Good Morning! Daniel 6:14-15 - King Darius Labors to Rescue Daniel - 2009.11.06

Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men assembledunto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed (Daniel 6:14-15).

Daniel has been registered in the Hungry Lion Motel but he has a friend who is working all day to keep him out—King Darius. Here is the most powerful king in the world, trapped by his political system. Daniel's enemies were full of rage and pushed their agenda against upon the king. They see no danger for themselves or their families. Just one thing matters: getting rid of Old Man Daniel. It never occurs to them that they are tickling the lion with a short straw in pushing Darius against the wall.

Chapter 6 of the Book of Daniel is one of the most familiar chapters of Daniel to the population of the world and is one of the most familiar of all passages of the Bible. This is the stuff good literature is made of. An exciting story of death-defying danger combined with a struggle of good and evil and the triumph of good over evil.

Daniel had spent a lifetime—since he was seventeen until his current age of about ninety—in the palace of pagan kings. There must have been something very special about Daniel that appealed to such a long succession of kings. "The lions could not touch him, but yonder in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonidus, Belshazzar, Darius the Median, and Cyrus, who were pagan men, Daniel was in constant danger. However, he had the privilege of leading some of these men to a knowledge of the living and true God" (McGee). Someone points out that it was more dangerous to live in the palace than to spend a night with the lions.

This is an interesting story but God's purpose in preserving the story for us is probably not for our entertainment. God's preservation of Daniel from these hungry lions is an adumbration (story that illustrates a larger truth) of God's future preservation of Israel during the seven years of tribulation. The anti-Christ will try to put all the Jews to death along with targeting the new Christians of that time. It illustrates the blindness of men and the futility of playing chess with God.

This chapter concludes the historical section of the Book of Daniel. Chapter 6 is a counterpart of chapter 3 in which God preserved the lives of Daniel's three friends who were preserved in the fiery furnace. They too were a picture of God's future preservation of Israel during the seven years of tribulation. There is a question concerning the whereabouts of Daniel while his friends were in the fiery furnace and there is a question concerning the whereabouts of Daniel's three devout Hebrew friends while Daniel is in the lions' den.

Because of the long lapse of time, they are all dead.

McGee points out that there are two points of interest in the framework of the persecutions of God's remnant in chapters 3 and 6. In chapter 3 the emphasis was on human hatred and persecution. In chapter 6 the emphasis is not only upon human rage but upon satanic hatred and persecution. Yes, Satan is constantly seeking to destroy you if you belong to God through the blood of the Lamb and your embracing Him as your Savior and Lord. You can take that to the bank and it's going to be that way until you get home. Satan wants you and he wants your children. Most Christians seem to live in la-la land because they are ignorant of the Bible they carry back and forth to church every week. Their practical belief is that Bibles are made to carry around but not to be read and studied.

If you think you can be a broadminded buddy with Satan, try this verse: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8).

Daniel is not the only one in the Lion's den. You and I are in the satanic lion's den every day of our lives.

Memory Verse for this week:

Let the word of Christ dwell in richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)