How christian significance

Significance of Daniel in the den

Daniel lived by his faith. For only faith in God could have closed the mouths of those lions. As Daniel showed and Darius ultimately understood, Christians must live out their faith — and understand that God is absolutely sovereign and omnipotent. Also read: Why Does the Lord Send Rain on All?

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:10-12).

Chapter six of Daniel is justt 28 verses, yet one of the most read and beloved chapter from the Old Testament. It’s incredibly compelling and filled with great lessons that every Christian should learn and apply to their daily lives.

1. Daniel boldness

Daniel was raised to a high, trusted office by King Darius, the Mede, who had ascended to the throne upon the death of Belshazzar after the “handwriting on the wall” incident.

Daniel was assigned as one of the three administrators over the king’s satraps (like a governor who is to take care of the king’s possessions and kingdom)

Daniel had “distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps by his exceptional qualities, that the king had planned to set him over the whole kingdom” (Daniel 6:1-3).

But the other administrators and satraps hated Daniel and tried to find some way to trap him, but “they could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.” Finally, desperately, then men decided to trap Daniel with his own faith — the law of God (vv. 4-5).

These being envious and jealous of the king’s love on Daniel. Tricked the king and the king’s ego, to have Darius sign a decree that no one should worship any god except himself. Of course, this is what Daniel can never obey. And he continued to pray to his God three times every day as he has been practicing since.

2. The king believed Daniel

Daniel was set up, and of course, his enemies pounced, informing the king of Daniel’s “rebellion.”
The result, as much as Darius loved and respected Daniel, the king had to fulfill his own edict, and Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den as a rather unique form of execution.

At the time, Darius’s last words to Daniel were, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you” (v. 16). The next morning, rushing to the den of the lions, Darius called out, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” (v. 20).

As with Joseph, many generations before him, Daniel had trusted in the Lord and had learned that sometimes evil men plan things for evil, but God saves them from that evil and uses it for good (Genesis 50:20).

3. Promised Persecution

Jesus — indeed, the entire New Testament — warned us that we would suffer persecution as a result of following Christ.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that if we would indeed be blessed when we suffer persecution and are falsely accused of evil because of him. Great will be our reward in heaven (Matthew 5:10-12).

Paul, too, warned of the persecution that the believers will face. And he too was persecuted and martyred. In his letter to Timothy, Paul said quite clearly, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Not may be or might be but will be persecuted.

Then in his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul, following the teachings of Jesus, said he delights in insults and persecutions — in all weaknesses and difficulties. “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Promised persecution is spoken of throughout the New Testament. Even in the Book of Revelation, Jesus warns the Church at Smyrna of coming persecution for his name (Revelation 2:10-11).

4.Our Postmodern World

There can be a few doubt that Christians are persecuted more in our era and should count as one if the biggest human rights abuses of this present day. And the persecution is not only prevalent in the Middle East, where the practice of Sharia law is rampant.

But also in China and in other locations as you can expect. Christian persecution are always prevailing in the areas we may never think of. And it has been going unchecked in county’s like Nigeria, India, North Korea, Sri Lanka…and many others.

According to the Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List — over 360 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution and discrimination.

Five thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight Christians have been killed for their faith; 5,110 churches and other Christian buildings have been attacked.

And all these figure were recorded in the last year alone. And the worst, none of these persecutions has ever made it to the mainstream media because, the leaders are also against the Christians.

5. Overcome with joy

In midst of these persecutions, Christians have always found means to have joy all over the world. Because they believe their suffering is for Christ and they shall be comforted in the last day.

As James, the brother of Jesus, teaches, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” ( James 1:2-4).
In our country today, United States, the persecution of Christians is fast rising.

Though not yet life-threatening, but it is real, nonetheless. Like Daniel’s experience, how many publications and stories have we read about business owners who are targeted due to their faith. And force them to go against their faith or face consequences?

The persecutions the Christian faithfuls have suffered are heartbreaking sometimes. Most Christina’s have lost their entire livelihood to their persecutors. We have seen wedding venues cancelled overnight because of their faith.

6. Faith in Christ

What about companies that shutdown entire segment of their business due to persecution? Small Business Owner’s are threatened for their faith. And they might lose all they have to the evil minds.

A Supreme Court decision known as Dobbs, which famously rescinded Roe v. Wade — returned the decision of abortion legality back to the states.

Yet, churches and pro-life organizations have been attacked and vandalized — even in states where Dobbs had zero legal impact. Not because they caused any harm or danger to others.

Just because of their beliefs. Add to that are government mandates, which now demand the funding of abortions and sex-reassignment surgeries.

These are present threats to Christians and not longer far from home or said to be future threats. We are facing these threats in out present time. Now, even private donations of Christian business owner’s are scrutinized by the law enforcement agencies and are subjected to punishment.

Christians are now perceived as threats to the society. They’re called extremist and must not be tolerated. And should be denied their voice in public life.
These are threats the Christian faithfuls are facing today.
But God…

7. The Good News

The persecutions we are facing today is never getting to be softer anytime soon. Rather, we should gear up for the great persecution that will come. It is promised in the bible, and we can only withstand them when we have faith in Christ Jesus.

You can learn more from the story of Daniel’s persecution and when he was thrown into the lion’s den.
When the King heard that Daniel was unharmed by the lion’s, he was overjoyed.

And demanded they get him out of the lion’s den and he saw with his eyes that Daniel was unharmed because of his trust in the Lord (Daniel 6:23).

Then Darius declared, “that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.

8. Daniel lived by faith

He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions” (vv. 26-27).

Please, go through this verse again and let that sink into you as a believer. For our God is a living God and endures forever. His kingdom shall not be destroyed. He rescues those who believes in Him and save them from their misfortune.

Daniel lived by his faith. For only faith in God could have “…shut the mouths of lions” (Hebrews 11:33). His will should be out will everyday of our life. While we may not understand now, but are reminded that “…as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

Perhaps we could all learn from Daniel’s example when we face the lion’s den, one which bears repeating: “No wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God” (Daniel 6:23).
Let us do the same.