God gave Jonah a clear command: go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it. Jonah rose up – and went the other way. He went down to Joppa, paid the fare for a ship bound for Tarshish, and went down into it.

What follows is one of the best-known stories in the Bible: a storm that nearly broke the ship, sailors who cried every man unto his god while Jonah slept, a man thrown overboard, and a great fish the LORD had prepared. It is a story about running from God, and about how far God will go to bring a runaway back.

The Story of Jonah Runs From God

The word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai: Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid the fare thereof, and went down into it.

The LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest, so that the ship was like to be broken. The mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his god. They threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. All this time Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay, and was fast asleep. The shipmaster came and woke him: What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

The sailors decided to cast lots to learn for whose cause this evil is upon us, and the lot fell upon Jonah. They asked him his occupation, his country and his people. He answered, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then the men were exceedingly afraid, because he had told them he fled from the presence of the LORD. Why hast thou done this? they asked.

As the sea grew rougher, they asked what they should do to him so the sea would be calm. Jonah said, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. The men did not want to do it. They rowed hard to bring the ship to land, but they could not. So they cried unto the LORD, asking him not to lay upon us innocent blood, and they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea – and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. From inside it, Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God. He described the floods and the waves passing over him and the weeds wrapped about his head, and said, When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD. He ended his prayer with a promise and a confession: I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. The story does not end there: in the next chapter the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, and this time he went to Nineveh.

What the Story of Jonah Runs From God Teaches Us

Jonah’s story shows that no one can get away from the presence of the LORD. Jonah went down to Joppa, down into the ship, and down into the sides of the ship, but the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea and found him there. The same God, as Jonah himself said, hath made the sea and the dry land.

The passage also shows that running from God affects other people. The sailors lost their cargo and nearly lost their lives because of a choice they had no part in. Yet by the end of the chapter, those same men feared the LORD exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto him. Even through a disobedient prophet, God made himself known.

Above all, the story shows God’s mercy to the one who ran. The LORD had prepared a great fish, and from its belly Jonah prayed, yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. His prayer ends with the line that sums up the whole account: Salvation is of the LORD.

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Amos had no background as a prophet. He worked with animals and gathered sycomore fruit. But God sent him north to Israel, in a time when the poor were being sold for the price of a pair of shoes.

His message was so unwelcome that the priest at Bethel reported him to the king and told him to go home. The way Amos answered says a great deal about who had really sent him.

The Story of Amos

The book opens with who Amos was: The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. He begins with a picture: The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem.

Amos spoke first against the nations around Israel – Damascus, Gaza, Tyrus, Edom, Ammon and Moab – each with the same opening: For three transgressions, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. Then he spoke against Judah. And then he turned to Israel itself: because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes. They turn aside the way of the meek, God said. He reminded them that he had brought them up from the land of Egypt and raised up prophets among them – but ye commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.

In chapter 5 Amos called them back: Seek ye me, and ye shall live. He named what was wrong. Your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat. Ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. They afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

Their worship had not stopped. They still held feast days and offered burnt offerings and sang songs. But the LORD said, I hate, I despise your feast days, and, Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs. What God wanted instead was this: But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

In chapter 7 the Lord GOD showed Amos visions of judgment. When he saw grasshoppers eating the grass of the land, Amos prayed, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. The LORD repented for this. When he saw fire, he prayed again, and again the LORD said, This also shall not be. Then he saw the Lord standing on a wall with a plumbline in his hand, and God said, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

That was when Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. Then Amaziah told Amos to his face, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.

Amos did not argue about his credentials. He said, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Then he gave Amaziah the word of the LORD – a hard word for Amaziah’s own house, and a warning that Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

What the Story of Amos Teaches Us

God sees how people treat the poor. The charge against Israel was specific: they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes, took a bribe, and turned aside the poor in the gate. Comfortable houses of hewn stone did not hide it from God.

Worship cannot cover injustice. Israel kept its feast days and offerings, but God said, Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs. What he asked for was let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream – fair dealing that keeps flowing, not religion that stays on the surface.

God’s call does not depend on a title. Amaziah tried to send Amos away from the king’s chapel, but Amos had not chosen this work. I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son, he said; the LORD took me as I followed the flock. When God sends someone, no one can make his word go away by telling the messenger to leave.

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Most prophets preached with words. Hosea was asked to preach with his own home. God told him to marry a wife of whoredoms, and to give his children names that spoke a message to the whole nation.

It is one of the hardest assignments in the Bible, and one of the tenderest. The marriage was meant to show Israel what their unfaithfulness to the LORD looked like – and how far the LORD was willing to go to bring them back.

The Story of Hosea and Gomer

The word of the LORD came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. The first thing God told him was startling: Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms. The reason was given at once: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. Israel had been unfaithful to God, and Hosea’s marriage would put that on display.

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. The LORD said, Call his name Jezreel, because he would soon avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

She conceived again and had a daughter, and God said, Call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel. Yet even here God added a word of hope for the south: I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and would save them – not by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, but by the LORD their God. After Lo-ruhamah was weaned, she had another son, and God said, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

Those three names sound like the end of the story, but the very next verse turns it around. The number of the children of Israel would be as the sand of the sea, and in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Judah and Israel would be gathered together and appoint themselves one head, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Chapter 2 speaks of Israel as an unfaithful wife who said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water. She did not know that it was the LORD who gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. God said he would take those gifts away. But then the tone changes: I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. The valley of Achor would become a door of hope. I will betroth thee unto me for ever, God promised, in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. And he would say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

Then the LORD spoke to Hosea again: Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods. Chapter 3 does not repeat her name, but it is told as the next step in Hosea’s own story, and it is usually read as Gomer. Hosea paid for her: So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley.

He told her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. In the same way, the children of Israel would abide many days without a king and without a sacrifice. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

What the Story of Hosea and Gomer Teaches Us

God takes unfaithfulness to him seriously. He did not describe Israel’s worship of other gods as a small mistake; he compared it to a wife leaving her husband. Hosea’s marriage and the names Lo-ruhamah and Lo-ammi made the cost of that plain: the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

Israel forgot where its blessings came from. She said her lovers gave her bread and water, but she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil. The things God had given were being spent on Baal. The passage asks every reader to remember who the Giver really is.

Judgment is not God’s last word. In the place where it was said, Ye are not my people, it would be said, Ye are the sons of the living God. Hosea bought the woman described in chapter 3, usually understood to be Gomer, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel. God’s love was willing to pay a price and to wait many days for his people to return.

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Joel opens with a question for the oldest people in the land: had anything like this ever happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Swarm after swarm had come, and each one ate what the last one left behind.

The vines were bare, the fields were wasted, and even the offerings at the house of the LORD had stopped. Joel did not tell the people to wait it out. He told them to gather, to fast, and to turn to God – and then he brought them one of the most hopeful promises in the prophets.

The Story of Joel and the Locusts

The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel began with a call to listen: Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. They were to tell their children about it, and their children another generation. What had happened was this: That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

Joel describes the swarm as a nation, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree. The field is wasted, the land mourneth. The vine was dried up, and the pomegranate, the palm and the apple trees were withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. Even worship was affected – the meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD, and the priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn.

So Joel called the priests to lead: Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests. Then he told them what to do. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD. Joel cried out himself: O LORD, to thee will I cry, for the fire had devoured the pastures, and even the beasts of the field cry also unto thee.

Chapter 2 sounds the alarm again. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, for the day of the LORD cometh. Joel pictures a great people and a strong advancing like an army. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. They run like mighty men, they climb the wall, they enter in at the windows like a thief. And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army, for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Then comes the turn. Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments. Tearing clothes was the outward sign of grief; God wanted the grief to be real on the inside. The reason to come was God himself: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. Everyone was to be called, from the elders to the children, and the priests were to weep between the porch and the altar and pray, Spare thy people, O LORD.

Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. He promised corn, and wine, and oil, the former rain and the latter rain, floors full of wheat and vats overflowing. And then the words the book is known for: I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. Ye shall eat in plenty, God said, and my people shall never be ashamed.

The promise reached even further. It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered. On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter stood up in Jerusalem and said, this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, and quoted these verses (Acts 2:16-21).

What the Story of Joel and the Locusts Teaches Us

Hard times are meant to be remembered and passed on. Joel told the old men to tell their children, and their children another generation. The locusts were not just a disaster to survive but a lesson for families to talk about together.

God cares more about the heart than the outward show. The people were to fast and weep and mourn, but the center of it was rend your heart, and not your garments. Real repentance means turning back to the LORD with all your heart, trusting that he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.

God can restore what was lost. He promised to remove the northern army and said, I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, and then promised to pour out his spirit upon all flesh. The same God who allowed the loss also promised plenty, and the promise of his Spirit was fulfilled at Pentecost.

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Many people know the phrase Daniel fast as a kind of diet. The chapter it comes from is about something else: Daniel mourning for three full weeks, and a visitor who told him why the answer took as long as it did.

Daniel 10 pulls back a curtain most of the Bible leaves closed. It speaks of a struggle unseen by human eyes, and of a God who heard a prayer on the first day, even when the answer arrived three weeks later.

The Story of Daniel’s Fast

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long. In those days, Daniel says, I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

On the four and twentieth day of the first month, Daniel was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel. He lifted up his eyes and saw a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. His body was like the beryl, his face as the appearance of lightning, his eyes as lamps of fire, his arms and feet like polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.

Daniel alone saw the vision. The men that were with him saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Left alone, Daniel says there remained no strength in me. When he heard the voice of his words he fell into a deep sleep on his face, with his face toward the ground.

A hand touched him and set him upon his knees and upon the palms of his hands. The man said, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. Daniel stood up trembling. Then came the explanation: Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

The delay had a reason. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. He had come to make Daniel understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days. Daniel set his face toward the ground and could not speak until one like the similitude of the sons of men touched his lips. Even then he said, there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.

One like the appearance of a man touched him again and strengthened him, saying, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. Daniel was strengthened and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. The messenger said he would return to fight with the prince of Persia, that the prince of Grecia would come after, and that there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. Then he would shew Daniel that which is noted in the scripture of truth, which the following chapters record.

What the Story of Daniel’s Fast Teaches Us

Daniel’s fast was an act of mourning and seeking, not a diet. He ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, and did not anoint himself for three whole weeks. The messenger described it as setting his heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God.

A delay is not the same as silence. From the first day… thy words were heard, the messenger said, yet he arrived on the twenty-fourth day because the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days. The chapter shows that there is more going on around our prayers than we can see, and that God had heard Daniel from the start.

God strengthens the weak. Again and again Daniel says his strength was gone, and again and again he is touched – set on his knees, his lips touched, and finally strengthened with the words O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. He ends ready to listen: thou hast strengthened me.

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Daniel was in Babylon, under a new king, when he read the words of the prophet Jeremiah and understood the number of the years. The seventy years God had spoken about were nearly done. His response was not to wait and watch, but to pray.

What he prayed is one of the longest confessions in the Bible, and he never once blamed anyone but his own people and himself. Before he finished, an answer arrived in person.

The Story of Daniel’s Prayer

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

So Daniel set his face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. He began with who God is: O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments.

Then he confessed, and he said we, not they. We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets. He put the two sides plainly: O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces. And he held on to hope: To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him.

Daniel admitted that everything that had come on Jerusalem was written in the law of Moses, and that even then they had not prayed that we might turn from our iniquities. He asked God to let his anger be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain, and to cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate. He was clear about what he was resting on: we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. He ended, O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake.

While he was still speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom he had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched him about the time of the evening oblation. Gabriel said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved.

Gabriel then gave the message of the seventy weeks. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. He spoke of a time from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince, of the street and the wall built again in troublous times, and said that after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. The chapter ends with a covenant confirmed for one week and the sacrifice and the oblation brought to an end.

What the Story of Daniel’s Prayer Teaches Us

Daniel’s prayer grew out of reading Scripture. He understood by books what God had told Jeremiah, and instead of treating the promise as a reason to relax, he set his face unto the Lord God with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. Knowing what God had promised moved him to ask God to do it.

His confession is honest and personal. Daniel was known for his faithfulness, yet he prayed we have sinned, we have done wickedly, and spoke of confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel. He asked for nothing on the basis of their goodness, but for thy great mercies.

God heard him at once. Gabriel said the commandment came forth at the beginning of thy supplications, and called Daniel greatly beloved. The message he brought looked far beyond the return from Babylon, to the Messiah the Prince and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness. Christians have long read the seventy weeks as pointing to Jesus the Messiah, though they have understood the details and timeline in different ways.

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The phrase the writing on the wall comes from this chapter. A king threw a party for a thousand of his lords, called for the holy vessels from God’s temple, and praised idols. In the same hour, a hand appeared and began to write.

No one in the room could read it. The man who finally could had served under Nebuchadnezzar years before, and the message he read was not one Belshazzar wanted to hear. It was fulfilled before morning.

The Story of the Writing on the Wall

Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. While he tasted the wine, he commanded them to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king, his princes, his wives, and his concubines could drink from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. His countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. He cried aloud for the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and promised that whoever read the writing would be clothed with scarlet, wear a chain of gold, and be the third ruler in the kingdom. But they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.

Then the queen came into the banquet house. O king, live for ever, she said: let not thy thoughts trouble thee. She told him there was a man in his kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, whom Nebuchadnezzar had made master of the magicians – Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.

Daniel was brought in, and the king offered him the same scarlet, chain of gold, and third place in the kingdom. Daniel answered, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king. First he reminded Belshazzar of Nebuchadnezzar: the most high God had given him a kingdom and majesty, but when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed and driven from men until he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this. He had lifted himself against the Lord of heaven, drunk from the vessels of his house, and praised gods which see not, nor hear, nor know, while the God in whose hand thy breath is he had not glorified.

Then Daniel read it: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

Belshazzar kept his word. They clothed Daniel with scarlet, put a chain of gold about his neck, and proclaimed that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

What the Story of the Writing on the Wall Teaches Us

Belshazzar’s sin was not ignorance. Daniel told him, thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this. He knew what had happened to Nebuchadnezzar when his heart was lifted up in pride, and he chose the same path anyway, using the holy vessels of God’s house to praise idols.

Daniel spoke the truth without being bought. He told the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another, and then read a message of judgment to a king’s face. He did not soften it to protect himself or to win favor.

God’s judgment in this chapter is measured and exact. God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it, and the king was weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. The God in whose hand thy breath is had given Belshazzar his kingdom, and he was the one who ended it – in that night.

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His enemies searched his work for a mistake and could not find one. So they decided the only way to catch Daniel was through the one thing he would not give up: his prayers to his God.

The trap worked exactly as planned. The king who signed it spent the whole day trying to undo it, then a sleepless night fasting in his palace. What he found there in the morning changed what he told the whole earth about the God of Daniel.

The Story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, and over them three presidents, of whom Daniel was first. Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

The other presidents and princes went looking for a charge against him, but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful. So they said, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. They came to the king together and asked him to make a firm decree: whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. They urged him to sign it according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not, and king Darius signed the writing and the decree.

Daniel knew the writing was signed. He went into his house, and with his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Nothing about his habit changed. The men assembled, found him praying and making supplication before his God, and reported him to the king: That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree.

The king was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him, and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. But the men reminded him that no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. So Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. Before the stone went over the opening, the king said to him, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. A stone was laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords.

Darius went to his palace and passed the night fasting. No instruments of musick were brought before him, and his sleep went from him. He arose very early in the morning, went in haste unto the den of lions, and cried with a lamentable voice: O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

Daniel answered, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me. The king was exceeding glad and had him taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.

Then the king had the men which had accused Daniel cast into the den of lions, with their children and their wives, and the lions had the mastery of them before they reached the bottom. King Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages: men were to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

What the Story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den Teaches Us

Daniel’s faithfulness was visible in ordinary things before it was tested in a crisis. His enemies could find none occasion nor fault in his work, and their only hope was the law of his God. When the decree was signed, he did not start praying to make a point; he simply kept praying, as he did aforetime.

The chapter shows the limits of human power. Darius ruled a kingdom of a hundred and twenty princes, yet he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver one man and could not. Even the king understood that if Daniel was going to be saved, it would be by the God whom thou servest continually.

God’s deliverance is the center of the story. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, Daniel said, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. The result was a decree sent to all the earth declaring that he delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth.

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A whole crowd of officials heard the music and fell to the ground. Three men stayed on their feet, and everyone knew what the penalty was: the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

Their answer to the king is one of the boldest sentences in the Bible, and it includes three words people still remember: But if not. What happened next left the most powerful king on earth staring into the fire, asking his counsellors to count again.

The Story of the Fiery Furnace

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits and its breadth six cubits, and set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. He gathered the princes, the governors, the captains, the judges, and all the rulers of the provinces to its dedication. Then a herald announced the command: when they heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, they were to fall down and worship the golden image, and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

The music played, and all the people fell down and worshipped. Then certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. They named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, men the king himself had set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury had the three brought before him. He offered them one more chance to bow when the music played, and warned that otherwise they would be thrown into the furnace that same hour: and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? They answered, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed. He commanded that the furnace be heated one seven times more than it was wont to be heated, and he ordered the most mighty men in his army to bind the three and throw them in. They were bound in their coats, their hosen, their hats, and their other garments, and cast into the fire. Because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. The three fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Then Nebuchadnezzar was astonied and rose up in haste. Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? he asked his counsellors. True, O king, they said. The king answered, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the furnace and called, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth. They came out of the midst of the fire. The princes, governors, captains, and the king’s counsellors gathered around and saw that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

The king said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him. He made a decree that no people, nation, or language could speak anything amiss against their God, because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, in the province of Babylon.

What the Story of the Fiery Furnace Teaches Us

The three men’s faith did not depend on the outcome. They were sure that our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, and they expected he would. But they settled their answer before they knew: But if not, they would still not serve the king’s gods. Their obedience did not hang on being rescued.

God did not keep them out of the furnace; he delivered them in it by sending his angel. They were bound and thrown in, and the flame was hot enough to kill the soldiers who carried them. Yet the king saw four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they came out with no hurt, not even the smell of fire on them.

The king who had asked, who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? ended up answering his own question. Nebuchadnezzar called them servants of the most high God and declared that there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. Three men who refused to bow became the reason a king blessed their God in front of his whole government.

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Most of the book of Daniel is told about kings. This chapter is told by one. It opens as a public letter from Nebuchadnezzar himself, addressed to all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth.

He wanted the world to hear what happened to him: a dream that frightened him, a warning he was given a full year to heed, one sentence of pride spoken in his palace, and the time he spent living like an animal in the field. He tells it so that others would know who really rules.

The Story of Nebuchadnezzar Eats Grass

Nebuchadnezzar begins with praise: I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. Then he tells his story. He was at rest in mine house, and flourishing in my palace, when he saw a dream which made me afraid. He called in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers and told them the dream, but they could not tell him what it meant. At the last Daniel came in, whose name was Belteshazzar, and the king told the dream to him.

He had seen a tree in the midst of the earth. It grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven. Its leaves were fair, its fruit was plentiful, the beasts of the field rested in its shade, the birds lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed of it. Then a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven and cried, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches. Yet the stump of his roots was to stay in the earth, bound with a band of iron and brass, wet with the dew of heaven, with his portion among the beasts: Let his heart be changed from man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. The reason was given: that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

Daniel was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king told him not to let the dream trouble him, and Daniel answered, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee. Then he gave the meaning plainly: It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong. The decree of the most High was that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times would pass over him, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men. The stump left in the ground meant his kingdom would be restored once he had known that the heavens do rule.

Daniel added counsel: break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility. Then the chapter says simply, All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.

At the end of twelve months he was walking in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon, and he spoke: Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven: O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.

The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.

Then the story returns to his own voice. At the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High. His reason came back, his counsellors and lords sought him out, he was established in his kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. He closes with these words: Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

What the Story of Nebuchadnezzar Eats Grass Teaches Us

The whole chapter is built around one lesson, stated by the watcher, by Daniel, and by the voice from heaven: that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. Nebuchadnezzar ruled a kingdom whose dominion reached to the end of the earth, and it was still given to him, not built by him.

God was patient before he was severe. The king was warned in a dream, the warning was explained, Daniel urged him to break off his sins by righteousness and mercy to the poor, and twelve months passed before judgment came. It fell the moment he claimed the glory for himself – by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty.

The judgment was meant to restore, not just to punish. The stump of the roots was left in the ground, and when Nebuchadnezzar lifted up his eyes unto heaven, his understanding returned and his kingdom was given back. The proud king ended by writing a letter to the world in praise of the King of heaven, saying of God, those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

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