Worthy of Trust and Obedience

The wearing of shoes with heels which measure more than two inches in height and less than one square inch of bearing surface upon the public streets and sidewalks of the City is prohibited, without the wearer’s first obtaining a permit for the wearing of such shoes. (Ord. 87 C.S. § 1, 1963; Code 1975 § 639.2).

You will probably not get arrested for breaking this law, but the law recognizes that the streets are uneven, and liability belongs to the person wearing the high heels. But what if they outlawed owning high heels and sentenced those who wore them to prison? Would more people want to wear them in disobedience or wish to destroy their heels in compliance? What laws would you be willing to break that limited your freedom or prohibited something you believed was essential? In our text today, we see how a godly man named Daniel acted when faced with a law that went against God.

Introduction

The book of Daniel shows us how God preserved His people in a foreign land. Those who read this book should be encouraged to remain faithful to God because He is sovereign. He is in control. God’s people will typically face the temptation to distrust Him and give in to the pressures of the surrounding culture. We can have confidence and obediently endure because we know that God is in control: to reveal His glory, show His salvation, and proclaim a witness to those who do not know Him.

Daniel 6:14–28 ESV

14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” 16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17 And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. 19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. 25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. 27 He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” 28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

A Court Conspiracy

In Daniel 6, we meet a new king, Darius, whom many scholars equate with Cyrus. The old Neo-Babylonian empire (the gold head from Daniel 2:32-45) has passed and was replaced by the Medo-Persian empire (the arms and chest of silver). By this time, Daniel, who first came to Babylon as a teenager, was now a man in his 80’s. God preserved Daniel and his friends in the midst of a pagan culture and they prospered. The new King Darius valued Daniel’s work, wisdom, and reputation for Daniel was an outstanding administrator. Darius confidently placed him as head over the newly formed satraps (princes or governors over regions in the new empire). Satraps were usually chosen from the royalty and important families in Medo-Persia, but Darius chose Daniel. It is plain to see why the other satraps sought to rid their empire of a “foreigner” and reminder of the old regime.

Since they could not point to any wrongdoing in Daniel, the satraps conspired to creating a temporary law that they knew Daniel would break. So they deceived a distracted king into signing a law that specifically target Daniel. If Daniel did not regularly pray, this law would not have worked against him. But Daniel was unwavering in his commitment to God. Consider this, if our current laws were changed to prohibit spiritual habits like prayer, would it cause you any problems? There is no need to outlaw prayer, church attendance, scripture, or worship if you are not doing it.

The king regretted making a foolish action which sentenced Daniel to the lion’s den. Lions were sometimes kept for sport and execution, so these lions were extremely dangerous creatures. Daniel was thrown in and remained overnight with the lions. And the king then gave a regretful farewell prayer to Daniel. He remained anxious until the early morning, and to his delight, he learned that God sent an angel to shut the mouth of the lions. The God of Daniel was able to save him. The king then proceeded to throw the conspiring satraps into the deadly den of lions. King Darius knew that the God of Daniel was unlike any other. He officially proclaimed God’s greatness to the land.

God is worthy of our trust and obedience

Daniel 6 reminds us that we have the challenge and benefit of trusting and obeying God above all else. God can do the following things as we place our faith in Him as we choose to obey Him above all else.

Vindicate His faithful Ones

• prove that they were acting in obedience to God when accused of wrongdoing or foolishness

• prove that their faith in God is valid and true

Demonstrate His Salvation Power

• show how God can save His faithful ones in this life despite suffering

• show that His salvation goes beyond this world despite martyrdom

Share a Witness

• Carry the message of God to new places

• Give tangible evidence of God’s grace and glory to unbelievers

A Pattern for Then and Now

As Christians today, we can look back at scripture and history to see this three-fold pattern in the lives of those who call Jesus Christ as their Lord. When we look at the book of Acts, we can read about the multiple instances of the apostles being unjustly treated for choosing to obey God above the rules of the day. Consider the example of Paul and Silas and listen for the echoes of Daniel 6. Paul and Silas had cast a demon out of a slave girl used by others in a fortune-telling business. When the crowd attacked them for this good deed, they were beaten and sent to prison. Let’s see how God vindicates, demonstrates, and shares a witness.

Acts 16:25–34 ESV

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Can we find these three things? Yes, we can. God was present with His faithful ones even though they were beaten and imprisoned. They chose to pray and sing to God. God vindicated His servants and showed His salvation power to Paul and Silas by delivering them from the prison. And God allowed their imprisonment to be the opportunity to share the gospel with a jailer. God sovereignly allowed all these things to occur in response to their obedience, and the results were glorious.

Throughout Christian history, we see this same pattern, and it continues today. Even though we live in the USA, the recent political season and COVID response have aroused similar actions from “malicious satraps” and “foolish leaders”. What was once a far-away thought is a realistic possibility. The stage has been set for the possibility of sweeping restrictions on our faith and allegiance to God. Censorship is more common today, and all it may take is for someone to declare that our belief in God and the Bible is “hate speech” for us to be outlawed or deemed illegal.

Examples from 2020

Samaritan’s Purse was not allowed to give greatly needed medial help in New York City because of protests by LGBTQ activists.

Church assemblies deemed “non-essential” after other businesses were opened. John MacArthur's church was fined and won a lawsuit. US Supreme Court upheld that CA can not impose restrictions on religious gathering citing First Amendment rights

Although not directly related, censorship on social media from differing opinions on the election and covid is still filtered by “fact checkers” this is consistently expanding to climate change, conspiracy theories, and more.

I pray that it does not happen, but it is possible for us to experience an increasing level of suffering for our allegiance to Christ in our lifetime. So how do we ready ourselves? We are to consider God’s faithfulness to His people and His salvation history. If we choose to live in obedience and trust, we can see God demonstrate His threefold actions. But we must make a choice to live our faith. So do the following:

Stop sitting on the fence of faith and unbelief.

Redeem your time with spiritual habits that honor God.

Above all, face the future with confident trust and faithful obedience to Christ. In the end, God always wins.

Be encouraged and stay the course

God is worthy of our trust and obedience.

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