Family Devotionals

  • Daniel and the Lions: Daniel 6-9

    After the fall of the Babylonian empire to the Medo-Persian empire, Darius became king. He appointed various rulers over areas of the kingdom, and set three commisioners over them. Daniel was one of these three. But it wasn’t long before he was distinguishing himself among all the rulers because of his extraordinary spirit; and the king was planning to appoint Daniel to a position over all the kingdom. The other rulers, however, were jealous and tried to find a way to accuse Daniel so that they could get him out of their way.

    They knew that the only “accusation” they would be able to find against Daniel was in regard to His faithfulness to God. So they established a plan by which they could trap Daniel. They talked the king into signing a law stating that no one could make any petitions (i.e., pray) to any god or man besides the king for thirty days.

    Daniel knew of this, but it did not stop him from praying to God as he normally did. The plotters waited for Daniel to pray, then they accused of him disregarding the king’s laws. Though Darius did not want to harm Daniel, he had signed the law, and the penalty for violation was stated: Daniel would have to be thrown into a den of lions.

    Daniel was put into the den, and no one would have thought that anyone could survive such a penalty. Darius was upset about all of this, and couldn’t eat or sleep that night. At dawn, the king went to the den to see what happened. He called out to Daniel, asking if his God was able to save him. Daniel responded that God had sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions. He had been spared.

    Darius was pleased over this. He brought Daniel out, then had Daniel’s accusers thrown into den. Finally, he decreed all men should fear the God of Daniel! And so should we.

    Discussion
    1. Why was it so difficult to find an accusation against Daniel? What does this say about how we should live our lives?

    2. What was Daniel’s attitude and reaction toward the law that had been given?

    3. Why was Darius so upset over the situation with Daniel?

    4. Discuss Darius reaction and decree after Daniel was saved.