Daniel 6:8
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. 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.
Jealous leaders, unable to find any fault in Daniel's blameless service, flattered Darius into signing a fixed order that for thirty days no one could ask anything of any god or man but the king, on pain of being thrown to the lions. Once signed, the order could not be altered under the law of the Medes and Persians, so that it bound even the king himself. Knowing the plot was aimed at his worship, Daniel still knelt openly in his chamber three times a day with his windows open toward Jerusalem and prayed aloud to God without fear. For this he was cast into the lions' den, but God did not forsake him and sent holy angels to shut the lions' mouths so that he was unharmed. The decree could bind the king, but no earthly power can rightly come between a person and God, so faithfulness to God calls for courage even at the risk of death, and such steadfastness finds in God a present helper and deliverer, while rigid human decisions that allow no revision are condemned.
The Plot Behind Decree
Darius the Median took the throne formerly occupied by the Babylonian rulers and at once reorganized the government by setting one hundred and twenty princes over the kingdom and three presidents over them, of whom Daniel was first, so that the princes might give accounts to them and the king should have no damage, and Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him, so that the king thought to set him over the whole realm. He was faithful and blameless, with neither error nor fault found in him, so that those who sought occasion of complaint against him could find no ground against him. His honors and favor with kings and nobles stirred jealousy, envy, and hatred among the leading men of the kingdom, including the very Babylonian wise men whose lives he had pleaded to spare, who honored him as the greatest man in Babylon yet sought from jealousy by a secret underhanded plan to put an end to his life, and his faultless conduct only increased that jealousy.
Concluding they could find occasion against him only concerning the law of his God, the presidents and princes counseled together and devised a scheme to destroy him by preparing a decree and bringing it to the king to establish and sign as a trap on that ground. They persuaded Darius through flattery and appeal to his vanity that carrying out the edict would add greatly to his honor and authority, urging that prayer be directed to the king, and ignorant of their subtle purpose and animosity against Daniel and without realizing it would harm him, yielding to their flattery he consented and signed it. The decree was designed as a trap to destroy Daniel by forbidding prayer to anyone but the king, with violation punishable by death.
The decree forbade any person in the realm for thirty days to ask a petition or anything of any god or man except of Darius the king, with violation punished by being cast into a den of lions. It was made legally fixed and unalterable according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not, so that once established and signed a human decree cannot be changed with no revision. In that fixed form it could even bind the king himself, though it could not rightfully come between Daniel and God.
The verse belongs to the history of the Medo-Persian realm, which was visited by Heaven's wrath because God's law had been trampled underfoot.
Daniel's Faithfulness and Deliverance
Daniel knew his enemies intended to ruin him, yet the firm adherence to principle he had cultivated from youth was now tested and he did not waver. He continued his accustomed custom of going to his chamber three times a day with windows open toward Jerusalem to pray to the God of heaven. He prayed openly and without fear, keeping communion with the King of kings and Lord of lords, speaking and praying aloud most earnestly. His address to God was in the Lord's keeping before he was cast into the den.
No earthly power has the right to dictate whom a person may pray to, and faithfulness to God may require courage even when it risks death. The decree against prayer for thirty days on pain of being cast into the lions' den was made legally unchangeable under the law of the Medes and Persians. It could bind the king who signed it, but it could not rightfully come between Daniel and God.
Because he continued in prayer he was cast into the lions' den according to the decree. God did not forsake him there but protected him by sending holy angels to be with him. They shut the lions' mouths so they did him no harm.
The decree brought Daniel's faithful worship to the rulers' attention and gave him opportunity to testify that the God of heaven alone is the true God deserving worship, praise, and homage. His deliverance from the lions' den then demonstrated that his God is the living God. Steadfastness to principle under opposition and persecution brings a present helper and deliverer in God, and integrity of character must therefore be cultivated now.
Warnings Against Rigid Decisions
A decree established and signed according to the law of the Medes and Persians was fixed and unalterable and could not be changed once made. Applied to institutional management, that unchangeable character means no fixed rule can be made requiring a manager always to listen to the physician and to carry out whatever the physician wants for the welfare of the guests. Applied to sanitarium management, it means managers must not bind themselves by an unchangeable decision to keep persons in the institution who are not capable of doing the duties required of them.
Applied to council and board meetings, to conference presidents, and to those who audit accounts, holding a human decision fixed with no revision condemns making careless decisions about workers by impulse and selfish influence. It condemns treating men as inanimate objects and senseless instrumentalities, depriving them of responsibility and cutting down their wages without investigating their circumstances and situation, and then holding to those rules as unalterable. This is not after the divine order, because men are finite and erring, so their decisions require careful investigation beforehand and revision afterward.