Daniel 6:16-17 NKJV

16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” 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.

Daniels story always reminds me of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. This is how, in both circumstances, the expectation would be that God would come through before calamity struck. For Lazarus, his sisters expected Jesus to come and heal their brother and yet Jesus comes after Lazarus is dead rotting and burried. For Daniel you would have expected God to come through for him so that he is not thrown into the lions den but it does not happen that way. Same was the case for Shadrach Meshack and Abednego when they were thrown into the fiery furnace

Gods ways are higher than our ways, this is a common statement among believers but as much as we say it, we usually get into a mode of panic when God seems to delay or he does not come through in the way we expected him to.

I find it interesting that the King was the one who encouraged Daniel that the God he has been serving continually would deliver him. Reason being is that Daniel is in the lions den because he broke the law not to pray to any other god apart from the king. This means that the king already recognized that he is not God and that there is a higher power.

Daniel had a testimony of his love and dedication to God to those around him. You would expect Daniel to be the one in panic and yet it is the king who is restless and unable to sleep that night wondering if God protected Daniel. In fact, the king fasted that night and at first light he rushed to the lions den to inquire if Daniels God had protected him. Daniel responds by saying that God had sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions and he had been kept safe.

The tables turn on Daniels accusers when they are now thrown into the den with their families and the bible says the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den. The God who protected Daniel also vindicated him and punished those who were out to harm him.

The outcome of this whole episode is that the king makes a decree to all the peoples of the earth saying the God of Daniel is the living God.

In allowing Daniel to be thrown into the lions den and then protecting him, God glorifies himself for all to see just as Jesus did when he raised Lazarus from the dead.

Reflections

• Have you ever been falsely accused and punished for something you did not do? How did you feel?
• Has God even come through for you at the very last minute? What happened?
• Would you be willing to trust God with your life like Daniel, Shadrack Meshack and Abednego?