Daniel 6 · The Lantern

Darius was pleased to put over the kingdom a hundred and twenty captains, who were to be all through the kingdom;

And so Darius, who was called Ahasuerus, received the kingdom and "appointed one-hundred-twenty satraps and appointed three governors over them, whom Daniel was one of, for the satraps to give account that the king may not be overburdened.

Verse 1. "It pleased Darius to appoint over his kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, that they might be throughout his whole kingdom; and over them there were three princes, of which Daniel was one." Josephus, of whom we made mention above, in writing an account of this passage, put it this way: Now Darius, who destroyed the empire of the Babylonians in cooperation with his…

We need to take notice that previously the Babylonians, that is, their princes, had used trickery in their jealousy of Daniel to destroy Daniel and his companions and had persuaded Nebuchadnezzar to build the golden statue and to order that it alone be worshiped by those under his authority.

And over them were three chief rulers, of whom Daniel was one; and the captains were to be responsible to the chief rulers, so that the king might undergo no loss.

Then this Daniel did his work better than the chief rulers and the captains, because there was a special spirit in him; and it was the king's purpose to put him over all the kingdom.

Then the chief rulers and the captains were looking for some cause for putting Daniel in the wrong in connection with the kingdom, but they were unable to put forward any wrongdoing or error against him; because he was true, and no error or wrong was to be seen in him.

Then these men said, We will only get a reason for attacking Daniel in connection with the law of his God.

Then these chief rulers and the captains came to the king and said to him, O King Darius, have life for ever.

All the chief rulers of the kingdom, the chiefs and the captains, the wise men and the rulers, have made a common decision to put in force a law having the king's authority, and to give a strong order, that whoever makes any request to any god or man but you, O King, for thirty days, is to be put into the lions' hole.

Now, O King, put the order in force, signing the writing so that it may not be changed, like the law of the Medes and Persians which may not come to an end.

For this reason King Darius put his name on the writing and the order.

And Daniel, on hearing that the writing had been signed, went into his house; (now he had windows in his room on the roof opening in the direction of Jerusalem;) and three times a day he went down on his knees in prayer and praise before his God, as he had done before.

But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week; but do ye fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday). Neither pray as the hypocrites; but as the Lord commanded in His Gospel, thus pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.

And so in the monasteries of Palestine and Mesopotamia and all the East the services of the above-mentioned hours are ended each day with three psalms apiece, so that constant prayers may be offered to God at the appointed times, and yet, the spiritual duties being completed with due moderation, the necessary offices of work may not be in any way interfered with: for at these t…

When blessed Daniel in Babylon prayed, he opened the windows facing Jerusalem, not under the impression that God was confined there but from his knowledge that the divine manifestation occurred there.

Then these men were watching and saw Daniel making prayers and requesting grace before his God.

Then they came near before the king and said, O King, have you not put your name to an order that any man who makes a request to any god or man but you, O King, for thirty days, is to be put into the lions' hole? The king made answer and said, The thing is fixed by the law of the Medes and Persians which may not come to an end.

Then they made answer and said before the king, Daniel, one of the prisoners of Judah, has no respect for you, O King, or for the order signed by you, but three times a day he makes his prayer to God.

They said to him, "'Behold, Daniel, who is from the sons of the captivity of Judah, does not obey your decree and three times a day he asks from his God his petitions.' Then, the king when he heard the matter, was greatly grieved over it and he fought concerning Daniel in order to release him." [Daniel 6:13-14] For having known their machinations and that they hated Daniel beca…

And he prays "constantly" (deeds of virtue or fulfilling the commandments are included as part of prayer) who unites prayer with the deeds required and right deeds with prayer. For the only way we can accept the command to "pray constantly" as referring to a real possibility is by saying that the entire life of the saint taken as a whole is a single great prayer.

Verse 13. "Then they answered before the king and said, 'Daniel, who is of the captivity of Judah, has paid no heed to thy law...'" In order to magnify the dishonor involved in this contempt, they speak of the man who showed this contempt for the king's commands as a mere captive.

When this thing came to the king's ears, it was very evil to him, and his heart was fixed on keeping Daniel safe, and till the going down of the sun he was doing everything in his power to get him free.

Then these men said to the king, Be certain, O King, that by the law of the Medes and Persians no order or law which the king has put into force may be changed.

But it was so that he may not be rescued by man, and his deliverance not be considered to be by the favor of the king, but rather that the work of God may be shown to be accomplished in him.

Verse 15. "But those men, understanding the king's intent, said to him: 'Be it known to thee, O king, that no law of the Medes and Persians, nor any decree which the king has enacted, is capable of alteration.'" Just as the king understood that the princes were making their accusation out of motives of envy, so also they for their part understood what the king's purpose was, na…

You do not have the authority to overturn what you have prescribed, the laws of Medes and Persians ordering that the laws passed by the previous king be fulfilled. Under pressure both from the compelling logic of the words and from the number of the accusers, the king surrendered blessed Daniel to the lions.

Then the king gave the order, and they took Daniel and put him into the lions' hole. The king made answer and said to Daniel, Your God, whose servant you are at all times, will keep you safe.

For what shall we say? Was Daniel cast into the den of lions by those who feared God? Were Ananias and Azarias and Mishael shut up in a furnace of fire by those who observed the great and glorious worship of the Most High? Far from us be such a thought! Who, then, were they that did such things?

Then accordingly, Darius, not being able to further contradict the satraps, said for Daniel to be brought and they cast him into the den of lions. And the king, answering said to him, "Your God whom you serve perpetually, he himself will rescue you" urging him to be of good cheer.

Verse 16. "Then the king gave order, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the pit of lions. And the king said to Daniel: 'Thy God whom thou dost ever serve will Himself deliver thee.'" He gives way to the crowd and dares not to withhold from his plotting adversaries the death of his friend, and he commits to the power of God the purpose which he himself was unable to attai…

Then they got a stone and put it over the mouth of the hole, and it was stamped with the king's stamp and with the stamp of the lords, so that the decision about Daniel might not be changed.

"And they brought a stone and set at the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his signet ring," [Daniel 6:17] that the matter may not be changed regarding Daniel. And this was a malicious deed, for the satraps were cautious, lest secretly the king command Daniel to be drawn out of the den and so they thought fit to seal the stone.

Certainly it had been decided by Darius to save Daniel from the present danger with any possible means; therefore he sealed the entrance of the den with his own signet and invited the satraps to do the same.

Verse 17. "A single stone was brought and placed over the opening of the pit, and the king sealed it with his ring..." He sealed with his ring the rock by which the opening of the pit was shut up, so that the enemies of Daniel might not make any attempt to harm him. For he had entrusted him to the power of God, and although not worried about lions, he was fearful of men.

Then the king went to his great house, and took no food that night, and no... were placed before him, and his sleep went from him.

Accordingly after this happened, "The king departed to his house and he went to bed without supper and food was not brought to him and sleep left him." [Daniel 6:18] How much did the righteous man do, who feared God, so that the king was so grieved over him to not take sustenance!

Verse 18. "And the king departed to his own house, and went to bed without partaking of supper..." How sincere was the king's good will, when he would not touch food night or day or grant his eyelids sleep, but as long as the prophet was in danger he himself remained in a state of sympathetic suspense.

Each of these details testifies both to his humanity and to his cowardice: a mark of his humanity was his refusing to partake of food or let his eyes rest in sleep, instead staying awake in grief for the unjust punishment of Daniel; it was a mark of cowardice that he was not so affected as to counter the accusers and invoke his royal authority and power to save the wronged.

Then very early in the morning the king got up and went quickly to the lions' hole.

Accordingly, "Then he arose at first light and came to the den of lions in haste, and having called in a strong voice said, 'Daniel, slave of the living God, your God whom you serve perpetually, was he able to take you out from the mouth of the lions?'" [Daniel 6:19-20] And so why, having been disturbed, did the king cry this word, except that he had heard what happened to the…

Verse 19. "Then the king arose at the break of dawn and proceeded with haste to the pit of lions." The term "pit" (lacus) implies a really deep depression, or dry cistern, in which the lions were fed. And so he proceeded hastily to the pit at the break of dawn, believing that Daniel was alive.

"King Darius rose early at daybreak," that is, while it was still dark, around dawn, so that there was even need of lamps (the meaning of "at daybreak").

And when he came near the hole where Daniel was, he gave a loud cry of grief; the king made answer and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whose servant you are at all times, able to keep you safe from the lions?

Take heed, O man, because even at that time God rescued whom he wished to still live, so that the magnificent work of God may be shown and it may be preached in all the world until now. But whom he wishes to testify, he, having crowned them, takes them.

Verse 20. "And approaching the pit, he called out to Daniel with a tear-choked voice and addressed him." By his tears he showed his inner emotion, and forgetting his royal dignity, the conqueror ran to his captive, the master to his servant.

Each of these phrases shows the religious spirit of the king, who complimented Daniel on his piety: first, he calls him not his own servant but God's; next, he calls Daniel's God "living;" then, in praise of his piety, "whom you serve with constancy," that is, you were not prevented from worship under pressure of the law.

Then Daniel said to the king, O King, have life for ever.

My God has sent his angel to keep the lions' mouths shut, and they have done me no damage: because I was seen to be without sin before him; and further, before you, O King, I have done no wrong.

Then the king was very glad, and gave orders for them to take Daniel up out of the hole. So Daniel was taken up out of the hole and he was seen to be untouched, because he had faith in his God.

Then accordingly when the angel appeared in the den, the wild beasts were tamed and the lions, wagging their tails at him, rejoiced as being subjected by a new Adam. They, licking the holy feet of Daniel, rolled around to taste the soles of his feet and they longed to accompany him.

The lesson that was read today invites you to the true faith, by setting before you the way in which you also must please God. It affirms that "without faith it is impossible to please him." For when will an individual resolve to serve God, unless he believes that "he is a giver of reward"?

"Stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire and escaped the edge of the sword." See how they were in death itself, Daniel encompassed by the lions, the three children abiding in the furnace, the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, in diverse temptations; and yet not even so did they despair. For this is faith.

And at the king's order, they took those men who had said evil against Daniel, and put them in the lions' hole, with their wives and their children; and they had not got to the floor of the hole before the lions overcame them and all their bones were broken.

Then, "the king spoke and they brought the men who accused Daniel and they themselves and their sons and their wives were cast into the den of lions, and they did not reach the bottom of the den before the lions mastered them, and they ground all their bones." [Daniel 6:24] And so they who have trusted in a human king and in wealth, they themselves dug a trench, and they fell i…

Daniel also was persecuted as Jesus was persecuted.… Daniel they cast into the pit of lions, and he was delivered and came up out of its midst uninjured; and Jesus they sent down into the pit of the abode of the dead, and he ascended, and death had not dominion over him.

Since a simple punishment was not sufficient for those culprits, in order to balance the offense they had brought against a righteous man, after being condemned to the same punishment, they were thrown to the beasts together with their wives and children.

Then King Darius sent a letter to all the peoples, nations, and languages, living in all the earth: May your peace be increased.

It is my order that in all the kingdom of which I am ruler, men are to be shaking with fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, unchanging for ever, and his kingdom is one which will never come to destruction, his rule will go on to the end.

He gives salvation and makes men free from danger, and does signs and wonders in heaven and earth, who has kept Daniel safe from the power of the lions.

So this Daniel did well in the kingdom of Darius and in the kingdom of Cyrus the Persian.

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