Daniel 6:1-28; The Lions' Den

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We are going to continue in our series in the book of Daniel.

This week we're at the halfway point.

The first half of Daniel is action-packed, it is full of narratives that you grew up hearing, and the second half just gets weird.

I'll be honest, and so I am really glad that fall break ended this week and not next week.

So we're going to let Jason tackle the last half of Daniel.

But the passage before us this morning is one of the most familiar in the entire Bible.

Even if you are not a Christian, you've heard this story more than likely, and in some ways, this is the paradigmatic story of the book of Daniel.

All the themes that we have talked about to this point, they all come together, they're all present in this story, and so what I want to challenge you to do this morning is to listen to the text.

Listen to this as though you don't know the end of the story.

Try to listen to this passage as if it were for the first time, because I think we'll hear it in a different way.

Before we read, let me just give a little bit of context.

It's easy to read through the first six chapters of Daniel and to assume that they all took place within the same time period that chapter 6 flows right after chapter 5, which flows right after chapter 4.

But that's not the case.

It's been nearly 70 years since Daniel won.

Daniel is still in exile.

The Babylonian Empire is now out.

They met their demise at the end of chapter 5.

And Darius the Mede is now in charge.

The Persians are the ones who are in command now, and so let's now read the passage Daniel 6, we'll read the entire chapter this morning.

Hear God's word to us today.

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps to be throughout the whole kingdom Over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom the satraps should give account so that the king might suffer no loss.

Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps because an excellent spirit was found in him and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

Then the high officials in the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful and no error or fault was found in him.

Then these men said we shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.

Any ground for complaining against this Daniel, unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.

Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him O King Darius, live forever.

All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and satraps and counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes petition to any God or man for 30 days, except to you, o king, shall be cast into the den of lions.

Now, o king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.

Therefore, king Darius signed the document and injunction.

When Daniel knew the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber towards Jerusalem, and he got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and a plea before his God and they came near and said before the king concerning the injunction O king, did you not sign an injunction that anyone who makes petition to any God or man within 30 days except to you, o king, shall be cast into the den of lions?

The king answered and said the thing stands fast according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.

Then they answered and said before the king, daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, o king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.

Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel.

He labored until the sun went down to rescue him.

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.

Then the king commanded and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions.

The king declared to Daniel may your God, whom you serve, continually deliver you.

And a stone was laid on 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.

Then he went to his palace and slept the night fasting.

No diversions were brought to him and sleep fled from him.

Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.

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, the servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?

Then Daniel said to the king O king, live forever.

My God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth.

And they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him and also before you, o king.

I have done no harm.

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.

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.

Then Darius wrote to all the people's nations and languages that dwell on the earth, peace be multiplied to you.

I make a decree that in all my royal dominion, people are to tremble in 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.

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, so this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Let's pray Our Father, as we look to this passage.

We pray that you would open our eyes to see your goodness and your glory.

We pray that you would take a story that we have heard our whole lives and that you would surprise us and show us Jesus and his goodness and His grace to sinners who are in need.

And speak now, lord, for your people are listening.

We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

We've looked at this series in the book of Daniel through the lens of how do we live faithfully in a culture where God is not known or worshiped?

Faithfully in a culture where God is not known or worshiped?

We live in a world where our beliefs as followers of Jesus can be seen as regressive, they are seen as offensive, sometimes they are even seen as oppressive.

And so what does Daniel 6 teach us about how Daniel lived faithfully during his time?

This chapter shows us how he did that in three ways.

First, he lived as a faithful pilgrim.

Second, he endured persecution and suffering.

And third, he waited for deliverance.

So first, daniel lived as a faithful pilgrim in exile, and we see that in verses 1 to 5.

It seems that the new king, king Darius, that he recently got his MBA and he was setting up his new kingdom to run more efficiently and effectively.

And so he appointed 120 satraps to rule in specific areas throughout the kingdom, and over them he put three high officials, of whom Daniel was one of them.

Darius looked at Daniel and he said this guy has upper management written all over him.

And so Daniel is again in a place of prominence in a foreign land.

And if you're anything like me, when in your mind's eye eye you think about Daniel in the lion's den, you picture him as a handsome, fit, young, go-getter, 30-year-old guy in the lion's den.

He is nearly 90 years old in this passage.

I'm not sure that I'm going to be alive when I am 90, but I sure hope that I am not ruling an entire kingdom if I am and it's obvious from the text that he is still on top of his game at this age because he's getting another promotion.

In verse 3, darius was so impressed with Daniel's leadership that he was going to make him in charge of the entire kingdom, and it's no surprise that his co-workers are not very thrilled with this news.

Their co-worker, their peer, is going to be their new boss.

And so, in a very common political move that we see even to this day, those who are the high officials and satraps decide they would send out the hounds.

They're going to find everything they can find against Daniel.

These first few verses show us that there's more than one set of roaring lions that are after Daniel in this chapter, that these guys are out for blood and in the shock of a lifetime.

They turn over every rock, they look in every file and they find nothing.

Daniel is a high-ranking politician with incredible, immense power, and they looked and they looked and they looked and they found no fault, no dirt, no cover-up, no double life, no secrets, no offshore bank accounts, and given the climate of politics, we know that this is astounding.

You have a politician, a high-ranking politician, who is absolutely above reproach and it's easy for us to pick on politicians and maybe laugh at them, but who among us could stand a full audit of our lives?

If the whole government were to come after you and to look for dirt on your life, what would they find?

Would it be said of any of us?

What was said of Daniel?

They found no ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful and no error or fault was found in him.

They would not say that about me and I would imagine they would not say that about you as well.

And we can miss just how incredible this is.

Think about where Daniel is.

This is at least his third administration that he's worked in.

He was a career politician.

His prophetic work was just kind of a side gig that he had.

His life was devoted to serving in godless governments while in exile he served in such a way.

We see in these first six chapters of Daniel that pagan kings gave praise to God for how effective he was at his job, the way that he conducted himself.

Two pagan kings praised the one true living God.

Because of Daniel's faithfulness and character and wisdom.

The kings knew they could trust him.

They would suffer no loss if they put affairs in Daniel's hands.

Daniel was ethical and reliable and talented and wise and incorruptible.

He seems to be the one person in the entire world who actually has their life together.

He's a brilliant leader and politician.

He's ethical and moral.

He can interpret dreams.

He prays on his knees three times a day, every day.

He's full of faith and trust and when presented with a den of lions, he seems to be unfazed by it.

He is such a good example that there is a part of us, a part of me this week, that began to be repulsed by him.

We can begin to resent Daniel because he is such a good example for us.

There's nothing sinners despise as much as a good example.

But Daniel remains resolute with the chaos that is going on around him.

So what allowed Daniel to serve for nearly seven decades in a pagan regime without giving in, without compromise, and still remain faithful?

You can imagine the temptation.

There had to be a temptation for him just to say I'm going to assimilate.

I've been here long enough.

I've been here for 70 years.

What do I have to show for it?

Things are still the same.

We're still in exile.

No one's listening.

Does this really even matter?

Why not just give in?

What's the point?

But in order for Daniel to serve faithfully within the system, he had to have a hope that was outside of the system.

Remember that this is a new regime, that the political landscape had just recently changed and you can imagine.

For the Israelites there was a renewed hope that maybe things were changing on the horizon.

The Persians were in charge.

Surely the exile was going to be over.

But Daniel 6 shows us that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The faces at the top changed, but Daniel still faced the same persecution and troubles.

Daniel had to know that this was not his true home, that he had another home.

He had been there for almost 70 years, but notice that he still prays to Jerusalem for almost 70 years.

But notice that he still prays to Jerusalem.

After 70 years in exile.

He still turns and he still knows where his home is.

He could serve faithfully because his true homeland was somewhere else.

That allowed him to both care and not care at the same time.

He could faithfully serve with excellence, but he could serve in a way that he was free from the burdens and the expectations that they wanted to put on him.

And so what can you and I, what can we learn from Daniel serving faithfully as an exile and as a pilgrim?

The first is to remind ourselves that this is not our home either, that we're not home yet, that even as much as we love our country, even as much as we might love the world around us, this is not our lasting home.

We seek a city that is to come, whose builder and maker is God, and this world will always feel a little foreign to the followers of Jesus until he returns.

The second is to remember that our hope can never be in a new set of circumstances.

Our ultimate hope cannot be who our next leaders might be.

Our hope can't be in a new set of laws, because circumstances always change.

Just think about this At the end of chapter 5, daniel had gotten a big promotion.

He was the third, he ranked third in the entire kingdom.

And do you know how long that promotion lasted?

Less than a day.

That very night, the kingdom was taken from Babylon.

We have to have a confidence that goes beyond where our circumstances are, because we know that our circumstances will always change, confidence that can't be overthrown.

But in the gospel we have something that is so much better than what any king, what any leader, what any president could offer us A certain hope that gives us in the present what will be ours in full in the future.

And we rehearse, we reenact that truth every Sunday when we gather together.

We are pilgrims who are passing through on their way home.

We both love the city and towns and places where we are, but at the same time we know it's not home.

We know it's not where our lasting security lies.

But the second thing we see in this passage is not just that Daniel was a faithful pilgrim, but that he endured suffering, and we see that in verses 6 to 16.

You have this interesting contrast that's set up with Daniel in this passage.

He was both loved and hated for his character in the kingdom.

He was admired for his faithful service, but he was also persecuted because he refused to obey their laws.

He was loved and hated because of his convictions, and those who conspired against Daniel were no fools.

They knew that they needed to be cunning in order to get Daniel out of the way.

And so they go to the king a king, a new king who needed to consolidate power and they said we've got this great idea.

Let's make everyone pray to you for a month and you can see how this might be appealing to a new king.

Well, I'll make everyone see that I'm the one that provides for them.

They'll pray to me.

But they knew that Daniel wouldn't go for it.

And Daniel's decision to defy the king's order is not political rebellion.

It's actually fidelity to the commandments of God, actually fidelity to the commandments of God.

Darius was demanding that Daniel break the first commandment.

You shall have no other gods before me.

When the laws of the state require us to break the laws of God, we follow God rather than the state.

There were other laws in exile in which Daniel was happy to obey.

He was glad to obey.

Daniel was a good citizen, he was a faithful servant of the state, but there are lines that he could not and would not cross.

But the amazing thing is the response that Daniel has to the law being signed.

If I were Daniel and I would have heard this law was signed, I would have lost my mind, would have gone to the king and said I cannot believe that you would do this.

I've been your best employee.

You've suffered no loss because of me.

I have been faithful to you and this is what you give me.

I cannot believe that you would do something like this.

But he didn't do that.

He went to pray.

And again, if I were Daniel, there might be a slight chance that I would go pray, but I would pray the imprecatory Psalms, praying for his demise.

But we don't get that with Daniel.

He went to his house and he prayed prayers of thanksgiving.

There is no sense of bitterness.

The text is absolutely clear that this crisis didn't impact Daniel.

He just went on with doing what he normally did.

There's a calm confidence in the Lord.

I'm not hiding.

I'm not going to be hard to find.

I'm not going to close my windows.

Daniel didn't protest.

He doesn't cause a stir.

He doesn't complain.

He doesn't lead a coup.

He doesn't complain.

He doesn't lead a coup.

He just goes on about his business as pilgrims in exile.

Faithfulness to God does not guarantee that our life will go well or that our beliefs will be understood or that our beliefs will be appreciated by those around us In some ways, faithfully following Christ will assure the exact opposite for us.

Daniel, an example of Christians for thousands of years, show us that God is not nearly as committed to our comfort, as we are, that a Christian living faithfully in a fallen world will always look a little strange.

We're always going to feel a little strange in a fallen world, and we're always.

We always have the chance of being misunderstood by the world around us, but in this we have the assurance that God is with us, that he's not left us.

That is one of the ways that God works.

His will in our lives is through suffering.

And so when the high officials catch Daniel, they bring him to Darius and they say Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, broke the law.

This basically amounts to a racial slur.

They didn't need to introduce Daniel to Darius.

It was his right-hand man.

He didn't need to go through the family history of Daniel.

They say well, of course it's this exile of Judah.

Of course he would be the one that would go against you because we can't trust him.

He's not one of us.

His loyalties lie somewhere else.

Darius has a choice to make.

He can't go against the law, but he can issue a counter decree.

He can reverse the law with another law, but he can't do that without losing face.

He can't do that without losing prospects of future power, and so he chose to preserve his own power rather than to rescue Daniel.

And Daniel was thrown into the lion's den.

His faithfulness to God resulted in a death sentence.

Lions in the Old Testament were often presented as the enemies of God pursuing God's people.

The lions represent judgment and vengeance.

Coming after God's people, daniel is being given over to his adversaries to be torn apart and again.

If you're reading this story for the first time, you don't know how it's going to end.

At this point, you read it and you think Daniel's fate is clear that no one escapes the lion's den.

This faithful man is being unjustly given over to death.

And so that brings us to our third and final point.

Daniel waits for the Lord's deliverance, and we see that in verses 17 to 23.

Notice the contrast between how Daniel and Darius slept that night.

Darius had everything at his disposal, he had all the money and power that you could imagine, but he didn't have sleep.

Daniel had nothing with him but the presence of God, and he slept like a baby.

You get the picture.

He was snuggled up next to a lion all night long and the tension builds, and in the morning the stone is rolled away and the king cries Daniel has your God delivered you.

And in verse 21, we have the only recorded words of Daniel in the entire chapter.

At this point he's not needed to speak.

Daniel knows that this is not his battle.

That is the Lord's battle, and the Lord will defend him.

So Daniel says my God sent his angel to shut the lion's mouth, and they have not harmed me because I was found blameless.

And then Daniel is lifted out of the lion's den, and the part of the story that doesn't often make it into the children's storybook Bible is found in verse 24.

His enemies and their families are thrown in and torn to shreds by the lions Even before they get to the bottom of the den.

They are torn limb from limb.

The chapter ends with Darius giving praise all over the world because of Daniel's deliverance, and so if we end the sermon here, we might get out a little early, but what we take away is a call to be like Daniel.

It's a call to be a faithful pilgrim, to be blameless in life and blameless in character, to endure suffering and persecution and to trust that God will deliver you and that, if you were innocent like Daniel, that you can trust that God will deliver you from the lions that you are facing in your life today.

But is that really the moral of the story?

What about the thousands of martyrs across the centuries who were not rescued from death?

What about those who are being persecuted around the world today?

Has God forgotten them?

Does God care less about them?

Are they somehow less faithful than Daniel was?

Does he not trust enough to be saved?

While we can rejoice at Daniel's deliverance, the moral of the story can't be dare to be a Daniel and you will be saved from all of your enemies as well.

Rather, we have to see this story as a preview of a greater Daniel who was to come, a greater Daniel who lived faithfully as a pilgrim sojourning in a foreign land, of another prophet of the Lord who was to come, who, like Daniel, patiently endured false accusations and was sentenced to die.

And one who came, who would trust in the Lord and who waited for a deliverance in a greater way than even Daniel did.

This story points us to the true and better Daniel, the Lord Jesus Christ, one who was truly and completely innocent and blameless and who, too, was put into a sealed pit.

Yet Jesus, in His den of lions, endured not just the threat of death, he endured death itself.

And Jesus had no angel of the Lord to comfort Him in His distress, like Daniel did.

But yet he hung on a cross alone, forsaken by all of His friends, forsaken by all of his friends, forsaken by all of his followers, and he exclaims in agony, utterly alone my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

And like Daniel, jesus received a verdict in his pit of death.

No harm was done to Daniel, because he was blameless before God and before the King, but Jesus.

Yet, though he was truly blameless.

He endured the eternal punishment of God that was ours.

He suffered in our place, suffered for our sins, but he was raised because death could have no hold on him.

And at his resurrection he received a verdict of not guilty.

In his life and in his death he perfectly kept all of the law of God and he fulfilled all righteousness.

He was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of his people.

But here's the good news for you and for me Daniel came out of the pit alone, but Jesus did not.

Daniel came out alone, but Jesus brought with him all who trust in him.

When Jesus was resurrected, we were resurrected with him.

When Jesus got out of the grave, we got out of the grave with him and in the most unbelievable news ever, that we get the same verdict that Jesus got Not guilty, blameless and innocent in every single way.

Way, the divine judge looks at us and says not guilty.

You must and shall go free.

The guilty go free, because the innocent one has died for us.

But there is this unasked question that lies beneath all of Daniel 6, and it's this what if your life looks more like Daniel's accusers than it does Daniel?

What if there's plenty of dirt out there on you?

What if words like faultless and blameless and innocent are not adjectives that would normally describe the way that you have lived your life?

What if you live with the lions of shame and guilt, roaring accusations to you of your past sins?

Remember the words of a song that we sing in our church my accuser, he may roar of countless sins that I have done.

These I know, and thousands more.

Behold my God, he knows not one.

When we feel the roar of accusations, the lions of our sin and our shame, we can look and say, well, you actually don't know the half of it, that I could name for you a thousand more sins, but my God can't name one, that he has taken them from me as far as the east is from the west.

He has hurled them into the depths of the sea, never to come ashore again, and Jesus has shut the mouths of the lions of sin and shame.

Our hope cannot be that we will be as obedient and as brave as Daniel, living faithfully and enduring suffering.

Our only hope in life, and our only hope in the life to come, is that Christ was obedient in our place.

In a world that is filled with danger and chaos and suffering, this is the only place, the only person in which we can find true and lasting peace and hope.

Christ is all our righteousness, both now and forever.

Amen, let's pray Our Father.

We give praise to you, for you are the living God who endures forever.

Your kingdom shall never be destroyed.

Your dominion shall be to the end.

You are the one who rescues and delivers, who works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, and who has saved not just Daniel, but has saved us from the power of the lions, from sin and death and judgment forever.

To you be all praise and glory in Christ Amen.