Integrity

We now come back to Babylon where Daniel was still residing.  A man named Darius was ruling as king there.

This is not, by the way, Darius the Great who is later mentioned in the book of Ezra.

It is not entirely clear who he was, but some speculate that he is known in secular history as Gubaru, who was governor over Babylon for 14 years under Cyrus.

It is also possible that Darius was another title for Cyrus himself.

At any rate, Daniel had found favor in the eyes of Darius, and because of how well he had distinguished himself, he was about to be named as prime minister in Babylon.

The other administrators and satraps were none too pleased that this Jew from a conquered nation would be set over them, and so they tried to find anything in Daniel that would discredit him.

To their dismay, they could find nothing.  It says in verse 4,

They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. (Daniel 6:4)

Eventually, they came to the conclusion that the only way to get to Daniel was through his love for God.  And so, behind Daniel’s back, they came before Darius with a proposal.

The proposal was that for one month, no one could pray to any god or man except to Darius.

Why Darius agreed to this proposal is uncertain.

Perhaps he thought it would help change people’s allegiance from Babylon to Persia.  Perhaps he did it out of his own pride.

Whatever the reason, the law appealed to him and so he passed it.

How did Daniel respond?

He continued to do as he always did.  Three times a day he prayed before God.

The administrators kept their eye on Daniel, and as soon as they saw him praying, they went to Darius to report Daniel’s activities to him.

Darius was greatly shocked and saddened when he heard this and did everything he could to spare Daniel’s life.

But the law of the Medes and Persians could not be revoked, and so he was forced to throw Daniel into a den of lions.

You all probably know the story.  God shut the mouths of the lions, and the next morning, when Darius found him still alive, he had him pulled out.

He then threw all of Daniel’s accusers and their families into the den of lions where they were all killed.

The thing that strikes me most about this story is the integrity of Daniel.

Here was a man that had the magnifying glass put on his life.  Yet no one around him could find a single bad thing about him.  He was neither incompetent, nor negligent, nor corrupt.

Not only that, when it came to a choice between following God or compromising his faith, Daniel never flinched.  He held on to his integrity and continued to boldly follow the Lord.

How about you?  Can people say the same about you?

If the magnifying glass were put on you by your family, by your friends, by your coworkers, what would they say?

And when the pressure is on from those around you to compromise your faith, do you hold onto your integrity, do you flinch?  Do you give in?

May we all be like Daniel and be men and women of integrity.