One of my earliest memories of reading Bible stories as a little boy is the wonder of Daniel, being cast to the lions and coming out alive. Oh, the terror! Oh, the gladness! Oh, the wonder! When you think of it, the heart of a little boy is sometimes able to express it all in the fewest of words! Yet, the Bible’s account of Daniel’s experience isn’t a story out of Grimms Fairy Tales. It’s for real. Therein is real terror, real gladness in the end, and sparks real wonder in the heart that goes on and on, which in turn sparks more and more questions about God and his power. However, even that doesn’t tell it all, because the story of Daniel in the lion’s den is much more than, being introduced to a powerful God. It is also being filled with the astonishment of knowing and believing that this wonderful God is willing to use his power to help and even save those he loves. That’s for real! That’s no fairy tale!
According to our previous study of the Book of Daniel, the conspirators had been successful in plotting against Daniel, their assumed political enemy. They had manipulated the king into writing a decree that would place Daniel in danger for his life, saying he had no regard for the king and his desire for political unity in the western part of the empire (Daniel 6:13). Immediately, Darius was displeased with himself. He knew he’d been had, and sought for a way to save Daniel (Daniel 6:14), whom he considered a very able minister to rule the former Babylonian territories under the kings of the Medo-Persian Empire (Daniel 6:1-3).
The difference between the Babylonian method of governing and that of the Medo-Persian Empire was that the king of Babylon was supreme. He could make a decree and change the decree later, if that was his desire. The command of the king was supreme over the decree. Not so, among the Medes and the Persians. The king was supreme, until he made and signed a decree. At that time, not even the king could change the decree. The conspirators exploited this difference in the law under their new conquerors, but under their former masters, they had no such recourse. This time, they really believed they had Daniel, where they wanted him, so they assembled before Darius and reminded him of the law of the Medes and Persians that couldn’t be changed, even by himself (Daniel 6:15).
Then the king acted upon the decree and cast Daniel into the lion’s den, but before he did, he told Daniel that he believed Daniel’s God would protect him (Daniel 6:16), which is strange, considering the fact that this event seems to have occurred in the very first stages of political reform, after Babylon had been conquered. How did Darius know anything about Daniel’s God?
It seems to me that in the course of normal communications that occur between nations over time, Daniel had become known to the Medes and Persians prior to their conquering Babylon; or certain records had come to Darius’ attention, immediately after he conquered the empire, perhaps helping him to determine where he should place Daniel in the new government (Daniel 6:1-3). The text, of course, is silent about this matter, and only conjecture can be provided, but something like this does seems likely to have occurred.
Having expressed his belief that God would protect Daniel, Darius laid the stone over the opening of the lion’s den. He then sealed it with the signet of the king to insure no one would interfere with the execution of the king’s decree (Daniel 6:17). Then Darius retired to his palace, but sleep escaped him, and he spent the night neither eating nor drinking anything, even refusing the comfort of his music (Daniel 6:18). Nevertheless, he spent the night in hope, for very early in the morning he rushed to the lions’ den to understand how Daniel’s night was spent (Daniel 6:19).
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