What a glorious psalm! The reading this morning comes from Daniel 6. In our church is another minister, colleague, who's here knows. We just received news last week that one of our missionaries in a foreign land, that will remain nameless, was forced to leave after 30 years of service. So you never know how timely God's word may be. This is a word for him if he should happen to listen to it.
Daniel 6: "It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps to be throughout the whole kingdom. And over them, three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give an account so that the king might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. And the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regards to the kingdom. But they could find no ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful and no error or fault was found in him. And then these men said, we shall not find any ground for complaint to get this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God. Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, O King Darius, live forever. And all the high officials in kingdom, the prefects, the satraps, the counselors, the governors, or agree that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes petition to any god or man for 30 days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. And now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.
"Therefore, King Darius signed the document and the injunction. When Daniel knew the document had been signed, he went into his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open towards Jerusalem. And he got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he had done previously. Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. And then they came near and said before the king concerning the injunction, O king, did you not sign an injunction that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within 30 days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? And the king answered and said, the thing stands fast according to the law of the needs and persons which cannot be revoked.
"And then they answered and said before the king, Daniel, who was one of the exiles from And Judah pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed. But he makes his petition three times a day. And then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed. And he set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. And then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, Know, O king, that it is with all the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king established shall be changed.
"Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. And the king declared to Daniel, May your God, whom you serve, continually deliver you. And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den. And the king sealed it with his own signet and the signet of his lord's, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. And then the king went up to his palace, and he spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then at the break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. And as he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish.
"The king declared to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? And then Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever. My God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth. And they have not harmed me because I was found blameless before him. And also before you, O king, I have done no harm. And then the king was exceedingly glad. And he commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. And so Daniel was taken up out of the den. And no kind of harm was found on him because he had trusted in his God. And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions, they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.
"Then King Darius wrote to all the people's nations' languages that dwell upon the earth, Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in my royal dominion people are to tremble and to fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed. His dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian."
That's the reading of God's Holy Scripture. Will you pray with me briefly?
Father, we beseech you once again and plead with you that you would grant that posture without which no one can understand truth, especially from your Holy Scripture, namely that we might have reverence and humility before your word. In Jesus' name, amen.
Bruce Hunt was one of, well, he was the Orthodox Presbyterian Church's first missionary to a foreign land. After graduating from Princeton in 1928, he had been ordained in the Presbytery of New Brunswick in the mainline church, the PCUSA, at the time. He returned to the land of his birth, namely Korea, and he married his beloved wife, Catherine, and the Lord blessed him with six children. In 1936, however, when he was on furlough and he was studying at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, he became one of the first constituting members of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1936. He then became part of the Independent Board of Foreign Missions at that time and began to focus his labors back in the Korean-speaking population in the region of Manchuria.
But then came the big war. And for those of you who may not remember, Manchuria was ruled by the Japanese at that time, ruthlessly. For his open opposition to believers' participation in Shinto acts of worship, which included bowing before and worshiping the emperor, he was thrown in prison, and he encouraged other Christian brothers and sisters to do the same, namely not to bow the knee to the emperor.
His story is recounted in a rather stirring autobiography for a testimony, which is a very edifying read, but also a very challenging read, because it describes in this autobiography his torture, his listening to other prisoners being tortured, his profound deprivation, his extreme hunger, his cold, the many interrogations. But on the positive side, it also, hence the title "For a testimony, gave him an opportunity not only to bear witness for the hope that resided in him to his fellow prisoners, but also to the guards that were in the chambers, and even to extremely high-ranking government officials. It's the story of one who is imprisoned, who is all in for the gospel of Jesus Christ in spite of dire circumstances.
So this morning I'd like to look at what is perhaps one of the most beloved stories among Christians. If you're taking notes, all the main points start with D. So we have "Determined Daniel" in verses 1 through 16, and then the "Descent of Daniel" in 17 to 19, and the "Deliverance of Daniel" in 20 through 24, and finally the "Decree of Darius" there at the end in 25 to 29.
It's probably the case that verse 31 of the previous chapter even though I didn't read it, belongs to chapter 6. Darius the Mede receives the kingdom, being about 62 years old. And then he divides up this kingdom among 120 satraps, which in Persia were somewhat like governors, and then he appointed three presidents also over his kingdom, one of which was Daniel. And then we learn from verse 4 that Daniel had distinguished himself above and beyond all the other satraps and all the other counselors.
Now, it may not have been evident from the reading of Scripture, but the correct reading of Daniel 6.29 in Aramaic 6.28 in your English Bible is as follows: "So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius, that is, during the reign of Cyrus the Persian." So there is a connective conjunction there that is explaining the first half of the verse by telling you in the second half of the verse that Darius and Cyrus are in fact one person. I don't have time to go into that, but that's an extremely important small point because it has to do with the divisions of the kingdoms both in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. And it's very important that we understand the kingdoms correctly, the last one being Rome. Otherwise, these prophecies given in Daniel do not touch on Christ. But that's all I have the time to explain at this point.
Now, Darius is very different from the previous kings that we've seen in the stories of Daniel. We're kind of jumping into the middle of the pond, so to speak. But you'll remember back to Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 3 of Daniel. Chapter 3 of Daniel is like the mirror image of Daniel 6. They're both very related. There's lots of similarities, but there's also some differences. Remember, especially you kids, I'm sure, that Daniel 3 was all about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three faithful Jewish boys who also underwent a would-be martyrdom for their faithfulness to God. And now we come up to Daniel 6, the mirror image, and we have Daniel's would-be martyrdom.
But Darius is very different from these other kings we've seen heretofore, like Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belshazzar. The text recognizes that Daniel's an important advisor (6:3). And Darius is immediately distressed when he learns the uninformed consequences or unintended consequences of his ill-formed decree. He fasts all night long for Daniel. He rejoices when Daniel is finally delivered. And he executes justice against Daniel's enemies in 6:24.
On the negative side of the ledger, he had an error and a fault: he was given to flattery. Now, we don't often think of flattery as a very serious sin these days, but if you go back and read Dante, you will see what Dante thought of flattery by his treatment of certain popes, which I'll not go into detail now. But let me just say that he didn't have good words for them, and their punishment was great, depending upon the degree of their flattery.
So Darius falls prey to flattery and he entraps himself in consequences that he did not intend. But aside from this, we see that the text, much like chapter 3, where you have this would-be martyrdom of the faithful, free Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, parallel Daniel's martyrdom. But the Jews were to be monotheists. In chapter 3, they could not bow down to the colossal image that Nebuchadnezzar had erected, you remember, that was an image of himself, because they were like the Shinto acts of religion that Bruce Hunt and his colleagues could not bow down. They could not bow down to the emperor worship either.
And now Nebuchadnezzar did not condemn the three Jewish Jews specifically for worshiping their God. It's important to be nuanced here. I would argue, especially timely in our day with so much confusion between Christianity and politics, these chapters are extremely timely to inform us how we should live out our hyphenated existence in the world. And so let me just do a little more to point out what's going on.
Nebuchadnezzar had condemned the three youths were refusing to worship and not prostrate themselves before his god, which was the image of himself. What's the kind of megalomania that would cause Nebuchadnezzar to do that? Well, very interestingly, it was the slander that came on the part of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's companions and colleagues in the court, if you will. They came slandering them, the text says, literally, the text says, "they came eating their pieces," which picks up an idiom from the Akkadian language in Babylon, that they were backbiters, which means they were spreading gossip, they were spreading rumors. It actually finds its way all the way into the Hebrew Bible, and that's why you'll look at the Trinity Psalter hymnal in Psalm 27, 2, where the complainant is lamenting that his enemies are eating his pieces. And so if you ever seen that and wonder what it is, now you know.
"They have paid no attention to you, O king," they said in chapter 3. "If you're God, they do not serve the image of gold
But you erected, they do not worship. But notice here the contrast between chapter 3 and chapter 6. In chapter 3, the story showed how the faithful refused to join this idolatrous religious practice. In chapter 6, Daniel refuses to refrain from proper worship of God. And Daniel is told not to pray to his God, Yahweh, but he does so nevertheless. In other words, it's important to realize this is not a mere repetition of chapter 3. It's not the same accusation. But here we have illustrated in ancient times an account of the state that has a very different kind of overreach than we saw of an account of the state in chapter 3.
Here the account of the state that's turned bestial and is involved in a sinful practice of overreach tries to bind and restrict believers from worshiping according to their own conscience. And the state has no business, according to God's word, in such kind of overreach.
In this chapter it's stated that it is the king's intention to promote Daniel above everyone else. And so because these gainsayers, these backbiters, these gossipers, these accusers, these liars could find no fault against Daniel because he was faithful, then their twisted minds have a way of construing a political entry to find fault against him in the law of his own God. And so they come in concert together and with feigned deference, oh, Darius, live forever. And then they say that all the other rulers have come together and the king should make a law forbidding the request or prayer to any other god or man for 30 days except for you, oh king. And if they do, then they should be thrown into the den of lions.
They knew Daniel's belief. And they knew that his God was the very pulpy of his life. And that he would draw a line in the sand and he would not defy his legion lord. That he would do whatever was necessary to give a reason for the hope that was in him, no matter what the cost. They knew this was the fundamental guiding principle of his life.
So we get "Determined Daniel" in verses 11 through 16. Daniel learns of the law, and what is his response? Very simple: prayer. He prays.
But I want to point something else out to you here that I think is very timely and very important. He prays to his God, the text says, as he was wont to do, or as he used to do, as was his custom. So the government engages in overreach and persecution of a forefather and a brother from long ago. Does Daniel flaunt his faith before the king? Does Daniel, you know, in a posture of bombastic you know, showiness, flaunt his digging in his heels against the civil government? No, that's not what the text says.
This shows Daniel's deep piety. But it also shows that it was his regular habit. And it does not seem that he's flaunting his behavior in light of the king's order. He's just practicing his customary religious habit.
And Daniel is determined to obey God rather than the immutable law of the Medes in person. and he prays towards Jerusalem. Probably something that flows from Solomon's prayer. If you remember, when Solomon at the dedication of the temple said, "When your people go in exile, where will they pray? They'll pray facing back towards Jerusalem."
I think there's a very important analogy for us here to draw by way of application. None of us, to the best of my knowledge, in this room, are facing the kind of persecution that Daniel was facing. Moreover, I would argue, even in the past six, seven, eight years, even though we had to worship under extreme circumstances for a period, none of us lives underneath momentous preposition, a government involved in the kind of overreach that says we may not practice our worshiping rites.
But increasingly, as we live in the post-Christian West, as we try and be devoted and dedicated to God, as we try and be faithful, we feel the chafing of going against the winds. Take one area: chastity, unchastity. Why this area of sex? Because it's such an index of where the culture is. So the more you draw your line in the sand, the more you will feel the pressure, won't you? And perhaps even if you are asked to speak about it, it will be construed as a hate crime.
But if we are principled, if we remain faithful, then we shall be rigorously consistent. Now, brothers and sisters, this brings great comfort, whether in life or death. Because if you are consistent now, it doesn't matter whether you are a speaking person on this earth as an earth dweller or whether you're underneath the ground pushing up daisies. Because everybody will look back and they'll say, "He bore testimony. He was consistent. He didn't equivocate on the truth when he was alive and when he had the ability to speak to it."
Even as Daniel is determined to worship his God, how much more so the spies were determined to do away with him! So what do they do? They go back to the king. They describe what has happened. "There's someone in your kingdom who is not paying attention to your decree, your highness. And they're not praying to you, but to another man or God for 30 days. And you know the decree that you made."
So what do we get? We turn from "Determined Daniel" to the "Descent of Daniel" into the lion's pit Verse 17 and 19.
Reluctantly, the king must cast Daniel into the pit of lions. And the contrast between Nebuchadnezzar's response in chapter 3 of Daniel and the response of Darius could not be stronger. In chapter 3, notice we were met by the growing, increasing angst in anger of Nebuchadnezzar, who was probably a very insecure ruler. But Darius wants to rescue the Judean counselor because he had been given into flattery and he was trapped by his own edict. So the king gave the order, "Go get him." After he gave the order to roll the stone over and seal his tomb.
And then in verse 20 to 24, we get the account of the "Deliverance of Daniel."
In chapter 3, the lads, you remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were saved by the fourth person walking around in the furnace. But here Daniel was rescued by an angel that shut the mouths of lions. Daniel was not left in the lion's den. In verse 24, the king has him drawn up out of the pit. And his accusers, probably a small man, are thrown into the pit themselves and get their comeuppance.
Finally, we have in this chapter the declaration, a nice inclusio, that is bookends. We open up with a decree, we close with a decree.
And how it's important to explore, before we get to that, about Daniel and his interpretation in history. Throughout church history, especially in the church's art, there has been a tendency in many, many, many works to see Daniel's descent into the pit as a type of Christ's crucifixion and descent into hell and to understand his emergence from the lion's den as a type of Christ's resurrection.
Now, just to be perfectly clear, even though I know you're taught well from this pulpit, you remember figural speech in the Old Testament was given in shadows that we call a type. But you cannot understand those types without reading those in the canonical context of the whole Bible where we get the antitype, as technically called, for the fulfillment of those shadowy figures.
The Old Testament is not like instant coffee. It's merely coffee crystals that one has to wait around to pour the hot water of the apostles' teaching upon it for it to be real coffee. It already is coffee. And it preaches and teaches and brokers the truth of Christ in and of itself. But praise God that we have a fuller revelation that shows us how it is ultimately fulfilled in Christ.
Listen to just some of the echoes. In the frescoes and catacombs, for example, the story illustrates the resurrection. You have the mouth of the den sealed with the king's signet ring (verse 17) followed by Daniel's deliverance.
Firstly, our chapter began with the account of a conspiracy and betrayal of Daniel's fellow satraps and leaders. Well, you'll remember in Matthew 26, Jesus' passion begins with an account of conspiracy by chief priests, by scribes, by doctors in the church of that time, by elders to catch Jesus, and finally by Judas himself.
Secondly, the satraps in our chapter despair of catching Daniel in any lack of integrity. And so what do they do? Through political intrigue, they force a confrontation between him and the law of the state. Similarly, Jesus' accusers seek to entrap him by reporting to the authorities his messianic title, "King of the Jews" (Matthew 27).
On the eve of Daniel's arrest, he got down on his knees and gave thanks to God as he had done previously. Similarly, your Lord is taken by the soldiers as he maintained his customary dialogue with his Father in the garden, sweating drops of blood (Matthew 26).
And once fourthly, the actual confrontation with the king in our account comes along. The king sympathizes with Daniel and even works for his own release, although without success, since he was trapped in the irrevocable decree of the law. And consequently, he has to turn Daniel over.
Well, you remember Matthew 26, 19. Pilate's wife warns him about Jesus' innocence. And Pilate himself even protests Jesus' innocence before the mob. But they insist. So he washes his hands of Jesus' blood.
The parallels continue, but without ongoing participation of the authority figure. Daniel is thrown into the lion's den for his would-be execution by the lions. And then it's closed with a stone. Similarly, Jesus is executed and his stone is closed with a seal as well.
Of course, the final outcome is similar. The person's presumed dead, whether Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and Daniel himself, are found actually to be alive. So too, God and Christ, vindicated by God's power.
But here the similarities end, and one major, major difference surfaces in particular. You see, Jesus really did die. Whereas for Daniel and Shadrach and Abednego, they did not die in the narrative. They emerged from their own tombs. But Jesus really did die. The most ignoble kind of death.
For as much as before him, that is, God, remember Daniel said, "Innocence he was found in me and also before you, O king, I have done no injury." And in verse 24, "No injury was found in him, for he had trusted in his God."
And, of course, Jesus trusted in his God as well. But upon our Lord, your Lord, my Lord, deep, mortal wounds were wrought. As Schilder said years ago, all the horrors and terrors you read about in Revelation and more were poured out on the wrath bearer, namely Christ, for you and for me.
"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. Oh my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It is finished." And he died.
You see, as in the case of all figural interpretation in the Old Testament, the antitype always excels and surpasses the type.
Finally, the "Decree of Darius" verse 25 to 29. Daniel's testimony results in Darius' decree. And although the chapter had begun with a decree set by Darius, now the chapter ends, ironically, with a second decree, this time promoting Daniel's God through Darius' vast empire. What is remarkably striking here is Darius does not adore Daniel so much as Daniel's God.
Well, as we draw to a close, a few closing notes
First, by way of application this text clearly teaches the state has no rights for overreach over the conscience of the believer with regards to his religion. Thanks be to God, we have not had to cross swords on that, and hopefully we never will. But that is why Bruce Hunt was so insistent in not capitulating to the Japanese authorities.
And in North America, unlike China, Sudan, Nigeria, Eritrea, or other parts of the world, we're not faced with the same threat of persecution in the same way. But as I've already said, we do have our own form.
Secondly, and most importantly, our direction and focus should not be on Bruce Hunt, should not be on Daniel or any human being. Or else these elders should never invite me back to this pulpit again. They should be on the one to whom these characters bore testimony, namely Jesus.
Daniel in the lion's den can be understood as an anticipation of the experience of faith and ultimate testing. And dangers can be real, even extreme. And the temptation to give up, consistently walking in the straight and narrow path and the holiness of God in every area of our life is real. And chase, especially at our young people.
But Christ died the most horrific death imaginable. And this story did not end in the pit. As Paul says, "Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." Paul says in Romans, "He was raised for our justification. And now we have peace with God and access into his grace, or this grace in which we now stand."
And then in the next breath he says, "And we rejoice in our sufferings." Just pause and think about that. How radical a statement that is in our culture! Who just wants to throw drugs at our sufferings or suppress it and push it down or to act out in a thousand different ways in anger? And Paul says, "No, you Christian, you can rejoice in your sufferings."
Therefore, brothers and sisters, if you're going through tremendous suffering, perhaps chronic illness, seen or unseen to your brothers and sisters in Christ, you can persevere in light of Christ, your forerunner. If you're struggling to put to death a besetting and persistent sin, you can persevere in light of the fact that you have been justified by faith and there is now no condemnation in you and Jesus Christ. You know that Christ has been raised from the dead and he is for you. And by his Spirit, he will help you to grow into your new self.
If you are helping and ministering to a friend, a child, a loved one beat up by the ravages of sin in the world, you can know there is a resurrected Christ who has brought an end to sin and death. And in the new Jerusalem, there will be no more tears. And there will be no more sin. And there will be no more shame. And there will be no more hard tears. Because the one whom God has raised, if you should die, will immediately usher your soul into heaven. And as our precious and blessed confessions say, your body will be resurrected to join with your soul in the future.
In light of these truths foreshadowed in Daniel and even more clearly taught in the rest of the canon, we can persevere as pilgrim sinners with a view towards giving a testimony to our own ever-faithful high priest.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you for your word. It is broader than all the heavens. We do ask, oh Lord, that you would seal these truths unto our hearts. We ask, oh Lord, that you would open our eyes to see, for indeed faith is a gift and the conviction that your scriptures are true, and amen, is a gift that does not come naturally. So Lord, would you pour out your spirit on all those present, and whether now or in the future, help us to realize the truth of your canon and the truth of your scripture? We ask this in Jesus name, amen.