When Darius the Median took the throne formerly
occupied by the Babylonian rulers, he at once proceeded
to reorganize the government. He "set over the kingdom
an hundred and twenty princes; . . . and over these
three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes
might give accounts unto them, and the king should have
no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents
and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him;
and the king thought to set him over the whole realm."
The honors bestowed upon Daniel excited the jealousy
of the leading men of the kingdom, and they sought for
occasion of complaint against him. But they could find
none, "forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any
error or fault found in him.
Daniel's blameless conduct excited still further the jealousy
of his enemies. "We shall not find any occasion against this
Daniel," they were constrained to acknowledge, "except
we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
Thereupon the presidents and princes, counseling together,
devised a scheme whereby they hoped to accomplish the
prophet's destruction. They determined to ask the king
to sign a decree which they should prepare, forbidding any
person in the realm to ask anything of God or man, except
of Darius the king, for the space of thirty days. A violation
of this decree should be punished by casting the offender
into a den of lions.
Accordingly, the princes prepared such a decree, and
presented it to Darius for his signature. Appealing to his
vanity, they persuaded him that the carrying out of this
edict would add greatly to his honor and authority. Ignorant
of the subtle purpose of the princes, the king did not discern
their animosity as revealed in the decree, and, yielding to
their flattery, he signed it.
The enemies of Daniel left the presence of Darius, rejoicing
over the snare now securely laid for the servant of Jehovah.
In the conspiracy thus formed, Satan had played an
important part. The prophet was high in command in the
kingdom, and evil angels feared that his influence would
weaken their control over its rulers. It was these satanic
agencies who had stirred the princes to envy and jealousy;
it was they who had inspired the plan for Daniel's destruction;
and the princes, yielding themselves as instruments
of evil, carried it into effect.
The prophet's enemies counted on Daniel's firm adherence
to principle for the success of their plan. And they were
not mistaken in their estimate of his character. He quickly
read their malignant purpose in framing the decree, but he
did not change his course in a single particular. Why should
he cease to pray now, when he most needed to pray? Rather
would he relinquish life itself, than his hope of help in God.
With calmness he performed his duties as chief of the
princes; and at the hour of prayer he went to his chamber,
and with his windows open toward Jerusalem, in accordance
with his usual custom, he offered his petition to the God of
heaven. He did not try to conceal his act. Although he knew
full well the consequences of his fidelity to God, his spirit
faltered not. Before those who were plotting his ruin, he
would not allow it even to appear that his connection with
Heaven was severed. In all cases where the king had a right
to command, Daniel would obey; but neither the king nor
his decree could make him swerve from allegiance to the
King of kings.
Thus the prophet boldly yet quietly and humbly declared
that no earthly power has a right to interpose between the
soul and God. Surrounded by idolaters, he was a faithful
witness to this truth. His dauntless adherence to right was
a bright light in the moral darkness of that heathen court.
Daniel stands before the world today a worthy example of
Christian fearlessness and fidelity.
For an entire day the princes watched Daniel. Three
times they saw him go to his chamber, and three times they
heard his voice lifted in earnest intercession to God. The
next morning they laid their complaint before the king.
Daniel, his most honored and faithful statesman, had set
the royal decree at defiance. "Hast thou not signed a decree,"
they reminded him, "that every man that shall ask a petition
of any god or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king,
shall be cast into the den of lions?"
"The thing is true," the king answered, "according to the
law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not."
Exultantly they now informed Darius of the conduct of
his most trusted adviser. "That Daniel, which is of the
children of the captivity of Judah," they exclaimed, "regardeth
not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed,
but maketh his petition three times a day."
When the monarch heard these words, he saw at once
the snare that had been set for his faithful servant. He saw
that it was not zeal for kingly glory and honor, but jealousy
against Daniel, that had led to the proposal for a royal
decree. "Sore displeased with himself" for his part in the
evil that had been wrought, he "labored till the going down
of the sun" to deliver his friend. The princes, anticipating
this effort on the part of the king, came to him with the
words, "Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and
Persians is, that no decree nor statute which the king
establisheth may be changed." The decree, though rashly
made, was unalterable and must be carried into effect.
"Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel,
and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake
and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually,
He will deliver thee." A stone was laid on the
mouth of the den, and the king himself "sealed it with his
own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose
might not be changed concerning Daniel. 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."
God did not prevent Daniel's enemies from casting him
into the lions' den; He permitted evil angels and wicked
men thus far to accomplish their purpose; but it was that
He might make the deliverance of His servant more marked,
and the defeat of the enemies of truth and righteousness
more complete. "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee"
(Psalm 76:10), the psalmist has testified. Through the
courage of this one man who chose to follow right rather than
policy, Satan was to be defeated, and the name of God was
to be exalted and honored.
Early the next morning King Darius hastened to the
den and "cried with a lamentable voice," "O Daniel, servant
of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually,
able to deliver thee from the lions?"
The voice of the prophet replied: "O king, live forever.
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.
"Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and
commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den.
So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of
hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.
"And the king commanded, and they brought those men
which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den
of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions
had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces
or ever they came at the bottom of the den."
Once more a proclamation was issued by a heathen ruler,
exalting the God of Daniel as the true God. "King Darius
wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in
all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 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, and
steadfast forever, and His kingdom that which shall not
be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end.
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."
The wicked opposition to God's servant was now
completely broken. "Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius,
and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian." And through
association with him, these heathen monarchs were constrained
to acknowledge his God as "the living God, and
steadfast forever, and His kingdom that which shall not
be destroyed."
From the story of Daniel's deliverance we may learn
that in seasons of trial and gloom God's children should
be just what they were when their prospects were bright
with hope and their surroundings all that they could desire.
Daniel in the lions' den was the same Daniel who stood
before the king as chief among the ministers of state and
as a prophet of the Most High. 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. Faith reaches to the unseen, and
grasps eternal realities.
Heaven is very near those who suffer for righteousness'
sake. Christ identifies His interests with the interests of
His faithful people; He suffers in the person of His saints,
and whoever touches His chosen ones touches Him. The
power that is near to deliver from physical harm or distress
is also near to save from the greater evil, making it possible
for the servant of God to maintain his integrity under all
circumstances, and to triumph through divine grace.
The experience of Daniel as a statesman in the kingdoms
of Babylon and Medo-Persia reveals the truth that a businessman
is not necessarily a designing, policy man, but that he
may be a man instructed by God at every step. Daniel, the
prime minister of the greatest of earthly kingdoms, was at
the same time a prophet of God, receiving the light of
heavenly inspiration. A man of like passions as ourselves,
the pen of inspiration describes him as without fault. His
business transactions, when subjected to the closest scrutiny
of his enemies, were found to be without one flaw. He was
an example of what every businessman may become when
his heart is converted and consecrated, and when his motives
are right in the sight of God.
Strict compliance with the requirements of Heaven brings
temporal as well as spiritual blessings. Unwavering in his
allegiance to God, unyielding in his mastery of self, Daniel,
by his noble dignity and unswerving integrity, while yet a
young man, won the "favor and tender love" of the heathen
officer in whose charge he had been placed. Daniel 1:9. The
same characteristics marked his afterlife. He rose speedily
to the position of prime minister of the kingdom of Babylon.
Through the reign of successive monarchs, the downfall
of the nation, and the establishment of another world empire,
such were his wisdom and statesmanship, so perfect his tact,
his courtesy, his genuine goodness of heart, his fidelity to
principle, that even his enemies were forced to the confession
that "they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch
as he was faithful."
Honored by men with the responsibilities of state and
with the secrets of kingdoms bearing universal sway, Daniel
was honored by God as His ambassador, and was given
many revelations of the mysteries of ages to come. His
wonderful prophecies, as recorded by him in chapters 7 to 12
of the book bearing his name, were not fully understood
even by the prophet himself; but before his life labors closed,
he was given the blessed assurance that "at the end of the
days"--in the closing period of this world's history--he
would again be permitted to stand in his lot and place. It
was not given him to understand all that God had revealed
of the divine purpose. "Shut up the words, and seal the
book," he was directed concerning his prophetic writings;
these were to be sealed "even to the time of the end." "Go
thy way, Daniel," the angel once more directed the faithful
messenger of Jehovah; "for the words are closed up and
sealed till the time of the end. . . . Go thou thy way till
the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the
end of the days." Daniel 12:4, 9, 13.
As we near the close of this world's history, the prophecies
recorded by Daniel demand our special attention, as they
relate to the very time in which we are living. With them
should be linked the teachings of the last book of the New
Testament Scriptures. Satan has led many to believe that
the prophetic portions of the writings of Daniel and of John
the revelator cannot be understood. But the promise is plain
that special blessing will accompany the study of these
prophecies. "The wise shall understand" (verse 10), was
spoken of the visions of Daniel that were to be unsealed
in the latter days; and of the revelation that Christ gave to
His servant John for the guidance of God's people all through
the centuries, the promise is, "Blessed is he that readeth, and
they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those
things which are written therein." Revelation 1:3.
From the rise and fall of nations as made plain in the
books of Daniel and the Revelation, we need to learn how
worthless is mere outward and worldly glory. Babylon,
with all its power and magnificence, the like of which our
world has never since beheld,--power and magnificence
which to the people of that day seemed so stable and enduring,
--how completely has it passed away! As "the flower
of the grass," it has perished. James 1:10. So perished the
Medo-Persian kingdom, and the kingdoms of Grecia and
Rome. And so perishes all that has not God for its foundation.
Only that which is bound up with His purpose, and
expresses His character, can endure. His principles are the
only steadfast things our world knows.
A careful study of the working out of God's purpose in
the history of nations and in the revelation of things to come,
will help us to estimate at their true value things seen and
things unseen, and to learn what is the true aim of life.
Thus, viewing the things of time in the light of eternity,
we may, like Daniel and his fellows, live for that which is
true and noble and enduring. And learning in this life
the principles of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour,
that blessed kingdom which is to endure for ever and ever,
we may be prepared at His coming to enter with Him into
its possession.