The Bible Study Podcast, Episode 217. Today, the Bible Study podcast continues the study of Daniel with chapter 6.

Welcome to the Bible Study podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen. When we said we were going to do the book of Daniel, you were probably expecting a story about Daniel in the lion's den, which is the most famous story, certainly from this book, and we finally get to it here in Daniel chapter 6.

But before we get into this story, remember that what has just happened at the end of Daniel 5, and just before we start 6, is Daniel, who was a captive of the Babylonians, who became one of the wise men of Babylon, saw the fall of Babylon and the takeover of the kingdom by the Medes and the Persians. And so we start with

Chapter 6 with someone new in charge, and that is Darius, the king of Persia. It pleased Darius

to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel.

The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss.

Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional

qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find

grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so.

They could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.

Finally, these men said, we will never find any basis for charges against this

man, Daniel, unless it has something to do with the law of his God. So Daniel's in a new kingdom.

He may, in fact, be in the same place, but there are new people in charge. But again, he has risen to the top.

And he's risen to the top because he is both gifted by God and he is faithful to God.

And he has been given gifts by God that allow him to do administration, that give him wisdom.

So he's recognized by these new leaders, by the Persians, and very quickly he is in charge of a third of the kingdom

and about to be put in charge of the entire kingdom, but that makes people jealous.

So they go to look for charges that they get loved against him, but he's just too darn honest.

He's just too darn good.

And so they say, we know where we can trip him up.

It's the same thing that ended up with Shadrek, Meshach, and a bed to go in a Babylonian fiery furnace, and that is faithfulness to God.

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