree this time. But they would not relent! They belabored the king over and over again with the inviolability of Medo-Persian law. They probably even dropped a threatening innuendo here and there that they would take the matter to Cyrus if he should desist from his duty. This, of course, is the kind of political pressure that broke down what little moral fibre Pontius Pilate had when he would have released Jesus as a man who had done no evil. The phrase Thou art not a friend of Caesar, modified with the times, has rung in the ears of many a man faced with such a moral decision between right and wrongand they have surrendered to the wrong for fear of Caesar. What should ring in their ears are the words of the Lord, Do not fear him who is able only to destroy the body, rather fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell!

Daniel 6:16-18. THEY BROUGHT DANIEL, AND CAST HIM INTO THE DEN OF LIONS. The king seems to have some hope that Daniel's God, whom he worshipped so faithfully, would by some mighty wonder deliver him. Perhaps Darius had even heard stories of Daniel's past deliverance under the Babylonians. It would be too far-fetched to think that Darius had come to any personal faith in Jehovah God such as Daniel himself had. Darius was at least truly interested in seeing Daniel saved because he had high regard for the seer.

Some think the lion's den must have had a gate or a normal door-type entrance at the side where ferocious animals were driven in, plus an opening on top through which condemned criminals were dropped into the midst of the ravenous beasts. The top opening would not need to be closed since it would be completely inaccessible from within while the side gate was doubly secured by rolling a large stone in front of it. Darius then placed some type of seal upon the stone door and the imprint of his signet ring and that of the government therein. Guards were probably placed there at the insistence of Daniel's enemies so no one would tamper with the door or attempt to rescue Daniel.
The king, wrestling with his conscience and depressed at the thought of losing so trustworthy a friend as Daniel, was nearly beside himself all night. He could not eat, he was in no mood for any kind of entertainment, and he could not sleep. Many times he probably paused from pacing the floor of his palace room and looked and listened toward the lions den to catch some indication of hope, against hope, that Daniel might survive the night. He no doubt remonstrated with himself over and over at being tricked by his own pride and by evil and envious men, all of whom put together were not worth this trustworthy administrator, Daniel. Little did he know what great power the God of Daniel had.

QUIZ

1.

What were Daniel's alternatives when he learned of the king's decree?

2.

Describe the crafty way in which the enemies of Daniel pressured the king?

3.

Why was the king upset when he finally realized what must be done?

4.

How did the king probably try to rescue Daniel?

5.

Did Darius have Daniel's faith that his God would rescue him?

6.

How upset was the king?