Daniel 6:25 Commentary and Bible Study

‘King Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth.’ Yes, but Darius is only the ruler of part of the Babylonian Empire. But there would seem to be some deal whereby either king – whether it was the minor king Darius, or the major king Cyrus – when they issued a special kind of decree, could issue it to the entire empire, because that's what Darius does. He writes to all people, nations and languages. ‘I make a decree.’ This is the outcome of the miracle. God is very economical with his miracles. People want miracles to occur every five minutes of every day sometimes, but in the Bible, God is very careful with his miracles, quite frugal with them, and there is usually some great purpose in them as there was here. Darius grants religious freedom, and it must be extended to the Jews. ‘I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.’ Again note, it is not the God of Darius. ‘For he is the living God’ – not all gods were living. You couldn't count on the pagan gods to make a response. He is the living God, and steadfast for ever, stable always. He will never be overcome in the mythology by another God. There will never be a time when he does not live – Darius accords a great deal to the God of Israel. ‘and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.’ So having witnessed this astonishing event Darius is overwhelmed by God to the point of issuing this great decree for liberty and for freedom.Let us consider what this miracle achieved. This all stems from the instrumentality of Daniel. He may not have known what was going to happen. He was a prophet; he might have known, though he doesn't record it; God might have intimated to him by vision that everything would work out right. But nevertheless he exercises his faith and he carries on his witness of worship, and he will not be dissuaded. Now what came out of that act of faith? Well a great deal of comfort for the remnant Jews, for the believing remnant, for the typical church and the true believers in their midst, because a general proclamation, stronger even than the one Nebuchadnezzar had made years earlier, went throughout the land. Respect the God of the Jews. No ruler would have dared legislate otherwise, or lift a finger, or mount a persecution, after a decree like that. So Daniel's faith accomplished the comfort of the people of God for a season. Of course it projected his testimony everywhere. It wasn't just the people who happened to be in the rulers’ quarter of the city who saw Daniel's devotions, because this decree mentions him by name and his deliverance from the power of the lions. So that act of faith established the testimony of Daniel, remarkably. Then you can see that it prepared the entire Jewish world for his great prophecies, because from chapter 7 on we are going to see the prophetic chapters: the visions and the predictions. The prophets of God in ancient times were always authenticated, attested. What an authentication this is: that on the eve of the great visions Daniel is spoken of throughout the empire: he and his miraculous deliverance! It's going to be part of his authentication. Also the enemies are destroyed. These people are powerful and cunning and hateful, and the ringleaders among them were destroyed by their own side. The way God works: it is amazing! That the seed of the serpent destroyed the seed of the serpent, if you please, in this great war, which gave considerable peace. The overriding reason for this was Daniel's act of faith, the line of the promised seed was preserved, and the Saviour could still be born, and the Jews were still there and their faithful remnant.