Daniel 6:21-22 Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and He shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me.
Lions earn their moniker as king of the beasts by their efficiency in hunting their prey. Lions are ferocious cats that can eat up to 40kg of meat in a single meal. They weigh around 200kgs and their tongues have sharp-pointed rasps, called papillae, which are used to scrape meat off the bones. They live in groups or “pride”. They are defensive for their territories and are fearless. The quintessential metaphor of the devil in the Bible is “the lion”. 1 Peter 5:8 Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Daniel, an Israelite exile, was an exceptional administrator and a high ranking officer in the Medo-Persian empire. The Medes who were envious of Daniel conspired against him and threw him into the lion’s den as a martyr for his faith. However, the Lord God sent an angel and shut the mouths of the lions. Daniel spent all night unharmed with the hungry cats smelling their snack, guarded by the angel of the Lord.
Three lessons from the predator that was tamed as a pet:
1. Allies: On an average the “pride” of lions consists of about 30 lions. Similarly, demons are never alone. One negative thought of fear will build into anxiety and turn into dread, sleeplessness, restlessness, nervous breakdown and chain us with worry and imaginary horror. Demons have siblings. Disappointment will soon turn into irritation, frustration, anger, resentment, bitterness and rage. When you hear the raspy, nasty roar of fear, anxiety or discontent, resist and drive out the demon before its allies join the game. Beware of the demon allies.
2. Attack: When lions get old and lose teeth, they are no longer able to hunt and attack. Their entire purpose is to roar and scare any approaching prey towards the younger lions, so they can attack. The young lions do not roar, they only attack. The devil is only a roaring toothless and powerless lion before a child of God. When we panic, we lose our logical thinking capacity and run straight into the mouth of the devouring demons. Retaliate the threatening roar with the thundering promises of God. The noise of the roar will dissipate in the voice of the life giving Word of God. Beware of the attacking strategy of the demons.
3. Adversary: The adversary approaches us for one reason – to devour. He comes to devour our peace, purity and purpose. If we are distracted by the roar, we will invite the devouring demons into our life. Social media, News and futuristic forecasts that we are constantly bombarded with can be the distracting roars that weakens our faith and staggers us into the paws of the enemy. Demons are merciless and are waiting to pounce at us. So, beware of the roar of the adversary.
The predator is powerless as Jesus stripped his authority on the cross. So, don’t let the hungry roar of the toothless lion intimidate you. Resist and attack the marauder with the Word of God and the predator will be tamed as a pet.
Colossians 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Prayer: Jesus, You are the King of Kings and all authority, dominion and power rests with You. The prowling predator will become passive as a pet when I resist him in Your Name. Amen
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