February 15, 2019: Day 76 – Daniel 6

In the words of Yogi Berra, “It seems like deja vu all over again.”  Do you remember when Daniel’s friends were thrown into the fire and yet they escaped unscathed.  Remember when I thought that Daniel was part of that crowd?   Well he wasn’t, then we have  this chapter of Daniel who is thrown into the lion’s den and guess who isn’t with him?  His friends.  Again, I always thought that Daniel was with his friends when he was thrown into the lion’s den.  

Here we have a very clear case of civil disobedience where Daniel, according to vs. 10, knew that the decree had been issued to only worship Darius, nevertheless he went into his house with the windows open to worship the God of Israel three times a day.  Do you notice that they mentioned the detail that the windows that were opened were facing Jerusalem.   That seems much more like a Muslim custom to pray three times a day in a certain direction, namely the direction of Jerusalem.  But here we see that it was a custom of Daniel, and one he refused to end even if it meant sure death.

I love the portrayal of the king who is incredibly sympathetic.  We read in vs.14-15 that the king did everything he could to free Daniel, and when he realized he would not be able to, he fasted after he threw Daniel in the lion’s den for  Daniel’s sake.  That is incredibly powerful.  To have a non-believer take the side of the believer in a way that had everything to do with their faith is not often seen.

Then you have the detail of the accusers and their families, including their children and their wives being torn limb from limb by the lions.  I guess it matters who you decide to marry.  That didn’t work out too well.