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8/12/2019 1990 Issue 4 - The Triumph of Daniel's God - Counsel of Chalcedon
1/3
Thte
lriMmpllil
Q)}f
JD mnileliQ GOO
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 otherways 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 M N 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
8/12/2019 1990 Issue 4 - The Triumph of Daniel's God - Counsel of Chalcedon
2/3
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, 1 : 8 ~ 5:11,
6:22). ' .
God's iaw is the standard'of goodness
and morality. God's law defines what
is
right, jus4 andgood. 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
l w ~ b i d i n g
citizens
by
God's grace and Spirit.
B. The
aw 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 s t a n ~
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
~ i l y
perverted forpersonal
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
s r e e ~ v .
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
c h ~ g e d
inteq>reted, or perverte
8/12/2019 1990 Issue 4 - The Triumph of Daniel's God - Counsel of Chalcedon
3/3
C. We should pray that G ~ s 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 a i n ~
of Chapter 6 is his intergrity and
obedience to the
law
of God. What
does this mean?
n
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 ofGod 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
i
ssues
another decree, the
law
of the Medes
Did Darius just declare the law of God
as the basis for his . o c i e ~ 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? t
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