Thte 1lriMmpllil (Q)}f

JD)mnileliQ CGOO
by Reverend Wayne o ~ e r s
Everyone is familiar with the story of
Daniel in the Lion's Den. However,
most people miss the real significance
of that miraculous deliverance. The real
issue isn't simply God's miraculous
power to deliver His people from danger,
but TilE TRIUMPH OF TilE
KINGDOM OF GOD OVER Tiffi
KINGDOMS OF MEN!
The Book of Daniel is not primarily
about Daniel but about Daniel's God.
Daniel 6:26, "I issue a decree that in
every part of my kingdom people must
fear and reverence TilE GOD OF
DANIEL." That is the point of the
book: THE TRUJMPH OF DANIEL'S
GOD!
The particular message of Daniel 6
is TilE TRIUMPH OF GOD'S LAW
OVER mE LAW OF MAN.
In Daniel 6 we see the conflict
between the law of God vs. the law of
man, the law of the Medes and the
Persians, 1: 5, 7, 8, 12, 15, 22, 26.
There is a struggle between the law of
God and the law of man. Whose law
shall prevail - that is the issue.
What is the goal of the Kingdom of
God? The goal is a new heavens and a
new earth in which righteousness
dwells. This is stated clearly in 2 Peter
3:13, and in many other ways in many
other places.
The vision that God gave Daniel in
7:27 was of all the nations being given
to the "Saints" (holy ones), and all
dominions will SERVE and OBEY
Him The message of the vision in 9:24
focuses on a putting an end to
transgression and iniquity, and the
establishment of everlasting
righteousness. Like Revelation 22: 11,
Daniel12:10 ends with reference to the
victory of the righteous over the
wicked.
The goal of the Kingdom of God is
the vindication and the establishment of
righteousness and holiness among the
men who are the objects of God's grace.
The message of Daniel 6 in
particular is that the Law of God
prevails and triumphs over the law of
man. The Righteous Law of God
prevails over the wicked laws of man!
The law of Moses triumphs over the
law of the Medes and Persians!
When we speak of the law of God,
do not confuse that with legalism. To
preach the law is not to preach
legalism. The law is not the Gospel,
but the Gospel is not lawless! The law
of God is holy, just, and good, (Rom
7:12). It is a transcript of the character
of God. We all believe that in the New
Heavens and Earth there will no longer
be any sin, or lawlessness; there will be
only holiness and righteousness. The
law is not an end in itself. It is a
revelation of God's will for man in order
that he may live in fellowship with
Himself, the righteous and holy God
who cannot look upon sin. Habakkuk
1:13, "Your eyes are too pure to look
on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong."
It should be apparent that what is
good for evangelizing the lost, i.e.,
pointing out their sin against God's
law, guilt, condemnation, and need of a
Savior, ought to be just as good for
Christians. Do we tell the lost that
they are condemned for breaking God's
law? Yes. Then do we tell them that
they need to be saved so that they can
go on breaking God's law and living
in sin? Or, do we not tell them that
Jesus came to save us from the guilt
and condemnation of sin by His death,
and by His power we are also
redeemed from the bondage of sin that
we may also walk as new creations in
holiness, righteousness, and truth?
I. ONLY THE LAW OF GOD
DEFINES GOOD MEN.
Darius was concerned about the
problems of dishonesty, theft,
corruption, in his government and
kingdom. He created a system of
governmental oversight, (6:1-2), in
order that "He might not suffer loss."
He was afraid that his people would
not pay their taxes, and that his 120
"Governors" would also steal from
him. He faced the problems of his
own governors lining their own
pockets and feathering their own
nests; bribery, corruption. He
appointed three Commissioners under
him and over the rest of his kingdom
to protect his possessions. And,
ultimately, he planned to make Daniel
the sole administrator of his whole
kingdom. Why? BECAUSE
DANIEL WAS THE ONLY
HONEST MAN IN IDS WHOLE
KlNGDOM!
What made Daniel good? He was a
good and honest man, keeping the law
of God, because he had a different
Spirit, (6:3). Only God can make
people good. No amount of law or
legislation, or even education, can
make people good.
It is ironic that "the law of the
Medes and Persians" was irrevocable.
Darius had the power of life and death,
the power to enact laws that could not
be changed, (6: 8, 12). BUT, HIS
LAW COULD NOT MAKE ONE
MAN GOOD OR HONEST. HE
COUlD NOT TRUST HIS OWN
GOVERNORS!
A. The law of man is impotent,
powerless to make men good,
trustworthy, honest And yet,
legislators still try to make men good
The Counsel of Chalcedon May, 1990 Page 9
by legislation. They are going to
create. a gOod society, do away with
crime by more legislation and
education. THEY, HOWEVER,
CANNOT PRODUCE GOOb
OTIZENS.
The purpoSe of law is to punish evil
doers and to reward the gOOd, (Rrinums
13:lf). But the law, man's'law, or even
God's law, cannot make anyone gOOd.
Only GOO can make people good, can
change the heart. Such was DanieL
Daniel possessed a different Spirit,
(6:3). He was good because God had
given him a good heart, 5:11,
6:22). ' .
God's iaw is the standard' of goodness
and morality. God's law defines what
is right, jus4 and good. And, only God
can n:take a man good by giving him a
new heart. Rejecting the law of God as
the standardof good and evil, rejecting
the role of the Civil magistrate to
punish and' reward good and evil, men
have sought 'to create good citizens by
legislation. It cailnot be done. The
only hope for the society of men is
men who ate citizens by
God's grace and Spirit.
B. The 1aw of man is subject to
perversion. Here wicked men used, or
misused, abused, the law to accomplish
their own wicked purposes, to evert '
justice, to'persecute the righteous, and
to further their own agenda.
ln 6:3f. we see how the Kin'g's
govenors used the power of law to trap
Daniel so that they could pursue their
own careers. They encouraged P;ui'\IS
to enact a law which would put Daniel
in the position of having to disobey the
king's law in order to obey God.
When there is no absolute
for law, but the law is subject to the
desires and deterni.inations of itien, then
there is no justice, or, at least. JusUce
may he perverted for personal
purposes.
. Darius was subject tci political
pressure groups and a media blitz. that
appealed to his own ego. Notice how
the media Was USed tO misrepresent the
truth. In Vs. 7 we are tolci .that "AI.L"
tt,e commissioners had v s. 2
tells us that there were only three
commissioners and one of them was
Daniel. Daniel hadn't agreooto this, or
even been consulted. We must l(larn.
that the media supports its own agenda
by its reporting of stories slanted to
foster its own purposes.
Law is not our safeguard for our life
and property. Law can be
inteq>reted, or perverte<l Only God's .
is O!,li' saftlgl!.ard. At one time
blacks were legally slaves. Today, it is
legal to kill babies by abortion. The
issue is .not law vs. anarchy, but God's
law.vs. man's law.
c. 'nle-law of man is subject to
presumption. There is no doubt that
Darius had no evil intent in this law.
When he realized that by this law that
Daniel was in trouble, he lOoked for
some loophole by which he oould get
Daniel out of trouble.
Daniei 6:1 tells us the operating
principle of Darius, "It seemed good t6
Darius ... " Darius was doing what he
thought was good. The problem is that
even good intentions may backfire and
are presuniptuous when they ignore the
word and law of God. I dare say that
most of tile laws that are enacted by
legislators are motivated by a desire to
do something good even abortion
rights legislation.
The problem is that man carmot
determine good and evil for himself.
Man is not omniscient He is not
holy. Therefore, the only fair, just,
good law that we can IIUst is G<;ld's
law. God is omniscient, good,.
incorruptible, free from bribes. and
selfish agen<;las. Man, even good men,
cannot forsee how their good
intentions, their legislation, can be
misapplied and perverted in the future
to punish the good and benefit the
wicked. only safe course is the
law of God as the standard of justice
and righteousness.
the law of God will prevail over
the laws of man. Event,ually, all the
will abandon their laws to'
subject themSelves to the law of God in
order that there may be peace and
justice (Isaiah 2:3-4).
Page 10 May 1990 The Counsel of Chalced.on
II. O'IIU.Y niB LAW OF GOD IS
IRREVOCABLE.
. ._ .
Darius enacted a law, which
according to the law of the Medes and
Persiai)S wa8 irrevocable, (6:12, 15).
Darius decreed that no one could ptay ta .
any other god but himself for 30 days.
. What if s_uch a law were enacted and
publically proclaimed today. What
would you do? Would it make any.
difference? If such a decree were issued,
today many Christians wouldn't find it
any di(ficulty because haven't
prayed in 30 days anyway! It \VOtildn't
affect at au to be told they
couldn't pray for 30 days r
As we consider this, however, we .
again see the conflict of the law of God
with the law of mail, and how the law ,
of God triumphs over the law of man,
(6:22).
A. Only God's law is irrevocable:
Such a simple tnith should be clear to
all. SiJlce man's laws are subject to .
error, injustice, etc.,. they must always
be subject to. change, to being revoked . .
It is ironic that the laws of God
have been revok;ed in our oWn
and men have, througlt the Supreme
Court, enacted laws, such as the right
to an abortion, which are essentially
regarded as .
B. We must always obey G()d
rather than man. When man's laws
come mto contlict with the law of
we have no choice. We must Obey
God. .
11te clear and teaching
of Scriptpre is that the civi1 magistrate
should never enact any legislation
to the iaw of God. Daniel said,
in 6:22 that God had foUI\d him
innocent and that he had not committed
any crime against the king himSelf.
We know that he had violated the
king's decree. But, the problem was
the king's decree, not Daniel. God
found him iimocent. That which was
wrong was the king's decree. King's
decrees-should never conflict With the
law of God.
C. We should pray that law
and kingdom prevail over the kingdoms
of men.
The praying and the prayer of
Daniel is so very important for us.
1. Daniel prayed regularly, three
times a day. Notice that this was his
custom, (6:10). He didn't just start
praying when the decree was enacted, .
prayer had been his daily practice.
What is your daily practice?
2. He prayed toward Jerusalem.
This is not some mystical or magical
practice such as the Muslims who pray .
facing Mecca five times a day. Why
was he praying facing Jerusalem?
Remember that Daniel was in
Babylon. The temple and the city of
Jerusalem, the city of God, lay in
ruins. Remember how that Nehemiah
prayed when he saw the city (Nehemiah
1). Daniel 9 is parallel to this and
probably precedes Daniel 6. Both took
place in the first year of Darius. Daniel
already had this custom of praying
before the governors used it as a trap
to ensnare him. Daniel was praying for
the restoration of Jesrusalern, for the
vindication of the name and glory of
God (Daniel 9:'6-19}. This was no self- .
centered, materialistic, prayer for. .,
personal comfort and possessions.
Daniel was praying for the restoration
of the kingdom of God three times a
day. Jesus taught us to pray the Lord's
Prayer. It has the same message, "Ow:
Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed
be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy,
will be done on earth as it is in
heaven .... " That's what Daniel was
praying.
3. Daniel was praying humbly, on
his knees, (6:10). You will notice that
in Chapter 9, Daniel humbles himself,
identifying with the people of God,
confessing their sin against God and for
having broken His law. But, Daniel
was a righteous man. The whole
of Chapter 6 is his intergrity and
obedience to the law of God. What
does this mean?
In the first place, God hears and
answers the fervent prayers of a
righteous man, (James 5:16).
Throughout the Psalms David prayed to
God for deliverance because of his
personal integrity, see Psalms, chapter
26 and chapter 66:18. This is not
arrogant presumption, but honest
evaluation. And God will not hear and
honor the prayers of people whose
practice, character, and motives are not
godly, pure, and holy. You ask and do
not receive because you ask amiss that
you may consume it upon your own
lusts, (James 4:2-3). We must be men
and women of integrity in prayer.
and the Persians. Only this time he
decrees to all nations, tribes, and
tongues, that in his kingdom all men
are to fear and tremble before the God
of Daniel, (6:26).
Secondly, we must humble
ourselves and confess our sins and the
sins of our people (Daniel 9). A man
of integrity is a man whose heart is
broken for sin. He is not self-righteous
or complacent The more righteous he
is, the more sinful he sees himself and
those around him. There is no conflict
here. Daniel truly identified with the
sins ofthe nation and pleaded for God
to forgive according to His word and
promise.
Therefore, God heard and delivered
Daniel - because he prayed. He prayed
based on the word and promise of God,
for the purpose and glory of God, on
the platform of a holy life, confessing
his and their sins. Again, we see how
the law of God prevails and triumphs
over the law of men. Because Daniel
honored God, God caused him to
prevail, because God found him
innocent, (6:22), and he trusted in his
God, (6:23).
m. ONLY GOD'S LAW IS
UNIVERSAL
The fact is that not only is God's
law universal, but that it should be the
universal law of all the nations. The
triumph of Daniel is the triumph of
Daniel's God and the law of Daniel's
God over the law of the Medes and the
Persians.
A. The Universal Scope of God's
law.
Notice that Darius now issues
another decree, the law of the Medes
Did Darius just declare the law of God
as the basis for his. Did he
j11st mix. religion and politics? I
believe he did.
B. The Universal Blessing of God's
Law.
Darius begins his decree with "May
your peace abound!", (vs. 25). The
only basis and hope for peace and
prosperity is life under the holy, just,
and good law of God.
C. The Universal Extent of God's
law.
Darius decrees that all men are to
tremble and to fear Daniel's God. He
decrees that God is the only living and
enduring God, and His kingdom and
dominion is the only kingdom which
will not be destroyed. Only He saves,
delivers, and rescues men from danger.
This is Darius' Great Proclamation
which is echoed in Jesus' Great
Commission, (Mat 28:18-20). "All
authority in heaven and earth has been
given unto me. Go, ye, therefore, into
all the world and make disciples of all
the nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
everything that I have commanded you.
And lo, I am with you to the end of the
ages."
What is the Great Commision? It
is to see the triumph of the dominion
and kingdom of Jesus Christ over all
the nations; nations living in peace
and prosperity; nations practicing
justice and goodness, according to the
law of God. Is this your prayer, as it
was the prayer of Daniel? Is this your
vision? Is this the focus of your effort
and witness? Is this the commitment
of your church?
The Counsel of Chalcedon May, 1990 Page 11