Prophets and Kings
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 44: In the Lions' Den
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"O king, live forever. My God hath sent His angel, and hath
shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me:"
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Pacific Press Publ. Assoc. |
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When Darius the Median took the throne formerly occupied by
the Babylonian rulers, he at once proceeded to reorganize the government. He
"set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes; . . . and
over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might
give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel
was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was
in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm." {PK 539.1}
The honors bestowed upon Daniel excited the jealousy of the
leading men of the kingdom, and they sought for occasion of complaint against
him. But they could find none, "forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was
there any error or fault found in him." {PK 539.2}
Daniel's blameless conduct excited still further the
jealousy of his enemies. "We shall not find any occasion against this
Daniel," they were constrained to acknowledge, "except [540]
we find it against him concerning the law of his God." {PK 539.3}
Thereupon the presidents and princes, counseling together,
devised a scheme whereby they hoped to accomplish the prophet's destruction.
They determined to ask the king to sign a decree which they should prepare,
forbidding any person in the realm to ask anything of God or man, except of
Darius the king, for the space of thirty days. A violation of this decree
should be punished by casting the offender into a den of lions. {PK 540.1}
Accordingly, the princes prepared such a decree, and
presented it to Darius for his signature. Appealing to his vanity, they
persuaded him that the carrying out of this edict would add greatly to his
honor and authority. Ignorant of the subtle purpose of the princes, the king
did not discern their animosity as revealed in the decree, and, yielding to
their flattery, he signed it. {PK 540.2}
The enemies of Daniel left the presence of Darius, rejoicing
over the snare now securely laid for the servant of Jehovah. In the conspiracy
thus formed, Satan had played an important part. The prophet was high in
command in the kingdom, and evil angels feared that his influence would weaken
their control over its rulers. It was these satanic agencies who had stirred
the princes to envy and jealousy; it was they who had inspired the plan for
Daniel's destruction; and the princes, yielding themselves as instruments of
evil, carried it into effect. {PK 540.3}
The prophet's enemies counted on Daniel's firm adherence to
principle for the success of their plan. And they were not mistaken in their
estimate of his character. He quickly [541] read
their malignant purpose in framing the decree, but he did not change his course
in a single particular. Why should he cease to pray now, when he most needed to
pray? Rather would he relinquish life itself, than his hope of help in God.
With calmness he performed his duties as chief of the princes; and at the hour
of prayer he went to his chamber, and with his windows open toward Jerusalem,
in accordance with his usual custom, he offered his petition to the God of [542]
heaven. He did not try to conceal his act. Although he knew full well the
consequences of his fidelity to God, his spirit faltered not. Before those who
were plotting his ruin, he would not allow it even to appear that his
connection with Heaven was severed. In all cases where the king had a right to
command, Daniel would obey; but neither the king nor his decree could make him
swerve from allegiance to the King of kings. {PK 540.4}
Thus the prophet boldly yet quietly and humbly declared that
no earthly power has a right to interpose between the soul and God. Surrounded
by idolaters, he was a faithful witness to this truth. His dauntless adherence
to right was a bright light in the moral darkness of that heathen court. Daniel
stands before the world today a worthy example of Christian fearlessness and
fidelity. {PK 542.1}
For an entire day the princes watched Daniel. Three times
they saw him go to his chamber, and three times they heard his voice lifted in
earnest intercession to God. The next morning they laid their complaint before
the king. Daniel, his most honored and faithful statesman, had set the royal
decree at defiance. "Hast thou not signed a decree," they reminded
him, "that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within
thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?" {PK 542.2}
"The thing is true," the king answered,
"according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not."
{PK 542.3}
Exultantly they now informed Darius of the conduct of his
most trusted adviser. "That Daniel, which is of the children of the
captivity of Judah," they exclaimed, "regardeth [543] not
thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition
three times a day." {PK
542.4}
When the monarch heard these words, he saw at once the snare
that had been set for his faithful servant. He saw that it was not zeal for
kingly glory and honor, but jealousy against Daniel, that had led to the
proposal for a royal decree. "Sore displeased with himself" for his
part in the evil that had been wrought, he "labored till the going down of
the sun" to deliver his friend. The princes, anticipating this effort on
the part of the king, came to him with the words, "Know, O king, that the
law of the Medes and Persians is, that no decree nor statute which the king
establisheth may be changed." The decree, though rashly made, was
unalterable and must be carried into effect. {PK 543.1}
"Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and
cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy
God whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee." A stone was laid
on the mouth of the den, and the king himself "sealed it with his own
signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed
concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night
fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep
went from him." {PK
543.2}
God did not prevent Daniel's enemies from casting him into
the lions' den; He permitted evil angels and wicked men thus far to accomplish
their purpose; but it was that He might make the deliverance of His servant
more marked, and the defeat of the enemies of truth and righteousness [544]
more complete. "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee" (Psalm
76:10), the psalmist has testified. Through the courage of this one man who
chose to follow right rather than policy, Satan was to be defeated, and the
name of God was to be exalted and honored. {PK 543.3}
Early the next morning King Darius hastened to the den and
"cried with a lamentable voice," "O Daniel, servant of the
living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee
from the lions?" {PK
544.1}
The voice of the prophet replied: "O king, live
forever. My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they
have not hurt me: forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me; and also
before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. {PK 544.2}
"Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and
commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken
up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he
believed in his God. {PK
544.3}
"And the king commanded, and they brought those men
which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their
children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all
their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den." {PK 544.4}
Once more a proclamation was issued by a heathen ruler,
exalting the God of Daniel as the true God. "King Darius wrote unto all
people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied
unto you. I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and
fear before the God of Daniel: for He is the living God, and steadfast forever,
and His kingdom that which shall not [545] be
destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and
rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath
delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." {PK 544.5}
The wicked opposition to God's servant was now completely
broken. "Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of
Cyrus the Persian." And through association with him, these heathen
monarchs were constrained to acknowledge his God as "the living God, and
steadfast forever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." {PK 545.1}
From the story of Daniel's deliverance we may learn that in
seasons of trial and gloom God's children should be just what they were when
their prospects were bright with hope and their surroundings all that they
could desire. Daniel in the lions' den was the same Daniel who stood before the
king as chief among the ministers of state and as a prophet of the Most High. A
man whose heart is stayed upon God will be the same in the hour of his greatest
trial as he is in prosperity, when the light and favor of God and of man beam
upon him. Faith reaches to the unseen, and grasps eternal realities. {PK 545.2}
Heaven is very near those who suffer for righteousness'
sake. Christ identifies His interests with the interests of His faithful
people; He suffers in the person of His saints, and whoever touches His chosen
ones touches Him. The power that is near to deliver from physical harm or
distress is also near to save from the greater evil, making it possible for the
servant of God to maintain his integrity under all circumstances, and to
triumph through divine grace. [546] {PK 545.3}
The experience of Daniel as a statesman in the kingdoms of
Babylon and Medo-Persia reveals the truth that a businessman is not necessarily
a designing, policy man, but that he may be a man instructed by God at every
step. Daniel, the prime minister of the greatest of earthly kingdoms, was at
the same time a prophet of God, receiving the light of heavenly inspiration. A
man of like passions as ourselves, the pen of inspiration describes him as
without fault. His business transactions, when subjected to the closest
scrutiny of his enemies, were found to be without one flaw. He was an example
of what every businessman may become when his heart is converted and
consecrated, and when his motives are right in the sight of God. {PK 546.1}
Strict compliance with the requirements of Heaven brings
temporal as well as spiritual blessings. Unwavering in his allegiance to God,
unyielding in his mastery of self, Daniel, by his noble dignity and unswerving
integrity, while yet a young man, won the "favor and tender love" of
the heathen officer in whose charge he had been placed. Daniel 1:9. The same
characteristics marked his afterlife. He rose speedily to the position of prime
minister of the kingdom of Babylon. Through the reign of successive monarchs,
the downfall of the nation, and the establishment of another world empire, such
were his wisdom and statesmanship, so perfect his tact, his courtesy, his
genuine goodness of heart, his fidelity to principle, that even his enemies
were forced to the confession that "they could find none occasion nor
fault; forasmuch as he was faithful." [547] {PK 546.2}
Honored by men with the responsibilities of state and with
the secrets of kingdoms bearing universal sway, Daniel was honored by God as
His ambassador, and was given many revelations of the mysteries of ages to
come. His wonderful prophecies, as recorded by him in chapters 7 to 12 of the
book bearing his name, were not fully understood even by the prophet himself;
but before his life labors closed, he was given the blessed assurance that
"at the end of the days"—in the closing period of this
world's history—he would again be permitted to stand in his lot and
place. It was not given him to understand all that God had revealed of the
divine purpose. "Shut up the words, and seal the book," he was
directed concerning his prophetic writings; these were to be sealed "even
to the time of the end." "Go thy way, Daniel," the angel once
more directed the faithful messenger of Jehovah; "for the words are closed
up and sealed till the time of the end. . . . Go thou thy way till
the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the
days." Daniel 12:4, 9, 13. {PK 547.1}
As we near the close of this world's history, the prophecies
recorded by Daniel demand our special attention, as they relate to the very
time in which we are living. With them should be linked the teachings of the
last book of the New Testament Scriptures. Satan has led many to believe that
the prophetic portions of the writings of Daniel and of John the revelator
cannot be understood. But the promise is plain that special blessing will
accompany the study of these prophecies. "The wise shall understand"
(verse 10), was spoken of the visions of Daniel that were to be unsealed [548]
in the latter days; and of the revelation that Christ gave to His servant John
for the guidance of God's people all through the centuries, the promise is,
"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this
prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." Revelation
1:3. {PK 547.2}
From the rise and fall of nations as made plain in the books
of Daniel and the Revelation, we need to learn how worthless is mere outward
and worldly glory. Babylon, with all its power and magnificence, the like of
which our world has never since beheld,—power and magnificence which
to the people of that day seemed so stable and enduring,—how
completely has it passed away! As "the flower of the grass," it has
perished. James 1:10. So perished the Medo-Persian kingdom, and the kingdoms of
Grecia and Rome. And so perishes all that has not God for its foundation. Only
that which is bound up with His purpose, and expresses His character, can
endure. His principles are the only steadfast things our world knows. {PK 548.1}
A careful study of the working out of God's purpose in the
history of nations and in the revelation of things to come, will help us to
estimate at their true value things seen and things unseen, and to learn what
is the true aim of life. Thus, viewing the things of time in the light of
eternity, we may, like Daniel and his fellows, live for that which is true and
noble and enduring. And learning in this life the principles of the kingdom of
our Lord and Saviour, that blessed kingdom which is to endure for ever and
ever, we may be prepared at His coming to enter with Him into its possession. {PK 548.2}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"The Return of the Exiles"
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