Daniel Chapter 6 Verses 1 – 2

• So Nebuchadnezzar is 23+ years gone, now Belshazzar is gone, and most importantly, the Babylonian empire is…gone. Which reminds us of all the way back in Chapter 2. Remember Nebuchadnezzar’s dream? Turn over to Chapter 2 and look with me at verses 31 – 33. Now look at verses 36 – 40. So the head of gold is no more…(I wonder if Daniel ever said, “I told you so!?”) And so what’s next? You got it! The chest and arms of silver!
• Here at the end of Chapter 5, while Belshazzar partied and wasted time…in parallel he wasted his kingdom and just as Daniel told him in Chapter 5 verse 22, he knew all of this would come upon him, yet he didn’t care…didn’t prepare…and so the inevitable…all was lost. Babylon, the first, has fallen. And in its place? The Empire of the Medes and the Perisans. Who dat?
• A snowball! A snowball? Yes. A small force, under the rule of the Assyrian Empire…, yet they began a conquest. Around 614BC the Medes captured the capital city of Assyria, Asshur…two years later they captured Nineveh and then under Nebuchadnezzar, they became mighty allies of the Babylonian Empire. Then around 550BC, they went up against the Persians and they got their tails handed to them. Cyrus II of Persia was successful in conquering the Medes and subsequently formed the Medo-Persian Empire.
• Why? Snowball man. Now the combined power of the Medes, comprised of those of Media, Asshur, Neneveh with the powerful Persians…a formidable opponent for Babylon indeed. The arms and chest of silver. And so they took it and held onto power for 200 years until…the Kingdom of bronze…Alexander the Great…we’ll see more of that as we get into Chapters 7 and 8…
• During the next two hundred years, under the watch of the Medo-Persian Empire, specifically Cyrus…what was Daniel looking forward to? Turn over to Isaiah 44 and look with me at verse 28. Whoa! Written more than a century before where we find ourselves here in Daniel Chapter 6! Isaiah wrote a name that had never been uttered! Folks would have called him crazy but hey, it’s only crazy if it doesn’t work! HA!
• And so Daniel heard the news. “Hey, this guy Cyrus, ruler of the Medes and the Perisans and his Number 1, Darius…they’ve killed Belshazzar, what are we gonna do!?” Daniel’s response? “Pack!” And indeed it was in the first year of the reign of Cyrus, according to 2 Chronicles 22 and Ezra 1:1 that he gave the command for Jerusalem to be rebuilt and so he allowed the Jews to go home. Turn back over to Daniel Chapter 1, look with me at verse 21…Boom!
• So awesome! Nebuchadnezzar’s gonna rip you into pieces! No, he’s not…I’m going to make it home. Nebuchadnezzar’s gonna burn your people alive! No he’s not…I’m going to make it home. Hey, hey, hey, Belshazzar’s gonna lock you down as the third ruler in Babylon…wrong again…I’m going home…So cool to watch Daniel wait upon the Lord, trust in the Word of His prophets and then excel…hope, wisdom, integrity, he even excelled in the favor of his enemies…so here we find him again, set in a place of honor as he for-real trusts in the Lord…

Daniel Chapter 6 Verse 3

• Do you think they are still sore? Sore from what? Well back in Chapter 5…verse 7…they seem to have been left out…at least that’s how the text reads, there could be some overlap…but even so, each time any quote/unquote wise guy was brought in, Daniel put them to shame. Here we see different empire, different day, same story…why? “Because an excellent spirit was in him…” The Spirit of the Most High God!
• Man we all want to do well. To answer well. To perform well. To know, to do, to excel…how do we get there? Matthew 6:33. Simply draw very near to Jesus man. Period. Daniel goes in and out doesn’t he? Nebuchadnezzar makes him his right hand man, then Belshazzar comes in and doesn’t even know him…from the lime light to the shadows, in and out...maybe even seemingly not successful, not excellent…doesn’t matter. He is. Now a new empire, a new ruler, and back in the saddle he goes…
• And this Darius was smart. He perceived the wisdom in Daniel…no stories of Nebuchadnezzar, no stories of Belshazzar…at least Daniel doesn’t say Darius knew had heard them…but it didn’t matter…Daniel had presence man…the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!

Daniel Chapter 6 Verses 4 – 5

• Daniel was a man of God. No different in capability or capacity than you and I…and yet this magnificent statement…they must find fault against him concerning his God. Why? No doubt they combed through the long record of Daniel’s administration…looking for even the smallest of a suspicion of a flaw. They found nothing. So they resorted to how he served his God…I wonder. Would they have to resort to such tactics to get something on us?
• Christian…such a misunderstood term. A muddied definition in our day. By our society’s definition, Satan could be a Christian. He believes in Jesus doesn’t he? He believes that the Bible is the Word of God doesn’t he? We have record of him talking with Jesus, following Jesus around, hanging out with Jesus…right? We have plenty enough evidence, in the eyes of our twisted understanding of what it means to be a Christian to convict even Satan of being counted among the fold…do we not?
• Yet Lucifer does not love Jesus. He is not humble in the sight and presence and fact that God is indeed God and he walks in pride…living out his life. And based on those credentials, we label him readily as the very enemy of the church…we should take a good hard look in the mirror…How long would they have to dig to discover some charge, some fault, some error on you? “Don’t judge me man…I’m not perfect.” Neither was Daniel…
• But since you brought it up…perfect…Who was perfect? Jesus, the Christ…and your title, maybe…Christian. The proper definition…one who is Christ-like…one who denies himself…over throws his or her own individualism for the sake of living for truth…using that wonderful individual design of me and of you to bring honor and glory to our God and our Savior…one who PAYS ATTENTION and understands where he or she is at spiritually, practically, relationally, circumstantially…how does what I do, what I say affect others…affect the Holy Spirit? Do I even care??? Christians DO!
• Jesus said that is a definition that comes with a narrow and hard path…few will find it…Daniel did. They could find nothing on him…digging through his drawers, looking at his web browser history…combing through his Twitter account…surveying his bank statements…nothing!
• Now…Why is that Christ like? Because they did the same thing to Jesus! Right? They could find nothing on Him so what did they resort to, “He makes Himself out to be God!!!!” They brought the same accusation against Jesus and what did Pilate say? “This man has done no wrong! Deal with Him according to your own law!” Daniel, Christ-like…Christian…

Daniel Chapter 6 Verses 6 – 9

• Trapped by pride man….this is not the head of gold…this is the chest and arms of silver. Darius does not have the monarchical efficacy of Nebuchadnezzar…he reports to Cyrus and reading this scripture in light of truth, fully knowing the plot and the motivation, because Daniel has told us…obviously this decree is just stupid.
• But it was practically foolish for Darius given the plot or not! “Whoever petitions any god or man?” - - “Mom, can I have another piece of goat steak?” THROW that child into the den of lions! Can you imagine the market place? All of the trinkets, the little statues to false deities…all of the temples, shut down for an entire month…what’s Darius trying to do? Implode his empire from within?
• “But….Matt, they called me king…” Trapped…
• All of them Darius? “King Darius, live forever. ALL governers of the kingdom, the administrators, the satraps the counselors and advisors, they’ve all consulted together to establish this ROYAL statute…” All of ‘em? Not Daniel…your number one…
• You see they lied…and they tempted…and they plotted…and they flattered…and Darius took the bait…and they took his reign…next week we will see them control him…
• And that is the ultimate desire man of the enemy…the ultimate desire of your flesh…the ultimate desire of this world…of the hater of your soul, Satan…to tempt you, to trap, to control you, to use you…to consume you…and so we need to be awake…not just to the plot like we are here but also to the practical…how foolish of Darius to do this! 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” And dude stays full…
• But what we’ll see next week is Daniel face to face with the lion and the Lord shuts its mouth! And the control is given to Daniel, steadfastness, strength, confidence, courage…life…why? Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion!”