THE RESCUE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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.

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?”

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.”

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.

Daniel 6:17-23

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Darius was trapped within the confines of his own edict, much to the delight of the scheming administrators and satraps who deceived him into the circumstances he found himself in.

You remember what happened, right?

Darius was duped into signing a decree that only he was to be worshiped for thirty days. Anyone who violated his law, which was irrevocable by the way, would be executed in the most brutal way, thrown into the den of a bunch of hungry lions. And the administrators and satraps knew who would be first in line for the lion’s lunch, the man who was the target of their scheme, the man Daniel who Darius had fixations of leading his entire kingdom.

You see, the administrators and satraps knew that Daniel would never disobey or dishonor the God he served, a God that called on His servants to worship Him and Him alone. And so it was because even with knowledge of the decree, scripture tells us that Daniel kneeled down three times a day and prayed to God to help him.

It didn’t take long for that prayer to be tested for the administrators and satraps went to where Daniel was only long enough to witness his God worshiping before returning to Darius to make a report about what they had seen. Of course, they knew the king had no choice but to carry out the precepts of his law and that meant Daniel was to be placed in the lion’s den, even if the king didn’t really want to do it.

Do you remember the king’s last words to Daniel before putting him in the den?

They were as follows:

“May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” Daniel 6:16b

And with that, the entrance to the den was blocked with a stone and sealed by Darius with his signet ring as well as the “rings of his nobles” so that no one could come and save Daniel from his assumed fate. For everyone believed that this would be the end of Daniel.

Everyone that is but King Darius who I think is an incredible study. Here was a man who was polytheistic in every sense of the way like most leaders outside of Israel but note how troubled he was by what had happened to Daniel. After Daniel was sealed inside the lion’s den, the king didn’t just go back to business as usual. Rather, he refused to eat and denied any entertainment once he returned to his palace. There was no desire to celebrate what had happened. In fact, the scriptures tell us the king couldn’t sleep over it all.

As the first light of dawn came, we get a sense that Darius believed that a miracle may have happened at the lion’s den, that the God of Daniel did come through and bring his servant rescue, just as Darius had proclaimed when Daniel was placed in the den. We know Darius held hope because as he drew near to the den, he cries out 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?”

Put yourself in the shoes of Darius when the silence was pushed aside by the sound of Daniel’s voice proclaiming:

“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.”

It had to be an amazing moment and God’s word tells us that Darius was “overjoyed” as he gave orders for Daniel to be lifted up out of the den. The level of amazement had to increase when everyone looked at Daniel and found him completely unharmed with “no wound was found on him”.

How could this be? How could someone be placed in a den of hungry lions overnight and come out unscathed?

It all had to do with God, the God who Daniel (and in many ways, Darius) trusted through this entire ordeal. Both believed God could be Daniel’s rescue and indeed, God delivered because He had shown over and over again that indeed He was the Great Deliverer of His people.

Today, this truth remains as it has through the ages since the days of Daniel. Over and over and over again, God comes to the rescue of those who find themselves in times of difficulty, in the very “lion’s dens” of life where it seems like there is little hope. And in doing this, He continues to validate the words of David when he wrote these words:

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

No matter what, He always comes to the rescue.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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