Did you see those BBC shows, ‘Grumpy Old Men’ and ‘Grumpy Old Women’. They were on some time ago, now. The scary thing was, they didn’t seem that old or that grumpy! Perhaps that says more about the viewer!
As our ‘grumpies’ showed us, growing old is a different thing from growing into maturity, isn’t it? There is such a thing as growing old gracefully. There are old people who are mature. Thank God for that. I am sure that you know them. They’ve matured like a good wine. They are worthy of respect that is due them. And we respect them for their experience, their wisdom, their knowledge, and the suffering they have faithfully endured that has shaped and molded them, softened them and strengthened them.
And sad to say, there are other old people who aren’t as mature. They are our ‘grumpies’. Age has not matured them as a good wine. They are perhaps a little more sour and bitter.
All you’ve got to do is stay alive to become elderly. And the elderly are owed respect, whether matured or bitter. But something must be added to old age to call someone ‘mature’. What do you think it is?
[Wisdom, maybe a learning from experience, humility, maybe a generosity or other person centredness, maybe that the person is not hardened but softened and developed by the sufferings they’ve endured, so that they’ve grown as a person]
From the Christian point of view, maturity has a specific shape. Maturity is conformity to the image of Christ. So Christ had it by definition, even though he lived a short earthly life, from our perspective. With Christ, the process of maturity was sped up. Just as Jesus sped up the process of creating good wine at Cana, so in him was sped up the process of maturity. Jesus was made perfect and brought to maturity by the intensity of what he suffered for us. And the more a person grows in Christ likeness, and is transformed into the image of Christ, the more that person is really mature. And that of course involves suffering, because Christ was the man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.
Maturity was a quality Daniel had, along with his old age.
You will recall in chapter 1 we met Daniel the teenager. He knew suffering as a young person. Daniel saw his city sacked and he was dragged off to Babylon. He knew what it was to stand against the tide of pagan culture. In chapter 2, we saw that he knew what it was to come under the sentence of death.
Moreover, in chapters 4 and 5, we saw Daniel speak truth to power. In Chapter 4, he doomed King Nebuchadnezzar to insanity unless he repent. In Chapter 5, he doomed the dynasty of wicked King Belshazzar (chapter 5). All of this we’ve seen of Daniel so far.
But what about when Daniel is thrown into death itself? What then?
We found Daniel was strangely missing in action in chapter 3 when all were called to worship the statue. His absence was unexplained. Were in fact the three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, superior in fortitude, in endurance, and in perseverance than Daniel? Where they counted worthy to share in a suffering for which Daniel was not counted worthy?
And the answer is, ‘No’. The three friends had their furnace of fire, and God sent his angel. And Daniel had his Den of Lions, and God again sent his angel. All of them would have the sentence of death not just threatened, but carried out. And all of them would be brought from it unscathed by the power of faith.
Now, the young King Belshazzar recalled 80 year old Daniel from retirement. How very appropriate for our generation. For our aging population is now informed they will have to keep working well into their old age. Perhaps Daniel can be their Patron Saint.
But young Belshazzar died that night, and with him his whole dynasty ended. And Darius the Mede took the Kingdom (Daniel 5:31). He was another late starter, at 62 years old. And we notice that Darius puts Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom.
And here we encounter a problem. Because Darius the Mede is not known to our secular historians. Cyrus the Persian is known, both within and without the Bible. And later Darius’ are known. But not a Darius that took over from Belshazzar.
And of course some say, ‘Well, here is the bible making a mistake’. Or, ‘Here is the bible making it up’.
But hang on, didn’t the same sort of people say the same thing of Belshazzar? Secular history up until the late 19th century knew nothing of Belshazzar, until the Nabonidus Cylinder was found. And then critical scholars had to concede, ‘OK, there really was a Belshazzar’.
So it is premature and short-sighted to write off the bible account. Daniel has already proved himself a valuable primary source. He’s been corroborated in the past. Why not in the future? Shouldn’t we trust Daniel when the secular histories are silent? And the answer is, ‘yes’.
In light of the lack of secular histories, there are two possible answers to the question, ‘Who was Darius the Mede? (5:31; 6:28)
The first is that he was a colleague and coworker of Cyrus. This is the view of Josephus. And it is of course possible. After all, we are talking about the Medo-Persian Empire. Is it not possible that Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian worked together in coalition? John Howard and John Anderson were respectively former Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the previous Liberal-National Government. Suppose that John Howard is frequently mentioned in the histories to come. And suppose that all mention of John Anderson drops away. Does that mean that John Anderson didn’t exist? In the same way, neither do the frequent mentions of Cyrus the Persian within and without the bible require that Darius the Mede didn’t exist.
The second possibility is that Darius was the same person as Cyrus, viewed from a different perspective. And this is possible too. After all, those who have seen the movie The King’s Speech know that the same royal person can be called Albert, Bertie and George the 6th, depending on context.
Either way, there was a Darius, and he took over the kingdom from Belshazzar[1].
Well, though Darius elevates Daniel, other bureaucrats want him brought down. And so they start their muckraking. They want the dirt on Daniel to disgrace and destroy him. But sadly for them (though not for the kingdom), Daniel is squeaky clean. He is Mr Teflon. Nothing sticks to him. Verse 4:
At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. (NIV)
Daniel is honest and competent. He had both the carefulness and the character to do his job.
What a wonderful testimony, isn’t it? Do you see a man good at his work? He will serve before Kings. He will not serve before obscure men. Cream floats to the top.
On Wednesday night, John Lennox urged us to be the best we can be in our secular vocation, and to use that same ambitious single mindedness in our pursuit of the Scriptures. Well, Daniel was found both able and honest. May we be found likewise not negligent nor corrupt. The command that Jesus and Peter spoke 500 years later were all modeled and exemplified by Daniel long before. Jesus said:
…[L]et your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 NIV)
And his disciple Peter spoke to the same effect:
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (1 Peter 2:12 NIV)
Daniel was accused of doing wrong. Yet even his enemies could find no real fault with him.
So Daniel’s enemies promote this plot. Under the guise of loyalty to the King, they lay a trap for Daniel. A new law punishable by death, that prayers shall be addressed only to the King. For Daniel’s enemies, it served two purposes.
It pandered to a prince’s pride. For it says, blasphemously, that Darius is the one mediator between God and man.
And it put Daniel in danger. For the person that prays shall perish. And Daniel is a person of prayer.
And what was Daniel’s response to this plot and trap? Nothing. There’s no response to the law. It brought about no change whatsoever in his behaviour. It did not affect his habits one bit. Verse 10:
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. (NIV)
He didn’t say, ‘Well I’ll show you, I can pray if I want, you’re not gonna stop me’. Nor did he say, ‘Well, I can go without prayer for a month. God knows my needs before I ask anyway’.
He didn’t start praying. He didn’t stop praying. He just kept praying.
Friends, here is real maturity, isn’t it. It is a maturity I have not come up to. I’m sorry, I confess to you I am not yet a Daniel who prays in his room three times a day. Maybe you are. That’s fantastic. Pray for those of us that need to come up to what you’ve already attained.
If any man beside the Lord Jesus Christ had the excuse of busy-ness, it was Daniel. He was running the country. But we are presented with the prayer life of the Pious Prime Minister. Whether he ate breakfast, lunch and dinner, we don’t know. But one thing we do know. Even if he didn’t eat three times a day, he prayed three times a day. Prayer was his daily bread.
Notice Daniel’s window opens to Jerusalem. That was in fulfillment of Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8[2]. For Solomon saw with prophetic eye both the sin of Israel and the faithfulness of Daniel. The sin of Israel, in that the people would reject Yahweh and thus be exiled. And the faith of Daniel, in that he prayed toward the now demolished temple. And Daniel received the forgiveness and favour that Solomon asked for on behalf of his penitent people. Daniel’s window open towards Jerusalem is a sign of hope. God has not forgotten his exiled people or cast them off forever.
Notice also the topic of the prayer. It is not complaining about the injustice of the law, though it is unjust. Daniel is still thankful. A trap has been set for him to bring him to death. He knows it full well. And he still gives thanks to God.
What greater example is there of thankfulness in the face of danger? Philippians 4:6 reminds us:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6 NIV).
And thanks and gratitude was the tenor of his whole prayer in the crisis he faced.
Now, perhaps it is one of the most stupid rules conceived in the history of human jurisprudence is that a law once promulgated cannot be repealed or amended. If something can’t be changed, it can’t be improved. It is tantamount to saying that the King speaks with the voice of God.
Fortunately, we do not have it in Anglo Australian law. Our laws can be changed. It might be hard to change them. You might even need a referendum. But in principle they can be changed. However, it is clear that this was an operative principle for Darius. And so, despite Darius’ distress, determination, his sorrow, his anguish, his fasting, his lack of entertainment, and his sleeplessness, Darius himself rolls the stone over what he thinks is Daniel’s tomb. Daniel is put to bed with the lions.
But in the end it is not just Daniel who will be tested by all this. It is the God of heaven. Is this God of Heaven able to save Daniel from the lions? That is Darius’ question.
We as readers know. We know that the God who saves from the flames can also save from the lions. With God nothing is impossible.
But Darius doesn’t know this. So both God and Daniel again have to train up another world leader to understand the God of Heaven and his power. Verses 19 and 20:
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions? ” (NIV)
Is God able? It is a question of ability for Darius. And the answer is ‘Yes’. Verses 21 to 23:
21 Daniel answered, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king. ” 23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. (NIV)
The stone is rolled away. The innocent victim emerges from the tomb. There is no wound on Daniel, because he trusted the God of heaven. By faith, Daniel shut the mouths of lions (Hebrews 11:33). Just as Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah trusted their God and disobeyed the Kings decree, so did Daniel. And just as God sent an angel to the furnace, so he did to the lions den. And perhaps that heavenly messenger was the pre-incarnate Logos, Jesus himself before he became a man. It wouldn’t be the first time God appeared as an angel in the Old Testament. But we do not know.
But one thing we do know. Some 500 years later, another man would be found on his knees like Daniel, praying when his enemies arrive. And this later man, though also innocent, was falsely accused and sentenced to death. And a stone was likewise rolled over his tomb so that his situation could not be changed. And yet God again was able to save. God was able to change the situation. So that the stone was rolled away and he was brought up alive. So that for those who hurried to the tomb early in the morning, grief would turn into joy just as it did for Darius. I speak of course of Jesus. Jesus was the innocent sufferer who emerged from the tomb.
Daniel of course didn’t die. God shut the mouths of the lions. But Jesus both died and rose again. And Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was an even greater vindication of his innocence. For it was impossible for death to hold Jesus down.
Now, the dénouement of this story is a chilling warning. Lest we think Daniel’s rescue be put down to a problem with the lions, we are told the conspirators and their families were also given their own little excursion into the lions den to see how they fared. Roar and snore with a difference. And the outcome was not as happy.
And I guess that is a warning about God’s wrath and anger. It is only those whose faith is in God who can pass through death without harm. But for those who persecute God’s people, there is wrath, unless they repent. And we know repentance is possible, too. In the Apostle Paul we have that confirmed.
But like Nebuchadnezzar before him, Darius also publicises the amazing salvation of Daniel’s God. The way to prosperity for all people is to worship Daniel’s God. Verses 26 and 27:
“For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. 27 He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions. (NIV)
Salvation brings praise. From both Daniel, Darius, and from us.
But despite these great signs and wonders, at the end of the Historical Section of the book of Daniel, Daniel is still in exile. Verse 28 tells us that that he prospered during Darius and Cyrus reign. We know that during the time of Cyrus, the edict to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem was issued. So here are the two bookends of Daniel’s life. Dragged off to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar at the beginning of Chapter 1. Prospering under Cyrus the Persian at the end of Chapter 6. And it seems that Daniel’s life was exhausted in exile.
Like Abraham, who never owned the land, like Joseph, whose bones were brought up from Egypt, like Moses, who died outside the land, Daniel, it seems, never returned to see the place toward which his window opened. He would have to wait the resurrection for his allotted inheritance (Daniel 12:3).
Faithful far away. That’s Daniel. May it be us too, in our exile. Let’s pray.
[1] See Duguid, Daniel, 101
[2] 46 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 48 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors to show them mercy; 51 for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.(NIV)