Intro:

Last week we opened chapter 6 of Daniel. This is where we find the famous Sunday School lesson of “Daniel in the Lion’s Den”… and, as is my custom, we are taking our time going through this account even though it may seem like a familiar story.

Last week we looked at Daniel’s Faithfulness…

1. To the new authorities

2. To the new Laws (as long as they didn’t go against God’s Law)

3. And we saw that he was faithful to God… even though he knew he could end up in the Lion’s Den…

And this week we are going to look at…

Daniel’s Prosecution

We ended last week with Darius signing the decree that anyone who worshiped any other deity other than Darius himself… would be cast into the lion’s den.

Open your Bible’s to Daniel Chapter 6… (Read vv. 10-17)

Meat:

Daniel was a true prayer warrior and prayed three times a day, probably morning, noon, and evening. Prayer was a big part of his life. Even after he knew that the decree was signed, he didn’t compromise… He did not shut his window so no one would know… he prayed right in front of the people… or at least those who were watching him closely.

I eluded to this fact briefly last week and I will elaborate on it a little more… Daniel praying with his window open was not an attempt to spit in the face of the governing authorities…

I am certain that if a similar decree was signed for the state of Michigan today, that there would be many people who would march down to the state capitol and hold a, so called, “prayer meeting” on the capitol lawn, with the mindset of… “The government cannot tell me what to do”… some of you may not agree with me here… But I am not sure that is the right thing to do…

Now, if you are someone who has set aside a certain time everyday or every week to stand or kneel outside of a court house, or government building, with the sole purpose of praying for our government officials and you continue to do so even after a decree making it illegal to do so is signed… and your only motivation is to stay faithful to your commitment to God… Then you are doing the right thing…

This was Daniel’s only motivation… v. 10 says

Daniel 6:10 “10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”

and v.11 “Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.”

Daniel is a man of integrity, he doesn’t try to hide anything and he is upfront with his faith. Not just when the government said it was illegal, but everyday leading up to that as well.

People knew where he stood, they knew what he believed and these guys that were spying on him knew that he would continue to pray even after the decree was signed, because Daniel was an outspoken, faithful man of God.

In his notes, Pastor Thompson says “One Difference between great people of God and not so great people of God is that; When backed into a corner, the great man or woman of God will NOT buckle under the pressure to do wrong.”

Daniel stayed faithful to his relationship with God… and now he is going to stand trial for it… a trial that he didn’t even attend… Lets look at Daniel’s Prosecution...

The first point on your outline this morning is…

The Charges

We find these woven through the next couple of verses…

Daniel 6:12–13 “12 And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?”

Now they knew exactly what the decree said. But they were asking this question in such a way that Darius would already be worked up when they told him that someone had violated the decree.

The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”

With the emphasis of “according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”… It would seem that their manipulative question has worked, Darius is now wondering who would dare to violate the decree that he had signed and now was the time for Daniel’s prosecution to begin...

13 So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.””

Charge number 1…

1.1 He’s a Jew

“… That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah… ”

Remember, the whole reason for their resentment towards Daniel is the fact that Darius wanted to promote him above all the other leaders in the Kingdom.

They did not want to take orders from or be held accountable to this Jewish man… and they wanted him dead… just because he was a Jew…

This is the same motivation for the Hamas terrorists that invaded Israel and went on a slaughtering rampage… There is a verified event that happened on that day as these terrorists were committing their carnage.

A younger terrorist, used the phone of one of the families that he just killed to call home to his own parents. He was excited to tell them that he personally had killed ten Jews so far and he is quoted to have said “This is what I was born to do”.

The political leaders in Daniel’s day were blinded by Satan and their are people today who are still blinded by Satan and living in the darkness of sin.

The way that they described Daniel added to there art of manipulation… Notice they didn’t address him by his exalted office title, as one of the Kingdom’s administrators… rather they point out that “he is a foreigner, a captive… he’s not one of us… he’s a Jew.”

They go on to charge him with…

1.2 Disregard for the King

This Daniel… “does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed...”

Now, the latter part of that statement, I would say, is true. Daniel had no regard for the decree, even after he knew it was signed… But to say that Daniel had no regard for the King, I believe was a flat out lie.

Daniel was a loyal and faithful servant as long it never caused him to violate his principles… He was loyal to N, He was loyal to Belshazzar and I am certain that he was loyal to King Darius… If he wasn’t, then I am certain that Darius would not have had a strong desire to promote Daniel to a higher leadership position…

And of course, Daniel was charged with…

1.3 Worshiping God

The last part of v.13 says Daniel “… makes his petition three times a day.”

They didn’t say who Daniel was making his “petition” to. They didn’t come right and say that “Daniel was worshiping the God of Israel”… do you know why??

Because his character and his reputation were well known by everyone. And as soon as these manipulative leaders mentioned Daniel making “his petitions”, Darius knew exactly who Daniel was petitioning and praying to, and it wasn’t him.

This leads us to point number 2 on your outline…

2. The King’s Dilemma

Daniel 6:14 “14 And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly 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.”

This is another fact that stood out to me… usually when a King is upset, he finds someone else to blame for his anger… However, Darius was

2.1 Upset with Himself

“And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself,… ”

That word “displeased” literally means loathsome… the King loathed himself… he hated himself for what he had done. Daniel was the king’s friend and his greatest help in the kingdom, the last thing Darius wanted to do was to sign Daniel’s death warrant… and yet, unknowingly, he already did.

I think Darius was also “displeased” because of the way he had acted. His pride got the best of him. He believed what his leaders were saying and it went straight to his head and he signed up for this new law… If only he had taken the time to consult with his most trusted advisor, Daniel, before signing that decree, he wouldn’t be in this mess…

The second part of the king’s dilemma, is the fact that he…

2.2 Couldn’t Find a Loophole

The last part of v.14 says that Darius “set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.”

For an entire day the king ignored all the other matters concerning the kingdom and concentrated on freeing Daniel.

Now, we don’t know a whole lot about the law of the Medes and Persians except we do know that once you made the law, you couldn’t violate it.  That was built into their system.  And most studies indicate that the reason they did that was to prevent whimsical laws, that once a law was made, it was binding. 

J. Vernon Mcgee observes that “Darius could not change his own law; However, Nebuchadnezzar was able to change any law that he made. J. Vernon Mcgee goes on to say that, This particular rule is evidence of the deterioration from one kingdom to the next.”

And so, there was to be no loophole found for Daniel. The king searched anxiously all day to find some way around this foolish decree that he had signed… and came up short…

So he was upset with himself, he couldn’t find a loophole and he was facing…

2.3 Political Pressure

v.15 - Daniel 6:15 “15 Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.””

Some commentators speculate that the signed decree gave a swift timeline in which the punishment for such a violation should be carried out. The speculation is, that anyone found to be in violation of the decree would be immediately thrown into the lion’s den, or at least, before sundown that very day, would be thrown into the lion’s den.

I think these political scam artists were getting a little nervous as well… Darius tried diligently to deliver Daniel and if he had more time to assess the situation he probably would have succeeded… The political leaders, realizing that very fact, got nervous and went to the king again to make sure that the sentence was carried out promptly… They had to put pressure on the king to act right away or their case would be exposed and possibly lost.

This brings us to the third point on your outline…

3. The Judgment

Unable to find a loophole in the law and receiving political pressure from the other leaders… Darius must execute judgement… and after seeing Darius’ attitude about the whole ordeal, I can confidently say that this judgement is…

3.1 Reluctantly Pronounced

Daniel 6:16 “16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions....””

Now these are real lions... Lions that were purposely starved to be used as executioners.  And I don’t know how many there were in there, but there wasn’t just a couple.  I don’t know how many, but there must have been an awful lot of lions, because when you get to the end of the chapter (which, Lord willing we will look at next week) and everything starts coming down on the heads of the people who made the plot, they throw all of them in there, and they throw all their families in together, and they get eaten up before they hit the ground…  It is safe to say that there were a lot of lions in there.

Old Testament Scholar C.F. Keil described a holding pen for lions that was found in Morocco… “The lions den was a large pit divided by a wall that could be pulled up to allow the lions to go from one side to the other. The keeper would put food in the empty side and lift up the wall so the lions would cross over and eat. Then he would lower the wall and clean the safe side of the den.”

This could very well describe the type of den that Daniel was thrown in to as Darius reluctantly gave the command… …

And finally this morning… the Judgement…

3.2 Reveals Darius’ Recognition of God

The final part of v. 16 says “… But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”

I am not sure if Darius truly believed what he said, or if it was just a way to try and offer some sort of comfort to Daniel… or maybe that is what Darius had been telling himself all day as he was searching for a loophole… “Daniel’s God will take care of… He won’t let anything bad happen to him”...

Either way, from the time that he has spent with Daniel since he conquered the Babylonian Empire, Darius, I am certain, has constantly heard about Daniel’s Heavenly Father.

Through Daniel’s Testimony, Darius recognized that Daniel’s God was omnipotent (all powerful) and sovereign (in control of everything) and could deliver him. He also saw that Daniel was faithful to his God, even to the point of being thrown into the Lion’s den.

It would seem that Daniel’s testimony and evangelistic effort are having an affect on King Darius’ life… And as we will see next time… this whole experience will change King Darius’ perspective about Daniel’s God, our God, for the rest of his life…

v.17 says… Daniel 6:17 “Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.”

All the other lords and leaders put their signet seals on the rock that covered the den… And I am sure they did it with smiles on their face, thinking they just got away with murder… But Darius put his signet seal on the rock thinking that he just murdered the faithful servant of the All Mighty God…

You think he had a bit of anxiety that night??? … … You bet he did… and we will talk about that next time.

Closing:

As we close, I want to encourage you again… as you read and study through God’s Word, and find yourself skimming through some passages or accounts that you think you are very familiar with… slow down… take your time and ask God to show you something that you hadn’t seen before. Ask Him to teach you something that you have never learned…

I am hung up on Darius words in v. 16… “… But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”

These words are flowing from the mouth of a Pagan King… a man who wouldn’t think twice about ordering the execution of anyone else… but for some reason Daniel has impacted his life in such a way that he is regretting ever signing that foolish decree.

We should live the kind of lives that touch the people who live around us.

Whether it is a pagan king, or just our neighbor… … our faith should ring true and point them to the Lord.

Whether they believe in our Lord or not, they should know that we do, and they should be able to see His hand working in our lives.

Let me be the first to say today…

He's still working on me To make me what I ought to be It took him just a week to make the moon and stars The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars How loving and patient He must be 'Cause He's still workin' on me.

Is He working on you and through you today?? The first step is the confession and repentance of sin, asking Him to forgive you and to start making you into the person that He created you be…

Prayer: