Daniel's Greater Story

OH MY WORD!!!  Why have I NEVER seen this before?!!

Photo courtesy of lds.org

That was my reaction this week while completing a Nancy Guthrie Bible study lesson about the familiar story of Daniel and the lion's den.  I am in my 3rd decade of faith in Christ and I have NEVER seen Christ in this story until NOW! I just had to share about what I learned with you today, so bear with me--I am short on time, so forgive the bullet points!

(If you are not familiar with the story, check it out here in Daniel chapter 6)

Daniel

• was a citizen of Jerusalem, living as an exile in Babylon (Dan 1:3-4)
• was without fault yet opposed by envious leaders who corrupted the justice system to condemn him (Dan 6: 5-10)
• Darius wanted to release Daniel instead of sending him to the lion's den (Dan 6:14)
• did not say anything in his defense (Dan 6:16)
• was placed in a den (cave) which was sealed off with a stone so that he could not be saved by  human intervention (Dan 6:17)
• willingly faced the threat of death (Dan 6:10, 19)
• when the stone was removed the next day, Daniel came out unscathed, metaphorically brought back from the dead (Dan 6:23)
• all those who were opposed to Daniel perished in the lion's den (Dan 6:24)

Christ

• came down from Heaven; his kingdom is not of this world (John 6:33, 18:36)
• the chief priests were looking for a sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him, yet could find no evidence against him (Mark 14:1, 55, 64)
• Pilate and Herod found no basis for charges against him (Luke 23:13-16)
• Jesus kept silent and made no defense/reply (Mark 15:5)
• a big stone was rolled in front of Christ's tomb to secure it (Matt 27:59-66)
• Christ prays for God's will to be done (Matt 26:39)
• Jesus was buried and rose again (Matt 28:5,1 Corin 15:3-4)
• all who are opposed to having faith in Christ will ultimately perish (John 15:6, Rev 20:15)

Do you SEE it, dear one?!

Do you SEE how the person and circumstances of Daniel point us to the TRUE HERO of Christ, our Lord and Savior, all those centuries before He even came to Earth to seek and to save the lost?

I just love how Christ shows up in so many powerful ways in the Old Testament!  While the men and women of old have many things to teach us and examples to show us how to live, let us NEVER fixate on these bible characters as they, like us, were flawed people covered by the grace of God. Instead, let us always see that they serve to point us to our only true hero...Christ!