Kinsmen Redeemer

A group of Jewish religious leaders posed a question to Jesus to trap Him on the question of the resurrection. The Sadduccees asked Him about a man who died without children and his wife had to be married off to his younger brothers and one by one they all died including the seventh and youngest brother and yet the woman could not bear any children for the first husband. The Sadduccees wanted to know whose wife this woman would be when they all get to Heaven ( read Matthew 22: 23 - 33 ). And Jesus, knowing their intentions, chose not to answer their question directly but chose to focus their attention on Himself by reminding them that their God is a living God.

The Sadduccees were quoting from the Old Testament in Deut. 25: 5 - 6: -

5. If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.
6. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel....

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5 "For His anger is but
for a moment, His
favor is for life."
Psalms 30:5 NKJV

17 "Now the Lord is the
Spirit; and where the
Spirit of the Lord is,
there is Liberty."
2 Cor 3:17 NKJV

The king sealed it with his own "signet ring"

Dan 6:17 "Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed." (NKJ)
Dan 6:17 "Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed." (NKJ)

The "signet ring," also known as a "seal" comes from the Hebrew word "hotam" and the Greek word "sphragis" and was used universally in the ancient world. It was a portable instrument used much like we use a signature today, but much more important. They would seal or stamp a document, or the door of a house, or a tomb, etc. It was also an emblem of authority.

Authentic ancient documents contain seals. The way they did it was to cover it with "ink" and press it. Most often it was attached to a ring and worn on the finger or else it hung from the neck on a string or on the arm. Many shapes have been discovered ranging from cylindrical, square and round, to oval and pyramid shape. The engraver was a common occupation in ancient times.

The ancient Egyptians most familiar form of a signet ring was made of stone, round on one side and flat on the other. The flat side was very elaborate and bore the inscription, usually containing symbols, hieroglyphic letters, and the scarabaeus or sacred beetle. The beetle was worshipped by the Egyptians as well as the Phoenecians and other cultures. Examples of these seals are known as far back as the Fourth Dynasty, c. 2550 B.C. Sometimes they were made of blue pottery or porcelain or a lump of clay, impressed with a seal and attached to the document by strings.

In ancient Mesopatamia around 3500 BC the cylinder seal was first used. At Uruk (Erech in the Bible, Gen. 10:10) which is modern Warka, two small square tablets of gypsum plaster were uncovered that contained impressions of cylinder seals. They were apparently rolled across soft clay, a package or jar was sealed with wet clay and the seal was rolled over it.

Soon after, the Persians introduced the stamp seals. The Uruk seals display amazing beauty. Henri A. Frankfort, formerly research professor of oriental archaeology at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, made monumental studies in the development of the cylinder seal from the prehistoric period to the dynasties of ancient Sumer and Babylon down to the Persian period. See Frankfort's book, Cylinder Seals where he discusses his research of over 1000 discovered seals.

One interesting seal is the Lapis Lazuli seal of Queen Puabi (or Shubad) uncovered by Woolley at Ur. Also the well-known seal of Darius the Great displays the king in his two-wheeled chariot between two date palms.

"Cylinder seals found in ancient Mesopatamia were incised on various hard surfaces including gold, silver, rock crystal, blue chalcedony, carnelian, marble, ivory, jasper, glazed pottery, and simple baked clay. Often seals contain both pictures and written material. Jar-handle seals were also common from c. 2500 B.C. These were used not only in signing Babylonian clay documents but in safekeeping jars containing valuable papers or commodities for shipment to distant lands. A cloth was placed over the neck of the container, soft clay smeared on top of the binding cord, and the cylinder rolled over the wet clay. If the seal was undisturbed at its destination, the merchandise was safe." -Merril F. Unger

The Hebrews used the seal as an ordinary piece of equipment. It was mentioned throughout the Bible in many different time periods. Even on the breastplate of the high priest there were engraved gems of the twelve tribes.

There are many metaphors in the Bible using the "seal" or "engraving" of the Lord as something that is set and permanent. Christians are forever "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" Eph. 1:13.

This verse we are discussing teaches us much of how things were done in ancient times. The king (Darius) was committed to keep his word and he sealed the stone which imprisoned Daniel even though it was against the king's wishes. Darius even fasted the whole night for a miracle concerning the Jewish God, Yahweh, to somehow preserve Daniel's life.