But the princes were jealous and conspired against Daniel. They conferred together, and the craftiest of these princes said: “This man is old and very wise and virtuous. We shall not find any error in him whereby we can damage his position and overthrow him. But he is a Jew, and the children of Judah recognize no law that was not uttered a thousand years ago by their own god on some mountain. Now, I propose this: That we persuade the king to decree that all petitions, all requests be addressed to him, the king, Darius—and that whoever will petition any god or man for any reason will be cast into a den of lions.” The princes shouted approval. They understood that such a decree would lead Daniel to defiance.
They went to the king and proposed their decree. Now, Darius was proud. His armies had vanquished all others and he was full of himself. He established the decree. It was proclaimed throughout the land that anyone who would address any prayer or petition or request to any god or man except to Darius would be cast into a den of lions.
Daniel did not protest against the decree; he ignored it. He did what he had always done. Three times a day he went into his house and into a chamber whose windows looked toward Jerusalem. He opened these windows and faced toward Jerusalem and prayed. Nor did he do this secretly, but openly as always.
The princes went to the king and said: “O King, there is a man who breaks your law every day, three times a day. He ignores your word and tramples upon your edict.”
“Who is this man?” said Darius.
“He is the man whom you have honored and set above us all. He is Daniel, the Jew Daniel. Three times a day he prays to his god in defiance of your statute.”
The king was troubled. He regretted the edict that he had been persuaded to utter. But he did not wish to diminish his power by changing any of his decrees. He said to the princes: “Let him be punished according to the law. Let him be cast into the den of lions.”
Daniel was seized and bound with ropes, and taken on a cart out of the city into the wilderness, to the foot of a mountain. There he was put into a den where lions dwelt. A huge stone was rolled before the mouth of the den, closing it up. And Darius stamped the stone with a royal seal so that all men might know what had been done.
The king went back to the palace and passed the night. But he was troubled, and did not call for his musicians or permit any guests. He arose early and rode with his escort out of the city to the mountain. When he came to the lion’s den he cried, “Daniel! Are you there?” expecting only silence. But he heard Daniel’s voice, saying, “O King, I greet you. May you live and prosper.”
The king bade his men roll the stone from the mouth of the den. There, standing in the cave, was Daniel. He was erect and easy in his bearing, and smiled at the king. There was no mark of tooth or fang upon him. Three lions gamboled about him, fawning upon him like hounds, and licking his hands.
“God sent an angel,” said Daniel. “He came into the cave and shut the lions’ mouths. And they did not devour me. Know this, O King. I have in no way harmed you any more than the lions have harmed me. I have served you faithfully. But I must maintain my own customs and worship my own God and no other—not an idol made of stone or brass or gold, or a king upon his throne.”
And Darius feared Daniel’s God. He ordered Daniel restored to his place as high governor of Babylon, and ordered that the princes who had conspired against him be cast into the den of lions. This time no angel appeared. The lions’ hunger was not thwarted. And the wicked princes were devoured.
And Daniel governed Babylon all through the reign of Darius and into the reign of Cyrus, the Persian. He lived many years and grew in wisdom. God sent him visions, and these visions burned in him. And he uttered searing words—prophecies in the form of stories and fables. He spoke of man and God and the ways of man before God. He also told of things to come. To those who listened to him and heeded what he said, his speech was marvelous.
But, as always, there were only a few who listened. After many generations the Jews came out of their exile in Babylon and returned to their own land. They rebuilt their temple in Jerusalem. But other enemies came. There were victories and defeats, but more defeats than victories. Then, finally, a Roman emperor destroyed the Second Temple, and the Jews were driven out of their land and scattered among the nations of the earth. And they began to live out the terrible prophecy uttered by Moses fourteen hundred years before, when the children of Israel danced before the golden calf:
“You shall be left few in numbers, whereas you were as the stars of the earth for their multitude. The Lord shall scatter you among all people from one end of the earth even unto the other. And among these nations you shall find no ease, neither shall the sole of your foot have rest; but the Lord shall give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. Your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you shall fear day and night. In the morning you shall say: Would God it were evening! And at night you shall say: Would God it were morning!”
And to those who, mystified by disaster, cry out to God in their agony, questioning His purpose, He answers: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins now. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if you have understanding. Who has laid the measures? Who has stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Who laid the cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
“Who shut up the sea with doors when it broke forth, and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther; and here shall your proud waves be stayed?
“Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or have you walked in the search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened to you? Have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
“Have you entered into the treasures of snow? Have you seen the treasures of the hail? Have you seen by what way the light is parted, which scatters the east wind upon the earth?
“Who has divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning and thunder?
“Can you bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion?
“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of water may cover you? Can you send lightning?
“And who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Who has given understanding to the heart?
“Does the hawk fly by your wisdom and stretch her wings toward the south? Does the eagle mount up at your command and make her nest on high?
“Have you an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like Him? Can you deck yourself with majesty and excellency, and array yourself with glory?
“Shall you contend with the Almighty? Shall you instruct Him? Shall you reprove your God? Declare yourself to me.
“Will you annul my judgment? Will you condemn me that you may be righteous?”
But these questions have also been questioned. Each generation has questioned them—and been variously answered.
CHRONOLOGY
ENTERING BIBLE TIME, WE have come into a place where our clocks and calendars are useless; we have entered myth. Its numbers dance away from our arithmetic.
We can put a date on those Egyptian records that first used the word Hebrew to describe a loose federation of tribes dwelling in the hills of Canaan. The date for Abraham, then, would be about 2000 B.C. And Abraham’s father, Terah, might have listened to the tales of a very old man named Methuselah, who would have told him tales he had been told in his boyhood by a very old man named Noah, his great-great-grandfather’s great-great-grandfather. Now, since Methuselah lived for about nine hundred years, and Noah eight hundred, we can count backward until we come to Creation, which would have been about 4000 B.C.
However, we are told that the world is much, much older than this—although those who tell us so allow themselves a margin of error of several billion years without blinking an eye. We shall simply have to accept that Bible time is Bible time, and real time is God knows what.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 1981 by Bernard Evslin
Illustrations copyright © 1981 by Charles Mikolaycak
cover design by Omar F. Olivera
978-1-4532-6445-4
This edition published in 2012 by Open Road Integrated Media
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Signs and Wonders Page 36