Scripture Daily

Context No. 2869 of 4322 · Daniel (Greek)

Context · Reflection

Daniel (Greek) 14:33-37: in context

33Now there was in Jewry the prophet Habakkuk, who had made stew, and had broken bread into a bowl. He was going into the field to bring it to the reapers. 34But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, “Go carry the dinner that you have into Babylon to Daniel, in the lions’ den.” 35Habakkuk said, “Lord, I never saw Babylon. I don’t know where the den is.” 36Then the angel of the Lord took him by the crown, and lifted him up by the hair of his head, and with the blast of his breath set him in Babylon over the den. 37Habakkuk cried, saying, “O Daniel, Daniel, take the dinner which God has sent you.”

This little scene comes from the Greek portions of Daniel. Daniel is shut in the lions' den, and God provides for him in a strange and almost playful way. Far away in Judea, the prophet Habakkuk has cooked a stew for his reapers, and an angel tells him to carry it to Daniel in Babylon. I have never even seen Babylon, Habakkuk protests, and I do not know where the den is. So the angel lifts him by the hair and sets him down at the den.

The story is small, but its point is not. God's care reaches right into the den. Daniel, trapped and seemingly forgotten by everyone, is not forgotten by God, who goes to the trouble of carrying a meal across the world to feed him. And notice the ordinary means: a bowl of stew meant for farmhands, redirected to sustain God's servant in the pit, delivered by a reluctant prophet who did not understand his own errand. God's provision often comes through humble, everyday things in unexpected hands.

When I feel trapped and overlooked, can I trust that God's care reaches even into my den, often through unexpected and ordinary means?

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