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THE BOOK OF DANIEL
Lesson 4:
Chapters 5-6
The Handwriting on the Wall and
The Pit of Lions

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Dear Heavenly Father,
Arrogant and untruthful people have brought suffering to others throughout the history of humanity. Sometimes the innocent righteous suffer unjustly, and at other times justice prevails, and the innocent are vindicated. Even when human justice does not prevail, we know that You, Lord, are the ultimate judge and evil-doers cannot escape Your judgment against them for their acts of wicked self-interest. Daniel and his friends serve as an example for us as to what it means to trust You and Your divine providence. We should accept that even in the worst of circumstances if we put our faith and trust in You that whatever happens You will guide our lives for the good and use even our sufferings to advance the cause of salvation. Guide us in our lesson, as we pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

+ + +

Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, for their fidelity, were saved from the flame. Daniel for his singleness of heart was rescued from the lion's jaws.
1 Maccabees 2:59-60

Thus says Yahweh to his anointed one, to Cyrus whom he says, "I have grasped by his right hand to make the nations bow before him and disarm kings, to open gateways before him so that their gates be closed no more: I myself shall go before you ..."
Isaiah 45:1-2a

Terracotta cylinder by Nabonidus, describing his repairs on the temple of the moon god, Sin.

Chapter 5

Daniel 5:1-4 ~ Belshazzar's Feast
1 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his noblemen, a thousand of them, and, in the presence of [before] this thousand, he drank his wine. 2 Having tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave orders for the gold and silver vessels to be brought which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, so that the king, his noblemen, his wives and the women who sang for him could drink out of them. 3 The gold and silver vessels taken from the sanctuary of the Temple of God in Jerusalem were brought in, and the king, his noblemen, his wives and the women who sang for him drank out of them. 4 They drank their wine and praised their idols of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone. [...] IBHE, vol. III, page 2049.

The events in Chapter 5 unfold in three parts:

1. Belshazzar witnesses a vision during a royal feast (verses 1-12).
2. He summons Daniel to interpret the written evidence of the vision (verses 13-28).
3. Belshazzar reacts to Daniel's interpretation, and the events that prove Daniel's interpretation is right (verses 29-6:1).

The story begins at a great feast in the royal banquet hall of Babylon.⁽¹⁾ The scene is historically accurate. The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian kings held magnificent royal banquets. Archaeology reveals that in the palaces of these kings there were halls where a large crowd of people could assemble for a royal feast. The king would sit at one end with his back to a wall, and his nobles faced him, offering him some protection from assassination. Therefore, our story is accurate in depicting Belshazzar as drinking wine "before" his guests (also see Jer 52:33).

Belshazzar was the eldest son of Nabonidus, an Aramean or Assyrian commoner from Haran in northwestern Mesopotamia who seized power by murdering the weak grandson of Nebuchadnezzar II and assumed the throne of the Babylonian Empire in 556 BC.⁽²⁾ Some historians credit Nabonidus as the first archaeologist for his work in restoring ancient monuments. He deserted Babylon for years at a time to build and repair various temples in Mesopotamia, especially to the moon god, Sin, the chief god of Haran in whose temple his mother was a priestess.

In the third year of his seventeen-year reign, Nabonidus made his son, the crown prince Belshazzar, his co-ruler or vice-regent. For the long periods when he was absent from the capital, Belshazzar was the ruler of the Neo-Babylonian empire (Persian chroniclers accuse Nabonidus of suffering from mental illness during much of his reign). It is historically accurate that Belshazzar was serving in this position when the Medo-Persians captured the city of Babylon. In 539 BC. Nabonidus' neglect of the capital city of Babylon and his actions in neglecting the city's chief god, Marduk, to elevate the moon god, Sin, angered the people of Babylon and weakened his relationship with the Babylonians who did not rally to his defense when threatened by the Medo-Persians.

Question: Who was Terah and what role did Nabonidus's home city of Haran (Paddan-Aram) play in the history of the covenant people? See Gen 8:18; 11:10, 26-31; 12:1-5; 17:1-8, 18-19; 24:2-4, 66-67; 28:5; 29:1-5; 35:23-26.
Answer: Terah was a descendant of Noah's righteous son, Shem. Terah and his sons, including Abram, migrated from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran. Terah died there, and it was in Haran that Abram received his call from Yahweh to go to Canaan where God made a covenant with Abram, changing his name to Abraham. Abraham sent his servant to Haran (in Paddan-Aram) to find a wife for his son Isaac, and Isaac sent his son Jacob to Haran where he married the sisters Rachel and Leah, the mothers of the twelve tribes of Israel.

2 Having tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave orders for the gold and silver vessels to be brought which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the sanctuary in Jerusalem ... 4 They drank their wine and praised their idols of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone.
At a banquet for his retainers and his wives, Belshazzar ordered his servants to bring the vessels Nebuchadnezzar confiscated from the Temple in Jerusalem so that they could drink from them (2 Kng 24:8-13; 25:1, 13-17; 2 Chr 36:7, 18). He not only used the sacred vessels in a profane way, but he added sacrilege to profanation by "praising" his pagan gods in what was a cultic act as he and the guests consumed the wine in Yahweh's sacred vessels. This sacrilege resulted in an immediate response from Yahweh.

These vessels would have included the sacred chalices used to collect the blood from the animal victims which the priests of Yahweh poured out against the altar of Sacrifice in the twice-daily liturgical worship service. Nebuchadnezzar was not Belshazzar's father, nor was there any familial link to Nebuchadnezzar, but rulers, especially those without a royal lineage of their own, often claimed descent (spiritually or physically) from a former illustrious ruler.

Question: What three groups of people did Belshazzar invite to profane the sacred vessels?
Answer: Belshazzar invited the nobles, his wives, and the women's choir that sang at the banquet to drink wine out of the vessels and to praise their false gods.

The text uses six words to describe the materials used for the images of the false gods: 4 They drank their wine and praised their idols of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone. In the symbolic imagery of numbers in Scripture, six is the number of man (created on the sixth day of Creation) and the number of mankind in rebellion against the One, True God.

Daniel 5:5-12 ~ The Handwriting on the Wall
5 Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appeared and began to write on the plaster of the palace wall, directly behind the lamp-stand; and the king could see the hand as it wrote. 6 The king turned pale with alarm: his hip-joints went slack and his knees began to knock. 7 He shouted for his soothsayers, Chaldaeans, and exorcists. And the king said to the Babylonian sages, "Anyone who can read this writing and tell me what it means shall be dressed in purple, and have a chain of gold put round his neck, and be one of the three men who govern the kingdom." 8 The king's sages all crowded forward, but they could neither read the writing nor explain to the king what it meant. 9 Greatly alarmed, King Belshazzar turned even paler, and his noblemen were equally disturbed. 10 Then the queen, attracted by the noise made by the king and his noblemen, came into the banqueting hall. "May Your Majesty live forever!" said the queen. "Do not be alarmed, do not look so pale. 11 In your kingdom there is a man in whom lives the spirit of the holy gods. In your father's days he was known for a perception, intelligence and wisdom comparable to that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, made him head of the magicians, soothsayers, Chaldaeans and exorcists. 12 Since this man Daniel, whom the king had renamed Belteshazzar, is filled with such a marvelous spirit and such knowledge and intelligence in interpreting dreams, solving enigmas and unraveling difficult problems, send for him; he will be able to tell you what this means."

It was a common practice for ancient rulers to entertain the royal court at banquets in which the king sat at the head of the table with his back to a wall (a precaution against assassination). As Belshazzar set at the banquet table, a phantom hand began to write on the wall behind him. The Aramaic word translates "the palm of the hand" but refers to the hand from the wrist to the tips of the fingers (The Book of Daniel, Hartman and Di Lella, page 184). Terrified, he called for his soothsayers to interpret the writing, promising royal garments ("purple" is what we would call crimson), a gold collar as a symbol of high nobility, and an appointment as chief minister. However, no one could discern its meaning. It is likely that everyone could read the words illuminated by the lampstand (verse 5) but could not interpret the message.⁽³⁾

Daniel is no longer the chief consular of the reigning king. The queen who suggested that Belshazzar consult Daniel was probably not Belshazzar's wife but the queen mother or grandmother. Like the Gebira (queen mother) of the Davidic kings of Judah, the queen mothers of Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian kings were influential figures in their sons' kingdoms. This queen remembered the prophecies of Daniel from the time of Nebuchadnezzar who died twenty-three years earlier. At this time, Daniel was in his late seventies, assuming he was born in c. 617 BC and taken captive when he was about 12 years old in 605 BC (Ps 90:10 says the strong should expect a life expectancy of 80).

Daniel 5:13-21 ~ Daniel's Meeting with Belshazzar
₁₃ Daniel was brought into the king's presence; the king said to Daniel, "Are you the Daniel who was one of the Judaean exiles brought by my father the king from Judah? ₁₄ I am told that the spirit of the gods lives in you, and that you are known for your perception, intelligence and marvelous wisdom. ₁₅ The sages and soothsayers have already been brought to me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they have been unable to reveal its meaning. ₁₆ I am told that you are able to give interpretations and to unravel difficult problems, so if you can read the writing and tell me what it means, you shall be dressed in purple, and have a chain of gold put round your neck, and be one of the three men who govern the kingdom." ₁₇ Then Daniel spoke up in the presence of the king. "Keep your gifts for yourself," he said, "and give your rewards to others! I can certainly read the writing to the king and tell him what it means. ₁₈ Your Majesty, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father sovereignty, greatness, majesty and glory. ₁₉ He made him so great that all peoples, nations and languages shook with dread before him: he killed whom he pleased, spared whom he pleased, promoted whom he pleased, degraded whom he pleased. ₂₀ But because his heart grew swollen with pride, and his spirit stiff with arrogance, he was deposed from his sovereign throne and stripped of his glory. ₂₁ He was driven from human society, his heart was more like an animal's than a man's; he lived with the wild donkeys; he fed on grass like oxen; his body was drenched by the dew of heaven, until he had learnt that the Most High rules over human sovereignty and appoints whom he pleases to rule it."

Belshazzar recounts what the queen told him about Daniel and offers a great reward if Daniel can reveal the meaning of the message on the wall.

Question: How is this event different from the other times a king has requested Daniel's intervention and interpretation?
Answer: The other times concerned dreams of a king, but this time a ruler asks Daniel to interpret a vision that leaves behind a physical sign.

Question: What is Daniel's reply to Belshazzar in verse 17?
Answer: Daniel refuses the reward because he has never intentionally profited or taken credit for a work of God in revealing the meaning of events beyond human knowledge.

In verses 18-21, Daniel gives a summary of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, mentioning his accomplishments and his failures to make the point that Daniel's God, the Most High rules over human sovereignty and appoints whom he pleases to rule it, a lesson his God taught Nebuchadnezzar. Notice that Daniel begins by flattering Belshazzar by referring to King Nebuchadnezzar as "your father" (verse 18).

Dan 5:22-6:1 ~Daniel Confronts Belshazzar and Interprets the Meaning of the Handwriting
22 "But you, Belshazzar, who are his son, you have not humbled your heart, in spite of knowing all this. 23 You have defied the Lord of heaven, you have had the vessels from his Temple brought to you, and you, your noblemen, your wives and the women singing for you have drunk your wine out of them. You have praised gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone, which can neither see, hear nor understand; but you have given no glory to the God in whose hands are your breath itself and all your fortunes. 24 That is why he has sent the hand which has written these words. 25 The writing reads: mene, mene, teqel and parsin. 26 The meaning of the words is this: mene: God has measured your sovereignty and put an end to it; 27 teqel: you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; 28 parsin: your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians." 29 At Belshazzar's order Daniel was dressed in purple, a chain of gold was put round his neck and he was proclaimed as one of the three men who governed the kingdom. 30 That same night, the Chaldaean king Belshazzar was murdered: 6:1 [5:31] and Darius the Mede received the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.

24c but you have given no glory to the God in whose hands are your breath itself and all your fortunes.
Daniel accuses Belshazzar, the son of the usurper of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, of not following the example of the great king he claims as his "father" who God restored to his throne after acknowledging God's power and sovereignty over all human beings including kings and their kingdoms (Dan 4:33-34).

Question: How does Daniel say Belshazzar has defied the Lord of Heaven, bringing about his judgment in the mysterious message on the wall in verse 22-24?
Answer: Belshazzar has offended Yahweh by having his nobles, his wives, and the women of the choir drink wine out of the sacred vessels from Yahweh's house, the Jerusalem Temple.

₂₄ "That is why he has sent the hand which has written these words. ₂₅ The writing reads: mene, mene, teqel and parsin. ₂₆ The meaning of the words is this: mene: God has measured your sovereignty and put an end to it; ₂₇ teqel: you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; ₂₈ parsin: your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians."
The Aramaic translation repeats "mene," unlike the Septuagint, Theodotion's Greek translation, Jerome's Vulgate, and Flavius Josephus' account (Antiquities of the Jews, 10.11.3 [243-44]).
Once again Daniel demonstrates the superiority of his God-given wisdom over worldly wisdom by being the only person who can interpret the mysterious sign that appeared on the wall of Belshazzar's banquet hall.

Mene, teqel, and parsin/peres are units of weight, frequently used in weighing precious metals and equal "a mina, a shekel, a half mina." A mina equaled fifty shekels. Daniel uses wordplay in his interpretation:

• "has measured" (verse 26), in Aramaic, menah, is a play on the word mene.
• "you have been weighed" (verse 27), in Aramaic, teqiltah, is a play on the word teqel.
• "has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians" (verse 28), in Aramaic, paras, is a play on the word parsin. "The Persians" in Aramaic, paras is another play on the word parsin.

Daniel's interpretation is that Belshazzar's days are numbered; they have come to an end because he has been "weighted" and found to be worthless, and God destines his kingdom to be divided among the Medes and the Persians. Biblical scholar E. G. Kraeling, in his book, The Handwriting on the Wall, suggested that the different weights symbolized the successive kings of Babylon using the Jewish text of 5:25 as "a mina, a mina, a shekel, and two half minas." He proposed that they represented the successors of Nebuchadnezzar: Evil-Merodach, Nergalsharezer (also known as Neriglissar), Labashi-Marduk, and Nabonidus. Labsashi-Marduk who only reigned for a few months is the mere shekel, and Nabonidus with his son Belshazzar are the two half shekels.

29 At Belshazzar's order Daniel was dressed in purple, a chain of gold was put round his neck and he was proclaimed as one of the three men who governed the kingdom.
Despite Daniel's dire prediction and his refusal of any honors, Belshazzar confers on Daniel the honors he promised. These gifts/honors are similar to what Joseph received from the Egyptian Pharaoh for interpreting his dream (Gen 41:43).

30 That same night, the Chaldaean king Belshazzar was murdered: 6:1 [5:31] and Darius the Mede received the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
The individual identified as "Darius the Mede" is unknown outside of the Biblical record. However, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. For decades Biblical scholars and historians insisted that King David was not a historical figure but was only a myth. Then two stela, inscribed by pagan kings, mentioned "the house of David," debunking the theory that David (Tel Dan Stela and Moabite Stela). The Babylonians did not have long to wait for the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy. That night the Persians attacked the city and murdered Belshazzar. The legend of the fall of Babylon that the Greeks recorded agrees with the Biblical account that the conquest of Babylon occurred when Belshazzar and his court were attending a banquet (Herodotus, Histories, I.191; Xenophon of Athens, Cyropaedia, vii.5), and by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, 10.11.4 [247]).

Question: How does the theme of this story repeat the earlier stories in the Book of Daniel?
Answer: Once again, the events reveal the God of Israel as superior to all man-made pagan gods. He delivers His justice in punishing pagan kings for their sacrilegious insolence against the God of Israel, the Most High of Heaven who controls the destinies of all men and their nations.

Is the Biblical account in error concerning the man who led the conquest of a Babylon; was he Darius the Mede or Cyrus the Persian? The name Cyrus is a Latinized form of the Greek Kyros, a word from the Old Persian Kurus. Cyrus was a "throne name" meaning "shepherd," kurash in Persian, but his previous, birth name is unknown. He was born in 600 BC and died in 529 BC; he was 62 years old as the ancients counted when he conquered Babylon in 539 BC. Historians know very little about Cyrus' origins outside of a few ancient accounts like that of the 5^th century BC Greek historian Herodotus. He records that Cyrus was the grandson of King Astyages of the Medes by his daughter who he married to a minor Persian king named Cambyses, King of Anshan, a small vassal kingdom of the Medes (Herodotus, The Histories, I.107-130).⁽⁴⁾

The Medes dominated the Persians until Cyrus led an army of Persians against the Medes, killing his grandfather, becoming the King of the Medes, and united the two peoples into one Empire. It is possible Daniel's "Darius the Mede" is the first king of a united Medo-Persian Empire who took the throne name Cyrus since Daniel describes him as the conqueror of the Babylonians (Dan 6:1). Daniel became one of Darius' chief ministers (6:2-3), and perhaps Darius took the throne-name "Cyrus" after Daniel acquainted him with the prophecies from the Book of Isaiah concerning a Gentile king, anointed by the God of Israel, to act as His instrument to fulfill His will concerning the covenant people (Is 45:1ff; 44:28ff).

Daniel writes that Darius was 62 years old when he conquered the Babylonians. Cyrus was born in 600 BC and defeated the Babylonians in 539 BC which makes Darius' age in 6:1 agree with Cyrus' age when he conquered Babylon. Counting as Daniel would have counted the years without the concept of a zero place-value, Cyrus conquered Babylon when he was 62 years old.

The story in Chapter 5 proves that what was said of Daniel as a youth in 1:17 is still true of Daniel in his old age: To these four boys God gave knowledge and skill in every aspect of literature and learning; Daniel also had the gift of interpreting every kind of vision and dream.

Daniel in the Lion Pit

Obedience to God comes before obedience to men.
(Acts 5:29)

Daniel 6:2-10 ~ The Persian Satraps Resentment Concerning Daniel's Promotion
2 It pleased Darius to appoint a hundred and twenty satraps over his kingdom for the various parts, 3 and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was one, to whom the satraps were to be responsible. This was to safeguard the king's interests. 4 This Daniel, by virtue of the marvelous spirit residing in him, was so evidently superior to the other presidents and satraps that the king considered appointing him to rule the whole kingdom. 5 The presidents and satraps, in consequence, started hunting for some affair of state by which they could discredit Daniel; but they could find nothing to his discredit, and no case of negligence; he was so punctilious that they could not find a single instance of maladministration or neglect. 6 These men then thought, "We shall never find a way of discrediting Daniel unless we try something to do with the law of his God." 7 The presidents and satraps then went in a body to the king. "King Darius," they said, "live forever! 8 We are all agreed, presidents of the realm, magistrates, satraps, councilors and governors, that the king should issue an edict enforcing the following regulation: Whoever within the next thirty days prays to anyone, divine or human, other than to yourself, Your Majesty, is to be thrown into the lions' den. 9 Your Majesty, ratify the edict at once by signing this document, making it unalterable, as befits the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked." 10 King Darius accordingly signed the document embodying the edict.

The events in Chapter 6 unfold in four parts:

1. Daniel's exalted position in the court of the king and the enmity of the other ministers (verses 2-5).
2. The plan to discredit Daniel and cause his death (verses 6-16).
3. Daniel in the lion's pit, his salvation, and the fate of his accusers (verses 17-25).
4. The king's profession of faith in Daniel's God (verses 26-29).

The story correctly reflects the bureaucratic organization of the Persian Empire. Historically, the number of satrapies in the Persian empire varied in different times from about twenty to thirty, and the duty of the satraps was to govern each region and to see to the collection of the taxes throughout the empire (Ezra 3:13-16). Daniel was one of three chief ministers appointed to govern the satrapies. Once again, Daniel's God-given wisdom makes him superior to the other royal ministers, and the king considered making him the chief minister over the entire kingdom.

Question: When the king appointed Daniel as one of the three chief ministers/presidents of the kingdom and considered giving him authority to rule the whole empire, what was the reaction of the other chief ministers and satraps? Their response is similar to what other story in the Book of Daniel?
Answer: The king's favoritism of Daniel generated jealousy among the other ministers and probably racial prejudice. It was the same professional jealousy that leads to Nebuchadnezzar's ministers plotting the destruction of Shadrack, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.

The jealousy of the Persian ministers and their desire to destroy Daniel is the way the wicked have always sought to destroy the righteous (Wis 2:12). Since there is no mention of the other Jewish ministers, were probably dead by this time, and Daniel alone represents God in the royal court of the pagan Persians.

Question: Since Daniel's enemies couldn't find any evidence they could use to discredit him, what plan did they contrive and how was it like the plan used in Daniel 3:12 to destroy the three Jewish ministers of Nebuchadnezzar?
Answer: They contrive a way to destroy Daniel by accusing him of not obeying the decree to worship/offer prayers to the king.

The king signed an irrevocable decree in 6:8 and 10, making the act of worshiping only the king for thirty days an act of loyalty and the refusal to obey the edict an act of treason punishable by death. It is similar to Nebuchadnezzar's decree in Chapter 3 concerning the command to worship the golden statue as an act of loyalty.

Daniel 6:11-16 ~ Daniel Continues His Daily Prayers
11 When Daniel heard that the document had been signed, he retired to his house. The windows of his upstairs room faced towards Jerusalem. Three times each day, he went down on his knees, praying and giving praise to God as he had always done. 12 These men came along in a body and found Daniel praying and pleading with God. 13 They then went to the king and reminded him of the royal edict, "Have you not signed an edict forbidding anyone for the next thirty days to pray to anyone, divine or human, other than to yourself, Your Majesty, on pain of being thrown into the lions' den?" "The decision stands," the king replied, "as befits the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked." 14 They then said to the king, "Your Majesty, this man Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, disregards both you and the edict which you have signed: he is at his prayers three times each day." 15 When the king heard these words he was deeply distressed and determined to save Daniel; he racked his brains until sunset to find some way to save him. 16 But the men kept pressing the king, "Your Majesty, remember that in conformity with the law of the Medes and the Persians, no edict or decree can be altered when once issued by the king."

Daniel realized that he was endangering his life by disobeying Cyrus' royal edict that forbade all worship except to the king for thirty days. However, like all the truly pious, he preferred to remain obedient to God, as St. Peter and the Apostles will tell the Jewish Sanhedrin when they declared: Obedience to God comes before obedience to men (Acts 5:29). Daniel demonstrated his obedience to God by observing the hours of the Temple's daily Tamid worship services in his personal prayer. Before the exile, it was the custom for Jews who could not attend the twice-daily liturgy of worship in the Temple to offer prayer at the same hours. Those prayer times coincided with the morning and afternoon Tamid liturgical worship services: at dawn when the priests led the first Tamid lamb to the altar, at noon when the priests led the second Tamid lamb to the altar, and in the late afternoon at the ninth hour (3 PM) when the priests sacrificed the second Tamid lamb.⁽⁵⁾ During the exile, the Jews faced toward Jerusalem to offer their prayers; it was a custom that continued for all Jews living outside of Jerusalem and in the diaspora (the Gentile world).

Daniel did not hide; he continued to pray by an opened window where he was visible. When the other ministers caught Daniel in the act of praying, they denounced him to the king.
The custom of the Persians that once the king enacted a law it could not be changed (verses 13 and 16) is attested to in the Book of Esther (Est 1:19; 8:8), and by Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian known for his universal history (see Bibliotheca historica, xvii 30). The king, distressed to learn that Daniel will suffer the consequences of his decree, cannot think of a way to save him. Daniel is a symbol of the Jewish people whose covenant obligation is to worship only the One, True God (Ex 20:3-5a; Dt 5:7-8) while the Persian king and his ministers are the symbols of all pagans who demonstrate their ignorance of the true nature of God by worshiping false gods.

Daniel 6:17-25 ~ Daniel is Thrown to the Lions
17 The king then ordered Daniel to be brought and thrown into the lion pit. The king said to Daniel, "Your God, whom you have served so faithfully, will have to save you." 18 A stone was then brought and laid over the mouth of the pit; and the king sealed it with his own signet and with that of his noblemen, so that there could be no going back on the original decision about Daniel. 19 The king returned to his palace, spent the night in fasting and refused to receive any of his concubines. Sleep eluded him, 20 and at the first sign of dawn he got up and hurried to the lion pit. 21 As he approached the pit he called in anguished tones to Daniel, "Daniel, servant of the living God! Has your God, whom you serve so faithfully, been able to save you from the lions?" 22 Daniel answered the king, "May Your Majesty live forever! 23 My God sent his angel who sealed the lions' jaws; they did me no harm, since in his sight I am blameless; neither have I ever done you any wrong, Your Majesty." 24 The king was overjoyed and ordered Daniel to be released from the pit. Daniel was released from the pit and found to be quite unhurt, because he had trusted in his God. 25 The king then sent for the men who had accused Daniel and had them thrown into the lion pit, and their wives and children too; and before they reached the floor of the pit the lions had seized them and crushed their bones to pieces.

The king cannot overturn his decree without jeopardizing his royal authority in the eyes of his Persian and Median subjects. Bound by his unwise decree, he orders Daniel thrown into the lion pit, expressing the hope that Daniel's God will save him because he (the king) cannot (verse 17).

18 A stone was then brought and laid over the mouth of the pit; and the king sealed it with his own signet and with that of his noblemen, so that there could be no going back on the original decision about Daniel.
The lions were in a pit that appears to be a subterranean cave or room with at least one opening above (also see Dan 14:31-36/28-42. They closed the opening with a large stone (verse 18).⁽⁶⁾ The ensure the entrance remained closed, a stone was on top of the opening with the royal seal and the seals of the king's noblemen impressed into wet clay where the stone's edge met the pit's opening. For other mentions of a royal seal, see 1 Kings 21:8; Esther 3:12; 8:8, 10, and the stone across the entrance to the tomb of Jesus in upon which the Romans placed seals in Matthew 27:66.

In the morning, after a sleepless night and filled with anxiety, the king goes to the lion's pit and calls out to Daniel (verses 19-21). Daniel replies: "May Your Majesty live forever! 23 My God sent his angel who sealed the lions' jaws; they did me no harm, since in his sight I am blameless; neither have I ever done you any wrong, Your Majesty." Daniel's survival, thanks to the protection of an angel of the Lord in the same way God saved the three Jews in the burning fiery furnace, proves his innocence and the power of his God. The key phrase is: Daniel was released from the pit and found to be quite unhurt, because he had trusted in his God. Daniel tells the king that his salvation was due to the justice of God who will not allow His innocent servant to suffer unjustly.

25 The king then sent for the men who had accused Daniel and had them thrown into the lion pit, and their wives and children too; and before they reached the floor of the pit the lions had seized them and crushed their bones to pieces.
God's justice protects the innocent but also demands punishment for the wicked. In keeping with the Law of Moses regarding false witnesses, those who condemned Daniel by suggesting that because he prayed to his God that he did not give the king his loyalty suffered the same fate they planned for him (see Dt 19:19). It does not seem just, of course, that the wives and children of those men had to share their fate. In the ancient world, the concept of family solidarity considered it just that a man's entire family should pay the price for his crimes. However, the Law of Moses forbade such actions as making the children suffer the penalty for the sins of their fathers: Parents may not be put to death for their children, nor children for parents, but each must be put to death for his own crime (Dt 24:16; also see 2 Kngs 14:6).

Daniel 6:26-29 ~ The King's Profession of Faith
26 King Darius then wrote to all nations, peoples and languages dwelling throughout the world: "May you prosper more and more! 27 This is my decree: Throughout every dominion of my realm, let all tremble with fear before the God of Daniel: He is the living God, he endures forever, his kingdom will never be destroyed and his empire never come to an end. 28 He saves, sets free, and works signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth; he has saved Daniel from the power of the lions." 29 This Daniel flourished in the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian [Darius in the reign of was made to prosper this Daniel, in the reign of the Persian Cyrus]. [...] = IBHE, vol. III, page 2056.

Like King Nebuchadnezzar, the first Gentile king Daniel served, King Darius, Daniel's last Gentile king, makes a profession of faith in Daniel's God and offers religious protection for all Jews who worship Yahweh. Both pagan kings were fundamentally good men who responded positively to the works of God through His servant Daniel, and they prefigure the Gentile rulers who will one day accept Jesus' Gospel of salvation and make a profession of faith in Jesus as Savior and King of kings.

29 This Daniel flourished in the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian. The Interlinear Bible translation of the Aramaic reads: Darius in the reign of was made to prosper this Daniel, in the reign of the Persian Cyrus (IBHE, vol. III, page 2056). The English translation appears to list two different men, Darius and Cyrus. However, the Aramaic can be understood to identify Darius and Cyrus as the same man with Darius the personal name and Cyrus the throne name of the last Gentile king Daniel faithfully served and gave his witness of the One, True God of Israel.

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he says, "I have grasped by his right hand to make the nations bow before him and disarm kings, to open gateways before him to that their gates be closed no more: I myself shall go before you, I shall level the heights, I shall shatter the bronze gateways, I shall smash the iron bars. I shall give you secret treasures and hidden hoards of wealth, so that you will know that I am Yahweh, who call you by your name, the God of Israel. It is for the sake of my servant Jacob and of Israel my chosen one, that I have called you by your name, have given you a title though you do not know me (Isaiah 45:1-4).

Questions for reflection or group discussion:
Question: Do you value God's wisdom over human wisdom? In what ways has God's wisdom and His justice been opposed by secular societies idea of wisdom and justice in cases of abortion, divorce, fornication, and the ordination of women?

Question: How can we apply 6:24b to our lives and our struggles: Daniel was released from the pit and found to be quite unhurt, because he had trusted in his God.

Question: A question we are frequently asked at Agape Bible Study by Catholics and also by Protestant brothers and sisters is why the Catholic Church does not ordain women to the ministry. Why didn't God ordain women to the ministerial priesthood as priestesses in the Sinai Covenant when it was common in all ancient cultures to have priests as well as priestesses, and why did Jesus continue to limit the ministerial priesthood to men? In this modern age, they ask, why doesn't the Catholic Church ordain women as "priestesses?"
Answer: The Church cannot change what Jesus established for His Church. There has always been the common priesthood of believers that is equally male and female. However, Jesus ordained an all-male ministerial priesthood in the Apostles that continued from the all-male ministerial priesthood God established in the Sinai Covenant and which the Apostles maintained when they chose other men to succeed them (CCC 1120; 1577). It was a limitation that was extremely unusual in the ancient world since all pagan religions had male priests and female priestesses. The reason for the all-male ordained priesthood is because the male priest represents God to the covenant people as divine Bridegroom to pure Bride, symbolic imagery frequently taught by the Old Testament prophets (see the chart "The Symbolic Images of the Old Testament Prophets").

In the case of Christianity, Christ is the Bridegroom to the Church, His Bride (Mt 9:15; CCC 1368, 2853). That is why the Catholic priest in the celebration of the Mass stands in "Persona Christi," meaning, in the person of Jesus Christ who came to establish His Kingdom as fully male and fully God (CCC 1548). Jesus could have changed the all-male ordained ministry of the Sinai Covenant, after all, He had female disciples who traveled with Him and the Apostles and other disciples, but He chose to maintain the symbolic element of an all-male priesthood as God's representative in the imagery of God the Bridegroom to the Church, His Bride. It is something a woman ordained as a priestess (let's use the right terminology) simply cannot fulfill in the liturgy of worship, and the Church in both the Western and Eastern Rites faithfully continue what God/Christ established (see CCC 1577-78 on the ordination of women).

Endnotes:

1. The Book of Esther also had a significance scene at a royal banquet (Est 1:1-14).

2. Belshazzar's Akkadian name means "(the god) Bel guard/protect the king." It is similar to but not the same as Daniel's Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, Akkadian for "(the god) Bel guard/protect his life."

3. For example, the mysterious name of Isaiah's son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, could be easily read, but no one could grasp the significance of the name until Isaiah explained its meaning (Is 8:1-4).

4. According to the Greek historian Herodotus and Nicolas of Damascus, Cyrus' father, Cambyses, was wounded and later died in the Battle of the Persian Border in which he, with his son Cyrus, fought against Cyrus' grandfather Astyages, King of the Medes in 551 BC. Cyrus' mother, Mandane, was the granddaughter of kings Cyaxares of Media and Alyattes of Lydia and the daughter of King Astyages of Media. Cyrus conquered and claimed both kingdoms of Media and Lydia: Media in 549 and Lydia in 547.

5. See Acts 3:1; 10:9; Telushkin, Jewish Literacy, pages 47 and 715; Eisenberg, The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions, page 399; Schurer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus, II, vol. 1, pages 290-291, n. 248; the Talmud, Berakoth iv.1).

6. In the Colosseum, the Romans kept animals in underground chambers before bringing them up into the arena.

7. The Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330), also called the First Persian Empire, located in Western Asia and founded by Cyrus the Great. The last king of the Achaemenid Empire was Persian King Darius II.

Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2018 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.

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