Hello
Friends!
Welcome
back
to our Encouraging Concepts Bible
study series focused on the powerfully PROPHETIC picture portrayed in the Old Testament book
of Daniel painted as a panoramic
landscape of World History in FIVE successions “written” in
ardent ADVANCE some 2,600 years ago…
“The Book of Daniel: Prophecy PAST, PRESENT
& FUTURE!”
The Book of Daniel: Prophecy PAST,
PRESENT & FUTURE (Chapter 6: Verses 1-9)
1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty
princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; 2 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. 3 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. 4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find
occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none
occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error
or fault found in him. 5 Then said these men, We shall not find
any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the
law of his God. 6 Then these presidents and princes assembled
together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. 7 All
the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors,
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. 8 Now,
O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed,
according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 9 Wherefore
king Darius signed the writing and the decree – Daniel
6:1-9
OPENING POINTS TO PONDER: From the very OPENING of this challenging chapter we “learn” that
the aged “Daniel” had honorably held a very HIGH position
at the bold beginning of the SECOND monarchy
in which had conquered “Babylon” fully. In fact, “Daniel” is now in his late 80’s or early 90’s and is STILL his
great “God’s” main man preferred absolutely ABOVE all
the other presiding “presidents” and “princes” of this NEWLY propagated province. And
as a real RESULT this reality created a
jaundice JEALOUSY within the pragmatic politico
pomp. Therefore, these menacing men DEVISED a very cunning plan of DECEPTION in an effort to manipulate the
unsuspecting “king Darius” to superficially “sign” a
deadly “decree” of deplorable DOOM to which they were quite
CERTAIN that the diligent “Daniel” would inevitably violate. Inasmuch as the looming
“law” of the “Medes and Persians” was innately irrevocable
they were thus soundly SURE that this hotly hated
old “Hebrew” man named “Daniel” would indeed be corruptibly “cast”
absolutely ALIVE directly into – The Lion's Den!
Chapter 6: Decree of Darius & The Lion’s
Lunch
There
could NOT have been imagined a more cataclysmic
event in human HISTORY than what just took place in chapter 5 as mighty “Babylon” had itself FULLY fallen.
At the height of its grandiose glory, the “head of gold” headed up by “King Nebuchadnezzar” as the greatest Empire of
which all of humanity had ever known, the “Medes and Persians” entered the chided “city” and without a struggle, had fallen.
And now as we begin our “study”
in chapter 6 we enter the SECOND of
the great four empires PROPHESIED in the “dream”
of the eerie “image” displayed in chapter 2: The Medo-Persian
Empire depicted by the “breast and the arms of silver” in kind. A
very “little thing”
indeed for our “Lord” to
accomplish…
Behold, the
nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the
balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing – Isaiah 40:15
And
as we look to this NEXT entering Empire,
we see “Daniel” right at the heart
of the matter. Just as he was PROMOTED to the position of Prime
Minister over “Babylon” abroad, he will once AGAIN become
the Prime Minister over mandated – Medo-Persia!
Human
“kings” are NEVER fully satisfied
and there is NO end to the great GREED of a seething “sinful”
mankind. The “kingdom” of the
diplomatic “Darius” was
beginning to GROW and at this turbulent “time” in his ruling reign, we find
that he had ordained “over”
his emerging empire a “hundred
and twenty princes” to greatly govern his emerging
Empire…
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty
princes, which should be over the whole kingdom – Daniel
6:1
And
his “reign” would soon
become “twenty seven provinces”
throughout “India even
unto Ethiopia” as was PROPHETICALLY provided unto “Darius” otherwise known as “Ahasuerus” in kind:
Now it came to
pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:) – Esther 1:1
PROPHETIC PROMISE: It is quite ADVANTAGEOUS for
the people of “God” when a
practically “preferred”
man such as “Daniel”
is purposefully promoted in the HIGH places
far “above”
the presiding “presidents”
and pompous “princes”
present throughout the “whole” land. Incidentally, “Daniel” may
have been the FINEST Statesman the world has EVER known! And no doubt “Daniel” was
entirely EXALTED not only for HIS own sake, but that he might become as a brazen bulwark
for the WHOLE of this “Hebrew”
people of their great “God” on
high EXILED in that far away foreign land.
No expected EXTORTIONS
would now be committed against the “Jewish” race. WHY? It was “because” they had been given a FIRM friend
with an “excellent spirit”
that was WITHIN him of
whom was Sovereignly “set” up
to observe “over” the “whole” court – Blessed BY God!
ONE pair of hands can only do ONE man’s
work. Therefore, “king Darius”
is now quite “pleased” to
diligently distribute the complicated CARES of his solemn State among OTHER chosen statesmen
of rank such as “Daniel”
himself:
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 – Daniel
6:2-3
How
BLESSED it is for any conquering “king” when
he is GUIDED by the
glorious “God in heaven” to an
honest and hearty helper! Such was
the case for “Darius”
indeed – HONEST Helping Hands!
WHO
can soundly STAND before the evil ENVY wrought by maniacal man? Such HIGH places
of influence initiated to the “faithful” few often furnish very uncomfortable
seats. WHY? Because even if “God” Himself will choose to EXALT a
particular man, there are indeed OTHER men of whom will fiendishly “find occasion” of a fictional “fault” in an
attempt to pragmatically PULL
him down:
Then the
presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the
kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was
faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him – Daniel
6:4
When
a man is upwards of 90 years old
and ALL of the “presidents and princes” positioned
within various political offices are digging around in the
tyrannical TRASH in a feeble attempt to find SOMETHING in
which to indict him and they come up with NOTHING in
hand, that is an HONORABLE man! “Daniel”
held to Intense integrity. high honesty,
personal purity and nigh nobility. Theses
fiendish foes found NO fictitious “fault” of which means “to corrupt” as there was NO corruption
“found”
in him. They found NO egregious “error” of which means “to neglect” as there was NO negligence
“found”
on his behalf. Incidentally, the CORRUPTION is the “sin”
of commission and the ERROR is the “sin”
of omission in kind. And these pious prelates “found” absolutely NOTHING that
“Daniel” did NOT do
that he SHOULD have done. And they “found”
absolutely NOTHING that “Daniel” did DO that
he should NOT have done. He had NO skeletons in his closet. Thus, there was NO way to
indict him – A VIRTUOUS Man!
THEOLOGICAL THOUGHTS: And when “these men” could not “find” anything “against” the man “Daniel” himself, they turned
their indictments AGAINST his great “God”
instead:
Then said
these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find
it against him concerning the law of his God – Daniel
6:5
This
devoted “Daniel” was
absolutely sold out to the “law of his God” in full. And when WE do the
same, we’re fulfilling the New
Testament principle of “suffering for righteousness sake” in kind.
The only thing “they” could
ever ACCUSE him of is that he is completely – COMMITTED to GOD!
We
do NOT know from Holy Writ itself with what ingenious arguments
these pompous “presidents
and princes” had formally “found” to adequately MOVE the
mighty mind of “King Darius”
to pathetically PASS this deadly forth-coming “decree”
dictate “concerning”
the loving “law”
of the man “Daniel’s” great “God” Himself. However, perhaps we might
soundly speculate as such…
The DECEIVING of Darius!
The
aged “King Darius”
had just conquered “Chaldea”
in full. And once the typical niceties of “King Darius, live forever”
are out of the way, these WICKED
henchmen hastily “consulted
together” in a chilling CORRUPTION within the newly formed “court” order:
Then
these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto
him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the
governors, and the princes, the counsellors, 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
6:6-7
And
WITHOUT the full knowledge nor personal
participation of their “master”
and leader “Daniel” in kind, “they” now “All”
proceed to “petition”
adamantly AGAINST him.
Perhaps “these” menacing men
had secretly “said” something
of this nature to their monarch concerning a proposed “royal statute”
and dooming “decree”
as such: “O king”
this will be an excellent test of the obedience
of your new subjects if you try them upon the point of their RELIGION
for “thirty days” to abstain from addressing their PERSONAL deities.”
And although “Darius” may have
had a colleague on the throne, the younger “Cyrus”
who was much more POPULAR than he, perhaps they may have egged
him on by hinting that “Cyrus”
was much too vain and would not ALLOW anyone to address a petition
for “thirty days” full with “Darius” as a grandiose GOD as such. And this approach would tend
to show who was really LOYAL to the deity of “Darius”
and would also test the TEMPER of the “Cyrus”
in kind. Whatever the case may have been, “they”
indeed managed to lead this fickle fallacious man to carry
out their – DEMONIC Designs!
BIBLICAL BACKGROUND: A careful “study” of history proves that the
“Egyptians” had BELIEVED the
“Pharaohs” were gods. The “Ptolemies” themselves were BELIEVED to
be gods. And there are indications that the “Seleucids”
also claimed the rank ROLE
of deity. The “Romans” had BELIEVED their “Caesars” were gods. In fact, even the “Herods” took their place
as god in kind:
And upon a set day Herod, arrayed
in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the
people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And
immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory:
and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost – Acts
12:21-23
Therefore,
it was NOT at all uncommon for MANY menacing monarchs
to consistently MAKE calamitous – CLAIMS of Deity!
As
we have discussed, the “Babylonians”
entrusted their “king” with ABSOLUTE power;
hence he could will this or that as HE chose.
Likewise, the “Persians” too BELIEVED their
“king” to possess PERFECT wisdom.
Hence, they NEVER allowed a “law”
once enacted to ever be CHANGED as such…
Now, O
king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed,
according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not – Daniel
6:8
If it please
the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written
among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That
Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal
estate unto another that is better than she – Esther 1:19
Although
there is NOT much known about the “law of the Medes and Persians” it indeed IS a firm
fact of history that once a certain “law” was passed it
could NOT be violated, as that PROHIBITION was
built into their lauded legal system. And as most “studies” indicate, the REASON they
took this AVID approach was to PREVENT any whimsical or frivolous “laws” from being dictated
abruptly. Therefore, once a “law”
was made – It was BINDING…
Wherefore
king Darius signed the writing and the decree – Daniel
6:9
Now
“Wherefore”
there was a “decree”
of “law” in “writing” as enacted
that sadly stated: “If anyone makes a petition of
any god but this god, into the lions’ den you go!” This was indeed
dire – DOOM for Daniel!
Beloved,
it is very inconvenient for menacing “men” to play “God” and they can NOT do so
without bringing serious DIFFICULTY and DANGER
upon themselves as well! Thus, on this occasion “Darius”
did likewise unto “Daniel” his
trusted “first” leader as Prime Minister in command. Rash VOWS are much
better broken than keenly kept
unabated. However, “according”
to the MANDATED looming “law of the Medes and Persians” these rank
” royal statute”
and dire “decrees” could – NOT be ALTERED!
More to
follow… STAY tuned!
In
closing:
REAL REFLECTIONS: The twelve chapters of “Daniel” are powerfully PROMISED prophecies depicting the unfolding
of the HISTORIC events of which will take place leading up to
the literal “time” of the SECOND awaited
physical “coming” of our loving “Lord Jesus Christ” back to the earth:
And in the days
of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever – Daniel 2:44
And
our SERIOUS study of these PROPHECIES will
rightly REVEAL to each student of God's wonderful “Word” that the events FORETOLD
some 2,600 years ago could
possibly be FULFILLED in the seemingly near future…
We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com
I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!
Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><
Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"
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