the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 5 of 5
Daniel 6:16-28
The miracle of the furnace in Daniel 3:1-30 is now repeated in the lions’ den. The man of God is spared from the jaws of the wild beasts like his three friends previously were from the heat of the fire. Hebrews 11:33-34 shows us their common secret: by faith . . . they "stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire." We may wonder why God delivered these servants, while so many others laid down their lives as martyrs at the stake or in the arena (cf. Hebrews 11:37). It is essentially to show His power that God protected these witnesses; here He is in confrontation with Darius. This episode in the prophet’s life corresponds word for word with the experience described in Psalms 57:4-5, and the solemn v. 6.
Daniel reminds us very much of the Lord Jesus. Faithful from beginning to end, that is how Christ was. He was a stranger, separate from the world but always ready to do good in it and to reveal the mind of God. Like Daniel, He gave no grounds for any accusation and was condemned without cause for His very faithfulness (cf. v. 4). But He rose triumphant out of death (the domain of the roaring lion; Psalms 22:13; Psalms 22:21) which is to be the portion of the wicked. Yes, glory to our Redeemer!
