Daniel 6:20, commentary and pictures

At dawn after Daniel had spent the night among the lions, Darius hurried to the pit and cried out in anguish to Daniel as the continual servant of the living God, asking whether his God had been able to rescue him. Daniel was there because jealous rulers could find no fault in his faithful administration, so they secured a royal ban on prayer and had him condemned for openly praying three times a day with his window open toward Jerusalem. God did not keep him from entering the den but remembered him inside it, sending His angel with holy angels to shut the lions' mouths and bring him out unharmed and innocent before God. The rescue answered the king's question by proving the living God both able and willing to save the one who trusts Him, vindicating steadfast faith and spreading the knowledge of the true God. That same deliverance assures that God is a present helper to those brought into trial in the way of duty, and will not forsake His people in the final trying hour when human protection is withdrawn and they face prison, sentence, and death.

Setting and King's Question

The cry at the den took place under Darius the Mede after he had taken the throne formerly held by the Babylonian rulers and at once reorganized the government by setting one hundred twenty princes over the kingdom and three presidents over them, with Daniel first so that the princes would give accounts to them and the king would suffer no loss. Because an excellent spirit was in Daniel he was preferred above the presidents and princes, and the king who cried to him at the den thought to set him over the whole realm. It occurred early in the Medo-Persian empire after the fall of Babylon, during the two years Darius the Mede reigned, when Daniel had already been preferred above the presidents and princes.

Daniel's blameless conduct and the honors given him stirred jealousy, so the leading men searched for fault to complain against him but found none because he was faithful with no error or fault found in him. They could find no occasion against him except in connection with the law of his God, and they used his continual prayers to arrange the decree that led to the den, showing his danger arose from faithfulness to God.

Early in the morning Darius hurried to the den and with lamentable and sorrowful voice addressed Daniel as servant of the living God. He asked whether the God whom Daniel serves continually had been able to deliver him from the lions. The king came at daybreak urgently and anxiously putting the question after Daniel had been cast in for continuing his regular prayers.

Miraculous Deliverance in Den

God did not keep Daniel from going into the den but remembered him there and delivered him inside it. Jesus sent an angel, and holy angels guarded him there, shut the lions' mouths and stopped them from hurting him. He was preserved unharmed through continued prayer, and the king witnessed it and brought him out with honor. His enemies could find no fault in his conduct, so they used his continual prayers to arrange the decree that led to his being thrown in, yet God's angels were there to protect him.

Daniel continued to pray to God even after being cast into the den, and Jesus was with him there. He was innocent before God and had done no wrong to the king, being placed there for no crime except seeking to make men kind and obedient, truthful and loyal. God in tenderness and compassion does not forget obedient children when misjudged, condemned and imprisoned, but comes to them within prison walls. The innocent sufferer is therefore called to trust God and lift up holy hands without doubting.

God allowed Daniel's enemies to carry out their purpose so that his deliverance would be unmistakable, their defeat complete, and God's name honored. All heaven watched his case to see if he would be faithful to God when principle was at stake over worship of the true God in spite of the decree. In the trial angels were his companions, stopped the lions' mouths, and delivered him because integrity had led him into the den.

Afterward the king saw that the wise men had aimed to rid Daniel of his power, was angry, and destroyed Daniel's enemies. This took place during the two years Darius the Mede reigned over Medo-Persia after the fall of Babylon, early in the establishment of the empire when Daniel had been preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him. The king's lamentable cry was answered by Daniel coming out unharmed, proving God to be the living God, steadfast forever, whose kingdom shall not be destroyed and whose dominion shall be even unto the end. Darius then wrote unto all peoples, nations and languages that men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, who delivereth and rescueth and worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth. The rescue was God's preparing of the hearts of kings to show favor to His repentant people while those who remained loyal in Babylon were seeking the Lord and studying the prophecies foretelling their deliverance.

Steadfast Faith Under Threat

Daniel was cast into the den for continuing his regular prayers after the royal decree forbade prayer to anyone but the king, for he kept seeking the Lord openly three times a day in his chamber with his window open toward Jerusalem. Even the threat of the lions' den could not keep him from his daily prayers.

Rather than hiding his purpose or lowering his loyalty to save his life, he stood forth for God's honor whatever the result, refusing to accommodate circumstances or lower the standard to meet people or kings. He would rather lose his present life than dishonor God or give up worship and lose eternal life. To him man's reputation was as nothingness, for to live is to obey Christ and to die for truth is gain.

His steadfastness through daily trials had strengthened his faith, courage, and firmness, enabling him to stand true with the den before him. He remained the same in the den as when standing before the king in better circumstances and surrounded by light. Faith in God holds steady through trial and holds to eternal things even amid danger and discouragement.

As servant of the living God whom he served continually, he openly confessed faith in the Lord God of heaven in words, habits, and practices even in the king's court, valuing God's favor above the favor and praise of princes. He let no man come between him and his God, but kept the living God exalted above all as the One who gives wisdom and power and showed all from whence came his strength. As he had not yielded over the king's table, he would not yield over open prayer, and God could let blessing rest on him in remarkable degree, honoring him with wisdom above all the astrologers and magicians.

His experience shows that a person grounded in personal knowledge of God and truth remains faithful in danger and trial and nothing will turn such a person from the truth. With divine principles inwrought in the heart as if written by God's finger through reading, believing, and practicing the Word, he cannot be intimidated by the gaping den or turned from truth for any favor, worldly honors, or exalted position.

Standing among the lions while his enemies held high places of the kingdom, utterly helpless in himself yet trusting God's word, he withstood the power of the whole world. Faith in God's word gives power to stand against human power and policy in support of evil.

Witness to Living God

At daybreak Darius came to the den and asked whether the God whom Daniel served continually was able to deliver him from the lions, and the rescue answered that anxious question. Daniel's faithfulness had brought him into the den, but God did not forget him there, for angels stopped the lions' mouths and preserved him unharmed. God thus proved Himself both able and willing to save the one who trusted Him, showing the nation that Jehovah is the living God above every earthly ruler.

Like the other Hebrew captives, Daniel by his fidelity brought a heathen ruler face to face with truth and led the monarch to proclaim God's supremacy. Because he kept praying to God despite the decree, the rulers' attention was drawn to his case, and that gave him opportunity to testify that God alone deserves worship, praise, and homage. God vindicated Daniel's steadfastness and was glorified through him, and through it the knowledge of the true and living God spread throughout Babylon. Though God permitted His servant to be humbled by being cast in, Daniel triumphed in the end.

The deliverance came early in the Medo-Persian empire after the fall of Babylon, during the two years Darius the Mede reigned, when Daniel had been preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him. The king's lamentable cry was answered by Daniel coming forth unharmed, proving God to be the living God steadfast forever, whose kingdom shall not be destroyed and whose dominion is unto the end, who delivers and rescues and works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth. Darius therefore wrote to all peoples, nations, and languages that men should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. That rescue was God's preparing of the hearts of kings to show favor to His repentant people, while those who remained loyal in Babylon were seeking the Lord and studying the prophecies foretelling their deliverance. God allowed Daniel's enemies to carry out their purpose so that the deliverance would be unmistakable, their defeat complete, and His name honored, and Daniel's courage in choosing what was right over political safety helped defeat Satan and exalt God.

Encouragement and Final Application

Daniel's rescue shows that God is a present helper and deliverer for those who remain faithful to Him even when that faithfulness brings opposition or persecution. When brought into trial in the way of duty, protection from God may be surely expected, unlike falling sooner or later through choosing association with the servants of Satan and placing oneself under temptation. That an obedient person may be unjustly condemned and imprisoned for no crime except seeking to make men kind and obedient, truthful and loyal, does not mean that God does not reign. God in tenderness and compassion does not forget His obedient children when they are misjudged, condemned and imprisoned, but is with His faithful people in trial, comes to them within prison walls, and can protect them. The innocent sufferer is therefore called to trust in God and to lift up holy hands without doubting. Daniel was cast into the den because he would not yield his allegiance to God, and God led him through that trial to perfect trust. His experience proves that followers of Christ will often be sorely tried and afflicted, yet have peace in Christ amid tribulation in the world, for it is through much tribulation that they enter the kingdom of God.

God did not forget Daniel in the den of lions but remembered and delivered him, and that deliverance proves the Lord will not forget His people in the final trying hour. When government protection is withdrawn and they flee to desolate places, are cast into cruel bondage, bound in chains, shut in prison bars and dark dungeons, sentenced to be slain, and left to starve, Christ cannot forsake those who are as the apple of His eye and the purchase of His precious blood. He will be with them and keep communication open between their souls and Christ, and will send angels with light and peace and with food and water, so that though they endure privation and suffer for want of food while judgments fall and the wicked die of hunger and thirst, they are not left to perish. The Father who feeds ravens and watches sparrows and numbers the hairs counts them of more value than many sparrows. Husbands and wives who unite together from the commencement of family life to educate their children to love and serve God and to pray at morning and at noon as Daniel did will have the same angelic protection in what is coming upon the world, for the angels of God protected Daniel in that emergency because the living God whom he served continually was able to deliver him. Daniel belongs to the world's true nobility and its royal line of faith, in which the youth of today are called to take their places.

Daniel dared to stand alone in Jesus Christ, and his experience belongs to all who will be a Daniel by consecrating themselves to God as vessels into which heavenly treasure is received to flow out to souls starving for an example of righteousness. Turning from self to enrich poverty-stricken souls, they receive the treasure of God's love as golden oil into the heart and are themselves enriched as they impart the riches of heaven, with ministering angels waiting for channels through which to communicate heavenly treasures, and with the highest mental and moral development reached only by cooperating with Jesus Christ. Because of faithful integrity and determination to honor God above every human power, valuing the favor of God above the favor and praise of princes, God loved him and spread His shield over him and signally honored him before men by delivering him from the lions as the Lord God of hosts whose power is over all the works of His hand in heaven above and the earth beneath. His deliverance proves how the golden chain of truth binds youth to the throne of God with strength from heaven to confess allegiance to God, calling youth never to be ashamed of their colors but to unfurl them to the gaze of men and angels by choice words and a consistent course of action, by propriety and earnest piety, with Christ occupying the throne in the soul temple and every talent laid without reserve at His feet for His service. His course requires just as strict integrity from others, especially in Sabbathkeeping, refusing to accommodate circumstances or lower the standard to meet people or kings and placing himself where he would lose his life rather than dishonor God, and it foreshadows the test coming to all who would enter the city of God whether they will keep God's commandments and His honor before them or serve the powers that be. That steadfast witness under great hostile pressure, serving God continually despite efforts to stop him and trusting God to deliver him from the lions, exposes and condemns bringing pressure upon God's workers to accept and promote work that God condemns and that unsettles faith.