Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.9 – March 2005

 

The Lion’s Den

 

Sermon by Rev J De Hoog on Daniel 6

Scripture Reading:  Hebrews 11:32- 12:3

Suggested Hymns:  BoW 159; 86:1,2,3,5; 478; 510

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ…

Is this the most well-known story in the Bible? It probably is. It is probably one of the first stories we tell our children. Say the name “Daniel” and what comes to mind? “Lions’ den”? Well, perhaps for some of us at least! It’s a classic story, and one that can teach us a great deal.

Daniel is now an old man. There has been a change of dynasty. The Babylonian Empire is now a thing of the past, conquered by the combined might of the Medes and the Persians. Seventy years before, Daniel and his three friends had first stood as very young men in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, refusing to eat food from the king’s table. Nebuchadnezzar has been swept away in the tide of history, as has his son Nabodinus and his grandson Belshazzar.

Daniel has served as a senior public servant under three regimes, with unimpeachable integrity. Now the whole Babylonian Empire has been defeated and the Medo-Persian Empire has taken its place. And still Daniel survives, and now he has been elevated to the highest position in a fourth regime, that of Darius the Mede. It is in this context that the whole story of Daniel 6 unfolds.

Now I don’t need to retell the story, for we have just read it, and it is a very familiar story. What I would like to do is to bring out the meaning of the story of Daniel 6 in the shape of five important principles.

1. The best way to be truly loyal to your country and your government is to be loyal to God.

Think about those satraps and administrators who wanted to be rid of Daniel. Why did they hate him so much? Verse 2 gives us the likely reason. “It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss.”

Here is Darius’ problem. He has to administer a huge sprawling empire inherited from the Babylonians – this would present immense administrative difficulties. So he appoints 120 satraps, each in charge of a particular province or area of the empire. But he knows that with power comes great temptation and also corruption. Now he will have 120 satraps intent on using their positions of influence to line their own pockets

So he makes the satraps accountable to three chief administrators, so that he might not suffer loss. And he recognises in Daniel a man of absolute integrity, a man who simply cannot be bribed – just the man to set over the whole empire. With a man like Daniel in charge, the king will suffer no loss.

This is almost certainly what the satraps and the other two administrators hate about Daniel. With Daniel in charge, their financial interests are at risk. Daniel will expose and oppose any corruption down the line. And who is he anyway, this foreigner, this Jew, to impose his will upon them?!

So they go back through the records, trying to find some grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they are unable to find anything. They leave no stone unturned in their efforts to pin something on Daniel. But Daniel is squeaky clean; no mud will stick. Over three long administrations, he has been a man of integrity through and through. He is truly a righteous man; there is no pious facade for Daniel!

Verse 5: “Finally these men said, ‘We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.'”

Now notice something important about these satraps and administrators. They care nothing for truth, they care nothing for the king, they care nothing for the empire, they care nothing for law. All they care about is to be rid of Daniel. Daniel is immensely valuable to the king precisely because he is loyal to God. It is because of his great integrity before God that he can be trusted with any matter in the empire. But the satraps know that if they can set up a conflict between the law of God and the law of the Medes and the Persians, then Daniel will certainly obey the law of God, and so he will be guilty of breaking the law of the land.

It’s really the perfect plan, isn’t it? Whatever happens, the satraps will be rid of Daniel. If Daniel stands firm, he will be destroyed in the lions’ den. If by some chance Daniel compromises, then he will no longer be the Daniel they hate, the Daniel who can be trusted to obey God no matter what. It’s a win/win situation as far as the satraps can see!

Of course, we know how the story ends up, with the satraps falling into their own trap, quite literally! But see how this chapter teaches us this first principle. The best way to be truly loyal to your country and your government is to be loyal to God. The satraps who urge Darius to create the new law are actually disloyal to Darius. As the story makes plain, they are actually working against Darius’ real desires and intentions. At the same time, Daniel, who is guilty under the new law, is actually the most true of all of Darius’ subordinates.

The satraps are also working against the interests of the Medo-Persian Empire – fancy stopping people from praying, when in answer to their prayers God is continuing to bless the state and the world! They are also working against the interests of the system of law of the Medes and Persians – the new law is quickly shown up for what a farcical regulation it is! The satraps are also working against the interests of truth – they can find nothing wrong in Daniel’s career, so they engineer a false charge through deceit.

The satraps are working against the interests of the king, the empire, the law and the truth; whereas Daniel, who technically breaks the new law, is the most loyal of all. The best way to be truly loyal to your country and your government is to be loyal to God.

Daniel’s adversaries tried to make it impossible for Daniel to be loyal to God and loyal to the state at the same time. But they failed. By remaining faithful to God, Daniel was more loyal to the state than his enemies, who were simply trying to use the state and its laws to serve their own ends.

Can you see how this applies today? Take the example of Graham Preston in Queensland, who in 2003 was in detention for nine weeks for protesting against abortion. He chose to obey God rather than the state, and because he broke the laws of the state he was incarcerated. Was he being disloyal to the state? Technically speaking, yes he was – he broke certain Queensland laws. But in a very profound way, he is more loyal to Queensland and to Australia than those who kill babies under the protection of the law, because he is standing up for what is finally just and right for Queensland and for Australia. By being loyal to God, Graham is finally also being loyal to his government and to his country.

The examples can easily be multiplied. Those German Lutherans who stood up against the Nazi regime during the Second World War were ultimately more loyal to Germany than those who betrayed the German people by helping that regime. The best way to be truly loyal to your country and your government is to be loyal to God.

This is an important principle to remember for public servants, for teachers, and for all of us. As you go about your work as a public servant, or as a teacher, or in any walk of life, remember that you can finally best serve your government, your school, your family and your country by continuing to be loyal to God.

2. Powerful human beings are in great danger of being “trapped” in the webs of their own making. This is true for both Darius and the satraps. This is never so for God.

Just think of the way Darius is trapped in his own law. The satraps come to Darius to report Daniel’s continuing prayer to God, and Darius realises he is trapped. Verse 14: “When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him. Then the men went as a group to the king and said to him, ‘Remember, O king, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.'” And Darius is forced to commit Daniel to the lions’ den.

How Darius must have hated those satraps for the way they had manipulated and trapped him! How upset he must have been with himself! But the law is the law. One of the great strengths of the Medo-Persian Empire was that even the king was subject to the law.

This is a great strength of the Australian legal system. It is a very good safeguard, for example, that in 2003 Philip Ruddock had to listen to the ruling of the Family Court in the matter of the children in detention. No matter if you agree with that decision or not, it is a wonderful safeguard that our political rulers are not autonomous and cannot do as they please, and that their decisions can be appealed and deliberated upon in the High Court and in other courts. Yes, sometimes the system is abused and misused; no human system is perfect. But thank God that we do not live in a land where the rulers have absolute power.

In Darius’ case, it’s a good principle. But he is trapped by it. See how Darius is trapped. He cannot repeal the law. If he suspends it and places himself above it, he risks the collapse of the whole social order in the Medo-Persian Empire. So he must submit. He has been trapped. How ironic! His own civil servants are overtly attributing deity to him – don’t let anyone pray to anyone but you for thirty days! You are like a god to us! Darius quickly discovers that he is not a god at all; he is just a puppet of his unscrupulous administrators who are using the system to get their own way.

But see that the satraps themselves are being trapped (or should that be “satrapped”?) into the webs of their own making. They think they have the perfect plan, but they haven’t counted on the One True God intervening. Daniel survives the lions’ den, but the plotters do not. These plotters are a terrifying illustration of the principles enunciated in Proverbs 26:24-27. Listen to the way these verses describe these evil men:

“A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbours deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.” These plotters dig the pit, they roll the stone, they prepare the lions’ den, only to fall into it themselves.

So we see our second principle illustrated. Powerful human beings are in great danger of being “trapped” in the webs of their own making. This is true for both Darius and the satraps. This is never so for God.

See how it is never so for God. God is never trapped in his own law. God knows himself perfectly, he knows all the consequences of his actions perfectly, and God’s law always perfectly expresses his character and his purpose. Psalm 19:7-9 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.”

While powerful human beings get all tangled up in their own laws and regulations and the bureaucracy so created, and while human beings have to make adjustments and by-laws and conditions, until one day everybody is tearing their hair out and saying, “The law is an ass,” the Lord’s way is always right. He is wise and perfect in his knowledge and understanding; he is never trapped into a bad decision. Neither is he trapped by human laws – the Lord overrules the bad law of Darius and preserves Daniel. And you will never be trapped into making a bad or wrong moral decision if your decisions match the Lord’s will.

That leads us straight into our third principle from this chapter.

3. True personal freedom comes from walking in the ways of the living God and witnessing to his sovereignty.

See how truly free Daniel is in all his actions in this chapter. The satraps rush around in a group trying this and trying that. Did you notice how the satraps are always in a group in this chapter? Verse 6: “So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king…” Verse 11: “Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying…” Verse 15: “Then the men went as a group to the king…” But in the end, they went as a group into the lions’ den as well! They think there is safety in numbers; they discuss and debate and plot and plan, and it all comes to nothing.

In the midst of all this upheaval, see the calm freedom from rush and fuss of Daniel. Verse 10: “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened towards Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to God, just as he had done before.” Just as he had done before. Daniel calmly continues the practice that he has pursued for probably the last fifty years or more. This peashooter law of Darius is nothing compared to the unchanging perfectly wise law of God. Daniel doesn’t even have to debate with himself about what to do. He is a free man.

In the lions’ den, Daniel was of course in great physical danger. But he was not in any spiritual danger at all. He has faced the devil squarely. If Daniel was ever tempted to compromise just a little on his daily habits of prayer, he quickly defeated that temptation in the power of the Spirit of God. The evil one had no hold on Daniel at all; Daniel was a free man, even as he was cast into the lions’ den.

See how Daniel can answer the king on the following morning after he has survived the lions. Verse 21: “Daniel answered, ‘O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.”

Can you hear what Daniel is saying? “O king, live forever… I have never done any wrong before you, O king.” So Daniel acknowledges Darius’ kingship, he expresses his loyalty to Darius; Daniel remains Darius’ best public servant. But at the same time, Daniel is perfectly free to say that there is a higher authority than Darius in his life. “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.” “Darius, the God whom I serve has preserved me from the consequences of your law. He is my highest authority, and because of him I do not fear you, O king, nor your laws, nor your lions.”

You see, here is the perfect balance. Daniel acknowledges Darius’ kingship, but at the same time he witnesses to a higher authority in his life. And it is his commitment to serving the One True God that gives him such personal freedom in the face of great threat.

Here is our third principle then: True personal freedom comes from walking in the ways of the living God and witnessing to his sovereignty. Do you want to have that great sense of personal freedom that comes with integrity and a clear conscience? Then walk in the ways of the living God, whose law is perfect, and whose precepts give joy to the heart.

4. Daniel’s emergence from the lions’ den is typological of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Daniel’s experience in the lions’ den points us to Jesus Christ. Some commentators say that the angel who accompanied Daniel in the lions’ den and who shut the mouths of the lions was a pre-incarnate appearance of the second person of the Trinity. In other words, Daniel knew the company of the Lord Jesus that night in the lions’ den; Jesus came to earth temporarily before his birth as the baby of Mary in Bethlehem. These commentators say that Jesus Christ also accompanied Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, that he was the fourth man in the story in Daniel 3.

I think that’s an interesting theory, but it has to remain that; it cannot be finally proven from these passages. E J Young concludes, “Perhaps upon the basis of the available evidence the question cannot definitely be settled” (p 94). And Sinclair Ferguson writes, “The Scripture itself does not shed any direct light on what this pagan king witnessed” (p 82). Both Daniel 3 and Daniel 6 call this being an “angel,” and that is probably as far as we can go – to say that an angel of the Lord saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace, and Daniel from the jaws of the lions.

However, there is a much clearer and more direct way in which Daniel’s experience witnesses to Jesus Christ. There is a typological relationship between Daniel’s experience and that of Jesus Christ. That is, what God did in Daniel’s life during this incident foreshadows what he would do in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Consider the parallels. Both Daniel and Jesus lived lives of integrity and obedience. As Daniel was framed on a false charge by the Persian satraps, so Jesus was framed by the jealous religious leaders of his day. Like Daniel, Jesus was arrested while at prayer in a private place. In both cases, the ruling authority, Darius and Pilate, worked for the release of the prisoner. Just as Daniel’s den of lions was sealed with the king’s seal, so Jesus’ grave was sealed. And very early in the morning, at sunrise, both Daniel and Jesus are found to be alive!

There are many similarities. But there are also differences, and the differences point to the way in which the work of the Lord Jesus is far superior to that of Daniel’s. The reality in Jesus is far superior to its foreshadowing in Daniel. For although Daniel was preserved, Jesus actually died. Although on Daniel there were found no wounds at all, not even a scratch, Jesus’ resurrected body bore the marks of his death – he was pierced for our transgressions and wounded for our iniquities. And although God preserved Daniel from his enemies and killed the enemies in his place, Jesus submitted to his enemies and died for his enemies, to make them his friends. You and I were by nature God’s enemies, and yet Jesus died for us, to reconcile us to God.

So Daniel’s entry into and emergence from the lions’ den foreshadows the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the reality is far, far greater than the shadow. And in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have a much more substantial basis on which to live than Daniel had. If Daniel could be so obedient and faithful, we have much more reason and warrant to be obedient and faithful.

That leads us directly into our fifth and final principle:

5. Since God can save in the way pictured in Daniel 6, and since Christ has died and risen again, so we can safely place all our trust and reliance upon him and simply follow Christ in any circumstance.

The message of this chapter is not that an innocent, trusting believer in God can always expect to be saved from death or hard times. In the lives of the early Christians who were fed to the lions, there is no record as far as I know of any surviving the lions. The lions of the Romans usually did devour the early Christians. And yet, the promise of Daniel 4 holds.

Psalm 91 generalises the experience of Daniel. Psalm 91:9 says, “If you make the Most High your dwelling – even the Lord, who is my refuge – then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. ‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.'”

But the author of Psalm 91 knows that life is not usually like that in a literal sense – if you are bitten by a cobra, mostly you will die; if you tread on a lion, watch out! The author of Psalm 91 does not mean it literally.

Notice that the devil used Psalm 91 to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. Throw yourself down from this height, for his angels will bear you up, and you will not strike your foot against a stone. The devil was tempting Jesus to avoid the pain and terror of the cross. But Jesus knew that life was not like that for him, and we should know that life is not like that for us, who take up our crosses and follow Christ.

And yet, still the promise of Daniel Chapter 6 holds. Not literally, but much more importantly than literally; it holds as far as our eternal welfare goes.

Sometimes in this world, God will act in the marvellous way he acted in Daniel’s case. Such experiences of divine intervention in very concrete ways are rare, but they do happen. Usually the people of the Old Testament, and of the New Testament, and we – usually we do not experience divine intervention in that very concrete sense. But all of us have heard about, or maybe even experienced, occasional amazing acts of divine intervention and protection. Sometimes God acts in these marvellous ways in this world to remind us that he has acted comprehensively in that way for the world to come. He reminds us that he has already in the history of this world guaranteed his final rescue of all his people through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So when you read about Daniel, or when you hear about an amazing case of divine protection, take that God-centred perspective. What matters is the fulfilling of God’s purposes, not whether I am protected or not. For finally, in Christ, God does guarantee the victory of life over death, of justice over enmity, and of hope over fear. Deliverance will come. Even martyrdom is a form of suffering from which we will emerge alive and unconquered as we stand in Christ. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. So then, our fifth principle: Since God can save in the way pictured in Daniel 6, and since Christ has died and risen again, so we can safely place all our trust and reliance upon him and simply follow Christ in any circumstance.

Amen.