Unshaken by Deterrment
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A boy named Phil was born in Rome, Pennsylvania, in 1838. And he had no formal schooling till he was 10. His father Isaac was a dedicated believer. His dad was a lover of music. And it was through his dad that he developed, he Phil developed a passion for singing. They went to a Methodist church there in Pennsylvania. In his teens, Phil discovered that he had the ability to compose music. And he started writing songs and he sent his first composition to a fellow named George who was a songwriter. It was a gospel song, and this was the note he attached, "If you think this song is worth anything, I would appreciate having a flute in exchange for it." Talk about strange requests. Well, apparently the fellow thought it had some merit because Phil got a flute.
The boy's name was Philip Bliss. He went on in his adult life to be a gospel songwriter in the 1800s, of quite great merit. He was a good friend of Dwight Moody, the great evangelist of the day, and he moved to Chicago Phil and his family Emily married had a couple of kids moved to Chicago in the mid 1800s, during the Civil War actually, wrote a lot of great songs. And then there was a tragedy on December 29, 1876. He and his wife died in a tragic train accident just outside Ashtabula, Ohio. And he was 38 years old. And you'd written all these songs. But this one he had written three years earlier stands out to me at this moment in time. It was written in 1873 and it's called 'Dare to be a Daniel'. The chorus goes reads “Dare to be a Daniel / Dare to stand alone/ Dare to have a purpose firm/ Dare to make it known. Here's Daniel six, a story of betrayal, jealous men, hungry lions. End of the story. Good guy wins.
So the question is what can we learn from this moment 2,500 years ago, in a very different culture in a very different time and place? Daniel was a young teen many people believe at the age of 17 when he was taken from Jerusalem. He was part of a noble family, no doubt transported hundreds of miles to Babylon, became an advisor to the king. At 17, as in the first chapter, Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the king's food and everything worked out great. And now it’s more than 50 years later and he’s still resolved to worship and honor God.
Daniel’s Character
Daniel’s Character
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; 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.
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. 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 together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellers, 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. 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. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
Darius has appointed 120 princes to rule over his kingdom
These men helped securing the king and his kingdom continued to be protected from theft, tax evasion, and military revolts.
The men ruled over a specific province of the kingdom
Over these men were three men who ruled with Darius as vice-regents
The person in charge of all of these 123 men, was Daniel who directly reported to the king.
Get this and don’t miss this
The fact that Daniel is a slave and a foreigner
He is brought to Babylon as a young man and is enslaved
Taken from his people and trained in the ways of Babylonian court
Yet he has been faithful to God and God blessed him for it
Daniel gathered favor with ever king he served and after 70 years of faithful service, this former slave has now become the Prime Minister of the most powerful government in the world
This goes to show you that God always honors faithful service
This promotion however doesn’t come without its own set of problems
The Bible tells us that other rulers of the kingdom were jealous of Daniel and sought to destroy him.
After all, he was a Hebrew and even worse, a slave.
They didn’t like the idea of bowing to Daniel
They played to the vanity of the king
Here we are almost 50 years removed from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and the fiery furnace
Yet these Chaldeans are up to the same tricks
Different king but same problem
They devised a plan to get Darius to make a law that no one could pray to any God or make a request of any person for 30 days.
From the king’s perspective he is put at the center of everyone’s mind for a whole month
From the Chaldeans perspective, they knew Daniel’s testimony and faithfulness to God
They knew that Daniel would not be able to do this and so they desired to trip him up. To basically make a law that Daniel would have to violate
Daniel’s Choices
Daniel’s Choices
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. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
With the decree having been made, Daniel is faced with a series of choices
Should he remain faithful to the Lord, or should he bow to the vanity of the king
Watching Daniel face this crisis in his life, you get the impression that it was not a crisis at all for him.
Daniel simply did what he had always done; he remained faithful to the Lord. Notice how Daniel faced the challenge before him, and the choices he made.
He chose obedience to God over opportunities in the world
Daniel did not open his windows to draw attention to himself as he prayed.
The windows were already opened.
All Daniel did was bow down before the Lord and pray.
It was the Lord’s will for Daniel to be faithful, and that’s what he did.
He did not close the windows to hide what he was doing because he was not ashamed of his faith or of his God.
He chose faithfulness to God over the fear of the King
For Daniel, the decree of Darius changed nothing
He simply went before the Lord and prayed and gave thanks three times a day
He remained faithful in spite of the will of a human king
He chose devotion to God over the decree of the king
The decree was only for 30 days
For many, they could have simply not prayed for that period
But for Daniel, his faith in the Lord would not allow him to be anything less than what the Lord wanted him to be, even for a mere 30 days
He chose bowing before God over bowing before his enemies
The desire of Daniel’s enemies was to bring him down
I would imagine that they would have left him alone if Daniel would have adopted the ways and religion of Babylon
But Daniel refused to bow to their will
He chose to remain faithful to his God
He chose commitment over compromise
Consider for a moment the excuses Daniel could have made for praying
He is most likely in late 60’s or early 70’s.
I am sure that he was tired.
He was the Prime Minister of Babylon
He was busy
Yet Daniel, Didn’t make excuses, he remained faithful to the Lord and did what he knew was right
He chose Character over Comfort
Daniel was willing to die a horrible death in the lion’s den
But would not sacrifice his character
Daniel was determined to stand for that which was right simply because it was right
He was determined to stand for the Lord regardless of the consequences or the cost
The church would be a vastly different place if church members had the same kind of commitment
Daniel’s Conquest
Daniel’s Conquest
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. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. 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? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. 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. 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. 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.
When Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den, Darius returns to his palace
There, surrounded by his wealth and his servants
He passes the night in fear
No doubt he is consumed with guild over his own foolishness
No doubt he is angry at the thought of those who developed this plan to destroy Daniel
He wrestles with sleep until dawn
He races to the lion’s den to check on Daniel
With a trembling voice, he calls out to Daniel
Hoping that Daniel has managed to survive the night
Daniel answers the king and related the news that god has intervened in his life
God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions
They didn’t attack him
Daniel attributes God’s protection to the fact that he was an innocent man
Daniel is taken out of the lion’s den and examined
The men that falsely accused Daniel and their entire families are thrown into the lion’s den.
They are not spared
Before they even reach the bottom of the pit, the lions attack and kill those who stood against the men of God.
Darius is overwhelmed and makes a decree that exalts God.
He commands everyone to bow before the mighty God of Daniel
He declares God to be living God
A God of power and glory; possessing an eternal kingdom
This chapter ends with Daniel being exalted even higher in the kingdom
Adoniram Judson labored faithfully in Burma for eighteen years without a furlough, and for the first six years he did not have a single Burmese convert. He said that he never saw a ship leave Burma without wanting to board it and go home. When his wife became sick and had to go home for two years without him, he wrote: ”If we could find some quiet resting place on earth where we could spend the rest of our days in peace, and perform the ordinary services of religion.” But he then wrote: ”Life is short. Happiness consists not in outward circumstances. Millions of Burmese are perishing. I am almost the only person on earth who has attained their language to communicate salvation.”
God has a specific job for you, and you are the only person who can accomplish it.
We may never face a den of lions. We may never face a burring fiery furnace like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. But, we might face some of the trials other saints of God have been called on to endure. We might face times of sickness, sorrow, distress, persecution, death, and hardship. Through it all, the Lord simply demands that we be faithful. Daniel was faithful as he was aforetime because he had established faithfulness. God help us to be as faithful as Daniel.