“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!’” (Daniel 6:16)

When you picture Daniel in the lion’s den, what do you see? A young vibrant man full of vigour and prayerful bravery?

As I often tell the congregation where I serve, details matter. Let’s look at the details from Daniel’s timeline. 

Daniel was taken from Judah and exiled in 605 B.C. Many scholars say he was probably around 15 years old when that happened. Right before the story about Daniel being thrown to the lions, we learn that king Belshazzar died. That happened in 539 B.C. 

Therefore, if you do the math, that means when he was thrown into the lion’s den, Daniel was in his early eighties! 

What can we learn from this? 

Well, among other things, we can take from it that God uses faithful servants no matter how old they are. This is a consistent theme in the Bible. Moses was 80 when he was sent to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt, and Aaron was 83! (Exodus 7:7)

Further, Daniel’s experience also reminds us that we never stop being disciples. Sure, we may retire from our jobs, but we never retire from serving God. 

Lastly, God will give us strength when we serve him faithfully in difficult and dangerous situations. 2 Chronicles 16:9 comes to mind: “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”

God was with Daniel when he served him as a young man, and he was with him as a senior citizen too. The same is true for us. Let’s serve our God through thick and thin, trusting that his eye is specially upon his faithful children, and that he upholds his people who glorify his name.

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Notes:

-“Being someone’s answered prayer when yours feel unanswered.” Click here. Sermon.
-Bible quotes are from the ESV.