Facing a crisis does not create faith. but it can reveal faith. And today, Un Truth for Life, Alastair Begg looks at Daniel's persistent prayer life. in spite of a law that made praying illegal. We'll hear today about the resulting punishment.
and deliverance and destruction. As we focus on Daniel chapter 6. Daniel's challenge is an unavoidable challenge. He still prayed. He did.
What he did.
Someone has observed: there were doubtless times when his prayer duty refreshed and inspired him. and others when the custom brought no immediate satisfaction, and he ended without feeling blessed.
However, it is clear that he had established this as a fixed point in his life. That irrespective of his feelings, Through it, he maintained the reality and strength of the world. of his communion with God. You see, the exercise of prayer. Maybe Provide for us a sense of his presence, but it may not.
And in Daniel's life He was committed. Whether Up. Or down. He was distinguished. He was despised.
He was disciplined. And he was dumped. And here we finally get him in so that we can spend a moment and get him back out again. The king had been trapped by his own piece of legislation. which gives me an opportunity to read one of my other favorite poems.
Because he's hoisted on his own petard in the same way that happened to the man who invented radar. He was a Scotsman. His name was Robert Watson Watt. And he invented radar in the time of the Second World War. He was rewarded one hundred forty thousand dollars for it.
It was the highest award ever paid for a wartime invention. While he was driving in Canada, He was caught for speeding in a radar trap. And he wrote this verse about it. Pity Sir Robert Watson Watt, strange target of his radar plot. And thus with others I could mention, a victim of his own invention.
And that is exactly what we find in the case of the king. He is now victimized by the way in which he has been cajoled and maneuvered into issuing this edict. And in verse 14, we're told that he was distressed when he heard these things, and he set his mind to deliver Daniel. But we discover that he was unable to do so, despite his determined efforts, presumably by means of changing the legal or constitutional structures of the nation. It just couldn't be done.
And so, as a result, verse 16, he has to do what the edict says he must do, and he commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. Lions, if you have looked at old paintings and drawings and things from this era, were part and parcel of the sport of the wealthy and the royal in those days. And so it is, we are told, that he was thrown in, or he was cast in, as it says right here. The indication is, apparently, that there would have been a ramp down which the animals would have gone to find their way into the pit, and then there would have been somehow or another another entryway that would have been the the place that they would have thrown down food for the animals. And so the animals get the ram and the people go down the hole for the food.
Well, it's it's quite horrendous this thought, isn't it? Here's a man who's been a faithful servant for all these years. He served in the Babylonian Empire. He has gone through a number of these kings. He's now pushing 80 years of age.
He's doing an outstanding job. His friends hate him. They despise him. They reject him. They come up with a trumped-up charge against him.
And now the king had has to issue the command. to throw him in here. Let's remind ourselves what we said again: that this is no harmless prank on the part of these men. In seeking to obliterate Daniel. They were attempting to do what the Evil One attempts to do at every point, namely to destroy every trace of the kingdom of God.
to destroy the kingdom of God. At the heart of the empires of the world and the ebb and flow of human history. It takes a Bible for us to recognize that in the midst of all of that hatred, in the midst of all of that discord. You need to find yourself back in the 15th verse of Genesis chapter 3 to explain why things actually are as they are. Our good friend Sinclair Ferguson, in a sentence, says, This was the hand of the kingdom of darkness seeking to annihilate the kingdom of God.
The hand of the kingdom of darkness seeking to annihilate the kingdom of God. There's a faint glimmer of hope. When the king asked Daniel. Or says to Daniel, Well, may your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you. Verse seventeen.
Is your mind jumping forward? and a stone was brought, and laid on the mouth of the den. And the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords. that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. This is it.
It is over. It's finished. Similar to another stone. and to another sealed tomb. At the end of Matthew's Gospel, we read.
of the exact same thing taking place, don't we? Matthew 26. Towards the end, let me find it.
Now, the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. And into chapter 27. And the next day, that is after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how that impostor said while he was still alive, after three days I will rise. Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead, and the last fraud will be worse than the first. And Pilate said to them, You've got a guard of soldiers.
You go and make it as secure as you can. And so they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. And that great hymn comes to mind. Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus the Savior. And vainly they seal the dead, Jesus, my Lord.
And up from the grave he arose. They said, that's an end to him right there.
Now we've finally dealt with this imposter.
Now we will be done with this nonsense once and for all. That's exactly what the kingdom of darkness was doing in relationship to Daniel.
Now just seal him away and we'll be finished with it. Make sure, doubly sure, that it's okay. Death cannot keep his prey. Jesus, my Savior, he tore the bars away. Jesus, my Lord.
I remember back on Fairmont, do you remember some of you when we had that wonderful, big, handsome black man come? He sang at least a couple of Easters for us. Sang the same song every time by request. Do you remember that song, Go Ahead, Drive the Nails in My Hands, Laugh at Me Where You Stand? And then his voice said, but I'll rise again.
I can still feel it on my back right now, but I'll rise again. There ain't no power on earth can tie me down. That's the story. Evening passed and nobody was eating. The king wasn't eating, he wasn't playing Scrabble, he wasn't watching movies, he was completely wide awake.
The lions weren't eating either. That's interesting. Nobody was eating. And verse 19, then at break of day. Oh, what a morning gloriously bright For the dawning of hope.
You see it? He was delivered. Delivers. Picture the scene as he came near to the den where Daniel was. He cried out in a tone of anguish.
He was probably surprised when he heard his voice coming out. You know, his voice was probably like a king's voice, and how are you doing? And it came out like, oh Daniel, are you coming out? I said, where did that come from? And he cried out with a tone of anguish.
And the king Declare to Daniel.
Well listen, he has delivered me. My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they haven't harmed me. I was blameless. I was innocent of the charge. I trusted God.
What a tremendous testimony. The king is bowled over by it. Daniel was innocent. Daniel was dependent. I'm indebted again to my friend Sinkler Ferguson for this insight here.
In This incident, as in the rest of the Old Testament. The destructive power of lions. is a metaphor for the chaos And disjointedness And disharmony of the universe. The unruly nature of lions. Therefore, it's no surprise that the evil one is himself described as a roaring lion.
So, when you read of these things indicative of our fallen and broken world. And then you read in Isaiah chapter 11. of the promised age to come. When the lion will lie down with the lamb, It is an indication of all that God is ultimately going to accomplish. And in this incident, In Daniel's case, His deliverance is therefore in some sense uh an indication of the promised ultimate universal renovation of the universe.
whereby lions Who's only Objective. would be to destroy and to consume are found In the morning hour, Presumably to be there quite placidly. What is happening? What has happened?
Well What has happened is that in a moment of crisis, In order to preserve his kingdom, God brings the power of the fulfilled kingdom. into the moments of adversity. That's why it is interesting that it says of the fellows that came out of the fiery furnace that they didn't even smell of smoke. They were absolutely, completely saved. Remember, it says of Jesus that not one of his bones was broken.
And it says of Daniel here the same thing. that he was completely unharmed. But in the deliverance There was also Destruction. Because In a sinful and a fallen world, There is a dark and a somber side to the salvation. of the people.
And you will notice here that judgment falls on those who had maliciously accused Daniel. They had attempted to destroy God's kingdom, and they themselves had been destroyed. Not only the perpetrators, but also their wives and their children. Incidentally, don't stumble over that as if somehow or another the charge should be laid at the feet of God or at the feet of Jewish or biblical law. It isn't.
Herodotus records the fact that this was Persian law. That if somebody violated in this way, not only did they pay, but their family members paid.
So this is, if you like, Islam. This is not Judaism. You understand? But the punishment that falls upon them is representative of the punishment that will fall one day on those who have spent their lives opposing the kingdom of God. It is impossible to read the balance of Daniel as we will do and not understand that, that he will crush these beasts.
That eventually on that day of judgment, Revelation says that the people will call for the mountains to fall on them and crush them rather than to face the judgment of God. That's the significance of what is happening here. And it is impossible for us to see the salvation, the deliverance, without seeing the destruction. Think about it through the whole Bible. God looks on the world in all of its fallenness, and He decides that He will punish and flood it.
And in the midst of providing for Noah an ark, He destroys. In the same way. Joseph. Is liberated from the pit and moved to a position of power. but in the context of punishment and judgment.
Moses in Egypt is saved in a basket. And as they are going through the Red Sea, the chariots and their wheels and their soldiers and all of their armaments are finally ground into the ocean bed or the sea bed. The same, of course, is true. of Jesus. He was despised and rejected of men.
And when Jesus finally returns, then he will actually deliver his people. from all the brokenness, and chaos of this life. And that was what was there for these First readers to understand. To realize that they could trust God, to realize that they must maintain the law of God, to realize that they mustn't be absorbed by the culture. It was imperative for them to understand that the God who protected his servant Daniel, even from what appeared to be inevitable death, would bring them safely to the place of his appointing.
There's a hymn that came to my mind in relationship to this that we do not sing, but I want you just to get a flavor of it, and then we'll end and we'll sing a couple of hymns that we do understand.
Some of you might remember this hymn from your past, but it goes like this: Sing we the king who is coming to reign. Glory to Jesus, the Lamb that was slain. Righteousness, peace then his empire shall bring. And joy to the nations when Jesus is king. All men shall dwell in His marvellous light, And races long severed His love shall unite And justice and truth from His sceptre shall spring, And wrong shall be ended when Jesus is King.
All shall be well in his kingdom of peace. Freedom shall flourish and wisdom increase. And foe shall be friend when his triumph we sing. And sword will be sickle when Jesus is king. Knowledge and fear of the Lord then shall be as the deep waters that cover the sea, and all things shall be in the splendor of spring.
And all harmonious when Jesus is king.
So kingdom of Christ for thy coming, we pray. Hasten, O Father, the dawn of the day. When this new song Your creation shall sing. Satan is vanquished and Jesus is king. Come, let us sing.
Praise to our K. This is our song. who to Jesus belong. Glory to Jesus. to Jesus our King.
What an amazing finish there is to the chapter as well. The closing verses. Find this pagan king. declaring of the God of Daniel. That this God lives.
And this God reigns. And this God Rescues. Is it Is it beyond the bounds of possibility? that if not in our generation. in a generation still to come.
Some proud emperor in our world.
some great president or prime minister. would actually stand up. and say, you know I have been this and I have been that. But I have encountered the true and living God. And God lives, and God reigns, and God rescues.
And he's rescued me. Surely there is a reason that we're supposed to, with Paul, pray for those who are in authority over us. For those who are kings and presidents and rulers of nations. Does my faith extend to the place where I might cry to God? To see that kind of amazing transformation is the God who transformed Saul of Tarsus.
powerful enough to change the dictator who rules North Korea. The answer must be yes. It has to be yes. We're back with J.B. Phillips, aren't we?
Your God is too small. A God who can just get you through a Sunday. Get you through on Monday. help you to feel a little better about yourself. put a little bit and piece together so that all is continuing well.
Daniel could never have understood that mentality. And therefore he stands as a challenge. but also as an immense encouragement. And when we get into chapter 7, we're going to see the way in which the kingdoms of the world just stand opposed to the kingdom of God. And how again Eventually one like unto the Son of Man.
uh will stand in triumph over it all.
So Do not look over your shoulder and be. um constantly reflecting on the supposed good old days. don't uh look forward with a great sense of dread. But rather, let us say to one another, let us lift our eyes and look up. Because there is a higher throne.
than all this world has known. where faithful ones from every tongue will one day come. And before the throne they will stand, made faultless through the Lamb. And you think that's going to be our song? But it but it isn't.
So we're going to pray and then we'll sing. Father Here we are at this point in our individual lives and as a church and as a nation. And we see so many indications of the way in which the arbitrary edicts of an increasingly secular government. are confronting us with the The dilemma. having obedience to your word and to your truth set Against Our obedience and submission to the law of the state.
Lord, we do want to pray for those in authority over us tonight. We want to pray that you, the God who transformed lives all the way throughout history. Uh may either renew or quicken. Reveal Transform. Help us.
And we pray, Lord, that you will forgive us. When Instead of our recourse being one of prayer. It becomes one of criticism and Aggravation. Then we're giving testimony to the fact that we probably Have begun to doubt whether you really are a sovereign God accomplishing everything according to the eternal counsel of your will. Help us then to see our redemption drawing nigh.
To see the one who, like unto a Son of Man, comes in power and in great glory.
Some of us Uh feel that our lives have Been such in recent days that we've been thrown into the pit ourselves, not with lions, but perhaps even metaphorically. And we need to learn again that you are the God. Who may choose to deliver, may choose to keep us there, but you are always the God who. accompanies us and fulfils your purposes.
So help us to this end, we pray. and fill our hearts with praise and our lips with song as we end our day together. For Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Bigg.
Today's message wraps up our study in the book of Daniel. If you've enjoyed this study, you can stream or share the complete series for free at truthforlife.org/slash Daniel. If, like Daniel, you're committed to faithfully serving God throughout your life, into your later years, we want to recommend a book to you called A Good Old Age. This book was written by the late Derek Prime, who was one of Alistair's mentors for many years before he passed away in 2020. In this book, Derek shares how to stay actively engaged as a follower of Christ.
even as we begin to experience the challenges and limitations that come with aging. In the book's foreword, Alastair writes, We need help in coming to terms with old age and learning how to handle it. And that's what we find in this book, that and so much more. Instead of succumbing to the temptation to slow to a crawl, we're encouraged to run the race, looking to Jesus, right through the tape, all the way to the end. This is a simple and yet impactful guide to aging faithfully.
Each chapter offers a Christian priority on which to meditate, things like contentment, discipleship, serving, and more. If you're thinking to yourself, a book about old age?
Well, I'm not there yet. Let me encourage you to think ahead. Alastair says this book needs to be read long before we find ourselves in the senior citizen seats on the train. The biblical and practical wisdom that is woven through this book is valuable at any age. Ask for your copy of the book A Good Old Age Today when you donate to Truth for Life online at truthforlife.org/slash donate or call.
Call us at 888-588-7884. Thanks for listening today. Tomorrow, we'll consider the answers to some of life's biggest questions. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
