Feb 3rd - Daniel Chapters 6 and 9 (Lion's Den)

Are Daniel chapters 6 and 9 intermingled?

Daniel ch6 is about Daniel in the lion's den, a 'story' we all know pretty well from Sunday School and the likes. It seems to be set in the first year of King Darius the Mede's reign - at the end of chapter 5 his reign just started and in 6:1 he is 'setting up' his princes - a task a king would normally carry out near the start of his reign. We agreed that it was very very likely it took place in the same year as Daniel's prayer in ch9 (9:1 says 'In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus') but that the study guide's suggestion that the two chapters took place on the same night was a little 'conceited' - the only suggestion of that was the things we just looked at...) We read a little conglomeration (big word!) of the two chapters, and it read quite nicely:



(Daniel 9:1-3) In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; {which: or, in which he} In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

(Daniel 6:1-10) It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. {assembled...: or, came tumultuously} All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. {decree: or, interdict} Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. {altereth not: Chaldee, passeth not} Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

(Daniel 9:4-19) And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. {belongeth...: or, thou hast} O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. {made...: Heb. intreated we not the face of the, etc} Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. {gotten...: Heb. made thee a name} O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. {which...: Heb. whereupon thy name is called} {present: Heb. cause to fall} O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

(Daniel 6:11-18) Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.

(Daniel 9:20-27) And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. {swiftly: Heb. with weariness, or, flight} And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. {to...: Heb. to make thee skilful of} At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. {commandment: Heb. word} {greatly...: Heb. a man of desires} Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. {finish: or, restrain} {make an...: or, seal up} {prophecy: Heb. prophet} Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. {be built...: Heb. return and be built} {wall: or, breach, or, ditch} {troublous: Heb. strait of} And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. {but...: or, and shall have nothing} {desolations...: or, it shall be cut off by desolations} And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

(Daniel 6:19-28) Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den. Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. {power: Chaldee, hand} So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. (KJV)


The prayer in chapter 9 probably would have been what was on Daniel's mind up til chapter 6, because after the incident in the lions' den everything can go back to 'normal' for faithful Jews - they're allowed to worship God without persecution and not long after Darius lets them go back into Israel and Jerusalem to build the temple.

However, we decided that it was just a (in words Dan A would use) 'would-be-nice,' because when we read the two chapters separately there seems to be no seam in them, and we can't see any plausible reason why they would be intermingled when they seem so seamless and together.


Chapter 6

Note that Daniel was basically 2nd in control to the known world at the time, and yet he didn't seem to bother - he knew God was in control and that no matter what happened, it was in God's plan.

The three presidents (Daniel and two guys who didn't seem to like him too much) could possibly be the 3 ribs in the lop-sided bear's mouth from the Beast Prophesy, but we don't really know (remember it could also be the 3 nations the Medo-Persians persecuted, Lydia, Egypt and somewhere else [I've left my book at the meeting room] )

The people who didn't like Daniel decided to try and find some way to get him demoted, possibly killed if they were lucky. They tried and tried, and the only fault they could find was that he was right. We discussed how amazing this was - they weren't even looking for a godly fault, just any fault, and they couldn't find anything - showing that Daniel really did do what it says in Colossians 3 - "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.". Wouldn't it be great if the only 'fault' people could accuse us of was that we followed and obeyed our God?!

After the nobles had decided they could only get Daniel for worshipping God, they basically go and inflate Darius' head a bit - (Daniel 6:6-7) "Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions." Darius ego is boosted, and he signs the decree.

After this, however, Daniel agains saves someone's life by converting them. And once again, he does by example, not force. Darius has a sleepless and is very upset when Daniel gets chucked in the den, and afterwards glorifies God and decrees that people must serve the LORD. This was God's lesson to Darius - a bit like Nebuchadnezzar's - God keeps the kings in check when they to primp themselves a bit too much!

Chapter 9 (a few brief comments)

Daniel makes a reference to Jeremiah, showing that he understood it and the basics of what were to happen. He didn't have any details like when the 70 years started or ended (there were 3 captivities) but he did know that the time was about up, and so his prayer is all geared towards Jerusalem. We can compare this to us - we often don't know when prophesies start/end, but we do know that we are very close to the end, so our prayers and thoughts should be geared towards the Kingdom. Note that Daniel did it for God's name and God's sake because if Jerusalem remained ruined then it would be a disgrace, and people might scorn and mock and say 'well, their God's been a fat lot of good in their time of trouble! Look at that Jerusalem place - it's all a heap of rubble!'

God managed to turn a completely Godless nation into a nation where the people 'must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.'




sorry its a little late, guys, just hope i managed to get there before Jamie's one! =P