Children of Obedience (1 Peter 1:14-16)

Daniel’s Deliverance and the Sovereignty of God

Okay, can we can we turn just play? Yes, and I do want to play. Let's do play the start of that. So right on 10? On 9.

Good morning. Welcome to Kootenai Community Church Adult Sunday School. We'll be back in the book of Daniel for two weeks. And then starting in August Jeff Miller will be will be taking us into the book of Haggai.

I thought Habakkuk, which is I usually improperly pronounce Habakkuk. But apparently he's going to be in the book of Haggai and that will start in early in the first week of October of August. But this morning will be in Daniel.

And so if you will with me open in a word of prayer. Father every part of your book is illuminating and exciting and it's the same time difficult and wonderful. And so this morning as we look into chapter 6 of Daniel, we ask for your teaching for your illumination and that our hearts might be set to fully do those things you command us to do.

Whether they be explicit or implicit in the text for it is the text that is most important. We thank you that your son the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the living word of God and has given us life and godliness and all the things that we need to live lives will be pleasing to you.

Might some of those things happen this morning. We look to you for that in Jesus name. So let's read chapter 6 of Daniel from about the beginning to about verse 28. So let's just read the whole chapter.

That will give us good context because I'm going to start with a continued introduction. Some stuff that I like to have you think I set this up. That I did a partial introduction and did some things the last time I was here so that the rest of the introduction would be more flavored.

What I did was I put the beginning of the chapter in the wrong place in my text. So now you know he's an idiot. Why is he teaching us? But Daniel chapter 6. It seemed good to Darius to appoint 120 set traps over the kingdom that they should be in charge of the whole kingdom.

And over them three commissioners of whom Daniel was one that these set traps might be accountable to them and that the king might not suffer loss. Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and set traps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit.

And the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom. Then the commissioners and set traps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs. But they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption in as much as he was faithful and no negligence of corruption was to be found in him.

Would that we could have government officials like that today. Okay, but I digress. Then these men said we shall not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.

Then these commissioners and set traps came by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows. King Darius live forever. All the commissioners of the kingdom, all the commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and set traps, the high officials and the governors have consulted together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who makes a petition to any God or man besides you, O king, for 30 days shall be cast into the lion's den.

Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the documents so that it may not be changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked. Therefore, King Darius signed the document that is the injunction.

Now, when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house now in the roof chamber. Now in his roof chamber, he had windows open towards Jerusalem and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God as he had been doing previously.

Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God. Then they approached and spoke before the king about the king's injunction. Did you not sign an injunction that any man who makes a petition to any God or man besides you, O king, for 30 days is to be cast into the lion's den?

The king answered and said, this statement is true according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked. Then they answered and spoke before the king. Daniel, who was one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you signed, but keeps making his petition three times a day.

Then, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply distressed and set his mind on delivering Daniel. And even until sunset, he kept exerting himself to rescue him. Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, recognize, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or statute which the king establishes may be changed.

Then the king gave orders and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lion's den. Then the king spoke and said to Daniel, your God, whom you constantly serve, will himself deliver you. And a stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing might be changed in regard to Daniel.

Then the king went off to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him, and his sleep fled from him. Then the king arose with the dawn at the break of day and went in haste to the lion's den.

And when he had come near the lion's den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions?

Then Daniel spoke to the king, O king, live forever. He probably went. My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me inasmuch as I was found innocent before him. And also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.

Then the king was very pleased and gave orders for Daniel to be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Then the king then gave orders, and they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel, and they cast them, their children, and their wives into the lion's den. And they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language who were living in all the land, may your peace abound. I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom, men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel.

For he is the living God and enduring forever, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and his dominion will be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. May God bless his reading of his word. So we talked a little bit about the introduction to this book, this particular chapter.

So we talked about the fact that it may very well be the most, possibly the most famous chapter in the Bible because it has the story of Daniel and the lions. And many, many know of this story who haven't been in a church ever.

It is a beloved chronicle of the protection by Jehovah of a man who has no peer in his day, had no peer in his day. And yet it is also a chapter in the Bible that has had its own share of controversy.

Much has been made of the fact that the name Darius appears nowhere else in history and thus liberal scholars use this to again assail the accuracy of the book of Daniel. How many of you remember me when I did the introduction using the words Darius Cyrus, Cyrus Darius?

That was on purpose, that was on purpose and we'll talk about that here in a minute. So the scholarship that has been put into either supporting or debunking Daniel based on this chapter is prodigious.

It's just unbelievable how much writing has been done about this particular chapter. We will see in this chapter that Darius organized the kingdom of Babylon systematically so that 120 satraps or a type of governor would be in charge of the entire kingdom.

They would each have their own province and would answer to the three commissioners, one of whom was Daniel. The Septuagint translates verse 28 of this chapter to read that Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

This seems to imply that a Median kingdom under Darius was followed by a Persian kingdom under Cyrus. Extrabiblical sources tell a different story. As we work our way through this it must be remembered that the critics are building arguments upon silence.

The simple fact is that the Bible has the only reference to Darius and that does not in itself make the Bible untrue. Although secularists will hammer on that. It's the only reference and therefore it must be untrue.

They will flock to a text that is a thousand years removed and there are only five of them in existence to prove a point. When the scripture has prodigious documentation whether it did or not it's the word of God but it has documentation and they will say that it's untrue.

We will believe something that is a thousand years removed and only has five sources before we will believe something that has tremendous documentation but also is the word of God. I should have said that in reverse.

Is the word of God but also has documentation. So even secular scholars often recognize that the Bible is a reliable record of ancient history yet they are unwilling to give it any credence if they can't substantiate it with 7 ,000 other documents.

And for some reason the silence of other ancient texts is used as an indictment of the biblical record. They didn't say anything about this therefore the Bible must be wrong. You can't win for losing.

It is always improper to build a theory or a doctrine upon silence whether it is sacred or secular. As John Walvard notes in his commentary he says it must be emphasized that there is no established fact.

Let me get my clicker here and see if I can figure out how to work this. There is no established fact that contradicts a person by the name of Darius the Mede reigning over Babylon if Darius is an alternate name for a known ruler.

So the historian Wiseman who has done a great deal of research had done a great deal of research on this. Based on his findings on the Nabonidus Chronicle. As you remember Nabonidus was one of the kings who reigned in Babylon and he actually left town because he was working on a temple in another city.

And so Belshazzar ruled in Babylon. Am I getting that name? Yeah. Daniel says Belshazzar. I always wonder if I got that name right. I'll leave that alone. So here is Wiseman's Chronicle about what happened with Nabonidus.

Babylon was conquered by Ugbaru the governor of Gutium who led the army of Cyrus and entered the city of Babylon on the night of Belshazzar's feast. Nabonidus who was Belshazzar's father had fled Babylon the day before only to be captured and later die in exile.

When Babylon fell on October 12, 539 B .C. Cyrus himself had remained with other troops at Opus and not until 18 days later October 30, 539 B .C. did he arrive in Babylon. He then appointed a man named Gubaru probably an alternate form of Ugbaru to rule in Babylon.

Eight days after Cyrus arrived. There's the entire kingdom. Eight days after Cyrus arrived, Ugbaru died. If this history of the events following Babylon's fall is correct, it is obvious that there is no room for Darius the Mede to rule over Babylon.

Through time, here's how the problem has been distilled down to three likely situations. The first view is that the Bible is in error and whoever wrote it confused Darius the Mede with some other person.

The second explanation is that Darius is the same as Gubaru whom Cyrus appointed to rule in Babylon until he could take the throne. The third view is that Darius the Mede is just another name for Cyrus.

This is based upon the translation of Daniel 6 .28 that reads, Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius even the reign of Cyrus the Persian. And it is this third view that is most widely accepted by conservative scholars and it answers the question perfectly.

It was common in the ancient world for rulers to have more than one name. It is proposed that Darius may have been a name of honor and that it translates the ancient Aramaic word for bearer of the sword or bearer of the scepter which is king.

It's the translation of a word that means king. This was replicated in the Roman Republic when rulers were given the name Caesar or Augustus along with their given name. So most, if not all, the following rulers of Rome had the name Caesar or Augustus.

Julius Caesar, his name wasn't Caesar, he was the Caesar. He was the ruling elite, the ruling head of the Republic of Rome. The fact is the most robust information we have comes from the biblical record.

Liberal scholars navigate a great scarcity of information in building their attacks on the Bible mostly from the silence of history. Until there is compelling evidence pointing specifically to the fact that Darius never existed, it is appropriate and in keeping with proper scholarship to assume that the references in the book of Daniel to Darius the Mede are accurate.

There is no reason to reject it unless you just don't like the fact that Daniel is a true book of scripture and predicts the future which is what most liberal scholars are attacking. It can't be accurate.

Nobody could be this prescient about the future. It had to be written in 166 BC after these things happened and that is their argument. It is based on foolishness and silence. The fact is the scriptural record is accurate.

Darius the Mede existed and he most likely was a title, that was a title for Cyrus the Persian. They were the same person and that is why I talked about Cyrus Darius, Darius Cyrus. That is the accepted biblical scholarship.

The structure of the chapter is chiastic as the book of Daniel is. It describes Golding Ray in his commentary. Someone was asking this morning about the commentaries I use. I'm using three main ones but I'm studying a whole bunch of them because a lot of them refer to other commentaries of scholarship like the scholarship of Wiseman which occurred decades ago where he really researched all the information about the Nabaninus Chronicle.

So I use as much as I can to get the historical access. So A. Introduction, Daniel's success verses 1 -3. B. Darius signs an injunction and Daniel takes his stand. This is the chiastic overview of the chapter.

C. Daniel's colleagues plan his death. D. Darius hopes for Daniel's deliverance. Now back down the chiasm. D. Darius witnesses Daniel's deliverance. C. Daniel's colleagues meet their death. They plan Daniel's death.

They meet their death. B. Darius signs a decree and takes his stand. And A. The conclusion, Daniel's success. That's how the chapter is structured. So in this chapter the 80 plus year old Daniel as a result of his stellar performance in his life previous to the Medo Persian takeover of Babylon is placed in another significant position of importance and responsibility.

This immediately results in jealousy among the political appointees of the king of the empire. Scurrilous men, I talked about this last time, form a dark plan and they decide how they're going to kill Daniel.

They're going to take him over. They're going to ruin him. They're going to have him destroyed. Obviously this man of principle is standing in the way of their machinations, of their attempts to ingratiate themselves to king, to rise in prominence, to rise in power.

That's what they want to do. Daniel wanted to serve the king. He wanted to be a good political ambassador to the sections of the provinces that he was supposed to be responsible to. He wanted to take care of his duties and he wanted to be honest.

And they couldn't find anything against him. Remember what it said in the scripture. Very few people enter politics and remain unscathed. It's very difficult to do, to enter politics and remain unscathed.

Daniel not only remained unscathed, he was innocent. He was pure in this particular area. That is not to say Daniel never sinned. Every man who ever lived, every woman who ever lived, needs the death of the Lord Jesus Christ to pay for their sins, including Daniel.

But in this particular part of his life where he was a commissioner over who knows how many satraps, he was innocent, he was pure, he was righteous. And they were going to remove him whatever it took.

So last time we were together, we made it all the way through, I believe, chapter 6 verse 9. And what we finished up with was just before him being cast into the lion's den, therefore King Darius signed the document that is the injunction that the commission...

Now remember, the ones that came to Darius in his chamber, in his room, in his throne room, they kind of tumbled in over each other and they made it look like an emergency. That's the translation of that Persian word for to enter an agreement.

And they had to make it look like an emergency because tyrants need emergencies to subject their minions to control. And so here was an emergency. Darius, we want a 30-day injunction against anybody praying to anybody but you.

And it's important. And who knows what else was said during that meeting. But Darius fell for it and he signed the injunction. And it's going to come back to bite him and he's going to realize it too late.

He didn't ask questions. He didn't pay attention. He assumed all of his commissioners and satraps had the best interests of the kingdom in mind. And plus, we talked about the fact that no way all of them got together.

All the satraps, all the provincials, all the governors, all the... They were probably most... Look how big that empire is. Some of them were over here. Not over here. Some of them were over here. And they didn't have Wi-Fi or email.

What they had was horses and camels. It would take... It could take months to travel across that kingdom. Information would not get to the capital from the farthest flung parts of the kingdom possibly for weeks or months.

Actually, the battle... As an example, the song, the Battle of New Orleans. How many of you are familiar with that? Originally, it was called January 8th. On January 8th, that battle was fought after the war was over.

The Revolutionary War was over because word didn't get to Jackson. And that was in the 1700s. Imagine what it was like back then. So therefore, verse 9, King Darius signed the document. That is the injunction.

Now we're looking at verse 10. So now Daniel knows the document's signed. What do you think he did? I better not pray. They'll kill me. That's what probably I would have done. I'm a chicken. I hope I wouldn't.

But, you know, you never really know what you're going to do until your skin is on the line. Daniel, when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house. Now, in his roof chamber, he had windows open towards Jerusalem.

Shut the window, Daniel. Just shut the window.

Yeah.

He didn't do that because his normal course of life in following the God whom he loved was to pray three times a day through an open window towards Jerusalem. Remember, we talked about that probably. Maybe we didn't talk about that.

Yeah, we'll talk about that this morning. When it started, he entered his house, and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God as he had been doing previously.

Now, think about what he did changed because his method of life and his obedience and his love towards his God was to pray three times a day, open window towards Jerusalem, and he continued to do that fearlessly.

That is remarkable. Do you know what? He knew about lions. The kings, they would gather these lions, and they would use them for this kind of thing. They would fight them so they could write chronicles about how brave they were.

Usually, they would send in another warrior to kill it, and then they would stand over the dead body and photo op, you know. So, what would be the harm of Daniel simply putting off praying for 30 days?

Really? I mean, he still loves God, right? The only people that would be upset would be the political enemies that tried to trap him. Daniel could have avoided the conflict with the king, and it most likely wouldn't have affected his responsibilities much.

Yeah. Yeah, once we change the way we normally are, if it's a biblical way, to appease somebody, it changes something about us in a remarkable and devastating way. Daniel didn't do that. But the simple fact is it was a part of his character to be obedient to God and to pray.

So, in fact, putting off praying would have had a huge effect on Daniel himself. Those who were used to seeing him do exactly what was right every time would soon begin to doubt who he said he was. That would have been the least of the difficulties that would have occurred.

Well, he always did it this way, and then when there was an injunction sign, he stopped doing it. Maybe it's okay to stop doing stuff like that. Maybe it's not a big deal. It was a big deal, and Daniel knew it.

But I think, honestly, I mean, if I get a chance to in glory, I'm going to ask him. I think he did it because this is who he was, and he loved his God, and this is how he showed his love, and he just continued doing it come what may.

Daniel didn't cease praying even one time. He had been following this process most likely since he was very young. The idea of praying three times a day towards Jerusalem, it probably originated with Solomon.

Whoops, I'd already gone there. Now we see if he can undo it. Yeah, there we go. It probably originated with Solomon. We don't know for sure, but most likely. So in 2 Chronicles 6 .21, listen to the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place, Jerusalem, and hear from your dwelling place from heaven and forgive.

Now, do you have to pray towards a particular place in order for your prayers to be answered or heard? Of course not. This was an act of devotion, and in that sense, it was fine. It was fine as long as it was an act of devotion.

2 Chronicles 6 .34 -39, when your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you towards this city which you have chosen and the house which I have built for your name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause.

When they sin against you, for there is no man who does not sin, and you are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near, if they take thought in the land where they are taken captive and repent and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, we have sinned, we have committed iniquity, and we have acted wickedly.

If they return to you with all their heart, there's the key, and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their land which you have given to their fathers and the city which you have chosen and toward the house which I have built for your name, then hear from heaven from your dwelling place their prayer and supplications and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

So there's probably the foundation, the basis for why in this time of captivity, the faithful Israelites would pray towards Jerusalem. It may have dated to David. Psalm 55, 16 through 18. As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me.

Evening and morning and at noon I will complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice. He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, for there are many who strive with me. By the way, it's okay to complain and murmur when you're praying.

But you probably should finish it with Thanksgiving. But God knows we live in this moral coil that is subject to many things, and we have many things coming against us today, and they're difficult. But He is a God who answers prayer.

Sometimes His answer is no. Are you good with that? Daniel would have been good with that. If Daniel had been eaten by those lions, he would have died a hero. But God chose a different way. I'm wrecking the story.

The fact that Daniel continued to pray, even though he knew he stood a chance of dying a horrible, painful death, evidenced the character that he had and the love that he had for Yahweh, for Jehovah. His co-workers knew.

Now get this. His co-workers knew they could count on him to do the right thing. All we've got to do is get this king to sign an injunction that will put him in danger of violating some devotion to Jehovah, and we've got him.

Would to God that we would be that kind of faithful people that co-workers would know that we're going to do the right thing. It was that very character quality that they were counting on to bring him down.

Daniel's robust prayer life and his relationship with Jehovah had protected him from the corrupting influences of Babylon. Now it seemed that his devotion and his prayer to Jehovah would be to his death.

That's what it seemed like. Finally, Daniel did have a copy of the book of Jeremiah, and in that book in chapter 29, the exiles were instructed to pray for the city of Jerusalem and their prayer would be heard by Jehovah.

Jeremiah 29 1, 7 and 10. Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Verse 7, Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will have welfare. Pray for Babylon. Verse 10, For thus says the Lord, When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good word to you to bring you back to this place.

It was a promise of Jehovah. So Daniel, true to his character, refused to knuckle under, even though he knew it may mean his death. A horrible death. I mean, you know, it's, I just, I can't think about what it would be like to be ripped to shreds by big lions.

It probably would be somewhat painful. You know, I don't think it would be a fun death. Oh, I'm going to be eaten by lions. Verse 11, Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.

So the word agreement here is the same as in verse 6 and it indicates an assembly that was chaotic and disorderly. They descended upon Daniel in this manner, most likely to communicate disrespect. They were haughty and probably just a little bit excited about the fact that they were going to clear the way for their personal gain.

It's just about done. We're going to take care of this jerk. We're going to get rid of him and then we can start getting political favors and money and power again like we used to. They expected to find Daniel praying and they found him doing just that.

In their minds, he had played right into their hand. The fact was, who's sovereign in all of this? Jehovah is sovereign over everything. Jehovah was again orchestrating a demonstration of his sovereignty.

It was a beautiful thing. Well, any questions or comments about 10 and 11? I got kind of carried away there. Verse 12, then they approached and spoke before the king about the king's injunction. And I can just hear him, did you not sign an injunction?

That's probably how they said it. And say that any man who makes a petition to any God or man besides you, O king, for 30 days is to be cast into the lion's den. The king replied, I can picture Darius Cyrus going, well, the statement is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked.

Why are they saying this to me? The group gathered before the king and questioned him about the injunction. The question was not to determine whether it was done or not. It was rather to remind the king that it was done in the manner of the Medes and Persians and could not be changed or revoked.

It was also done to remind the king of the penalty. The king confirms the question, stating that the injunction was enacted and that it was irrevocable. They positioned the king so that he would have no choice but to issue a decree of death against Daniel when they revealed Daniel's disobedience of the injunction.

What do you think about these guys' devotion to the king? They put him in a corner that he couldn't get out of. It was pretty tricky. You gotta give it to him. They had this really well figured out very, very well.

They knew exactly what they were doing. They didn't anticipate that they might become Purina lion food themselves. They didn't anticipate that. Then they answered and spoke before the king. Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, that's how they said it, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you signed, but keeps making his petition three times a day.

Daniel does this, Daniel does that. Any parents have experience with that? I thought so. My kids were all angels. My son's in here, he's a dad. You're gonna die. Now they act like the tattletales they are.

They don't even use Daniel's official title, but they rather contemptuously refer to him as one of the exiles. He ain't one of us. As a representative of the gods, Darius would have to enforce the injunction.

Remember we talked about how this came to be, that if the king was either deity or representation of deity, anything that he created a law about had to be done, because if he changed it, well then that means the gods were wrong.

The gods fouled up and they can't, so Darius is trapped. They positioned him so he'd have no choice. The conspirators assured the king that Daniel was flagrantly violating his order, not only one time a day, but horror of horrors three times a day.

This could not be tolerated by the tolerators. Verse 14. Then, Darius' reaction to this is remarkable. For a king of Babylon who was used to putting multitudes to death in the most horrible ways possible, as soon as the king heard this statement in verse 14, he says, and even until sunset, he kept exerting himself to rescue him.

It is only now that the king finally realized that he has been played. His prime minister elect must be destroyed and he was not happy about this at all. He began casting about for some method of stopping this from happening, but he could find nothing, and so he was compelled by his own law to throw his most trustworthy servant to certain death.

That must have been very difficult for him. Normally, the king would have had some sort of entertainment between dinner and bedtime and lights out, but this night, he spent seeking for ways to save Daniel.

The Chaldean word that is translated exerting has the idea of laboring. He probably consulted books. He probably consulted other people, and he'd have to probably swear them to secrecy. If somebody knew that Darius was consulting some way to revoke what he had done, well, that makes him less than deity.

This happened later on to some Chaldean kings who did the same thing, the one I talked about that put that general, that warrior to death. He was so sorry that he had done that, but there was nothing he could do.

Same thing with Daniel. He probably consulted some other wise men looking for ways to circumvent this law of the Medes and Persians. This simple statement shows just how much the king had begun to respect and appreciate Daniel.

He actually cared for Daniel. He cared for this Judah, exile from Judah. It was clear to him that Daniel had his best interests at heart, and these others didn't. Now, I'm not going to be advocating that we deal with political appointees who don't have the best interests of our republic in mind, but it's an interesting way to deal with them.

We'll see about that in a minute here. That's right. We're online, aren't we? Well, okay then.

Verse 15,.

Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, Recognize, O king. Really, they talk like that. It is that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or statute what the king establishes may be changed.

Don't you think Darius knows that? Of course he does. In the same manner as they came before the king to set the trap, that is, tumultuously and chaotically, the conspirators clamber back into the chamber, to the king's throne room, and remind him of something that he has been working on all night.

It probably infuriated him, which would give an understanding of how he deals with them later on in that interesting way. That is that no law that is established in the kingdom may be changed. In this case, it would have to run its 30-day course, and Daniel was already trapped in it.

He was already trapped. It most certainly must have irked the king that they would remind him of this. By now, it was clearly evident to him that they had conspired to get rid of his favorite official, and this would set the basis for what he does to them later on.

Hopefully, this had the effect of reminding Cyrus Darius that even the advice of his counselors must be questioned and thought through before taking action. After all, they're just people. Any comments or questions about that?

We're about to get to the meat of the story. Can I say that? I guess I can. Verse 16, then the king gave orders, and these must have been some of the hardest orders he ever gave in his entire reign. And Daniel was brought in and cast into the lion's den, and the king spoke to Daniel and said, your God, whom you constantly serve, will himself deliver you.

So despite the king's best efforts, despite the king's best efforts, he could come up with no way of saving Daniel. He couldn't save him from the lion's den. We have no accounts of just how these dens were constructed in ancient times, but there are descriptions of dens that were found in Morocco.

In his commentary, John Wolver describes them thusly. He says, Kiel gives an interesting account of a lion's den found in more modern times. We have no account of the ancients of the construction of lion's den.

Host, in his work on Fez in Morocco, describes the lion's dens as they have been found. According to this account, his account, they consist of a large square cavern under the earth, having a partition wall in the middle of it, which is furnished with a door which the keeper can open and close from above.