Page 142 - The Prophet-statesman a Drama of Daniel

Parmashta continued: “All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the
princes, the counsellors. And the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal
statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or

man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing,
that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth
not.”
“They think that I am greater than the gods: that I should be god, the object of

worship, adoration and supplication – that is what they mean! I am god! I alone am
deserving of hearing the praises and petitions of my people!” mused Darius.

His eyes were blinded, his reason dulled by the inflation of pride. The interest that

his friend, the prophet-statesman, had stirred in him of the Jehovah of Israel, was now
gone from his mind. The principle that true devotion to God does not destroy, but
enhances loyalty and faithfulness in human relations was overlooked. This truth was
illustrated by the fact that the man in all the realm who was most devout in prayers to

his God, was at the same time the most loyal and devoted servant of the king and
kingdom. For the moment, the king forgot completely the noble Hebrew patriarch.

Carried along on this wave of unreality and delusion, Darius commanded the court

to draw up a proclamation as the princes would prescribe. To this, without more than a
casual glance at the contents, he affixed the royal seal, and ordered that it should be
posted in the gates of the city and sent by fast messengers to the remote borders of the
empire.

The conspirators went forth from the king’s presence chuckling over the success
of their plan. They had not the slightest doubt that they now had Daniel in their hands.
They agreed to meet at the home of Adalia the next evening at sundown, since his

home commanded a perfect view of the great west window of the palace of the Prime
Minister.

It was only a matter of a few hours before Daniel heard about the proclamation

with the threat to any who would not comply, of being cast into the den of lions.

As he returned to his home, the temptation came to him to offer his evening prayer

in his closet, as he knew that to pray before the open window would be flaunt the
proclamation. Morover, he already suspected that he was one of the targets at which
the proclamation was aimed, if not the main one. He did not entertain the thought of a
prayer in secret, but a moment. “Craven coward thou art, Daniel, to entertain such a
thought! If Jehovah yet has a purpose for thee, what can man do unto thee? Is His arm

shortened that it cannot save? Wouldst thou deny thy God even by appearing obedient
to such a wicked proclamation? Indeed, nay!”