What are Your Lions?--by Linden Malki

Darius the Mede had a problem that came to a head with a den of lions. We don't know a lot about him, but he apparently came from Media, which had previously been eaten by Persia. He had been involved with the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, and was a subordinate of Cyrus the Great and wound up with the responsibility of governing this part of the growing Persian empire.  He appointed satraps, or local governors, of the outlying provinces, and they reported to three officials of this King.  One of these was Daniel, a Judean who had been brought to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Jerusalem, and had been a high official for many years.  Now, the new Persian overlord wanted Daniel as his main deputy.

One of the lions loose in the government was the longstanding animosity of many of the other officials, probably including holdovers from the previous empire, to Daniel's standing with the previous kings. Now, with a new king, they tried again to get rid of Daniel. They knew what was his most vulnerable spot: his insistence on being true to his God. 

Darius had his own lions as well: he didn't realize the depth of the hatred for Daniel that was prowling around in his palace, and he probably didn't realize the depth of Daniel's obedience to Yahweh.  New man on the job, a little unsure of himself, and wanted someone like Daniel to have his back.  When the other members of his staff came to him with the suggestion that he put out a decree demanding worship, he apparently didn't realize the implications. One thing about the Persians was that they had a tradition of legal authority that said that anything officially recorded as a "Law of the Medes and the Persians" could not be repealed. (This came in handy later when the exiles returned to Jerusalem with a decree from Cyrus, the Persian emperor, authorizing the rebuild.)   So when Daniel's enemies came to Dairus to point out that Daniel was praying to his God, not the king, Darius was stuck. The problem with lions is that they bite.

We know the ending of the story: Daniel's God was stronger than the decree and the lions, and Daniel's enemies found out that lions could bite them, too.

Asiatic lions were common in the area at this time; we find many illustrations of lions in much of the eastern ancient world. They disappeared from southeastern Europe by late Roman times (some blame the Roman games for their disappearance) but were occasionally seen as late as the early 1900's in remote areas of Turkey and Iran.   They have always been a symbol of both strength and danger.

We can have "lions" in our lives as well--things that we want because they are strong but with a potential for disaster. We think that we can take advantage of the strength and control the danger, but the teeth and claws are sharp and quick. But we also have the advantage that Daniel had: a God who is stronger than the lions and can shut their mouths.