In the book of Daniel, Daniel shared how he “was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever”, and in chapter six and verse seven of his book Daniel shared how the leaders, “consulted together to establish a royal statute” where we read,
All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
The verse reads, “All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, …” Daniel began with the words, “all the presidents” or “each, every, the whole and everyone of the overseers” “of the kingdom” which means “belonging to the royal realm”, “the governors” or “the administrators, prefects or satraps”, “and the princes” which means “and the nobles or lords”, “the counselors” or “the ministers or advisers”, “and the captains” which means “and the chiefs ”, “have consulted together” or “have taken counsel with one another” “to establish a royal statute” which means “to fix and set in place a kingly decree”. Daniel shared how the overseers and lords took counsel with one another that Darius should set in place a kingly decree.
The verse continues, “… and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of you, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.” Daniel added the words, “and to make a firm decree” or “and to form a harden, strong and stringent interdictor or command”, “that whosoever” which means “that whatever person” “shall ask a petition” or “will pray, request, seek and desire” “of any God or man” which means “pertaining to a deity or person” “for thirty days” or “for thirty days length of time”, “save of you, O king” which means “except for you, Darius, O royal ruler and leader”, “he shall be cast” or “he, the person, will be thrown” “into the den” which means “in the cut out pit for wild animals” “of lions” or “belonging to lions”. Daniel shared how the overseers and lords desired that King Darius make a stringent order that whatever person prayed for anything to a deity or person for the length of “thirty days” was to be thrown into a cut out pit for “lions”.
When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Daniel the request the overseers and lords made to King Darius. They wanted him to order that no one pray or ask anything from any god or person other than him for the length of “thirty days”, and if anyone was discovered to be defiant, they would be thrown into a pit cut out for “lions”. This was a ploy to rid themselves of Daniel, and we shall see how it works out for them in our next verses. God was overseeing all these events because He is always in control. God wants to be the “Lord and Savior” of our lives as well, and when we submit to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth so we will be equipped to make our requests of Him regardless of the orders people make.
Next time Daniel shares how the leaders say, “O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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