Daniel stood firm when compromise was easy. This study of Daniel 6 uncovers the real history behind the lions’ den and what it teaches about trusting God when faith is tested.
Daniel 6 is one of the most well-known chapters in the Bible—yet few realize the historical and political backdrop that shaped this dramatic moment in Daniel’s life. This sermon unpacks the details behind King Darius’ decree, the jealousy of the officials, and Daniel’s unwavering faith. As we explore the history and the text together, we see how God’s sovereignty shines through every trial and how genuine faith endures even in a world hostile to truth.
Historical Context: The Medo-Persian Empire and Darius the Mede
Turn to this morning to Daniel chapter 6. Last week we looked at what happened when Belshazzar dishonored the Lord and mocked God and God’s brought his judgment. We didn’t look at the last couple verses of chapter 5 last week and we’ll look at those in conjunction with chapter 6 because the nation that took over from Babylon was the Medes and the Persians. And remember last week when Belshazzar was having his feast and orgy dishonoring God using the vessels of the temple and God judged him.
The Medes and the Persians were coming and they were ready to come in and that night Belshazzar was killed by the Medes and the Persians. And we’re going to look at today Daniel’s position and I want you understand Daniel. Daniel is a very unique individual.
Daniel lived out his faith on a day-to-day basis. Pagan kings saw in Daniel something they saw in none of their other counselors. Number one they could they saw an honesty and a trust and a truth in him that wasn’t in anybody else.
They saw a desire to serve the position of the one and the authority that was over him where the other ones would only use that authority to try and achieve their own ends but Daniel never did. Because Daniel was giving account to a higher authority than the kings that were over him and that was to the Lord. And one of the things you see in Daniel’s life is something very unique.
He became not only a counselor to the Babylonians and one of the highest counselors that Nebuchadnezzar had, the highest counselor, but those that conquered the Babylonians, the Medes and the Persians, made Daniel a high counselor with the full intent of making him the highest counselor in their land. That never happens. We’re conquering nations, take the leadership of the previous nation and place it into the leadership of their nation.
What made Daniel so different? His love for God, his faithfulness to God and his trust that the Lord would use him where God wanted him to be placed and used. Let’s take a look at the last few verses of chapter 5 and chapter 6 this morning.
A Man of Integrity in a Corrupt System
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain and Darius the Median took the kingdom being about three score and two years old. Daniel 5:30
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes which should be over the whole kingdom. And over these three presidents of whom Daniel was first, that the princes should give accounts unto them and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because of an excellent spirit was in him and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
Then the presidents and the princes sought to find accusation against Daniel concerning the kingdom but they could find none occasion of fault. For as much as he was faithful neither was there any error or fault found in him. 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.
Then these presidents and princes assembled themselves to the king and said thus unto him, King Darius live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom and governors and the princes and the counselors 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 6:1-7
Just a note here you notice there was one president that wasn’t consulted when they made this decree and that was Daniel. Verse 8.
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.
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. 12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. 14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 15 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. 16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
18 Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. 19 Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? 21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. 22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. 23 Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.
24 And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
25 Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. 26 I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. 27 He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. 28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
. Daniel 6:8-35
Let’s just go to the Lord in prayer. Lord I pray that you would help us to learn from the life of Daniel. Lord help us to see that no matter what the circumstance you are there and you are there to use us to bring attention to yourself and glory to your name. Lord may we understand that Daniel’s relationship with you didn’t begin the moment he was cast in the lion’s den but it began when he was a teenager taken from Jerusalem into Babylon when he was an older man taken from Babylon into the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians but wherever he was his attitude and trust in you did not change. Lord may we be like Daniel.
Speak to us through your word this morning this we pray in Jesus name amen. One of the things that you see as you look at chapter 6 is even as Daniel had revealed the statue to Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon and the next kingdom that would come would be a lesser kingdom. Some people said well how could it be a lesser kingdom because actually the Medes and the Persians had more land and acquired more land than Babylon and the kingdom of Babylon.
One of the ways that it was a lesser kingdom is the power and the authorities of the Kings. If Daniel had been thrown if Nebuchadnezzar’s servants had come and tricked Nebuchadnezzar into doing something like this Nebuchadnezzar would have just said forget it I’m not throwing Daniel in the lion’s den you guys go. But you see in the text that we read tonight Darius didn’t have that kind of power.
The Medo and Persian kingdom was set up different than the Babylonian kingdom. The king did not have absolute authority. There was other authorities that ruled with the king and the law was over the king as well.
Darius had said it well he said well the Medo-Persian law that is correct that if a law is decreed it cannot be changed. You cannot change the law. This was the same law and rule of law that Esther was under during the time of Artaxerxes when Haman had him decree that all the Jews were to be killed on one day and he was grieved because he had made that there was nothing he could do.
He had to find a way to counteract it in a different way and he came out and said the Jews you know you’re going to be killed this day so I am telling you take up arms defend yourself and kill those that attack you. So he made a second law allowing them to defend themselves. That was the law of the Medo-Persians.
It was it was a great law in the sense that it applied to everybody and it was made there were no exceptions but sometimes there are exceptions. As Darius is approached by these men they’re deceitful and they’re driven by two things and I want you to see the significance of the two things are driven by. Envy and pride.
If you look at scripture you’ll see that there’s someone else that was driven by envy and pride and it was Satan himself. Satan envied the throne of God and he was so prideful he thought he could be as the most high. He thought he could be God and since that time through deceit, through all kinds of means he tries to get men to fall for the same two sinful errors of envy and pride.
All the other lords envied Daniel and they were prideful enough to think they could have him put to death and their deceitfulness would not be found out. If you look at why were they so envious well if you stop and think as I mentioned at the beginning of the message Daniel is unique in that he was placed into a position of power from a conquered people by the conquerors but as we read in the text not only a position of power but he was possessed as one of three highest men of power under the king and the king was concerned and you read that into the text as well. What were his concerns? His concerns were envy and pride of his lords.
He was concerned that somehow they were going to try and do harm to him. Try and take advantage of him in some way. Whether it be take advantage of his possessions, take advantage of his power, take advantage of his position.
But he didn’t trust them. But there was one he did trust and that was Daniel. And why did he trust Daniel? I want you to see this because people should see that in every one of our characters.
He trusted Daniel because Daniel possessed the character of his God. The character of truth. The character of righteousness.
The character of having a servant’s heart that desires to serve the one that is over them. This was the character of Daniel and his other servants, his other lords, his other two presidents didn’t have that character. And so his full intent and what he had planned to do was he was going to announce that he was going to have one president over the position of the presidents and that one president because he’d be over the other presidents would ultimately have full authority over all the lords and the princes that were underneath the presidents.
And this position was going to be Daniel’s. These men were angry. That was the position they wanted.
They deserved. They’d been part of the Medo-Persian Empire much longer than Daniel. They didn’t come out of Jerusalem.
They didn’t come out of Babylon. They came out of Shushan and the Medo-Persian capitals. So they framed a plot.
Unless you think that plots and righteous men being the objects of assassination are something that’s new, it goes back a long ways. There was nothing in Daniel’s character that should have resulted in him being really set apart for to kill, to assassinate. Just so they didn’t call it assassination, what they were going to use was, they were going to use the lions.
They were going to use the lions and the word of the king. And they were going to use that to assassinate instead of bows and arrows and knives. That’s what they were going to use.
And they would get away with it because no one would know that their full intent was to get rid of Daniel. They also knew that Daniel had this peculiar, not a habit, but a peculiar thing that he did three times a day. He would open his window towards Jerusalem and he would pray.
Why did Daniel open his window towards Jerusalem and pray? One of the things he was doing is he was praying to the Lord and he was remembering the temple in Jerusalem that he had grown up as a teenager, observing. Remembering what was at the temple with the temple worship. Remember the sacrifices and what they were pointing to.
Remember that they were pointing to the coming Messiah. Remember all these things. And so he’d open the door in remembrance of Jerusalem and he’d pray to God, facing Jerusalem, remembering and saying, once again we will go to Jerusalem.
Knowing that God’s promise would be true, that God’s word was true, and that when he said he would once again bring the Jewish people back to Jerusalem, it would be a reality. Daniel did this every day, three times a day. And all of these lords and other presidents knew he did it.
They saw him. Now as I mentioned when I was reading the text, there was one president that wasn’t there when the law was passed, because Daniel would have never agreed to it. He never put the authority of any man above the authority of God, whether it was Nebuchadnezzar, or whether it was Darius, or whether it was Cyrus.
He put God above man, every man. And he desired fellowship with his God more than fellowship with any king. And the time that he had fellowship with God was the time that he was at prayer with him.
And so three times a day, Daniel was praying. These men went out and they decreed this decree, and Daniel found out about it. Now Daniel would have had a really easy thing to do, because it was just a short period of time that he couldn’t pray to God.
And Satan was testing, allowed to test Daniel. Does God mean more to you than your own life? Does God mean more to you than your position? Does God mean more to you than anything you’ve got? So let’s see it. Let’s see how much God means to you.
And Daniel had a choice. He could have shut the doors, and nobody would have known. He could have said, well, I’ll just pray with the windows closed today.
Nobody will know. But he didn’t. Why? Because his faith in God was more important to him than anything else.
And he trusted God. You notice a couple of the songs that we sang before the message this morning. First one, God will take care of you.
Do we really believe that God will take care of us? Now Jesus himself said that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to have trials, tribulations, persecution, maybe even martyrdom. But will God take care of you? Daniel was faced with that choice. Would I rather die believing God will take care of me and understand that my death will enable me to come into his presence? Just like the Apostle Paul, as he sat in Nero’s prison, awaiting his execution, he penned the words, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
And he told Timothy and Titus in his letters to them to preach the gospel uncompromisingly. Live your life uncompromisingly. Do not allow fear to prevent you from going forth and doing what God has called you to do.
But rather be used by him in whatever area he places you to bring glory to his name and to reveal to people that he’s God. I want you to understand in the text that we read, one thing that had come clear to Darius is the reason that Daniel was so different was because of the God of Daniel. And it sure appears from the text like Daniel had shared with him that God was the only God, the true and the living God, and all the other gods weren’t gods at all.
Because that’s the very words that Darius uses. And I believe they came from the lips of Daniel to the ears of Darius. And now Daniel is put to the test.
The next song we sang right before the message was, all your anxiety, all your care, take it to Jesus. All your anxieties, does Jesus know about them? Does he know that funds are short? Does he know my job’s on the line? Does he know I’m having problems with my kids? Does he know I can’t get along with my neighbors? All your anxieties, all your cares, the hymn is really reflecting the text of the scripture. It’s not some of your anxieties and some of your cares, but it’s all of them.
Take them to Jesus. Take them to the mercy seat. You know, when Daniel was facing Jerusalem and facing the temple, he was facing the Holy of Holies.
And there was the mercy seat. Jesus had not come and died on the cross yet. But the mercy seat at the Ark of the Covenant is where every year during Yom Kippur, the priest would enter the Holy of Holies and enter and offer a blood sacrifice and sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat as an acknowledgment for the forgiveness of sins for himself and the whole nation of Israel.
But what it was really doing was showing that that blood that was sprinkled on that mercy seat was coming in the form of the Messiah and his blood would be shed and sprinkled on each one of us so our sins would be forgiven. There was much more than Daniel just praying three times a day, but there was a deep understanding that Daniel had of God’s Word and God’s purposes and God’s establishing what he established the way he established it. It wasn’t by chance that he gave Moses the outline for the Ark of the Covenant and told Moses what each instrument and what each part of the Ark, each part of rather the the tabernacle would be and the Ark of the Covenant, how it was to be put together specifically and what its purpose was.
We need to understand as believers in Jesus Christ, we have something that Daniel didn’t even have. He was looking forward to Jesus’s coming. He hadn’t seen Jesus come and die on the cross.
He didn’t know that God’s Word was fulfilled, but he was walking by faith, trusting in God. And this young man who is now an older man, who is now probably as old as Darius or older, is looking back and seeing a lot of hardship that came into his life, but a lot of ways God used that to touch lives that never would have been touched in any other way. Had Daniel not been there, Nebuchadnezzar would never have believed that God was the God who created all things.
If Daniel had not been there, Darius never would have proclaimed that God is the God, the King of Heaven, the Creator of all.