Why did King Darius throw Daniel into a den of lions?
Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, who had thrown Daniel’s friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, into a furnace, Darius wasn’t filled with “rage and fury” (Daniel 3:13, 19). He was genuinely sorry to punish Daniel and spent the rest of the day trying to find some way to save him (Daniel 6:14). When it turned out to be impossible, he said to Daniel, “Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee” (Daniel 6:16).
The leaders who had tricked the king into signing the order which led to Daniel’s attempted execution insisted that he could not change his mind. “No decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed,” they said (Daniel 6:15). The king was apparently dependent on their collective support and felt he had no choice but to follow the unwisely enacted law.
When he returned early the following morning after a sleepless night, the king discovered that his faith in Daniel’s God had been vindicated. “My God hath sent his angel,” declared Daniel, “and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me” (Daniel 6:22). God had done what the king was incapable of doing: preserved Daniel’s innocent life.
The people described in the Book of Mormon didn’t have the book of Daniel, but they did engage in attempted executions by dangerous animals. After the post-mortal ministry of Jesus Christ in the Americas, three of His disciples were subjected to many life-threatening punishments, including this one:
And twice were they cast into a den of wild beasts; and behold they did play with the beasts as a child with a suckling lamb, and received no harm.
3 Nephi 28:22; see also 4 Nephi 1:33
This description is reminiscent of Daniel’s experience but differs in at least one key respect: Daniel merely says that God’s angel “shut the lions’ mouths.” The lions were prevented from hurting him, but there’s no indication that they didn’t want to do so. But the three disciples played with their wild beasts like a child playing with a lamb. This description sounds more like a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isaiah 11:6-9; see also 2 Nephi 21:6-9; 30:12-15
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
Since this peaceful state is preceded by the arrival of the Messiah in Isaiah’s prophecy, it’s fitting that the disciples experienced something similar after spending time with the Savior. There’s no indication that wild animals became universally tame, but these events in which wild beasts played harmlessly with people were at least symbolic of the peace He had ushered in.
God has the power to protect us from our enemies, but He can do more than that. He can change enemies into friends.
Today I will trust God not only to deliver me from challenging circumstances, but also to help me build positive relationships with the people around me.
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