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Daniel 6 Inductive Bible Study Notes and Discussion Questions

Daniel 6

Outline:

Daniel is once again promoted (1-3)
The other rulers scheme against Daniel (4-9)
Daniel doesn’t compromise (10)
They accuse Daniel before the king (11-13)
The king cannot change it (14-15)
Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den (16-18)
Daniel was saved from the lion’s den (19-23)
The accusers reaped what they sowed (24)
Another decree is issued by the king showing his trust in the Lord (35-28)

Who is this Darius?

Why do you think Daniel could be appointed as a ruler?

1 Peter 2:13-16 – Respect authorities including kings.

Proverbs 22:29- The one skilled in his work will serve before kings.

Points:

Daniel once again had a high place of rule in a new administration. The cream rises to the top no matter what the situation is.
His already high spot was going to get higher because he was faithful, loyal, trustworthy, and blessed by God.
Daniel was loyal to authorities. We should also submit and obey to authorities.

II.

Why did the other rulers seek to accuse him?

What can we learn about Daniel’s character from their failure?

What was their decision?

Do you think if people carefully examined you they could find grounds for accusing you?

Would they find that you are “too” devoted to the Lord from the world’s perspective?

Do unbelievers in the world today seek to accuse believers? Why or why not?

Were they truthful to the king?

How did they lie?

In what ways did they appeal to the king to pass this law?

Is this an effective way to make a petition of an authority?

Do you use this method?

Should we use this method?

Why could the laws of the Medes and Persians not be changed?

Psalms 37:12-13,32-33 – The wicked plot against the righteous.

Ecclesiastes 4:4 – Achievements spring from envy against one’s neighbor.

Matthew 26:4, 27:18 – The Jews plotted against Jesus and out of jealousy handed him over to Pilate.

Philippians 2:15 – Being blameless and pure in a dark world.

1 Peter 3:16-17 – Keep a clear conscience to prove wicked people’s slander wrong and suffer for right, not wrong.

Jealousy was not far behind. They had a competitive disadvantage against Daniel because God was on his side. So they tried to work together to find some ways to get rid of him. After that they would probably turn on each other, but for the moment they had a common enemy. Daniel’s pure lifestyle probably also convicted them.
They could find nothing to accuse him of because Daniel was blameless. They expected to find something because they probably all had skeletons in their closet, but Daniel was a man of integrity. He had nothing to hide.
A person of integrity can live with no fear of getting caught because there is nothing to get caught for.
Let each person to consider how they would stand up under this kind of close scrutiny. Whatever is the first thing that comes to your mind of what the accusers would find, this is what you need to get rid of in your life.
They could only accuse him of being too zealous or too religious. In other words they could only accuse him of being too good, too faithful to the Lord. Wow! Don’t you want to have this kind of life where the only accusation is that you are holy!
They lied to the king saying that they had all agreed.
They used flattery to try to get him to do what they wanted. We should not use flattery or manipulation. You can be sure Daniel would have been straightforward and clear making a request to the king and also make sure the king knew all the results of making the law. When we seek permission we should not be underhanded or secretive or manipulative.
Their idea was to make a man a god for 30 days, something that was fairly common in the ancient world (not the 30 day part, but worshipping the king.)

III.

Did Daniel change any of his habits after he heard the law was passed?

Why not?

What does this reveal about his character?

What would you do if this law was passed today?

Luke 14:26 – Must hate even your own life to be Christ’s disciple.

1 Kings 8:48-50 – Solomon prayed about captives turning towards Jerusalem when praying to God a long time before.

Psalms 95:6 – Bow down in worship.

Acts 5:29 – The disciples said they must obey God rather than men.

1. Daniel was not a person who just reacted to things. He is like a ship that never sways to the left or right no matter how hard the wind blows. He was living his life in the right kind of way and didn’t change it based on other people’s opinions.

2. He knew what he was doing was right. His final authority was God. He had learned to order his priorities so that if two conflicted he would choose the more important one. Talk for awhile about the ordering of priorities to make decision making easy. This wasn’t even a slightly difficult decision for Daniel because he had a clear understanding of right and wrong and of his priorities.

3. He was not scared for his life because his relationship to God was more valuable to him than his life.

4. He once again refused to compromise. He didn’t make excuses or say that he “had” to give up worshipping God for 30 days. Neither did he try to hide it and just “worship in his heart”.

5. Our decisions shouldn’t be made based on peer pressure or authorities be it parents, teachers, or government. We had to do what is right ourselves because we will only answer to God for our actions, not authorities.

When did the king realize his mistake?

What could he do about it?

What can we learn from this about how laws should or shouldn’t be passed and the structure of government? What can we learn about how decisions should or shouldn’t be made?

Proverbs 18:13 – It is shame to answer before listening.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 – Vows.

Deuteronomy 23:21-23 – Vows.

Proverbs 20:25 – Stupid to make a vow and then consider it later.

He fell into this trap because he didn’t think through his decision carefully.
The other reason is a stupid law that didn’t allow later information to be considered.
Laws that can’t be changed are stupid and existed because they thought the king was infallible.
We must really think and consider things carefully before giving our word to something.

VI-VII.

Why was Daniel not eaten?

How could this happen?

Why do you think Daniel defended himself after the fact, not before?

Psalms 34:7 – The Lord encamps around those who fear Him.

Hebrews 11:33 – Because of Daniel’s faith.

Psalms 84:11, Isaiah 3:10 – God takes care of the righteous.

God protected Daniel because Daniel had faith in Him.
No, it is not because the lions were full. They were generally starved so that they would be rabidly hungry, which shows clearly by how they eat the others who were thrown in. If time, tell “story” of how the lions reacted.
Daniel knew that defense was useless beforehand. The law couldn’t be changed. He was going to apologize or make any excuses. Afterwards he was vindicated and took the opportunity to use his influence to reach out to the king, preach God’s saving power, and defend his loyalty to show the king it wasn’t for any disrespect to the king (it was only out of a greater respect for God).

VIII.

What happened to his accusers?

What principle does this illustrate?

What does this show about the miraculous nature of Daniel’s deliverance?

Did you write down any other verses about God’s deliverance or saving power?

Galatians 6:8, 2 Corinthians 9:6 – You reap what you sow.

Proverbs 28:10 – The wicked will fall into their own trap.

They reaped what they sowed.
Proverbs talk about people falling into the trap they prepare.

IX.

How did God use Daniel in the life of Darius?

God once again used Daniel in the life of a powerful leader. It appears that Darius may have believed in God here and in any case the whole kingdom was encouraged to believe in Him.
If Daniel had given in, any testimony he later shared would be void because of his clear denial of the importance of worshipping God.

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