Introduction:

Scripture can be difficult
1. Perplexing questions
2. Translation questions
3. Genre of scripture
4. Familiarity

Faithfulness Tried (verses 1-9)

•Darius
-Conquered Babylon in 539 BC
-No extrabiblical evidence
-Most likely Darius the Mede was the same person as Cyrus the Persian
-Daniel 6:28 could be translated ““So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius - that is, the reign of Cyrus the Persian”

•Satrap: a type of governor

•Daniel is a type of Joseph
-Daniel had his faithfulness tested over years and years
-Daniel is about 85 years old at this point

•Application: How is God calling you to be faithful where he has you?

Faithfulness Tested (verses 10-18)

•What does Daniel do?
-He prays – as he as always done!
-Why did he face Jerusalem: 1st Kings 8:46-50

•Application
-What if we were commanded not to pray?
-What if we were restricted from access to the scripture?

•Darius
-He is distressed!
-He knows Daniel is righteous and wants to save him.
-Quote from Sinclair Ferguson: “Better to be a child of faith in a den of lions than a king in a palace without faith”.

•Application
-Would you trade your suffering and persecution for the assurance that the Lord is with you?

Faithfulness True (verses 19-28)

•Daniel in the den of lions
-Darius rushes to see if he is still alive, why?
-Babylonian custom that a victim could be pardoned if he were tortured and had not died by the following day.

•Daniel’s response
-He speaks of God’s deliverance
-God sent his angel to shut the lion
-Echo’s of Genesis and Isaiah 11

•Our faith is true
-This story is about the one true God, not about lions or even about Daniel
-Hebrews 11:32-33 doesn’t even mention Daniel
-The object of your faith is everything!

Christ in the story
*Faithful
-Hebrews 3:1-2
*Victim of conspiracy
*Arrested in similar ways
*Betrayers punished
*Sealed in a tomb
-Luke 24:44-47
*The lamb and the lion