In one of the most famous stories in all of Scripture, some crooked politicians make a law that outlaws the worship of God. Defiantly, Daniel worshipped and prayed openly and publicly as he had every day. As punishment, the elderly Daniel was thrown alive into a lion’s den but was rescued by God. That’s the good news.
One of the most known and loved Bible stories is Daniel in the lion’s den.
Some crooked politicians made a law that for one month no one could worship anyone but the king of Medo-Persia. The entire intent of the law was to trap the godly Daniel into violating the decree which would result in him being thrown in the lion’s den.
For Christians, where you work is where you witness. So much of our time is spent on the job, and so many relationships shaped through the workplace, that living out our God-given convictions can lead to great ministry, as well as great misery.
Perhaps 15,000 people packed into the palace in Babylon for the greatest party of the year. With the music blaring, drinks pouring, people dancing, and commandment breaking no one could have guessed that not only would the party end early that night, so would the nation. It just goes to show, you never know how much time you have. We’ve all lost someone we loved and were stunned that they were gone. The world pauses when someone like Kobe Bryant is taken from life without warning. These moments remind us of the frailty and mortality of humanity.
Standing before the mightiest king on earth in Babylon, which is modern day Iraq, an elderly castrated slave named Daniel says something completely jaw-dropping. Over every king and kingdom, prince and prefect, elected official and nation is the Most High God who is in charge of whoever is in charge. Furthermore, for reasons we rarely understand, he causes leaders and empires to rise or fall for His purposes.
Don’t get caught up in power, praise, possessions, or pleasure as it passes quickly. Daniel got a Rick Ross hip-hop Halloween costume and job promotion that lasted only a few minutes before God toppled the nation.
When is the last time you were at an epic drunken crazy party? Mardi Gras? New Year’s Eve? College gameday? NFL tailgate party? Bachelor (or bachelorette) party gone wild? Birthday drinking binge? Vegas road trip?
Every day, on pretty much every issue, we see things only from our perspective. Then, once in a while, we meet someone we care for and, in empathy, seek to understand things from their perspective which is different than ours. If you care for God, imagine what it must like to be God? Every minute of every day for all eternity God sees, hears, and knows all the evil of all humanity continually.
At the end of Daniel 4, the mighty Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, the most feared ruler on earth and most frequent ruler in the Bible, exits the story after dominating for decades. One of the central themes throughout the Bible in general, and Daniel in particular, is the battle between the king and kingdoms of the earth and the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, who rules the Kingdom of God that is coming to destroy and dismantle all other kings and kingdoms.
King Nebuchadnezzar is the Adolf Hitler of the Old Testament. A brutal dictator demanding religious devotion, he expanded the most powerful nation on earth with brutality. His soldiers conquered nations, enslaved their people, and stole their wealth.
When the Babylonian army marched into Israel, conquered the nation, enslaved the people of God, and stole the possessions of God from the temple, the latest bumper stickers on the back of Babylonian camels would have read “Our God Beat Up Your God!”