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DANIEL 7
page 779
to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions.
The king said to him, “May your God, whom you
serve so faithfully, rescue you.”
17 A stone was brought and placed over the
mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with
his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles,
so that no one could rescue Daniel. 18 Then the
king returned to his palace and spent the night
fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and
couldn’t sleep at all that night.
19 Very early the next morning, the king got up
and hurried out to the lions’ den. 20 When he got
there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant
of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve
so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”
21 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! 22 My
God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so
that they would not hurt me, for I have been
found innocent in his sight. And I have not
wronged you, Your Majesty.”
23 The king was overjoyed and ordered that
Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was
found on him, for he had trusted in his God.
24 Then the king gave orders to arrest the
men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He
had them thrown into the lions’ den, along
with their wives and children. The lions leaped
on them and tore them apart before they even
hit the floor of the den.
25 Then King Darius sent this message to the
people of every race and nation and language
throughout the world:
“Peace and prosperity to you!
26 “I decree that everyone throughout my
kingdom should tremble with fear before
the God of Daniel.
27
For he is the living God,
and he will endure forever.
His kingdom will never be destroyed,
and his rule will never end.
He rescues and saves his people;
he performs miraculous signs and
wonders
in the heavens and on earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of
Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.*
Daniel’s Vision of Four Beasts
Earlier, during the first year of King Belshazzar’s reign in Babylon,* Daniel had a
dream and saw visions as he lay in his bed. He
wrote down the dream, and this is what he saw.
2 In my vision that night, I, Daniel, saw a
great storm churning the surface of a great sea,
7
6:28 Or of Darius, that is, the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
7:1 The first year of Belshazzar’s reign (who was co-regent
with his father, Nabonidus) was 556 b.c. (or perhaps as late
as 553 b.c.).
with strong winds blowing from every direction. 3 Then four huge beasts came up out of the
water, each different from the others.
4 The first beast was like a lion with eagles’
wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off,
and it was left standing with its two hind feet
on the ground, like a human being. And it was
given a human mind.
5 Then I saw a second beast, and it looked like
a bear. It was rearing up on one side, and it had
three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And I
heard a voice saying to it, “Get up! Devour the
flesh of many people!”
6 Then the third of these strange beasts appeared, and it looked like a leopard. It had four
bird’s wings on its back, and it had four heads.
Great authority was given to this beast.
7 Then in my vision that night, I saw a fourth
beast—terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It
devoured and crushed its victims with huge
iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath
its feet. It was different from any of the other
beasts, and it had ten horns.
8 As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three
• Protection
DA N I E L 6:22-23
Does God protect those who love him
from physical harm? Daniel trusted God
and was unharmed by the lions. Does
this mean that when we are physically
harmed that we did not trust God? We
know from other examples in the Bible
that God’s decision to physically rescue
a person or people from harm is not
based on their own faith in him. Stephen,
for example, was filled with the Holy
Spirit (Acts 6:8-10; 7:55-56), but he was
unjustly accused, arrested, and stoned
to death (Acts 7:57-60). Stephen trusted
God with his life and he died. God was
clearly at work in physically rescuing
Daniel and in allowing Stephen’s death.
He used Daniel’s rescue to bring King
Darius (and most likely others in King
Darius’s kingdom) to himself and used
Stephen’s stoning to spread the gospel
through Philip, Paul, and Peter. When we
see our life on earth through God’s eyes,
we can join Paul in saying, “We are fully
confident, and we would rather be away
from these earthly bodies, for then we
will be at home with the Lord. So whether
we are here in this body or away from
this body, our goal is to please him”
(2 Corinthians 5:8-9).