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Scripture Reading: Dan. 6
Daniel 6 is very crucial because it shows us how God carries out His economy with His elect for Christ's coming. God desires to carry out His economy, but man is needed to pray for His economy on earth. God carries out His economy on the earth through His faithful channels of prayer. Satan's strategy is to frustrate the prayer which is for God's move. Thus, the center of this chapter is man's prayer for the carrying out of God's economy.
God's move is like a train which must have rails for its move. Man's prayers are like the rails which pave the way for God's move to go on. There is no other way to bring God's economy into fullness and into fulfillment except by prayer. This is the inner secret of this chapter.
Daniel 5:31 says, "Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two." It pleased him to set up over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps (a Persian loan- word meaning "protectors of the kingdom"), who would be throughout the whole kingdom (6:1). Daniel was set by King Darius to be one of the three chief ministers over these one hundred and twenty satraps (v. 2). Daniel distinguished himself among the chief ministers and satraps, and the king considered setting him over the whole kingdom (v. 3). By this time, Daniel was no longer a young overcomer but had become an older overcomer; he may have been close to one hundred years of age.
In verses 4 through 9 we see the subtle attack of Satan on Daniel concerning the worship of God.
Being jealous of Daniel, the chief ministers and satraps "sought to find a ground for accusation against Daniel from the perspective of the kingdom, but they could find no ground for accusation or fault, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or fault was found related to him" (v. 4). Therefore, the chief ministers and satraps, with the high officers of the kingdom, took counsel together that the king should establish a statute and make firm an edict that anyone who made a petition within the next thirty days to any god or man besides the king should be cast into the lions' den (vv. 5-7). They appealed to the king, saying, "Now, O king, establish the edict and sign the writing so that it is not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot pass away" (v. 8). The intention of the chief ministers and satraps was to destroy Daniel, but Satan, who was behind them, wanted to stop or cut off the channel of prayer God was using for the carrying out of His economy.
King Darius signed the writing, that is, the edict, to establish it (v. 9).
Verse 10 reveals Daniel's faithfulness in the worship of God. "Now when Daniel came to know that the writing had been signed, he went to his house (in his upper room he had windows open toward Jerusalem) and three times daily he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, because he had always done so previously." He had read the prophecy of Jeremiah which prophesied that the children of Israel would serve the king of Babylon for seventy years (9:2b; Jer. 25:11). Standing upon this word, Daniel must have prayed many times for the fulfillment of this prophecy and for the return of the captives. He prayed, and he would not let anything stop or frustrate his prayer. He knew that his prayer was for the carrying out of God's economy concerning His elect. Therefore, his prayer was a serious matter.
Today, prayer is the lifeline in the Lord's recovery. The more Satan tries to frustrate our prayer, the more we should pray.
The chief ministers and the satraps assembled and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God (Dan. 6:11). Then they came near and spoke to the king concerning his edict, saying, "Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, has not respected you, O king, or the edict that you have signed, but three times daily makes his petition" (v. 13). When the king heard this, he was very displeased with himself, and he set his heart on delivering Daniel. Until the sun set, he made efforts to deliver him (v. 14). However, the opposers prevailed upon the king (v. 15).
Knowing that the edict could not be changed, the king commanded, and the opposers threw Daniel into the lions' den (v. 16a). The king responded and said to Daniel, "Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you" (v. 16b). A stone was brought and set over the mouth of the den, and with signet rings it was sealed by the king and his lords that nothing might be changed regarding Daniel (v. 17). Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and his sleep fled from him (v. 18).
In verses 19 through 24 we see God's deliverance of Daniel. The king arose at the first light and went in haste to the lions' den. When he had come near the den, he shouted to Daniel with a sad voice, saying, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?" (v. 20). Daniel replied, "My God has sent His angel and has shut the lions' mouth, and they have not hurt me, inasmuch as before Him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm" (v. 22). Just as the Lord did not quench the fire for Daniel's three companions, He also did not slay the lions for Daniel's sake. Instead, He shut the lions' mouth, making their teeth of no effect. The king was very pleased concerning Daniel, and he commanded that Daniel be taken out of the den. Thus, Daniel was removed from the den, and he was found completely unhurt, because he had trusted in his God (v. 23).
After Daniel was taken out of the den, the king gave commandment concerning the opposers. Those who had accused Daniel were thrown into the lions' den with their children and wives. They had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones (v. 24).
Verses 25 through 28 reveal God's victory over Satan in the worship of God on earth, even in a Gentile kingdom, through the overcomers in the captivity of His defeated elect.
Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in the whole earth, making a decree that in all the dominion of his kingdom men tremble and fear 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 unto the end. / He delivers and rescues, / And He does signs and wonders / In heaven and on earth; / It is He who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions" (vv. 26-27).
Chapter six concludes by saying that Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian (v. 28).
Daniel's victory over the subtlety that prohibited the faithfulness of the overcomers in the worship of God was the last step of the victory over Satan's devices. Without these overcomers, God would have been fully defeated by Satan, having nothing on earth for Himself.
During the time of Nimrod and Babel, God's interest was also frustrated, but He had a way to gain Abraham to be His worshipper (Acts 7:2; Gen. 12:1-3, 8). After Abraham arrived in Canaan, he built an altar, and this was pleasing to God. God could boast to Satan and say, "Look, Satan, I still have at least one worshipper. The time is coming when the descendants of this worshipper will become a priestly nation to worship Me and serve Me." Eventually, as an issue of Abraham, the temple for the worship of God was built in Jerusalem.
When Satan sent Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the holy city with the temple in order to take away God's worship and service, it seemed that God was defeated and that His interest, worship, and service on earth were destroyed. Yet under God's sovereignty, four of the young men selected by Nebuchadnezzar to stand in the king's palace became overcomers to keep God's worship and service. God had four young overcomers living in the palace day by day, yet they were absolutely one with God. This was a shame to Satan and a boast to God. God could tell Satan, "Satan, do you think that My worship and service on earth are finished? Look at My overcomers. I have four overcomers worshipping Me and serving Me in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar." Today, as long as there are some overcomers on this earth, regardless of the number, God will have reason to boast. When God sees today's overcomers standing on the ground of the church, He will be happy and pleased.
