A stone covered the mouth of the lions’ den. King Darius sealed it with his own signet and the signets of his nobles. Daniel was inside, condemned under a decree the king himself had signed. The men who had arranged his downfall had secured the sentence they wanted.
The trap began among officials who wanted a charge against Daniel. He served faithfully, and they could find no corruption or neglect in his work. Finally, they settled upon the one thing they could count on: his devotion to God.
They persuaded Darius to sign a decree forbidding anyone to make a petition to any god or man except the king for thirty days. Anyone who disobeyed would be thrown into the lions’ den. Under the law of the Medes and Persians, the decree could not be changed.
They had turned faithfulness into a punishable offense.
Daniel knew the writing had been signed. He went home, knelt with his windows open toward Jerusalem, and prayed three times a day, giving thanks to God as he had before. The decree changed the laws of man regarding the freedom to pray; but it did not change the God to whom Daniel prayed.
When the officials found him praying, they brought their accusation to the king. Darius was distressed and worked until sundown to save Daniel. The men pressed the very law they had persuaded him to sign: the decree could not be altered.
The king favored Daniel. He did not want Daniel mauled by lions; but he had been tricked. He had signed a command he now regretted.
Daniel was cast into the den, and the stone was sealed over its mouth. Darius returned to his palace, spent the night fasting, and could not sleep.
Early the next morning, he hurried to the den and called to Daniel in a sorrowful voice. Was the God he served continually able to deliver him from the lions?
An answer came from inside.
“O king, live for ever.”
Daniel told him that God had sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths. They had not hurt him.
Darius gladly ordered Daniel lifted out. No injury was found upon him. He had trusted in his God, and his God had saved him.
The king then commanded that Daniel’s accusers be cast into the den, along with their wives and children. The ferocious lions mauled them before they reached the bottom; but they had left Daniel unharmed.
Daniel's safety had come from God.
Darius sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, calling people to fear the living God whose kingdom would not be destroyed. The plot intended to condemn God’s servant had ended with a royal declaration of God’s power to deliver.
Daniel’s enemies had used their positions to arrange his death. Darius had signed the decree and ordered the sentence carried out. Their choices had brought Daniel into the den, but their authority could not override the power of God.
Pressure can make obedience costly. Daniel knew what the decree required, yet he continued to pray. The men who threatened his life would not become the rulers of his faith.
The decree that had power to condemn Daniel had no power to command his God.
“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.” —Daniel 6:22
—Jeff Wager
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