Darius the Median at once proceeded to reorganize the government. He “set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, ... and over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes should 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.”
(SS 280.1)
The honors bestowed on Daniel excited the jealousy of the leading men of the kingdom. But they could find no occasion of complaint against him, because “he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.”
(SS 280.2)
“We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel,” they acknowledged, “except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”
(SS 280.3)
Thereupon the presidents and princes asked the king to sign a decree forbidding any person to ask anything of God or man, except of Darius the king, for thirty days. Violation of this decree should be punished by casting the offender into a den of lions.
(SS 280.4)
Appealing to Darius’s vanity, they persuaded him that carrying out this edict would add greatly to his authority. Ignorant of the subtle purpose of the princes, the king signed it.
(SS 280.5)
Satanic agencies had stirred the princes to envy. They had inspired the plan for Daniel’s destruction; and the princes, yielding themselves as instruments of evil, carried it into effect.
(SS 280.6)
The prophet’s enemies counted on Daniel’s firm adherence to principle for the success of their plan. He quickly read their malignant purpose but did not change his course. Why should he cease to pray now, when he most needed to pray? He performed his duties as chief of the princes and at the hour of prayer went to his chamber to offer his petition to the God of heaven. He did not try to conceal his act. Before those plotting his ruin he would not allow it even to appear that his connection with Heaven was severed. Thus the prophet boldly yet humbly declared that no earthly power has a right to interpose between the soul and God. His adherence to right was a bright light in the moral darkness of that heathen court.
(SS 281.1)
For an entire day the princes watched Daniel. Three times they saw him go to his chamber and heard his voice lifted in prayer. The next morning they laid their complaint before the king. Daniel had set the royal decree at defiance! “Hast thou not signed a decree,” they reminded him, “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?”
(SS 281.2)
“The thing is true,” the king answered, “according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.” Exultantly they now informed Darius: “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.”
(SS 281.3)
The monarch saw at once the snare that had been set. Not zeal for kingly honor but jealousy against Daniel had led to the royal decree. “Sore displeased with himself” he “labored till the going down of the sun” to deliver his friend. The princes came to him with the words, “Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.” The decree must be carried into effect.
(SS 281.4)
“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.” A stone was laid on the mouth of the den, and the king himself “sealed it with his own signet ... . Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting.”
(SS 282.1)
God permitted evil angels and wicked men thus far to accomplish their purpose; but through the courage of this one man who chose to follow right, Satan was to be defeated and the name of God to be exalted.
(SS 282.2)
Early the next morning King Darius hastened to the den and “cried with a lamentable voice,”“O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?”
(SS 282.3)
The prophet replied: “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.”
(SS 282.4)
“Then was the king exceedingly 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.”
(SS 282.5)
“And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions.”
(SS 282.6)
The wicked opposition to God’s servant was now completely broken. “Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” And through association with him these heathen monarchs were constrained to acknowledge his God as the “living God, and steadfast forever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
(SS 282.7)
A man whose heart is stayed on God will be the same in the hour of his greatest trial as he is in prosperity. Faith grasps eternal realities. Christ identifies with His faithful people; He suffers in the person of His chosen ones. It is possible for the servant of God to maintain his integrity under all circumstances and to triumph through divine grace.
(SS 283.1)
The experience of Daniel reveals that a businessman is not necessarily a designing, policy man. He may be instructed by God at every step. A man of like passions as ourselves, Daniel is described by the pen of inspiration as without fault. His business transactions, when subjected to the closest scrutiny of his enemies, were found without flaw. He was an example of what every businessman may become when his heart is converted.
(SS 283.2)
Daniel, by his noble dignity and unswerving integrity, while young won the “favor and tender love” of the heathen officer in whose charge he had been placed. Daniel 1:9. He rose speedily to the position of prime minister of Babylon. Such were his wisdom and his courtesy, his fidelity to principle, that even his enemies were forced to confess that “they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful.”
(SS 283.3)
Daniel was honored by God as His ambassador and was given many revelations of the mysteries of ages to come. His prophecies in chapters 7 to 12 were not fully understood even by the prophet himself, but he was given assurance that in the closing period of this world’s history he would again be permitted to stand in his lot and place. “Shut up the words, and seal the book,” he was directed concerning his prophetic writings, “even to the time of the end.” Daniel 12:4.
(SS 283.4)
The prophecies of Daniel demand our special attention, as they relate to the time in which we are living. With them should be linked the last book of the New Testament. The promise is plain that special blessing will accompany the study of these prophecies. “The wise shall understand.” Verse 10. And of the revelation that Christ gave to John the promise is, “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein.” Revelation 1:3.
(SS 284.1)
From the books of Daniel and Revelation we need to learn how worthless is worldly glory. Babylon, with all its power and magnificence, how completely has it passed away! So perished Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. And so perishes all that has not God for its foundation.
(SS 284.2)
A careful study of God’s purpose in the history of nations and in the revelation of things to come will help us to learn what is the true aim of life. Viewing time in the light of eternity, we may, like Daniel, live for that which is true and enduring. Learning the principles of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, we may at His coming enter into its possession.
(SS 284.3)