Our Lion is bigger than their lion!

The Word for today:
Daniel 6


I love "Daniel in the Lions' Den." Some might say it's just a story for kids. To them I say, You're darn right!

And since I'm just a kid in the kingdom of God, that makes "Daniel in the Lions' Den" a story for me!

I heard some learned professor expound on this story once. He made the meaning sound all spiritual and theological and he missed the point of the story by about a mile. Because any kid in God's kingdom will tell you that the story isn't theological at all. And it's not spiritual and all that.

What it means is this:
My Lion is bigger, better, 'badder,' smarter, and just all around super-ior to the second-rate pussycat that the bad guys call their "lion."

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What happens in the story is that the bad guys get the king to sign a law saying that if anyone prays to God he will be thrown to the lions. They made this law specifically because they knew Daniel was faithful to God and always said his prayers no matter what. They were jealous of Daniel because he was the king's favorite. They wanted Daniel out of the way so they could be the king's favorites instead.

Sure enough, Daniel is caught praying. So it's off to the lions' den for him.

Now right here a lot of people say that the lions grew tame. That's where they get it wrong, because those lions weren't tamed at all. They were still mean and hungry. But God shut their mouths so that they couldn't hurt Daniel. They couldn't hurt Daniel because he believed in God:
So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God. (6:23)

Then the tables are turned. The king rounds up the men who tried to get Daniel killed and he has them thrown into the lions' den. And the lions ate them all up!

Which goes to show that Jesus, who is the Lion of Judah, is able to stop the devil, our adversary, who walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  (Revelation 5:5; 1 Peter 5:8)

If you don't believe in Jesus--like those bad guys in the story--then you're fair game for Satan. But if you do believe in Jesus, like Daniel and me, then our Lion of Judah is stronger than the devil any day.

Notice, in the Bible verse just above, that the devil is like a lion. That means he's not a real lion, but just a wannabe lion. He wants to be like God:
How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.  (Isaiah 14:12-14)

He's jealous of God in the same way that the bad guys in the story were jealous of Daniel. And, just like them, he ends up in the pit himself!  He wants to take God's place. But that isn't going to happen! Any kid can tell you that.

Sometimes we kids know way more about Bible stories than those highfalutin professors will ever know!

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