When the prophet Daniel was older, he had one of the most exciting adventures of his life. After the Persians defeated Babylon, King Darius passed an edict that for thirty days no one could pray to any god except the King. The King wasn’t as big a megalomaniac as it may sound to us today. For him, this was a political move, a way of weeding out disloyal citizens.
Daniel, of course, could not obey this edict. There was more than politics at stake for him. Against his will, the King, who really seemed to like Daniel, was forced to punish him according to the irreversible law of the land. He had Daniel thrown into the lion’s den for a whole night. “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” prayed Darius before leaving Daniel (Dan. 6:16).
You have to remember these were no ordinary lions. They were kept for the express purpose of tearing apart human beings. Enemies of the state went into their den alive; they never came out that way. These lions had been bred for destruction; their whole purpose was to tear their prey limb from limb.
And yet, when after a sleepless night, Darius rushed over to the lions’ den and called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” (Dan. 6:20) he had a wondrous surprise waiting for him.
Daniel was alive and unharmed. He said, “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions” (Dan. 6:22).
There are certain forces in our lives that seem to have lion-sized appetites: fear, anxiety, depression, discontentment, despair, addiction. They devour us from within, and their instinctive power for destruction seems to have no limit. In the natural order of this world, we are helpless before them. Yet in the story of Daniel’s experience with flesh-bound lions, we find a true allegorical parallel to the destructive lions of our souls. What is impossible to us is possible to God. He can shut the mouths of our lions. The living God whom we serve can rescue us from the cycle of sins and wounds. He can set us free.
It is important for the believer to be awakened to the reality of this hope. The Good Shepherd still rescues His sheep. There is nothing in life that will not bow down to the ministrations of the risen Christ. If your hope is thin as you read these words, if your heart is shriveled and dry and filled with fear and doubt, enter into this one truth: there is no lion in your life whose ravenous appetite our Lord cannot quench. Those widened mouths will be shut by the angel of the Lord; those biting teeth will shatter under His whispering claim.
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