Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / December 10 - Daniel 6

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December 10 - Daniel 6 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello, friends. It's Shawn here.
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  It's Wednesday. It's the 10th of December.
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  Thanks for tapping on play. Great to have your company.
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  I wonder what your week is looking like.
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  Here we are in the middle of the week.
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  We've reached hump day. We are almost halfway through,
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  or maybe you're over halfway through, depending on when
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  you're listening to this. And wherever you are.
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  We have now reached the point, some would say the pinnacle, the
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  climax of Daniel, because when you think of Daniel in the
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  Bible, I said Daniel and the first phrase that comes to your
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  mind is that's right, Daniel in the lion's den.
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  That's just how we roll. We have been well conditioned by
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  1000 Sunday school classes where this story was shared.
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  And I know we've got umpteen books that we've read our kids
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  as they grew up with stories of Daniel in the lion's den.
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  This is a beautiful story of God's provision for His people,
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  Well, His person not to get eaten.
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  And who doesn't like not getting eaten?
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  I'm pretty sure that's all of us.
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  So Holy Spirit, come wherever we are today, whatever part of our
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  life journey we are on, may this story speak to us and may you
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  reveal more of yourself to us right now.
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  Oh, what a treat. Friends, let's settle in and
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  read together this story as told in Daniel chapter 6.
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  Darius the Mead decided to divide the Kingdom into 120
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  provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each
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  province. The king also chose Daniel and
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  two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and
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  protect the King's interests. Daniel soon proved himself more
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  capable than all the other administrators and high
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  officers. Because of Daniel's great
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  ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire
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  empire. Then the other administrators
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  and high officers began searching for some fault in the
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  way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they
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  couldn't find anything to criticise or condemn.
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  He was faithful, always responsible and completely
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  trustworthy. So they concluded our only
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  chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in
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  connection with the rules of his religion.
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  So the administrators and high officers went to the king and
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  said, the Long live king Darius, we are all in agreement.
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  We administrators, officials, high officers, advisers and
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  governors, and that the King should make a law that will be
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  strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next 30
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  days, any person who prays to anyone, divine or human, except
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  for you, Your Majesty, will be thrown into the den of lions.
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  And now Your Majesty issue and sign this law so it cannot be
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  changed. An official law of the Medes and
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  Persians that cannot be revoked. So King Darius signed the law.
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  But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went
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  home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room with its
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  windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed 3 times a day, just as
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  he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
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  Then the officials went together to Daniel's house and found him
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  praying and asking for God's help.
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  So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his
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  law. Did you not sign a law that for
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  the next 30 days any person who prays to anyone, divine or
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  human, except for you, your Majesty, who will be thrown into
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  the den of lions? Yes, the king replied.
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  That decision stands. It is an official law of the
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  Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.
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  Then they told the king that man Daniel, one of the captives from
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  Judah, is ignoring you and your law.
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  He still prays to his God three times a day.
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  Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to
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  think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day
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  looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament.
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  In the evening, the men went together to the king and said,
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  Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the
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  Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be
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  changed. So at last the king gave orders
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  for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions.
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  The king said to him, May your God, whom you serve so
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  faithfully, rescue you. A stone was brought and placed
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  over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with
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  his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one
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  could rescue Daniel. Then the king returned to his
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  palace and spent the night fasting.
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  He refused his usual entertainment and couldn't sleep
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  at all that night. Very early the next morning the
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  king got up and hurried out to the lion's den.
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  When he got there, he called out in anguish.
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  Daniel, servant of the living God, Was your God, whom you
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  served so faithfully able to rescue you from the lions?
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  Daniel answered. Long live the king.
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  My God sent his Angel to shut the lion's mouth so they would
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  not hurt me, for I've been found innocent in his sight, and I
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  have not wronged you, Your Majesty.
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  The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted
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  from the den. Not a scratch was found on him,
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  for he had trusted in his God. Then the king gave orders to
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  arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel.
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  He had them thrown into the lion's den along with their
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  wives and children. The lions leapt on them and tore
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  them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.
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  Then Darius sent this message to the people of every race and a
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  nation and language throughout the world.
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  Peace and prosperity. To you.
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  I decree that everyone throughout my Kingdom should
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  tremble with fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living
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  God and he will endure forever. His Kingdom will never be
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  destroyed and his rule will never end.
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  He rescues and saves his people. He performs miraculous signs and
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  wonders in the heavens and on earth.
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  He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.
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  So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of
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  Cyrus the Persian. Oh Lord, what a wonderful story
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  about your faithful servant Daniel, who, through his
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  continued worship of you, changes the way the whole world
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  works in relation to their understanding of who the God of
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  the universe is. Lord, we just don't know your
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  plans. We don't know how far your
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  dreams are stretching one way or the other.
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  And Lord, all you call us to be is faithful in the moment, and
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  you do the rest. So, Holy Spirit, continue your
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  work in US of turning our stubborn human hearts always
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  back to You, always in worship of You, always softened by your
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  love for us so that we can be your faithful, holy people,
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  always sitting by our windows, praying to you 3 times a day, or
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  whatever that looks like in our lives.
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  May that faithfulness just be part and parcel of who we are,
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  with our identity firmly rooted. As your beloved children, Thank
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  you for all that you've done, for all that you give us, but
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  most of all for Jesus, in whose name we pray, all of this, Amen.