Sunday School for Grown Ups
Week 10: Daniel and the Lion's Den
Pastor Paul McDonald August 3-4, 2024
Daniel and the Lion's Den
So here we are on our 10th and final week of our sermon series Sunday School for grownups and what a journey it’s been! We’ve looked at our favorite Bible stories with fresh eyes and have discovered rich themes running through these stories that ultimately point to Jesus as the source of our hope. Today we will be looking at the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. One of the themes we will discover together is the power of spiritual practices to help us make better decisions.
And I think that’s a worthwhile topic to pursue because we all have examples of poor decisions in our lives, right? We could all share stories of poor judgement?
Am I the only one here? Do I need to go first?
A Poor Decision
OK…here’s one example of a poor decision
I was 8 or 9 when I got my first Chemistry Set for my birthday. I had become passionate about chemistry by my frequent visits to the Mayo Clinic laboratory where my mom worked. The doctor in charge of the lab had taken a liking to me and outfitted me with all kinds of lab glassware and used equipment.
I grew up in an old Victorian farm house and I converted a corner of our basement into a pretty amazing lab. A few years later I found a copy of a turn of the century book about the practical application of chemistry. I spent countless hours in my basement lab making my way through that book. One section of the book was dedicated to the oxides of nitrogen, which led me to the fateful morning that I decided to make Nitroglycerine.
For those who don’t know, Nitroglycerine is an extremely volatile dangerous high explosive. By definition it’s a shock sensitive explosive which means it can spontaneously release large amounts of thermal and physical energy even under normal conditions or when subject to shock like bumping, friction, agitation, or overheating. So unpredictably unstable and dangerous that it has been the cause of hundreds of deaths over the years. Alfred Nobel, the namesake of the Nobel peace prize made it his life’s work to develop a stable version of Nitroglycerine known as Dynamite.
This is a picture of his lab with the equipment for producing Nitroglycerine.
So there I was one summer morning, home alone with a sophisticated laboratory setup risking a potential disaster. The chemical reaction involved in producing Nitroglycerine is exothermic, which means it produces a lot of heat and it required an ice bath to keep the reaction from going out of control. A few degrees over 78 and it could explode.
As the nitroglycerine separated out from solution, even a slight jarring motion could result in an explosion.
In the end I was successful in my quest and after stabilizing the mixture I was able to take down a sizable pine tree. I can’t even come close to describing how utterly foolish this was. I survived, our house survived, and my parents didn’t find out the whole story until I was well into adulthood. Clearly God had a reason for me surviving childhood. In the long history of bad decisions in my life, this certainly ranks near the top.
We All Have a History of Bad Decisions
And I do have a history of bad decisions. Listen…we all do, don’t we? It seems to be kind of baked into our humanness to make poor decisions.
- We want to be wise with our finances but then we make a bad decision and buy something we don’t need or really even want.
- We want to eat better and then we make a bad decision for the gooey cinnamon roll.
- We want to work out in the morning but we decide to hit the snooze button instead.
- We want to break free from our hurts, habits, and hang-ups…but it’s hard.
- We want to love the people in our lives but sometimes we make decisions that hurt them.
- We want to make good decisions but often we don’t.
We know our life would be made better if we made better decisions
AND We know THIS don’t we:
The quality of your life is a reflection of the quality of your decisions
But what if I told you there was helpful ways to get better at this? That there is guidance for better decisions found in the collection of writings we know of as the Bible.
Daniel and the Lion's Den
This week we will be looking at the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den. I would encourage you to grab a Bible and turn to Daniel Chapter 6. You will find the book of Daniel about 2/3 of the way into the Bible.
Today we are going to use this story to talk about making better decisions
We are going to take our Q from life of Daniel. What worked for Daniel will work for us. Like Daniel here is our challenge today
Challenge: Pre-decide to Practice the Way
Pre-Decisions and Practicing the Way
Let me break that down a little. First is the power of pre-deciding. What can we learn from the life of Daniel about glorifying God by deciding now what we will do later? We’ll discover together how Daniel was able to pre-decide his course of action as a young man in ways that served him well when he was a very old man. Daniel knew that settling a matter in his life today would serve him well when he was in the middle of a difficult situation.
And then the Power of Practicing the Way. Historically these has been known as the spiritual disciplines. Thing like observing the sabbath, fasting, prayer, reading scripture. Practicing the way because our greatest example is found in the way Jesus practiced. How can we cultivate these practices in ways that will equip us to honor God when the going gets tough? We will see how Daniel had a settled pattern of prayer that is an absolute fixture of his daily life and how that led him to the best decisions.
Historical Context of Daniel and the Lion's Den
Before we find ourselves in the lion’s den let me remind you of the context: Around 605 BC many of the Jewish people living in what we now know of as Israel were forcefully displaced to the city of Babylon in what is now the country of Iraq. One of the Babylonian tactics was to pick the best and the brightest of young Jewish men and indoctrinate them into the new political system. One of these young men was our Daniel. And Daniel was a standout, he thrived in the foreign culture and grew to manhood assuming positions of power in three consecutive foreign governments. By the time we come to our story Daniel likely is in his 80’s and nearing the end of his life. And all along he has held positions near the top of the political system. At 80 he has also outlasted 2 different governments. Our story starts with a new government assending to power and at this point in history this Persian empire was the largest empire the world had ever known.
Now a new King named Darius is on the throne and he has quickly discovered just how amazing and useful Daniel is. As we dive into our story the newly minted king is getting busy setting up his administration.
It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
So the king of Babylon Darius divides up his kingdom into 120 distinct provinces. These might be compared to modern day counties and over each county there is a leader. And over these 120 leaders there are 3 governors. It’s interesting to note that our passage gives the reason you needed the 3 governors. It is assumed that the 120 leaders would be dishonest and keep tax money for themselves. The 3 trusted governors were put in place to assure that the king wouldn’t suffer a loss in revenue.
One of the three governors was Daniel. Not a native to Babylon, but a trafficked teenager, a foreigner in their land but nonetheless a trusted leader with a lifetime of dedication and integrity. So much so, that the king was considering Daniel for a promotion to Prime Minister of the most powerful empire on earth. And as you can imagine this didn’t sit well with the competition. So we read
At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.
In modern day politics this is called opposition research. They went to work digging up the dirt on Daniel. They ran a background check, they talked to his high school buddies, they combed over his social media accounts looking for the incriminating evidence. But unlike modern day politics, after 6 decades of public service, they couldn’t find a single thing against Daniel. He was completely trustworthy in all that he did. And maybe I’m being a little harsh on modern day politicians but I think we are meant to marvel at just how unusual it is that Daniels political enemies come up empty. What is it that allows Daniel or any of us to live and serve in a corrupt culture and end up untarnished. Here’s a hint…it might have something to do with the ability to Pre-decide to Practice the way
The Opposition Plots Against Daniel
Let’s continue:
Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”
Their tactic changes to one that feels all too familiar. They decide their best option is culture war. Find a place where the faith of Daniel comes into conflict with culture…and if you can’t find one it’s easy enough to create conflict.
So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.
Smart! The strategy is ingenious and I think entirely relatable to our own experience in our culture. Put together a coalition of leaders and go to the boss and butter up his ego.
“Hey Boss you’re amazing…so good you should be boss forever. Here’s a cool idea…all the rest of your team should learn that they can depend on you for absolutely everything…how about you make a rule that for 30 days people need to come to you for everything and they can’t ask anybody else for help…Poor Boss didn’t stand a chance with the onslaught of ego boosting and so he agreed
Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” So King Darius put the decree in writing.
Historians say that the provision of a law that can’t be repealed was common during this time in history. It was designed to keep bosses like King Darius from impulsively passing arbitrary laws according to their whim. It also reenforced the idea that the king was infallible…The king was so all knowing and all wise that he couldn’t possibly make a mistake.
And of course, even though our passage said ALL the leaders and governors came up with this idea, Daniel, who was the target of this deception, was missing. And where was Daniel…Well he was Practicing the Way.
Daniel Keeps Practicing the Way
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Now remember King Darius is on the brink of promoting Daniel to Prime Minister…Just a notch below the king himself. Daniel was days away from getting the biggest promotion of his life. Before Daniel headed off to prayer Don’t you wonder if he ran through a few alternative scenarios?
- Look LORD my influence for you would be greater if I was Prime Minister…Let’s press pause on the whole prayer thing…I can do more for you alive then dead.
- Or maybe he thought. Hey…It’s just 30 days…seems reasonable after praying 3 times a day for the past 70 years so I think I’ll just take a little time off…see you September”
- Or maybe he thought “NO one says I have to pray in front of an open window…maybe I sneak into my closet where nobody will see me.
But no…this was prayer… just as he had done before.
But that day it was also a prayer of defiance, Daniel was not just disregarding the new law of the land, he was making a very public statement…This was a demonstration…this was civil disobedience.
For decades, Daniel had prayed three times a day. Morning, noon and night…365 days a year…you could set your watch by his prayer times. Because I’m a nerd I did the math…At age 80 Daniel had prayed over 75 Thousand prayers. So it’s not at all surprising then that he went to his room to pray “Just as he had done 75 Thousand times before”
Daniel Practiced the Way 3 times a day.
Daniel long ago had pre-decided the rhythm of prayer in his life.
How about us? What does this look like today. We live in a very challenging time.
Cultural and Spiritual Relevance
Question:
Can we be culturally relevant without becoming spiritually irrelevant?
Like Daniel, we really can live a life of integrity, a life of spiritual relevancy in this culture, but we will never do it by accident. This is the power of Pre-Deciding to Practice the way. Listen up…This might be the most difficult and deliberate thing you do in your life.
If we are to live our lives and be culturally relevant for the cause of Christ we need to tap into the power of pre-deciding, tap into the power of Practicing the Way. We can live a life of spiritual relevancy in this culture if we utilize this prescription for better decisions. We pre-decide to immerse ourselves in spiritual practices like prayer, so when suffering shows up…we pray. When joy shows up we pray. When faced with tough choices…we pray…devastating diagnosis…we pray. Spouse walked out on us…we pray.
And prayer is just one of many spiritual practices that we should have in our toolbox.
Remember this might be the most difficult and deliberate thing you do in your life. But being with Jesus, being like Jesus and Doing what Jesus did is also the most rewarding thing we are privileged to do.
How You Can Respond
How can you intentionally respond? One really effective way is to join a growing number of people in this crowd who has taken the course called
Practicing the Way. At this point 140 of you have spent eight weeks immersing yourself in the spiritual practices that Jesus modeled for us. disciplines that create space for the Spirit to transform us from the inside out. Practicing ancient disciplines that open us up to God to change us at the deepest level. As fall approaches we will be offering a bunch of different ways to plug into a group that is Practicing the Way.
Daniel's Steadfastness and Consequences
So our hero Daniel in an act of civil disobedience is praying 3 times a day as he always has and our story continues:
Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.
The king knew that his entire leadership team had manipulated and betrayed him. But notice the good relationship Daniel had with the King and the king immediately starts looking for a way out. Some loophole that would keep Daniel out of the lion’s den. But in the end the irrevocable law was followed and we read
Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.” So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
Likely, a pit dug into the ground with a hole at the top covered by a boulder to prevent any escape. A cruel form of capital punishment. No one ever got out alive. Even as Daniel is thrown to his certain death in the lion’s den, King Darius is rooting for him. The king said to Daniel “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” This is the 1st of three declarations from Darius regarding the God of Daniel. It’s interesting to note that this pagan king, not a believer in the one true God is none the less exhibiting a sliver of faith. And we will watch this sliver of faith grow as our story continues. This is a testimony of the power of Daniels faith made public. This is a lifetime of integrity on public display. Even unbelievers admire and respect true faith and trust in God. And so
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.
A Worthy Commitment
“If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” - Pastor and Civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Daniel had long ago pre-decided something that he would die for, which made it as natural as can be to just keep on praying when a lesser man would have quit. His pre-decision gave him courage to live for God in a hostile culture.
King Darius Reacts
And King Darius…well he had a terrible night. He tossed and turned, refused to eat or be distracted by entertainment. He was alone with his guilt and:
At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
This is the second statement from King Darius regarding the God of Daniel. An emotional question and I think a hopeful question. Again, I believe that King Darius is showing the first signs of faith. This pagan ruler was placing his hope in Daniels’s God. He recognized Daniel’s faith and he was cheering for God to rescue.
Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”
Note the answer “May the king live forever” the very same words spoken by Darius leadership team except this time they weren’t meant as vain empty flattery but rightly reflected Daniels ongoing respect to those who were in authority.
A couple of weeks ago pastor Svea recounted the story of the fiery furnace.
How many scholars believe that was a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus. In both of these stories God shows up as a physical presence.
In our own fiery furnace or Lions Den, God may deliver us and our faith will be strengthened. Or maybe God will stand beside us in the fire or with the lions and our faith will be refined. Or maybe like Daniel and his friends you have a settled confidence to trust God even if you aren’t protected from the fire or the lions.
Daniel who is innocent and obedient and in the midst of suffering for doing what is right has Jesus to stand beside him. If we find ourselves in the lion’s den of suffering, we too are likely to meet God in a unique and powerful way and we will have a story, a testimony through that suffering that we wouldn’t otherwise have.
God's Providence and Justice
Our story continues.
The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
How did Daniel survive? How was it that no wound was found on him?…TRUST. He had trusted in his God. Let me be clear this trust was not somehow discovered overnight in that lion’s den…NO the trust was already there because Daniel had pre-decided to trust. The Trust was there because Daniel carefully crafted a life of Practicing the Way
At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
Why do you suppose that the text is clear that the lions ate all of them before their bodies even reached the bottom…Just in case the skeptics among us come to the conclusion that Daniel was spared only because the lions weren’t hungry. Parts of this are hard to hear especially wives and children being included in this punishment. It’s horrific, cruel and unjustified. But the Bible is not condoning this. This is descriptive and not prescriptive.
Elsewhere God explicitly condemns punishment of children for the sins of their parents but we need to recognize that this disregard for the lives of women and children was commonplace in ancient times. Rulers would routinely eliminate any chance of families avenging the deaths of their loved ones. And now get ready as King Darius addresses his people in the largest kingdom on earth. Listen as he talks about the God of Daniel one final time
Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth: “May you prosper greatly! “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.
“For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
What a journey this story has taken us on. What exactly would cause a powerful pagan king to go from outlawing prayer to preaching a sermon about God’s providence and protection?
The answer is God does…but he powerfully used the integrity and example of Daniel to do it. King Darius watched Danial live his life. Watched the power of Practicing the Way and the power pre-decisions.
King Darius saw Daniel live his life with integrity and a consistent commitment to God through spiritual practices like prayer and it brought him to a place of worship…and this is what God promises will happen in our lives as well. If we Pre-decide to live our lives as a testimony to God we will be a witness in Rochester like Daniel was in Babylon. Because you never know who is watching us. While it may seem like no one in our culture is paying any attention to your faithful life, for every Satrap planning your downfall there is a Darius curious about your life in God. Watching and waiting for your faith to be proved genuine.
Bringing It All Together
For 10 weeks we have traced to great themes of faith through the old testament. For 10 weeks we have discovered Jesus in these great stories and Daniel and the Lions Den is no exception. One of the mistakes people and sometimes preachers make is to turn this story into merely a heroic tale. “Dare to be a Daniel” is a favorite theme.
But that is clearly not the main point of our tale today or really any Old Testament story that we have shared.
If you’re a note taker write this down:
The Bible isn’t about heroes to imitate but a Savior to worship
Daniel's Story Points to Jesus
With that in mind let’s look at some of ways Daniel points to Jesus:
- Jesus and Daniel are shown as innocent. Daniel is one of just 3 people in the Old Testament where there is no mention of a flaw. The prophet Ezekiel says he is one of the 3 most righteous people ever to live.
- Both Jesus and Daniel suffered because jealous political leaders falsely accused them in order to get them killed.
- Both Jesus and Daniel had a pagan leader declare them innocent and try to spare their life
- Both Jesus and Daniel were put into a pit or cave with the entrance sealed with a stone and left for dead
- Both Jesus and Daniel had people run to their tomb early in the morning
- And both Jesus and Daniel walked out the tomb alive the next morning.
But it is at the cross of Jesus Christ that the similarities end. When Jesus hung on the cross he was in the lions den and the mouths of the lions weren’t held shut.
Psalm 22 Intersections
Psalm 22 foretells the crucifixion of Jesus centuries before it happened.
In part it says
- Roaring lions that tear their prey…open their mouths wide against me
- I am poured out like water…and all my bones are out of joint.
- My heart has turned to wax…it has meltedwithin me.
- My mouthis dried up like a potsherd…and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth…you lay me in the dust of death.
- Dogssurround me…a pack of villains encircles me…they piercemy hands and my feet.
- All my bones are on display…people stareand gloat over me.
- They divide my clothes among them…and cast lotsfor my garment.
Psalm 22 says that on the cross, Jesus was thrown to the lions and they tore him to pieces. No angel came to stand by him and keep him safe. Jesus was left utterly alone and abandoned by God to suffer the fate that you and I deserve. Three days in the pit of death before the angel rolled away the stone and Jesus walked out alive. And when Jesus emerged from the grave that morning, He came to lead a mighty gathering of his redeemed people. God is calling you today to join the gathering, join his people
God Is Calling You to Join His People
- If you trust and believe that Jesus went to the cross carrying the weight of YOUR sin then you can know that God stands with you in the lions den
- If you confess today that Jesus took all the punishment you deserved and declares you washed clean you can know that God stands with you in the lions den.
And today we are going to gather as God’s redeemed people around the table of Jesus…
This is a table of celebration and if you have given your allegiance to Jesus you are welcome to come to the party.
- Maybe saying yes happened for you decades ago,
- maybe you’re ready to say yes today…right here and right now.
- Either way Jesus invites you to come.
Communion and The Lord's Supper (In-service)
And so it was that On the night on which he was betrayed…Jesus took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it saying, “This is my body, given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
In a moment…after I pray… I will invite you to come forward starting in the front. Move to your left and come to any of these tables. If you would prefer to be served where you are sitting simply raise your hand and one of our servers will come to you.
Closing Prayer
Let us pray…Gracious Father
We celebrate that we can come to this table tonight as a new creation in Christ Jesus. We celebrate that we have been crucified with Christ. We thank you Lord that you have removed our heart of stone and replaced it with a new heart. Prepare us now in the quietness of our hearts to make ourselves right with you through confession and then meet us here at YOUR table… in Jesus name Amen.