Memory verse: “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me.” Daniel 6:22.

We learned in the last lesson that the kingdom of Medo-Persia overtook Babylon in one swift night. Darius became the king over the Medes. In Daniel 5:31 we see that Darius was 32 years old at the time. The kingdom of Babylon lasted about 66 years. Daniel had served all the years under king Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Daniel was faithful to his God, and we have seen how God used Daniel to interpret the handwriting on the wall. Daniel was a man of prayer. He had brought the knowledge of God to King Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom. The three Hebrews were also a witness for God, and God delivered them from the fiery furnace. God used Daniel’s consistency in prayer to bring the knowledge of truth before the Medo-Persian Empire.

1. Darius set a hundred and twenty princes over the whole kingdom. Who was set over these princes? Daniel 6:2. “And over these ___________ _____________; of whom _____________ was __________: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.” (You may want to read the whole chapter of Daniel 6.)

2. Why was Daniel put over all the presidents and princes? See Daniel 6:3: “Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an _____________ ____________ was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.” We would do well to have the spirit of Daniel. We need much prayer and we need to ask for this spirit to be in our lives.

3. Did this cause the presidents and princes to look for something in Daniel, that they could use against him? They didn’t have a good spirit in them. See Daniel 6:4. “Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as ________ was _____________, _______________ was there any ___________ or _____________ found in ____________.” Could they find any fault in him?” _____ . Read verses 5-7. The presidents and princes started looking for something wrong with Daniel and his worship of God. They themselves were worshipers of idols and nature.

4. They came up with a plan that made it look like, they wanted to give great honor to the king, that they loved so much. What was their plan? Daniel 6:7 says: “All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a __________ _____________, that whosoever shall __________ a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, _____ _____________, he shall be __________ into the _________ of ____________.” So the king signed the decree (verse 9). He did not see through their plan, he was pleased that they wanted to honor him so.

5. What was Daniel’s habit of prayer? How many times a day? See Daniel 6:10. “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his ____________ being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he ______________ upon his knees _____________ ____________ a __________, and ____________, and gave thanks before his God, as he did __________________.”

6. Then the men watched to see if Daniel would break the decree of worship only to the king. What did they find? Daniel 6:11 says: “Then these men assembled, and found Daniel ____________ and _________ _____________ before his _____________.” Remember that only requests to the king were acceptable for 30 days. For this period of time, no one was to ask anything of any god or man. The men went to the king and said, O king, the decree that you signed; we know Daniel has not kept it. He still prays to the God of heaven. (verse 13).

7. Could the king change the law? Daniel 6:12. “Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, the thing is true, according to the ___________ of the ____________ and ______________, which ___________ ___________.” Read verses 14-15. The king was displeased with Daniel's conviction under his egocentric law, but, once made, the law could not be changed.

8. What did the king command to be done? Daniel 6:16 (first part) says: “Then the king commanded, and they ___________ ____________, and __________ ___________ into the _________ of __________. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.”

9. To make the den secure, what did they do to the opening? See Daniel 6:17. “And a ___________ was brought, and laid upon the ______________ of the ___________; and the ___________ sealed it with his own ____________, and with the _____________ of his ___________; that the ______________ might ______________ _____________ ______________ concerning ______________.”

10. In verse 18 it sounds like the king had a bad night, so he arose early in the morning. Where did he go? Daniel 6:19 says: “Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the ___________ of _____________.”

11. The king cried out to Daniel “O Daniel, servant of the living ____________, is thy _____________, whom thou servest continually, able to ____________ ____________ from the lions?” He would not have said these words if he did not have faith that God would save Daniel from the lions.

12. Did he hear anything other than the noise of the lions? Daniel 6:22 says: “__________ ____________ hath sent his ____________, and hath ___________ the _____________’ mouth, that they have __________ ___________ ___________: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.”

13. What was the king’s reaction? Daniel 6:23 says: “Then was the king _____________ _________ for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and _________ manner of _________ was found _________ __________, because he believed in his God.” Why was Daniel saved from the lions? Daniel was saved because, “he believed in his God.” He now has shown to the Medo-Persian Empire the true God of heaven. Daniel was a witness to many people of this nation just because he continually prayed to his God. He was not ashamed to stand up and do what was right.

14. Daniel was taken out of the den of lions and there was no hurt on him. What did the king do next? Daniel 6:24 says: “And the king commanded, and they ____________ those _________ which had ___________ ____________, and they ___________ ____________ into the ___________ of __________, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and __________ ________ their ______________ in ___________ or ever they came at the bottom of the den.” They didn’t even make it to the bottom!

15. The king now makes a new decree, he said Daniel’s God is the living God. Daniel 6:26. “I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and ______________ ________ __________, and his kingdom that which ________ __________ be ________________, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.” Verse 27. “He _____________ and ______________, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the _____________ of the _______________.”

16. We see a change coming in verse 28. It says, “so this Daniel ___________ in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of ___________ the Persian.” Darius was placed on the throne in 539 B.C. Two years later Cyrus the Persian took the throne. So it was between 539 B.C. and the next two years when Cyrus took the throne that this story took place, for it was in the reign of Darius that Daniel was put in the lions’ den. (Cyrus was a nephew of Darius by marriage.) Now the world had a new king. He was the greatest monarch of the Persian Empire.

Lesson 8

Lesson 10