Daniel 6:16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. 17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
This passage of scripture relates for us the end result of the exercise of the spirit of malice as exhibited in the princes and governors over whom Daniel was preferred. These princes and lords had accused Daniel of not honoring the word of the king, which at that time had stipulated that no one should ask a petition of any god or man, except king Darius. This law that was signed was not based on common sense, but was rather intended to boost the ego of the king, and worst yet, it was signed with the king's signet so that it could not be altered, according to the law of the Medes and Persians which changeth not. The law of the Medes and Persians would therefore allow an innocent man to be executed for doing right, just so that the validity of an unjust law might be upheld.
The first issue we will look at therefore is the arrogance involved in mortal man making any law that cannot change. The very fact that we are finite beings means that we can make mistakes in judgment, and if we were to adopt the attitude that whatsoever is said and done cannot be reversed, we would then be usurping the prerogative of God, who alone is perfect in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Whenever we realize that we have made a mistake in judgment, we should be willing and humble enough to admit that we were wrong, and we should also be quick to reverse whatever evil was set in motion because of an uninformed decision.
The next issue we will observe is the violation of ones' conscience as it occurred with King Darius, after he realized that a deadly plot was laid by Daniel's colleagues to have him killed. Darius should never have moved forward with the decision to let injustice bear sway in this matter, regardless of how much legal and political pressure was brought to bear against him. It is much better to retreat in shame-facedness from an act of deliberate wrong than to allow evil to be countenanced just to save face.
It was the same mentality that caused Herod to decapitate John the Baptist after he found himself in an embarrassing situation, by swearing publicly before his lords, that he would give Herodias' daughter anything she requested, up to the half of his kingdom. Let's read:
Matthew 14:6 But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. 7 Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. 8 And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. 9 And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.
In our own experiences we may sometimes find ourselves in a severe bind because of some uninformed oath we may have taken, and like Darius and Herod we may dread recanting our position for fear of public ridicule and censure. Now while it is true that we should always stand firm for righteousness though the heavens fall, yet in other matters that are not salvific in nature, where we may have inadvertently uttered an oath that will lead us into temptation and sin, it is not only our privilege, but also our sacred duty to renege on that which we have uttered ill-advisedly, lest like Herod and Darius, we force our way against an awakened and violated conscience, and thereby cause others and ourselves to stumble and suffer greatly because of it.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages us to cultivate and maintain a clear conscience at all times, in any decision we may take, and never should we proceed with something that's wrong just to save face, or the embarrassment that may come from the renouncing of an oath that was inadvertently taken. Let's read:
Romans 14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. 23 "For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His word. "Good night" and God bless!