The Lion’s Den
“Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Daniel 6:10b
Daniel in the Lion’s Den is one of the many bible stories that I first heard as a child in kid’s church. The emphasis was on the fact that God shut the lions’ mouth protecting Daniel from any harm. While this is absolutely the truth of God’s Word, I want to share something with you that I never noticed before.
If you don’t know the story, let me give you a little background. Daniel was an Israelite that was taken captive by the Babylonians. Even though he was held captive, Daniel maintained an excellent spirit, he had exceptional qualities, and he gained favor with the different kings through the years.
King Darius had placed Daniel as one of three administrators over 120 leaders over the Persian Empire. These people were jealous of Daniel and wanted to find fault in him to take to the king; however, they couldn’t find one thing to bring an accusation against Daniel. The only area of Daniel’s life that could be touched was his commitment to God. The administrators persuaded King Darius to issue a decree that for the next 30 days, no one could pray to any god, any human, or even the one true God. The people could only pray to the King. If anyone disobeyed this edict, they would be thrown into the lion’s den.
Daniel learned of the decree and knew the consequences that he would face for his actions. But Daniel 6:10 says that he went home to his upstairs room where the windows were opened toward Jerusalem, and he prayed three times a day just like before. Daniel did not waiver in his faith – he knelt and gave thanks to God.
“Daniel’s faith in God did not depend on his circumstances. Daniel had been in captivity since he was a young boy, his life as an Israelite had been taken from him, and a completely different culture had been forced upon him. ”
Spoiler Alert! The jealous administrators caught Daniel praying to God and took him before the king, telling him that Daniel had not stopped praying to his God. The king was in great distress over this but had no choice but to throw Daniel into the lion’s den.
The King couldn’t sleep all night thinking about Daniel and what would happen to him. Early the next morning, the king hurried to the den and found Daniel alive and well. Daniel 6:23b says, “And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”
There were no hidden cameras to see Daniel’s actions during the night as he stared into the eyes of the lions. We don’t have any eye witness accounts, but what we do have is insight into Daniel’s walk with God.
Daniel’s faith in God did not depend on his circumstances. Daniel had been in captivity since he was a young boy, his life as an Israelite had been taken from him, and a completely different culture had been forced upon him. Yet through all of this, Daniel never stopped loving God, trusting God, and thanking God!
This past week was another test of whether to trust God or not. I wanted God to move a little faster than He did. But in my conversation with God, I came to the following conclusions.
1) No matter what we see with the natural eye, God is still in control.
2) God does not ignore or disregard our prayers. He hears and takes to heart every single word.
3) No matter the outcome, we must choose to thank and praise God anyway.
We may not understand the battles and struggles of this life. We don’t have to. We just need to grab hold of God’s promises, trust and believe that He is with us, and thank Him for His goodness in our lives.
Jesus taught the disciples that their worth to God was more than the sparrows – and Jesus said that God does not forget the sparrow. Jesus then went on to say that God knows the number of hairs on each head.