A faithful Daniel, his jealous friends, hungry Lions and a Prayer answering God


Daniel 6:1-28

Daniel, a jewish boy of around 15 years, was taken to Babylon as a captive from Jerusalem by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. He was selected for the Babylon Royal service. Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon upto 562 BC. Later his son Belshazzar became the King and Daniel served under him also. Actually, Beshazzar is the son of Nabonidus, one of Nebuchadnezzar’s successors who never became king in his own right.

Dan.1:21 “until the first year of king Cyrus.” King Cyrus was the king of the Medo Persians and approximately in 539 BC, he overthrew King Belshazzar and the Babylonians and had control over Judah. (Dan.5:32) So Daniel was in his eighties when he was thrown into the lions den. Darius could be another name for King Cyrus or could be a person appointed by King Cyrus. (Secular history of this period has no record of a ruler named Darius).

King Darius had 120 satraps to rule the kingdom with 3 administrators over them. Dan.6:1. Daniel was one of the administrators and he was so faithful, trustworthy and exceptional in his job, the king was planning to appoint Daniel over the whole Kingdom. Dan.6:3.

A. Testimony about Daniel.

  1. A person with exceptional qualities as a civil servant. 6:3.
  2. A person without corruption. 6:4.
  3. A trustworthy person.6:4.
  4. A person without any mistake in his duty. 6:4.
  5. A person who is loyal to his God. 6:5.

B. A trap for Daniel.
All the satraps and other administrators were jealous about Daniel but couldn’t find any fault with him. So they planned to trap him in his faith. All the main civil servants together (Dan.6:7) requested the King to issue an edict and enforce the decree. “Anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions den.” Dan.6:7. They knew the pride of Darius. To trap Daniel, they pretend to make Darius a god for 30 days.

C. Prayer of Daniel.
“three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God , just as he had done before.” Dan.6:10.

He was not scared about the king nor worried about the punishment. Kneeling is a begging posture and he went to God humbling himself. He was a very powerful and busy person, but took time 3 times a day to go to his room to pray in private.

D. Response of others to the prayer of Daniel.
a. Response of his enemies.

  1. Went and reported to the king. 6:11-13.
  2. Put pressure on the king to punish Daniel. 6:15.

b. Response of the king.Dan.6:14.

  1. He was greatly distressed.
  2. He was determined to rescue Daniel.
  3. He made every effort to save Daniel… Finally Daniel was thrown into the lions den.

E. Response of the king after the punishment.

a. Wished Daniel to be saved by his God. Dan.6:16.
b. King spend the night without eating and without any entertainment. Dan. 6:18.
c. King could not sleep. Dan.6:18.
d. Early morning, king went to the Lion’s den and called Daniel. 6:19.
e. King was overjoyed to know that Daniel is safe and brought him out. Dan.6:21-23.

F. Aftereffects of Daniel’s prayer life.
a. All the enemies of Daniel were thrown into the same lion’s den with families and all got eaten. Dan.6:24. They perished in the same trap which they had set for Daniel.
b. King’s new understanding and decree. Dan.6:25-27.

  1. King wrote a letter to “all the people, nations and men of every language throughout the land.” 6:25.
  • All must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. 6:26.
    ** He is the living God. 6:26.
  • He rescues and saves. 6:27.
    ** He perform signs and wonders.6:27.

The faithfulness of one person resulted in the proclamation of God’s Name throughout the kingdom by a pagan king.

c. Daniel prospered. Dan.6:28. (When all his enemies and their families were punished and perished in the same Lion’s den).

Can others find any mistake in our life?
Will others say about us – we will never find any mistakes against this person?

How is our prayer life?
God who honored Daniel is able to honour all those who honor Him.

LET US BE A DANIEL TODAY.

Rev.C.V.Abraham.

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Daniel 6:10 “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.”

Daniel was a very wise man and an old man. He was no doubt in his eighties or beyond when we read today’s Scripture.

His wisdom and judgment caused the king to elevate him to a position of authority along with two others. Now the king planned to set him over the entire kingdom.

Jealousy arose in the other leaders who plotted how they could get rid of Daniel.

They knew that he was so blameless and upright that they could only discredit him by something to do with his worship of his God, Yahweh.

They convinced King Darius to issue a decree that could not be altered; that no one could worship any god or man for 30 days except Darius.

He must have thought Daniel was in agreement and signed the decree. By doing so, he unknowingly condemned Daniel to the lion’s den.

Here….. Let us ask a question……………
…….. What do we require before we give thanks to the Lord?
…. Do we need something good or pleasant to happen before we give thanks to the Lord?

But Look here….. With a visit to the lion’s den in the balance, Daniel prayed as was his usual practice.

And what was his usual practice?
Daniel prayed three times a day; on his knees; giving thanks to Yahweh and asking Him for help.

Let’s ask ourselves….
Do we have a consistent prayer life?

“Be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Even in in heartbreaking circumstance, trust God to work everything together for our good, even in situations where it seems impossible for any good to come from them.
God doesn’t promise us a trouble-free life, but He does promise to be with us through it all. Daniel knew that.

What are the “lions” we are facing in our life right now?
Do these situations scare us or make us feel insecure?
Take time to pray and talk to God about the “lion” in our life.
If we have been scared, insecure, or doubtful, tell God.
Ask Him to give us the faith, trust, and wisdom to make it through the situation unharmed.

Jooley Mathew Z
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