The Lonely Sojourn
Daniel in the Lion's Den • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Daniel 6:10-15 ESV
10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. 11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”
14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”
Those of the Christian faith have often and rightly been called “pilgrims in the world”. A pilgrim is one who is travelling in a place that is not his home and is on his way home. Or, as the term is also described, one who is a pilgrim is someone who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons.
And while, in my opinion, neither one of these definitions suffice what a Christian pilgrim truly is, it is still true that a Christian pilgrim is one whose citizenship is now in heaven and thus his eternal focus is on the heavenly. His interests are no longer worldly interests and thus, all of his days in his earthly abode are spent longing for a heavenly city wherein he will dwell with his God forever.
And while the Christian pilgrim has an eternity of everlasting joy to look forward to, still, his days on earth are often lonely days that are spent in exile, so to speak, in a world that is passing away. Sometimes there is not a like-minded, faithful Christian to be found, let alone an entire society of such.
No, I don’t believe that there is such a thing in this world as a truly Christian society; that society is reserved for the world to come, the New Jerusalem. And sometimes the painful reality that we live in a world that is radically fallen in sin reveals itself in ways that make us truly cry out, “Come quickly Lore Jesus!”.
In our reading for today, Daniel most assuredly found himself in a predicament such as this.
As we began our series of sermons in this narrative last week, we saw how the political and spiritual opponents of Daniel had found themselves having an exceedingly bitter disposition toward Daniel. And because they had found themselves being so bitter and resentful towards Daniel, they plotted and found a scheme that, if fully executed, would result in Daniel losing his life.
We saw last week that the first part of this scheme was a success when Daniel’s opponents suggested to the king that for the next thirty days, everyone in the bounds of his kingdom should not pray to the gods that they worshipped, but instead, should pray only to the king. And if anyone failed to comply with the order, they would be executed in the den of lions.
The king agreed with these opponents of Daniel and established an ordinance and an injunction in the matter, meaning that the order could not be reversed by anyone, not even the one who established it.
And wouldn’t you know it that these opponents of Daniel found him just like they knew they would find him, praying to his God and thus violating the king’s order.
We see this as we first look to verse ten in our reading, where it says:
Daniel 6:10 ESV
10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
So, the first thing that we see here is that Daniel knew about the order that had been given by the king. Obviously, he was not present when his enemies convinced the king to give the order, but nevertheless, but this point, he knew of the ordinance and the injunction. He knew the order that was given, and he equally knew the punishment that would come to pass for anyone who acted contrary to the order.
And at learning of the ordinance and the injunction, our reading tells us that he responded by going to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.
Now, this detail may not seem too important, but, Daniel having his windows open toward Jerusalem was a symbol of hope for return from exile.
Of course, the reason why this narrative takes place where it takes place is because those from the Kingdom of Judah, specifically the nobility and influential people from Jerusalem had been carried off into exile several years before.
And this practice of Daniel of praying towards Jerusalem was inf act a prescribed practice as in the first book of Kings, chapter 8, verse 48, when Solomon had prayed at the dedication of the temple of the Lord, he prayed, asking God that:
If His people were ever exiled and then repented with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who had carried them captive and pray to God toward their land, for Him to then hear from heaven and forgive them of their trespasses and be compassionate towards them.
And this prayer, our reading tells us, was faithfully administered by Daniel three times a day. And though the king had issued the ordinance and the injunction, Daniel faithfully continued to pray to his God three times a day.
Then, as we move on to verse eleven in our reading, we see the next part of the plan of Daniel’s enemies coming together, where we read:
Daniel 6:11 ESV
11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God.
So, the enemies of Daniel, knowing where he lived, agreed to go to his home, or at least send a few of their number to his home to see whether or not Daniel would break the king’s order.
And Daniel, as was said in the previous verse, had his windows open. And having his windows open, he would be visible to any onlookers below who were looking hard enough. And sure enough, coming to the home of Daniel, they found him doing exactly what they suspected he would be doing, praying to his God, just like he was prone and faithful to do three times a day.
They had the evidence that they needed! They had caught Daniel red-handed! Now they just needed to report what they had discovered to the king. And we see that report delivered in verses twelve and thirteen, where we read:
Daniel 6:12-13 ESV
12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”
Here, we see cunning activity of Daniel’s enemies. They come to the king, and they ask what they ask: “Did you, O king, not sign this injunction, with the following details?” Thus, they come, pretending that they seek clarity on the injunction so that they can be sure that they are accurately reporting to the king a violation of the injunction.
The king responds by saying, “Yes, that’s what I said, and it stands fast, it cannot be changed, not even by me, in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians”.
Having confirmed the nature and the contents of the injunction and having reminded the king of the irrevocable nature of this injunction, Daniel’s enemies revealed their discovery to the king, telling him that Daniel knowingly ignored the king’s injunction and the king himself by praying to his God rather than to the king.
Surely, the opponents of Daniel hoped that this would be Daniel’s nail in the coffin, that the king would be infuriated with Daniel’s lack of obedience to his injunction. But the king’s reaction was much different than this, as we read the following in verse fourteen:
Daniel 6:14 ESV
14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.
We read that when the king “heard these words”, when he realized that his foolish injunction was going to cost the life of his most trusted and most faithful official, he “was much distressed”.
He was incredibly anxious and sorrowful over it; he had to have felt like a fool. He had thought himself to be so great that he demanded that the people pray and worship him alone for thirty days, but he wasn’t even powerful enough to be able to override his own injunction!
But though he was unable to override his own injunction, we read that he still try to find a way to override it as we read that he “set his mind to deliver Daniel, laboring till the sun went down to rescue him”, trying all day to figure out a way to spare Daniel from his own injunction.
Finally, after the king had tried in vain to look for a way to rescue Daniel, we read of the last words of the enemies of Daniel in this matter in verse fifteen, where we read:
Daniel 6:15 ESV
15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”
“Then”, after those who reported Daniel saw how the king reacted to the revelation that they had brought to him, they again agreed to come together before the king, saying that they would not tolerate such reluctance by their sovereign by reminding the king of the irrevocable nature of the injunction, signifying that he must do in accordance with his own injunction.
Indeed, the fate of Daniel seemed to be doomed with no remedy whatsoever. The king was bound by his own injunction and could do nothing to reverse it.
But this was understood by Daniel, he knew that his life was likely going to be taken from him as a result of disobeying the king’s injunction, but he set his sights on service to his God and reckoned that if he die as a result of worshipping the Lord, then it must be the will of God that he die, and he was willing to accept that.
Surely there had never been such a lonely time for Daniel in his pilgrimage on earth. The greatest forces on earth were seeking to have him killed for obeying God rather than man. Not a friend could he find. How lonesome and sorrowful it must have been!
That Daniel stayed faithful to his God and trusted Him to the point of essentially signing his own death warrant proves that it was not Daniel who performed this act of faithfulness; no man would willfully in accordance with his own strength do what Daniel did here.
No, it was God working in Daniel to accomplish this. We must ever remember that when we come across narratives such as this one. We are quick to praise the faith of Daniel, the courage of David, the patience of Job, but none of these could have what they possess unless it was first given to them by God.
This Book is not about Daniel, it’s not about David, it’s not about Job or Joseph or Moses or Peter or Paul; it's about the One Who inspired its authors to write it; it's about the God of the Bible.
And thus, may it please God, for His own glory to give us that willingness to give our entire being, even our very lives for His sake.
Amen?
