Victory: Daniel 6:24-28
Once more God shows His incredible ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. This is one of my favorite attributes about God. It doesn’t matter how dark the night is. It doesn’t matter how many opponents line up against Him. God can be victorious. In the end, His victory will be all that remains.
Once God proved himself victorious over the lions, Darius sets Daniel free. The logic is relatively simple for someone who believes in the divine. If a human being decrees something contrary to the gods’ desire, the gods are powerful enough to alter the outcome. That’s exactly what happened here. Since the effects of Darius’ decree were thwarted, it was proof the gods wanted an outcome different than Darius’ edict provided. Since the gods spoke and preserved Daniel, he can be set free. Please note that I say “gods” here because I am speaking from Darius’ perspective. From a God-fearing perspective, we certainly give credit to God, not the gods.
It goes further than this. Because the divine intervened, it was a sign the decree was offensive enough for them to countermand it. Therefore, Darius easily concludes that those who advised him into making the edict must oppose the divine. Thus, Darius casts them into the den on lions. Why would someone want to take counsel from a person opposed to the divine? Would they not continue to leading you astray?
It's worse yet! Notice the families join the satraps in the den of lions. This is not the first time we encounter this thought in Daniel. Twice Nebuchadnezzar commanded some of his counselors and their houses be utterly destroyed. In those stories, Nebuchadnezzar is speaking about their lineage, not the actual building.
From a modern perspective, this idea suffers a bit from the consequence of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Yet from an ancient mindset it makes sense. If the head of a household was opposed to the divine, then their household would be corrupted by their leadership. It would be best to cut the cancer out so all who oppose the divine would not continue their influence.
In the end, those who opposed Daniel find the divine opposing them. God doesn’t decree they die; that’s on Darius. Neither does God save them. Their selfish lust for power brings about their destruction.
Conversely, Daniel prospers. His faith was an open book. In the beginning, Darius knew about Daniel’s faith and still appointed him to a high position in the land. Daniel hid nothing from Darius. He is vindicated and prospers.
More importantly, Darius has no trouble making a new edict declaring that God is to be respected among the people in his domain. Darius acknowledges God’s power to rescue, to work miracles, and to create an everlasting kingdom. Once more God shows His incredible ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
