The Bible reads in verse 1, "It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty
princes which should be over the whole kingdom, 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."
So the way the government is structured here is you have King Darius at the top, and then
you have these three presidents right below that, and then below the three presidents you
have the 120 princes.
But it says here that Daniel did such a good job as one of those three presidents that
the king thought to set him over the whole realm, to put him over all 120 princes because
he was just so good at his job.
And this is the great testimony that Daniel has all the way from chapter one at the beginning
of his career to chapter six at the end of his career that he excelled at whatever job
he did.
The Bible tells us whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.
And so we as Christians, when we do our job, no matter what kind of a menial job it is
or how important or unimportant we think it is, we should always give it our best.
Work hard, do well, and excel at what we do.
The Bible says he had an excellent spirit.
I mean, he was one who excelled at his work.
He did very well to the point where he climbed all the way to the top in pretty much whatever
situation he was put in through hard work, loyalty, and just caring about his job and
loving to do well.
So the Bible says in verse four, "Then the presidents," that's the other two presidents
besides him, "and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom."
So they don't like the fact that he is outperforming them at work, that he's excelling them, and
that he's actually going to take their job in a sense because he's going to be put over
the whole realm as opposed to the other two presidents.
So they go to try to find some dirt on Daniel that they can dig up concerning the kingdom.
So they look at his job performance and they try to pick apart his job performance.
I mean, you know, they're pulling out the time sheets, they're pulling out all the different
records of his work performance, and they can't find a problem.
They can't find anything wrong with his performance, right?
I mean, they look in there and it's like the T's are crossed, the I's are dotted, the guy's
just a great worker.
And so they say, "Well, if we're going to find something wrong with him, it's not going
to be his work performance.
He's too good of a worker.
We're going to have to find it concerning his God."
It says in verse four, "Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against
Daniel concerning the kingdom.
But they could find none occasion nor fault, for as much as he was faithful, neither was
there any error or fault found in him."
That's a pretty amazing testimony when you have these really smart guys searching hard
to try to find something wrong with him and they can't even find it.
And they found nothing.
And then it says in verse five, "Then said these men, 'We shall not find any occasion
against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.'"
And that's what we should all strive to have as the testimony of our life.
That if people are going to attack us, it's going to be because of our religion, our beliefs,
our walk with God.
Not because we're just a bad worker or because we're just dishonest or whatever.
The Bible talks about in 1 Peter chapter two how if we're buffeted for our faults, if we
endure persecution and tribulation because of bad things that we do, that there's no
glory in that.
But that if we do well and suffer persecution, that's acceptable before God.
That is a great testimony when we suffer for well-doing even as Jesus Christ.
But if we suffer just because we're a bad worker, well, you know, that's not really
impressive.
And there are a lot of people who just fail at their job, do a poor job, and they're just
lazy and they get there late and they leave early and they phone it in and don't excel
at their job.
But then, when they get fired or whatever, they'll try to act like, "Oh, I'm being persecuted
for the cause of Jesus Christ," or whatever.
You know, "They tried to get me to go against my conscience," or something.
You're like, "What in the world?"
But it's really just because they're a bad worker.
So we don't want to try to hide behind that and claim persecution when we failed at a
job or something like that, right?
See Daniel here, he excelled at the job, but they were still out to get him.
Now why were his coworkers out to get him?
Notice the owner of the company loves him.
The boss loves him.
Darius loves him.
Why?
Because he doesn't want to have any damage, the Bible says.
It says at the end of verse 2, you know, the king doesn't want to get any damage to
his realm.
That's what matters to him.
He doesn't care about these office politics or, you know, who is preferred before the
other.
He just wants to get the job done.
That's how most bosses and most owners are.
But the reason why they don't like him is because they are envious of him.
And this is a common theme in the Bible all the way back to Cain and Abel.
The Bible says that we should not be as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother.
And wherefore slew he him?
Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous.
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
If you do a great job, if you excel and outdo the people around you, just expect people
to hate you for that.
Just as Cain hated Abel for excelling.
The world hated Jesus, the world's going to hate us, and if we do right, we should expect
some opposition and persecution.
The Bible says, "Low the wicked bend their bow.
They make ready their arrow upon the string that they may privily shoot at the upright
in heart."
We love to take down the upright and to wipe out those who love the Lord and are doing
a good job.
And even just from a non-spiritual standpoint, even in the business world, people want to
take out their competition so that they can get that promotion and climb the ladder.
And they'll even cheat and lie and steal to get there in many cases.
And so we have to watch out for that.
But as long as we are doing right, God's going to look out for us, God's going to
protect us.
We need to just keep doing our best and not sink to their level of trying to dig up dirt
on people and lie about other people to try to be a dog eat dog kind of corporate ladder
climbing type person.
You know, that's what the world does.
We need to try to climb the ladder at our job by actually working hard and having an
excellent spirit and doing it the right way.
There's a right way to excel at work.
There's a right way to climb the ladder, and there's a wrong way.
So these men can't find anything wrong with Daniel.
Now in this chapter, Daniel pictures the Lord Jesus Christ in a lot of different ways that
I'm going to show you as we go through this chapter.
The Bible says to him, "Give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins."
So the message of the whole Bible is about Jesus, and Daniel strongly pictures Jesus
in this passage.
One of the ways that he pictures him is that they're trying to find fault in Jesus, right?
They're constantly trying to trip him up and find something that they can accuse him of
so that they can get him arrested, so that they can put him to death.
But they don't find any fault in him.
They bring all these false witnesses about Jesus, and they can't even get their testimonies
to agree with each other.
And then when they bring him before the Roman governor, what does the Roman governor say?
"I find no fault in him."
Three different times he said that.
And so we see a similar thing in Daniel 6 where they just can't find any fault in him
to legitimately punish him.
"Then these presidents," the Bible says in verse 6, "and princes assembled together
to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever.
All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes, the counselors and the captains
have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever
shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days save of thee, O king, he shall
be cast into the den of lions.
This is not true, because one of the presidents is Daniel.
So if they really consulted with all the presidents, and by the way, there are only three presidents.
So they're lying here, and they're trying to make it seem like everybody's, oh we've
already talked to all the presidents, don't worry about that, we've already consulted
all the princes.
Well, it's a lie because one third of the presidents would have never gone for this.
There are only three, and Daniel clearly would have not gone for this.
That they can't ask any petition, the Bible says in verse seven, of any god or man for
thirty days save of thee, oh king, and if they do, what's the punishment?
It says if he does, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
Verse eight, now, oh king, establish the decree and sign the writing that it be not changed
according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not.
Wherefore, King Darius signed the writing and the decree.
Verse ten, now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house
and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees
three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did a four time.
Now this is not Daniel putting on a show about this because the Bible is saying that what
he did is what he was already doing.
He did the same thing after the decree was signed as he did a four time before the decree
was signed.
So he doesn't try to change anything and hide the fact that he's praying and say, "Well,
I can just pray in my heart because it's 30 days and I don't want to get in trouble."
No, he doesn't change a thing.
Why?
Because it's important that we maintain our testimony toward those that are without.
And if the people around us see us stop praying because there's a law against praying, then
that's going to cause them to be cowards as well.
So we have to be careful that we balance the idea of doing our righteousnesses before the
Lord and not to be seen of men, but also the idea that we do need to have a public testimony
that shows we're going to serve God no matter what.
We're not going to stop preaching the truth.
We're not going to change anything because of what the law says.
Because if every time the government starts to restrict preaching or to restrict soul
winning, or try to somehow chill those things, we don't want to be seen as just running and
hiding and cowering because then other people's hearts will faint as well.
But if they see us stand up like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter 3,
if they see us stand up like Daniel in Daniel chapter 6 where we just continue to openly,
boldly serve God and defy a wicked law that would seek to make illegal the things of God,
then that's going to embolden them, it's going to embolden others.
And so the way this story works out at the end of Daniel chapter 6, there's a great proclamation
going out to the whole world that's a great testimony to the things of God.
And people all over the world are hearing the word of God.
But that wouldn't have happened if Daniel would have just been quietly praying in his
heart or entering into his closet to pray.
Now the Bible does teach that most of our prayer should be done in our closets.
The Bible says when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou shalt thy door pray
to thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly.
The Bible teaches that publicly we should not be making long prayers.
You know publicly praying long just to show how spiritual we are.
Most of our praying should be done in secret between us and the Lord and not for show.
But then it also does say I will therefore that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands
without wrath or doubting.
So there's a time for public prayer which is shorter prayer.
The long serious praying is done by ourselves hidden away so that we're not doing it for
the praise of men or the glory of men but it's just between us and the Lord.
So we want to balance those two ideas.
Yes, we want to make sure not to be a hypocrite that does all of our righteousnesses to be
seen of men but at the same time we also want to let our lights shine before men that they
may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.
So there are certain things that should be done publicly and openly as a testimony unto
others and then there are other things that belong in the realm of privacy, specifically
when we give alms to the poor.
The Bible specifically states that when we give alms, not to let the left hand know what
the right hand is doing.
Now some people will try to apply that to other things and say, "Oh, that's your tithing.
That's your giving your offering to your church.
Don't let your right hand know what your left hand does."
But that's not what the Bible says.
The Bible says, "When thou doest alms."
And alms always is referring to giving money to the poor, helping people that are down
on their luck, giving to people that are needy.
Whereas we see in the Bible them bringing money to church and coming and laying it at the
apostle's feet.
So there's nothing wrong with passing the offering plate, or people will say, "Well,
I don't want to write a check when I do my giving to the church because I'm not supposed
to let my right hand know what my left hand do, so I'm only going to use cash."
But they're misinterpreting that scripture that's talking about alms.
Another thing that is to be done privately besides just alms or giving to the poor is
prayer, as we talked about.
Most of our prayer should be done privately, although according to the Bible there's also
a time and a place for public prayer.
But then the fact that we're fasting is not something that we should ever put on display.
So if we're ever fasting, that should be kept private as well.
But things like soul winning, those things should be done out in the open.
Preaching the gospel should be done out in the open because of the fact that we want
to inspire other people.
We want to set an example and have a testimony of that.
That doesn't mean that you have to tell everybody every time you go soul winning because you
don't want to slip into that mode of all your righteousnesses are done to be seen of men.
But at the same time, you don't want to hide the fact that you're soul winning.
You want it to be known that you're a soul winner.
Why?
Because in a church like ours where virtually everybody goes soul winning, you develop a
culture of soul winning and then it causes other people to want to get involved.
Whereas if everyone in our church were a secret soul winner, we wouldn't have that atmosphere
that says, "Man, I feel left out.
I better jump in and go soul win.
Everybody else is doing it.
Let's do it."
So we want to balance the idea of not seeking for outward show but at the same time continuing
to serve God openly even if it's illegal, even if it's unpopular so that people can
see that testimony.
And I think that's what Daniel is doing here.
He had his window open because that's what he always did.
It was just his custom to open the window and pray toward Jerusalem and he wasn't going
to let some government edict tell him how to have his prayer life.
And so he continued doing what he had done a four time and he prayed three times a day.
So prayer was pretty important to Daniel.
It wasn't even something he just did once but he did it three different times.
Verse 11, "Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before
his God."
So they go to his house and they stake out his house and they look through that window
because they're there just to catch him praying, just to see, is he going to do it?
Is he going to keep praying?
And it says in verse 12, "Then they came near and spake before the king concerning the king's
decree, 'Hast thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any
god or man within 30 days save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?'
The king answered and said, 'The thing is true according to the law of the Medes and
Persians which altereth not.'
Then answered they and said before the king, '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.'
Now look, that's our attitude as well.
If the king of our land or if our government made a law against soul winning or against
preaching the Bible, any part of the Bible, we are not going to regard that.
We're going to ignore it.
It doesn't matter to us.
Why?
Because we ought to obey God rather than men.
Now we should always seek to be at peace with all men and if we can obey both God and the
laws of the land, then we should just strive to be peaceful.
But if it comes a point where they're telling us not to do what God has clearly told us
to do, then we have to just disregard that.
That's what Daniel did here.
He disregarded that.
Then the king, verse 14, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself.
He realizes that he's made a mistake, and he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him,
and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.
Now, what kind of labor was he doing to deliver Daniel?
He's looking for a loophole, right?
So these guys, lawyers together, they're getting the law books, and they're trying to get him
off on a technicality here.
They're trying to figure out a way to get him off the hook, but they can't find anything
that would allow him to go free, and the law of the Medes and Persians, the Bible says
at the end of verse 12, altereth not.
So nobody's above the law.
Darius isn't above the law, Daniel's not above the law, they have to follow the law.
So if they can't get him off on a technicality, he's going to the den of lions.
So he labors until the going down of the sun, because apparently the decree states that
he has to go into the lion's den what?
The same day he'll be cast into the lion's den.
Verse 15, "Then these men assembled unto the king and said unto the king, Know, O king,
that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that no decree nor statute which the king
establisheth may be changed.
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."
Now, another picture with Jesus Christ here, beside the fact that they tried to find fault
with him, they couldn't find anything legitimate to accuse him of, is that Daniel here, when
he's thrown into the den of lions, Darius tries to deliver him.
Now, isn't that sort of like Pontius Pilate, who's also the leader, the ruler, the governor,
if you will, just like Darius is the king here.
He has people coming to him saying, "You gotta throw this guy in the den of lions," and he's
trying hard not to see him thrown into the den of lions.
Now think about Jesus Christ.
The Jews were trying hard to get Jesus condemned to death, and Pilate is trying hard to get
him delivered.
I find no fault in him.
He tried hard to get them to take Jesus, and they wanted Barabbas, right?
So basically, Darius here sort of represents Pontius Pilate in the New Testament who's
gonna seek to deliver Jesus, right?
And that's gonna actually tie in a little bit later in this chapter as well, that parallel
of Pilate and the Romans being represented here by Darius seeking to deliver Daniel.
Look at verse 17, "And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the
king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords, that the purpose
might not be changed concerning Daniel."
Now keep your finger here in Daniel 6, go to Matthew chapter 27.
In Matthew chapter 27, I'll start reading as you get there, verse 62, "Now the next
day that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together
unto Pilate, saying, 'Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive,
'After three days I will rise again.'
Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples
come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, 'He's risen from the dead,
so the last error shall be worse than the first.'
Pilate said unto them, 'Ye have a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can.'
So they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch.
So isn't it interesting that when Christ was buried, they rolled a great stone over the
door and sealed the stone to make it as sure as they could?
And what did it say in Daniel chapter 6 verse 17?
A stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his
own signet and with the signet of his lord.
So we see that just as Christ's tomb was sealed and shut up with a great stone, the lion's
den is also sealed and shut up with a great stone.
Who was it that commanded that to be done in the New Testament?
Pontius Pilate.
Who was it that sealed it with his own ring in the Old Testament?
It was Darius himself who pictures Pilate.
Look at verse 18.
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.
Then the king arose very early in the morning and went and hasted under the den of lions.
Now you know what this kind of reminds me of?
When the women went very early in the morning to the tomb and the stones rolled away and
Christ is risen from the dead.
So it says he arose very early in the morning and went and hasted under the den of lions.
And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel.
And the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom
thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
And by the way, in Psalm 22, the famous Messianic Psalm about Christ dying on the cross where
it says, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
And it talks about how they pierced his hands and his feet.
It says in that, "Save me from the lion's mouth of Jesus Christ, save me from the lion's
mouth."
Why?
Because Daniel being thrown into the lion's den is a picture of Jesus Christ dying for
us.
And when Daniel comes up out of the lion's den, when the stone's rolled away, that's
a picture of Jesus Christ coming out of the tomb when the stone is rolled away and he's
alive.
So he says, "Is he able?"
In verse 16 he was a little more solid, "He's able to deliver you, Daniel."
And he thought, "Was he able?
I hope so."
And it says in verse 21, "Then said Daniel unto the king, 'O king, live forever!
My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lion's mouths, that they have not hurt
me.
For as much as before him, innocency was found in me.
And also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.'
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.
Just as Christ's soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption.
Just as Jesus Christ was totally without sin and totally innocent, that he was able to
conquer hell and death and rise again from the dead.
So Daniel pictures that in this story.
In verse 24 it says, "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 break all their bones and pieces, wherever
they came at the bottom of the den."
Now what we can learn from that is that if we do wickedly, we hurt other people besides
just ourselves.
I mean, these wicked men, not only were they punished, but even their wives were punished
and their children were punished.
Now according to the laws of God in regard to the criminal code, when someone commits
a crime, we are only supposed to punish that person.
It's not for us as human beings to punish their wives or their children or anything
like that, but even though that's God's criminal code, still throughout history we see people's
wives and children being punished for the things that they've done in and outside of
the Bible.
That's just what happens in this world.
And here we see, that's what happened, the children and the wives are punished as well.
But just the way the world works, anytime we commit a sin, we don't just hurt ourselves,
we hurt the people around us.
Let me give an example.
What if a man becomes a drunk?
Don't you think that's going to adversely affect his wife?
Don't you think that's going to adversely affect his children?
I mean if a man goes out and commits adultery, if a man goes out and commits murder or steals
or any crime, that is going to affect the people around us.
And if you grew up in a home where your parents were wicked, you suffered from that.
Now it doesn't mean that you can't be a great Christian and that you can't overcome those
odds and break the cycle of abuse so to speak and be a great Christian and press toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, but growing up in
a wicked home is a disadvantage.
Growing up in a righteous home is a great advantage and to whom much is given of him
shall much be required.
But when we sin we hurt our families and that's what we see in this passage where the wives
and the children were also wiped out.
But back to the picture of Jesus Christ here.
If we were to take this parable here and obviously we know it's a true story but it also acts
as a parable of Jesus Christ or a symbol or type of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
If we follow it symbolically or allegorically, who did Darius represent?
Darius represented who?
The Romans, right?
Pontius Pilate, the Romans, and even in the book of Acts, the Romans are often trying
to deliver the apostles.
From whom?
The Jews.
The Jews are persecuting them.
So it was the Jews who screamed "Crucify Him" and said "His blood be on us and on our children."
They're the ones who went after Jesus.
They're the ones who went after the apostles and it was the Romans who sought to deliver
Jesus and sought to deliver the apostles, but they end up going along with it.
And so Pontius Pilate is guilty of killing the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Roman soldiers are guilty, but not as guilty as the Jews.
Why?
Because Jesus said "He that delivered me unto you hath the greater sin."
So it's not a matter of my opinion.
He flat out told the Romans "The ones who delivered me unto you have the greater sin."
So in this story, Darius is doing wrong here.
But who did more wrong?
The presidents and the princes who delivered him unto them.
Darius was wrong when he made this foolish decree saying that you can't pray to any
god for 30 days.
That was wicked and wrong for him to do that.
He represents the Romans there.
But these men, the presidents and princes who connived to try to get Daniel condemned,
they represent the Jews who did the same thing in the New Testament.
Okay, so with that in mind, when we get to the end of the story, what happens to the
Jews then?
What happens to the ones who falsely accused Daniel?
They end up getting thrown into the lions then.
And the Bible says that the lions had the mastery of them and break all their bones
in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
Now Jesus Christ, the Bible says not a bone of him was broken.
They pierced his side, but not a bone of him was broken.
Just as Daniel, not a bone of him was broken, right?
But these wicked men, their bones were broken before they even hit the bottom of the den.
Now what happened to the Jews after Jesus Christ died and was buried and rose again?
What happened to the Jews?
They ended up being destroyed.
Their temple was destroyed in AD 70.
Their city was burned with fire.
They were scattered into all nations.
They were destroyed as a people and that took place at the hand of whom?
The Romans, right?
It was the Romans who came in and destroyed them in AD 70 just as it's Darius here who
throws them into the lion's den and their own wickedness returns upon their own head.
This is the Jews who sought to destroy Jesus Christ and he rose again from the dead.
But they got destroyed and they're in hell today and they were wiped out permanently
just as these guys get destroyed permanently as well.
It says in verse 25, "Then 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 in his kingdom that which
shall not 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."
And what this pictures is, the fact that after Jesus Christ comes out of that tomb, the
stones rolled away and he's delivered from hell and from death, then what needs to happen?
That message is supposed to go out to the whole world, right?
Just as here, after Daniel's quote unquote resurrection, you know, symbolically, because
he gets thrown into somewhere where it was assumed he'd be dead, they go there early
in the morning, they roll away the stone and he's alive, which pictures Christ, what needs
to happen after that is that the gospel needs to go to the whole world.
So just as this proclamation was sent out to all people, nations and languages that
dwell on all the earth, we need to preach the gospel to all nations.
The good news, not that Daniel was saved from the lions then, not that as it says in verse
27, he hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions, but that Jesus Christ has risen
from the dead.
Jesus Christ was delivered from death.
Jesus Christ was dead, but behold, he is alive forevermore.
Amen.
And he has the keys of hell and of death.
That message needs to go out to the whole world.
The Bible says in verse 28, "So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the
reign of Cyrus the Persian."
Now at the end of chapter 6 here, Daniel is going to majorly change gears.
Because as we talked about earlier, Daniel is divided in half.
So you have 12 chapters in Daniel.
The first 6 chapters are the famous stories that we're familiar with.
And they're pretty entertaining to read.
They're not that hard to understand.
They're not very heavy.
But when you get into the second half of Daniel, 7 through 12, it's very heavy, deep, prophetic
material.
And it's not as much a story as just prophecies of things that were going to happen back then,
before the time of Christ, and things that are still to come, even future from where
we're standing in 2018.
So it's pretty obvious here that the chronology changes because so far everything's been chronological.
You know, we have Daniel chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4 dealing with the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
Then we have a successor of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 5 with Belshazzar.
Then at the end of Daniel chapter 5, Belshazzar is killed, the Babylonians are defeated, and
we move to the next kingdom, which is the Medo-Persian Empire, and we have Darius the
Mede.
And that's who we're reading about here in Daniel chapter 6, Darius the Mede.
So we've moved from the head of gold to the arms and chest of silver.
We've moved from that lion-like kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar to the bear with the three
ribs in his mouth of the Medo-Persian Empire, which we're going to see in the next chapter,
Daniel chapter 7.
But look at chapter 7 verse 1.
God wants us to understand the Bible, so he doesn't make it super difficult to decode
this stuff.
It's pretty obvious that everything's been chronological up to this point, but then all
of a sudden we get to verse 1 of Daniel 7 in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon.
Now look, the Babylonian kingdom already ended at the end of chapter 5.
Belshazzar was killed at the end of chapter 5.
Chapter 6 is dealing with a whole new regime with Darius the Mede, but in chapter 7, there's
no mystery that we've gone back in time here, because now all of a sudden it's in the first
year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon.
And then if we go to the next chapter, chapter 8, it says in verse 1, "In the third year
of the reign of king Belshazzar."
So we went from the first year to the third year.
So we're chronological, right?
Then if we go to chapter 9, verse 1, it says, "In the first year of Darius."
So now we're caught up to the Medo-Persians, right?
In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus.
And then if we go to chapter 10, it says, "In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia."
A thing was revealed unto Daniel.
And chapters 10, 11, and 12 are all one unbroken vision that Daniel receives.
So the first half of Daniel is in chronological order.
But then there's a reset button at the middle.
We back up in time, and then the second half is chronological.
But is it hard to figure that out?
Super easy to figure that out, because at the end of chapter 6, we have a finality basically
telling us, "Okay, so Daniel, continue to prosper in the reign of Darius and in the
reign of Cyrus the Persian."
That's going to bring us to the end of his life, because he's already a super old man
in Daniel chapter 6.
That brings us to the end of his life, but then we back up in chapter 7.
You say, "Why is this so important?
Why does it matter?"
Because Revelation is laid out the same way.
And a lot of people would understand the book of Revelation so much better if they would
grasp this truth that Revelation 1 through 11 is pretty much in chronological order,
and there's a nice flow of events that you can follow from chapter 1 through chapter
11.
Instead of chapter 11, there's a finality there of the kingdoms of this world are become
the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever.
You're at the brink of the millennium right there, but then all of a sudden in chapter
12 verse 1, there's no mystery that we're going back in time because all of a sudden
we're back at the birth of Christ, talks about Christ being born.
And then we start going through all the same events from chapters 1 through 11 again from
a different angle.
From chapters 1 through 11 of Revelation, we had the tribulation taking place.
We had the 144,000 being sealed.
We have the rapture taking place.
We have God's wrath being poured out in the form of the seven trumpets.
Then when we get into the second half of Revelation, what do we have?
The tribulation being described again.
What do we have?
The 144,000.
What do we have next?
The rapture.
What do we have next?
The wrath of God being poured out instead of this time seven trumpets.
Seven vials.
But when you put these two halves side by side, you can see that the events match up
perfectly.
Now, this idiotic false teacher named Sam Gipp, who denies that Jesus is his Messiah,
and who teaches all kinds of horrible heresies, even attacking the very name of Jesus, and
I'm not going to go into all that tonight, but he said, "Oh, well, Pastor Anderson's
view of Revelation is so dumb because he says that chapter 1 lines up with chapter 12,
chapter 2 lines up with chapter, you know, 13, chapter 3 lines up with chapter 14."
Now look, everybody knows I've never said any such ridiculous thing, because that would
be just as ridiculous as saying, "Well, Daniel 1 lines up with chapter 7, Daniel 2 lines
up with chapter 8."
Is that true?
No, because what chronologically does chapter 7 line up with?
Chapter 7 would line up between chapters 4 and 5, because it's in the reign of Belshazzar,
but it's before Belshazzar gets killed in chapter 5.
So if you were to put this chronologically, you'd take chapter 7 and stick it between
chapters 4 and 5, wouldn't you?
And then you'd take chapter 8, and you know where you'd put that?
Also between chapters 4 and 5, right?
Because we're still in the reign of Belshazzar.
And then you would take this chapter 9 in the first year of Darius, the son of...
If it's the first year, you know, where are you going to put that, in the first year?
So the point is that it's not to say that 1 and 7, 2 and 8, 3 and 9, I mean that's ridiculous.
What it is to say though is that chapters 1 through 6 of Daniel are chronological.
Then we back up and have a new chronology in 7 through 12, and that some of these events
are parallel.
So if you do the same thing with Revelation, and don't listen to somebody who just openly
lied about my teaching, especially since I've made a chart that everybody's seen if they've
watched the film after the tribulation, where I show which chapters line up and how, you'll
see that the tribulation is being described in chapter 6, which is parallel with chapters
12 and 13.
And then you'll see the 144,000 in the rapture described in chapter 7 of Revelation, which
lines up with chapter 14 of Revelation.
Then you'll see that God's wrath is poured out in chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11, and then
in the second half of Revelation, that's covered in chapters 15 and 16, right?
Then chapters 17 and 18 talk about the destruction of Babylon, which isn't covered in the first
half.
Then chapter 19 talks about Revelation in great detail that's not given in the first
half.
And then chapter 20 talks about the great white throne of judgment, which is not covered
in the first half of the book of Revelation.
And chapters 21 and 22 about the new heaven and the new earth are also not covered in
the first half.
Why?
Because that unbroken chronology in chapters 1 through 11 of Revelation leaves off right
at the beginning of the millennium, right at the brink of the millennium.
And it doesn't cover as much detail about that very end period of the seventh trumpet.
But when we get to the second half, we go into great detail and we push it even further.
Well, it's the same thing here, the first half of Daniel's more basic and it doesn't
really give us details all the way to the end of Daniel's life.
The second half is more complex and it takes us further into the future.
So it's pretty interesting how the way that we interpret Daniel really is the same way
that we interpret the book of Revelation.
I've had some people criticize the concept of cutting Revelation in half and seeing it
as two chronologies and they said, "Well, you know, show me an example of that anywhere
else in Scripture."
Okay, how about the book of Daniel where it's indisputably there?
It's indisputably there in Revelation.
How do you get around the fact that Jesus being born at the beginning of Revelation
chapter 12?
Little out of chronology there, buddy, if it's the birth of Christ.
Pretty obvious that everything happens twice in the book of Revelation and you say why
would God tell the same story twice?
Well, why did he give us four gospels?
Because he's giving us the same story from different angles, focusing on different things.
And of course, the book of Daniel is perfect and the book of Revelation is perfect.
And he does it that way that we might compare scripture with scripture.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for this great chapter, Lord.
Help us to be like Daniel, where we're willing to stand up for what's right and we're willing
to be faithful even unto death, Lord.
And thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us and was buried and rose again.
And thank you that we can see the glory of Jesus Christ even on every page of the Old
Testament.
And thank you for this marvelous book, the Bible, which is so perfect and everything
lines up.
Lord, help us to study and see how it all fits together, that we might stand in awe
of your Word.
And in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.