The Back Story Behind Daniel and the Lion's Den by Chris White

The story behind Daniel in the lion’s den begins several hundred years before when King Solomon dedicated the newly built temple in Jerusalem.  Recorded for us in 1 Kings 8 is Solomon’s lengthy prayer on this momentous occasion.  Within that prayer are these words:  “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near;  and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;  and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name;  then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.  And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy;  for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace (1 Kings 8:44-51).

The circumstance of Daniel living in Babylon was a judgment against Israel because they were in constant unrepentant sin against God.  Daniel is a model of both moral and spiritual integrity in Babylon and God places him at the highest levels of power as an advisor to a succession of 9 Babylonian and Persian kings in his lifetime.  God was doing much in this time of captivity and discipline of the Jews and one of His tasks was making Himself known and revered among the Gentiles.  But Daniel was a Jew and a faithful man of God and he did what a faithful man in his context would do: pray daily towards the temple in Jerusalem three times a day (Dan. 6:10).  Apparently Daniel lived in a home that had windows facing west towards Jerusalem and he was in the habit of opening his shutters and praying with the window open.  Prayer with the windows open was probably not so God could hear his prayers better, but simply a matter of air circulation.  Babylon (modern day Iraq) is a hot and arid place and no doubt Daniel’s room would be quite stuffy without some outside air.

But the story of how Daniel got into hot water for praying to God is an important one too.  Darius the Mede was the new king of Babylon and was giving out all sorts of political appointments in the new regime.  Daniel was approximately in his early 80’s by this time.  He had seen a lot of kings come and go through the years but his reputation as an able civil servant made him quite valuable and a bit of a venerable institution in Babylon.  Out of jealousy over Daniel’s prestige and placement, a trap was set for him by some court officials who knew the only way to dislodge him from power was to attack at the point of his religion.  There was no use in attacking Daniel’s record, job skills, or ethics as they were impeccable.  So was Daniel’s devotion to God.  What these jealous officials did was manipulate the situation by getting Darius to pass and unbreakable law that for the next 30 days no god or man may be petitioned to save the Persian king.  Darius was in the early days of his reign and I suspect his quick approval of this was because he was unaware of how devout Daniel was in his personal life.  With the law passed, Daniel was easy to trap because he would always obey the law of God before the law of man.  By the way, God’s laws are very compatible with those of human society.  However, there are times when human society demands that God’s laws be ignored or broken.  Only then, and only in that specific regard, is a Christian free of his obligation to obey the law.  This does not absolve the Christian from the consequences a state may impose on him, but before God he will not be considered a law-breaker.  So Daniel did what he always did and prayed three times a day.  He was caught by his detractors who made sure that the full weight of the law came down on Daniel and that he would have to face the penalty of the state.

Lion’s Dens are peculiar to the Persian Empire.  They were used to execute enemies of the state.  Lions were commonly used as a symbol of the monarchy (they are the King of Beasts) and therefore quite appropriate for the monarch to use against the enemies of the state.  Depictions of lion’s dens from archeology seem to differ from what is described in Daniel.  What is described in Daniel is something like a large pit where the victim was lowered.  Extant rock carvings that have been found show the lions in a cave eating a man who was put into small vault with no clothing on and his hands tied behind his back (much like a tomb).  This should hardly be considered a Bible discrepancy however.  A difference between lion’s dens is about the same as a difference in the style of two different electric chairs.  They slightly vary, but accomplish the same thing. Typically, the Lions were never fed between victims thereby ensuring that an encounter with them would be both terrifying and fatal.

Darius tried to find a way to let Daniel out of the consequences but could not find a legal trap door to do so.  The custom of these people was that their king was a god in his own right.  Gods do not make mistakes, therefore, a law they passed is unbreakable and inviolable.  Darius was forced to do what justice required and Daniel was sent to the lion’s den to die.  The opening was closed and sealed up with the king’s signet ring behind Daniel as he awaited his certain death.

Of course the reason we read of this story today is that God intervened by sending an angel to keep the lions from eating Daniel.  It is a miracle because a den full of hungry lions would never not touch a vulnerable octogenarian who was placed in their cave.  Having been preserved through the night, Daniel had satisfied the penalty of the law.  The penalty was being put in the lion’s den.  Death is assumed here but not required.  Thus, Darius was able to uphold his law and let Daniel go free afterwards.  The result was that Daniel’s God was glorified by Darius for letting justice be satisfied and yet saving his trusted friend from death.  In the end justice came to those who attempted to kill Daniel by them suffering the same fate only without God’s miraculous intervention.

What is so fascinating about this story is how it gives us a preview of the Christ event more than 400 years before Jesus walked the earth.  Many of the Old Testament prophets foretold things about the Messiah and so that Daniel the prophet would do so is not remarkable.  But in his case, he literally lives out the contours of Christ’s passion.  He is betrayed to a pagan ruler (as Judas did), the pagan ruler tries to avoid bringing capital punishment but is forced to by public pressure (as what happened to Pontius Pilate), Daniel was in his own person righteous and innocent of wrong-doing but out of loyalty to God pays the consequences of the law by enduring the death penalty (as did Jesus when he went to the cross), and finally Daniel is sealed in a cave which was certain to be his tomb and is freed from it by the one whose justice was satisfied.  Christ was sealed in the tomb for three days (a sign that he was fully and actually dead) and then was raised from death by the Father because atonement for the sins of the world had been made and the penalty of the law fulfilled.

So why doesn’t Daniel die just like Jesus does in the Gospel?  Because Daniel’s story is also our story.  We are supposed to keep God’s law but we can’t because we have a corrupt nature inherited through  original sin.  We are not corrupt because we sin, we sin because we are corrupt and this makes us guilty of breaking the law of a holy God.  Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Divine justice requires we pay the consequences which is death and eternal punishment.  That is a debt all of us have before a Holy God.  But Jesus Christ, though He was sinless, took your penalty, your debt, and fully paid it Himself thus satisfying what justice requires.  Daniel didn’t die and was freed from the penalty of the law because of God’s intervention and this is what is offered us in the Gospel.  Christ paid your debt before God so you don’t have to.  That’s why the Gospel is called good news.  But like all important messages, a response is required.  You may turn to Christ and ask for His help and mercy, or you may go it alone and face your own consequences.  That choice is entirely up to you.