A Lion's Tale 2025
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
When people feel like they are under attack they usually do one of two things: they fight their way out, or they run away.
Personally, I believe that we are living at the fringe of eternity. Soon Jesus will come, but just before that happens the Bible describes some challenging events. Jesus tells about a lot of this in Matthew 24 and John adds detail to it in Revelation 15 -16. They describe natural disasters. They talk about political upheaval and warfare. But the big issue that contributes to the most significant end-time prophecies is the issue of worship. Will you follow the lamb, Christ Jesus, or will you give your service and worship to the agents of Satan? Revelation 13 says this divide between worshiping the Creator God or worshiping a man-made God will result in a world-wide polarization.
God’s people have a choice in how they respond in difficult situations. Should they stand up and fight for their rights? Should they band together and attempt to force lawmakers to make policies that favor their beliefs? If you’ve spent much time watching modern Christian leaders on youtube you’ve probably heard of the Seven Mountain Mandate, a belief that Jesus’ followers should gain influence and top leadership in every major sphere or society—Religion, Family, Education, Government, Media, Business, and the arts. Fighting for control and influence is certainly one way to respond. Should we do that, or should God’s people run and hide, living as long as possible in isolation from those who disagree with them?
Let’s look at the life of Daniel, especially the last of Daniel’s biographical stories in Daniel 6 to discover how we should relate in a situation where our government seeks to control our faith.
Review
Review
Daniel was exiled to a totalitarian, pagan country where he was forced to be educated by and then work for an ungodly government and king. In spite of everything he remained faithful to God. Each of the stories from his book are windows into how God relates to His people in crisis, and how His people should relate to their God and their government when their freedom of conscience is threatened.
We first found Daniel and his friends politely asking for a more acceptable diet. They took a polite and reasoned stand in favor of God’s counsel on food. And remember, God provided for them. They didn’t need to defend themselves. God stood up for them and gave them favor with their overseer.
Then Daniel faced the death penalty because of a dream the other wisemen couldn’t tell the king. Daniel didn’t resist arrest, he just asked for time. During the reprieve he prayed, and God revealed the mystery to him. Again, God provided for His people, and the result was that Daniel and his friends were promoted to positions of influence and God’s truth found a wider distribution as a result. It’s noteworthy that Daniel didn’t demand or even seek a position of influence, but he also didn’t run away from it.
Then Daniel’s friends stood when the king told them to bow to an idol. He gave them another chance but they unflinchingly told him no, they didn’t need another chance. Their minds were made up. They said that if God wanted, he could save them, but even if He didn’t deliver them they would not worship a false God. They didn’t mobilize a rally or stage a protest against the false religious worship that was being mandated by the king. They simple obeyed what they knew God required of them and didn’t bow to an idol made by man. The result was incredible: God delivered them from the middle of an execution and that set the stage for God to win the heart of the greatest monarch of the world. We don’t have any details in the story, but we can assume that the people of God in exile in Babylon had an easier time because of the polite and unwavering faith of these men. The king adjusted his policies to favor the worship of Israel’s God.
Then Daniel tells two stories of two different kings with totally different outcomes. The first is about proud king Nebuchadnezzar who God humbles and gets saved. The second is Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, Belshazzar, who’s pride leads him to defy the God of heaven. Belshazzar certainly knew that the Jews were excited that Cyrus, the deliverer who Isaiah had promised, was at the city gates. In his pride, Belshazzar was confident that the Medes and Persians would be unable to penetrate the defenses of the city, and so he mocked the God of Israel. When God wrote on the wall, Daniel interpreted the message faithfully. He didn’t stand up and fight and he didn’t run and hide. He just shared the word of the Lord with polite confidence. That day Belshazzar was killed because of his pride and the prophesied deliverer of God’s people walked in and took over.
In all these stories we learn that God is the ruler. God is the one who governs the affairs of men. God’s predictions come true. God is faithful to His people. God can be trusted.
Knowing this about God should impact how we relate to the crisis and conflicts in our lives:
If one day we loose everything, God still has our future in His hands, and He has promised to provide.
If we experience ridicule and persecution for Christ’s sake, Jesus himself experienced that too. We can rejoice that we suffer with Christ.
If we face death, God is the life-giver. We don’t need to worry about death.
In other words, we have the most powerful ruler of the universe on our side, what can mere men really do to us, no matter their earthly power or station in life? We can face tribunals and rulers with a quiet, polite, confidence. There is no need to run and hide, and no need to stand up in defense of ourselves when our God is our defender.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Just imagine what would have happened if Daniel and his friends ran and hid themselves when the king had the dream. Would Nebuchadnezzar be in heaven? Or what if they tried to hide when they were required to come to the plain of Durah? Or what if Daniel had tried to stay out of the room when Belshazzar called for him?
The glory of God is not revealed when His people slink into the shadows, nor is it proclaimed when His people rise up as protesters or violent rioters. His glory is ONLY revealed when His people follow Jesus closely and with quiet consistency they worship him in spirit and truth, and in polite yet bold words they tell the world the truth about God.
A Lion’s Tale
A Lion’s Tale
And that’s exactly what happened when Daniel faced the anger and jealousy of a bunch of politicians in the new kingdom of Medo-Persia. You can follow the story in Daniel 6.
Before we start this story there is a bit of untangling that we need to do regarding the historical record. Historians tell us that Belshazzar was the co-regent of Babylon under his father Nabonidus. When Nabonidus’ and Belshazzar’s reign ended with the overthrow of Babylon by the Medes and Persians, Cyrus the Great—a Persian—became the ruler of the new empire. But Daniel 5 and Daniel 6 describe Darius the Mede as the one who overthrew Babylon and became the king of Babylon. Some use this discrepancy between the historical record and the Bible as a reason to distrust the Bible, or to say that Daniel was not written by the historical person, Daniel, but rather in his name several hundred years later during the Maccabean rebellion.
It’s a good idea to have some humility when we approach ancient history. Beyond the Bible, what we know about the time mentioned in Daniel 6 is primarily limited to the Nabonidus Chronicle, The Cyrus Cylinder, and a poetic cuneiform text on a clay tablet called the Verse Account of Nabonidus. Can you imagine trying to tell the transition from one president of the united states to another in just 2,622 words. You won’t fit the history in that small of a space. And we can be certain that what we have in the historical record is missing quite a bit of the detail of that story.
We also have the histories of several Greek historians who wrote in the 400’s BC, a good 100 years after the overthrow of Babylon, and also one from the 200’s BC nearly 300 years after the events of Daniel 6. These histories provide great insights, but they don’t fill in every detail, and many of the details they provide are suspect because they are influenced by the regimes they were writing for. So, if they leave out a guy named Darius we shouldn’t be surprised. And when Daniel, a guy who lived during that time, does include a guy named Darius, it’s not improbable that Daniel knew something the others didn’t.
While there is no consensus among scholars about who Darius the Mede was, those who believe in the historicity of the book of Daniel all suggest that Darius was the throne name of someone that the history books call by another name. One suggestion is that Darius was a vassal king over Babylon who was subject to Cyrus, the king of Persia.
Time after time the Bible has proven itself to be true when historians and archeologists thought it was a fraud. As recently as 2024 archeologists demonstrated that Gath was conquered like the Bible said in 2 Kings 12:7. Previously scholars doubted the biblical account, but now there is evidence to prove it. Scholars throughout the 19th and 20th centuries thought that King David was a made-up character in the Bible. But recent archeology at the Tel Dan Stele (1993) uncovered records of “The House of David,” and just this year (2025) Tel Aviv University proved more of David’s story to be true from their discoveries at the el-Ahwat excavation site. If you start with the assumption that the Bible is wrong, you’re going to have to eat your words in the end.
It is my belief that Daniel is a historical book, written by the same Daniel who lived during the time of these stories. The Bible is a historical book. You can trust it to be accurate and true, even when historians don’t yet have the evidence to prove it.
Now, let’s read the story from Daniel 6.
Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.
Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”
Notice how the governors couldn’t dig up any dirt on Daniel. He remained faithful to the principles of heaven even at the top echelons of a pagan government. This fact leads me to believe that a person can be a faithful follower of Jesus and a good citizen in all sorts of political environments.
Do you think you could be a faithful follower of Jesus and a good citizen in communist China? How about in Venezuela, or Islamic Iran, or atheistic North Korea?
Daniel handled himself with diplomacy and tact, making king after king trust him. He gave his input and didn’t shy away from the truth, but he wasn’t a troublemaker. He genuinely cared about the kings that he worked for, and they seemed to recognize his wise and loving character.
Obedience to the principles of God will bring earthly as well as spiritual blessings. You might be tempted to play by the rules of the world in order to succeed in the world, but don’t give in to that mindset. Living by the principles of God is the only sure way to long-term, satisfying success and joy. But living by God’s principles doesn’t always make you popular, and in the short term, things might not look like they’re going in the right direction for you.
The jealous governors decide to come together and get Daniel out of the way.
So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” So King Darius signed the law.
Notice that this conspiracy to overthrow Daniel focused on two important things: 1) a coercive government policy about worship, and 2) the threat of death for disobedience.
Let’s be honest about something; God has not prohibited governments from making laws that force their population to do something. Some of those laws will be just, and some will be unjust, but the fact that governments have the authority to make laws is validated in the Bible.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
Whether its tax laws, or traffic laws, or public health laws—any law that is not expressly against God’s revealed will—God asks us to obey. Of course, you alone can decide what is right for you, and you should take advantage of every loophole in the law to ensure that you’re following your conscience. Daniel was obedient to his pagan nation’s laws. He is a good example for us in how we can relate to our ungodly government.
But, when the government makes a law that prohibits the worship of God or demands that we violate His laws, that’s where we must draw the line. In the face of the death penalty, Daniel chose to obey God rather than men. He didn’t even hide his worship of God.
But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
Notice Daniel’s reaction to a law that was both unjust and religiously coercive: nothing.
A man whose heart is stayed upon God will be the same in the hour of his greatest trial as he is in prosperity, when the light and favor of God and of man beam upon him. (Prophets and Kings, p 545)
Daniel didn’t make signs and protest his government. He didn’t go argue his case before the king. He continued being faithful to God. And here’s why: he didn’t have to go to the king to defend himself because he could pray to the God who put that king in his position.
Daniel’s faithfulness was rewarded with a very brief trial and then an execution.
That sounds bad. And the story would be quite unremarkable if it weren’t for the God who governs in the affairs of men.
The Bible tells us that the jealous officials went to the king to report Daniel’s treason. The king at once understood the jealousy that he had failed to see at first. He set about to try and free Daniel from the deadly night in the lion’s den that the law required. But he couldn’t. The law was immovable. And so he watched with regret as Daniel was tossed into a den of man-eating lions.
Just before he went into the lion’s den, Darius gave this encouraging wish:
Daniel 6:16 (ESV)
“May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
Darius didn’t sleep well that night, but apparently Daniel did. When Darius showed up very early the next morning he commanded the stone to be rolled away and then he called into the den,
Daniel 6:20 (ESV)
“O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
You can’t escape what’s happening in this king’s heart. The night before, he expressed a faithful hope that the God of heaven would save Daniel. And now he’s calling into this lions den with a sincere hope that his wish came true and that Daniel would be alive. Darius was beginning to be a believer in Daniel’s God.
To his great relief, Darius heard Daniel call back,
Daniel 6:21–22 (ESV)
“O king, live forever! 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.”
Darius was thrilled. One translation says he was “exceedingly glad.”
Daniel was carefully pulled out of the lion’s den, and then Darius threw Daniel’s accusers, and their families, into the lion’s den.
Don’t miss this point: when God is your defender, evil is subverted.
The only way God is glorified is when His people keep on worshiping him no matter the difficulties around them, AND keep on being the best citizens they can be in the political environment God has placed them. When we trust God to defend us, His name and glory is advanced. When we stand up to defend ourselves Satan’s work is advanced.
Daniel’s faithfulness allowed God to do away with the evil people, and at the same time win the heart of the king:
Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world: “Peace and prosperity to you! “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end. He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
The rest of Daniel’s life is summed up in one sentence: Daniel 6:28 “So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”
Daniel’s faithfulness in a pagan government made it possible for Cyrus to hear about the God of heaven. Possibly, Daniel himself read Cyrus the Isaiah scroll and showed him how he was named in prophecy over 100 years before. It may be that Daniel played a role in getting the Jewish nation released from exile. And because of his influence the Israelites were sent back to build the temple with government funding.
You really can’t go wrong when God is your defender.
This is the critical difference between Daniel’s story and the Seven Mountains Mandate that Christians are talking about today. In the rhetoric we hear today Christians have to dominate, to get on top, to take back our schools and government and cinemas in order to glorify God. In Daniel’s story he let God do all the work of setting up and taking down governments, while he stayed faithful in whatever sphere God put him in. If you fight for yourself and your God then you’re going to harm God’s cause. But if you’re faithful and let God fight for you, then His name will be glorified and many will come to know Him as a result.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus himself faced two governments in opposition against him. But he didn’t defend himself. He didn’t protest or fight. He didn’t decry their abuses. He said things like:
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
and this:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Jesus’ attitude towards a controlling government was to leave the governing to the governments of his day an instead focus on the things that really mattered — the hearts of people.
Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.
It wasn’t that He was weak. No, He was uncompromising. When he was given the opportunity to win the world if he bowed to Satan, he refused, quoting scripture and saying that we must ONLY worship the Creator God.
If there was anyone who had rights it was Jesus. The right to life, to free speech, to control of his own body, to a fair trial and thorough representation, and all the other rights that we care so much about.
Jesus had a right to be served. But he gave up his rights and became a servant, for the love of you and me. I believe Jesus is asking us to put our priorities straight. Like Philippians 2:5 says, “you must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”
Daniel and Jesus teach us that laying down our lives and letting God defend us is the only way to secure the hearts of humanity. When we put down our protest sign to wash someone’s feet like Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, that’s when we have real influence and that’s when God is glorified.
When the only fault people can find in us is that we worship God according to the Bible, that’s when we have real influence and that’s when God is glorified.
May we be known as the best citizens of whatever government God has us subject to—without fault in the world—AND may we be known as uncompromising followers of Jesus.
God’s kingdom doesn’t advance by celebrity or power or position, but by the weakness of His ordinary people surrendered to Him.
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Please stand with me as we sing together…
Benediction
I’d like to remind you that now would be a good time to take any prayer requests that you prayer box out in the lobby and if you have an offering to give and worship to the Lord, drop it in one of the boxes at the doors on your way out of the sanctuary.
Also, you’re invited to a fellowship lunch over in our event center. I hope you’ll stay and fellowship with us and hang out afterwards as we brainstorm with the power of God’s spirits about his purpose for our church.
