Daniel’s Hope in God
Daniel 6:1-27

Last Sunday we read from the prophet Jeremiah. Jehoiakim was king of Judah, and Babylon was on the rise as an empire in the ancient near east. The events recorded in Daniel 6 take place some seventy-five years later.

A great deal has transpired since the days of Jehoiakim. The kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians. Jerusalem was raised as a city and the temple pillaged and burned with fire. The children of Israel were deported in mass to various locations in the Babylonian Empire. They remained in captivity for seventy years. But the Babylonians were conquered by the Persians, and Cyrus, King of Persia, allowed the Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

But not all Jews returned to the promised land. Some remained in the places where they were deported. They became known as the Jews of the diaspora, the Jews of the dispersion. Daniel was one of these diaspora Jews. He had risen to great prominence in the Persian Empire. He was one of three presidents who administered the vast realm for King Darius. Daniel was on track to become the Prime Minister of Persia, but he was not corrupted by his surroundings. He continued to be a faithful follower of the LORD. He knelt in prayer three times a day facing in the direction of Jerusalem. He prayed to God and praised God and asked for God’s mercy. Daniel had learned how to be a faithful follower of Yahweh in a foreign land.

But Daniel had his detractors. The other two presidents and the one hundred twenty satraps disliked him intensely. The text does not tell us why they hated him. Perhaps it was a mixture of anti-Semitism and jealousy. They probably said to each other, “Who does this Jewish upstart think he is?” Such political jockeying is all too familiar to us in our time. The Democrats and the Republicans are forever planning each other’s political demise. Thankfully, our politicians have not gone so far as to plot each other’s deaths! But this is exactly what the presidents and satraps were devising for Daniel.

There was an excellent spirit at work in Daniel, but there was an evil spirit at work in them. It was a lying spirit. They claimed that all the presidents endorsed the decree, but Daniel was one of the three presidents, and he certainly did not endorse it (cf. vs. 7a). It was an idolatrous spirit. The interdict exalted the king and the law of the Medes and the Persians above the LORD and the law of God (vs. 7b-8). And it was a murderous spirit (vs. 7b). Jesus spoke of this spirit in John 8:44. “You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” This lying, idolatrous, and murderous spirit has been at work in the world since the original sin in the garden of Eden. We call it evil. This detestable spirit is still at work today.

Thankfully, there is another more excellent spirit that is also at work in the world. Daniel embodied this spirit. He was surrounded by lying, idolatry, and malice in Darius’ court. There must have been abundant opportunities to succumb to the spirit of the age, but Daniel was stalwart in his faithfulness to the LORD and the law of the Lord. His fellow courtiers testified to Daniel’s sterling character. “So the presidents and the satraps tried to find grounds for complaint against Daniel in connection with the kingdom. But they could find no grounds for complaint or any corruption because he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption could be found in him” (vs. 4).

Daniel also possessed the courage of his convictions. “Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously” (vs. 10). Daniel could have tried to conceal his faithfulness to the LORD, but he did not. He knew the interdict had been signed and that the law of the Medes and the Persians could not be revoked, but Daniel answered to a higher power and obeyed a more excellent law. Daniel was courageous and faithful even though he was surrounded by forces that pressured him to be fearful and faithless.

Many biblical commentators have labeled Daniel 6 as “the passion of Daniel.” They have also noted the striking similarities between Daniel’s passion and Jesus’ passion. Both Daniel and Jesus were the victims of a conspiracy prompted by the spirit of this world. Both were devout and blameless. Both Daniel and Jesus had the sympathy of their executioners. Darius does all in his power to save Daniel, but to no avail. Pilate tries to talk the crowd out of demanding that Jesus be crucified. Daniel's descent into the lion’s den is akin to Jesus’ descent to the grave. Both “tombs” were sealed with a rock. Both emerge from the pit victorious over the forces of death.

Daniel is a type of Christ, but with three significant differences. Jesus was sinless; Daniel was not. Daniel was rescued from the lion’s jaws; Jesus was not delivered from the cross. Daniel’s resurrection was metaphorical; Jesus’ resurrection was literal.

Jesus’ death and burial and resurrection were by divine design. Jesus takes away the sins of the world through his atoning sacrifice so that the guilty might be forgiven. Jesus rises again from death to give hope to all who have no angel to stop the lion’s jaws.

But Daniel 6 is much more than a tale of courage and faithfulness. The chapter even goes beyond death and resurrection. The text also expresses our hope in the ultimate triumph of God, which is the great theme of the first Sunday of Advent. King Darius gives voice to our greatest hope. “I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end. He delivers and rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth; for he has saved Daniel from the power of the lions” (vs. 26-27). This is the Old Testament way of proclaiming the kingdom of God. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). The lying, idolatrous, and murderous spirit of this present evil age will finally be banished. Death will be swallowed up by endless life. Our courage and faithfulness will be vindicated by God. This is our hope and comfort in life and in death.

In closing, let me leave you with the following observation. Daniel is certainly intended to be a model for us of what faithful living in the present evil age looks like. We are to be blameless people of integrity. We are to put God first in our lives as our highest good no matter the cost. We are to be people of prayer and courage. Daniel’s faithfulness is the ideal we reach for.

It struck me that many of us are probably more like Darius than Daniel. If Daniel is a type of Christ, Darius is a type of the Christian. Darius quickly succumbed to the lying, idolatrous, and murderous spirit of the age. All it took was a little flattery. However, when he realized that he had been duped, he immediately tried to remedy his folly. “When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every effort to rescue him” (vs. 14). But all his efforts failed. Darius then did the only thing he could do. He repented and sought the LORD. “Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him” (vs. 18). Darius sought to do justice following Daniel’s deliverance, but his justice was sullied by revenge. “The king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces” (vs. 24a). And in the end, Darius affirmed the faith he failed to fully live out. “I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end” (vs. 26). Daniel is our ideal of faithfulness. Darius is our real faithfulness which is genuine but deeply flawed.

On this first Sunday of Advent, let us take to heart the great truths of Daniel 6. There is an evil spirit at work in this old world. Let us be aware of it and beware of it. There is also an excellent spirit at work in this world. Daniel seems to have been perfectly attuned to it as evidenced by his courage and faithfulness to God and God’s law. The passion of Daniel is a foreshadowing of the passion of Christ. but Christ died for us. Christ rose for us. Christ reigns in power for us. Christ will come again to banish evil. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion will have no end. Evil’s days are numbered.

And let us not forget Darius either. He is a type of the fumbling, bumbling Christian whose heart is in the right place but whose deeds and words do not always measure up. Despite all Darius' failings, God proclaimed the greatest truth ever told through this flawed servant: God’s name will be honored in all the earth. God’s kingdom will come. God’s will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. God can use us to proclaim this hope too.

Until that day comes, God will provide for us, forgive us, and in the end deliver us from all evil. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.