1. .
Chapter 6
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2. Daniel Introduction Deported as a teenager Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
Bow or Burn; The Furnace
Nebuchadnezzar's Pride Aramaic
The Fall of Babylon
The Lions Den
Four Beasts
The Ram and the He Goat
The Seventy Weeks
A Glimpse of the Dark Side
The “Silent Years” (in advance)
The Consummation of All Things
Chapters 1 through 6 are historical
Chapters 7-12 are the visions

3. Daniel Introduction Organization Historical Chapters 1-6
Deported as a teenager
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
Bow or Burn; The Furnace
Nebuchadnezzar's Pride
The Fall of Babylon
The Lions Den
Nearly 25 years have passed since the events of chapter 4 and over 70 years since chapter 1. Now advanced in years, Daniel is a senior statesman in Babylon. He has outlasted a number of kings and Belshazzar, the last of the Chaldean kings of Babylon, was killed and Babylon passed from Chaldean rule to rule of Darius the Mede. Daniel has one of the most unique carriers ever described in the Bible and looking back probably one of the most unique in all history. From slave to world statesman through a number of succeeding empires.

4. Daniel Introduction Darius, the Mede
“Darius” may be an honorable title,
meaning “holder of the scepter.”
Used of five later Persian rulers.
There seems to be a lot of historical arguments as to who this Darius was. There are those who say this chapter proves that Daniel was not written when it was and not written by Daniel, because there was no Darius. However it is important to realize that Darius is also a title, an honorable title meaning Holder of the scepter.

5. Daniel Introduction Darius, the Mede
Darius may have been another name for Cyrus.
He could be identified with Cambyses, Cyrus’ son.
Another explanation is that Darius was appointed by Cyrus to rule over Babylon.
Another explanation is that Ugbaru, governor of Gutium, conquered Babylon
There are several views of who Darius actually was in Chapter 6 of Daniel.
“Darius” may be an honorable title, meaning “holder of the scepter.”

6. Daniel 6:1
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;
A hundred and twenty princes—A chief or satrap over every province which belonged to the Medo-Persian empire. Afterwards we find it enlarged to one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, by the victories of Cambyses and Darius Hystaspes.

7. Esther 1:1
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
Josephus reckons three hundred and sixty satrapies or lordships; but this is most probably an exaggeration or mistake.

8. Daniel 6:2
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.
With the opening of this chapter, we have again moved ahead historically. The kingdom of Babylon, the head of gold, has now disappeared; it has been removed from the number one spot of world power. Instead of Babylon, we have the Medo-Persian empire, which was represented by the arms of silver in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. There were two arms to Nebuchadnezzar's statue and two empires with the Medes and Persians.
Although we have moved into another empire, we still find Daniel in the position of prime minister under Darius the Mede.
We are told that these three presidents (Daniel was one of them) held their position so that “the king should have no damage.” This suggests that the presidents were to prevent the princes from stealing from or undermining the king in any way. Daniel was number one of the three presidents, and he was a man of over eighty years of age at this time.

9. Daniel 6:3
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.
[because an excellent spirit was in him] This gives the reason for the exaltation of Daniel over all the others which caused the jealousy of Daniel 6:4-5.
Daniel had now served under six administrations as a faithful, wise, competent counselor-all the more remarkable since he was a Jew, a member of that reluctant group of captives brought from Jerusalem to Babylon, and one who never really fit into this foreign culture. Daniel was a survivor because God gave him the strength and the courage to stand up for his faith. And now, in chapter six, we're going to see that strength tested once again. For anyone to serve six political administrations is a tremendous feat. It is God who sets people up and takes them down.
Dr. Billy Graham has earned a enormous respect as he has been a counselor and friend to so many United States presidents. That's a long, impressive history of relationships with our nation's top leaders. It was also a long time for Daniel.

10. Daniel 6:4
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.
When enemies cannot find any fault in a man he must be perfect. They turned next to find some fault with his religion. There was none here so they made a scheme to entrap Daniel into disfavor with the king, appealing to Darius to make a law that would exalt himself and involve Daniel in lawbreaking .
Daniel was faithful to his king: this was a virtue. But he was also faithful to his God: this they hoped to construe into a crime, and make it the cause of his ruin.

11. Daniel 6:5
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.
Jealousy leads men to attack a colleague who is more competent than themselves. A man in the Kingdom of God will prompt the kingdom of this world to drive its members to display a more extreme bitterness in their assault.
If you face jealous critics because of your faith, be glad they’re criticizing that part of your life—perhaps they had to focus on your religion as a last resort! Respond by continuing to believe and live as you should. Then remember that God is in control, fighting this battle for you.

12. Daniel 6:6
Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
[Assembled together] literally means "came with haste and tumult."

13. Daniel 6:7
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.
If the enemies of Daniel knew him, they also knew Darius. They knew they could appeal to his pride and his desire for a unified kingdom.
“The suggested mode of compelling every subject in the former Babylonian domain to acknowledge the authority of Persia seemed a statesmanlike measure that would contribute to the unification of the Middle and Near East. The time limit of one month seemed reasonable.” (Archer)
They knew Daniel prayed 3 times daily, so guessed rightly that any law to stop his praying for 30 days would get him involved with breaking the command (Daniel 6:10).
They pretend to make him a god for thirty days; so that the whole empire should make prayer and supplication to him, and pay him Divine honors! This was the bait; but their real object was to destroy Daniel.
All the world governments deified their leaders. In the last world government that will come to power during the Tribulation, the Antichrist will put to death those who don't bow down and worship his image (Revelation 13:15).

14. Daniel 6:8
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.
This immutability of the king's commands was peculiar to the Medes and Persians: it was due to their regarding him infallible as the representative of Ormuzd; it was not so among the Babylonians.

15. Esther 1:19
If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.
Esther -

16. Esther 8:8
Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.
Again in Esther -

17. Daniel 6:9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
In Babylon, the king’s word was the law. In the Medo-Persian empire, however, when a law was made, even the king couldn’t change it.
Darius was an effective government administrator, but he had a fatal flaw—pride. By appealing to his vanity, the men talked Darius into signing a law effectively making himself a god for 30 days. This law could not be broken—not even by an important official like Daniel.
(Spurgeon) "Suppose the law of the land were proclaimed, 'No man shall pray during the remainder of this month, on pain of being cast into a den of lions,' - how many of you would pray? I think there would be rather a scanty number at the prayer-meeting. Not but what the attendance at prayer-meetings is scanty enough now! but if there were the penalty of being cast into a den of lions, I am afraid the prayer-meeting would be postponed for a month, owing to pressing business, and manifold engagements of one kind and another."

18. Daniel 6:10
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.
This shows the boldness and faith of Daniel. No new law could make Daniel quit praying to the God he had served so faithfully 80 to 90 years—the one who had spared his life by revelations being granted (Daniel 2:18), and who had answered him on other occasions of crisis (Daniel 4:8-9; Daniel 5:13).
three times a day— (Psalm 55:17). The third, sixth, and ninth hour; our nine, twelve, and three o'clock.
He did not look toward the sun, as the fire-worshipers did, but toward Jerusalem, where the temple of Jehovah had stood and where the sacred presence had been in the Oracle. This seems to have been the custom among the Jews when away from the Holy City

19. 1 Kings 8:30
And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.
1 Kings 8 -

20. Daniel 6:11
Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
Just as his enemies expected, Daniel was found true to his God and times of prayer,

21. Daniel 6:12
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.
Emphasis on the altering it not. It was customary among Medes and Persians when a law was duly passed and sealed by the king's seal that even he himself would not change it (Daniel 6:15). In the case of Ahasuerus making a decree for the slaughter of the Jews (Esther 3:13), he would not reverse it, even at the request of his queen (Esther 8:5), but he issued another edict which neutralized the first one (Esther 8:11).

22. Daniel 6:13
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.
They “bugged his apartment! Daniel was belittled as one of the exiles from Judah, as Arioch and Belshazzar had done; in an attempt to lower him in the eyes of Darius.

23. Daniel 6:14
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.
Aramaic word order places Daniel first in the sentence, the stressed position: “And as for Daniel, he set his mind to deliver him.”
Darius was displeased with himself because he had been tricked into making such a law. He sought to deliver Daniel, laboring to do so all day.
The king took this time to deliberate, thinking that after sunset Daniel would be spared till morning, and that meanwhile some way of escape would turn up.

24. Daniel 6:15
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.
For the third time, the wicked princes came before the king with "haste and tumult.“ Again emphasis on the unchanging law.
The crown hangs forever heavy on the head of any ruler, and this night the head of Darius was heavy indeed. He realized he'd been tricked by his own staff just so they could get their man. The problem was that their man was also Darius's man- but for completely different reasons. Darius loved Daniel. It didn't matter that Daniel was a Jew in exile, that he was well up in years, or that he continued to worship the God of Father Abraham. Daniel was his friend, and Darius loved him.

25. Daniel 6:16 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.
“...whom you serve continually”: what a witness! We would hope that could be said of us.
Daniel had literally served God continually for 80 to 90 years and had experienced many demonstrations of his union with God. The king had absolute faith in the ability of God and in Daniel's power with God to deliver him from the lions. Daniel now had the same opportunity of showing his faith in God as did the Jews of Daniel 3. The lions were no less terrible than the fiery furnace. God had power over both and His own chosen ones were delivered (Daniel 3:27; Daniel 6:22).
He is thy God; thou servest him, not occasionally, but continually; therefore “he will deliver thee.”

26. Daniel 6:17 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.
All this precaution served to prove to Darius and his lords that it was the power of God which delivered Daniel. There could be no trick played that would deliver Daniel from such a place. The same precaution was used in the case of Christ in the tomb, but this only served to prove the certainty of the resurrection.

27. Daniel 6:18 Then the king went to his
palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep went from him.
Undoubtedly, Daniel had a better night’s rest than Darius. We can be sure that Daniel prayed in the lions' den, because it was simply his habit to pray. He did not need to start praying on this remarkable occasion because the habit of prayer was well ingrained in his life. So many of us pray only when we desire something from God, or are in dire stress.
  Perhaps Daniel prayed Psalm 22:21-22: Save Me from the lion's mouth I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
  "In any case he must have had a glorious night. What with the lions, and with angels all night to keep him company,

28. Daniel 6:19
Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.

29. Daniel 6:20
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?
Daniel was not kept from his hour of trial!
The king was still hoping Daniel had survived when he went to the lion's den in the morning. He had probably heard the story of the three Hebrew men in the fiery furnace and believed that Daniel's God was a powerful God. He asked Daniel if his God was able to deliver him from the lions (Jeremiah 32:27, Romans 4:20-21, Ephesians 3:20).

30. Daniel 6:21
Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.

31. Daniel 6:22
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.
Daniel is letting the king know that he was innocent before the king and before God.
—"Faith" is stated in Hebrews 11:33 to have been his actuating principle: a prelude to the Gospel. His belief was not with a view to a miraculous deliverance. He shut his eyes to the event, committing the keeping of his soul to God, in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator (1 Peter 4:19), sure of deliverance in a better life, if not in this life.

32. Hebrews 11:32-34
32And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Hebrews -

33. Daniel 6:23
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.
The king had power to save Daniel from being put in the den of lions and to change his law, but how could he save face by doing so? Now that Daniel was delivered by such a miracle, he could act boldly and decisively to free him and punish Daniel's enemies without being accused of changing his law through personal weakness and fallibility.

34. Daniel 6:24
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.
Such quick destruction of others put into the den only proved more fully that Daniel was miraculously delivered, and illustrated the power of faith in God (Hebrews 11:33).
their children—Among the Persians, all the kindred were involved in the guilt of one culprit. The Mosaic law expressly forbade this (Deut. 24:16; 2 Kings 14:6).
The lions sparing Daniel could not have been because they were full, as they showed the keenness of their hunger on the accusers

35. Daniel 6:25
Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.

36. Daniel 6:26
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.
Sevenfold Decree of Darius (Dake)
1. All people must tremble before the God of Daniel and fear Him (Daniel 6:26).
2. He is the living God (Daniel 6:26).
3. He is steadfast forever (Daniel 6:26).
4. His kingdom is eternal (Daniel 6:26; Daniel 2:44-45; Daniel 7:13-14,18,27; Rev. 11:15; Rev. 22:4-5).
5. He delivers from danger (Daniel 6:27).
6. He works signs and wonders (Daniel 6:27).
7. He has delivered Daniel from lions (Daniel 6:27; Hebrews 11:33).

37. Daniel 6:27
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.
Nebuchadnezzar had come to believe that Israel’s God was real because of the faithfulness of Daniel and his friends. Here Darius was also convinced of God’s power because Daniel was faithful and God rescued him. Although Daniel was captive in a strange land, his devotion to God was a testimony to powerful rulers. If you find yourself in new surroundings, take the opportunity to testify about God’s power in your life. Be faithful to God so he can use you to make an impact on others.

38. Daniel 6:28
So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Two different reigns are referred to here, showing that this Cyrus was probablly not the same as Darius of Daniel 5:31; Daniel 6:1; Daniel 9:1, the Artaxerxes of Neh. 2:1, or the Ahasuerus of Esther 1, as some scholars claim.
Where shall we find ministers like Samuel and Daniel? None so wise, so holy, so disinterested, so useful, have ever since appeared in the nations of the earth.

39. End of Daniel Chapter 6
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