28 October. Daniel is flung into a den of lions
“Darius thought it would be a good idea to choose 120 governors who would rule his kingdom. He chose three men as supervisors over those governors, and Daniel was one of the supervisors. The supervisors were to ensure that the governors did not try to cheat the king.”
“Daniel showed that he could do the work better than the other supervisors and governors, so the king planned to put Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom. Because of this, the other supervisors and governors tried to find reasons to accuse Daniel about his work in the government. But they could not find anything wrong with him or any reason to accuse him, because he was trustworthy and not lazy or dishonest. Finally these men said, ‘We will never find any reason to accuse Daniel unless it is about the law of his God.’”
“So the supervisors and governors went as a group to the king and said, ‘King Darius, live for ever! The supervisors, assistant governors, governors, the people who advise you and the captains of the soldiers have all agreed that you should make a new law for everyone to obey: for the next 30 days no one should pray to any god or human except to you, Our king. Anyone who doesn’t obey will be thrown into the lion’s den.’… So King Darius signed the law.”
“Even though Daniel knew that the new law had been written, he went to pray in an upstairs room in his house, which had windows that opened towards Jerusalem. Three times each day Daniel would kneel down to pray and thank God, just as he always had done.”
“Then those men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help… Then they said to the king, ‘Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is not paying attention to you, Our king, or to the law you signed. Daniel still prays to his God three times every day.’ The king became very upset when he heard this…”
“So King Darius gave the order, and Daniel was brought in and thrown into the lion’s den. The king said to Daniel, ‘May the God you serve all the time save you!’ A big stone was brought and placed over the opening of the lion’s den…”
“The next morning King Darius got up at dawn and hurried to the lion’s den. As he came near the den, he was worried. He called out to Daniel, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God! Has your God that you always worship been able to save you from the lions?’”
“Daniel answered, ‘Our king, live for ever! My God sent his angel to close the lions’ mouths. They have not hurt me, because my God knows I am innocent. I never did anything wrong to you, Our king.’”
“King Darius was very happy and told his servants to lift Daniel out of the lions’ den. So they lifted him out and did not find any injury on him, because Daniel had trusted in his God.”
(Daniel 6:1-7,9-11,13,16-17,19-23)
Daniel was appointed as one of Darius’s top three administrators, but was persecuted for his Jewish faith by other jealous members of the royal household.
They devised a plan to get a new law passed stating that, for the next month, no one was to pray to any god or human being other than the king. Anyone who disobeyed the new law would be thrown to the lions.
Daniel was well aware of the new law, but he still prayed regularly to his God three times a day in his apartment at an open window that faced Jerusalem.
The other administrators quickly pointed out to the king that Daniel was still praying to his God every day. So Daniel was flung overnight into a den of lions, but God protected him because of his faithfulness, and he was restored to power under Darius.
The photo (by Bontenbal) shows a lion on the reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate of Babylon in Berlin's Pergamon Museum.
You can read more about Daniel @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/34-exile-in-babylonia-amp-the-journey-back-to-jerusalem/daniels-vision-of-the-son-of-man/