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Q&A: Daniel 6

Questions and Answers on Daniel 6

Bruce Stanley

August 29, 2022


Daniel 6 Q&A

Here are some brief answers to our questions from our Sunday evening service. If you would like to discuss more, please call me or email at bruces@stphils.org.au.

Due to the large volume of questions, I'll keep the answers brief! But please chat with Josh or me if you'd like more detail.

1. Can you please sing the Aramaic alphabet song?

You're going to love this... you can thank me later...

2. Was it normal to have a den of lions at one's disposal?

It seems to have been. Or if you're a Babylonian King, a big fiery furnace. Strange days. But like the Romans with crucifixion, everyone seemed to have their own awful way of killing people. In Australia, until 1967, we killed people by hanging.

3. If king Darius recognises Daniel's God why didn’t he worship the Lord as well?

It seemed he was like many people - someone who may recognise God, even say they "believe" in God, and behave in a way that recognises God is creator, for example, but does not bow the knee to God. Why? Well, why do people do that today? Many people call themselves "Christians" but it seems to just be a head knowledge and not a heart change. We need to ask ourselves - where do we stand? Do we believe only in our heads? Or do we truly believe with our life?

4. Why have Christians become so judgmental why don’t we leave the judgement up to God?

Agreed. We should leave judgment to God. Although we are still called to be discerning, and to speak God's truth, as Daniel did again and again. Sometimes that does offend people. But there is nothing wrong with using God's word to bring truth - so long as we do it with love. It's not loving to hold back from someone about the truth of God's coming judgment, for example.

I think Christians, being human, have always been judgmental. It's simply a human failing. It's good to remind ourselves that God is the judge and repent where we need to. But also to be truth tellers, sharing the gospel truth of God's coming judgment. That in itself is not judgmental.

5. What is the Aramaic phrase used in V18, “without any entertainment being brought to him.”? (edited)

No musicians! (literally). Such a sad night with no musicians to entertain him. It seems they were the Netflix of the day.

6. What's the go with punishing the wives and children of the other officials? Seems sus. (edited)

From what I have read, this was a thing for that culture. If a family member broke the law, the whole family were punished. It would certainly bring a family closer!

7. How do we best serve God if we get elevated to a position of power or influence when serving the god of consumerism in our culture? (edited)

Character. Integrity. Daniel was a man who was trusted because he had the integrity of a man who was convicted by his beliefs in God. We should always be the person God calls us to be - acting with honour and integrity in all matters and doing everything to the glory of God.

8. Were there other Israelites who were thrown to the lions, or were the officials really only trying to get Daniel in trouble so not really anyone else got lion'd

Seems only Daniel was picked on for this. It is possible others may have been, but Daniel was the only one on the other leaders' radars for getting "lion'd" (love that word!)

9. Why is this story such a popular/classic bible story?

I think it's because of the lions. Jason tells me it makes for good crafts in Sunday school. But as I mentioned last night, we must not make this story into a "cute kid's story". It is horrific. It is a story of faith and trust in the all-powerful God of the universe and the powerless kingship of every human ruler beside the great God of all. We must not minimise it. it should be a classic because this is a HUGE story of faith.

10. The Pharisees were condemned for praying publicly. How should we view Daniel's publicity of prayer?

The Pharisees were condemned for praying publicly - Matthew 6:

Matthew 6:5-6

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

The passage tells us that some people did this to look good to others. Daniel wasn't making a show. He was opening the window towards the location of the temple, their only place of worship. The window was not so much a "big show", but something he privately did. Although easily seen from the street it seems. He certainly didn't do it to show off but as a sign of devotion to God.

11. How many lions were there, and how many of the 120 satraps do we reckon got thrown in?

We don't know this detail. It could have been lots of lions and every Satrap and administrator (122 people plus families) which might mean over 500 people. However, we just don't know. It may have just been a small group of 4 or 5 key leaders from the central area, plus their families - maybe 25-30 people. We just don't know the details. But it would have been awful!

12. How can we maintain our faith, just like Daniel did, when we wander?

Daniel established prayer as a regular daily routine. When life became difficult, he continued in prayer. Good faithful routines and habits are really helpful when we are people who are prone to wander. What are your regular faith routines? Or maybe it's time to start one.

13. Why did the king issue a decree as he would have been aware of what his nobles were up to?

He did not seem to think to know what the leaders were up to. He was too caught up in his own pride, like his predecessor. The thought of being worshipped as a god was too good to pass up!

14. God saved Daniel from the lions. But what are some other examples from the Bible where Daniel-like people were not saved (other than Jesus)?

Samson is a good example that comes to mind. He was a judge and deliverer who eventually was crushed while bringing down the temple of the Philistines. See Judges 13-16. And most of the Apostles - like Peter - who were martyred for their faith. As far as we know, it was probably only the apostle John who was not martyred but lived out his final days on an Island called Patmos. (exiled there under the rule of Domitian).

15. If the king could issue a decree that Daniel’s God should be revered (therefore nullifying the no prayer edict), why didn’t Darius do this earlier?

Yes, why indeed! He was arrogant. Proud. Like most rulers, he probably thought of himself as a god. I don't know enough about Persian/Mede laws, but it seems a new law could trump the old one. Although perhaps he didn't do this earlier because he still wanted people to worship him!

16. King D and King Neb make decrees that praise God and call on everyone to turn to Him - would anyone have been saved by this, and how since they weren't Jews?

Non-Jews could be saved - they could join the people of God. There were allowances for this. See for example Exodus 12:48-49:

Exodus 12:48-49

48“A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it. 49The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.”

Were they saved? Well, even in the Old Testament, God called on people's hearts, not just empty displays of circumcision. If people truly turned to God, then yes, they could be saved. But if they were only following a decree with their heads and not their hearts, they would not be saved.

17. Why did the king's men and families have to die? They told the king Daniel was praying to his God, which was true.

It was true, but they had been deceptive. The phrase "falsely accused" is better translated as "maliciously accused". In fact, it literally means that they "devoured a piece" of Daniel. They were deceptive toward the King. Daniel was an administrator and he was not even consulted on this law. Yet they said in Daniel 6:7 that all the administrators and satraps had agreed. That was not true.

18. Can you speak more about the place and power of prayer in this story and our lives?

In two weeks we will come to chapter 9 which is a powerhouse passage about prayer! But just briefly, the pattern of prayer in a believer's life is an incredibly helpful and important way to stay strong in the Lord and depend on him. Daniel's practice of prayer, 3 times a day, is effective. We can see that he is a man of great faith. Therefore, imitating his patterns of faith are not a bad thing to do! Prayer is a key way for us to exercise our faith and trust in God. It is the way we "hand things over" to him and tell him "I trust you with this".

19. Daniel’s punishment under Darius’ law is specifically because of his praying; how does it translate to us today, since our laws aren’t explicitly oppressive?

There are times our government laws may (and have) impacted the exercise of our faith. Oppression can sneak up on you! The laws around proselytising are becoming more and more overt. That is, it is harder to directly share your faith with people in certain situations. If you work in a government job, you will know very specifically how this has changed. Some of these are not altogether bad, but things change quickly. it/s only in the last decade or so that we have seen the laws change around assisted suicide/dying, same-sex marriage, late-term abortion and, in Victoria, laws referred to by some as "anti-conversion" laws. We may be free to pray, but are we free to act with a Christian ethic? Or is this becoming more difficult?

20. Once Daniel is vindicated by God and is saved from the lions, does king Darius lift the decree? (Verse 8 and 15 says the decree could not be changed)

He seems to "add" a new law - to say that Daniel's God must be worshipped. This law seems to trump the other law. See also question 15 above.

21. Are the children of the officials like ppl who have never heard the gospel/could not have known they were idol worshipping? is this God’s judgment?

As we talked a bit about last week, we can't say definitively whether this is God's judgment or not, although their deaths were at the hands of King Darius. So I would think that this is the result of a sinful human ruler and sinful humans.

22. Can it be speculated that Daniel was faithful to God and also acknowledged the authority on earth, as seen in v23?

Yes, I think we see that Daniel was very much acknowledging the rulers on earth, UNTIL they conflicted with his devotion to God. Verse 3 tells us that Daniel was very much honoured by the King and acknowledged his rule.

23. Is it ok to think Daniel was a quiet Christian because his action was louder to speak about God?

I think Daniel is an example for us of a person who was respected and respected others. He had good character and integrity and simply lived daily (and possibly quietly) by faith. When called on by the King, he conducted himself with that same integrity, not worrying about what may happen to him. He simply handed his worries over to God. He seemed to be quiet until the world conflicted with his faith. Then his quiet faith seemed to be quite noisy! If our faith never makes waves in the world, then maybe we need to ask why. The world is so different in belief from our faith in Jesus. It will and should often conflict. If it does not, then perhaps we are hiding it too much. Although sometimes there is good reason to do this. For example, if you are a Christian in North Korea at the moment, you may choose to hide your faith in public in an effort to share it privately.

24. Many people say that Christians put down others so to highlight the power of God. How to respond?

That's sad that this happens. How to respond? Don't be one of those Christians who put others down. We may need to remind them that every person is made in the image of God. To put down a human is to put down an image bearer of God. It is putting down a person for whom Jesus died.

Click here to watch the questions answered during our live Q&A after the sermon at night church last Sunday.

Q and A is from 1:08:40

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