“The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same”

(Daniel 6)

“The more things change, the more they stay the same”—or, as the Bible says, “there is nothing new under the sun.” That was certainly true for Daniel, and it’s also true for us.

When we first met Daniel, he was a young teenager. After the Babylonian army conquered his home city, Jerusalem, Daniel and the other teenagers of royalty and nobility were sent as exiles to serve the kingdom of Babylon. From the beginning, Daniel and his friends experienced pressure from a hostile world to forget their God, forget their identity, and make Babylon their true home.

We experience similar pressure every day.

Some years later, the king of Babylon sought to force Daniel’s friends to bow down and worship the wrong god in the wrong way—and if they didn’t, they would be thrown into a fiery furnace. Again, they experienced pressure from a hostile world to forget their God, forget their identity, and make their true home in this world.

By the time we arrive in Daniel chapter six, the once-youthful Daniel is now in his early eighties. He has survived multiple kings—Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and now Darius the Mede. He’s also survived multiple kingdoms—the once-invincible Babylon has been conquered, and now the exiles are under the control of the Medes and Persians. But the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Even in his eighties, Daniel is still seeking to remain faithful to his God amid pressure from a hostile world.

There is nothing new under the sun. As one commentator on Daniel writes, “New circumstances do not always give you the relief you crave; you may face the same essential troubles.” Another commentator notes that Daniel chapter six is “a necessary reminder that the life of faith must be lived to the very end and that earlier victories and rescues cannot be taken as guarantees of the absence of future crises.”

There is nothing new under the sun. The more things change, the more they stay the same. What Jesus said in John 15 still rings true: since the world hated him, it will hate and pressure us to forget our God, our identity, and make our true home here.

But “there is nothing new under the sun” cuts both ways. Yes, the world is still hostile toward God’s people—but our God still delivers his people! King Darius’ decree at the end of the chapter captures the main lesson we are meant to learn from Daniel 6:

Daniel 6:27 — “He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

The more things change, the more our God stays the same.

That brings us to the big idea of our passage this morning: Our God still delivers us from a hostile world. We need to learn it again because in a hostile world, we are prone to forget: Our God still delivers us from a hostile world.

Since that is true, how should we now live in this hostile world?
Our passage provides three answers:

1. Live honorably toward the world (vv. 1–9)

2. Obey God over the world (v. 10)

3. Look to the One who can deliver you from the world (vv. 11–28)

LIVE HONORABLY TOWARD THE WORLD (vv. 1–9)

As Daniel 6 begins, it’s important to note that there’s a new man in charge. Babylon was conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire, and Darius the Mede now ruled the empire. As soon as Darius took power, he appointed 120 satraps—think governors, like Josh Shapiro—who were responsible for the security of their provinces and for collecting taxes or tribute for Darius.

Over these 120 satraps, Darius placed three high officials, one of whom was Daniel. God was with Daniel, so Daniel lived honorably and served Darius excellently. Darius decided to promote Daniel and set him over the whole kingdom.

And this is where the hostility arose.

The other high officials—perhaps jealous that Darius favored and promoted Daniel over them—sought to find a complaint against Daniel that would put him in hot water with the king. The trouble for these jealous slanderers was that Daniel lived honorably toward the world.

Daniel 6:4–5 — “Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. [5] Then these men said, ‘We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.’”

These high officials and satraps hated Daniel so much because of the favor he had won from Darius that they devised a brilliant, wicked plan. They proposed that Darius establish an ordinance saying that anyone who made a petition to any god or priest representing a god—except Darius—for thirty days would be cast into a den of lions. Darius thought it was a great idea for consolidating power in his new kingdom.

Unfortunately, he didn’t see that the satraps and prefects were setting a trap to force him to throw Daniel into the lions’ den, where Daniel would surely die.

Daniel 6:8–9 — “Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” [9] “Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction.”

Daniel was hated for living honorably toward the world.

How should we apply the officials’ hatred and hostility toward Daniel for living honorably and finding favor with Darius? There are many answers, and you’ll discuss some in your CityGroups this week. Let me suggest one: expect to be hated for living honorably.

Of course, not everyone will hate you for living honorably toward the world. Daniel lived honorably and Darius favored him for it—but the high officials hated him for it. Similarly, if you live honorably toward the world, you should expect that some people will hate you for it.

John 15:19–20 — “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. … If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

This is no small theme in the New Testament:

Matthew 5:11–12 — “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

2 Timothy 3:12 — “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

There are two reasons you need to expect to be hated for living honorably toward the world.

First, so that when it happens, you’ll turn to Christ and have peace.
If you don’t expect it, then when it happens you’ll lose your joy, lose your peace, and may even drift from the faith. If you naively expect to be treated better than your Master—or roll your eyes at Jesus as if he’s another fearmonger—the results will be devastating for you and your household. But if you expect to be hated for living honorably, then when it happens, you’ll turn to Christ and rest in his peace.

Second, so that when it happens, you’ll keep living honorably.
The Old Testament book of Daniel and the New Testament book of 1 Peter should be read together, because 1 Peter is all about how Christians should live as exiles in this world now that they are citizens of Christ’s kingdom above.

1 Peter 2:12 — “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

When you expect to be hated for living honorably, you won’t be surprised—and you’ll keep living honorably.

When you expect other kids to tease you for working hard and honoring your teacher or coach; when you expect extended family to snicker at you for building an honorable Christian household; when coworkers look sideways at you because you’re respectful in speech, relentless in hard work, and achieve promotions—you won’t be surprised. You’ll keep living honorably.

Our God still delivers us from a hostile world. Live honorably toward the world—and secondly…

OBEY GOD OVER THE WORLD (v. 10)

The trap was set, and the lions’ bellies were growling. If Daniel prayed to his God—if he obeyed God over the world—then the man in his eighties would be tossed to the lions. What would Daniel do?

Daniel 6:9–10 — “Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction. When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.”

Though Daniel knew the document had been signed and that the law of the Medes and Persians could not be changed—though he knew it would cost him his life—he did not hesitate. He went to his house, opened his windows toward Jerusalem, and prayed three times a day, as he had always done.

Why the windows toward Jerusalem? Was Daniel picking a fight with Darius? No.

Over 300 years before Daniel, King Solomon had dedicated the temple in Jerusalem to the one true God. In Solomon’s prayer of dedication (1 Kings 8), he anticipated that one day God’s people would be exiled from their land. So he prayed:

1 Kings 8:48–49 — “…if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, [49] then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.”

Daniel wasn’t picking a fight; he was praying as God had instructed. He was praying for God’s people to be restored and renewed. Now that Christ is risen, we pray similarly—not by facing a physical place, but by praying in Jesus’ name for the renewal and growth of his people. We don’t go out of our way to pick fights, but we do obey God over the world in every case.

From Daniel 6:10 we can learn three lessons about obeying God over the world:

1. The importance of obeying God over the world.
   Daniel would rather die at the hands of Darius than disobey his God. It’s that important.
   Darius was a weighty man—but God is infinitely weightier. The Bible says that God is “holy, holy, holy” and that the whole world is full of his glory. The Hebrew word for glory means “weighty.”

   One reason we so easily cave to the world is that we’ve lost a sense of the weightiness of God. In God in the Wasteland, David Wells writes:

   “It is one of the defining marks of our time that God is now weightless… Those who assure the pollsters of their belief in God’s existence may nonetheless consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers’ sweet fog of flattery and lies. That is weightlessness.”

   Daniel reminds us of God’s glory—the weightiness of God—by showing us the importance of obeying Him over the world.

2. The defiance of obeying God over the world.
   Daniel prayed in defiance of anyone who would stop him. You might say, “There isn’t anyone pressuring me to disobey God.” Not so fast.
   A pastor friend told me of a woman in his church who, during her training as a geneticist, was taught to counsel patients to “terminate the pregnancy” if genetic testing revealed certain results. For her, obedience to God required defying the world.

   You might think, “Well, my job doesn’t pressure me to disobey God—how does this apply to me?”
   What about your kids’ travel sports tournaments? What about yet another weekend trip with friends? These things often pressure you to neglect God’s command to gather for worship on the Lord’s Day. Obeying God over the world requires defying anything that pressures you to do otherwise.

3. The habit of obeying God over the world.
   I love that Daniel 6:10 says Daniel prayed “as he had done previously.” We won’t obey God in the big “lion’s den” moments if we don’t obey Him in the small ones.
   The key to obeying God in the big moments is forming habits of obedience in the small ones: getting up to read Scripture and pray; gathering with your church and CityGroup; resisting temptation; speaking the gospel; forgiving others quickly; loving your spouse; disciplining your children; keeping short accounts with God.

   As you build the habit of obeying God in the smaller moments, you’ll be ready to obey Him in the “lion’s den” moments.

LOOK TO THE ONE WHO CAN DELIVER YOU FROM THE WORLD (vv. 11–28)

After Daniel prayed, the high officials found him out—and then ratted him out. Knowing Darius favored Daniel, they approached him shrewdly.

“O king, did you not sign an injunction saying that no one can pray to any god or priest representing a god except you for the next thirty days?”
“Yes,” said the king.
“And isn’t that law unchangeable?”
“Of course,” said the king.
“No exceptions?”
“None.”

Then came the trap.

Daniel 6:13 — “Then they answered and said before the king, ‘Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.’”

Darius was stuck. He favored Daniel and wanted to deliver him, but he couldn’t uphold both his law and Daniel’s life.

Daniel 6:15 — “Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, ‘Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.’”

The king couldn’t remain king and change his law. So he said to Daniel, “May the God you serve continually deliver you,” and reluctantly threw Daniel into the lions’ den. A stone was rolled over the mouth of the den, and Darius returned to his palace. That night he fasted, avoided all diversions, and couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t change his law, so he couldn’t save Daniel.

At daybreak, Darius rushed to the den and called out:

“O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, delivered you?”

Then Daniel responded with his only recorded words in the chapter:

Daniel 6:21–22 — “Then Daniel said to the king, ‘O king, live forever! [22] My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.’”

Darius couldn’t change his law, so he couldn’t deliver Daniel.

However, there is one way in which our God is like Darius: God also cannot change his law.
Darius couldn’t change his law and remain king; likewise, God cannot change his law and remain holy. God’s law reflects his character. Because He is holy and commands us to be holy, all who sin fall short of His glory and deserve not a lion’s den—but eternal punishment.

Like Darius, God cannot change His law and maintain His integrity. But unlike Darius, our God made a way to maintain His law and extend mercy to lawbreakers—to deliver us from the den of judgment and welcome us into His kingdom.

That way is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Instead of lowering or adjusting His perfect standard, God put forth His Son. Jesus kept the righteous and holy standard of God in every way we have failed. And Jesus went into the “lions’ den”—the cross—to take our place. Christ, our substitute, took the penalty we deserved so that we might be delivered without God changing His law or compromising His character.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is how God can be both just and the justifier of the ungodly.

Jesus Christ has overcome the world, and we will rise with Him one day. Therefore, we can trust that He still delivers us from this hostile world—and we can bear witness to His delivering grace, even to the kings of all nations.