Daniel and the Lion's Den
June 8th 2007 04:12
There have been persecutions of Christians for centuries and this is stated in 2 Timothy 2:12 Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
A good illustration of this is found in the Old Testament book of Daniel. Daniel was one of the many jews that were taken prisoner and taken to the kingdom of Babylon when he was just a young teenager. While there, he witnessed many things and he saw his friends thrown into a fiery furnace because they refused to bow down to an idol set up by king Nebuchadnezzar in the plain of Dura. He also witnessed the miraculous deliverance when they came out of the fire without even one hint of smoke on their clothes.
Some years later, when king Darius had taken over the throne, he faced severe persecution for his beliefs. It all began when Darius favored Daniel and set him over the whole realm of the kingdom. There was a secret closed door meeting with all the presidents and princes that were under Daniel because of jealousy and envy. This resulted in them looking for something to accuse Daniel of. When they couldn't find anything wrong, they investigated Daniel concerning the law of his God Then, they talked the king about drawing up a royal statute and firm decree that whosoever shall ask any petition of any God or man for thirty days save of thee O king he shall be cast into the den of lions.
So, as the meeting came to an end, the king signed the documents knowing that the law of the Medes and Persians once signed cannot be changed. Then according to the customs that Daniel learned from the traditions, after hearing about the decree, went into his house and began to pray and thank his God with the windows opened toward Jerusalem as he had always done previously. One day, while he was praying, they came within earshot of Daniel and after overhearing his prayers, They went before the king and said didn't you sign a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days save thee O king shall be cast into the den of lions?
Then they said to the king this Daniel was in violation of the decree by praying to his God. so the king was disappointed with himself. The king therefore tried to save Daniel from the consequences of his actions. He labored all day to accomplish this but as the day drew to a close, the men who arranged for the decree reminded the king that it was too late to reverse the law. Daniel was brought before the king and just prior to being thrown into the den of lions, the king feeling sadness in his heart told Daniel that The God that he was serving continually will deliver thee.
So, Daniel was placed into the den and the cover was placed on the entrance. The kings signet as well as the signet of his lords were placed upon the stone. That night, the king couldn't sleep at all with Daniel's fate running through his mind. In fact, he fasted all night no celebration with musical instruments as well. So, very early in the morning, he arose to go and check on the fate of Daniel.
As the king arrived at the entrance to the den, he cried in a lamentable voice "O Daniel the servant of the living God is thy God whom you serve continually able to deliver thee from the lions?" Then Daniel answered the king "O king live forever! My God hath sent his angel to shut the lions mouths seeing that he was innocent before God and had done nothing wrong to the king. At this news, the king was glad and arranged to take him up out of the den. So after he was taken out there was no injury upon him because he believed in his God.
So, after all this, the men who had accused Daniel along with their wives and children were cast into the den and as they fell to the bottom, the lions devoured them breaking their bones. So the Lord God was honored by the king and Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
What is the lesson here? It is that in spite of all the persecutions that believers experience, eventually they are exhonorated by God himself and the ones persecuting are put to shame.
So, if you are being persecuted just remember that Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth them out of them all. (Psalms 34:19) God bless all of you and I hope this encourages you to press on to victory!
A good illustration of this is found in the Old Testament book of Daniel. Daniel was one of the many jews that were taken prisoner and taken to the kingdom of Babylon when he was just a young teenager. While there, he witnessed many things and he saw his friends thrown into a fiery furnace because they refused to bow down to an idol set up by king Nebuchadnezzar in the plain of Dura. He also witnessed the miraculous deliverance when they came out of the fire without even one hint of smoke on their clothes.
Some years later, when king Darius had taken over the throne, he faced severe persecution for his beliefs. It all began when Darius favored Daniel and set him over the whole realm of the kingdom. There was a secret closed door meeting with all the presidents and princes that were under Daniel because of jealousy and envy. This resulted in them looking for something to accuse Daniel of. When they couldn't find anything wrong, they investigated Daniel concerning the law of his God Then, they talked the king about drawing up a royal statute and firm decree that whosoever shall ask any petition of any God or man for thirty days save of thee O king he shall be cast into the den of lions.
So, as the meeting came to an end, the king signed the documents knowing that the law of the Medes and Persians once signed cannot be changed. Then according to the customs that Daniel learned from the traditions, after hearing about the decree, went into his house and began to pray and thank his God with the windows opened toward Jerusalem as he had always done previously. One day, while he was praying, they came within earshot of Daniel and after overhearing his prayers, They went before the king and said didn't you sign a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days save thee O king shall be cast into the den of lions?
Then they said to the king this Daniel was in violation of the decree by praying to his God. so the king was disappointed with himself. The king therefore tried to save Daniel from the consequences of his actions. He labored all day to accomplish this but as the day drew to a close, the men who arranged for the decree reminded the king that it was too late to reverse the law. Daniel was brought before the king and just prior to being thrown into the den of lions, the king feeling sadness in his heart told Daniel that The God that he was serving continually will deliver thee.
So, Daniel was placed into the den and the cover was placed on the entrance. The kings signet as well as the signet of his lords were placed upon the stone. That night, the king couldn't sleep at all with Daniel's fate running through his mind. In fact, he fasted all night no celebration with musical instruments as well. So, very early in the morning, he arose to go and check on the fate of Daniel.
As the king arrived at the entrance to the den, he cried in a lamentable voice "O Daniel the servant of the living God is thy God whom you serve continually able to deliver thee from the lions?" Then Daniel answered the king "O king live forever! My God hath sent his angel to shut the lions mouths seeing that he was innocent before God and had done nothing wrong to the king. At this news, the king was glad and arranged to take him up out of the den. So after he was taken out there was no injury upon him because he believed in his God.
So, after all this, the men who had accused Daniel along with their wives and children were cast into the den and as they fell to the bottom, the lions devoured them breaking their bones. So the Lord God was honored by the king and Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
What is the lesson here? It is that in spite of all the persecutions that believers experience, eventually they are exhonorated by God himself and the ones persecuting are put to shame.
So, if you are being persecuted just remember that Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth them out of them all. (Psalms 34:19) God bless all of you and I hope this encourages you to press on to victory!
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