Fear the Living God!

The pronouncement by Darius after Daniel’s rescue from the lions is alluded to in the angel’s pronouncement found in Revelation 14.

When Daniel was delivered from the lions’ den, Darius the Mede was relieved and issued a decree to all his subjects. commanding them to revere Daniel’s God. He also condemned the prophet’s accusers to be cast to the lions instead of Daniel. This incident is reflected in and used by the Book of Revelation.

After Daniel was cast into the pit, the king spent the night in anxiety. The next morning, he hastened to see if the prophet remained alive, and he called out to him, “Is your God whom you serve able to deliver you from the lions?” Daniel answered in the affirmative. His deliverance demonstrated that he was “blameless” before his God, Darius the Mede, and the “law of the Medes and the Persians.”

[Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography (South Africa) on Unsplash]

In thankful response, Darius issued his decree to all the peoples, races, and languages that were dwelling in all the earth:

• “May your prosperity abound! From before me is appointed the decree that throughout every dominion of my kingdom, men are trembling and fearing from before the God of Daniel, for He is the Living God and abides for ages, and his kingdom is that which will not be destroyed, and his dominion is unto the end; who delivers and rescues and works signs and wonders in the heavens and in the earth, for that he delivered Daniel out of the power of the lions” – (Daniel 6:25-27).

The king’s description of the everlasting kingdom of God echoes the conclusion of Daniel’s interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image with the head of gold:

• “And in the days of those kings will the God of heaven set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left to another people; but it will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it will stand for ever” – (Daniel 2:44).

The royal decree of Darius also parallels the edict of the Babylonian ruler after his downfall and restoration as recorded in the fourth chapter of the Book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar attributed his restoration to the God who works signs and wonders in his address to the nations that dwell on the Earth:

• “Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth. Peace be multiplied unto you! It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation” - (Daniel 4:1-3).

THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH

The decree of Darius provides the backdrop for the announcement by the angel in the fourteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation, which he addressed to “the Inhabitants of the Earth”:

• “And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having everlasting glad tidings to proclaim to the inhabitants of the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a great voice: Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of his judgment is come <…> And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man venerates the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. And he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. And they have no rest day and night, they who venerate the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” - (Revelation 14:6-11).

The group known as the Inhabitants of the Earth represents the men who refuse to repent despite the “plagues” they endured, and instead, give their allegiance to the Beast. The English term “fear” in the passage translates the same Greek verb found in the Greek Septuagint version of the Book of Daniel when Darius the Mede declared that men should “fear and tremble before the God of Daniel.”

The angel’s pronouncement is followed by the second angel, who announces the fall of Babylon, then by a third angel who warns of the fearsome punishment that awaits all men who venerate the Beast and its image, and receive its mark.

The Inhabitants of the Earth will be cast into the Lake of Fire unless they repent and learn to fear God. Likewise, after his deliverance from the pit of the lions, Darius cast Daniel’s accusers into the pit instead of the Prophet.

In the third chapter of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were accused of refusing to bow before the image erected by King Nebuchadnezzar, and so, they were cast alive into the “burning fiery furnace” - (Daniel 3:8-30).

The three men did not escape punishment, but God kept them alive in the flames. Astonished, Nebuchadnezzar decreed that anyone who “said anything amiss” against Yahweh, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, he would be thrown into the fire and destroyed - (Daniel 3:29).

The Book of Revelation does not promise that the followers of Jesus will escape from persecution or death, but it does declare they will not endure the “Second Death,” namely, “the Lake of Fire.”

The image of the Lake of Fire is derived from the story of the three Jewish exiles delivered by God from “the fiery burning furnace” of Nebuchadnezzar, only in an ironic fashion - (Revelation 14:6-11, 19:20, 21:8).

• “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things declares the first and the last, who was dead, and lived again. I know your tribulation, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the slander of them who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Fear not the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is going to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried. And you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. He that overcomes will not be hurt of the second death” – (Revelation 2:9-11).

Just as the accusers of Daniel and his companions were destroyed because of their false accusations, so likewise, the Inhabitants of the Earth who “slander” and accuse the saints before the magistrates and rulers of this age will be cast into the “lake of fire that is burning with brimstone.” Saints who faithfully maintain their testimony before the world may face death, but they will never partake of the Second Death.

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SEE ALSO:

• Multiple Final Judgments? - (Each of the three sevenfold series of Revelation concludes with a final judgment scene that transpires at the end of the age)

• Global Dominion - (The Inhabitants of the Earth refuse to follow the Lamb, choosing instead to swear allegiance to the Dragon and his Beast)

• The Last Hour - (Revelation moves inexorably from the death of Jesus to the final day when God judges the wicked and vindicates the righteous)

• The Inhabitants of the Earth - (The “Inhabitants of the Earth” represent the men omitted from the Book of Life because they embraced the Beast from the Sea)