Then king Darius wrote unto all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth Peace be multiplied unto you.
The lions' den is behind him. Now the king who signed Daniel's death warrant picks up his pen again, this time to write to every nation under his rule. How much did this pagan king grasp of what he was announcing? And why did God turn one man's night among lions into a message for a whole empire?
Darius was not the first king in that empire to issue an edict about God. What marks this one out is how much further it went than the one before it.
Darius now sends out a second decree to all who live on the earth. All people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. This goes beyond the decree of Nebuchadnezzar recorded in Daniel 3. That one only commanded that no one should speak anything wrong against God. This decree commands men to pay God proper respect and fear, as a recognition of His sovereignty as the living God. So through the faithfulness of one man, the effort to set man in the place of God becomes the occasion of a worldwide testimony to the living God.
Daniel's rivals had aimed to get rid of him for good. The letter that went out to "all the peoples, nations, and languages" was the opposite of what they wanted.
In such a wonderful way God made the wrath of man praise Him. He turned the effort to put out the light of His testimony in Babylon forever into the means of kindling it across the whole earth.
Darius had already signed a decree that put a man in the place of God. His new letter did not simply sit beside the old one.
This was his second measure. It wiped the first out of existence. It established, as far as a human decree could, a religion that acknowledged the living God. Men were to tremble and fear before Him. The king published it in every realm of his wide domain.
Commentators differ here. Some hear real conversion in the king's words. Others notice the distance in the phrase "the God of Daniel."
It seems from history that Darius had some respect for God and for Daniel's devotion to Him. It was not his God, but the God of Daniel: still he honours Him, and even calls Him the living God.
Others hear more hope in it:
And does not this second decree of Darius give us good reason to hope that God brought him too, like Nebuchadnezzar, to the knowledge of the true God? … His confession of Daniel's God as the living God is a great encouragement.
The king's new knowledge of God had one source: the conduct of one man.
Darius had gained a certain definite knowledge of God from Daniel's faithfulness. Up to this time he had no real knowledge of Him. It is amazing what the effect of faithfulness is. Something lovely always happens where a soul witnesses for the Lord — where it takes a bold stand and confesses Him in the open. Confession is an immense thing. I am sure many people today are converted to the truth of the gospel and yet have never taken their stand for the Lord.
That faithfulness left a name behind it:
"The God of Daniel" is a title that now shines on the page of inspiration as does that of "the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob."
What happened to one man points forward to what God will do for a whole people.
The deliverance of the Jews — that is, of a remnant — is the public display on the earth. It gives the nations their occasion to confess that God is the true God. They will say, as Jethro said to Moses, "Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods" (Ex. 18:11).
- One man. Daniel's open faithfulness gave Darius his first real knowledge of God.
- One deliverance. God rescued Daniel from the lions, and the decree that followed named Him "the living God."
- One decree. Darius's second letter cancelled his first. It also went further than Nebuchadnezzar's: it called for fear of God, not just a ban on insults.
- One empire. The plot meant to put out God's testimony instead spread it to every nation in the realm.
- One coming day. The same pattern is still to come: God's people delivered, and the nations confessing that He is the true God.
I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.
Daniel's night among the lions ends with a written order, not a speech. The king whose first decree had sent him there now tells every province of his empire to fear the God of Daniel.
Darius answers Daniel's rescue with a second decree, and it does more than free one man.
This was his second measure. It wiped the first out of existence. It set up, as far as a human decree could, a religion that acknowledged the living God. Men were to tremble and fear before Him. It was published in every realm of his wide domain.
The real test of a royal order is what happens next. Set this decree beside the one in verse 8.
The later history of that empire shows that men did not tremble and fear before the living God, as they were commanded to do. No empire can legislate in the things of God; and so this 'law of the Medes and Persians' was soon broken openly and everywhere!
An earlier king, Nebuchadnezzar, had also made a law about God. His law only banned insults against Him; this one asks something of every subject.
Darius now sends out a second decree to all who live on the earth, that all men are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. This goes beyond the decree of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3, which only commanded that no one should speak against God. This decree tells men to give God due respect and fear, recognising His sovereignty as the living God. One man stayed faithful. So the effort to set up man in the place of God becomes the occasion of a world-wide testimony to the living God.
This title sits at the heart of the decree. It also puts a question to the reader.
Daniel knew the living God. He was in touch with the living God. Are you? It was a fine testimony that Darius sent out to all his subjects: "He is the living God, and steadfast for ever." Thank God He is. It is a good thing to know the living One in a world of death. "The living God."
Darius meant a rescued body. The same title reaches further.
I admit that Darius meant the rescue and deliverance of the body. But it is just as true of the soul — indeed, more true. God is the saviour of His people. He is the living God. Have you turned to Him? Paul reminds the Thessalonians: "You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God" (1 Thess. 1:9)... He never changes. He saves sinners. He upholds His saints.
The ESV calls God "enduring forever" here; older translations read "steadfast for ever". The writers trace that same note right through Scripture.
Daniel chapter 6 records God's faithfulness to His faithful servant Daniel. We see it in his remarkable deliverance from the den of lions. The impression made on Darius caused that ruler to exclaim, among other things, "The God of Daniel... He is the living God, and steadfast for ever". The Psalmist (Psalm 102) says of God "You are the same" — a name which runs right through Scripture. Paul wrote to Timothy in days marked by compromise and unfaithfulness. He points out that God "remains faithful — for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:13).
The last words of the decree look past Persia.
The decree of Darius goes beyond that of Nebuchadnezzar in one respect. There is a millennial note in his praise — "His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and His dominion shall be to the end." Here we have Gentile history in brief. God begins by declaring Himself as God in heaven, and by the wonderful display of His power He demands the worship of man. Man ends by denying God and taking for himself the honour that belongs to God alone.
Did Darius come to faith himself? One writer weighs the exact wording the king used.
It appears from the history that Darius had some respect for God and for Daniel's devotion. It was not his God, but the God of Daniel: still he honours Him, and even calls Him the living God.
- Faithfulness. One man's faithfulness became the occasion of a world-wide testimony to the living God.
- Reversal. The second decree wiped out the first, and published the God of Daniel in every province of the empire.
- Living. God's title here is not a label but an invitation — to know the living One in a world of death.
- Steadfast. He never changes; the same God who kept faith with Daniel remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
- Limits. No empire can legislate in the things of God. That law was soon broken; God's kingdom will never be destroyed.
He saveth and delivereth, and he worketh signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth who hath saved Daniel from the power of the lions.
Daniel has come out of the lions' den alive. Darius answers with a decree to every nation he rules, and it raises two questions: what produced it, and how far does it reach?
The decree did not start with the king. It started with a plot to put a man in God's place, and with one man who stayed faithful.
Through the faithfulness of one man, the effort to set up man in the place of God becomes the occasion of a world-wide testimony to the living God.
Another writer weighs how much the king himself understood, and what God did with his words anyway.
How far he entered into the truth of the words he ordered to be written, we are not told. However that may be, the testimony he gave to God and to His sovereignty was no small thing... In this marvellous way God made the wrath of man praise Him. He turned the attempt to put out the light of His testimony in Babylon for ever into the means of kindling it throughout the whole earth.
Darius was not the first ruler of Babylon to make an order about God. Nebuchadnezzar had done so before him, and the two orders are not the same.
This goes beyond the decree of Nebuchadnezzar recorded in Daniel 3. That one only commanded that no one should speak against God. This decree commands that people give God the respect and fear He is due, recognising His sovereignty as the living God.
One writer takes the words of the decree and turns them on the reader.
I fully admit that Darius meant the rescuing and delivering of the body. But it is just as true, and even more true, of the soul. God is the Saviour of His people. He is the living God. Have you turned to Him?... He never changes. He saves sinners. He upholds His saints. He comforts, strengthens and blesses them. The result of their testimony is that His glory spreads far and wide... The night before, Darius said, God will deliver. In the morning he asks, Did He do it? God did it. And then Darius sends out a decree: I want everybody to know Daniel's God, who has done it.
Commentators differ on how far the king went. One writer notes a limit in the wording.
As a matter of history, it appears that Darius had some real respect for God and for Daniel's godly life. It was not his God, but the God of Daniel: still he honours Him, and even calls Him the living God.
Another writer reads more hope into the same words.
Does not this second decree of Darius give us good reason to hope that God brought him, like Nebuchadnezzar, to the knowledge of the true God?... His confession of Daniel's God as the living God is marvellously encouraging.
Commentators read the scene as more than history. Daniel shut in with the lions and then brought out forms a pattern of a faithful few of God's people in days still to come.
The deliverance of Daniel is also typical. He pictures the remnant, God's faithful remnant, who will be in Jerusalem and in the land during the days of Antichrist's dreadful rule. Through the scheming of their enemies they will be thrown, as it were, into the lions' den. Displays of Satan's power will surround them on every side, and to human eyes their destruction will look certain. But God will Himself protect them. He will step in for their release by the appearing of Christ, and He will bring on their enemies the very judgment they had designed for His people.
Another writer names who is delivered here, and what follows among the nations.
The deliverance of the Jews — that is, of a remnant — is the public display on the earth. It is what leads the nations to confess that God is the true God.
- One man. One man's faithfulness turned a plot to put man in God's place into a testimony for the whole world.
- One God. The decree names Him "the living God." He delivered Daniel's body, and one writer presses the point further: He rescues the soul too.
- One reach. Nebuchadnezzar's decree only forbade speaking against God. This one commands the respect and fear due to Him.
- One question. Commentators differ on whether Darius came to know God himself. He says "the God of Daniel" — yet some read real hope in that confession.
- One preview. Daniel shut among lions and brought out unhurt pictures a faithful few kept safe and delivered. The nations then confess that God is the true God.