The Medo-Persian Empire successfully conquers the Babylonians along with all its territories and during their 200 year + reign on earth they will also conquer and control the other kingdoms of Lydia and Egypt. This means they will continue to control and manage the Jews who still remained in Babylon. Sometime after the beginning of the reign of Cyrus, he will make a decree to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their city and their temple. Although Daniel will not write about this return to Jerusalem by the Jews (that will come later during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah), he will write about the beginning of this new Empire made up of the Medes and the Persians. As Daniel 6 begins, we quickly see that he is immediately placed in a position of trust and that was no doubt because of his consistent character of honesty and right living. Unfortunately, there will be those in the Medo-Persian Empire who will be jealous of Daniel’s success and he may well have been despised simply because he was Jewish. This will result in a number of government officials (satraps and commissioners) who will conspire together to encourage King Darius the Mede to make a decree that requires all of the subjects of the Empire to worship him and him alone.  Daniel of course will continue in his worship of the Lord and that violates the new decree by the king which causes Daniel to be thrown into the Lion’s den. The Lord miraculously intervenes and delivers Daniel from the lions and this results in Daniel influencing Darius so much that he too considers the God of Daniel to be the Most High God. It is thus easy to draw the conclusion that Daniel will also at a later time influence King Cyrus in such a positive way that at the time in which the Lord determined – King Cyrus will make a decree to allow the Jews to return to their home in Jerusalem.

This lesson “A Tribute to a Life of Faith” illustrates the consistent character of Daniel no matter what the outward circumstances may be and he chose not to violate his beliefs even if it meant putting his life at risk. We have much to learn from such a humble and dedicated man of God. For more information take a look at the complete lesson or feel free to contact me for the answers to the fill in blanks. I will be teaching this series in the fall at Valley View Church in Lincoln – contact me for more details – mikesouthwick@gmail.com

Lesson 6 – A Tribute to a Life of Faith – Daniel 6 (Student copy)

Lesson 6 – A Tribute to a Life of Faith – Daniel 6 (Teacher)

Lesson 6 – A Tribute to a Life of Faith – Daniel 6 (PPT)