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| Dan. 6:16-18 |
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Lesson # Dan. 6:16-18 Study Material - Dan. 6:16-18 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Dan. 6:16-18 16 Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions' den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, 'Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.' 17 And a stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing might be changed in regard to Daniel. 18 Then the king went off to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him; and his sleep fled from him. Justice always gets those who are the real guilty parties sooner or later. Sometimes it is not so quick as in this case. Sometimes the guilty run their plots and evil for months or even years as we have seen in crime organizations, in wicked regimes in other countries, as in terrorists. But sooner or later, God will clamp down on them and erase them from the face of the world. Granted many might suffer, but we need to look at suffering for a quick moment. Daniel has done nothing wrong yet the world turned against him and he quickly found himself facing the jaws of lions and death. Did he cry and whine? No. Did he complain to God, 'Why me?' Did is rationalize, 'If God were a loving God, how then could this happen?' Did he complain, 'They set me up.' He did none of these. He probably had little time in the matter. The king quickly realized the situation and now understood the plot and real purpose of the recent law. He fasted, did not participate in whatever evening entertainment that was available, and knew exactly who carried out this plot. He was torn between grief and anger. He knew this was wrong, but he was powerless to change anything. Why? Because he was functioning in the jungle. Here we have a representative example of just how much power the jungle has over us. Certainly the king could have just ruled the law invalid and thrown out those who set this whole plot in motion. But in the jungle, people are trapped in their own self righteousness. Man makes rules, often they are arbitrary, then man decided that these rules are irreversible, even if they can be reversed. But man entraps himself in these worldly rules. God, on the other hand, demonstrates His ability to overcome all obstacles and even stay perfect in His own essence. Man is incapable of this. Suffering occurs for three basic reasons as we have already reviewed. First it is to test your faith or spiritual growth. Second it may be to discipline or to get your attention (or even someone else's attention) and to get you (or them) back to Bible study. Third it may be to judge. We live in this devils world and we should, by now, know that people in this world are naive. They lack Bile doctrine, and therefore wisdom, and therefore they lack perspective. Negative people hustle in the world for what little corner of the mud puddle they can gain for themselves. Their actions are in effect against God, not you and I. So Daniel was not angry at the king, nor even those who plotted against him. That would be easy to do, that is getting angry at those who caused you to suffer, but that kind of thinking gets you nowhere. Daniel placed this whole thing in Gods hands. If God was going to deliver him then the lions were irrelevant. If God was not going to deliver him, then he could only hope that it would be over quick and he would be honorable in his final suffering. Either way, a negative attitude against others would not help his spiritual state. Remember that 100% of our life will occur after we leave this life. Compare eternity to our life span here on earth. Our current physical life is but a blink, but in that blink we prepare ourselves for far, far greater things. So do not get hung up on the details of life here on earth. Do we just lay down and let people run over us? No. Daniel had a conversation with the king prior to the lions den and after. If you are attacked in this life, then you defend yourself accordingly. If you are a nation then you maintain a military in it best state of readiness. If you are an individual then you hire an attorney for legal matters, get a doctor for medical matters, and so forth. God provides the resources, so use them to the best of your ability and resources. If your resources are insufficient, then you add a lot of prayer (which you should do anyway). Prayer has a great deal of power so use it and use it regularly, daily, but be in fellowship when you pray otherwise your prayers have no effect. See the chart on prayer on the Index page. Knowledge of God was readily available to all. The king knew of God. Daniel's adversaries knew of his God. They all had no excuse in their actions. Everyone who walks the face of this earth and scrap for the crumbs of the world are saying that their efforts are greater than those of God. If they ignore God, then they are trapped in their own arrogance. Their only way out of their trap is the same as it is for us all, Bible doctrine. If you are suffering in this life, then it is for a reason. You are either screwing up and need to get with a program of Bible study, and not just a quick short term program but a long term, a life long term. Or, God has given you your suffering to help you focus on Him. He is far greater than your suffering. He may be helping you to avoid the arrogance traps that you might otherwise be willing to jump right in to. He might be teaching others in your periphery, through your suffering. You may or may not know them. Whatever the reason, the end result is blessing for you sooner or later. Stick with your study, and don't get into a self pity mode. Daniel could have easily become bitter, but he did not drop his guard. He knew Bible doctrine and he thus had control over his own life, through Gods word. Ignore Bible doctrine and that control over your life is transferred to the jungle. It will control you and from that there is only misery. When disaster strikes, don't have a knee jerk reaction to it. Think your way out of the situation. If Daniel had been very emotional (screaming and yelling) then the lions would have gotten caught up in his frenzy and would have taken him apart. But he was poised and under control. The lions remained quiet. There is one more aspect to this, too, and that is the function of angels on certain occasions, but we'll get to that tomorrow. 
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
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