He Delivers You From the Lions

Introduction

Tonight, things are going to be a little different. Tonights lesson will be interactive, meaning I am going to be asking you guys lots of questions. So stay awake!

Now before we dive into Daniel 6, I want to ask ya’ll who in here has ever had someone do something behind your back?

Those who raised their hands get to share.

After each person describes what happened, ask them how that situation made them feel.

Illustration of lions:

I was watching this video on Nat Geo Wild about how lion attack their prey.

Basically, what the video said was that lions attacked their prey with the same precision as a NFL football team. Each lion has a job to do and they all work together.

Normally, the attack begins by finding a weak or isolated animal. Lions are smart enough to know that they cannot attack a full herd.

Once this animal is found they then begin to surround him. Normally they do this by approaching from the animals rear so that he cannot see them.

At this point two lions will break off into both sides of the animal while the rest of the lions stay in the back.

From this point they have their prey surrounded, then they begin to taunt him over and over again, until the animal gets too tired to fight back.

Once the animal is too tired to fight back, the two animals on the side will occupy the animals attention, while the lions in the rear pounce on the prey.

I thought about that video and I thought that often times in life, especially as Christians, we get attacked by the enemy and others similar to how a lion attacks. Most of the time, these attacks are not physical but are normally verbal.

Verbal attacks are attacks where people say things against us in a way to put us down.

But nonetheless, sometimes in life we feel surrounded, and normally it is when we are weak and isolated.

Sometimes these attacks are our own faults, and other times they are not.

It is important that we always consider whether or not we have done something wrong before we start judging others.

It might just be the case that they were mean to us because of something we did to them or someone else.

Surely when we do something wrong, we should feel bad about it, but when we are attacked when we have done nothing wrong, it can hurt us.

These wrongful attacks can really damage our emotions, and our self esteem.

Growing up, I was often ridiculed by my Paw Paw, uncle, and cousins. Though they did not realize it at the time, there words were slowly eating away at my self-esteem.

I started to feel like I wasn’t that smart, that I could never do anything right.

What this ultimately led me to do, was living my life to please other people instead of pleasing the Lord.

I would parade around and do my best at everything, just for the opportunity that someone might tell me good job, or you did it.

This attitude I had, stemmed from not feeling appreciated by those that I was close to. I felt isolated.

It really wounded me, and maybe some of you hear tonight feel those same wounds.

Maybe for some of you, you feel like you are in a lions den, and no one sees you.

Well I am here to tell you tonight that God sees you, and as we study his word tonight, we are going to see that no matter how many lions you may have around you, he is able to deliver you.

The Plot Against Daniel

Who in here knows what it means when someone is conspiring against someone else?

A conspiracy is a secret plan normally done by a group of people, with the intent of causing harm to someone else.

In Daniel 6, Daniel gets conspired against big time.

Basically what happened is that:

King Darius made Daniel 1 out of 3 of the leading governors in his kingdom.

Daniel was progressing a lot in his job and it made the other governors jealous.

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Daniel 6:4 ESV

4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.

So the Bible says they tried to find a way that they could complain to the King about Daniel.

The only problem was that they couldn’t because Daniel was a great guy and was faithful to God.

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Daniel 6:5 ESV

5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

Knowing that Daniel was very faithful to God, they knew that the only way they would be able to get him was if it was somehow involving his faith.

So they decided to use Daniel’s faith to trap him.

To get Daniel, these guys decided to go to the king and propose a new law for the king to put out in the land that would ban anyone from praying to any God, unless the prayer was to the king himself.

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Daniel 6:7 ESV

7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.

The ban was supposed to last 30 days and whoever did not obey it was to be thrown into the lions den.

What made this law so dangerous was that when the king signed it, it could never be undone. In other words, it was set in stone. The king himself couldn’t even change it.

Because they knew that Daniel was do faithful to God, they knew that he would not listen to this law.

Before we go any further, I want to ask you all how you would have reacted if this law was given to you?

If praying to God meant that you would be thrown into a lions den, would you pray?

After Daniel hears about the new law, the first thing that he does is go upstairs to his room and pray.

He fell right into the trap of the lions.

They had surrounded him and they knew exactly how he would react to their taunts. Just like a lion does to his prey.

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Daniel 6:11–13 ESV

11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

Like the tattletales they were, as Daniel was praying, they went and told the King how he had broken the law.

King Darius really liked Daniel and was close to him, he was very upset when he heard this news.

He wasn’t necessarily upset at Daniel for praying, but he was upset because he knew that the law he passed could not be changes which meant he had to throw Daniel in the lions den.

He liked Daniel so much that he did everything he could to save him. But the tattle tales through the law in the kings face and he knew he had to do it. He had to throw Daniel in the lions den.

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Daniel 6:15–16 ESV

15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” 16 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!”

A stone was put at the door of the lions den to seal Daniel in there. He had no way out

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Daniel 6:17 ESV

17 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.

When we read the Bible, it is careful that we do not forget that the Bible is just as much a historical book as it is a religious book.

The events that are in the Bible are historical stories of events that actually happened in history.

So when the Bible is telling this story of Daniel in the lions den all by himself, it is important that you and I know that this was a actual historical event that took place.

What do ya’ll think it was like to be in a lions den all night, by yourself?

Imagine those lions circling around Daniel, trying to plan their attack on him, just like they and their ancestors before them had taught.

I’m sure they were so hungry and Daniel looked just like the meal they were waiting for.

Where this story really takes a turn for the best is when Darius comes in the next morning to check on Daniel.

He had been up all night fasting, worried to death about Daniel.

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Daniel 6:21–23 ESV

21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 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.” 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.

Darius finds that Daniel was safe and not a single part of him was harmed by the ferocious lions.

It was a complete miracle by God! Daniel says that God sent an angel to shut the lion’s mouth so they could not harm him.

After King Darius gets Daniel out of the lions den, he makes the command that those who were plotting against Daniel were to be thrown into the lions den themselves.

Darius finishes the story by honoring and praising God:

Daniel 6:26–27 ESV

26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. 27 He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

Theme of Daniel

By now, we have covered half of the book of Daniel.

If you have not noticed there seems to be a recurring theme.

Daniel and his friends always seem to be in some kind of danger.

Every time they have been in some kind of danger, it was because of their faith and devotion to God that they were in trouble.

Even though they would get in trouble they would never turn their back on God or disobey him.

Through this we see the theme that sometimes in life, when we follow God, we will be attacked, but just like in the case of Daniel and his friends, God will not forsake us.

We may have to sometimes go through those attacks, but it does not mean that God has forsaken us.

Whether we find ourselves in the middle of a lions den or in the middle of the latest gossip talk at school. We can rest assured that God is there in the middle of it with us. And he will bring us justice in his own timing.

There is no question that God is with us in our lions den, but the real question is whether or not we be found to be by his side?

Discussion

How did this story from Daniel help you understand your own struggles currently?

How did this story help you understand more about who God is?

How is this story going to influence your life in the future?