Daniel Is Promoted
The night the Medes and the Persians conquered Babylon, Belshazzar was killed and Darius, king of the Medes, took the throne in Babylon. As was the custom with the Medes and Persians, they also divided the Babylonian kingdom into provinces, in order to keep control of the kingdom.
Darius placed one governor, satrap, over each of the 120 provinces. Later on, in history, there were 127 provinces. Over the governors were three presidents (Daniel was one of them), so that these satraps might give account to them, and the king should have no loss. Daniel 6:2. Each governor was responsible to one of the presidents regarding the welfare of the province and also to forward the taxes to the king's treasury so that the king should have no (financial) loss.
Soon the king promoted Daniel to be head of the three presidents because an excellent spirit was in him. The three presidents (the original two plus Daniel's replacement) and their cohorts were thinking, just how much humiliation to we have to put up with? This Daniel guy is nothing more than a foreigner, brought here as a slave, and to make matters worse he is just a Jew!
Then they heard that the king was planning to set him (Daniel) over all the kingdom. 6:3. Well, that is just going too far, so the presidents and rulers sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom. But they could find no occasion or fault, because he was faithful. Neither was there any error or fault found in him. Dan 6:4. This does not mean that Daniel was a perfect man; it only means that he did his job as well as could be expected.
Plan "A" did not work so a new plan was needed and the presidents cooked up a plot. Flattery is such a wicked device and the king fell for it, like a child, without even thinking of the consequences. All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects, and the satraps, and the officials and governors, said to the king, we have planned together to establish a royal law, and to make a strong ban that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except from you, (the king is thinking, these men really think the world of me), O king, he shall be thrown into the den of lions.
Beware of Flatterers
Please pardon a personal example.
Many years ago, when I was in my early 20's, I was working at an industrial site which was right beside a railroad track. Freight trains would roll by and always blew the horn to make sure no one was on the track. One day the train did not blow the horn, and as fate would have it, a transport truck was just beginning to cross the track and the train engine broadsided it and killed the truck driver.
Many years ago, when I was in my early 20's, I was working at an industrial site which was right beside a railroad track. Freight trains would roll by and always blew the horn to make sure no one was on the track. One day the train did not blow the horn, and as fate would have it, a transport truck was just beginning to cross the track and the train engine broadsided it and killed the truck driver.
Investigators, from the train company, came, and all those who had seen the accident needed to make a written and a verbal report to them. I distinctly told them that the train had not blown the horn. This oversight, on the part of the engineer, could have been very expensive for the train company.
Quick as a flash one of the company men complimented me on my good handwriting. Which, in fact, has always been awful. But the flattery did its trick. I forgot about the sounding of the horn and later I noticed that the shrewd businessman had not included my statement about the horn not sounding in his report. I am still bothered by the fact that I fell for that flattery.
Quick as a flash one of the company men complimented me on my good handwriting. Which, in fact, has always been awful. But the flattery did its trick. I forgot about the sounding of the horn and later I noticed that the shrewd businessman had not included my statement about the horn not sounding in his report. I am still bothered by the fact that I fell for that flattery.
Now, O king, establish the ban and sign the writing, so that it may not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians which cannot be changed. Therefore King Darius signed the writing and the ban. Dan 6:7-9
Daniel continued his prayer life as always, of course, the spies were watching and they could honestly report to the king that Daniel had broken the king's law. Then the king, when he heard the word, was very much displeased with himself. And he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored until sundown to deliver him. Dan. 6:15. According to eastern custom the execution was carried out on the evening of the day that the accusation was made and found valid. Guzik.
All his authority, arguing and begging could not persuade the presidents and their friends to let Daniel go. Then these men met before the king and said to the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is that no ban nor law which the king establishes may be changed. Dan 6:14. The king could not revoke the law and had no recourse but to have Daniel thrown to the lions.
All his authority, arguing and begging could not persuade the presidents and their friends to let Daniel go. Then these men met before the king and said to the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is that no ban nor law which the king establishes may be changed. Dan 6:14. The king could not revoke the law and had no recourse but to have Daniel thrown to the lions.
That night the king could not sleep and in the morning, he hurried to the lion's cage and asked Daniel if he was alright. Daniel assured him that God had sent an angel which shut the lions' mouth. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of hurt was found on him, because he trusted in his God. 6:23.
And the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they threw them into the lions' den; them, their sons, and their wives. This sounds like unnecessarily cruel and unjust punishment to the innocent family members; however, it was not unheard of in those days.
And the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces before they came to the bottom of the den. Dan 6:24. I think in this case we mustn't take the words of the author literally because the facts seem almost impossible. If all the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects, and the satraps, and the officials and governors, were indicted and their wives and all their children were guilty by "association" the crowd of people would have been much too huge for the lions to break all their bones in pieces before they came to the bottom of the den (fell all the way down).
It seems that the author is painting a picture in contrasts and the actual facts as stated are not of importance. The point is: Daniel was saved because of his faith and his upright lifestyle and Daniel's enemies did not survive because they plotted evil against one of Jehovah's chosen saints.
Of course, it does not always work out this way but the moral of the story seems to fit that idea. In the book, Jesus and His Times published by the Readers Digest is this illuminating statement; the recording of history with literal exactness of detail is a fairly modern development. At the time when the Bible was written, precise fact was far less important than the spiritual message of the stories shared.
It seems that the author is painting a picture in contrasts and the actual facts as stated are not of importance. The point is: Daniel was saved because of his faith and his upright lifestyle and Daniel's enemies did not survive because they plotted evil against one of Jehovah's chosen saints.
Of course, it does not always work out this way but the moral of the story seems to fit that idea. In the book, Jesus and His Times published by the Readers Digest is this illuminating statement; the recording of history with literal exactness of detail is a fairly modern development. At the time when the Bible was written, precise fact was far less important than the spiritual message of the stories shared.
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