What the Lion Knows

“Arise, O Lord,
Do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged in Your sight. 

Put them in fear, O Lord,
That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah“

Psalm 9: 19-20 NKJV

The Christmas season is upon us. In celebration of the birth of the Christ-child, we look to the past and remember our traditions as well as place hope in the future.

In the past. . .

The law of the Medes and Persians was a clever device used by wicked men in an attempt to assassinate Daniel, a hero of the faith in the Old Testament. You may know him better by the phrase, “Daniel and the Lion’s Den.” You may ask yourself what an ancient law could have to do with Christmas and the reason for the Christian’s hope. Read on, dear friend, that all may become clear.

Daniel chapter six tells us that Darius, the king of ancient Persia, held a man called Daniel in the highest regard. Daniel was a Jew who found himself in exile after the invasion and destruction of his home. He and others like him were carried off to the lands of their conquerors. You may know the names of some of his contemporaries, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but theirs is another story.

Daniel rose to prominence for his integrity and leadership. Scripture literally tells us “an excellent spirit was in him.” King Darius was considering placing Daniel in charge of all the officials in the kingdom. This was a position of great power, and it speaks volumes that the Persian king would consider a foreigner for the job as opposed to one of his own people.

The other governors and satraps got wind of the king’s plans and sought to destroy Daniel. When they realized they could find no “dirt” on Daniel because he was a truly honorable man, they hatched a scheme to see him executed on the grounds of his faith.

They approached King Darius with a flattering proposition. They contrived a royal statute for the king’s approval which stated the following: For a period of thirty days, the people were to pray only to the king. Any man who was caught praying or petitioning another god was to be cast into the den of lions. This was a gruesome form of execution in which the victims were trapped alive with hungry lions, mauled, and eaten.

This is where the law of the Medes and the Persians comes into play. The governors and satraps were a canny lot. They knew that any law the king signed was unalterable. According to Persian custom, laws enacted by its kings could never be changed. Why? The idea was that the king was elevated beyond the status of a mere man. His judgment was meant to be infallible. Therefore, any law he enacted could not be repealed or altered, because to do so was to admit that the original law was somehow flawed. An admission of an errored law was to admit the king was subject to error too.

Darius signed the the proposition into law without truly thinking of the consequences. His advisors had done a brilliant job of appealing to the king’s pride. Given the Persian belief system about the near-deity of its king, Darius may have assumed the statute was harmless. It was only meant to last a month after all, and what better way for his subjects to honor him and pledge their fidelity?

But the governors and satraps knew of Daniel’s unwavering devotion to his God, the God of Abraham and Jacob. Daniel went home after the law was signed and knelt at his window facing the direction of Jerusalem, his shattered homeland. He gave glory and honor to the one true God despite the edict. You can imagine the governors and satraps watching with glee as Daniel walked willingly into the trap they so carefully laid for him.

They went to King Darius with the accusation against Daniel. The smarmy group further trapped and tricked the king by asking him to clarify the recent decree. You can hear how their words were reminiscent of the serpent in Eden, “Did God really say. . . ? Have you not signed a decree . . . ?”

Naturally, King Darius affirmed the decree, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which does not alter.”

Then the governors delivered the killing blow, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed….”

In that moment, Darius’s heart sank. The scripture says he was greatly displeased with himself. His foolish and hasty approval of the decree would now get his friend killed. The scripture says he set his heart to find a way to deliver Daniel and labored till sundown trying to find a way out of it.

The governors drove what they thought was the final nail in Daniel’s coffin when they threw the Law of the Medes and the Persians back in the king’s own face. Darius, for all his power, was helpless to save Daniel from the mouth of the lions.

Before they threw Daniel into the lion’s den, Darius spoke to him. He made an odd statement of faith made stranger by the fact that it came from the king of Persia. It indicated that the king’s worldview had been tilted on its head. He was met with the stark realization that he was “but a man.” There was nothing he could do for Daniel, but still he declared, “Your God, whom you serve continually, will deliver you.”

Darius spent the night in fasting and sleeplessness after sealing Daniel in with the lions by way of an enormous stone. There was no escape. Only God could save Daniel now.

Darius rushed down to the den early in the morning and cried out for Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

You can imagine the immense relief that flooded Darius’s heart when he heard Daniel’s voice call out in reply, “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

Darius pulled Daniel out and proceeded to shove the conniving bunch of satraps in. The lions tore them apart before their feet could even touch the ground. Darius went on to put a much wiser law into practice:

 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 6:26-27 NKJV

In the Present . . .

We approach a Christmas season filled with distractions. The world is plagued by pandemic and fear. In the middle of gift shopping, tree decorating, and stocking hanging, remember who the Christ-child really is. Jesus is the way out that Darius could not find, though he labored till sundown on Daniel’s behalf.

The laws of sin and death are unalterable by the power of the nations, for they are but men. Yet, God sent Christ to fulfill the law. A tiny baby born of a virgin and laid in a manger would fulfill the requirements of the law that no mere man can uphold. Jesus walked willingly unto death, that by His death, He might set us free of the old law. His sacrifice means Christians live each day under a new law. We are living, breathing, hoping, laughing, loving, and praying all under the law of Grace. Thanks be to God. And by the Law of the Medes and the Persians, it can never alter.

Merry Christmas friends!

-A.A. Wordsmith