Chapter 6:16-22 (ESV) - Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 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.”
Question to consider: In what ways does this story point to Christ Jesus?
There was no getting around the punishment for Daniel. Daniel had openly violated a decree from the king which had been declared an irrevocable law of the Medes and Persians. I find it ironic that the king ever thought he was as powerful as a god and deserving of worship when he couldn’t even revoke his own decree— a foolish decree at that. To further the irony, he made an appeal for Daniel’s God to save him, and then proceeded to violate his own law through fasting and prayer to Him. By “no distractions” I assume the text implied that he did not access his harem, but the very idea of a “god” who concerns himself with distractions and worry would be funny if it didn’t involve someone spending the night in a den of hungry lions.
Don’t get me wrong. Hungry lions are fierce beasts indeed, but even the fiercest creature is not a match for its omnipotent Creator. Being sealed in the den as a dead man, and then being delivered from death after being found blameless is a type and shadow of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ— right down to the sealing of the den/tomb by the king’s signet.
By referring to himself as “blameless”, Daniel did not mean that he had never committed a sin in his life. It was strictly referring to his act of worship in which he violated the king’s law. It is an act of righteousness to violate an unjust law. Christ was blameless in the sense that He never committed a sin. As Peter wrote, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” (1 Peter 2:22) Jesus could not stay dead, for His death was associated with our sin which was nailed to the cross. Once our sin debt had been paid, Christ’s blameless body was put into the tomb, and death could no longer hold him. As Peter preached at Pentecost, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:24)
Daniel let the king know that even though God did not find him guilty despite breaking the king’s law, the king did not need to worry about the judgment of God against him for having cast Daniel into the lion’s den. Daniel had no ill will toward the king, and in fact the king could take comfort in knowing that the LORD recognized his prayer and fasting on Daniel’s behalf.
One of the things that separates faith in the one true God from all other worship is the forgiveness of sins. Throughout history, those who claim to know God or attempt to please Him, fail if they do not understand His mercy or their need for it.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for delivering Daniel from the mouth of the lions and even more so for delivering Darius from the folly of thinking he was deserving of worship. May we be willing to set aside the distractions of this world in order to grow closer to You. Amen.