Impact Phrases

Introduction

Well, you can vaguely see there is a lion. Now he’s even more apparent. Didn’t want you to see that yet. Okay, I’ll let you see that. Let’s go ahead and get started with that. Lions are a real problem. Did you know that? Lions are a problem.

I was just going outside one afternoon recently. Just go into the mailbox. No, that wasn’t a lion. There’s never a lion there. Never ever a lion. I don’t walk outside ever and think, lion. Do you? I mean, could you walk out these doors tonight just minding your own business? And there he is. Boy, that would be something if this happens. I’m not expecting a lion. Our kids run outside, they’re not expecting a lion. Lions are in cages at zoos. You might see one on a safari in Africa. And so I think the imagery that the Bible speaks of is a little bit lost on us. Though we hear about people who are those in charge of lions at the zoo because of some mistake that takes place.

Someone gets mauled by a lion, sometimes occasionally killed by a lion, and that should tell us that lions can be very dangerous. This is one of my favorite proverbs, and we’re getting there in our daily Bible reading. Proverbs 22 and verse 13. The sluggard will use the lion as an excuse. The sluggard says, There is a lion outside. I shall be slain in the streets. You need a good reason for being lazy. So you get to be lazy because if you go outside, there’s the potential that you will be mauled by a lion. And apparently, this was a real problem because it’s found in two Proverbs. The sluggard says, There is a lion in the road. A lion is in the open square. It’s dangerous out there, so you better just stay at home and play video games.

Well, he didn’t have video games, but he would have been playing video games had they been available in biblical times. Well, there’s more serious problems with lions, of course, figuratively speaking, our adversary is compared to a roaring lion. We hear that one a lot. You’ve heard this verse. You could probably quote it. The devil prowls about as a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

And so it might be lost on us a little, but we are to resist him and be firm in our faith. And our Savior himself will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Hungry lions in particular are a problem, but not for God. And I’ll give you a couple of stories in that regard. My favorite that fueled a sermon, How to Kill a Lion on a Snowy Day, is a little tidbit given to us about Jehoida, the son of Beniah, who went down in a pit and killed a lion on a snowy day. And he also killed a giant, the next verse says, who was five cubits tall. Well, not quite as tall as Goliath, but he was one big fellow. Not as big as Og, King of Bashan.

At least remember how big his bed was, as we marked it off recently. So Beniah would be the enforcer of King Solomon like Joab had been for David. And I think the whole point of this story is to show the kind of faith that Beniah had. This wasn’t just, oh, by the way, here’s a military exploit of someone who had a lot of skill and capability. The point I make about Beniah was that he was a man of faith and trust in God. Like all of the mighty men of David were. It’s what made them so mighty. And then we noticed in Psalm 91, a psalm that I shared with you last week, that the one who trusts in God will tread upon the lion and the cobra.

And the young lion, he will trample down. God can handle the hungry lions. Okay, you may know where I’m going. And that is Daniel chapter 6. You might have thought, okay, I know where he’s headed with this. The story of Daniel and the lion’s den. And that lion says, standing firm in your faith, and that is certainly what Daniel did in Daniel chapter 6. When we are introduced to the story of Daniel, it is during the reign of what king?

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. And of course, he tells the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, not just in chapter 2, but again in chapter 4. And then there was the incident of Belshazzar in chapter 5, as the Babylonian kingdom is about to be overrun that night by the Medes and Persians, and there was the handwriting on the wall.

You have been weighed and found deficient. And your end is coming. And so when we come to chapter 6, we’re dealing with a different empire altogether. We’re not talking about the Babylonians anymore. We’re talking about the new world empire, the Medes and the Persians. And if there’s one point of observation I would make right here at the very beginning, we see Daniel’s spiritual impact on the lives of the most powerful men in the world in two separate kingdoms. That is an incredible part of this story as to the impact his faith had.

Verse 30 of Daniel chapter 5, that same night, the night he saw the handwriting on the wall, mene, tecaluparson. Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians that same night, Belshazzar, who had committed sacrilege that same night, Belshazzar the Chaldean was slain. So Darius the Mead received the kingdom at about the age of 62. Now just hold that thought for a minute, and if I don’t forget, I’ll come back to that. So what happens in chapter 6? This Darius the Mead in this new empire, he parcels out districts of this empire and puts 120 satraps over the kingdom so that they should be in charge of things. And over them three commissioners, one of whom was Daniel, that the king might not suffer loss.

This needs to be economically stable. And Daniel is a guy that he feels like that he can trust. And Daniel began distinguishing himself like he has done throughout his captivity, beginning in chapter 1. He was distinguishing himself among the commissioners and the satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit. And the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom.

Who began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel? A little bit of prejudice involved here, no doubt, not just because of his success. Sometimes people are prejudiced about that and jealous about that, but probably just from the fact that he’s not native. He’s a Hebrew. He’s from among the captives who are dwelling in the land. And so they wanted to try to find some ground of accusation. And it’s almost like politics in America, where they try to uncover every possible stone. We could even have an FBI investigation for two years, looking for some ground of accusation. They were somewhat doing that to Daniel. And they could find no evidence of corruption. Well, so it may not be exactly parallel, but they could find no evidence of corruption except he was faithful to God.

And so they involved the king in their nefarious plan. To invite an injunction that no petition be made to any God or man besides you, O king. The king was regarded as a deity. And so no prayer to any other deity other than you. It’s not a permanent injunction, but they knew Daniel could not live by these rules. Thirty days. And so the king goes along, not realizing the implications of such a decree.

1. He Entered His House: Deliberate Defiance

And this may be introductory to another thought or two next week. That has still yet to be determined. As I want to talk to you about what follows and some specific phrases. I know many of you are familiar with the story of Daniel being thrown in the lion’s den. But I want to point out to you a number of phrases in Daniel chapter 6 that have impact in your circumstances in your life. And I’m going to try to show you how that is so. And the first is found in verse 10. Now, when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he went home. But that’s not really what the text is telling you. He entered his house. Now, in his roof chamber, he had windows open toward Jerusalem, and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day.

That’s what his accusers and those jealous of him knew about Daniel. That this injunction would be a problem. And it says he entered his house and he did what he always did. He continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God as he had been doing previously. Now they have accusation. He has defied the king’s edict. And for that there can be only one result for such defiance. He must be executed. And the king doesn’t desire to do this to one who has such an extraordinary spirit. But he is thrown into the lion’s den. The king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lion’s den. What we have in this point is the deliberate defiance of defamation.

God is out. King Darius is the one. And Daniel says, not so. It’s akin to what we read in Acts 4 and Acts chapter 5. As the apostles were instructed to stop speaking in the name of Jesus. And they said, We cannot stop speaking. What we have seen and heard. We have a king, and he’s greater than you, and he’s more important than you, and he’s Jesus. And it doesn’t matter what you say. We must obey God rather than men. And this would be in the vein of his three friends. And we know the story of them being thrown into the fiery furnace. What were their names again? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. What were their Hebrew names? That gets a little more tricky. Hananiah, Meshael, and Azariah, those are the names that had God or Jehovah in them.

But we more commonly know them by their Babylonian names. I don’t make too big a deal about that, because those Babylonian names are more often used in Daniel than their Hebrew names, but we see them both. And Daniel himself, though he’s more commonly called by his Hebrew name, also had a Babylonian name. And that was Belteshazzar, like Belshazzar. It’s a lot easier to remember. Just take the T E and add it. Belteshazzar. And so, just like his friend Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, I’ve always wondered where Daniel is in the story of Daniel chapter 3, because he’s not mentioned. Don’t have the answer for that. There’s some things I don’t have the answer for in the book of Daniel, more on that momentarily. But I want you to notice in the story the deliberate defiance of those who would defame the name of God.

He was undaunted in his determination to serve God. Are you?

2. Your God, Whom You Constantly Serve

No matter the behavior that they will engage in and want you to engage in the same. Will you be holy, set apart for God’s purposes, even if it’s unpopular? Even if there’s some backlash, even if your friends make fun of you and think your ways silly, unenlightened. Will you take your stand for God the way Daniel did? He firmly, resolutely, went into his house and was undaunted in the service of the king. But then there’s something interesting about Darius himself. As Daniel is thrown to the lion’s end, he’s already had an impact on this ruler. When he says, Your God, whom you constantly serve, will himself deliver you. Look at the confidence that the king has. I could have made that one of the impact phrases, but.

And a stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring, and with the signet rings of the nobles, so that nothing might be changed in regard to Daniel. This is firm and fast. It’s a decree that the king made. Daniel had to be cast into the lion’s den. But perhaps Daniel’s God will deliver him, and the king is not given up. The king has come to believe in the power of Daniel’s God. Was he a monotheist? Did he only believe in the God of Daniel? We see that in regard to Nebuchadnezzar as well. Did he ever really completely forsake Marduk, the God of the Babylonians? Maybe not. But there may be something to this God of Daniel.

No doubt Darius has heard the stories of Daniel’s dream telling and of the exploits of the God of the Israelites. But then it says, not only did he have at least the possibility in mind that Daniel’s God could deliver him, but he says he spent the night fasting. He went without food. I mean, for a king to have any concern about this whatsoever, he spent the night fasting.

Apparently, in the evening, he would be prone to eating. And no amusement, no entertainment was brought to him. Who was this Darius or Darius the Mead? You know there’s all kinds of historical question marks about who this person was, because Cyrus, king of Persia, was the leader of the world. And some have tried to connect the identity of this Darius to Cyrus. In fact, in the NIV is a footnote at verse 28, it says that is Cyrus the Persian, after Darius will make his decree post Lion’s Den incident. Perhaps it is clarifying that Darius is also known as Cyrus the Persian. Although that’s not commonly the understanding. Some conjecture that this Darius could also have been known as Gobrias. Or Ugbaru, the general who actually invaded Babylon.

There is a Gubara, which is very similar to Ugbaru, take my word for it. He’s another possibility, and supposedly he was born in 601 BC, and that would provide for the 62 years that we just read about in Daniel chapter 5. But most people would just say, Darius the Mead, it’s literary legend.

Is this story mere legend? Or is it history? First of all, our historical information from this time is very scant.

That history does not give us information about. And I’m going to come back to that in just a second, but left to no imagination as to what the entertainment might have involved in verse 18. It would be customary for a man of great power and leader of a kingdom for him to have the distraction or the amusement of women. And there was none of that on this occasion.

I mean, surely he’s no longer there. Or is he? He’s been there all night. And he cries out with a troubled voice and says, Daniel, servant of the living God.

Has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions. What do your friends think about you? Would they say?

Isn’t that awesome? That Daniel’s had that kind of influence and impact that Darius said, he’s saying this about Daniel, your God, whom you constantly serve. May that be true of us? That your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, your relatives, everybody knows. What is it about that person? How could I describe them? They serve God constantly. How wonderful is that? A simple yet important pursuit and influence in the lives of others. Then Daniel spoke to the king, O king, live forever. A voice comes from the lion’s den.

And they have not harmed me inasmuch as I was found innocent. Guilty of violating the king’s edict, but found innocent before God.

3. No Injury Whatever, Because He Had Trusted in God

And then this. Then the king was very pleased to give orders for Daniel to be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him. He’s been in the den with lions all night. No injury at all. Again, it reminds me of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they came out of the furnace. What? They didn’t even have the smell of smoke on them. You ever been standing around a fire, you have a little bonfire, and you walk away and go home? You smell the smoke on your garments. Not even the smell of smoke. They were insulated by God and saved in the midst of the fire. Daniel, these lions haven’t touched him.

They haven’t even nibbled on him. Of course, I’ve never known lions to just nibble. But then again, I’ve never really encountered one. So, but I am pretty sure that just nibbling on his toes is not what a lion would typically do. No injury whatever, because it says he had trusted in God. Okay, let’s get back to this, whether the story was made up or not. I want to tell you if Daniel 6 or Daniel 3, for that matter, is not a real story. If it’s just the stuff of legend, you don’t only have to throw out the book of Daniel. You’re gonna have to throw out the book of Hebrews. And while you’re with it, you can just disregard the whole Bible. Because careful allusion has been made to this story in the New Testament.

Just like in regard to Jonah and the great fish. Another Old Testament story that people say, oh no, that didn’t really happen. That’s just legend. That’s just a folk tale. That stuff isn’t real. Then why does Jesus keep mentioning it? Look, the credibility of Jesus is tied to the story of Jonah. The credibility of the New Testament is tied to the story of Daniel chapter 6. I’m not sure who this Darius the Meat is, but he’s real. And if he’s not real, why say he was 62? Just say he was an old man. He became king at the age of 62. Why point that out? Daniel is not talking about some kind of fictional character. It was a real guy with 62. Have I made my point on 62 yet?

It’s a real story. I wish the Hebrew writer had kept going on, don’t you? I know Hebrews is a long book, but I could have stood 40 more verses of this. Time would fail me. Oh, I mean, keep going. Tell us about. Hey, we need some more information on the judges anyway. Because we’re a little confused about Samson and Jephthah and some of the parts of their story. Why don’t you elaborate a little bit about their faith? We want to think better thoughts of them. I always tell you we should think better thoughts of all of them, including Gideon. And how does Bayraq get in the list and not Deborah? That’s an interesting one. Ponder that. We might skip over Bayraq pretty much as we talk about Deborah, but apparently he was a faithful fellow.

And Samuel and the prophet. Oh man, you realize how many prophets he could have written about? How awesome that would have been. And by faith they conquered kingdoms. Wait a minute. That sort of sounds like Daniel. They conquered kingdoms and they performed acts of righteousness. They obtained promises and they shut the mouths of lions. That must be the story of Daniel 6. And they quenched the power of fire. Whoa. That might be a reference to Daniel 3. They escaped the edge of the sword from weakness were made strong. These were men and women of whom the world was not worthy, we read about in Hebrews chapter 11. Because they trusted in God. Can I go back one more time to the sermon last week? The missing sermon.

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. In all your ways. Acknowledge it. He will establish your plans. We saw all this all this morning in Proverbs 16 and verse 3. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Let him lead you. Unique timeshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace? Why? Why Daniel and the lion’s den? Why didn’t that kind of stuff happen more often? We’re drawn to those stories because they’re neat, they’re different. A lot of amazing things happen in the Old Testament. Nothing quite like these two stories. What’s going on? I’ll tell you what’s going on. The people of God look decimated, down and out. They’re in captivity. And God is telling a foreign nation, these are still my people. Better keep an eye on their history.

4. God Lets the Lions Be Lions

Because I’m still involved. You don’t understand what all’s going on here, but you need to know who I am. As he says through Ezekiel, I will vindicate my name. And he’s showing an entire empire. He is showing Gentiles like Jonah does at Nineveh. He is showing Gentiles who the real God is, and you need to pay attention to him. It was a unique time and a unique opportunity to display his power among the Gentiles. One more phrase, and I’ll be done. It is in Daniel 6 and verse 24. Daniel’s alive. The king says, get him out of there. And they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel. And they cast them and their children and their wives. Beware when you do evil. Sometimes other people pay the price for the evil that you do.

This reminds me of Achan, the story of Achan, when his whole family is destroyed. It reminds me of the cities that were destroyed when Israel came into the promised land. I mean, it’s everybody. Their wives, their children. And they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. Okay, so this was not an unusual set of vegetarian lions. They didn’t eat Daniel because they were vegetarian.

This was not a weird set of lions. These lions were normal. And now God decides to let the lions be lions. And there’s a story there that you’d better mark and mark well.

All of God’s enemies.

Everyone who belittles him and his people. Everyone who does not regard him.

God pursues his enemies into the darkness. You know, a lot of times you call off the pursuit because it’s dark and there are other perils and you can’t see the enemy. No enemy of God’s escapes. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And you oppose God, you oppose his will, you oppose his righteousness, your end is your crushed.

Conclusion

Beware lest I turn and tear you into pieces. Psalm 50. Verse 22. Order your way aright while there’s time and opportunity. And I would just make this one observation about this entire story. There’s one important thing to leave you with. You need to make absolutely sure. Glad y’all got here for the last point. Noah, you need this. You need to be absolutely sure that you find yourself on the right side of history. Too many people find themselves on the wrong side of history. How horrible. How horrible it will be. Especially for those who have known the way of righteousness. Who have been all cleaned up and yet returned to wallowing in the mire. Do you realize? Do you realize how many saints of God do that very thing?

I don’t even want to know the percentages. To have known the way of righteousness and to turn back. Like a dog returning to its own vomit. What a filthy image. Horrible image. Don’t be found on the wrong side of history. Or to have been introduced. Maybe it’s not that you had once known it, but to be introduced, to have the message of truth placed in your life and say, I don’t need it. I feel fine without it. I don’t need salvation. I can map out my own course and destiny. Good luck with that. You’re going to be crushed. Under the weight of your sin. You’ll be crushed. All who oppose God and don’t embrace Him will be crushed. May that motivate you. Let’s stand a second.