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Story V
Historical Setting:
Time: About 537
B.C.
Place: Babylon
Persons: Daniel,
Darius, and Daniel's Accusers
Scriptures: Daniel 6
'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN'. Remember
these words, written on the wall during Belshazzar's drunken
party? And do your remember what the words meant? God was
telling the frivolous king that His days were numbered. In
fact, they were up. God gave his kingdom to the Medes and the
Persians.
The long reign of the Babylonians is over. The pompous king
Belshazzar is dead! Darius the Mede is king!
When Darius took over the kingdom he was well aware of
Daniel and his wisdom. He knew that this Judean captive, taken
from his homeland in the days of the Babylonian king,
Nebuchadnezzar, had risen to the highest positions during the
reigns of the previous kings. He had a very deep respect and a
liking for this influential man. In organizing his government,
Darius set one hundred and twenty princes in prominent
positions. And over these, he chose three presidents, of whom
Daniel was top. In fact, he had it in his mind to set Daniel
over his whole realm. In other words, he was going to make him
Prime Minister.
And this is where the trouble began. The other prominent
men were envious. Why should this foreigner be put in top
position, over the true Babylonians? The men watched Daniel's
every move. They were determined to catch him up on some
fault. Maybe he was digging into the treasury? Perhaps he was
slacking off in his work? Possibly he was engaged in some
illegal activity? Oh, they hoped so. They wanted to get rid of
this man, this "king's favorite." They put spies out to watch
him day and night. But there was not one single thing that
they could trip him up on. He was diligent, faithful, and even
went over and above the call of duty many times to serve the
king.
"But, ah!" thought one of the governors. "There is
something we can catch him up on--his religion." A wave of
excitement surged in his mind. He called the other men
together. "You know how this Daniel worships some strange God?
A God who has not an image to bow down to? A God who is
invisible? You know how he kneels down in front of his window
three times a day, his head facing Jerusalem, and in an
audible voice calls out to this God?"
Now the governor had his co-rulers' attention. "Yes!" they
chorused in unison. They gathered closer around the spokesman.
They began to conspire.
"This is what we can do," said the spokesman. "We'll play
on the king's ego. We'll go to him and get him to sign a
decree."
So the princes gathered together and had a meeting with
King Darius. "Oh King Darius, live forever,"
said the spokesman. "All the
presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the
counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to
establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that
whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty
days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of
lions." Daniel 6:7
But of course, unbeknown to the king, these governors were
lying when they said that ALL the leaders had agreed. Daniel
had not been consulted.
Kings in those days were quite arrogant. This decree
sounded pretty good to King Darius. He smiled. And then the
spokesman went on. "And now, Oh King,
establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not
changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persian, which
altereth not." 6:8
What the king didn't realize at the time was that these men
had set a trap for Daniel, the top man of the entire kingdom,
and friend of the king. So Darius signed the decree and sealed
it with his signet.
Daniel knew that a trap had been set for him, but this did
not alter his habits. He carried on in his usual way. At the
same time as he always did, he knelt in front of his window,
facing Jerusalem, and he prayed to his God, as always. He was
not showing off. And he was not slacking off. He knew the
consequences. He knew that no matter how well liked he was
before the king, the king, once he had signed the decree,
could not alter it. Daniel knew that he could be signing his
death warrant by carrying on with his usual schedule. But he
did it anyway. "Now when Daniel knew that the
writing was signed, he went in to his house; and his windows
being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon
his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks
before his God, as he did aforetime". 6:10
Daniel's spies were right on their toes. Rubbing their
hands with glee, they scurried back to the spokesman for the
governors and princes and reported what they had seen. Quickly
the group went to the king and asked for another assembly.
"Oh King," said the spokesman. "Remember the decree you
signed, saying that no one in your kingdom should ask a
petition of any one, be it a god or a person, except for you?
And if they did they would be dinner for the lions?"
"Yes, of course I remember," said the king, a little
irritated.
"Well someone, knowing that the decree has been signed, has
already defied it!" said the spokesman, almost gleefully.
The king's anger was rising, just as the group had hoped it
would. "Who has dared to defy me?" roared the king. "Who,
knowing the consequences, would dare disobey my order? Tell
me. Who?"
Without hesitation the man said, "That man Daniel, that
captive from Judah, whom you have set over the whole kingdom,
he it is who has defied you, oh King. We have watched him, and
three times daily he makes his petition to this God of the
Jews, this unseen God, this God who has no image. What are you
going to do about it, oh King?" "Then
answered they and said before the king, that Daniel, which is
of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardedeth not
thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh
his petition three times a day." 6:13
The king buried his face in his hands. He let out a groan.
Oh, he had forgotten about Daniel and his God. He should have
known that he would not have been among the men who had
brought this diabolical plan to him. Oh, what was he to do?
What was he to do? He respected and revered Daniel. He would
do anything to save him from this wretched plot that these man
had cooked up. For the rest of the day he fasted, wracking his
brain to think of a way he could spare his trusted friend and
servant. "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 to the going down of the
sun to deliver him." 6:14
But the men, when they learned that the king was trying to
think of a plan to spare Daniel went again to the king. They
were determined to do away with their enemy. "Oh king, you
know that the law of the Medes and the Persian make it so that
once a decree is signed, it cannot be changed. You must carry
out the punishment you have assigned to those who disobey your
orders. And after all, oh king, Daniel is a leader of the
land. He must be made an example of, or you will find that
your word will mean nothing, and all of your subjects will
begin to disobey your orders. Oh king, you must carry out your
decree. "Then these men assembled unto 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 established may be changed." 6:15
The king was devastated, but he knew he had to do what the
decree had said, so he told the men to go and get Daniel.
Daniel stood before the king, looking him square in the
eyes, showing no fear.
"Oh Daniel," said Darius, "I
know you serve a living God. I know that he will deliver you."
"Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy
God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee."
6:16b
That is all he said to him, but it was enough. Daniel knew
that the king had been tricked into this plot and held nothing
against him. But he also knew that if God chose to deliver
him, then he would be delivered.
The king gave the mandatory command that Daniel be cast
into the den of lions. The stone that would seal the pit was
brought and placed in the mouth of the den, and according to
the law, the king sealed it with his own signet.
King Darius, his heart heavy, trudged back to his palace.
Oh how he hoped that Daniel's God was as powerful as Daniel
had said he was! Oh how he hoped that Daniel would be saved
from the mouth of the lions! But no god he had ever been
acquainted with could perform such miracles. Could Daniel's
God? Could He?
The servants brought the king his meal, but he refused it.
He sent the musicians and magicians away. He wanted no
entertainment and no food. He just wanted to close his eyes
and sleep, blotting out this terrible tragedy that he was
responsible for. But sleep escaped him. He tossed and turned,
wishing the long night were over. "Then the
king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither
were instruments of music brought before him; and his sleep
went from him." 6:18
As soon as it was light King Darius rushed from the palace
and scrambled down to the lion's den. "Has Daniel's God
delivered him? Has Daniel's God really delivered him?" Oh he
hoped so. He reached the den. "Oh Daniel," he cried out, his
voice trembling with anguish. "You say that the God you serve
is a living God. Has he delivered you from the mouth of the
lions?
Back from the depth of the lion's pit he heard Daniel's
voice: "He has, oh king, he has. May you live forever. My God
has sent His angel and has not allowed the lions to touch
me."
"O king, live for ever. My God hath
sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they
have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innocency was found
in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt."
6:21b-22
The king wasted no time in commanding that Daniel be
brought out of the den. Daniel once again stood before the
king. King Darius looked him up and down and could find not
one single scratch on him. "Oh Daniel, your God truly is a
living God. He has rescued you from the mouth of lions. Praise
be to your God."
The king commanded that all the men
who had plotted against Daniel, and all their families be
brought immediately to him. "Cast these people into the den of
lions," he ordered.
The lions had spent the night with a meal right in front of
them, but their jaws were paralyzed. All they could do was sit
and stare at their potential meal. So by now they were very
hungry. When the hordes of people began falling into their
pit, they fell upon them with a ferocious appetite. They
devoured every last person, clothes and all, before they even
hit the ground.
Then the king wrote to all the lands in his kingdom: "I make a decree, That in every dominion of my
kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he
is the living God…He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh
signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered
Daniel from the power of the lions." 6:26, 27
All during the reign of Darius the Mede, and Cyrus the
Persian, Daniel prospered. And there was no restriction put
upon the people about their worship.
Although we may never be as prominent as Daniel or
his three friends, God will always honor us if we honor Him.
If God could rescue Daniel from the jaws of hungry lions, and
his friends from the fiery funace, He can rescue us from our
predicaments, no matter how impossible they seem, if we but
put our trust in Him.
© Helen Dowd
The End of these stories. Read the rest of Daniel (Chapters 7-12 for prophsies.)
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