How Did Daniel Sleep With The Lions Without Being Afraid?
Answer: Daniel was a young man when he was captured and taken to Babylon. He lived the rest of his life there, serving four kings, but he always remained true to God.
One day, when he was an old man, the last of these kings, Darius, signed a law stating that no one could ask a favor of (or pray to) anyone except him, the king.
(This was a trick by some powerful men to get rid of Daniel.) Because Daniel ignored the new law and continued to pray to God, the king had to punish him by putting him into a den of lions.
Daniel spent all night with the lions but wasn’t hurt. The Bible doesn’t say that Daniel wasn’t afraid. Rather, Daniel was willing to face the lions because he trusted in God.
Daniel had seen what God could do (see Daniel 3:1-30 and 5:1-31) and believed that obeying God was right, even if it meant being in danger.
Even if Daniel was afraid, he faced the lions bravely because of his confidence in God.
Key verse: “My God has sent his angel. He shut the lions’ mouths so that they can’t touch me. I am innocent before God. And I have not done anything wrong to you.” (Daniel 6:22)
Related verses: Psalms 3:6; 23:4; 27:1; 91:5; Daniel 6:1-28
Related questions: Why did they want to throw Daniel in the lions’ den? What would have happened if Daniel had obeyed Darius and didn’t pray three times a day anymore?
Why Didn’t The Jews Ever Change Their Clothes While They Were Rebuilding The Walls?
Answer: After seventy years in Babylon, God had the king begin to let his people go back home again. Although Nehemiah lived in Babylon and served the king there, he still loved his own country, Israel, especially the capital city, Jerusalem.
When he heard that the walls were still tom down, he became very upset. (In those days, a city’s walls helped protect it from invading armies, and good, solid walls showed that the city was doing well.)
So Nehemiah asked for and received permission from the king to return to Jerusalem to organize the wall-building project.
Not everyone in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas wanted the wall to be rebuilt; some were trying hard to stop the project.
So all the workers had to be on guard constantly and to be organized so that the work could continue twenty-four hours a day.
Nehemiah and the workers were so determined to rebuild the walls that they didn’t change their clothes (except to wash) and always kept their weapons with them. Soon the wall was rebuilt.
Key verse: During this time we never took off our clothes except for washing. This included me, my brothers, the servants, and the guards who were with me. And we carried our weapons with us at all times. (Nehemiah 4:23)
Related verses: Nehemiah 1:1-2:20; 4:1-23
Related questions: Why didn’t all the Jews go back to Israel? Why did Nehemiah cry when he heard that the walls of Jerusalem were broken? Why didn’t the Jews rebuild the walls of Jerusalem before Nehemiah came?