Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
| SEEING JESUS IN |
| Daniel |
| Thrown to the Lions |
| Daniel 6:16 – Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” |
| Psalm 22:12, 13, 21 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! |
Daniel was thrown to the lions. Death was a certainty.
To be “thrown to the lions” is a common saying. It speaks of being a sacrificial offering for some greater good, or of a treachery received to preserve some self serving peer or “friend”. We all have experienced “being thrown to the lions”
For Daniel, it was no euphemism, for he faced real lions in a real den. And the treachery of it all. It is hard to fathom.
Until the Lord arrives on the earth, and He ruffles some feathers. His message of love and acceptance, of a call to a holy life beyond rules and regulations, really ticked off some rule keepers. His message caused their righteous appearance to be unveiled as hypocrisy before God, and all the world saw it.
This was not to be allowed. Those in power, who had their righteous appearance stripped from them, would not tolerate this shaming.
As we read in the Psalms, our Messiah’s enemies acted as lions in their voracious desire to consume Him, to destroy Him. As with Daniel, these lions were ready to destroy, and this time, they found success. Those lions successfully destroyed the Messiah’s body, made His blood flow, and snuffed out His life.
Yet Jesus is so much better than Daniel, in that He entered the lions den of His own will, suffered under their wickedness and triumphed over all their attacks. Even at the point of His greatest suffering, He asked for His lions to be forgiven. What an incredible Savior!
Daniel was thrown to the lions, and death was expected. Jesus was thrown to the lions and death was experienced.
Both were thrown to the lions! But Jesus is so much better!
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