Daniel 6:10 Commentary and Bible Study

Daniel understood the move his enemies had made against him, and he saw how impossible it was to avoid. If he continued to worship God as he always did, his life would be under threat. Nevertheless, he didn’t hesitate for a moment, but continued just as he always did to give testimony to the fact that he depended upon God. That is the application of his faith. He is not going to let that go. During the time of persecution in the former Soviet Union, in the West we used to talk about the underground church. Those persecuted Baptists – unregistered Baptists, in the Soviet lands – didn't like that term. They were not very keen to be regarded as an underground church. They would say, ‘We are not an underground church; we are carrying on just as we did before.’ So while underground church has become fashionable in the West, it’s not a thing they liked. There were some things that were underground. Those handmade printing presses were underground, most certainly. Some of the things they did were underground. Some of their larger meetings were conducted in rendezvous that were kept secret as much as possible, but their regular services went right on in their meeting places subject to interruption, subject to the arrest of the pastors. It was their witness. They carried on like that, even though their meetings would often be broken down. Years ago in the 1970s and 1980s we were seeing photographs of the places that were demolished and seized, but they were not secret. Some of the churches had been demolished and rebuilt: timber structures. They had been set on fire; they had been moved or reconstructed, but there was still public worship going on. It is the same with the Daniel. Will he stop his witness and go into hiding? No he won’t. It's his duty, he believes, to God; it’s his faith.He prayed towards Jerusalem – this is where his heart was. It was the place where God had chosen to locate his temple, the place to which the pious in Israel longed one day to return. He didn’t shrink from prayer. He knew he must be an example to the Jews, a man of habit, praying at certain fixed times. Otherwise prayer would be forced to fall silent. His posture is reverent. Specifically, he prayed and gave thanks, and made supplication to God. He had not the slightest doubt that this was the right thing to do, even at the cost of his life. He went into his house – possibly this means he came into town. He conspicuously prays, ‘as he did aforetime.’ The threat against his life was not going to make any difference. He was safer obeying God in a den of lions, than disobeying God as the king’s favourite.The officials are ready to gun him down. ‘These men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God’ – the word ‘assembled’ means ‘came thronging’, ‘were in a tumult’. Maybe there was a spy who was watching, and then the others were called and they would all come or at least a number of these rulers, so that they could give testimony and witness what was happening. They knew they would find Daniel at prayer, and brought him straight to the king. Perhaps the king would yield to their combined influence. The den of lions, was no doubt a regular feature of Medo Persian justice. Probably there was one in every city – an excavated pit in which the lions were kept, and lured from partition to another for cleaning. But then they approached Darius. There was some council of state in verse 12, and you see their cunning, because they want to clear the ground and make sure that the king is going to be faithful to his pledge and his law. They don't mention the name of Daniel. ‘Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree?’ They rehearse the whole business of this ban on petitions, until the king affirms, ‘Correct. That's the law. That's what I signed.’ Only then do they formally charge Daniel. Look at contempt towards Daniel: ‘That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.’ He is just a captive – forget the fact that he is the first in rank of the three presidents who are over the entire region. They lie saying that Daniel has no regard for the king. They king, of course, knows that that is not true, but it is part of their tactics to discredit Daniel in the eyes of the king, and to build up prejudice against Daniel if that is possible. They think they have their quarry.