Daniel Chapter 6 Verses 13-14

13 Then they answered before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no heed to you, O king, or the interdict you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.” 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.

The charge made against Daniel is similar to the charge made against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3:12.

Daniel 3:12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no heed to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up."

This was a false charge. Daniel did pay heed to the king. He just did not give his ultimate loyalty to the king – that belonged to God.

Darius’ response is not what the conspirators had hoped for!

When the real reason for the decree finally dawned on him, he became greatly distressed.

He had been duped by Daniel’s enemies, and I am sure he now regretted not having discussed the matter with Daniel personally.

He no doubt respected Daniel for his loyalty to his God, and he tried to save his life. But there was nothing he could do.

Providing Daniel with armor, or feeding the lions ahead of time would have undermined the law of the Medes and the Persians.

A miracle was Daniel’s only hope.

How did Darius know so much about God?

He may have learned from Cyrus. Read Ezra 1:2 again.

Ezra 1:2 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Cyrus seems to have known a lot about God! Perhaps he told Darius about God as well. Darius, at least, would have been familiar with the decree found in the book of Ezra.

He may have heard about God from Daniel. We already know that Daniel had become a very trusted advisor. It would seem unlikely that Daniel had never talked to Darius about God.

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