DANIEL PERSECUTED FOR CONSCIENCE' SAKE.
Because the jealous presidents and princes of the Medo-Persian Kingdom could find no fault in Daniel's official administration, they connived to entrap him through his fidelity to the law of his God. “Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live forever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.” This was oriental flattery in the highest degree, setting the king above all gods. It was the supreme distinction which Nebuchadnezzar had sought for himself, as king of Babylon, when he set up the image of gold for universal worship. The scheme of the princes was a double trap—primarily for Daniel, and secondarily to inveigle the unwitting king and make him a party to the scheme. The aged king was caught in the trap through the flattery of his counselors. “Wherefore King Darius signed the writing and the decree.” But what about Daniel—he who, as a youth, had withstood the temptation to defile himself with the king's intemperate food and wine, when to refuse might have been a forfeiture of his life. Did he now obey the mandate of the king?—No; he had, amidst all the pomp and luxury of Babylon, remained true to his principles of faith and temperance. And now that he was an old man, not less than ninety years of age, he could not afford to sell his birthright for a mess of pottage at that late day. So he was not moved when he “knew that the writing was signed.” He deliberately went to his house, and, “his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” Of course the conspirators were watching him, in expectation that he would do that very thing, and then they would shortly be rid of him. They had based their hope of the success of their plot on Daniel's faithfulness to his God, and in this respect they were not disappointed. Then they made haste to report the matter to the king. They said: “Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king readily answered his flatterers, and said, “The thing is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.” Thus were they doubly assured that the law was in harmony with their unholy purpose. So we find men to-day, men who profess better things than allegiance to a heathen government, employing like means to carry out sinister purposes. Men who assume the Christian name, and wear the ministerial garb, combine to secure secular laws designed to work hardship on those who conscientiously ignore the traditions of men. And, in support of these unjust laws, they will invoke a perversion of the scripture which enjoins us to “be subject unto the higher powers.” Such a perversion is a virtual claim of infallibility for human law-makers. Daniel's persecutors, feeling sure of their ground, as the king reasserted that the decree could not be altered, answered sneeringly, “That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.” This indicates the closeness of the surveillance that had been established over Daniel's movements. They were not fully satisfied with detecting him once at his usual devotions; they watched him all through the day, to see if he repeatedly disregarded the king's decree. This was in order to make a strong case against the object of their jealousy, and make sure of his conviction because of his persistent disloyalty. But the Spirit of God was evidently working upon the mind of the king, and enduing him with a keener discernment than he had manifested when, overcome by flattery, he consented to the decree. And the over-zealous manner of the princes, no doubt, helped to expose the real cause of their ardor. Therefore when the king understood the trickery of his counselors, he “was sore displeased with himself.” When Nebuchadnezzar made a like blasphemous decree concerning the worship of his golden image, and the men who were loyal to the law of God refused to obey, he was very angry with them, and was in haste to destroy them; but Darius, on learning of Daniel's fidelity to the law of his God, was displeased with himself for having made such a foolish decree. He realized that the loss of Daniel from his cabinet would be a serious loss to the kingdom, seeing that all his other counselors were men who could not be trusted. So King Darius “set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.” But, as is ever the case with the men who urge legislation to force the consciences of their fellow-men, the princes were relentless. They had laid a deep plot to work the destruction of one who was in the way of their ambition and could not be persuaded to yield their advantage. They persisted in their patriotic plea that the law must be enforced; that the man who would disregard the law of the land should suffer the penalty. But religious legislation by fallible men is always devoid of mercy, and the king, having twice committed himself, was at the mercy of conspirators who knew no mercy. Then he “commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions.” The working of the Spirit of the Lord upon the mind of the king was further manifest in his confession of faith in the power and grace of the God of Daniel. Daniel did not recant, when brought face to face with the penalty of the law, and apparently his firm stand for conscience' sake increased the king's admiration for him and confidence that his God would deliver him. This confidence was expressed in these words, “Thy God whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee.” This confession was equivalent to a prayer of faith that it might be so. But as far as the law was concerned, the sentence was carried out; and to emphasize it, “a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.” In a future article we will notice how the purpose was changed, to the glory of God.