ONLY ONE WAY OUT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”

The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”

Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.

Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

Daniel 6:13-16

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The trap had been set and as expected, Daniel got caught in it.

Just in case you have missed the last few devotions, here’s a recap of events:

1. After slaying King Belshazzar of Babylon, King Darius of Mede took over and appointed 120 satraps (governors) to rule over his kingdom with those satraps reporting to three administrators, one of which was Daniel.

2. Daniel had impressed Darius so much that the king wanted to promote him to authority over the entire kingdom.

3. Upset about this, Daniel’s fellow administrators and the satraps schemed against Daniel, conjuring up a plan to get rid of him. You’ll recall that they went to Darius and asked him to sign a decree declaring that no one but the king was to be worshiped for a thirty day period, making it appear that even Daniel was in agreement when in truth he was completely unaware of their plot. As a penalty for disobedience, anyone who defied the decree would be placed in the lion’s den.

4. With the decree in place, the administrators and satraps knew that Daniel would not be disloyal to his God and so they went to his place where they found him on his knees and praying to God for help.

This is the place where we pick up this story in our scripture passage for today and our continued study of Daniel 6. Look again at these words here:

So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”

The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”

Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.

Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”  Daniel 6:13-16

Armed with the knowledge that Daniel was violating the king’s edict, we find the administrators and satraps go to the king to make a report. Note how they set the stage for exposing Daniel by first making sure the king remembered the law he signed into place which carried with it the inability to repeal or pardon. Once that was confirmed, then they went for the kill telling the king the following:

Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.”

We sense the king becoming distressed immediately, possibly even realizing what had happened, that he had been manipulated by the administrators and satraps to set up Daniel to die. Scripture tells us the king did everything possible to rescue Daniel but the efforts were fruitless. The administrators and satraps were carefully watching how the king responded and continued to remind him that the decree could not be changed once it was executed.  

And so the king, painted into a corner by the very law he signed, ordered Daniel to be thrown into the lion’s den but not before giving his servant leader the following words, words I am sure he believed would be the last ones he would be able to say to Daniel:

“May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

In other words, King Darius was essentially saying that Daniel had only one way out of the peril that awaited him in the lion’s den and that was through God who was the sole entity who could rescue him. Surely, the administrators and satraps had to believe they had succeeded, that there was no way possible that Daniel would ever escape being eaten alive by the lions. But the administrators and satraps did not know the very God they were sinning against for if they did, they would never have schemed and plotted in the first place out of sheer fear of God’s judgment.

What will happen to Daniel?

Tune into tomorrow’s devotion but before you do, recognize and realize the message from God for your life today. For we will all face our trials in life, many times the victim of the schemes of others. During those times, I believe it’s an incredible comfort and assurance to know that we will always have only one way out of any difficult or dangerous circumstances we find ourselves in and that way is through God, the very God through which all things are possible.

For friends, today and every day more than ever, the Lord Almighty is our protection and great Deliverer, our rescue and very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). Never forget this when you are facing down your personal lion’s dens in life.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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