DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN
MEMORY VERSE
Acts 5:29, ESV
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men."
DAY 1
Daniel 6:1-5, NIrV
1 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 royal rulers over his entire kingdom. 2 He placed three leaders over them. One of the leaders was Daniel. The royal rulers were made accountable to the three leaders. Then the king wouldn’t lose any of his wealth. 3 Daniel did a better job than the other two leaders or any of the royal rulers. He was an unusually good and able man. So the king planned to put him in charge of the whole kingdom. 4 But the other two leaders and the royal rulers heard about it. So they looked for a reason to bring charges against Daniel. They tried to find something wrong with the way he ran the government. But they weren’t able to. They couldn’t find any fault with his work. He could always be trusted. He never did anything wrong. And he always did what he was supposed to. 5 Finally these men said, “We want to bring charges against this man Daniel. But it’s almost impossible for us to come up with a reason to do it. If we find a reason, it will have to be in connection with the law of his God.”
BIBLE STUDY
In the year 605 BC, Daniel the Israelite was carried off to serve King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Almost 70 years later, the Babylonians themselves were conquered in battle. Now an old man, Daniel found himself serving a new king (Darius) in a new kingdom (Persia). King Darius put Daniel and two others in charge of his kingdom. Daniel was so great at this job, the other two were dripping with jealousy. They kept hoping for him to mess up, but Daniel never made a single mistake! So the other rulers crafted a secret evil plan: to use Daniel’s love for his God to lead him right into a deadly trap!
+ What did the king plan to do with Daniel? (vs. 3)
+ Why weren’t the other rulers and officials able to get Daniel into trouble? (vs. 4-5)
DAY 2
Daniel 6:6-9, NIrV
6 So the two leaders and the royal rulers went as a group to the king. They said, “King Darius, may you live forever! 7 All the royal leaders, high officials, royal rulers, advisers and governors want to make a suggestion. We’ve agreed that you should give an order. And you should make sure it’s obeyed. Your Majesty, here is the command you should make your people obey for the next 30 days. Don’t let any of your people pray to any god or human being except to you. If they do, throw them into the lions’ den. 8 Now give the order. Write it down in the law of the Medes and Persians. Then it can’t be changed.” 9 So King Darius put the order in writing.
BIBLE STUDY
Because Daniel never made a single mistake, the other officials had to brainstorm another way to get him in trouble. What was their awful idea? “Let’s make it illegal for him to serve his God.” So a bunch of them talked Darius into writing his signature on a new law: for 30 days, nobody could pray to anyone except the king. Anyone who broke this law would be tossed in a pit full of hungry lions. Why did they convince Darius to sign such a law? Because they knew Daniel would break it! And when they caught old Dan praying to his God, they would turn their most-hated enemy into a lion’s lunch!
+ Was this new law a good one? Why or why not?
+ What couldn’t be done to this new law after it was written down? (vs. 8)
DAY 3
Daniel 6:10-15, NIrV
10 Daniel found out that the king had signed the order. In spite of that, he did just as he had always done before. He went home to his upstairs room. Its windows opened toward Jerusalem. He went to his room three times a day to pray. He got down on his knees and gave thanks to his God. 11 Some of the other royal officials went to where Daniel was staying. They saw him praying and asking God for help. 12 So they went to the king. They spoke to him about his royal order. They said, “Your Majesty, didn’t you sign an official order? It said that for the next 30 days your people could pray only to you. They could not pray to anyone else, whether god or human being. If they did, they would be thrown into the lions’ den.”
The king answered, “The order must still be obeyed. It’s what the law of the Medes and Persians requires. So it can’t be changed.”
13 Then they spoke to the king again. They said, “Daniel is one of the prisoners from Judah. He doesn’t pay any attention to you, Your Majesty. He doesn’t obey the order you put in writing. He still prays to his God three times a day.” 14 When the king heard this, he was very upset. He didn’t want Daniel to be harmed in any way. Until sunset, he did everything he could to save him.
15 Then the men went as a group to King Darius. They said to him, “Your Majesty, remember that no order or command you give can be changed. That’s what the law of the Medes and Persians requires.”
BIBLE STUDY
If praying to God meant becoming a lion’s meal, would you still do it? It’s hard to know what you or I would do if we were given that choice. But when Daniel faced that test, he chose correctly! Daniel defied Darius’ decree and bravely prayed to God three times a day. The other officials were delighted: Daniel had fallen right into their trap! At once, they tattle-taled Daniel’s deed to Darius. Now, the king really liked old man Dan. He didn’t want to see him become a beast’s breakfast. But it didn’t matter. In Persia, after a law had been written, not even the king himself was allowed to change it!
+ Whose laws are more important to obey: a king’s laws or God’s laws? Why?
+ What did King Darius do when he heard that Daniel was in trouble? (vs. 14)
DAY 4
Daniel 6:16-18, NIRV
16 So the king gave the order. Daniel was brought out and thrown into the lions’ den. The king said to him, “You always serve your God faithfully. So may he save you!”
17 A stone was brought and placed over the opening of the den. The king sealed it with his own special ring. He also sealed it with the rings of his nobles. Then nothing could be done to help Daniel. 18 The king returned to his palace. He didn’t eat anything that night. He didn’t ask for anything to be brought to him for his enjoyment. And he couldn’t sleep.
BIBLE STUDY
Though he didn’t want to, King Darius ordered his men to toss Daniel into the lion’s den as a punishment for praying to his God. The lion’s den was sort of like a large pit with an opening at the top. Normally, the only thing that fell down that hole was food for the lions to eat. When Daniel dropped down through it, I’m sure the lions thought, “It’s lunchtime, boys, and that old man looks delicious!” But the king didn’t totally lose hope. While Darius didn’t worship Daniel’s God, he still hoped and prayed that somehow, some way, the Lord would stop these killer kitties from devouring Dan for dinner!
+ What did they place over the opening to the den of lions? (vs. 17)
+ Why do you think the king was unable to sleep that night? (vs. 18)
DAY 5
Daniel 6:19-23, NIRV
19 As soon as the sun began to rise, the king got up. He hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he got near it, he called out to Daniel. His voice was filled with great concern. He said, “Daniel! You serve the living God. You always serve him faithfully. So has he been able to save you from the lions?”
21 Daniel answered, “Your Majesty, may you live forever! 22 My God sent his angel. And his angel shut the mouths of the lions. They haven’t hurt me at all. That’s because I haven’t done anything wrong in God’s sight. I’ve never done anything wrong to you either, Your Majesty.”
23 The king was filled with joy. He ordered his servants to lift Daniel out of the den. So they did. They didn’t see any wounds on him. That’s because he had trusted in his God.
BIBLE STUDY
At sunrise, King Darius sprinted to the lion’s den. But what did he hope to find there? After a night in a pit with hungry lions, Daniel should have been nothing but bits and pieces in the bellies of a bunch of beasts! Still, the king wondered, “Did the Lord God really deliver Daniel from death?” When he heard a voice rise from the bottom of the pit, Darius learned the answer to his question. Just like God had sent an mysterious fourth person to rescue Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace, the Lord had sent one of his angels to stop the hungry lions from snacking on Daniel.
+ How did the king feel when he heard that Daniel had not been harmed? (vs. 23)
+ How many scratches and bite marks did they find on Daniel? Why? (vs. 23)
DAY 6
Daniel 6:24-28, NIRV
24 Then the king gave another order. The men who had said bad things about Daniel were brought in. They were thrown into the lions’ den. So were their wives and children. Before they hit the bottom of the den, the lions attacked them. And the lions crushed all their bones.
25 Then King Darius wrote to people of all nations, no matter what language they spoke. He said,
“May you have great success!
26 “I order people in every part of my kingdom to respect and honor Daniel’s God.
“He is the living God.
He will live forever.
His kingdom will not be destroyed.
His rule will never end.
27 He sets people free and saves them.
He does miraculous signs and wonders.
He does them in the heavens and on the earth.
He has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So Daniel had success while Darius was king. Things went well with Daniel during the rule of Cyrus, the Persian.
BIBLE STUDY
King Darius was furious with the other officials for putting his favorite servant in danger! After bringing Daniel up out of the lion’s den, he tossed them down into it. And before they even reached the bottom, the lions devoured the wicked rulers for breakfast! They were ferociously hungry. After all, the angel had not allowed them to dine on Daniel the night before!
It was clear to King Darius that Daniel had not just gotten lucky. He was safe and sound because he trusted in a God whose power turned those roaring lions into purring kittens. After seeing how Daniel’s God had protected him, Darius realized what a fool he had been! Ordering everyone to pray to him for 30 days was a terrible idea! To correct his big blunder, he made a new law, commanding his people to tremble with respect before the lion-taming God of Daniel.
This wasn’t the first time a powerful king made a foolish law and sent God’s servants to a certain death. Almost 50 years earlier, King Nebuchadnezzar built an enormous golden statue and commanded everyone to bow down and worship it. Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, bravely did exactly what Daniel did. They chose to obey God instead of the king.
If you remember back to that story, King Nebuchadnezzar punished the three friends by throwing them into the flames of a fiery furnace. But like God sent an angel to the lion’s den, God sent a mysterious fourth person to the fiery furnace. Not a single inch of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was burned, from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes.
These two true tales teach us a pair of important lessons. First, we should follow God’s laws, even if it’s against our country’s laws! It doesn’t matter if a king threatens to feed you to lions or burn you in flames. God is our true king and we should always follow him first. The bravery of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego encourages us to fearlessly follow God just like they did.
We should also remember that the God who rescued Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is the same living God who is still with us today. We might not be facing fiery flames or a beast’s bite, but we do need to be rescued just the same as them. “From what?” you may ask. Why, from the forever death we’ve earned for ourselves because of our sins! And just like God sent an angel to rescue Daniel and a mysterious fourth person to rescue Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he sent his only Son, Jesus, to rescue us from sin!
+ What new law did King Darius make? (vs. 26)
+ Write down a couple of things Darius said about Daniel’s God. (vs. 26-27)
© 2023 Andrew Doane. All rights reserved.