“Then King Darius wrote: ‘To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6:25-27
This account is from one of the most popularly recounted stories from the Bible – Daniel and the Lion’s Den.
The decree above is from Darius, the appointed king of Babylon after the Neo-Babylonian empire (Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar’s kingdom) was conquered by Persia; in historical record, he is most famous for the efficient governing system he set up. Answering directly to the king were three administrators, each responsible for overseeing forty local governors (“satraps”); this made governing the kingdom much easier on the king. Daniel was graciously given an administrator’s position, recognized for his long and successful experience in such a position since chapter 2 under Nebuchadnezzar.
Like Joseph in Genesis, God blesses Daniel’s faithful commitment and honest management, so much so that Darius gives thought to moving Daniel from administrator to prime minister – his second in command over the whole kingdom. Unfortunately, such favor with the king sparks the political ire of Daniel’s fellow rulers – all 122 are filled with such envy that they decide to ruin Daniel, no matter what it took. Failing to find any flaws in his political record and service, they strike a truly low blow by conspiring to attack Daniel’s moral code and make him appear rebellious. Through flattery, Darius is convinced to sign into law a decree that outlaws prayer to anyone but the king for thirty days; this would’ve been seen as Darius establishing himself as an authority on religion (like Nebuchadnezzar earlier on) and as a loyalty test to single out anyone in Babylon who disliked being ruled by a foreign king. The sentence for breaking this law was capital punishment – death by wild beasts (Mesopotamian lions, in this instance). Unlike the Babylonian kings, whose every word was law, those of the Medes and Persians were bound by the laws they signed into existence – once enacted, not even the king could reverse them.
After learning of the new law, Daniel chooses to remain faithful to God and continues praying to God in the way he has done since he first came to Babylon. Having gathered their “proof,” the jealous conspirators expose Daniel’s civil disobedience to King Darius, who does his level best to find a legal loophole to save Daniel’s life. Deeply regretting his decision, Darius commends Daniel to the protection of God and endures a sleepless night before returning to the lion’s den where Daniel was thrown and sealed inside. Like his friends from the fiery furnace, Daniel emerges unharmed; God prevented the lions from eating him, and he comes out without the smallest injury. Daniel’s survival was in no way due to lack of appetite on the lions’ part; when the conspirators are executed for fooling the king and trying to destroy Daniel, the lions have no mercy and kill them all before they even hit bottom.
Having witnessed God’s miraculous saving power, Darius readily declares His supremacy over all things. Like Elijah on Mount Carmel in 1st Kings, the one righteous man who serves God is proven to be better than all those who served themselves and their false deity of power and greed. More importantly, God has proven what He is capable of, and any doubts about Him are easily cleared up by those who bear witness of His actions.
As a final note, the lions mentioned in Darius’ decree do not necessarily refer only to the physical lions of the den. Satan is described in Peter’s epistles as a roaring lion, and the wicked are often described in Proverbs as being like lions waiting to tear to pieces the righteous. Lions are a symbol of adversity, and God proves that He is capable of either rescuing His children or bringing them through anything that Satan and the fallen world throws their way.