After Nebuchadnezzar died, his grandson Belshazzar reigned in his place as king in Babylon. But after Belshazzar was killed, a new line of kings and a new kingdom rose to power—as Daniel predicted. Babylon was overtaken by the Medes and the Persians, and Darius was the new king.

Darius organized his reign with various rulers over different parts of the kingdom. Daniel was one of the key rulers. Some of the other rulers were jealous because the king thought so highly of Daniel. They tried to find a reason to get Daniel in trouble, but Daniel was so careful and so faithful that they found no complaints to bring before the king.

Instead they got busy on a nasty plan. The rulers flattered the king. “You are an amazing king,” they said. “You ought to make a law that forbids your subjects to worship any god but you. And if they worship another god, you should throw them into the den of lions.” The king must have thought himself pretty important because he thought this was a swell idea. He signed the document, and it became the law of the land.

Daniel had been a good helper for Darius, but he knew Darius was no god. Daniel worshiped the true God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—and prayed to the Lord three times a day. Just because the new law said everyone needed to pray to Darius didn’t mean Daniel was going to stop praying to the real God.

When the jealous leaders saw Daniel praying to the Lord—just like they knew he would—they hurried to the palace to tattle to the king. Darius was upset. He never meant for his friend to be fed to the lions, but he had signed the decree, and now he didn’t dare change it. As Daniel was cast into the den, the king cried out, “May your God deliver you!” The den was covered with a stone and sealed with the king’s own ring. Darius returned to his home a sad man. He didn’t sleep all night.

As soon as it was morning, the king got up and ran to the lion’s den. He yelled out in a panic, like your mom might if she saw you riding your bike in the middle of the road. Darius said, “O Daniel, has your God kept you safe from the lions?” I bet the king was nervous about what he would hear next. Would it be the voice of Daniel or the roar of a well-fed lion? “I’m okay!” Daniel replied. “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths. I am innocent before God and have done nothing to harm you, O king.”

The king was glad. He ordered Daniel to be set free and commanded the wicked men and their families to be cast into the den of lions. Before they hit the ground, the sleeping lions woke up and did their worst. Then King Darius signed a new decree calling on all the people to tremble and fear before the
God of Daniel—the God who performs mighty signs and is mighty to save. Darius saw firsthand that the true God could do what the king of the Medes
and Persians couldn’t do.