July 13: UP AND OUT!

Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God. Daniel 6:23

The king’s joy for Daniel was magnified by his genuine admiration and respect for the man of integrity whose excellent spirit (v.3) brought benefits to those around him as he served humbly and ably. The gladness of King Darius more than displaced his earlier distress over his own regrettable actions.

The king’s command to take Daniel up out of the den is reminiscent of a baptism of sorts! (see Acts 8:36-39) It is not common to see up and out back-to-back. For followers of Jesus, baptism symbolizes a death to sin followed by a resurrection to a new life of obedience to the Lord (see Romans 6:5). The Lord Jesus Himself gave us an example of baptism (Matthew 3:16), and it is credited to His followers who are unable to be baptized (see Luke 23:42). Is it possible that our experiences in this fallen world as followers of Christ can seem as though we are immersed in approaching death? Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are counted as sheep for the slaughter (Psalm 44:22) and Paul adds: Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37).

It is only natural that they would want to inspect Daniel very closely after he spent the night in the lions’ den. The fact that no injury whatever was found on him corroborates Daniel’s testimony. His enemies may have attributed the preservation of Daniel to a supposition that at this time the lions do not happen to be hungry, rather than admire the faith of Daniel in his God or the power of his God to effect a miracle. Their theory may have become the subject of a test.

And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den. Daniel 6:24

Daniel’s “baptism” in the den of lions certainly resulted in a glorious “resurrection”. This is a prophetic picture of the divine plan to bring God’s faithful servants up out of this fallen world and into the new, recreated one to come. This is great news!

The righteous is delivered from trouble, And it comes to the wicked instead. Proverbs 11:8