THRIVING IN BABYLON SLEEPING IN THE LION S DEN AUGUST 2, 2015

Transcription

1 THRIVING IN BABYLON SLEEPING IN THE LION S DEN AUGUST 2, 2015

2 BRENTWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH DANIEL 6:1-24 AUGUST 2, 2015 TEACHING PLAN PREPARATION > Spend the week reading through and studying Daniel 6:1-24. Consult the commentary provided and any additional study tools (such as a concordance or Bible dictionary) to enhance your preparation. > Determine which discussion points and questions will work best with your group. > Pray for our pastors, the upcoming group meeting, your teaching, your group members, and their receptivity to the study. HIGHLIGHTS BIBLICAL EMPHASIS: Daniel 6 describes how Daniel practiced the spiritual discipline of prayer without regard to prevailing public opinion or political status. Daniel courageously maintained his discipline of prayer even though doing so meant being thrown into the lion s den. Daniel gave God full credit for delivering him from the lions, expressing confidence in God s deliverance of faithful servants. TEACHING AIM: As a result of today s study, you will be encouraged that God s people grow in their faith when they practice a disciplined spiritual life, including a consistent prayer life. 2 Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church

3 INTRODUCTION As your group time begins, use this section to help get the conversation going. John Piper once stated in a sermon, Our Lord Jesus said to us in very solemn words, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24). Then he adds this: Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (John 12:25). In other words, a fruitful life and an eternal life come from this: dying like a seed and hating your life in this world.... More and more I am persuaded from Scripture and from the history of missions that God s design for the evangelization of the world and the consummation of his purposes includes the suffering of his ministers and missionaries. To put it more plainly and specifically, God designs that the suffering of his ministers and missionaries is one essential means in the joyful triumphant spread of the gospel among all the peoples of the world. Daniel is just one of many biblical and historical examples whose life supports Piper s thoughts. 1 What do you consider to be the biggest challenge you have faced in your life? Looking back, what would you do differently in how you faced that challenge? What would you definitely not change? 2 How was your relationship with God impacted by that experience? Daniel faced real danger because of his faith in God and his determination to hold on to godly values. However, God blessed Daniel and delivered him, leaving us a message that almost seems custom-made for the day in which we live. God can deliver us from threatening situations. But if He does not, we still need to live godly lives and embrace godly values, even if doing so means sleeping with lions. 3 Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church

4 UNDERSTANDING Unpack the biblical text to discover what Scripture says or means about a particular topic. > Have a volunteer read Daniel 6:1-5. While in Babylon, Daniel became a satrap, a position created to serve as protector of the kingdom and referred to a governor over a province or district. The satraps were responsible to three administrators, who in turn reported to the king and ensured that he was not defrauded. Based on what we ve read in Daniel the past few weeks, what would have made him a good candidate for this important position? What additional things do we learn about Daniel s character from Daniel 6:1-5? The position entailed genuine responsibility, and Daniel excelled in his position. The king knew Daniel as a man with a preeminent, surpassing spirit. The text tells us others were jealous of Daniel, but their attempts to find evidence of corruption in his leadership only further proved his character. The text specifically highlights his trustworthiness. The Book of Daniel teaches that such a trustworthy person will glorify God when trials come. How did Daniel s relationship with God prepare him for his task as a satrap? How did that same relationship with God open him up to attacks from his enemies? Think about the way you live outside of the church walls. How does your character and commitment to God measure up to Daniel s? 4 Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church

5 Having found no evidence of mismanagement in Daniel s business practices, they decided to examine his relationship with God. If his unwillingness to compromise the law of His God led to a conflict with the laws of the Medes and Persians, they might finally have a legitimate charge against him. Daniel s life was so uncompromising that it presented a huge target to his enemies. His business procedures were above reproach; his enemies could not dig up any dirt against him. What if we had hundreds of thousands of Daniels in our churches, schools, and cities? How important it is that we have such a strong relationship with God that people see it as the most predictable thing in our lives. > Have a volunteer read Daniel 6:6-10. Not only was Daniel a man of blameless character, but he also exercised a faith that could not be bought or swayed. That faith would soon face an extreme test the risk of death. Throughout our series, we have been discussing the conflict between our faith and the culture at large. How are faith and culture in conflict in Daniel 6:6-10? Briefly discuss Darius, his personality, reasons why he made the law that trapped Daniel, and his regret over making that law. What principles can we learn from these events in Darius s life? Daniel s enemies flattered and deceived the king in order to get them to do what they wanted. They knew Daniel prayed several times every day. So they devised a decree whereby no one could pray to any god or man except to Darius for an entire month. They insisted violators be thrown into the lions den. That the officials knew Daniel would not keep such a decree in spite of his unblemished record of serving the king in all other matters is a great testimony to Daniel s faith before them. 5 Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church

6 How did Daniel react to the news of the king s new law? What implications does Daniel s public display of faith have for our prayer lives? What is one way your own faith in God is challenged in our culture? Explain the significance of opening the window and praying toward Jerusalem. Emphasize that he refused to change his habits even though the king s decree made it against the law. Are there times when civil disobedience is proper? How does a person decide when that time comes? How is civil disobedience different than revolution? Make a list of ways that culture may oppose Christianity in today s society. (Don t get sidetracked. Keep the focus on prayer.) What aspects of our culture today hinder the spiritual discipline of prayer? How do you face those challenges in your own prayer life? Daniel could have given up on prayer. Giving up on prayer would have enabled him to comply with the king s decree. Giving up on prayer would have erased the tension between his faith and the culture of which he was a part. However, Daniel did not give up on prayer because he knew the value of staying close to God. What about us? Do the distractions of a restless culture call us away from our personal prayer time? Are we in such a hurry to keep up with a busy culture that we fail to slow down and pray? We can exercise spiritual discipline in our prayer lives by refusing to be sidetracked in our relationship with God by worldly cultural values and practices. 6 Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church

7 > Have a volunteer read Daniel 6: The jealous satraps brought the news to King Darius that Daniel had broken his law. This displeased the king who held Daniel in high esteem. Because the laws were irrevocable, he had no choice but to throw Daniel into the lion s den. How had Daniel s faith in God affected the king up to this point? What do you learn about God from the contrast between the king and Daniel in these verses? What are some lion s den type situations people find themselves in when Christianity is in conflict with the culture? Interestingly, the story focused on the king instead of Daniel in the lion s den during the night. The king is recorded as having spent a sleepless night of fasting. The fact that he could not sleep demonstrated the king s anxiety over Daniel s fate. Not only did Daniel s faith in God remain firm through everything he faced in Babylon, but it even seems like it grew stronger through his trials. For Daniel, to die in the mouths of the lions, having remained faithful to God, would be preferred above living in peace by compromising his integrity before the Lord. > Have a volunteer read Daniel 6: What does God s deliverance of Daniel teach us about him and about His deliverance in general? We know from life that God does not always rescue the faithful. If God does not respond in a miraculous way, how should His followers respond? 7 Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church

8 What affect did God s deliverance of Daniel have on Darius? These verses show that Daniel, a person of blameless character and undaunted faith, trusted God in the worst of times. God does not always reward uncompromised faith with miraculous deliverance. However, He powerfully delivered Daniel. After a long, restless night, at the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions den. The anxiety of his sleepless night erupted into a hurried trip to the lion s den to see if Daniel had survived. At the stunning news that Daniel was alive, the king was overjoyed and immediately ordered Daniel to be taken out of the den. Daniel was uninjured, for he trusted in his God. For His own glory, God had rewarded Daniel s faith. The king was no longer bound with regard to Daniel; the sentence had been carried out. As an absolute monarch, the king could now reward his friend Daniel and punish Daniel s adversaries. Daniel s faith was validated by the intervention of God. How has God proven Himself faithful in your life recently? Daniel is a biblical example of one who trusted God fully and did not compromise. Believers today can trust that God is able to deliver them when their godly actions put them at risk, even risk of life. Ultimately, such a believer will glorify God. APPLICATION Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. 1 Daniel s primary purpose in life was to glorify God. How was the purpose for Daniel s life different from the purpose for your life today? What is one immediate difference you would see if this became the focus of your life? 8 Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church

9 2 What step do you need to take toward having a faithful prayer life like Daniel? 3 What does persecution over prayer and faith look like today? How can our group help each other stay faithful? P R A Y As you close in prayer, thank God for Daniel s example and what his story teaches us about a life lived in faithful, unhindered pursuit of God. Pray for the strength and conviction needed to live this way in our broken world. FOLLOW UP Midway through this week, send a follow-up to your group with some or all of the following information: > Questions to consider as they continue to reflect on what they learned this week: How much risk have you been willing to take to live your faith boldly? What actions do you think God is asking you to take to show uncompromised faith in your life this week? > A note of encouragement, following up on any specific prayer requests mentioned during your group gathering. > The challenge to memorize Daniel 6: Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church

10 COMMENTARY AUGUST 2, 2015 DANIEL 6 6:1. In one of the best-known stories in the book, Daniel was cast into the lions den for his faith. Since Daniel was about 15 years old in 605 b.c. when the Babylonians brought him as a captive to Babylon, and since the events in Daniel 6 most likely took place in the second or third year after the Medo-Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 b.c., Daniel would have been approximately 82 years old when he was thrown to the lions, not a teenager as is often pictured in Bible story books. Darius began organizing the newly conquered Babylonian Empire and immediately decided to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom. These 120 satraps were lower tier officials who helped rule the entire empire or just over the part of the empire that was formerly under Babylonian control. Notes 6:2. The king appointed three administrators over the 120 satraps to assure that taxes would be properly collected without any embezzlement or corruption by the 120 government officials. For these positions, the king needed men with trustworthy reputations. So he chose Daniel as one of these officials. He must have heard of Daniel s reputation; perhaps he was even aware of Daniel s interpretation of the writing that had appeared on the wall the night Babylon fell. 6:3. Daniel proved to be a superlative administrator because of his extraordinary spirit, a phrase used previously to describe his character (5:12). Therefore, the king planned to set him over the whole realm as prime minister. 6:4-5. The king s choice of Daniel created jealousy among the other court officials, and they wished to denounce Daniel. Since Daniel was both diligent and honest in his work, they could find no corruption in him. Therefore, they sought to trap him by creating a law to ban Daniel from worshiping his God. 6:6-7. When these corrupt officials approached the king, they falsely claimed that all government officials supported the proposal that for 30 days, anyone who petitioned any god or man except the king would be thrown into the lions den. By agreeing to this law, Darius probably had not claimed deity but rather adopted the role of a priestly mediator. His goal was to unite 10 Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church

11 COMMENTARY AUGUST 2, 2015 the Babylonian realm under the authority of the new Persian Empire. 6:8. The irrevocability of a law of the Medes and Persians is confirmed elsewhere in Scripture (Est 1:19; 8:8) and secular literature (Diodorus of Sicily, XVII:30). Notes: 6:10. Even though the law prohibiting prayer had gone into effect, Daniel still prayed with his windows opened toward Jerusalem. Jewish people in exile always pray toward Jerusalem even today just as Solomon had instructed in his prayer of dedication for the temple (1Ki 8:44-49). Daniel prayed not out of rebellion toward the king but out of obedience to the greater command of God. As the apostles would later say, We must obey God rather than men (Ac 5:29). So great was Daniel s reputation for spiritual commitment that even his enemies knew he would obey God rather than bow to the king s edict. 6:14. The king was very displeased not because Daniel had defied him but because he came to understand that the true purpose of the law was to trap Daniel, whom he respected. 6:16. The Persians used mutilation by lions as one of several brutal forms of execution. It was Daniel s continual service to God that caused him to be cast into the lions den; now the king hoped that this devotion would cause God to deliver Daniel. The word for den can also be translated as pit. 6: Daniel was cast into a pit over which a stone was placed and sealed with the signet rings of the king and his nobles. King Darius then spent the night fasting and presumably praying for Daniel. 6: God uses angels to accomplish His purposes, including protection of His people (Ps 34:7; 91:11; Heb 1:14). He had done so for Daniel s three friends in the furnace many years earlier (Dan 3:25). As on that occasion, this may have been an angel or even the angel of the Lord (i.e., a preincarnate appearance of the Messiah). Daniel was not claiming perfection in declaring that he was found innocent before God. Rather, Daniel claimed that his allegiance to God made him guiltless in this matter. It was 11 Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church

12 COMMENTARY AUGUST 2, 2015 Daniel s faith in God, not his works, that brought him deliverance from the lions. 6:24. Although executing family members is exceptionally cruel, this was a common Persian practice according to Herodotus ( Histories, 3.119). 6: Just as King Nebuchadnezzar before him, King Darius issued a decree to every people, nation, and language (cp. 4:2), declaring praise to the God of Daniel. Darius recognized the greatness of God: that He is living and eternal, sovereign, all-powerful, and able to deliver His people. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that Darius came to a saving faith here. He instead accepted the God of Israel as just one of many gods. 6:28. Some maintain that this verse draws a distinction between Darius and Cyrus, such that Darius could only be identified with Gubaru and not with Cyrus the Persian. But it is also possible to translate this verse as during the reign of Darius, even Cyrus the Persian. 12 Sleeping in the Lion s Den Brentwood Baptist Church