10/17/10

Daniel 6

A Late Lunch for the Lions

Daniel and the End of History

The GBC Inheritance Class

Fall 2010
Dr. Gene Pond

Our Story So Far

The Hebrew captive

Daniel arose to be a
leading counselor in
Babylon until its
conquest by the Medes
and Persians, which he
had predicted in his
interpretation of the
dream of the multimetal
image.
—Daniel 1–5

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Daniel’s Life Spanned the Exile

Belshazzar’s
Feast
605 539
597
586 536 515

70 years of Babylonian captivity

Captured Still advising

as a teen as a senior

The Book of Daniel

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1–6 7–12
Court Stories Apocalyptic Visions
Daniel presented in 3rd person Daniel records in 1st person

1:1–
2:4a 2:4b–7:28 8–12
Heb. Aramaic Hebrew

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A “Critical” Issue:
Who was Darius the Mede?
History
•  Cyrus of Persia was the
supreme emperor/conqueror
•  Babylon was conquered by
Ugbaru, governor of Gutium,
leading Cyrus’s army
•  Cyrus arrived 18 days later and
appointed Gubaru to rule in
Babylon
•  After 8 more days, Ugbaru
died
Solutions to Darius’s Identity
•  He did not exist;
the Book of Daniel
is not historically reliable
•  He was Gubaru, a king in
Babylon under authority of
Cyrus
•  He was Cyrus himself

Most Bible-believing Christians feel that,

until there is overwhelming evidence to
the contrary, the Scripture record itself
should be given more consideration than
the fragmentary records outside the Bible
or, specifically, than the lack of record.
Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, 134

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Daniel 6
A Late Lunch for the Lions
  Darius’s choice of Daniel 1–3
  Deceit of Daniel’s Accusers 4–9
  Daring of Daniel 10–11
  Demands of Daniel’s Accusers 12–15
  Den of Lions 16–18
  Deliverance of Daniel 19–23
  Death of Daniel’s Accusers 24
  Decree of Darius 25–28

Daniel 6:1-3
Darius’s Choice of Daniel
The Present The Plan

Cyrus Cyrus

Darius Darius

Supervisor Supervisor Daniel Daniel

120 Satraps 2 Supervisors

120 Satraps
The Kingdom

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Daniel 6:1-4
What Distinguished Daniel?
•  Gifted Excellence
He possessed an
extraordinary spirit 3
(NIV: “exceptional qualities”)
•  Integrity
He was faithful
(competent) 4
•  Purity
He was neither negligent
nor corrupted 4

Daniel is available for God’s use as a senior.

It is never too late to start doing what is right.

Daniel 6:4–9
The Deceit of Daniel’s Accusers
•  122 to 1 4
•  They saw a “chink” in Daniel’s
armor: his obedience to the law of
his God 5
•  More than “Queen for a Day,”
this is “God for a Month” 6–7
•  The law of the Medes and Persians
▫  Invested with a certain amount of
deity
▫  No mistakes assumed in law’s
creation
▫  No one above the law

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Daniel 6:10–11
The Daring of Daniel
•  Daniel was aware 10a
•  Daniel was blatant 10b
•  Daniel was consistent 10c
•  The jealous conspirators were
thronging and found what they
expected 11

Why is Daniel praying

toward Jerusalem?
Because he knows his
history of Israel.

This is the climax of

Solomon’s prayer at the
dedication of the Temple
which he had built.

1 Kings 8:46-53

It tells the exiles how to

respond in their captivity.

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Daniel 6:12–15
The Demands of Daniel’s Accusers
•  The enemies close the trap
•  Note the irony in 6:13
▫  They lied; Daniel did pay
attention to the king
▫  But in an unintended sense
what they said was true
•  Darius shows his stupidity
and his weakness
▫  He was stupid
for passing the law
▫  He was weak in not being
able to change it
(a degraded empire)
•  He spends a day
looking for a loophole

Daniel 6:16–18 The Den of Lions

“Your God whom you continually serve must deliver you!”

Then the king spent the night with no food, no fun,
and not even a fitful sleep

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Daniel 6:19–23
The Deliverance
of Daniel
Daniel 6:24–28
The Deaths and the Decree
Death of Daniel’s Accusers
•  Like the fiery furnace in ch. 3,
the culprits are themselves
hoisted on their own petard
•  This proves the lions were
hungry
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•  The king honors God 20
•  Daniel’s first words preserved
in the chapter 21–23
▫  My God sent his angel
▫  Has shut the lions’ mouths
(Hebrews 11:33)
▫  He knew his own innocence
▫  He claimed the same toward
the king
•  No injury was found on him
“because he had trusted in
his God”
The Decree of Darius
•  All should fear and tremble
before Daniel’s God.
•  Living and enduring forever
•  His kingdom is one which will
not be destroyed
•  His dominion is forever
•  He delivers and rescues and
performs signs and wonders
•  So Daniel enjoyed succes in
the reign of Darius and in the
reign of Cyrus the Persian.
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