A pretty lonely guy decided life would be more fun if he had a pet. So he went to the pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy an unusual pet. After some discussion, he decided on a centipede, which came in a little white box to use for its house. He took the centipede home, found a good location for the box, and then decided he would start off by taking his new pet to a restaurant to have dinner. So he asked the centipede in the box, "Would you like to go to Wendy’s with me to have dinner?" But there was no answer from his new pet. This bothered him a bit, but he waited a few minutes and then asked him again, "How about going to Wendy’s with me?" But again, there was no answer from his new friend and pet. So he waited a few minutes more, thinking about the situation. He decided to ask him one more time; this time putting his face up against the centipede’s house and shouting, "Hey, in there! Would you like to go to Wendy’s with me to have dinner?" A little voice came out of the box from the centipede: "I heard you the first time! I’m putting on my shoes!!"
The Story of Daniel The story of Daniel in the lion’s den is an old favorite bible story and anyone who went to Sunday School as a child will recall it vividly.
History of Daniel
Nebuchadnezzar –King of Babylon besieged Jerusalem. He took gold & silver vessels from the tabernacle. He also took young men from the royal family and nobility to serve him in his palace. They were young men that were skilled, wise, know legible, and competent. One of those was Daniel. Some others were Hananiah, Mishael & Azariah. Oh, I see you don’t recognize those. That is because Nebuchadnezzar also took their names. He changed them to Shadrach, Meshach and Abenego. Oh yea. Those guys.
God gave Daniel the gift to interpret dreams and so he was quickly promoted through the ranks.
In chapter five of Daniel he gets promoted to the rank of President. There are only three Presidents who work directly under the king. The Presidents oversee over the 120 satraps (or Governors). But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here is how he became one of the three Presidents.
Read The Writing On The Wall You know the saying “Read the writing on the wall”? That saying came from Daniel chapter 5 when God writes on the wall to King Belshazzar during a great feast because He is angry with the king.
Remember the gold and silver vessels that King Nebuchadnezzar took from Jerusalem’s tabernacle?
Well, Nebuchadnezzar dies and his son Belshazzar (let’s just call him rocket scientist) decides that during his feast to have the vessels brought out so his wives and concubines can drink from these vessels dedicated to God’s house.
Jim Croce wrote this song:
You don’t pull on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger. And you don’t mess around with Slim.
I say:
You don’t steal from God’s Holy Place. You don’t treat God’s stuff with distain. You don’t take what’s holy –use it like it nothin’. And you don’t mess around with God.
Okay. So God is angry with the rocket scientist and writes on the wall. One problem. Nobody can read what God wrote. So Belshazzar finally calls in Daniel and says if you can interpret the writing that he will make Daniel one of the three Presidents.
The writing is simply this: Mene. Mene. Tekel. Parsin.
Mene. Mene.: God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.
Tekel.: (another saying that came from the Bible)
You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.
Parsin.: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.
King Belshazzar is killed that very night. He is replaced by King Darius in 5:31
READ Daniel 6: 1-3
Darius and Daniel become great friends and soon Daniel becomes distinguished above all other Presidents and Governors because “An excellent spirit was in him”.
Remember that Daniel was taken from his family, home and people in Jerusalem. But he keeps a good spirit –no, an excellent spirit –and so makes the best of his situation and so prospers greatly.
There is a story of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "That’s a good thing!"
One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns because when the king fired it his thumb was blown off.
Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, "That’s a good thing!" To which the king replied, "No, that’s a bad thing!" and had his friend thrown in jail.
About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.
As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way. As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend.
He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so, I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this." "No," his friend replied, "That’s a good thing!" "What do you mean ‘that’s a good thing? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?" "If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you."
-How many of us gripe, complain and give ourselves excuses because of our circumstances?
If the story ended here we could learn that by doing the right thing we get the good stuff. But that’s not the way the world works. Because even though things are looking up for Daniel’s career, the other 2 Presidents and the 120 Governors are jealous. They begin to scheme to bring Daniel down.
-Whenever you are in God’s will –be assured that people and satan will scheme to bring you down. The sinful nature of man doesn’t want to see others do better than themselves.
Read Daniel 6: 6-9
The schemers trap Darius the King. He is trapped by his own pride and vanity into making a ridiculous law. The den of lions were reserved for terrible crimes against the king and state.
How do they plan to catch Daniel? They know that he prays to his God three times a day every day at the same time without fail. They knew that Daniel would honor God before man. He was honorable that way.
-Do our friends and family know that we honor God above man? That we honor God above our own desires? Honor Him above our own safety?
Time for a Change?
How does Daniel change his worship to accommodate the new law? He doesn’t. He keeps doing what he always did.
-How will you or I change our worship when our very lives depend on it?
READ Daniel 6: 10-15
So Daniel is caught praying to God after King Darius is tricked into singing the order that no one can pray to any other God for 30 days but must worship King Darius only or be thrown into a den of lions. These jealous fellows are clever little devils. Too clever, we shall soon see for their own goods.
Daniel is cast into the den of lions and King Darius calls down to him “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
Serving Continually
-Christians today tend to serve God on Sunday and go back to serving satan the rest of the week.
-If you were thrown into the lion’s den on a non-Sunday, would God deliver you?
Did Darius say:
-May your God, whom you serve when it’s convenient, deliver you.
-May your God, whom you serve only on Sunday, deliver you.
-May your God, whom you serve when it doesn’t get in the way of other stuff you want to do, deliver you.
No.
“May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
Bon Appetite
This is the part of the story I love. Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den. He is torn apart, devoured by the hungry and ferocious lions and an hour later they are all sitting around with full bellies and flossing their teeth.
Is that how it happened? Hmmm. Maybe we had better read on.
Read Daniel 6: 19-24
Wrap up. Daniel is untouched. The schemers get thrown into the den and are immediately torn apart. King Darius makes this proclamation.
Read Daniel 6: 25-27
Because It Serves God
Finally, I have this point to make. It served God to keep Daniel from harm so that King Darius and all in his kingdom would know that Daniel’s God was the one true God.
If this is all about God and not us, can we see that sometimes it may serve God that we aren’t unharmed?
-Columbine High Masacre: All those children that were killed. The Christian girl, with a gun pointed in her face, was asked if she still loved Jesus. She died giving the testimony of her life. With Jesus on her lips, she took at bullet to the face. Many young people found Jesus in the days and weeks that followed across America because of that one girl’s testimony and martyrdom. It served God.
-The Death of Martyrs
Throughout the Bible and many times over throughout the years it has served God that some have incredible testimonies of God saving them from destruction. It served God to do so.
Also, throughout the Bible and many times over throughout the years it has served God that some die as martyrs so others might find Christ Jesus as their personal Savior. It served God to do so.
Daniel doesn’t stop honoring God because it becomes dangerous for him to do so.
Will we continue to honor God when it becomes dangerous for us to do so?
