What do you do when everyone is against you?
Daniel 6:1-10
This week is the week that the United States has set aside to have a Thanksgiving holiday. A day set aside to thank our Lord for His goodness toward us. A day to thank God for the food on the table, clothes on the back, and more blessings that we ever even realize.
But, would you celebrate a day of Thanksgiving if you were in this situation:
You were in a position of great importance and responsibility. You were very conscientious about your job and performed it to the best of your ability. The individual that you reported to was pleased with your efforts.
However, the ones under you, hated you because of your performance. They conspired against you to destroy your reputation, career, and life.
Because of their efforts, you had to make a choice being doing what you normally do or alter your pattern for life. Realizing that the choice could mean that you would lose your life. What would you do? Who you thank God for a day likes this or would you refrain from thanking Him?
In today passage, we see a man who endured this kind of day. He had to make a choice, which could determine how long he would be allowed to live. He made the choice and thanked the Lord for it.
What would you do? How would you handle it? Would you change your life to prevent damage? Would you alter your lifestyle? Would you crawl into a shell and hide? What or how would you handle it?
Let look at what Daniel endured. Lets examine his options. And, then lets see what and why he did what he did.
The Scriptures were written in order for us to learn and apply things to our lives so we might live for Christ. What can we learn from this experience of Daniel.
I. Government Makeup
In this passage, Darius, the king established the government order. He appointed three presidents to oversee 120 princes. The princes had a specific task in government as well as the presidents.
The princes were the individuals who ran the government on a day by day basis. They were the backbone of the government.
The presidents were over the princes for one particular reason. The president¡¦s job was to make sure that the princes did exactly what they were supposed to do so the King came to no losses. King Darius understood that a check system was necessary to keep people honest.
Daniel was one of the three presidents. However, Daniel enjoyed a special place because Darius considered him over all the other presidents and princes. Daniel had the primary place which carried the greatest influence with the King.
Unfortunately, Daniel¡¦s position with the king caused jealousy and envy with the other princes which conspired to remove him. Daniel was not liked by the princes because he was a man of integrity which kept the king from losing financial or otherwise.
Jealousy is a dangerous emotion, which brings harm to all that is involved. The princes and other presidents were jealous of Daniel¡¦s position.
Jealousy is when a person is envious of what God has blessed another individual with. Their desire is to have the same thing or get the thing that the other person has. The princes were jealous of the position and performance of Daniel.
KJV 1 Kings 21:1 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. 3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. 4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. 5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? 6 And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. 7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. 8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. 9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: 10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. 11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. 12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. 13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. 15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. 16 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
Notice in this passage how King Ahab was jealous over the vineyard of Naboth. He wanted the vineyard. He offered to swap another vineyard for this vineyard. He offered to pay money for the vineyard. Naboth refused to sell his family inheritance. Because of Naboth¡¦s refusal to sell, King Ahab pouted like a small child. He refused to eat, just laid on his bed and pouted.
His wife conspired against Naboth and eventually destroyed him. After his death, King Ahab was able to acquire the vineyard.
Jealousy and envy cost a man his life and his family their inheritance.
Because of the princes¡¦ jealousy, they conspired to destroy Daniel.
II. Government Investigation
The princes and other two presidents decide to remove Daniel from his place in the government. They decide to destroy Daniel by first looking into:
1. How he fulfilled his job duties
Some times, individuals will separate their business life from their spiritual life. They keep them separate. Individuals will go to church on Sunday and do underhanded business dealings on Monday. I have had individuals tell me that you can not be a Christian and be successful in the business world.
I was talking with a friend of mine who said that he could not keep high morals and do his job. He had to be able to lie, drink, and entertain in order to get the business.
Daniel was different. His beleifs, convictions and moral was apart of how he did his job. He was a man of intense integrity. He did that which was right.
The princes examined his business dealings and concluded that they would not be able to find anything to use against Daniel on how he took care of the king¡¦s business.
He was above board in all that he did.
2. How his character was.
After examining his job performance, they decide to see if Daniel had any skeletons in his closet. They closely examined his life. Probably, they hired a series of private investigators to look into his life and see if there was something they could use against him.
What areas did they examine?
„h How he spent his money? I sure that examine his bank statement to see what he spent his money on. Was it alcohol, drugs, pornography, sex, gambling, etc.
„h How he spent his time? Where did he go, what did he do? Did he spend it with his family or at office, or where?
„h How he spent his recreation time? What did he do for fun? Was it wholesome, right, or healthy? Was it illegal, immoral, or illicit behaviour?
Daniel had nothing in his life that the princes could use against him.
3. How he worshipped.
After examining Daniel¡¦s life, the princes decided that they only way they could conspire against Daniel was with his devotion to the Lord. They knew that Daniel was a man of godly devotion, a man of personal conviction, and a man of daily service to the Lord.
Therefore, they had to use his devotion against him.
Notice that the presidents and the princes understood that Daniel was a man of integrity. They knew that Daniel did not deserve the treatment that he was going to receive because of their conspiracy.
But, this did not matter to them. They did not care about Daniel. They did not care about his character. They did not care that Daniel was above reproach. They only care about his position and prestige. They wanted what Daniel had. They wanted his place in the kingdom. They were heartless, cruel, and dangerous.
This shows you the character of the world, which can be summed up in one statement: ¡§Look out for number one (me).¡¨
It should not surprise you. A person who does not know Christ is capable of anything, any evil devices, and any conspiracy.
III. Government Conspiracy
KJV Daniel 6:6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. 7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. 9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
A. The Deception
All of the presidents and princes met with the King. They purposely left Daniel out of the meeting in order to pass the legislation. They worked the meeting around to leave Daniel out of the decision making.
Many times, I have seen others pull the same stunt. They will call a meeting and purposely leave individuals out so their plans will pass.
Secondly, they spoke for everyone, even the ones who were not there. Notice their statement in verse 7, ¡¥all.¡¦ They spoke for Daniel. They used his name to give extra credits to the plan. They did not mind lying, deceiving, or tricking the king.
B. The Plan
The plan was to establish a decree that no one could pray or worship another god for thirty days. They could only bring a petition before the king.
This plan did two things. First, it built the ego of the king. He say himself as the one to be worship. They appealed to his ego.
Secondly, it gave the presidents and princes an opportunity to destroy Daniel. They had examined his life and knew that he could not go thirty days without praying to the Lord.
The king failed in asking Daniel what he thought of the decree. He should have known that by Daniel¡¦s life, he would not have agreed to the decree. However, the king allowed the others to rush him into the decision. One to of the lessons in life should be: no not make quick decisions. The king made a quick decision without considering everyone or the consequences of the decision.
IV. Daniel¡¦s Choice
The King made the decision. He signed it into law which could not be changed or altered according to the law of the Medes and Persians. The law went into effect and Daniel knew it.
„h Daniel knew the ramifications of the new decree. He knew what it meant for his life. He knew that if he continued his normal pattern for his life, it would mean his death. So what was Daniel going to do?
KJV Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
„h Daniel knew that the decree had been signed.
„h Daniel went to his house and continued to do exactly as he had done all the other days. Notice the word, aforetime. It means that Daniel did nothing different from the previous days.
„h Every day, Daniel spent three times a day in prayer. Three times a day, Daniel thanked God for the things in his life. He thanked God.
1. The question is, what did Daniel give thanks for?
„h For the decree? I sure not!
„h For the problems? I sure not!
„h For the opportunities? Yes, the opportunity to serve the Lord. Opportunities to witness for the Lord. For the grace, strength, guidance, and on and on.
„h Daniel understood that he was to give God thanks in all things.
So what should we learn from this passage.
Lesson #1 ¡V Worldly people will connive and conspire against anyone, regardless of their character.
Lesson #2 - The Christian life should be the major part in every aspect of our lives, whether it is our business, family, recreation, or any other part.
Lesson #3 ¡V The threat of punishment should not hinder our walk with the Lord. Because the Scriptures teach us that greater is He within us than he that is in the world, God is in control and knows what our situation is.
Lesson #4 - Even on the most difficult days, we can still give thanks to our Lord and Saviour for all that He has done for us.
KJV 1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
KJV James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Copyright Michael K. Hudson ¡V November 2000
