43c Daniel and the Lions’ Den [Daniel 6]
The Bible passage: [Daniel 6]
The Story:
A number of years after Nebuchadnezzar, Darius became king of Babylon.
King Darius decided to appoint 120 governors over the kingdom, and over them three administrators, including Daniel. The three administrators reported to the king.
Daniel distinguished himself above the administrators and governors, so the king planned to set him over the whole realm.
The administrators and governors kept trying to find something they could use against Daniel. But they could find no charge or corruption, for he was a trustworthy man of integrity.
These men said, “We will never find anything against Daniel unless we find something to do with his God.”
The administrators and governors went to the king and said to him, “May King Darius live forever. All the administrators and governors of the kingdom have agreed that the king should establish a law that for 30 days, anyone who prays to any god or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den.”
King Darius signed the document.
When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house. The windows in its upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to God, just as he had always done.
Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying to his God.
They approached the king and asked about the law: “Didn’t you sign a law that for 30 days any man who prays to any god or man except you, the king, will be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “The order stands and is irrevocable.”
Then they replied to the king, “Daniel, one of the Judean exiles, has ignored you, the king, and the law you signed. He prays three times a day to his God.”
As soon as the king heard this, he was quite upset; he tried to come up with a way to rescue Daniel.
At sundown, these men went to the king and said to him, “You as king know it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no law the king establishes can be changed.”
The king gave the order and they brought Daniel to him. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
Daniel was then thrown into the lion’s den. A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his signet ring, so that no one would remove the stone.
The king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No diversions were brought to him, and he could not sleep.
At the first light of dawn the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den.
When he reached the den, he called out to Daniel. “Daniel, servant of the living God,” the king said, “has your God whom you continually serve been able to rescue you from the lions?”
Then Daniel spoke to the king: “May the king live forever. My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths. They haven’t hurt me, for God knows I am innocent. I have not committed a crime against you, my king.”
The king was overjoyed and gave orders to take Daniel out of the den. Daniel was taken out of the den, uninjured, for he trusted in his God.
The king then gave the command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den - they, their children, and their wives. They didn’t hit the floor of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
Then King Darius wrote this to every people group, nation, and language who live in all the earth: “May your prosperity abound. I issue a new law that in all my royal dominion, people must tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His dominion has no end. He rescues and delivers; He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth, for He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
The Lessons:
- No matter what else happens, never give up on God. Daniel’s faith was in God and the lions eventually ate his accusers.
- You never know who will be impacted by your faithfulness.
- When God gives impossible blessings, we must glorify Him and share with other the powerful testimony of His blessings.
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