Facing Death & Thriving

Daniel was around 83 years old when Babylon was conquered by Persia and Darius the Mede was set up as a vassal king. Darius recognized that Daniel was superior to all the other political leaders and made him second-in-command.

This made the other political rulers resent Daniel and they conspired to have him removed from power and executed. A law was crafted that flattered Darius’ vanity because it forbade anyone in Babylon to pray or worship a deity or man other than the king for 30 days. Darius signed it because he thought that it would solidify his grip on the people of Babylon.

When Daniel continued to pray and worship the Lord like he had always done, the conspirators gleefully reported his illegal activity. King Darius had been outsmarted and was forced to comply; Daniel was placed into a lion’s den, but the political conspirators had not taken into account the God which Daniel served. An angel of the Lord was there to shut the mouths of the ferocious lions so they could not harm Daniel in any way.

The same could not be said for the conspirators when they were later thrown into the same lion’s den for their duplicity. The Lord will intervene in the affairs of men and nothing can stop God from unfolding His program on earth!