OT Tuesday: Herding Cats

The Medes and Persians are now in charge of Babylon, and the king of Persia, Cyrus, appointed a new boss, Darius (also known in historical documentation as Gubaru) who appointed 120 satraps (provincial governors) to rule over the territories of Babylon. Over them Darius placed three commissioners that the satraps would be accountable to. One of those commissioners was Daniel.

It appears that Darius had heard of Daniel's interpretation of the handwriting on the wall and his appointment by Belshazzar as co-ruler of Babylon and appointed him to this group of commissioners. By now Daniel is an old man with a good spirit and a close relationship with God, and Darius saw that Daniel was trustworthy and loyal and planned to place him in charge of the entire kingdom of Babylon. This, of course, made the other commissioners and satraps jealous and they tried to dig up dirt on the old prophet but they couldn't find a single thing they could accuse him of. They found him to be as faithful and incorruptable as Darius had found him, which angered them even more.

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.” (Daniel 5:6)

As Paul later stated in 2 Timothy 3:12 "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" people who live a godly life soon come under attack from the godless who take offense to having their sins exposed simply by the actions of those who try to follow God's law. Like today where the godless change the rules of society to trap the godly (you know, little things like promotion of adultery, human sacrifice abortion, homosexuality) the satraps changed the rules to trap Daniel

⁶ Then these commissioners and satraps came by agreement to the king and spoke to him as follows: “King Darius, live forever! ⁷ All the commissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and 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 besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall be cast into the lions’ den. (Daniel 6:6-7)

What they did was convince Darius to sign a law outlawing prayer to anyone but him. Daniel knew about this document however he continued praying to God as he always did. And, of course, the satraps went to Darius and told him that Daniel was violating the law by praying to God and not Darius. Darius knew immediately that he had been conned, and looked for a way to save Daniel, but the Kings Law is the Kings Law and cannot be overruled, not even by the King, which the satraps reminded Darius.

Darius searched for a long time  but couldn't find a way to save Daniel so he reluctantly executed the sentence and had Daniel lowered into the pit of lions. He said to Daniel "May your God whom you constantly serve deliver you.” (Daniel 6:16) and the stone was placed over the den and sealed by Darius' own signet ring and the signet rings of his nobles.

That night Darius canceled all palace entertainment and spent the night fasting as sleep eluded him. Finally the sun rose and Darius hurried to the lion's den and when he got near to the den he shouted to Daniel to see if he was alive, and Daniel replied!

²¹ Then Daniel spoke to the king, “O king, live forever! ²² 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.” (Daniel 6:21-22)

So Darius had Daniel removed from the lions den and there wasn't a single scratch or mark found on him because he had trusted God. The Darius called for the satraps that had maliciously plotted against Daniel and used Darius to do their dirty work for them and had them and their families cast into the lion's den for their crimes. The lions were pretty hungry after spending all night not being allowed to eat the snack provided (Daniel) and they attacked the new offering and had them eaten before a single satrap, wife, or child could hit the ground.

And Darius, overjoyed that his most trusted lieutenant was returned to him, wrote a new decree that all men in Babylon were 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.” (Daniel 6:26-27)

And the Bible ends this chapter with "So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian." (Daniel 6:28) which is awesome, because I love a happy ending. Unfortunately for me, this isn't the ending, these six chapters were just the introduction.