Then the king arose with the light at break of day, and went in haste unto the den of lions.
The king's own signet had sealed the den, and he had spent the night without food, music, or sleep. At first light he runs to the pit he sealed himself, to find out whether Daniel's God has saved him.
The haste in this verse is the overflow of a night described in the verse before. One writer traces the whole sequence — the signed decree, the sleepless hours, the run to the den — back to a heart that was never behind the sentence it passed.
We have seen plainly that the heart of Darius was not in what was done. Now the deed was over, and remorse filled him — despite his own stated assurance that God would deliver Daniel. He spent the next night fasting. He did without his usual music. His sleep left him. Rising early in the morning, he went in haste to the den of lions. All his thoughts were for the time centred on Daniel.
The king is in a palace and Daniel is among lions. One writer gives the better night to the prisoner.
The king had fallen into a snare; but Daniel was in good keeping. It was all right with him. "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe." A lion's den at Babylon or a prison at Philippi — it makes no difference. Faith and a good conscience can make a man happy in either. We question whether Daniel ever spent a happier night on this earth than the night he spent in the lions' den. He was there for God, and God was there with him... Who would not rather be Daniel in the den than Darius in the palace?
Another writer lists what the night cost the king himself.
His conscience accused him. His spirit was wounded. His trusted servants had betrayed and humiliated him. His own decree had trapped him, and it had made him the murderer of the most important and best loved minister in his kingdom. He tosses on his bed in the most wretched condition imaginable. At the first streak of day he is found at the mouth of the lions' den.
What the king says at the den reverses the whole tone of the plot against Daniel. The accusers had built their case entirely on the king's honour; the king now has nothing to say about himself.
Early in the morning the king hurries to the den of lions, and, to his relief, finds that God has indeed intervened. In calling to Daniel he addresses him as "the servant of the living God," and again he recognises that Daniel has served God continually. In their charge the wicked men had made everything of the king and nothing of God; the king makes everything of God and nothing of himself.
One writer reads the sealed den alongside the sealed tomb of Jesus.
Daniel is cast into the lions' den, as our blessed Lord was given to the lion (Psalm 22:21). A stone is laid on the mouth of the den and sealed with the king's signet. He is, so to speak, in a grave, as good as dead in the eyes of the world — for who has ever heard of hungry lions not devouring a man? And all this brings before us that other place — the tomb in the garden where He was laid. The stone before it bore the seal of the Roman world power.
The morning ends with Daniel lifted out untouched. One commentator explains why the king was legally free to lift him out at all, and where the protection actually came from.
The law had been upheld, and Daniel had suffered its punishment. So no one could now object on the ground of the unchangeable laws of the Medes and Persians. Darius could use his authority and command that Daniel be taken up out of the den. When they took him up, "no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God"... God produced faith in Daniel's soul, and that faith brought God in. He shielded His servant from the malice of his enemies, holding back the natural, ravenous instincts of the lions. The apostle, with Daniel in mind, speaking of the prophets, says, "Who through faith… stopped the mouths of lions" (Hebrews 11:33).
- Night — The king fasted, refused music, and lost his sleep. His early rising ends a night of remorse, not of rest.
- Contrast — The man in the palace was wretched; the man in the den was safe. Faith and a good conscience make a person happy in either place.
- Haste — His own decree had trapped him and his own conscience accused him. He runs to the den with every thought fixed on Daniel.
- Confession — At the den he calls Daniel "servant of the living God." The accusers had made everything of the king; the king now makes everything of God.
- Morning — A sealed stone, a man as good as dead, a visit at dawn: the scene points on to the sealed tomb in the garden. Daniel comes up unharmed because he trusted in his God.
And when he came near unto the den, he cried with a mournful voice unto Daniel the king spoke and said unto Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, hath thy God whom thou servest continually been able to save thee from the lions?
At dawn the most powerful man in the empire ran to a sealed pit and shouted a question at the prisoner inside. That one question holds a title he grants, a service he admits, and a doubt he cannot shake.
The cry came after a long night. One man slept through it; the other did not.
The point of this chapter is that the devoted man will be the delivered man. I will guarantee that Daniel had the best of it that night. I believe Darius spent a wretched night, fasting and sleepless. I think if you and I had gone down to the den of lions we would have found Daniel sleeping soundly. Faith in God and a good conscience are rare bedfellows, especially in a lion's den!
The night before, the king had told Daniel that his God would deliver him. By morning that confidence had shrunk to a question. Regret explains the change.
The heart of Darius was clearly not in what was done. Now the deed was carried out, and despite his stated assurance that God would deliver Daniel, remorse filled him. All his thoughts were centred on Daniel... God had not forgotten His servant. Daniel had faced the full display of Satan's power. Yet he was not, and could not be, injured, for he was under the all-powerful protection of the living God.
Darius does not call him a governor or a favourite. The title he shouts into the pit is a public verdict on a life.
And see in the end what remarkable honour Daniel received. He stood publicly identified with the one living and true God. "O Daniel," cried the king, "servant of the living God." Truly he had earned this title for himself. He was, without question, a devoted and decided servant of God... Nothing could be more marked. Nothing shows more clearly how much God values plain decision and true-hearted devotion. It does not matter where, when, or by whom it is shown.
The king repeats a phrase he used when Daniel went in. Compare his words with the charge his officials had brought.
Early in the morning the king hurries to the den of lions, and, to his relief, finds that God has indeed stepped in. In calling to Daniel he addresses him as "the servant of the living God," and again he recognises that Daniel has served God continually. In their charge the wicked men had made everything of the king and nothing of God; the king makes everything of God and nothing of himself.
Daniel came up from the pit unhurt. One writer traces that rescue further back than the miracle, to the faith of the man inside.
This reveals the whole secret of his protection and deliverance. God Himself produced faith in his soul, and that faith brought God in. He shielded His servant from the hatred of his enemies by holding back the wild, hungry instincts of the lions. The apostle, with Daniel in mind, speaking of the prophets, says, "who through faith... stopped the mouths of lions" (Hebrews 11:33). It was one of the victories of faith that should encourage the people of God to trust in Him and to count on Him at all times.
The king says your God, not my God. How far did his respect go, and what did it lead to?
Nebuchadnezzar forbade anyone to speak evil of the God of Israel, and he praised the King of heaven who had humbled him. But Darius commands that everyone everywhere acknowledge the God of Daniel and of Israel. He is the only living God, whose kingdom is everlasting, and He had indeed delivered the man who trusted in Him. It appears that Darius had some respect for God and for Daniel's godliness. It was not his God, but the God of Daniel: still he honours Him, and even calls Him the living God.
One writer reads the sealed den as more than history. It sketches a rescue still to come.
Daniel represents the remnant, the faithful few who in those last days will refuse to give up the worship of God. As a result they are cast into the den of the lions. They go through the great tribulation of the last days. Satan, the "roaring lion", would devour them, but his mouth is shut. They come out of it tried, faithful, and true for God, His witnesses.
- Continual — the king could name Daniel's unbroken service at the pit. Daniel earned that title in ordinary days, not in the crisis.
- Devoted — the devoted man became the delivered man. The king lost his sleep; the man among the lions rested.
- Able — the king asked whether God could. Faith brought God in, and the lions' mouths stayed shut.
- Living — God proved the title Darius used, and the king who once said "your God" ended by commanding a whole empire to fear Him.
- Prophetic — the den pictures the faithful shut in with the roaring lion. They come out unhurt, as God's witnesses.
Then Daniel spoke unto the king, O king, live for ever!
A law against prayer had put Daniel in the lions' den overnight. At daybreak the first sound from the pit is not a groan but a greeting to the king who put him there. That greeting raises two questions: how could Daniel speak so kindly to this king, and on what ground could he expect God to keep him alive?
One writer weighs the king's night against the prisoner's, and finds the chapter's rule in the difference.
The point of this chapter is that the devoted man will be the delivered man. I would guarantee that Daniel had the best of it that night. I believe Darius spent a wretched night, fasting and sleepless. I think if you and I had gone down to the den of lions we would have found Daniel sleeping soundly. Faith in God and a good conscience are rare bedfellows, especially in a lion's den!
There is no reproach in what Daniel says. The man the king's own law had sentenced opens with a wish for that king's long life, and then names God as his own.
"O king, live forever," sounded loyally and joyfully from the lips of the man of God. "My God," he said — claiming Him as his own by a right and title now renewed — "sent His angel, and shut the lions' mouths." Yes, God was able to deliver, and had done so.
Daniel does not say "God." He says "my God." One writer presses that small word on the reader, and shows how anyone can be sure of it.
Dear friend, can you say, as Daniel did, "My God"?… When I say "my," it means something I own — someone I know. He is mine — my God. And how can I be sure that God is my God? The Lord Jesus Christ had no sin. On the cross He bore our sins and the judgment of God, and at last He cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"… God forsook Him so that you and I might be accepted.
Daniel was not spared the den. One writer says what was really in that pit with him, and why the lions could never touch him.
God had not forgotten His servant. Daniel had faced the full display of Satan's power, yet he was not injured, and he could not be. He was under the almighty protection of the living God. So he was able to answer the king's question, after the usual loyal greeting: "My God has sent His angel, and has shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me."
Daniel gives a reason for his rescue: he was innocent — before God first, and then before the king. One writer draws a rule from that order.
Notice, however, that Daniel claimed that "innocency" was found in him before God. The lesson is this. Without a good conscience in His sight, we could not know we were under God's protection. We could not claim His help — or, to put it better, expect it. Before the king Daniel was as clear as he was before God. Like the apostle Paul, he had a conscience free of offence towards God and towards men.
The story also looks forward. One writer reads Darius and Daniel as pictures of two figures in the last days.
Darius himself seems a man we can take a good deal of interest in. He drew back from what he had done. But as a picture he stands for the Beast — man's complete turning away from God. Daniel represents the remnant, the faithful few who in those last days will refuse to give up the worship of God. As a result they are thrown into the den of the lions. They go through the great tribulation of the last days. Satan, the "roaring lion," wants to devour them, but his mouth is shut. They come out of it tried, faithful, and true for God.
- Devotion — "the devoted man will be the delivered man." The prayers that put Daniel in the den are why he walked out of it.
- Deliverance — Daniel was not lucky. God's almighty protection covered him all night, so the lions could not hurt him.
- Possession — Daniel did not say "God" but "my God"; the cross is what lets anyone else say it too.
- Conscience — Daniel was clear before God first, then before the king. A good conscience is the ground for expecting His help.
- Preview — the faithful few of the last days meet the same roaring lion. His mouth is shut too, and they come out tried, faithful and true.
My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innocence was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
Daniel has spent a night in a den of lions. At first light the king comes to the den, not knowing whether he will hear a voice or silence. Daniel's answer names three things: who acted, how He acted, and why.
Scripture says almost nothing about the night itself. One writer notes that silence, and what Daniel says anyway.
Daniel replies to the king with a glad voice: "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me." Scripture has drawn a veil over what happened through that night. Scripture tells us only that God's angel was there — no doubt a visible sign from God — and that the lions' mouths were shut. Daniel's mouth is opened in praise and thankfulness as he now confesses what God has done.
God did not spare Daniel the den. He kept him alive inside it.
God had not forgotten His servant. Daniel faced the full display of Satan's power. Yet he was not, and could not be, injured, for he was under the almighty protection of the living God.
Daniel does not simply say "God." He says "My God," and one writer turns that little word into a question for the reader.
Can you say, like Daniel, "My God"? If you do not learn to say "My God" on earth, you will never learn to say it in eternity… When I say "my," it means something I possess — someone I know. I possess Him — my God. And how can I be sure that God is my God? The Lord Jesus Christ had no sin. On the cross He bore our sins and the judgment of God. At last He cried out, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" God forsook Him so that you and I might be accepted.
Daniel gives the reason for the rescue, and it runs two ways: toward God and toward the king. Where the ESV says "blameless," older translations say "innocency."
Notice, though, that Daniel claimed God found "innocency" in him. Here is the lesson. Without a good conscience in His sight, we could not know that we are under God's protection, nor could we claim, or rather expect, His help. Before the king Daniel was as clear as he was before God. Like the apostle Paul, he had a conscience free of offence toward God and toward men.
A clear conscience is not a matter of personality. One writer explains how you get one and how you keep it.
This reminds us of the apostle Paul. He says to his accusers, "So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man." That is what all Christians should do. And how do you get and keep a conscience free of offence toward God? You get it first of all when the blood of the Lamb washes you clean. You keep it by walking in dependence on God and in obedience to Him.
Two men passed the same hours. Only one of them rested.
The point of this chapter is that the devoted man will be the delivered man. I will guarantee that Daniel had the best of it that night. I believe Darius spent a wretched night, fasting and sleepless. I think if you and I had gone down to the den of lions we should have found Daniel sleeping soundly. Faith in God and a good conscience are rare bedfellows, especially in a lion's den!
The plotters wrote a law they thought could not fail. They had left out one thing.
The men who drew up the decree left God out of their calculations. They had not counted on any power being able to restrain the ferocity of the lions. They had made no provision in their decree that anyone thrown to the lions must be killed by the lions. So the law was fulfilled and Daniel was saved.
Commentators also read this chapter as a picture of something still ahead.
Daniel represents the remnant, the faithful few who in those last days will refuse to give up the worship of God. As a result they are cast into the den of the lions. They go through the great tribulation of the last days. Satan the "roaring lion" would devour them, but his mouth is shut. They come out of it tried, faithful, and true for God.
- Sent. God did not cancel the den. He sent His angel into it and shut the lions' mouths, with Daniel still lying where his enemies had put him.
- Mine. Daniel says "my God," not just "God" — a God he has and knows for himself.
- Clear. He points to innocence before God and no harm done to the king. That is a conscience clean in both directions: washed by the blood of the Lamb, kept by obedience.
- Rested. The devoted man is the delivered man. The accused slept; the king who signed the decree lay awake fasting.
- Reversed. The plotters left God out of their reckoning. So the law stood and Daniel lived — a picture of a faithful few who come through the roaring lion's worst.
Thereupon was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.
The king pulls Daniel out of the den alive, without a scratch, and Scripture pauses to tell us why. The reason is not the king's change of heart, nor Daniel's rank, but his trust in God.
One writer traces Daniel's untouched body back to something God had first worked inside him.
When they took him up, "no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God" (v. 23). The whole secret of his protection and deliverance is revealed here. God Himself produced this faith in his soul. That faith brought in God, who shielded His servant from the malice of his enemies. He held back the natural, ravenous instincts of the lions. The apostle, with Daniel in mind, speaking of the prophets, says, "who through faith … stopped the mouths of lions" (Hebrews 11:33).
In the previous verse Daniel points to his clear conscience; here the narrator points to his faith. One writer holds both together, then turns the question on the reader.
He simply states what his walk before God had been, and what his conduct had been in relation to the king. "So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him." Why? "Because he had trusted in his God" (v. 23). Do you believe in God? If you are a believer in God, you are sure to be blessed.
The men who framed the law had thought of everything except God. Their own wording left the door open for the outcome recorded in this verse.
The men who drew up the decree left God out of their calculations. They had not counted on any power being able to restrain the ferocity of the lions. They made no provision in their decree that anyone thrown to the lions must be killed by the lions. So the law was fulfilled and Daniel was saved. These malicious men were exposed for what they were. They were thrown into the den of lions with their families, caught in the trap they had laid for the man of God.
Daniel was not smuggled out. One writer imagines Darius answering the accusers the next morning.
My law has been honoured, my throne left stainless, and my heart's desire granted as well. Daniel has already been cast into the den of lions. He satisfied the fullest claims of a broken law, and then he was taken out again… So I am as righteous in refusing to hear the charge against him today as I was in putting him into the den yesterday! My First President is free — righteously free! — and every breath of accusation must from now on be silenced for ever.
The same writer then applies the picture to the believer. Daniel went in himself; the believer did not.
Now to apply. What happened to Daniel personally has taken place for the believer substitutionally.
One writer compares Daniel with his three friends in the fiery furnace.
"Then the king was exceedingly glad… So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." A happy testimony! Daniel honoured God, and God honoured Daniel. No harm came to his three friends in the burning fiery furnace. They had refused to worship the image. No harm came to Daniel. He had refused to stop worshipping God. Their conduct was negative; his was positive. They said "no"; he said "yes."… Faith, like a gold coin, has two sides: the negative that refuses evil, and the positive that chooses good.
Commentators also read the chapter as a picture of things to come. One looks past Daniel to a greater sufferer.
Can we read all this without thinking of One who came later? Because of His faithfulness to His Father and God, He was counted among the lawbreakers, and went down among lions (Ps. 57:4; 22:13). Yet He … was saved from the lion's mouth by the same power that delivered Daniel.
Others read Daniel himself as standing for a faithful few in a coming day of pressure.
Daniel represents the remnant, the faithful few who in those last days will refuse to give up the worship of God. As a result they are cast into the den of lions. They go through the great tribulation of the last days, when Satan the "roaring lion" would devour them. But his mouth is shut, and they come out of it tested, faithful and true for God.
- Believed — the cause. The verse names the reason Daniel came out unharmed: faith. God worked it in him, and it brought God Himself into the den.
- Believed — while they calculated. His enemies counted on the lions, the law and the king, but left God out. Their own decree said "cast in," not "killed" — and it destroyed them instead.
- Believed — and righteously freed. Daniel served the penalty in full and came out with the law honoured and every accusation silenced. What happened to him personally has been done for the believer in his place.
- Believed — and said yes. His friends refused to worship the image; Daniel refused to stop worshipping God. Faith both turns from evil and chooses good, and neither kind was harmed.
- Believed — and pointed forward. Commentators see the night among lions as a faint picture of Christ's suffering, and Daniel as a picture of a faithful few who come out tested and true.
And the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and broke all their bones in pieces ere they came to the bottom of the den.
Daniel walks out of the den without a scratch, and the same day the king sends the men who framed him down into it. Two questions follow: why did the lions spare one man and tear apart the next, and does God still deal with evildoers this way?
Daniel's rescue did not close the case. One writer shows why the king acted, and how the plot rebounded on the men who made it.
The king's work was not finished when Daniel was delivered. What had happened made him fully aware of how great the wickedness of his officials was, and in righteous anger he passed sentence on them. These men fell into the pit which their own hands had dug, and their own feet were caught in the snare they had laid for Daniel. In this way God testified to His servant, and executed judgment upon His enemies.
The sentence came through the very ruler they had used as their instrument.
In Daniel 6 we see not only Daniel delivered but also the evil men who conspired against him judged. They and their families suffered the exact fate they had designed for Daniel, and that by the order of the king they had deceived into the evil law.
The plotters wrote what looked like a watertight law. One gap in its wording left God room to act.
The men who drew up the decree left God out of their calculations. They had not counted on any power being able to restrain the ferocity of the lions. They had made no provision in their decree that anyone thrown to the lions must be killed by the lions. So the law was fulfilled and Daniel was saved. These malicious men were fully exposed. They were thrown into the den of lions with their families, caught in the snare they had laid for the man of God.
The bones broken before the men even reached the floor of the den show the lions were never tamed. Daniel's survival had one cause only.
Faith, which God produced in his soul, brought God in. He shielded His servant from the malice of his enemies by subduing and holding back the lions' natural, ravenous instincts. The apostle, with Daniel in mind, speaking of the prophets, says, "Who through faith... stopped the mouths of lions" (Hebrews 11:33).
Commentators read this chapter as more than history. They see a pattern — the faithful man kept safe, his accusers destroyed — that points forward to Israel's future.
Daniel is cast into the lions' den. God preserves him. He will do the same for the remnant of Israel at the end of the age. The judgment which the enemies of Israel sought to bring on those who were faithful among that people is executed on themselves.
Another writer names the event that will end their danger.
But God will Himself protect them, and stepping in for their release by the appearing of Christ, will bring on their enemies the very judgment they had designed for His people.
If God struck down Daniel's accusers, why does He not do the same now? One writer answers from a parallel in the book of Acts.
Acts 12, which begins with the deliverance of Peter, ends with the judgment of Herod. In both cases an angel "smote." He smote Peter up for deliverance, and then smote Herod down to a miserable and disgusting death. God has not repeated these actions, just because we live in this Gospel age, which is characterized by grace. When this age of grace ends, we shall see God's saints completely delivered, and their oppressors completely judged.
The plot was meant to put out Daniel's witness. It did the exact opposite.
In this marvellous way God made the wrath of man praise Him. The attempt to put out the light of His testimony in Babylon for ever became the means of kindling that light across the whole earth.
- Trap — The men dug a pit and fell into it themselves; their own feet were caught in the snare they set for Daniel.
- Oversight — Their decree ordered the offender thrown to the lions. It never said the lions must kill him, and that gap left room for God to rescue.
- Faith — Daniel came up unhurt because he believed in his God. The same jaws that spared him crushed his accusers, so the lions were never harmless.
- Not yet — God has not repeated such judgments in this age of grace. When the age ends, He will preserve the faithful remnant of Israel and turn the judgment aimed at them onto their enemies.
- Reversal — The plot meant to snuff out God's testimony in Babylon became the means of spreading it across the empire.