Daniel 6:6-9 “The Battle”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁶Then the administrators and the governors these conspired upon the king and thus ones saying to him, “Darius, O king, live to ages, ⁷the all of the administrators of the kingdom, the prefects and the governors, the royal officials and the rulers took counsel together to establish the statute of the royalty and make strong a ban that whoever asks a request from all of a god and a man upon thirty days except from you, O king, should be cast into the pit of lions. ⁸Now, O king, cause to establish the ban and sign the writing so that not to change according to the law of the Medes and Persians which cannot pass away.” ⁹Consequently, the king Darius signed the writing and the ban.

I want to learn as much as I can from Daniel, so I find myself once again parked on this passage. What Daniel is facing is nothing more than what we all face every day. We may not get thrown in a lions’ den, but we live and work in a world that is constantly threatening us. We cannot make that reality go away. The only questions is how you and I will respond to it all. “How shall we then live?”

What’s going on? This is nothing less than the ancient battle right out of the Garden of Eden. The Lord told Satan there, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.” The Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. At war since the Garden of Eden. Of course, in its largest sense, this prophecy concerns Jesus and the promise to us that one day the Messiah would come conquer the serpent and redeem our fallen world. He of course did exactly that and now the world only awaits the victorious Jesus returning to finally accomplish that redemption.

However, what the Lord set in motion became a fractal of our very existence. That battle—between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent—is precisely the battle we are facing every day. It explains why it would seem the very universe around us is trying to kill us. It is. Satan was a murderer from the beginning and, if he could have his way, he would in the very next moment wipe out the entire human race. He hates us as God’s creation and that hatred intensifies exponentially when he finds us as redeemed people who worship God, not him.

That is precisely what Daniel is facing. The fractal of this enmity is clearly expressed in Psalm 2, where it says, “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers band together against the Lord and against His Anointed One…” Interestingly, the passage goes on to say, “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh…” and the Lord’s advice to this rebellious world is “Kiss the Son.” In this Psalm, we see first of all that He isn’t worried and second, His solution is always the same: Make sure you’re on the side of the Seed of the woman! That is precisely the battle raging around us and the battle that finds Daniel in the passage before us.

For whatever it’s worth and only because I can’t resist, I would suggest this fractal finds its way all the way down to our natural aversion to snakes. I hate snakes. I would suggest it is any human being’s natural disposition to despise those evil, loathsome, disgusting creatures. I’ve always said, “The only good snake is a dead snake…and I still don’t want to see it!” I’m amused to see the synonyms the Merriam-Webster dictionary offers for the adjective loathsome:  

“abhorrent, abominable, appalling, awful, contemptible, despicable, detestable, disgusting, distasteful, dreadful, evil, foul, fulsome, gross, hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, nasty, nauseating, nauseous, noisome, noxious, obnoxious, obscene, odious, offensive, rancid, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, scandalous, shocking, sickening, ugly…”

That pretty well sums it up for me. Couldn’t have said it better. In all seriousness, I realize there are people who overcome this aversion and actually develop an affection for the ghastly creatures, and there really is a tiny corner in my heart where I’m willing to respect them for it. However, I still hate snakes and will to the day I die. I’ll kill every snake I can, and then console myself that my hatred is not psychotic but rather very natural. It goes all the way back to the Garden.

Gosh, that was fun to type!

Back to seriousness, we not only see the battle here in the book of Daniel, we see it throughout the Bible, from cover to cover. What shall we say of Joseph and his brothers? Of Haman and his plot against Mordecai, Esther, and the Jewish people? Of the opposition Nehemiah faced? Of Herod’s murder of the babies of Bethlehem? Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and what was the Jewish leaders’ response? “So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus…” (John 12:9). And of course there was Jesus Himself, the very Son of God who came here only to do us good, who never did anything but love us, and what was the response to Him? “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin…from that day on they plotted to take His life” (John 11:47-53).

All of this is precisely the battle in which Daniel found himself, and it is precisely the battle we see every day. It may come in momentous, horrible tragedies like the Jewish Holocaust, or it may be as simple as the little fears I face just driving to work.

Big or small, it all calls you and me to answer that question, “How shall we then live?” Daniel would teach us to lay hold of faith and set our face like flint to be found servants of the Most High God. Daniel lived out Peter’s admonition: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing evil, they may see your good works…for it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men…” (I Pet. 2:12-15), and Paul’s admonition, “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God…” (Eph. 6:10,11).

Daniel would also teach us that the battle is much larger than the particular people who would happen to threaten us today. Interestingly, this sinister bunch of back-stabbers remain nameless in our passage. Perhaps the Lord did that on purpose knowing that, on any given day and in any given generation, the names simply change. As I’ve said before, I would have no trouble putting names to many of the people I believe are but the serpent’s pawns in our present world, but this passage helps me realize every single one of them could die today and tomorrow they’d only be replaced by more of the serpent’s seed.

I think it actually helps me to see that. I can get pretty negative and discouraged if I think too much about all the evil going on in our world. It feels like it helps to step back and see it is really nothing more than the age old battle, the seed of the serpent against the Seed of the woman. We need to keep our focus on the Lord and what He’s doing, not get too discouraged by what the serpent is up to. We already know the outcome of the battle. The Lord wins!

Daniel 6:6-9 “Victory”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁶Then the administrators and the governors these conspired upon the king and thus ones saying to him, “Darius, O king, live to ages, ⁷the all of the administrators of the kingdom, the prefects and the governors, the royal officials and the rulers took counsel together to establish the statute of the royalty and make strong a ban that whoever asks a request from all of a god and a man upon thirty days except from you, O king, should be cast into the pit of lions. ⁸Now, O king, cause to establish the ban and sign the writing so that not to change according to the law of the Medes and Persians which cannot pass away.” ⁹Consequently, the king Darius signed the writing and the ban.

What a complete opposite! In the first five verses, we’ve been able to observe a model human being, a man we can all admire, a man who was “trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.” I would go on to note that Daniel’s job was to govern. He was one of three administrators over the entire kingdom and the king was pondering raising him to the position of singular prime minister. Had that happened, we can all be assured Daniel would have been a very diligent ruler, a man who we could count on to sincerely work for the good of the people, to govern honestly and do his job well.

Now in verses 6-9, what we see is government at its absolute worst. Here we have a gathering of the highest officials in the government of Babylon and what are they doing? What do they spend their time discussing? What concerns of the kingdom occupy their time? This group of men could care less about the kingdom. They are concerned with one thing and one thing only—themselves and their own promotion.

Surely there were issues needing desperately to be addressed. Surely there were significant matters of national security or problems within their justice system. Surely there were significant issues of public works projects, of water and sewer and roads, needing serious attention. No doubt there were people suffering all over the kingdom in ways which could have been addressed by this group of men and their king.

And what do they spend their time doing? Plotting the ruin of the only one of them who’s actually doing his job! What a complete dereliction of duty! What an absolute abuse of their power and position! What a total betrayal of public trust. What a shameless bunch of dirty crooks and liars.

The similarity to our own government is heartbreaking. Is this not a picture of exactly what the American government has devolved to? In my lifetime, I cannot remember one single time where the government actually did anything at all to solve the problems we face as a nation. Every bill they pass is designed, in one way or another, to advance their own political agendas, to pad their own off-shore bank accounts. The only thing they’ve ever done well is to vote themselves what is probably the most spectacular package of salaries and benefits in human history. What an absolute abuse of their power and position! What a total betrayal of public trust. What a shameless bunch of dirty crooks and liars.

In the verses before us, what do we see? We have Daniel, a man and his God, contrasted with an entire governing body of utterly godless men. We see here in a nutshell government with God and government without Him. America was what it was because it was a “nation under God.” “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” The men who founded this country, whether they were all truly believers or not, respected the Bible, saw themselves as accountable to God, and sincerely tried to establish a nation for “the good of the people.” They were Daniels and we all enjoyed the benefits of their good governance.

What has happened? We threw God out and now we have a government just like what we see here in Daniel 6—useless self-promoting sycophants, leeches draining the very blood out of what little is left of the America we once knew. Should we believers be surprised? Certainly not. Heartbroken? Yes. But not surprised. These men are of their father the devil and the lusts of their father they’ll do. They are liars and thieves and murderers, just like him.

However, the book of Daniel tells us what to think of it all. First of all, we believers should not be surprised. We already know we “wrestle not against flesh and blood but against…the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Let us remember, Daniel had to live his faith in Babylon, the absolute epicenter of evil. The Great Harlot may have been kept somewhat at bay here in America for a time, but without the very present acknowledgment of God, we join the rest of a world “intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” These evil charlatans who accuse Daniel have been dead for 2,600 years, yet they have been constantly replaced by one generation after another of the Harlot’s children.

What I mean is this: I can today easily put names on many of the people I believe are precisely the children of these same men. None of us would have any trouble identifying people today who represent that “spiritual wickedness in high places.” I wish somehow all of those people could be exposed for who they are, removed from our government (and companies), and replaced with Daniels. However, though those people were removed, they will only be replaced with more of their kind. What this all means is there is no point in wasting too much thought or energy on disliking these people. As a believer, I see the force behind them all, I see it is all a part of a great cosmic spiritual battle raging all around us. I see this is only our generation’s expression of that battle. I see that, in the big scheme of things, the answer is not a voting booth, but rather the victory of faith in individual people’s hearts. In this “first of all,” Daniel would teach us to not look too hard at this generation’s expression of evil, but to look beyond it and recognize the real battle in which the Lord has placed us.

Second, we should not be surprised when the guns of evil are turned very specifically on us and our faith. When these men could find no fault in Daniel, what did they attack? His faith. They attacked prayer itself! It’s not surprising that our demise started with things like prohibiting prayer in schools. Then we’re told we can’t even display the Ten Commandments on the courthouse green (in spite of the fact they are engraved on the walls of the Supreme Court!). We should realize that attacks against faith and against Jesus are only an expression of that same battle. In all likelihood, here in America and throughout our world, they will only get worse, not better. Daniel ended up in the lions’ den. We may well end up in one of our own. Our “second of all” is to not only not be surprised that our world is evil, but to realize it’s only a matter of time and that evil will get aimed squarely at us and our faith.

Third, we should note how Daniel responded to it all. He went on being Daniel. Once again, let us remind ourselves, he lives in Babylon. It doesn’t get any worse. Yet he emerged from it all as a man of exemplary character and consistent faith. Even in a world too much like our own, Daniel could still be a man of an “excellent spirit,” one who “was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.” Daniel could do it and so can you and I. Regardless of where or when you and I live, we should and can be people who live exemplary lives, being honest, working hard, and letting the Lord show the world Himself however He wants to through us.

Last of all, and I can’t say much about this because I’m running ahead, but isn’t it interesting that Daniel’s response to it all was very specifically prayer. This was true back in chapter 2 when Daniel and his friends were about to be executed and he “urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven.” When the Lord did deliver them, he went straight back to prayer and “praised the God of heaven and said, ‘Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever…’” Here in Daniel 6, it is his prayer itself that comes under attack, and how does he respond? He prays. Again, running ahead, this won’t be the last time we see Daniel praying. I would suggest we could write it down, if we would be Daniels in our own expression of Babylon, we’ll have to be people of prayer. The battle is simply beyond us. We need the power of our God to enable us to live well in our Babylon. Like Daniel, we’ll need to put on “the whole armor of God,” and be “praying in the Spirit on all occasions with all kind of prayers and requests…”

Daniel 6:6-9 portrays the vindictive, malevolent reality of evil in our world and the fact that, sooner or later, we may find ourselves squarely in the cross hairs of that very evil. However, the book of Daniel would teach us that faith will yet be the victory. It was in Daniel’s life and can be in yours and mine!

 

Daniel 6:1-5 “Model 2”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹It was fair before Darius to appoint upon the kingdom the governors one hundred and twenty that they might be in the all of the kingdom, ²and above them three administrators which Daniel [was] one from them as that the governors might be ones giving to them the account and the king not to him one suffering damage. ³Then this Daniel was distinguishing himself upon the administrators and the governors because the spirit of the excellence [was] in him and the king [was] one intending to appoint him upon the all of the kingdom. ⁴Then the administrators and the governors were ones seeking a pretext to find to Daniel concerning the kingdom and not ones being able to find all of a pretext and corruption because he [was] trustworthy and all of a negligence and corruption [was] not found upon him. ⁵Then these men [were] ones saying, “Not we will find all of a pretext to this Daniel unless we find [it] upon him in the law of his God.”

I want to stay a while longer pondering on Daniel’s character. The Lord recorded for us twice that “an excellent spirit was in him.” Obviously, everyone of us would long to have that said of us. I hope it can be said of me, and so I stay parked here considering over and over this man Daniel, what made him who he was, and trying to let that image press deeply into my own heart. I particularly like what Macnaughton said in The Biblical Illustrator, and so I will quote it at length here:

“One of the most dangerous beliefs of the present day is that an earnest religious life is not compatible with success in business, or with promotion in public life. The success and promotion of Daniel…proves that an upright life, lived in fellowship with God, is not a hindrance, but a help to success in life. A life of piety and obedience to God cultivates in us the best possible business habits--diligence, integrity, patience, control of temper, control of appetite, an interest in the welfare of others, and a trustful confidence in ourselves, as the result of firm reliance on God. See some of the principles illustrated in the life of Daniel.

1. It is always safe to do right. There are many who think otherwise. They will try to soothe conscience by saying that they approve the right, and that, under more favourable circumstances, they would certainly do it. But swerving from duty makes it easier to do wrong again; and there lies the danger. When we are resolutely doing God’s will, He will open up a way for us. A man of weak faith and weak will, yields to circumstances, and excuses himself by saying that he could not help it. We should rule circumstances, and not allow circumstances to rule us. Fortune follows in the footsteps of faith.

2. Daniel’s love of private prayer. That man is always strong for duty, and strong against temptation, who has learned to prevail with God! Daniel not only maintained communion with God in spirit, but he had also stated times for prayer. His public life was upright and beautiful, because his inner life was devout and prayerful. He made it the habit of his life to take everything to God in prayer. Special times for private prayer may soon enable the Christian to live constantly in the atmosphere of heaven.

3. Daniel’s decision of character. A man may be pious and prayerful, and yet, if he lacks decision of character, he is liable to be led into any form of evil. What the world and the Church want to-day are men who have some backbone in them; men who will do right, and do it at all hazards.

4. Daniel’s Faithful Friendship. When he was promoted by the king he did not forget his three companions.

5. Daniel’s Contentment and Resignation to his lot. We find no murmur or complaint that God dealt hardly with him in allowing him to be carried away captive. He was able to see the providence of God in his captivity. No man has ever risen in life by repining at his lot, and by spending his strength in lamenting over lack of opportunity. Daniel’s success depended largely upon that contentment that always accompanies a loving confidence in God, and cheerful submission to His will.

6. Daniel was most courteous and amiable in his manner. This gave him great power over men. He was a true gentleman--that is, he was both gentle and manly. He was too manly to be weak and irresolute; and he was too courteous to be coarse and offensive. Courtesy and gentleness give a man great power over his fellow men.

7. Daniel’s Business Fidelity. Some narrowly pious people would have said that he had far too secular duties on his hands. Those duties would necessarily interfere with his spirituality of mind and his intercourse with God. Daniel did not think so. Because he gave himself to prayer, he could busy himself with secular things and not suffer; and because he was so busy with secular affairs, he needed his frequent seasons of prayer. It was because Daniel lived in the presence of God that he was able to leave such a noble record of the administration of the affairs of the kingdom We may make Daniel’s life our own, if we have Daniel’s faith, and trust as Daniel trusted.

McNaughton’s concluding words, “We may make Daniel’s life our own, if we have Daniel’s faith, and trust as Daniel trusted,” are precisely the thought driving my desire to spend so much time parked here. As a young Christian, someone made the statement that “Daniel had nothing on you. What Daniel was, you can be too.” That actually gave me great hope. I suppose I naturally would have thought of him as somehow so far above me, I could never attain to his accomplishments, that he had some special endowment from God that lifted him above people like me, that he was somehow “super-spiritual.”

Now it is true that I certainly could never have his talents. He obviously was very gifted in administration and so could rise to be a prime minister. The Lord simply did not give me such gifts and I basically have to be content to do my job and let others, in a sense, “steer the ship.” Of course, he also could interpret dreams, which has never been nor will be an ability I possess. But when that person said, “Daniel had nothing on you,” I realized they were right, that what made Daniel who he was was not his talents or gifts but rather his character, and his character he derived from his relationship with God. The same God is just as available to me today as He was to Daniel in 539 BC.

May Daniel’s example impress deeply on my heart. May it do the same for you. And may, in the end, it be said of us, “They had an excellent spirit in them.” Even more so, may the Lord use that spirit to touch others, like Daniel has been doing for 2,600 years!