Outline

«　WEEK 3　DAY 6　»

　　Dan. 6:10-11 …When Daniel came to know that the writing had been signed, he went to his house (in his upper room he had windows open toward Jerusalem) and three times daily he knelt on his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God, because he had always done so previously…These men assembled and found Daniel making petition and supplication before his God.

　　Daniel 6 is very crucial because it shows us how God carries out His economy with His elect for Christ’s coming. God desires to carry out His economy, but man is needed to pray for His economy on earth. God carries out His economy on the earth through His faithful channels of prayer. Satan’s strategy is to frustrate the prayer that is for God’s move. Thus, the center of this chapter is man’s prayer for the carrying out of God’s economy.

　　God’s move is like a train, which must have rails for its move. Man’s prayers are like the rails that pave the way for God’s move to go on. There is no other way to bring God’s economy into fullness and into fulfillment except by prayer. This is the inner secret of this chapter. (Life-study of Daniel, p. 47)

　　In Daniel 6:4 through 9 we see the subtle attack of Satan on Daniel concerning the worship of God.

　　Being jealous of Daniel, the chief ministers and satraps “sought to find a ground for accusation against Daniel from the perspective of the kingdom, but they could find no ground for accusation or fault, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or fault was found related to him” (v. 4). Therefore, the chief ministers and satraps, with the high officers of the kingdom, took counsel together that the king should establish a statute and make firm an edict that anyone who made a petition within the next thirty days to any god or man besides the king should be cast into the lions’ den (vv. 5-7)…The intention of the chief ministers and satraps was to destroy Daniel, but Satan, who was behind them, wanted to stop or cut off the channel of prayer God was using for the carrying out of His economy.

　　Verse 10 reveals Daniel’s faithfulness in the worship of God…He had read Jeremiah’s prophecy that the children of Israel would serve the king of Babylon for seventy years (9:2b; Jer. 25:11). Standing on this word, Daniel must have prayed many times for the fulfillment of this prophecy and for the return of the captives. He would not let anything stop or frustrate his prayer. He knew that his prayer was for the carrying out of God’s economy concerning His elect. Therefore, his prayer was a serious matter. Today prayer is the lifeline in the Lord’s recovery. The more Satan tries to frustrate our prayer, the more we should pray.

　　Daniel 6:25 through 28 reveals God’s victory over Satan in the worship of God on earth, even in a Gentile kingdom, through the overcomers in the captivity of His defeated elect. Daniel’s victory over the subtlety that prohibited the faithfulness of the overcomers in the worship of God was the last step of the victory over Satan’s devices. Without these overcomers, God would have been fully defeated by Satan, having nothing on earth for Himself.

　　When Satan sent Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the holy city with the temple in order to take away God’s worship and service, it seemed that God was defeated and that His interest, worship, and service on earth were destroyed. Yet under God’s sovereignty, four of the young men selected by Nebuchadnezzar to stand in the king’s palace became overcomers to keep God’s worship and service. God had four young overcomers living in the palace day by day, yet they were absolutely one with God. This was a shame to Satan and a boast to God…Today, as long as there are some overcomers on this earth, regardless of the number, God will have reason to boast. When God sees today’s overcomers standing on the ground of the church, He will be happy and pleased. (Life-study of Daniel, pp. 48-52)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Daniel, msg. 8