SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
8/3/2013 8:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Honesty versus Corruption
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Daniel 6:1-4
Message of the
verses: I think that it is important
to see who we are reading about in this chapter as the first verses in most of
the chapters in the book of Daniel tell us who is ruling at that time, and so
we can go back into history to see what the year is that the chapter is
speaking about. To better understand
this in the sixth chapter of Daniel I will quote the first paragraph from
Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Daniel, in particular the sixth chapter, and
also quote from the endnote too.
“Darius the Mede must not be confused with Darius I who
ruled Persia from 522 to 486 and during whose reign the temple was restored by
the Jewish remnant at Jerusalem. Darius
the Mede was probably the name (or title) of the man King Cyrus appointed ruler
of the city of Babylon (9:1) until he himself took charge ; or it may have been
the title Cyrus himself took when he came to reign. (1) King Cyrus ruled the
Persian Empire from 539 to 530 and was succeeded by Cambyses (530-522).”
(1) “Daniel 6:28 can be translated, ‘Even in the reign
of Cyrus, the Persian.’ This would make
Darius and Cyrus the same person.
However, most translators and Old Testament Scholars avoid this approach
and see Darius and Cyrus as two different persons.”
As
we read this chapter of Daniel we will be able to see that “wherever you find
dedicated believers living and working with unbelievers, you will often see the
same forces at work that are described in this chapter, whether in families,
churches, corporations, or governments.”
Keeping this statement in mind we will begin to look at the first of
these forces at work in Daniel chapter six.
Honesty verses Corruption (Daniel
6:1-4):
“1 It seemed good to Darius to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom,
that they would be in charge of the whole kingdom, 2 and over them three commissioners (of whom Daniel was one),
that these satraps might be accountable to them, and that the king might not suffer loss. 3 Then
this Daniel began
distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary
spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom. 4
Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation
against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence
of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was
to be found in him.”
When
Darius took over the Babylonian Empire he saw that he needed to make some
changes, for since the Babylonian Empire was ended and the Medes and the
Persians were taking over as we saw in the last chapter of Daniel, Darius would
indeed want to make these changes because of the corruption that was found in
the Babylonian Empire. I guess we could
compare this situation to when a company buys another company in modern times
and then decides who they want to keep and who they want to get rid of. Darius made a wise decision in making Daniel
one of the three commissioners who would be over the 120 satraps and after a
while Darius was about to make Daniel head over all his empire, but something
was brewing in the empire, something that we can pretty much see as we read
about it as the work of the evil one trying to persecute Daniel. We do not read of any sins that Daniel ever
committed in the Old Testament, and this does not mean that he did not sin, but
it does mean that Daniel was one of the most forthright people we see in the
Old Testament. Daniel may have been in
semiretirement for he was in his eighties, but God was not done with this OT
giant yet and so he would do some more work as we will see.
Darius
was a wise leader in that he realized that he could not take care of everything
by himself and that is why he was looking for a few good men to care for the
things that needed to be cared for in his government, and to have them cared
for in an ethical way. We read in verse
three these words that describe Daniel “he possessed an extraordinary spirit,” and this is
the kind of man Darius was looking for.
Now when the other leaders found out about Daniel’s wonderful work
effort they knew that they would not be able to work in the corrupted way that
they were working and so they decided to “vet” him as we put it in modern day
language, but when they were done they found nothing wrong with him and so like
modern day liberals in our time they would go a step further to find something
wrong with him. In our day the news
media would just make up something wrong and all of the people who listen to
them would believe it.
These
men had their reasons for being against Daniel, for money was surely part of
it, but they probably did not realize that Satan was using them to help him get
rid of Daniel for Satan knew that Daniel was doing a great work for the Lord in
the position he was in. When these men would go to the Darius with their
evidence against later on in the chapter they would use words that show their
disgust for Daniel by using anti-Semitic terms to talk to the king about
him. Satan is behind anti-Semitism, but
when we go back to the promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 we
read that “I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will
curse.” God has been faithful to this
promise, and one of the things that bring fear to my heart is the way that we
as a nation are shifting our support to the nation of Israel, for this is one
of the last steps that a nation can come to before God will bring a great
judgment upon them. Look back in history
to see all of the leaders of nations who tried to get rid of the Jews and you
will find that the Jews always stood at their graves, as God continues to make
good His covenant He made with Abraham.
Now
we can’t take for granted that the good man always gets the best job, or the
good man always gets the promotion for perhaps God is trying bring about
spiritual growth in the person and this is how He chooses to do it. However with this said believers should
continue to live and act in ways that will bring glory to the Lord in their
workplace, their churches and their homes just as Daniel did.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: There is a
song that I have heard entitled “Dare to be a Daniel,” and that is what I want
to do.
- Standing by a purpose true,
Heeding God’s command,
Honor them, the faithful few!
All hail to Daniel’s band! - Refrain:
Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known. - Many mighty
men are lost,
Daring not to stand,
Who for God had been a host
By joining Daniel’s band. - Many giants,
great and tall,
Stalking through the land,
Headlong to the earth would fall,
If met by Daniel’s band. - Hold the
Gospel banner high!
On to vict’ry grand!
Satan and his hosts defy,
And shout for Daniel’s band.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to led and guide me, and trust
the Lord to continue to teach me contentment.
Memory verses for the week: Psalm 46:1-8
1
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth
should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3 though
the waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling
pride. Selah. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad
the city of God, the holy dwelling palace of the most high. 5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be
moved, God will help her when morning dawns.
6
The nations make and uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the
earth melted. 7 The Lord of hosts is
with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Selah. 8 Come behold the works of
the Lord, who has wrought desolation in the earth.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Long life” (1Kings 3:14).
Today’s Bible Question: “Who must be blameless, sober, hospitable,
apt to teach?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
8/3/2013 9:47 AM
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