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Text: Daniel 6:12-16

At a website called "The Remy Report," the question was asked," If the 'god of all things baseball' said to you, 'I will let the Red Sox win the World Series this year depending on what you are willing to do in return.' How far would you be willing to go to bring the World Series to Boston?

There were thousands of responses. Each week only the top five were posted. Here are some of them:

"In return for the Red Sox winning the World Series this year, I would be willing to .... "

Doug said, "I would be willing to use the same dental floss for three weeks straight."

Suzanne said, " I would be willing to hand wash all the team's dirty socks for the rest of my life."

Sami said, "I would be willing to listen to 'Rhinestone Cowboy' on loop until my ears bleed."

Joseph said, "I would be willing to give up my wife of 19 years..."

Arthur said, "I would be willing to trade my mother in law."

Stephen said, "I would be willing to tell my wife where I've hidden her credit ards."

Josh said, "I would be willing to give away all my worldly possessions and live my life as a bum in New York."

Chris said, "I would be willing to do anything, I'd sell my soul if I had too." (1)

These fanciful sacrifices won't really help the team win. I suspect that many of them would not really be willing to do what they said. Speculating about sacrifices and actually doing them are two different things.

But what would you do if someone told you that you couldn't pray to your God for 30 days? That's exactly what happened to Daniel in our story for today.

Our text for today tells the most famous story in Daniel, the story of Daniel in the lions' den. This takes place toward the end of Daniel's life. He is probably a man of 70 years of age by this point. He has spent most of his life as an exile in Babylon under three different kings - King Nebuchadnezzar, his son Belshazzar and finally under the Darius the Mede.

As an exile, Daniel rose to a prominent place in the nation of Babylon. This book is set in the time when the Babylonians had conquered Judah, the southern kingdom. The Babylonians carried most of the people back to Babylon. But the poorest of the poor they left in Jerusalem to farm and tend the land. The best they carried off, including young men like Daniel and his three friends.

Nebuchadnezzar, his son Belshazzar and Darius have all tried to make these young men Babylonians. They tried several different ways. First they brought them into the kingdom and gave them food from the king's table. Early in the book of Daniel we find Daniel taking his first stand by refusing these unclean foods and asking for only vegetables and water. This decision was a religious issue for him. It wasn't that Daniel was on a low carb diet, as many of us are. There was a bigger issue here.

The king's table very likely contained items that were considered unclean by Jewish standards. The meats probably included pork among other items that were forbidden by the Bible. Eating those foods would have been a serious compromise of Daniel's faith. Daniel refuses, as if to say, "I have a commitment to my God, and I will keep myself pure."

Then King Nebuchadnezzar tried to change these young men by giving them Babylonian names. Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego (1:7). We get the impression that the king was saying to these exiles, "We will give you a Babylonian name, feed you Babylonian food, and when we get through with you, you will be Babylonian." But Daniel did not give up his customs nor his faith. They could change his name, but they could not make him forget his God. He stayed true to his God. And God blessed Daniel, and he rose in prominence.

By the time we pick up the story in chapter six, Daniel is one of the three most prominent men in the country. He is righteous and pure, and the king admires him and relies on him. Verse 3 says, "Soon Daniel distinguished himself above all the other presidents and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom."

But this caused jealousy. The two other leaders became jealous of Daniel. They began to plot against Daniel, trying to find his fault. They looked for greed, or failure or weakness that they could exploit for their own benefit. They could find nothing that was less than the best.

Verses 4-5 says, "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. The men said, 'We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.'"

It is interesting that they only place they could attack Daniel was at the place of his faith. And we can expect attacks on our faith as well. One lady said to me, "The Devil never bothered me until I became a Christian." Her friend replied to her, "It's no wonder! Back then you belonged to him; he didn't have to attack you then."

His enemies decided the only place to attack him was at his faith. It is significant that they knew of Daniel's faith. Sometimes we want to be secret Christians. Many of us by our actions are trying to be secret agent Christians. We don't want to tell anyone of our faith, but not so with Daniel. He was public about his faith. Those at his work knew of his faith. Do the people at our work know of our Christian commitment?

Verses 6-9 say, "So the presidents... conspired and came to the king and said to him, 'O King Darius, live forever! All the presidents of the kingdom... are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance... that whoever prays to anyone, divine or human, for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions... Therefore King Darius signed the document..."

They bent the king's ear and flattered him. Darius liked to hear flattery. They said, "O King Darius, live forever." That is apparently the phrase one has to use when addressing the king. In modern language, they were saying, "We think you are so great that you should issue a decree that nobody can pray to anybody but you for the next thirty days. You will be god enough for our country." Darius, without thinking, issues the decree and places his royal stamp of approval on the plan. Only much later does he realize what he has done, and that the enemies of Daniel have laid a trap for his favorite, Daniel. The king soon grieves and regrets his decision.

Now the decree is made; the deed is done. What is Daniel's response?

But first, let's speculate a minute about what we would have done in Daniel's shoes. Suppose someone issued a law that we could not attend church or pray to anyone but the President of the United States. How would we respond? I think many of us would have quite a debate within ourselves, especially when the punishment was to be thrown into a den of lions.

We might consider the options to see if there was some way around this problem. Maybe we could keep our faith secret. We could pray in the closet and no one would know. If we were forced in public, we could fake a prayer. We would not really pray to the President, but we might make it look that way. We might be very creative in finding a way to compromise the situation.

Now let's look how Daniel responded. Verse ten says, "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."

As was the custom he opened a window toward Jerusalem. This act was especially meaningful when they were in exile. How they longed to be back in the Temple in Jerusalem! Note the Bible says he prayed three times a day… "as he had done previously." This was nothing new for him. He was not putting his faith on for show. He had always done this.

God was God over all the kings of the earth. There was no question of whether Darius was equal to God. If there is ever a debate between a king, nation and God, his God came first. It was a decision he had made long ago.

I find this an interesting verse and a bit disturbing. This is a clear case of civil disobedience. The Bible approves of Daniel's behavior.

Should the time ever come when there is a clear choice between the laws of a nation and the law of God, we must choose God first. We must pray that we will never have to resort to civil disobedience.

When Daniel disobeyed the laws of his country, he was ready to pay the price. He knew he would be thrown in the lion's den. My faith requires me to take this action, and I know the punishment and I will accept that.

He also gives us a prime example of a quiet time with God at a set time and a set place. Those are valuable lessons. Everyone should have a quiet time. Daniel had strength to face the storm of temptation and trial because he has spent that quiet time with God. He was so in tune with God that he was able to stand courageously.

Notice how the king responds in verse 14, "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." The king was distressed and wanted to deliver Daniel. He tried to find a loophole in the law to get Daniel off the hook. He worked until sundown, but can't find a way out.

In verse 16, we read, "Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, 'May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!'" The king was saying, "Daniel, I have tried all the loopholes. I have no choice but to do this. I can't revoke the law. I've done all I can. If you are going to survive, it will be up to that God that you worship."

The king spent the night fasting, sleep fled from him. At the break of day, he went in haste to the lion's den.

He was probably dragging his feet. As he approaches, all is quiet. That can only mean the lions are full and satisfied. Daniel is in the lion!

"Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?” Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den" (19-23)

"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. Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world: “May you have abundant prosperity! 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" (24-27).

Daniel provides for us an outstanding role model for remaining faithful in times of trial. He demonstrates the reward of a life of integrity. We also learn from him the value of a quiet time with God. And the story ends well. Daniel has passed the test.

There will be times in our lives when our convictions are tested too. The question is, "Will we pass the test? Will we rise to the occasion and stand up for our faith and our God?" Daniel did, and it was his finest hour.

During World War II, Hitler was on the verge of attacking England. Winston Churchill addressed the people of England and said, "Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. upon it depends our own British life and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us now. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science."

Then he concluded, "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, 'This was their finest hour.'" And on the inspiration of that speech, the people of England rose to heroic occasion in defending themselves.

Two thousand years have passed since Daniel's heroic achievements, and we still remember it has his finest hour. If we can learn from Daniel, then we too will be able to stand up for our faith, and it will be our finest hour too.

Endnotes:

1) http://www.theremyreport.com/pages/21/; Retrieved 8/28/2004.