Today, we come to the famous story of Daniel in the lion den. The king was Darius, a Mede by birth.
Darius was a very effective administrator. He divided up the administration of the Empire into 120 regions and headed by 120 satraps (Daniel 6:1). Over these 120 satraps, there were 3 presidents and Daniel was one of them. The performance of Daniel was the best among the presidents and the king intended to set up Daniel to take care of the whole kingdom. The other 2 presidents and the 120 satraps were jealous and they planned to set up a trap to kill Daniel (Daniel 6:4-5). So, they tricked Darius into signing an interdict that would kill Daniel.
Then these presidents and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, "O King Darius, live for ever!
All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an interdict, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.
Now, O king, establish the interdict and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked."
Therefore King Darius signed the document and interdict (Daniel 6:6-9).
Those jealous presidents manipulated the king to do their will. Truly, the more power/authority one has, the more wisdom/prudence he must possess. This is true not just for people in authority. An agency or government department, such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of the Hong Kong SAR government for one, is not exempted from being manipulated. Very often, people file a complaint against their rivals to ICAC, which would start the investigation and the innocent victims have to suffer for at least 18 months of interrogation or more.
Darius was a very effective administrator. He divided up the administration of the Empire into 120 regions and headed by 120 satraps (Daniel 6:1). Over these 120 satraps, there were 3 presidents and Daniel was one of them. The performance of Daniel was the best among the presidents and the king intended to set up Daniel to take care of the whole kingdom. The other 2 presidents and the 120 satraps were jealous and they planned to set up a trap to kill Daniel (Daniel 6:4-5). So, they tricked Darius into signing an interdict that would kill Daniel.
Then these presidents and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, "O King Darius, live for ever!
All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an interdict, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.
Now, O king, establish the interdict and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked."
Therefore King Darius signed the document and interdict (Daniel 6:6-9).
Those jealous presidents manipulated the king to do their will. Truly, the more power/authority one has, the more wisdom/prudence he must possess. This is true not just for people in authority. An agency or government department, such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of the Hong Kong SAR government for one, is not exempted from being manipulated. Very often, people file a complaint against their rivals to ICAC, which would start the investigation and the innocent victims have to suffer for at least 18 months of interrogation or more.
What should the innocent do? How would they fight back? How would they protect themselves? Should they modify their routines or compromise their principles to avoid persecution?
No need. Even Old Testament teachings would tell you to leave all these dirty jobs to God.
"Vengeance is mine." (Deuteronomy 32:35).
Daniel was special and deserved "special treatment". Therefore, king Darius spent a sleepless night fasting for him (Daniel 6:18) and God sealed the mouths of the lions to save him because Daniel still had important messages to leave behind to the world. For other ordinary people like us, we will end up becoming martyrs. Our bones would be broken into pieces (Daniel 6:24).
Of course, it is only natural for us to evade persecutions. Who doesn't want to preserve his own life? In face, not all of us are made of martyr stuff. Many of us will crack under pressure or in full view of anticipated tortures. We need to pray to God to strengthen our soul and our conscience so that we would be able to withstand persecutions.
No need. Even Old Testament teachings would tell you to leave all these dirty jobs to God.
"Vengeance is mine." (Deuteronomy 32:35).
Daniel was special and deserved "special treatment". Therefore, king Darius spent a sleepless night fasting for him (Daniel 6:18) and God sealed the mouths of the lions to save him because Daniel still had important messages to leave behind to the world. For other ordinary people like us, we will end up becoming martyrs. Our bones would be broken into pieces (Daniel 6:24).
Of course, it is only natural for us to evade persecutions. Who doesn't want to preserve his own life? In face, not all of us are made of martyr stuff. Many of us will crack under pressure or in full view of anticipated tortures. We need to pray to God to strengthen our soul and our conscience so that we would be able to withstand persecutions.
Dear Lord, I continue to pray for the soul of Rita. May she rest in peace. I pray for her husband that he might be able to come out quickly from bereavement. May my students understand the value of life and their roles as stewards of God given treasures. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment