Daniel in the Lion’s Den: Faith Against Injustice

Scripture: Daniel 6:10-23

¹⁰ Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. ¹¹ Then those men watched and found Daniel praying and seeking mercy before his God. ¹² Then they approached the king and said concerning the interdict, “O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that anyone who prays to any god or human, within thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the den of lions?” The king answered, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” ¹³ Then they responded to the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the interdict you have signed, but he is saying his prayers three times a day.”

¹⁴ When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every effort to rescue him. ¹⁵ Then the conspirators came to the king and said to him, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”

¹⁶ Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!” ¹⁷ 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 signet ring of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. ¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no entertainment was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

¹⁹ Then at dawn, the king got up and at first light hurried to the den of lions. ²⁰ When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?” ²¹ Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! ²² My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” ²³ Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him because he had trusted in his God.

Questions

1. What is the problem the other advisors have with Daniel?
2. How can Daniel’s prayer and devotional time be a witness to us?
3. Why would the king use a lion’s den as a form of punishment?
4. What kind of person is Darius that he can sign an edict that no one is allowed to pray to anyone but himself but then prays for Daniel before throwing him into the lion’s den?

Background

Related Scriptures: Psalm 23; Isaiah 1, 10; Acts 12:6-17

Daniel was not targeted because of his religious attitudes , his enemies simply saw him as a political threat and so used his religion as a target to undermine him.

The edict that Darius signed—that no one was a allowed to make petitions to any person or God other than himself—was clearly meant to play on his pride as the great arbitrator. The edict is meant to reflect the idea that the king supplies all the needs of the people.

Reflection

What struck me first reading Daniel 6 this week was that Daniel was in no way persecuted for his beliefs or his devotion to God. Rather, Daniel 6 is in many ways simply a story of the kinds of power tactics that are still common today. Jealous individuals intentionally create a system that puts Daniel on the wrong side of the law. Was Daniel doing anything illegal at the beginning of the chapter, no. But there were individuals who just did not like him with an avenue to power. These individuals used that power to create a system that that made Daniel a traitor. At this we should pause and ask ourselves if we ever act like these jealous advisors. Do we create or allow systems that are clearly unjust simply to give ourselves an advantage over someone else? It is important to consider this since the prophets write against injustice so frequently, I think especially of Isaiah 10:1-2 where the prophet denounces Israel for creating a system that oppressed the poor and needy. It is easy to see the injustice of the passage because the victim is a person we are clearly meant to care about and someone who we 9rightly) want to celebrate. Daniel is a person who does everything right and is an example to us for how to handle injustices in our lives. However, Darius and the advisors are also examples, negative ones, who demonstrate paths that are counter to what God desires. They are people who manipulate society for their own ends.

While it is very important for us to reflect on the injustice of Darius and his advisors, the focus of the text is on Daniel and his response to the injustice he faces. The story shows that Daniel does not change even when the king issues an unjust order. Daniel does not deviate from his devotion to God even when that puts him in a compromised position. Daniel does not allow the injustice to interfere with his life. Instead, Daniel continues his practice of prayer, a practice that is not mandated anywhere in scripture. Daniel’s lifestyle is one that is based on his relationship with God not simply on what “he has to do”. Daniel understands his relationship with God and the importance of that relationship to him and so he does not allow anything to invade his prayer time. I think the temptation for Daniel would have been to hide his dependence on God. It would be easy to simply make his prayer time more secret, but he did not do that. It was his routine to look toward Jerusalem so that he could be reminded of God’s presence. This boldness in the face of danger is what draws us to Daniel and what should be the character we want to model in our own lives.

But the crux of the story is obviously God’s deliverance of Daniel from the lion’s den. And we can talk of Darius’ advisors and their injustice or of Daniel’s piety, but the story is ultimately about God. And in the end God delivers the righteous and allows the guilty to reap the consequences of their injustice. We notice that the end the advisors hoped would be given to Daniel is ultimately their own. This is not because God wants vengeance or has a desire to harm them, it is a sign that their injustice ultimately becomes their fate. Daniel practiced righteousness, he wanted justice in the community and sought it in his role. God honors this by vindicating him and providing justice for him. The advisors, though who were committed to injustice and were willing to harm the innocent, were ultimately caught in their own trap. Yes, it is obvious that not every instance of injustice plays out like this, Daniel is trying to make that claim. The point is that in the long-term participating in such injustices ultimately place us under judgment. Not that God is going to simply strike someone down. Rather, the judgment of practicing injustice is receiving the same the same destruction planned for others. This is where the story leaves us, we understand that God seeks to protect the victims of injustice. Now we must ask ourselves how we might give cover to injustice in our own world. And we must also ask ourselves how are we going to respond when we are the victims of injustice? Are we going to fold and cave to the pressure or are we going to stay true to our relationship with God?