Prayer Prohibited
Thirty days being prohibited to pray. That happened to Daniel. We can read this in Daniel 6:5-17. The considerations of his enemies: “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 they said to King Darius: “May King Darius live forever! The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” So King Darius put the decree in writing.”
“Anyone who prays to any god or human being, except to king Darius shall be thrown into the lions’ den.”
Antisemitism as the basis of hating and arresting someone who is serving the God of Israel. What is Daniel’s crime? “Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Daniel 6:10b. Daniel prays three times a day. Looking at Jerusalem. Praying with the eye focused on Jerusalem. Longing for Jerusalem that the Lord had chosen as a dwelling for His Name.
As one can read in Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8:27-29 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! Yet give attention to Your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying in Your presence this day. May Your eyes be open toward this Temple night and day, this place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.”
Law is Law
Now they have him! Hatred towards Israel is hatred towards the God of Israel, says Psalm 83.
And they say to the king, “Then those men impetuously urged the king and said to him, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no prohibition or decree issued by the king can be changed. Thereupon the king gave command, and they fetched Daniel and cast him into the lion’s den.”
Hatred towards the Jews because of their Jewish faith and prayer. Hatred of Jerusalem as the city chosen by the God of Israel. Unbridled, blinding hatred. Today as well. How does it end for Daniel? “So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!””. The law of Medes and Persians cannot be broken, not even by the king. Compare this with the Book of Esther in which also a law of Medes and Persians was made and issued that all Jews in the entire Persian empire had to be killed. Babylon versus Jerusalem.
“But the Lord fights alongside His people, as Israel knows and prays (Psalm 44)”
Fearing God
But the Lord fights alongside His people, as Israel knows and prays (Psalm 44). In order that the Gentile nations will know Who really is the true God. Such is the case with Daniel. God answers the faith and the prayers of His people Israel. Daniel is lifted out of the lions’ den alive the following day.
One reads in Daniel 6:19-23 “At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent His angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”
King Darius is so impressed that he issues another law, a law of Medes and Persians that cannot be broken. The king takes action! We read in verse 25-28 “Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth: “May you prosper greatly!
“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. “For He is the living God and He endures forever; His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end. He rescues and He saves; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
“The god that has forbidden the Jews to pray on the Temple Mount cannot be the God of Israel”
Today it is forbidden for Jews to pray on the Temple Mount. Prayer prohibited. Who is the god that has forbidden the Jews to pray over there? Forbidden to pray at the place where He has decided that His Holy Name would dwell? That cannot be the God of Israel, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. May He soon return to take His proper place over there.
One day all nations will come to this understanding according to Isaiah 25:7-8 “On this mountain [Mount Zion, the Temple Mount] He will destroy the shroud [covering] that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations… He will remove His people’s disgrace [all antisemitism, hatred of Israel, Jew-bashing, Jew-killing] from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.”
And then there will be true peace. That is what Israel is praying for and that is what we are praying for. And those prayers to the God of Israel Who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ are fortunately still not prohibited. But these prayers are urgently needed. The Lord expects this from us. Let us be watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem, blowing the horn/shofar as soon as we see dangers approaching this city and this land and these chosen people of Israel, as He says in Isaiah 62:6-7 “I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”
