God and the Lion’s Den – The Book of Daniel

There are epic and fantastic qualities to the book of Daniel that can easily overshadow the true meanings of the book. The story of “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” is often taught to children as a way to express God’s faithfulness to His people and the simplicity of that message is what the book is really about. The book of Daniel thematically points to God’s faithfulness to the nation of Israel, even when all appears as loss due to the exile. God’s faithfulness is established through His demonstration of kingship over all mankind, the pagan acknowledgement of the Most High God (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 6.26,27) and God’s control over the establishment of rulers on earth.

From the beginning, God is recognized as the king of Israel, but later it is established that He is also the king over all when he is referred to as the “Ancient of Days” (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 7.9,13,22). The meaning of “Ancient of Days” is more literally “one who forwards time and rules over it” (Brand, Draper and England 66). In context, the meaning is more of one who controls kingdoms; the beasts in the chapter represent the countries involved in the post exilic battles and it is explained how they are controlled by God and their actions are predetermined by Him as part of His plan for Israel and the Church  (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 7).

God causes pagan kings to acknowledge Him as the “Most High God” and other similar titles of recognition after miraculous signs are performed before them. Nebuchadnezzar called God the “God of gods” and the “Lord of kings” (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 2:47). After God delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, Nebuchadnezzar praised God for their faithfulness to not worship anyone other than God (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 3:28-29). Belshazzar would not humble himself, but did recognize God’s hand over him when Daniel deciphered the writing on the wall (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 5:21-23). Darius recognized, after the deliverance of Daniel from the lion’s den, that God is eternal and that “His dominion will be forever” (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 6.26).

Not only is God recognized by the rulers of the earth, but He is recognized because He established their reign. “He removes Kings and establishes Kings” (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 2.21). This is consistent also with Romans 13 where it is written, “there is no authority except that which God has established” (Men’s Devotional Bible, Rom. 13.1). Every ruler and every man who holds authority over another was predetermined to be so according the perfect plan of God. This is difficult in light of the Israelites, because if they were to have been the holy people that God desired them to be then they would not have been led into exile, under the authority of the Babylonian kings which had been predetermined. The plan was predetermined based on the foreknowledge of the faithlessness of Israel and mankind.

It is this understanding of the plan that proves God’s endless faithfulness. He predetermined salvation for a people who He knew would repeatedly deny Him. Even in exile, God’s hand was on the nation of Israel, as a remnant was protected in order to reestablish the Israelite community. This was so that the ultimate form of God’s faithfulness could be established, the Messiah. Daniel is told about the plan of “everlasting life” for all who have their names written in the “book” (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan. 12.2). Daniel receives assurance of his own salvation and that he will “enter into rest and rise again…at the end of the age,” completely consistent with the prophesy of Revelation (The MacArthur Study Bible, Dan 12.13).

The guarantee of salvation through God’s faithfulness presents a new light on man’s relationship with Him. God established authority on earth that His will would be done for the Israelites and for all mankind.  Not only has He established authority, but He is the authority over all, and recognized even by pagan kings. Finally, God’s perfect faithfulness is deliverance from the ‘lions den’ for all who will choose it, through Christ.

Works Cited
Brand, Chad Owen., Draper, Charles W., England, Archie W., ed.
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 1998.
Men’s Devotional Bible: New International Version. Zondervan, 1993.
The MacArthur Study Bible: Updated New American Standard Translation. MacArthur:
Thomas Nelson Inc., 2006.

God and the Lion’s Den – The Book of Daniel