Daniel (Greek) 14:28-32: a reflection

28When the people of Babylon heard that, they took great indignation, and conspired against the king, saying, “The king has become a Jew. He has pulled down Bel, slain the dragon, and put the priests to the sword.” 29So they came to the king, and said, “Deliver Daniel to us, or else we will destroy you and your house.” 30Now when the king saw that they trapped him, being constrained, the king delivered Daniel to them. 31They cast him into the lion’s den, where he was six days. 32There were seven lions in the den, and they had been giving them two carcasses and two sheep every day, which then were not given to them, intending that they would devour Daniel.

This passage from the Greek additions to Daniel finds him once again in mortal danger for his faithfulness. Having exposed and destroyed the idols the Babylonians worshiped, Daniel becomes the target of a furious mob who demand his death, and the king, pressured, hands him over. He is thrown into a den of seven hungry lions, deliberately starved so they will devour him, and left there for six days. His faithfulness in standing against false worship has put his life in the gravest danger.

Notice the cost of Daniel's faithfulness, and the peril it brought. He had stood against the idolatry around him, refusing to honor false gods and even exposing them, and it made him the object of deadly hatred. Standing for the truth, against the false worship of his culture, was not safe; it landed him among the lions. Faithfulness to God can be genuinely costly, provoking real opposition and danger.

And yet the story is told because God preserved him; the lions did not touch him, and God provided for him even in the den. The account testifies that the God for whom Daniel risked everything did not abandon him in the danger his faithfulness brought. When standing for God costs us, when faithfulness to the truth provokes opposition or lands us in a hard place, we are in the company of Daniel, and of the God who preserved him among the lions. Faithfulness may be costly, but the God we are faithful to does not abandon us in the cost. Stand firm, and trust the One who kept Daniel among the lions.

Lord, Daniel's faithful stand against false worship landed him among the lions, yet you preserved him there. When my faithfulness to you costs me, when standing for the truth provokes opposition or lands me in a hard place, remind me that I am in Daniel's company, and yours. Thank you that the God for whom I risk faithfulness does not abandon me in the cost. Give me courage to stand firm against the false worship of my age, and to trust the One who kept Daniel among the lions.