The Hands of the Living God (Hebrews 10:31)

Savior's blood.

Ha ha ha ha ha.

To see the dawn Of the darkest day. Christ on the road Tried by sin. Are we on?

Good morning We love to celebrate.

American Independence Day. But my favorite day is Is when I became a slave to Christ.

So.

And the two are compatible. Unless you get weird. And everybody knows me Knows that I never get weird so. Now who was that? Ha ha ha ha. Okay. Well welcome to Kootenai Community Church Adult Sunday School.

We're in the book of Daniel. Today we will be starting chapter 6 Which is if you remember. Actually we'll start with prayer. And then we'll launch into a little bit of review. Because there's often a couple of weeks Between times when Each of us teaches our section.

Our book, Jess was with us last week.

On.

1 Samuel So let's open in prayer. Father we thank you For the opportunity to look into your word.

It is.

The lifeblood of our existence. And it is because Jesus Christ is the word. And as we look today We are going to see That you have always been in charge Have always been sovereign. You will continue to be so.

And that in the time of Daniel when the Jewish Nation needed A picture of your sovereignty more than ever You provided that in love. And so Lord we Need to be reminded of that today in your church.

That.

The Father is sovereign. That the Trinity is in control Of everything that happens. And that nothing surprises you. So illuminate us today. Help us to see through Daniel How we can apply these truths today In our lives so that we might honor you.

We might lift up the Lord Jesus Christ. And spread your word to those who need to hear this message. For it is a message of truth. And we thank you for that in Jesus name.

Amen.

Daniel’s Rise in the Medo-Persian Empire

So we'll start with Daniel chapter 6. Let's. We're going to read the first 15 verses. We're not going to get to lions today I know. But there's a petting zoo in Spokane. So if you need that However the next time we're together We'll get to what is Arguably called The most famous chapter in the bible.

Or the most famous story in the bible. I think that probably. The story of Christ is more famous than that. But everybody you can talk to. Pretty much everyone has heard of Daniel. So we'll look at the lead up to that Today.

Chapter 6 verses 1 through 15. It seemed good to Darius To appoint 120 satraps That's governors 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 satraps might be accountable to them And that the king might not suffer loss.

Then this Daniel Began distinguishing himself Among the commissioners and satraps Because he possessed an extraordinary.

Spirit.

And the king planned to appoint him Over the entire kingdom. Then the commissioners and satraps 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 Inasmuch as he was faithful And no negligence or corruption was to be found in him.

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 satraps Came by agreement to the king And spoke to him as follows.

King Darius, live forever. All the commissioners of the kingdom And prefects, the prefects and satraps 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 beside you O king, for thirty days Shall be cast into the lion's den.

Now, O king, establish the injunction And sign the document So that it may not be changed according to the law Of the Medes and the Persians Which may not be revoked. Therefore, King Darius, sign the document That is the injunction.

Actually, that's where we're going to stop.

Bait and switch.

We're going to stop at verse 10. So In this chapter 80 year old, 80 plus year old Daniel As a result of his earlier stellar performance In his life previous in the Medo In the Babylonian Empire After the takeover He is placed in another Significant position of importance and responsibility.

This immediately Results in jealousy Among the political appointees of the empire. Scurrilous men form a dark Evil plan To destroy Daniel Which results not only in his miraculous deliverance But in the consolidation Of Daniel's influence Over this new kingdom.

It is a wonderful Almost too good to be true historical narrative That shows Jehovah's complete sovereignty Over the Gentile kings. Peter, if you can get I have the PowerPoint On the Google Drive I forgot to give it to you.

But if you can navigate to that And put Slide 87 up I realize It will take a minute. That's why I'm going to speak Very slowly The opposite of an auctioneer. So when we Studied chapter 2 We noted the size of the Medo Persian Empire.

And I have a map coming very soon. It is considered It was considered the most Actually it's considered the most powerful Of the ancient empires At its height during the reign of Darius I The great, it controlled more than 2 .9 Million square miles Of land And spanned three continents Asia, Africa and Europe.

Its control extended eastward Into India and reached all the way Westward into Greece.

Its.

Capitals were Persepolis and Susa Its kings With its kings sometimes residing In Babylon. For comparison the lower 48 United States Cover an area of about 3 .1 million Square miles so it's approximately The size of the current United States Lower 48 It is estimated in 480 BC.

Yeah 87. That's really cool. And I'm drawing a blank as to why that would be.

Okay.

Well it's not important it was just a map. It showed the giant Persian Empire All the way from Greece clear to India. It was huge. That's one of them That'll preach.

Yeah 85.

We'll take 85 Do I hear 86. So you can kind of see it goes clear from Libya And upwards near Macedonia All the way over into Ancient India. It is estimated that around 480 BC the Persian Empire had 50 million people In it under their control.

This huge amount was roughly Equivalent to 44 of the world's Population at the time That makes it the largest World power ever In terms of population percentage. So it was a monstrous empire And Darius came into it.

Darius Cyrus came into it With a plan to Work at Administrating Creating an administration over this monstrous Empire. So with that as background Let's look at Daniel chapter 6. So verse 1 It seemed good to Darius to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom That they should be in charge of the whole kingdom.

So at this point The new king takes over Babylon. It becomes clear that in order to Properly government he will need a great Deal of help. So the appointment Of 120 satraps Which in Persian means protectors of the realm Or governors.

You could call them governors although there are Is a word used for governors which means a lower Level functionary as well. His appointment of those satraps Is the first order of business. So each one of these men Would be responsible for an area Approximately the size of West Virginia about 24 ,000 square Miles if each of the Satrapies were equivalent in size.

So as Cyrus Darius Cyrus slash Darius Set up the kingdom for purposes Of order taxation And general welfare. He was Careful to give honor to the Babylonian gods. He even stated That Marduk himself Which was their main god the main Babylonian god.

He even stated it on a On a cylinder that was found That has been found that Marduk Himself chose he Cyrus Darius to conquer Babylon. Many would have looked at this as a Correction of the final ruler Nabonidus who was not giving proper Homage to God to Marduk.

Indeed because of Nabonidus frequent Trips and long sojourns Outside of the kingdom capital. The temples of the main gods of Babylon had fallen into great disrepair. Remember he was Nabonidus. Nabonidus spent a lot of time out Of the capital and so Belshazzar was appointed Co-regent to cover that part Of the empire.

And Nabonidus was busy building temples To the moon god and who wasn't As cool with God as Marduk. So there are some Who question the accuracy Of the statement that Daniel makes about the appointment Of 120 Satraps.

This was not an unusual concept In ancient kingdoms. And in the book of Esther Which the writer there notes that there were 127 Provinces in the Persian empire Of that day. Now it took place in the days of Ahasuerus The Ahasuerus who Reigned from India to Ethiopia Over 127 Provinces.

So this was indeed not an Unusual concept Often ancient kings would appoint Sub-regents, sub-rulers Over their large extensive holdings. Because it's not like today Where things are communicated in a lightning fast A lightning fast method.

They're communicated by horseback Or by camel or by caravan.

Or carrier pigeon maybe.

But it took a long time To get a letter from Ethiopia.

To Susa.

It would be like walking from Texas To Ontario.

So.

How are you ready for doing that? Would that be a good day's journey or a good month's journey? So that's how long it would take. In short.

Again.

The critics Take exception to this Simply because they don't like the fact That Daniel is a book of the Bible And so much of it is prophetic And so accurate. And for those of you that haven't been here We've often discussed the fact That the main Critic concern about Daniel Is that it predicts things And it's too accurate Therefore it must have been written afterwards Because nobody could be that accurate.

Yeah but what are your actual base reasons? Oh that's our reason it's just too accurate. It can't be true because we say it can't be true.

Oh.

Okay. But it is true. And all of these things. In short there's no reason to dismiss this verse. And in fact it is part of the narrative That explains Darius King. Darius' trust in Daniel. When we get to the Lion's Den it's the part I know you've all read it so I'm not stealing any Punch line.

We remember that you all remember That Darius was really upset That he had done this dumb thing. And sent Daniel to the Lion's Den because he liked Daniel.

And the.

Laws and we'll talk about this when we get more Into the section but The laws of the Medes and Persians were Unrevocable. They did not have the same kind of Plenary power Complete power that the Babylonian Kings.

If Nebuchadnezzar had done this And then changed his mind said oh I've changed my mind I don't want him in the Lion's Den and it would have been over. He wouldn't have been in the Lion's Den but not. With the kings of the Medo-Persian Empire Their system of government was different When a king made an edict It had to stand and we'll talk about Why and how.

Today the same thing Is happening whenever men set Themselves up to be God. This is what happens Evil occurs Gigantic mistakes occur Human life is lost And suffering occurs. Men are not God. Did y 'all know that.

Okay I'm seeing some Head shakes. That's real comforting. Any comments about verse 1.

Verse 2.

And.

So we've got 120 satraps Appointed to cover this entire 2 .9 million square mile Kingdom and and Over them three commissioners Which would be the next step up. They use different the terms mean something Different in their language than they mean in ours.

Commissioners were more Powerful than governors. I'm sure some of our commissioners wish That they could be more powerful than our Governor but that's another story. Over them three commissioners of whom Daniel Was one that these satraps might be Accountable to them and that the king Might not suffer loss.

So the satraps answered to the Three commissioners and were responsible to bring reports And keep order in the Geographic area that they presided over. And it was very very bad Juju if you didn't Keep order in your satrap Because you were responsible.

And if the king had to do something about Your mismanagement it Might include you losing your head in a new Governor a new satrap being Appointed. So they Answered to the commissioners they were also responsible For the purposes of taxation And whatever the due process the Medo-Persian Empire offered.

They were also responsible to make sure That nobody plundered the stores Of the kings of the king. In their particular satrap they were To be making sure the king was Kept whole was kept From being Abused whether by Funds or by intrigue Or plots or anything like that.

So they had a lot of responsibility. Verse 3. Then as we Might have guessed this Daniel Began distinguishing himself Among the commissioners and satraps because He possessed an extraordinary spirit. And the king planned to appoint him over the entire Kingdom.

So Daniel would be about 80 years old right now. And even so he began distinguishing Himself as the scripture says Showing himself to be the most Able administrator in the kingdom. The terminology used here To describe him is the same As used by Belshazzar's mother The night before the downfall of Babylon.

Because of his abilities Cyrus Darius decides to Appoint him over the entire kingdom As a sort of sub-regent to the king. How do you think the other.

122 men.

Took that. Oh Daniel's a great guy.

Yeah he's the one that should be in charge. Political appointees With very very minor Exceptions never.

Act that way.

All of them are always on the climb To be something more than they deserve. And so As it always is So it is here. Never forget. The political appointees Of every age will often Look for ways to ingratiate themselves with the authority Over them.

Bribes will be used selective information Will be carefully targeted against Enemies and general dishonesty. Ecclesiastes will be used to target those Who are in the way of ambitious men As Ecclesiastes says There is nothing new under the sun.

The same kinds of things That you see today in politics Have been happening since about 4400 BC. Which is if all of you Have been studying the bishop of ushers timeline You know that that was about 12 seconds after creation.

Or 12 seconds after the fall I should say Because not after creation it was all good then. So any comments About those two verses or questions. Verse 4. Then the commissioners And satraps 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 or corruption was to be found In him. So would it be Wish it could be that we had Men and women today In government or I should say more There may be some who No matter what kind of search is made You can't find something to hold against them.

That's rare. That's extremely rare. And this man Of God that's one of the reasons that God Was able to use Daniel in so many Mighty ways because his First and foremost desire Was to serve Jehovah To serve Jehovah God.

And so the first thing these wicked men Tried to do is to find something improper. Daniel is doing that they can report to the king.

Oh king Daniel said something mean.

He sent out a mean tweet. But because they believe all men are like themselves. The reason that they must be able. To find something in Daniel. That is the reason they must be able to find something. Daniel is doing wrong.

They know themselves. They know what they would do in a position. If they were in Daniel's position here's how I'd handle it.

Here's what I'd do I'd do this and I'd do that.

And pretty soon I'd be I'd be indispensable to the king. And so because they believe that Because they know that about themselves They assume Daniel is the same. So they're looking for a way to nail him.

It doesn't say how many of the commissioners And satraps were involved But likely both other commissioners And any satraps that they had influence over Were certainly involved. They would have looked over his reports Audited his tax information talked to his friends And enemies and generally investigated Daniel Hopefully without him knowing.

My guess is that Daniel knew what was going on The entire time. Scripture doesn't say that. That's just an inference of mine. The text does not tell us Why these men Wanted to get rid of Daniel. It is likely because his integrity stood in the way Of their machinations to enrich themselves Or to garner power for themselves Or both.

It is possible also that it involved Anti-semitism as verse 13 of this chapter States They reminded the king Where they reminded the king Daniel is not one of us. So let's look at verse 13 really quickly Just so you can get some context here.

Then they answered and spoke before the king Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah Pays no attention to you oh king Or to the injunction which you signed. But hope keeps making his petition three times a day.

So that They're making sure the king knows He's not one of us. He's one of those Jews. So there's very possible anti-semitism In this. But most likely it was simply that this man of integrity This one man of integrity Stood in the way of them enriching themselves And empowering themselves.

And so it is in every age. If you can find men of integrity or women of integrity They can be used by God To stop a great many evils. But these guys are really serious About what they're going to do. So chapter Verse 5 says.

Then these men said We will not find any Ground of accusation against this Daniel Unless we find it against Him with regard to the law of His God. It must have been incredibly irritating to These men that they could find no ground of accusation.

They most certainly knew That they themselves Were subjected to the same scrutiny. If they themselves were subjected To the same scrutiny much could be used To bring them down from their positions. The only option they had Was to set up a situation Where Daniel's integrity Would be his downfall.

Now isn't that ironic Where his integrity and his faithfulness To Jehovah would be his Downfall. And in that Comes a test for Daniel and we'll see that Test and we'll see how he responds. But every person Who names the name of Jesus Christ Will at some time or sometimes in their life Be put in a position where their Integrity would possibly Be their downfall.

If they won't stay true To the Lord Jesus Christ They may. If they won't stay true Then they may advance. If they will stay true They may lose everything. They may lose their life. And this is what happens to Daniel.

It's no different today. The only operation they had Was to set up a situation Where Daniel's integrity Would be his downfall. They had to provide a legal means For his destruction. It would have to be something that his conscience Would not allow him to do.

That would not allow him to do anything different Than he was known for doing. It would have to be a conflict between official regulations And the law of God. Does that sound familiar? Boy I'm sure glad that That doesn't happen today.

We don't have to live under that. Interestingly though. Interestingly enough It would have required them to study the Old Testament To study the scriptures of the times To know how to get Daniel As well as watching him.

Or to at least inquire With possibly some of the disreputable Jewish exiles that they might have access to. In any event it required them to find Something that Daniel could not In good conscience violate.

Because they knew he would not Violate the word of God Or his conscience. And so They searched around, they cast around. And they come up with a plan. Then these commissioners They came up with a plan.

And it's going to be laid out here for us. They came up with a plan. The commissioners and satraps Verse 6 Came by agreement to the king And spoke to him as follows. King Darius live forever. If I was King Darius I would have probably thought.

Something's up.

But unfortunately Darius was a man And he was subject to the same I say unfortunately. What else would he be? Dumb statement. Unfortunately he was subject to the same Problems that all men have If you elevate them.

They like it. It's hard for all of us When someone else gets the credit for something we did. How do you feel about that? You know It's just tough. That's a different situation than here. But anyway, King Darius live forever.

That was a fairly well worn greeting For kings of the day. It is not known how long the plotting took But it must not have been too long after the conquering Of Babylon. The co-conspirators now cozy up to the king And begin to buy his favor With well chosen words.

I'll bet you they wrote this out, they planned it. No we can't do that. Crumpled up papyrus and threw it away And etched another one. No we can't do that. Probably a cuneiform on a cylinder. That would be a lot more difficult.

So I'm getting carried away. They want to buy his favor. Unfortunately many rulers And people in positions of responsibility Who wish to do the right things For those they will for Think that their underlings have the same mindset.

Often this isn't true. The underlings are looking for ways to advance themselves Jocking for power, money and position Generally occupy the minds of many of those Who are under the authority of others.

The Persian word translated Came by agreement Has the idea of coming together tumultuously Kind of like Falling over each other And in disarray and disorder. So these guys came together In the king's throne room.

And it was like they filed in And they hurried in And they bumped into each other. That's the idea behind this. One commentator thought that This was perhaps Was on purpose to make it look like Something of an emergency was happening That needed to be dealt with immediately.

It would startle the king. It would make him possibly less Attentive to the things that were going on Less thoughtful about what was happening If he's got an emergency. If there's an emergency we gotta handle this.

We gotta take care of this. Emergencies are the tools of those kind of people. The idea would be To communicate urgency to the king And hopefully prevent him from asking A lot of questions which would be difficult To answer.

So verse 7. All the commissioners, here's what they say. King Darius, oh live forever. All the commissioners of the kingdom The prefects, the satraps, 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 beside you, oh king For thirty days shall be cast into the lion's den.

Moms, have you ever had your kids say. But mom, everybody's doing it. No, you're not. I remember when my mom said You wanna spank it? Or something like that Using a variation of the Time-worn phrase used by children everywhere.

But mom, everyone's doing it. Those who came to the king begin by implying That all of the commissioners And satraps and their underlings Had agreed to what they were about to propose. That would be so far from the truth.

Today, you could almost make a case for it With electronic communication. But back then, I'm sure Many of these governors hadn't made it back To the capital for this. Some of the more officious And appropriate ones were probably still In their homes.

Making sure the king wasn't plundered in their area. More than likely.

It's.

So they begin by implying That all of the commissioners and satraps Had agreed. It is unlikely that all had agreed. More than likely, many of them Were not even in on the plotting Since they were often, because of their duties Scattered about the kingdom.

We know one Who didn't agree, don't we? Who was that? It would be Daniel. So, if I was the king, I'd like to think this At least If I was the king, and someone came in And said this to me, I'd want to know What my most Favored commissioner Had said.

But probably because they presented it As an emergency in something. In this situation Darius was Stricken Unable to think properly. I don't know. I really tried to think this through And I just. He didn't ask questions.

He didn't ask any questions.

So.

Nevertheless, the group petitions the king and Describe to him an apparent result of meetings. They had to give him Great honor. So he would have Liked that part. No one can pray to any god or man Except beside you, O king For thirty days.

And then any who does Shall be cast into the lion's den. This would have appealed to Darius's Natural vanity and wished to be looked Upon as more than he was. It was not, by the way It was not a requirement of the Persian Religions that people look at the king As actual deity.

It wasn't a requirement In their holy books. But it was required they at least Look at him as a direct representative Of deity. So this Would have been a step above what the Religion required. And it would Have played to Darius's vanity.

The heart of the Scheme was to require prayer Only to the king for thirty days. Obviously the conspirators Had observed Daniel's habit of Praying to Jehovah three times a day. The penalty would be To be cast into the lion's den.

Remember the Babylonians used fire Often to destroy their prisoners And enemies. But the Persians worshipped Fire. It was one of their gods. And so they used a different method for Killing lawbreakers.

They used lions. It was just as effective By the way And it cut down on kitty feed. Darius Believing the commissioners and satraps Assented to their suggestion without So much as a question. He didn't even Ask them any questions.

And the scripture Would have had those questions If they had and God deemed them necessary For us to hear. There were no questions. He just assented to it. Possibly at this point in his kingship He was still getting to know the officials He had appointed and he assumed The best.

Now I'm conjecturing on that That's not in the scripture. So everyone's clear on that. I'm just assuming that he assumed The best. We all know what happens When we assume things Verse 8. Now O king Establish the injunction And sign the document so that it may Not be changed according to the Laws of the Medes and Persians Which may not be revoked.

I would have I mean if you heard someone say that to you. And then they reminded you of your Own law that if you do this It can't be revoked. That might open some suspicions In my mind I hope. So the petitioners knew That unlike Babylonians whose kings Had ultimate power to make or break law.

Persian law once invoked Was irrevocable. Any law the king made must be Followed to the letter even by the king himself. And they remind Darius Of that as they present this idea to him. The Persian word used for Sign, sign the document.

Here.

And in verses 9 and 10 Has the idea of to write To draw up, to draft. And it implies a bit more work than just Reading and Pending your signature to a document. The Persian word for Revoked includes the Idea that something cannot even be Altered a little bit.

So Daniel This is silly. But Darius couldn't have said okay I can't revoke it but I Now pass a law that Our best warriors have to put muzzles on the lions.

Good luck with that.

Or something, he couldn't even do that. Not only could they not revoke it They couldn't alter it at all, it had to be carried out As written, and he would have. He would have put his signet On it, his signature on it.

And the officials, the most important Officials would have put their signature on it. Whose signature would have been missing. We're still not suspicious.

Darius, Darius.

You dimwit One commentator explained how this Concept probably gained favor In the ancient mid east, this idea Of the laws of the Medes and Persians Being irrevocable This custom grew out of the opinions Which prevailed in the east in regard to the Monarch, his will was Absolute, and it was a part of the System which prevailed then to exalt The monarch, and leave the Impression in the mind of the people That he was more than a man He was infallible And could not Err, nothing Was better adapted to keeping up that Impression than an established Principle of this kind, that a law Once ordained could not be Repealed or changed.

To do this would be a practical Acknowledgement that there was a defect in the Law, that there was a want of wisdom In ordaining it, and that all The circumstances were not foreseen And that the king was liable to be Deceived and to err.

With all the disadvantages Of tending such a custom, it was judged Better to maintain it than to Allow that the monarch could err. And hence when a law was ordained, it became Fixed and unchanging. They wanted the people to look at their Monarch as either a deity Or a perfect representative Of the deity, that doesn't happen Today does it?

I'll leave that to your imagination Or your scriptural study. Which would be better If the king ordained something And then changed his mind. Well maybe he made mistakes on other Things too, that could never be allowed To get into the minds of the People under the control of the Monarch.

So.

In one historical chronicle of the Persian kings, the story is told of An Athenian warrior named Charidemus, who gave the king He was a good warrior and he Had Worked Very well in a recent campaign to Subdue some of the king's enemies.

And so the king gathered a bunch of people And he gathered this guy because His tactics came to the king's attention. This is an ancient chronicle. It's actually recorded. In a historical chronicle, so it's an Athenian Warrior named Charidemus, he gave the king Advice regarding an upcoming Military tactic, the king's advisors Disagreed with his Advice And Charidemus lost his temper And slurred the advisors commenting on The Persian's lack of manliness.

This angered the king Who ordered Charidemus to be put to death.

He.

In a fit of anger, ordered this Good warrior to be put to death. The king had misgivings Once he cooled off, but he could do nothing. The chronicle states this this way. Here's how the history states it.

Once the king's passion had cooled He promptly regretted his act And reproached himself for having made a serious Mistake, but all his royal power Was not able to undo what was Done, so This laws of the Medes and the Persians Figures very well in The Jehovah God.

Setting up this situation where Daniel is Obviously going to die, there's just Nothing that can stop this, he's going to Die, and there would have been a lot of people Sad about this and a lot of people happy about this.

And Jehovah is setting this Up again as we've seen Throughout the book of Daniel to show His sovereignty over all the actions Of men, whether Jewish or Gentile All the actions of men. Verse 9. Therefore King Darius signed the document That is the injunction.

So without further ado Without any questions Without any inquiries Without any research Which Darius simply signs After he's drafted it, it's very possible That he helped draft or drafted the document.

It may very well have been that these Commissioners and satraps brought in A previously drafted document for him to sign. But there's more to him than just Signing it, he must have read it. He may have, who knows, but At any rate he signs the document.