As we continue to go through our series on the book of
Daniel, we run across another one of our familiar stories – that of Daniel and
the Lion’s Den. As was true with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago, this story
details God’s sovereignty with regards to protecting His people.
The story starts by just explaining that Darius has elected
to divide his land into 120 provinces, and set Daniel as the first President
underneath him. Essentially, Daniel is seen as a highly elevated position
because he is regarded as trustworthy.
This of course sparks jealousy from the other princes
who desire to have Daniel’s position. So they want to find a reason that they
could manage to get Daniel in trouble. After close examination of his life,
this is what they found in verse 5,
“Then said these men, We
shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him
concerning the law of his God.”
So these different leaders chose the only route that
would make sense, they tricked the king to make a decree that no one in the
land could pray to any god or man for thirty days except the king, or else be
thrown into a den of lions. You know, no big deal whatsoever.
Now, of course, Daniel responded to this by doing
exactly as he had before, praying three times a day, opening his windows. Most
people focus on the fact that he did this exactly like he did aforetime, but
that’s because it’s important, so I’m going to as well.
He apparently always opened his windows in his chamber
before praying. He had made no effort to conceal it. I find this important
because he didn’t purposefully open his windows to make a point of rebellion.
But I also think it is important because it would have
been so easy to justify closing the windows. There is after all, no obligation
to open your windows when you are praying to God, and if it could be possible
to conceal your actions, then why not? But that’s not what Daniel did.
And so to further the progress along, he gets thrown
into the den of lions and the king is upset. He doesn’t want to see Daniel be
killed, and in that thought, we see the set-up for the declaration of the
sovereignty of God. In verse 16, we read,
“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.”
Now at this point, we see that a stone is brought in
front of the mouth of the den, so that there is no possibility that Daniel can
escape, leaving no possibility of a human rescue.
And the king goes to his palace and fasts all night.
No way to tell whether he is praying to any god, so let’s be careful not to
read into this that he was pursuing the God of heaven at this time.
Early in the morning, the king leaves his palace, and
comes to see the den of lions. In verses 20-23, we see the declaration of God’s
sovereignty in this passage,
“And when he came to the
den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said
to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest
continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the
king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the
lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency
was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was
the king exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel
up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt
was found upon him, because he believed in his God.”
At this point, Daniel’s accusers are thrown into the
den of lions, and their children, and their wives. I imagine this is quite a
large group of people. And the lions had killed all of these people before they
ever reached the bottom. I guess these weren’t just a bunch of tame lions for
some reason…
And then we once again end with a foreign king (in
this case the king of Persia), declaring the power and sovereignty of God.
“26 I make a decree, That
in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel:
for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. 27 He
delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in
earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”
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