Daniel And The Lion’s Den 🦁
This event happened much later in Daniel’s life. The reading schedule includes Chapter 7 today, but it goes back several years and is focused on a vision so I’ll deal with it separately in the next post along with chapter 8.
“That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed. And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.”
Daniel 5:30-31 NLT
Historians and Archeologists call the Mede/Persian empire that followed Babylon the Achaemenid Empire, [uh-KEE-muh-nid]. And the Emperor in charge when they conquered Babylon was not named Darius [duh-RYE-us] the Mede. It was Cyrus II, also called Cyrus the Great. He was the first king of the Achaemenid Empire.
I bring this up because there is some confusion and debate about who “Darius the Mede” in the Bible is. There are 3 rulers named Darius mentioned in the Bible and ancient historical documents. Figuring out who is who gets a little dicey.
😐 So can we just skip this part? I wanna get to the exciting part about the lions.
Well, this is one of those places that make skeptics point and say, “Look! The Bible is a book of fables. We have multiple king lists from the period and there is no guy named “Darius the Mede.” That’s what Wikipedia says. And based on that (and other things) Wikipedia also claims that Daniel wasn’t even a real person and the whole book is filled with fables and history written after-the-fact. And you probably work with people who believe this. So I think it’s important that…
- We know that these challenges exist in the text.
- We know how to respond to them, so that…
- When some very well-informed skeptic points it out we don’t stand there like a deer in headlights.
😐 Well… ok. But I’m still only here for the lions. 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁
That’s ok. I’m sure all the other readers are only here for the lions too. But first, history.
There are a few possibilities about “Darius the Mede.”
- The name “Darius” was a title, more than a name; like Pharaoh or Abimelek. Darius means “lord-king” (A.R. Fausset commentary).
- There were many lords and kings, princes and governors in the empire. Cyrus the Great was the Emperor but regions under him usually retained a king or chieftain. It was the only way to administrate such a huge landmass with so many different people groups and cultures.
- Darius I (also called Darius the Great), was likely not the same as “Darius the Mede.” Darius I is mentioned in Haggai 1:1 and Zechariah 1:1. (The Darius in Neh. 12:12 is probably Darius Codomannus. Different guy.)
- There are 2 very good candidates for the identity of Darius the Mede:
- Cyaxeres II, [Si-AK-suh-rees] King of the Medes, (this was the prevailing view of Josephus, Jerome, and many Catholic and Protestant scholars over many centuries). If “Darius” means lord-king, then it would make sense that the king of the Medes (Cyaxeres II) be called “Darius of the Medes, or Darius the Mede.”
- A general in the army that conquered Babylon named Gubaru who Cyrus installed as Regent over the Babylonian province. Gubaru was a Mede and he was 62 when he ruled under Cyrus.
Daniel 9:1 seems to support the option of Cyaxeres II. And there are actually several more options as to who Darius the Mede might be, but the 2 above are the strongest contenders in my opinion.
😐 And in MY opinion, that is plenty of history for one post.
Biblical scholars have been very aware of this problem for centuries and have written about it plenty if you have a mind to chase this rabbit.
😐 Nah. I’m good. But I do like that guy Gubaru. I will forever think of him as Gubaru in the Subaru. 🚙 😏
Hey- whatever helps you remember.
😃 Now do we get to the lions? 🦁
Well… First we need to talk about Daniel. And politics.
😒 ugh… she’s tryin’ to kill me, I know it.
What was that?
🙄 Nothing. Do continue.
“Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.”
Daniel 6:1-3 NLT
It’s a simple case of jealousy. I, for one, would love to be able to time travel and just watch Daniel work. I mean, he must’ve been an administrative genius.
With no electricity and not even paper as we know it, he was the CEO of THIS:
We’re talking millions of people without a unified language or culture. He had a God-given gift and he used it…in government.
Pardon me while I get on this soapbox here for a second…
God can and does use His people in positions of government. It’s not worldly or shady to work in law or politics. Daniel is one of the Bible’s best men. His integrity is irreproachable. And that’s the level of character one needs if one is going to work in politics or law. If people with Kingdom character and biblical morals don’t get involved in the decision-making of their governments, who will? And what will those people’s moral framework be? God’s people should use their gifts and skills to glorify Him and serve our fellow-man wherever we may find ourselves. We can do anything from mopping floors to administrating an empire to the glory of God.
K. Soapbox speech over.
This is an appropriate point in which to put a link to the short Veggie Tales song Oh No What We Gonna Do. It’s the song where the 3 dastardly scallions hatch a plan to get rid of Daniel. It’s peak early 1990s Veggie Tales. 🍅
Daniel knows about the edict and he doesn’t change one thing about his prayer habits.
“But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.”
Daniel 6:10 NLT
I’d say this verse is the key to his success. He had a consistent routine of prayer. And not even the threat of death would stop him.
When you see people who are super fit, it’s not because they go to the gym occasionally, when it’s convenient. Fitness is a consistent priority for them.
It’s the same with music. No one just wakes up one morning as a really good musician. It requires consistent work and discipline.
Anyone with a high level of competence and skill in anything has sacrificed a lot of time and effort to achieve it.
Daniel’s character and high level of administrative authority wasn’t luck.
Daniel had 3 – count ‘em – THREE daily prayer times. These were not a hurried prayers as he ran between meetings (though hurried prayers are better than no prayers at all).
- He went home. He didn’t have a temple, church, or synagogue. Home was the place of prayer.
- He had a special place designated for prayer. It was probably a room or space built on his roof (like an enclosed patio with west-facing windows.)
- He knelt. He adopted a posture of reverence. He took his time and was focused.
- He did this 3 times every day; probably morning, noon, and night.
- This was his personal custom. He had probably been doing this for more than 50 years by this time. That shapes a person.
Of course he is reported, arrested, and sentenced to be fed to the lions.
✊🏼😄 Wooohoo! Finally the LIONS! It’s about time!
The lions in this story would’ve been Asiatic Lions, not the African Lions we’re used to seeing. The Asiatic Lion is endangered. There are only 600-700 individuals in the wild in a single national park in India. Not long ago they were nearly extinct with only a few dozen. Thanks to tremendous conservation efforts, they have been brought back from the brink of extinction but much remains to be done to secure their future survival.
The ancient Persians LOVED their lions.
In ancient Persia, the lion was the national symbol – like the bald eagle for Americans.
Royalty would hunt the lion as a show of their bravery and right to rule. Kings usually kept lions in royal menageries – sometimes they were gifts from other kings. It was a status symbol.
😏 Yup. Having a pet lion is definitely a flex.
They weren’t kept for the purpose of eating criminals. It was the Romans who did that.
Think about the political statement in America, 🇺🇸 if someone in the President’s cabinet was found guilty of a manufactured crime, and then fed to a bunch of bald eagles. 🦅 🦅 🦅 What is the implication of being eaten by the national symbol? That’s what happening to Daniel.
There isn’t a word from Daniel recorded in the text. I imagine he met the situation with his typical calm faith in God.
The king, who had failed to find a legal loophole to undo the sentence, trusts that God will save Daniel and stays up all night fasting and praying – to what gods we don’t know but I expect he prayed at least of few of those, “Yahweh, if you’re real…” prayers.
The next morning, Daniel is, of course, alive and well. And he says it’s because…
“My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”
Daniel 6:22 ESV
I think this is “The Angel of the LORD,” (the visible Yahweh figure seen in the burning bush, Whom I would regard as the embodied Word of the LORD) because it says, “My God sent HIS angel,” not “an angel.”
There is nothing in the text that suggests any of the fanciful things we see in children’s versions of this story – Daniel petting the lions or using one as a pillow.
😌 But there’s nothing in the text that says he didn’t…
That’s what’s called “an argument from silence.” You won’t win any debates that way.
😏 Ah c’mon. You’re no fun. How cool would it be to have a lion as a pillow?
I suppose we’ll have to wait until Isaiah 11 comes to pass. And then I fully intend to frolic with a lion and perhaps curl up with one or two for an afternoon nap. In this situation, it’s as if the LORD brought Daniel a preview of His future kingdom where being friends with lions is the norm.
“In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.”
Isaiah 11:6 NLT
To The Reader 