Daniel 6 · Story · Faithfulness
Daniel in Babylon
Daniel served the kings of Babylon and Persia from Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus and kept the habits of his faith in their courts.
Daniel's enemies searched his whole service for a fault and found only his prayers.
Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.
- Where
- Babylon
- Who
- Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius the Mede, Cyrus
- When
- from the third year of Jehoiakim to the third year of Cyrus
Summary
Daniel was taken from Judah to Babylon as a young man of noble birth and trained for the king's service. He rose under Nebuchadnezzar, served Belshazzar on the night Babylon fell, and became one of three administrators under Darius the Mede. The book follows him into the third year of Cyrus the Persian, still receiving messages from God.
- Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the king's food, and God gave him favour with the official over him.
- Under Darius he prayed three times a day toward Jerusalem after the decree was signed.
- The book says no wound was found on him in the den because he had trusted in his God.
The Resolve of a Young Exile
Daniel 1 tells how Daniel and three friends kept themselves from the king's food during their training.
Daniel's life in Babylon is one of the longest pictures of faithfulness in Scripture, kept under foreign kings and in high office. It matters to every reader whose work answers to people who do not share his faith. The question it answers is how a servant of God stays faithful to his God and to his master at once.
Below stand the resolve of Daniel 1, a timeline of the kings he served and the search for a charge in Daniel 6. Then come the den, the teachers who read the story and what it means for faithfulness.
Nebuchadnezzar's chief official chose young men "from the royal family and the nobility" to be trained for three years in "the language and literature of the Chaldeans" (Daniel 1:3 to 5). Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (Daniel 1:6).
But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.The first act of Daniel the book records is a refusal, made by asking permission.
After ten days on vegetables the four looked "healthier and better nourished than all the young men who were eating the king's food" (Daniel 1:15). When the king examined them, he found them "ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom" (Daniel 1:20).
The Kings He Served
Daniel's years in Babylon run through the reigns of four kings.
The book itself fixes each stage of Daniel's service by a king's reign.
- The third year of JehoiakimTaken to Babylon with young men of JudahIn the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.Daniel 1:1
- NebuchadnezzarMade ruler over the province of BabylonHe made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.Daniel 2:48
- The first year of BelshazzarA dream of four beastsIn the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dreamDaniel 7:1
- The last night of BelshazzarNamed third highest rulerproclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdomDaniel 5:29
- Darius the MedeOne of three administrators over 120 satrapsand over them three administrators, including DanielDaniel 6:2
- The first year of DariusPrays over Jeremiah's seventy yearsthe desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy yearsDaniel 9:2
- The first year of CyrusStill in BabylonAnd Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.Daniel 1:21
- The third year of CyrusA message revealed to himIn the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to DanielDaniel 10:1
A timeline of eight rows in the order of the reigns the book names, each with the Berean words that fix it.
The first year of Cyrus, The third year of Cyrus
The Search for a Charge
Daniel 6 tells how his rivals searched his work and then turned to his God.
Darius planned to set Daniel over the whole kingdom (Daniel 6:3).
They said, "We will never find any charge against this Daniel, unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God" (Daniel 6:5). They persuaded the king to forbid prayer to any god or man but the king for thirty days.
Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.The decree of verse 7 had made this prayer a charge that led to the lions.
The Den and the Verdict
The king's words and Daniel's answer frame the night in the den.
When Daniel was thrown to the lions, the king said to him, "May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!" (Daniel 6:16). In the morning Daniel answered that God had shut the lions' mouths, "for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king" (Daniel 6:22).
The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den, and when Daniel was lifted out of the den, no wounds whatsoever were found on him, because he had trusted in his God.The narrator's verdict agrees with Daniel's own answer to the king in verse 22.
Faithful to the King and to God
Daniel's service shows faithfulness to an earthly master held inside faithfulness to God.
Daniel held two loyalties for a lifetime, to his God and to the kings he served, and the book shows them in conflict only over prayer.
who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,Hebrews counts those who shut the mouths of lions among those who lived by faith.
How the Story Has Been Read
John Wesley, Matthew Henry and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read Daniel's resolve and the search for a charge.
1662 to 1714 · Matthew Henry
“It is observable that, when Daniel's enemies could find no occasion against him concerning the kingdom, they had so much sense of justice left that they did not suborn witnesses against him to accuse him of crimes he was innocent of, and to swear treason upon him, wherein they shame many that were called Jews and are called Christians.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible · on Daniel 6:5Puritan
1703 to 1791 · John Wesley
“He did not dare to eat and drink things consecrated to idols. He was sensible, how unsuitable delicate fare would be to the afflicted state of God's people. Therefore he was herein a rare pattern of avoiding all the occasions of evil.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament · on Daniel 1:8Evangelical
1802 to 1910 · Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
“It is the highest testimony to a godly man's walk, when his most watchful enemies can find no ground of censure save in that he walks according to the law of God even where it opposes the ways of the world.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · on Daniel 6:5Reformed
Daniel Prospered
The chapter ends with Daniel under the Persians.
I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His dominion will never end.The king who signed the decree against prayer ends by commanding reverence for Daniel's God.
So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.Daniel outlasted the empire that had carried him away from Judah.
Sources
Scripture is the Berean Standard Bible.
- John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, on Daniel 1:8.
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on Daniel 6:5.
- Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on Daniel 6:5.
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