21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
22 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.
23 Then was the king exceedingly 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.
24 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.
25 Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
26 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 stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.
27 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.
28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
What is Darius proclaiming about God? __________________________________________________________________________________________
Daniel was a witness. Darius is basically saying, that image is true. He says, “for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.” This is a quote from Daniel 2, so Daniel must have told him about the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar and the interpretations received from God. Darius acknowledges God of heaven and earth.
What does Darius state that Nebuchadnezzar also stated? ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Darius wrote to all the people, nations, languages of all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. Daniel 4:1-2, we read that Nebuchadnezzar, unto all the people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. He went on in verse 2 to declare the most high God unto them. We see that in each case, Daniel was pointing the kings to the Most High God. As Christians, should we do any less?
We see God pulling people out of those heathen kingdoms that are glorifying Him. We find this not only in Babylon and Medo-Persia; but we will also find it in Greece and Rome.
There were many, like Nicodemus, who struggled to believe in Christ; but through the experience of Christ, they came to believe. Darius, through this experience of God’s deliverance, sets a decree. He even says before Daniel’s deliverance, that he could not eat, did not want to listen to music, and could not sleep. He knows Daniel is blameless, and Darius of all people senses Daniel represents a type of God. Daniel surely is an example of what an ‘image bearer’ of God should look like. Darius, although not professing God initially, has these godly principles of care and concern for a blameless individual who obviously is in love with his God. God has people who are not necessarily Christians everywhere and they exude these godly principles. Our job is not to deny these people, but to water and nourish them while praying they will blossom in a relationship with the One these principles represent. As we see, this experience has a profound affect on Darius.
Remember, God does not sleep or slumber for he is thinking about us all the time in a watchful, careful, loving way. Many people are going to be exceedingly glad when truth is vindicated. Many people know less that we know, but they have a desire in their heart a desire to see good conquer and evil vanquished. They are exceedingly glad when that happens.
What does Daniel say in verse 21 that is so profound? _______________________________________________________________________________
Daniel says to Darius, “Oh king, live for ever.” This not only points out that he is not against Darius as the other men said, but wants him to live forever; meaning in the eternal kingdom. Daniel wants to see him there. In verse 22, Daniel continues and tells the king that he has not done any hurt to him. The whole character of Daniel is vindicated, just as Christ’s character will be vindicated before the entire universe unmasking Satan for who he really is.
In the end of time, there is going to be a lot of deception and political maneuvering that will be occurring between the beasts (of the sea and land), but they will figure it out. And they will rejoice when truth is confirmed.