God has miraculously delivered Daniel from the lion’s den, something that Darius, despite his power and authority as king of the Medo-Persian empire, could not do. Thus, Darius declares:
25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,
for he is the living God,
enduring forever;
his kingdom shall never be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues;
he works signs and wonders
in heaven and on earth,
he who has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
For Darius to have issued such a document means that he was greatly impressed with the power of Daniel’s God, even as Nebuchadnezzar had been (cf. 2:47; 3:28-29; 4:1-3, 34-37).
The Book of Daniel follows a familiar pattern. God’s people stand firm in their convictions, God honors and protects them, and the testimony of God’s work makes the ungodly see and tell of the greatness of God (1:20; 2:46-47; 3:28-30; 4:34-37; 5:29). The point is plain: when we stand firm in godly convictions and honor God even when it costs something, others will see that testimony and be impressed. Sometimes it will “see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Pet. 2:12) and other times it will “silence the ignorance of foolish people” (1 Pet. 2:14).
Darius wrote a message to “all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth.” Such universal language appeared earlier (3:4, 7, 29; 4:1) and indicated a comprehensive application of “Peace be multiplied to you” (6:25), a typical wish for peace for all. What came next would distinguish the king’s decree from the other message he had written.
Darius decreed, “In all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.” God had glorified Himself in His miraculous deliverance of Daniel. Even Darius could see that.
The king was so impressed by God’s intervention and his protection of Daniel that he wanted everyone to respond in a way he deemed appropriate: before a God who rescued his servant from lions, trembling and fear was warranted.
Matthew Henry acknowledges: “But, though this decree goes far, it does not go far enough; had he [Darius] come up to his present convictions, he would have commanded all men not only to fear before this God, but to love him and trust in him, to forsake the service of their idols, and to worship him only.”
At this point, Darius praises “the God of Daniel.” It isn’t enough to say, “the God of Daniel.” Saving faith says, “the God of Darius.” Similarly for us, it is not enough to know that Jesus is a Savior; He must be “my Savior” or “your Savior.” You must know that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness of sins and believe that Jesus died on the cross to do so for you.
Isaiah 45 and Cyrus having his heart stirred by God to release the captives, very possibly shows that his faith, too, grew and became his own.
Darius goes on to explain this new decree: “He is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.” He had already called the Lord “the living God” (v. 20), but now he wanted everyone to know more about this deity. Since God endured forever, it made sense that his kingdom and dominion would last forever as well. It was significant that Darius—an emperor, no less—acknowledged that God’s kingdom would endure, implying that his own Medo-Persian kingdom would not. Nor would any of man’s kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar had eventually made similar statements about God’s kingdom (4:3, 34).
Elaborating on the reasons people should tremble and fear Daniel’s God, Darius wrote, “He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions” (6:27). These exclamations point particularly to Daniel’s deliverance. This is the nature of the God of Daniel.
The last phrase clarifies that Darius was not thinking of some abstract notion of deliverance. Instead, he had specifically in mind Daniel’s deliverance from the den of hungry lions.
Warren Wiersbe says, “The theology expressed in the decree of Darius is as true as anything written by Moses, David, or Paul. Jehovah is the living and eternal God whose kingdom will never be destroyed (v. 26; see Deut. 5:26; Josh. 3:10; Psa 42:2; Jere. 10:10; Psa. 145:13; Rev. 11:15). He is the God who saves people and rescues them from danger and death, and who performs signs and wonders (Dan. 6:27; see 3:28-29; 4:3; Deut. 6:22; Neh. 9:10; Psa. 74:9; 105:26-36; 135:9; Jere. 32:20-21)” (The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: OT Volume, p. 1368).
Gleason Archer Jr. summarizes:
“Three emphases stand out in this passage: (1) Daniel’s God is alive and shows that he lives by the way he acts in history, responding, like a real person, to the requirement of justice and the needs of his people; (2) God’s rule is eternal and will never pass away (as do empires built by human power), even though the Hebrew monarchy did not survive its apostasy; (3) God miraculously delivers his true worshipers, performing wonders both in heaven and on earth. He has furnished objective proof of his eternal power and godhead, in contrast to all the other deities, whose existence is at best conjectural and traditional” (Gleason Archer, Jr. “Daniel” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 83).
Nebuchadnezzar had extolled God’s power in rescuing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace (3:28-29), and he also spoke of “signs” and “wonders” (4:3). In chapter 6, God once again displayed his mighty power, prevailing over the conspiracy of the high officials and satraps, the concession of the reluctant king, and the appetite of savage beasts. All should fear and tremble before this mighty God.
No conspiracy of man, concession of a king or hunger of a beast can stand in the way of God’s sovereign providential care and power for His servants.
Daniel served “the living God” who has an everlasting kingdom (6:26). As proven with Daniel’s deliverance, this God rescues and performs wonders and saved Daniel from the power of the lions (6:27).
Again, “Daniel’s God is alive and shows that he lives by the way he acts in history, responding, like a real person, to the requirements of justice and the needs of his people” (Gleason Archer Jr., “Daniel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 83).
“He calls him ‘the living God,’ not only because he has life in himself, but out of himself, and is also the origin and fountain of life. This epithet ought to be taken actively, for God not only lives but has life in himself; and he is also the source of life, since there is no life independent of him” (John Calvin, Commentary on the Prophet Daniel).
Paul says of this God, possibly quoting a secular poet:
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:28)
And the Psalmist says in Psalm 36
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
It is as though God was giving two witnesses to His people Israel: Nebuchadnezzar and Darius. Both monarchs testified to the living and eternal God’s unshakable sovereignty, grace, and power in heaven and on earth (cf. 4:3, 34-35). These testimonies certainly would have encouraged the Israelites to trust Him in spite of the circumstances of the exile.
Warren Wiersbe writes, “The Jews had been humiliated by the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple because their defeat made it look as though the false gods of the Babylonians were stronger than the true God of Israel… Jehovah hadn’t been honored by his own people, but now He was receiving praise from pagan rulers whose decrees would be published throughout the Gentile world. These decrees were a witness to the Gentiles that there was but one true God, the God of the Jews; but the decrees were also a reminder to the Jews that Jehovah was the true and living God.”
“Once again, during this time of Israel’s helplessness with her survival in doubt, Yahweh of hosts acted redemptively to strengthen his people’s faith in him. On the eve of their return to the Land of Promise under the leadership of Zerubbabel, God reassured them that he was still the same as in the days of Moses and was able to take them back to Canaan, where they could establish a new commonwealth in covenant fellowship with him” (Gleason Archer, “Daniel,” p. 83).
Darius declared of Daniel’s God, “his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.”
The enduring nature of God’s kingdom is one of the main themes in the book of Daniel (Dan. 2:44; 4:3; 7:14, 18, 24) in contrast with the impermanent kingdoms of man. The “kingdoms of this world” rise, rule for a period, and then fall, in a recurring cycle throughout history (Dan. 7:27; Rev. 11:15).
And so we continue to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” [emphasis added] (Matt. 6:10).
Darius also proclaims
He delivers and rescues;
he works signs and wonders
in heaven and on earth,
he who has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions.
Up to this point in the book of Daniel, God has rescued:
- Daniel and his companions from the possible disfavor of the steward of the chief of the eunuchs (Dan. 1:9-16)
- Daniel, his companions, and the wise men from destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:19-23)
- Daniel’s companions from the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:23-27)
- Nebuchadnezzar from madness (Dan. 4:36-37)
- Daniel through a change of regimes from Babylon to Persia (Dan. 5:31)
- Daniel from the lions’ den (Dan. 6:20-22)
Paul appears to allude to this chapter in his letter to young Timothy: “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion” [emphasis added] (2Tim. 4:17).
What is the point of these narratives?
Why does Daniel record all of these narratives in between the great prophecies of Daniel 2 and 7? Why does he write about world rulers who are trying to stamp out faithful people of God? Why does he write about God’s miraculous intervention, protection, and sovereignty in the lives of these Jewish men?
If you’re familiar with the prophecies of Daniel, you quickly see the answers to these questions. Daniel goes on to predict another world ruler who will raise himself up at the end of human history. Like these ancient kings, this world ruler will persecute people for following God for a short period of time. Like these ancient kings, this world ruler will accept worship and even deify himself. Like these ancient kings, he will change the laws of the State in order to contradict God and persecute his people.
Daniel wrote these narratives 2,500 years ago, but they still speak to us today. Daniel and his friends are saying, “We stood before tyrants and refused to compromise. But the worst tyranny is still to come… Will you compromise?”
These narratives aren’t cute little Sunday school lessons. They speak to the faithfulness of God’s people in the past for those of us who will be in the great Tribulation of the future.
What about this man Darius?
I hold to the identity that Darius and Cyrus are the same person.
Some factors in favor of understanding Darius and Cyrus to be the same person include the fact that Cyrus had combined the Median and Persian dynasties under his sole control by seizing power from his Median grandfather. Through his mother, he was a royal descendant of the Median kingdom; through his father, he was an heir in the line of the Persian throne. Cyrus may have wanted to emphasize both aspects of his kingship.
It was quite common for ancient kings to have more than one name: personal names and throne names, or names reflecting additions to the kingdom. The Greek historian Herodotus notes that Cyrus was not this king’s original name, but that he had been given a different name by his Median mother. In chapter 6, Darius exercises sweeping, empire-wide authority—an unlikely role for a temporary regent in Babylon (Daniel 6:25). Finally, the events in Daniel 6 and 9 seem to span more time than the very brief administration of Cyrus’s agent Gubaru in Babylon. The name Darius was also used as the royal name of three of Cyrus’s successors.
While this is not conclusive, there is no glaring evidences against this position.
Does he (Darius, also known as Cyrus) become a believer in the one true God? We do know that he will later allow the Jews to return to their homeland. Ezra 1:1-4 says that “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus…” so he made a proclamation that they may return.
Also, Isaiah 45:1-7 prophesied 150 years before Cyrus was even born that he would be Israel’s deliverer. This would be like Abraham Lincoln predicting that Barack Obama would be our first black president!
1 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
2 “I will go before you
and level the exalted places,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
I name you, though you do not know me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
I find myself in agreement with the late J. Dwight Pentecost: “It wouldn’t surprise me to find these men [Nebuchadnezzar, Darius] in heaven. It wouldn’t surprise me, but I can’t say.”
The world needs men who cannot be bought; whose word is their bond; who put character above wealth; who possess opinions and a will; who are larger than their vocations; who do not hesitate to take chances; who will not lose their individuality in a crowd; who will be honest in small things as in great things; who will make no compromise with wrong; whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires; who will not say they do it “because everyone else does it;” who are true to their friends through good report and evil report, in adversity as well as in prosperity; who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning and hardheadedness are the best qualities for winning success; who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular, who can say “no” with emphasis, although all the rest of the world says “yes.”
Quoted in: Ted W. Engstrom, The Making of a Christian Leader, Zondervan, 1976, p. 120.
So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian (Dan. 6:28)
Grace Still Amazes 