1607-03P XXX
IN THE DEN OF LIONS
(Daniel 6:14-28)
SUBJECT:
F.C.F:
PROPOSITION:
INTRODUCTION:
A. We must not overlook the injustice of it all. Daniel distinguished himself in the eyes of Darius because of the excellent spirit within him. We identified this spirit as godliness, an internal, moral compass by which he told the truth and did what was right. And when he was faced with the threat of the den of lions and the temptation to forsake his piety for a month (or to practice it quietly, privately), he, a man of integrity would not compromise. And so he was caught and condemned by the wickedness of his critics and the weakness of his king.
R.C. Sproul reminds us that we should read scripture narratives existentially, not from the perspective of existential philosophy, but that we should put ourselves in the stories and try to feel how the characters would have responded. It’s interesting that at this point Daniel has been the target but Darius is the focus. “14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”
B. Can’t you feel the drama of this story? 1. King Darius is distressed. If you recall, every secular ruler we ever meet in the book of Daniel is distressed. Nebuchadnezzar was distressed by his dream. Belshazzar was deeply distressed by the hand writing (of his doom) on the wall. And here Darius is distressed. He now realizes that Daniel is the only man he truly can trust and that he has been outmaneuvered by his other advisors whom he now knows he cannot trust. And he worked overtime to rescue Daniel until the appointed hour of judgment.
2. On the other hand, the other presidents and satraps are filled with glee for they have accomplished their objective. Their graft and corruption is now safely hidden from the man who alone could have exposed them, the man they are sending, they think, to his death. But what were these men thinking? Did they assume they would ingratiate themselves to their king by fooling him and killing his best friend? If you are a goat, is it wise to enter the tiger’s cage and taunt him into killing another goat? Can he not as easily turn on you?
3. And then there is Daniel. It would be easy to assume that he is a rock, completely undisturbed by this turn of events, placidly walking into the den of lions. But verse 11 tells us that when he was caught praying illegally, he was found “making petition and plea before his God.” He was praying for God’s help, perhaps desperately so, because he did not want to face the lions and he knew his work was not yet finished.
C. Let me ask if you can relate to this kind of injustice or to this kind of calamity that falls suddenly and threatens to take down your world? Why does the Lord allow such trouble? In reference to the Old Testament examples, the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 15:4 that: “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” That would include these stories in Daniel, and so let’s consider his example that “through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
I. GOD OFTEN ALLOWS CALAMITY TO EXPOSE THE WICKED.
A. That’s the first effect that we see from this attack upon Daniel. Now Daniel knows who his friends are and who his enemies are. If he had any suspicions before, he now knows that his colleagues either hate him or fear him or both, but that they cannot be trusted and they literally wish that he would drop dead.
And, Beloved, when we go through times of trial, perhaps setbacks and embarrassments, we also often learn, sometimes with surprise and heartache, those who are our friends and those who are not our friends. I recall many years back a friend who ran in to some small trouble, casting a shadow on his reputation. And suddenly several people who seemed to be quite positive toward him now declared that they had had their suspicions all along. To my mind the “suspicions” they said they had were completely unfounded and were more a reflection of their own jealousy and ill will.
B. And don’t forget that the king also discovered the evil intent of the wicked, those he had formerly trusted. If they would do this to the king’s second-in-command, what would stop them from doing the same to him, given the chance? This was clearly their practice. In attacking Daniel they were exposing themselves. As we find at the end of the story, when Darius had his opportunity he wasted no time in condemning these wicked schemers.
In time of calamity you will often discover your friends, true friends who will stand by you in trouble. And you will find that when all other props are removed, Christ is your truest friend, and he is sufficient.
II. GOD OFTEN ALLOWS CALAMITY TO TEST THE GODLY.
A. Often our first response to trouble is “What did I do to deserve this?” So, what did Daniel do to deserve this? Well, if you think of this threat as entirely negative, as God’s punishment for some wrongdoing, we would have to say that Daniel did nothing to deserve this. Everybody admitted that he was flawless, and the only flaw his enemies could exploit was his flawlessness.
But we could rightly ask that question, “What did I do to deserve this?” from a different perspective. God tests his people with trouble with a view to showing or proving our godliness and growth in grace. So in a very positive way, we may actually be flattered and encouraged when we encounter trials like this. “Wow, what did I do to deserve the privilege of God putting me through this great test? God is working in and through them for our good.
B. In his first letter, Peter reminds us that the sometimes fiery trials we endure are given as God’s testing. Here he is in his own words: “6 In this (living hope of salvation) you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Are you able to look at your trials in this light, as God’s tests to prove the genuineness of your faith? Many people long struggle to find assurance of salvation. One sure sign of salvation is if God strengthens you in trials so that you persevere in faithfulness. That genuine faith is more precious than gold because it will last longer and bring infinitely more delight than gold, and gold is very precious today!
C. The book of James makes a very helpful distinction between testing and tempting. God tests us giving us opportunities to succeed. But he does not tempt us, enticing us to disobey him. In time of trial, any voice that would call us to collapse and compromise is not the Lord’s voice. So he writes in 1:2-4: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” And he concludes in verse 12: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”
On the other hand: “13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
So this trouble may be one of God’s good tests because he sees your growing maturity and he’s anxious to demonstrate it to you. Let this hope encourage you.
III. GOD ALSO DESIRES TO PROVE HIS POWER TO SAVE.
A. The Lord God often allows the waters of trouble to rise that we may cry out to him and find him faithful. And that leads us into the heart of the story. Actually, we find a pagan king praying to the Lord for Daniel’s safety. Daniel has also prayed, but it’s remarkable that Darius is calling out to the Lord. Darius also spent the night in apparent fasting and prayer.
And after a night of anxious prayer, at daybreak when the sentence was apparently concluded, the king rushed to the den of lions to determine the outcome. “20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” And what did he hear? He did not hear the growling and roaring of lions—the Lord had shut their mouths. I wonder if Daniel let the suspense build a bit before he answered, maybe 30 seconds of silence? I think I would have done that to teach the king this lesson. But eventually Daniel declared the glad tidings. “21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”
B. Some allege a discrepancy: why was Daniel spared? Daniel declares it was because he was found blameless before the Lord. But then the writer says it was because he had trusted in his God. Yet there is no discrepancy. He was blameless before the Lord because he had trusted in him and had defied the king’s edict, instead obeying the Lord’s command.
C. The king was overjoyed, not only that Daniel was spared, but because he had witnessed a true miracle. He had seen with his own eyes the spiritual truth and reality that there is a living God. The Lord had proved himself, which would not have been possible like this had Daniel not been faced with this choice, had he not remained steadfast, and had he not then run into potentially lethal trouble.
Does that speak to you and to your situation in your time of trouble and trial?
IV. GOD DESIRES TO GLORIFY HIS NAME BEFORE THE WATCHING WORLD.
A. The positive results of Daniel’s faithfulness in time of trial just keep piling up. We have mentioned that the King now has an excuse to clean house of all these wicked advisors, and he does so with a vengeance. “24 And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.” It is sobering to realize that the same God who closed the mouths of these lions also opened their mouths in judgment upon the wicked.
B. And the king, then, makes a solemn proclamation about the Lord: “25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. 27 He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”
This goes beyond what Nebuchadnezzar had decreed in the previous kingdom of Babylon. After God miraculously delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzar decreed that no one should speak against their God. Here Darius decrees positive respect for the God of Daniel. When we let God deliver us from trouble, the result is that the watching world gives glory to him.
V. GOD OFTEN USES OUR TROUBLE TO BRING ABOUT HIS GOOD WILL.
A. The last verse in instructive. “28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” We mentioned last time the interesting puzzle, namely that history seems to regard Cyrus as the one who conquered Babylon, but Daniel 6 accords that honor to someone named Darius. One of the likely solutions is to understand that verse 28 should read, So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius, [namely] the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” That is not only a solution to the puzzle but it also demonstrates an important truth.
B. If Darius is Cyrus as is probable, then that explains the decree of Cyrus recorded at the end of 2 Chronicles and the beginning of Ezra. Ezra records it for us: “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”