Rotation.org Writing Team
"Fire and Lions"
A Bible Background for the stories of
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Introduction and Meaning for Children
The stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace (Daniel 3) and Daniel in the Lions' Den (Daniel 6) are two of the most beloved and memorable stories in the Bible – and it's easy to see why.
- They feature fire and lions, danger and dramatic rescues!
- And they speak like parables to those of us today who feel like "exiles" in a "foreign" land living among people and powers whose values are different from those of Daniel and Jesus.
The themes and meanings of these two stories are so similar, that we put them together in one "super set" of lessons so that they can complement and reinforce each other over a 5- or 6-week Daniel focus.
It is unlikely that our kids will ever be tested by actual fire or real lions. But the metaphorical fire and lions—the spiritual, social, and personal pressures they will face in their lifetimes—are no less real.
If they haven't already...
They will experience being verbally "torn apart" and "burned" for their appearance, identity, choices, or beliefs. And they will see others around them experiencing the same kinds of persecution.- Their sense of "right and wrong" will come under daily fire from friends and foes (and from within).
- They will feel the heat and bite of adults and peers who think they know what’s best, who will try to pressure them into breaking God's commands (or will tell them that following God's commands is not that important).
- They will need to know how and when to shut the mouths of lions who threaten the safety, dignity, and faith of others.
- They will need to know to whom they can turn for help, and how they can be that "angel" for others.
Quite specifically, the fire and lions in a child's world will appear as bullying because of religious and ethnic differences, physical appearances, jealousies, the pressure to fit in, or just plain meanness. 33% of U.S. elementary students report being bullied often while at school. 20% of kindergarten students report being bullied often (link and resource). Children also struggle with being bullies. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were essentially bullied by their co-workers and punished by injustice.
The story of their miraculous physical rescue from trouble is not what most of us will experience. Instead, it is their courage we teach and try to imitate, the spiritual presence and comfort of God we pray for, and recognizing who our angels are in the middle of trouble that we want children to remember. These stories are reminders of the standard of conduct and courage for God's people, and for any king or leader who will listen (as both Nebuchadnezzar and Darius eventually did).
As people already redeemed by Christ, these stories serve as a reminder that God will stand with us in the middle of the flames and lions. And that how we act not only reveals our faith and helps it grow, it can inspire others to recognize God and change their ways.
Scripture
Daniel 3 (Fiery Furnace) and Daniel 6 (Lions’ Den) ~ NIV
Possible Memory Verses:
Daniel 3:17 "the God we serve is able to deliver us"
Daniel 6:27 "He rescues and he saves. ...He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."
Lesson Objectives
- Students will be able to tell and understand the stories of the Fiery Furnace and Lions’ Den to the best of their abilities.
- Students will understand the many ways in which “persecution” can occur in today’s world (especially in the child’s world, including bullying) and how God wants them to respond to it and to each other.
- Students will be able to understand the metaphorical meaning of things in the story (including fire, lions, "the sounds of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music,” "images of gold") as things in their world that pressure them to act in ways that are unfaithful and ungodly. Students will know that "the God we serve is able to deliver us" (Dan 3:17) and that God "rescues and saves" (Dan 6:27) by sending us his Spirit and helpers.
Summaries of Daniel 3 and 6
The stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace (Daniel 3) and Daniel in the Lions’ Den (Daniel 6) portray four heroic followers of God who would rather die than give up their belief in God and worship false gods. Their stories are so SIMILAR that we have brought them together in a single lesson set.
As the story opens, Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are being trained to serve in the administration of the Babylonian empire that had conquered Judah, their homeland. "To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds." (Daniel 1:17) We'll soon learn that they had unshakeable faith as well.
In Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzar, the megalomaniac king of Babylon, has passed a law requiring everyone to bow down to a giant gold statue of himself whenever they "hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music." This "worship cue" is repeated four times in chapter 3 (verses 5, 7, 10, and 15) -- as if to point out the ridiculousness and meaninglessness of the idols we are called to worship and the unthinking rituals we are asked to perform and the rules and people we are asked to follow without question. Like many kings and Pharaohs in the Bible, and many ego-driven leaders since, Nebuchadnezzar promoted a cult of personality around himself and threatened dissenters.
Some astrologers (Magi!) come forward, and they are definitely not bearing gifts. Instead, they inform the king that there are three Jews who will not bow down to the king’s golden idol. When the king summons our heroes, the three give one of the bravest speeches in the Old Testament:
“King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, our God will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Cue the blast furnace, the appearance of an angelic "son of god" alongside the three men in the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar's mea culpa when the men come out unscathed. "Praise be your God" the king belatedly announces. And NOT seeming to have learned his lesson about religious persecution, the king threatens anyone who speaks ill of our heroes' God.
Daniel 6's story changes the players and setting, but the issues are the same: conform to our beliefs and practices and worship our leader or suffer the consequences. By the sixth chapter of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian king has been overthrown by Darius the Persian king. In a jealous effort to get rid of the righteous Daniel, Persian administrators have made a law requiring everyone to pray only to the king for 30 days on the penalty of death – a setup that is strikingly similar to the story of Esther. Rather than Daniel 3’s fiery furnace or Haman’s gallows, in Daniel 6 we have a den full of hungry lions -- because apparently you need things like dens of lions when you think you are a god.
Hearing of the new law, Daniel immediately tests it by praying to God in front of an open window, which of course, gets him immediately arrested by jealous and scheming "satraps" (administrators like Daniel). King Darius likes Daniel but can’t change the law (again, similar to Esther's story). So he wishes Daniel godspeed, locks him in the lions' den, and stays up all night worrying about him. (What a nice guy.)
In the morning, Darius calls down to Daniel, "Have you been rescued from the lions?" and Daniel shouts back, "May the king live forever!" (Leaving us to wonder just which "king" Daniel is referring to.) Darius then writes a letter to "all the people of the earth" that everyone must respect Daniel's God -- which is better late than never, I guess. And in a fit of Old Testament justice, he has Daniel's accusers, along with their wives and children 
, devoured by the lions.
RESPECT is what King Darius decrees in Daniel 6:26 -- a lesson that every king, religion, and all of humanity will struggle to learn for the next 2000+ years.
You don’t force your faith and beliefs on people, you teach and model them.
Your faith may get you in trouble. People may not like you, they may try to bully you, and they may even try to punish you because of your beliefs, but they are not the God you worship, and ultimately it is God who holds your life in his hands.
Instead, they stood strong and spoke truth to power (even bullying power) and trusted in God's plan.
That’s what Daniel and his three friends did.
That’s what Jesus did.
That’s what we are supposed to do.
Religious Persecution Today
Fortunately, most of our children won't experience the kind of persecution that Daniel and his friends did. But there are places in our world today where people are still being physically abused because they believe and worship differently. And verbal and social abuse still happen because of religious differences, and it can come from children and adults, family, church members, and strangers who might otherwise consider themselves "Christian."
Persecution can appear as:
hurtful words
name-calling
making-fun of what people wear or eat or where they are from
social shunning
bullying
unfair and unjust treatment
failing to protect someone
failing to speak up
pressuring people to change their practices or give them up
making it hard for people to pray at certain times and places
talking "down" about someone's faith, or church, or Sunday School
passing laws that favor one group over another
damaging or defacing property
excluding people who are “different” from positions of leadership
- Have you experienced any of the above? What did it feel like? What was your response?
- Have you ridiculed, excluded, or put-down someone because they were from a different culture or religion? How can you make that right?
- What is your response when people make fun of Muslims? Jews? Atheists? People from another church?
Religious Persecution by the Religious
In Daniel and throughout the Gospels, it is the religious people who most often do the persecuting. 
Like the kings and satraps in the stories of Daniel, religious authorities and rulers in the time of Jesus wanted everyone, including Jesus, to conform to their beliefs and rules. They publicly denounced Jesus for the kinds of people he hung out with. They accused him of breaking "God's rules," including forgiving others and hanging out with the wrong people. Taking a page out of Daniel, the religious authorities in Jesus' day had created "laws" Jesus wouldn't bow down to, and they sent him to the "fire and lions" for it.
The stories of Daniel don't prescribe a way out of this mess other than courage and divine intervention. But the teachings of Jesus and Paul do. Jesus reminds us of The Great Commandment to "Love your neighbor as yourself" and in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, told the Lawyer to "go and do likewise."
In 1st Corinthians 12:31-13:7, Paul called it "the more excellent way":
Love that is patient and kind, not envious, boastful, or proud.
Love that does not dishonor others, is not easily angered, and doesn't keep lists of grievances.
Love that does not delight in doing evil but rejoices with the truth.
God's love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Imagine if Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, and the Pharisees had known and practiced this kind of faith.
Imagine if this was the kind of faith that Christians and every other religion practiced.
Like Daniel and his friends, we can't force others to believe in this kind of faith, but we can show them—and trust in the God who rescued us to rescue them.
From Daniel, Jesus, and Paul, to your students’ hearts. Amen
The Historical Context of Daniel 3 and 6
The stories in the Book of Daniel take place during the “Babylonian Exile,” which began when Jerusalem and Judea were conquered by the Babylonian Empire and King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. This conquest included a forced resettlement of certain “Jewish elites” to Babylon, ostensibly for assimilation and to remove the potential for revolt. Those resettled included young boys (like Daniel), key families, and skilled trades. After the Babylonians themselves were conquered by the Persians in 539 B.C., Persian King Cyrus began to allow various “captives” to return to their homelands – provided they pledged their loyalty to the king. It is during this period of Exile and Return that many Old Testament scriptures were collected and edited. The Persians, in turn, were conquered by the Greek forces of Alexander the Great circa 323 B.C. After his death, the region of Judea was placed under the command of Seleucus, one of Alexander’s generals, who then founded the “Seleucid” dynasty that ruled the region of Israel until the Romans took it over in 63 B.C.
Interestingly, Daniel's 6's "King Darius the Mede" is not known in history or archaeology. A King Darius the Great did exist but was the king AFTER King Cyrus who let the exiles return and not before. The writer(s) of Daniel got this wrong -- which is why some resources refer to the Persian King in Daniel 6 as Cyrus whose reign fits Daniel's timeline. For the purposes of storytelling, however, Darius it is. More about this.
The "two" Daniels
There are many other fascinating things about the Book of Daniel that can enrich a teacher’s study but aren’t as important for children to know.
For example, chapters 2 through 6 in Daniel are the only part of the biblical canon written in Aramaic – a dialect of Hebrew that is closer to the language spoken in the 2nd Century B.C. (and the dialect of Jesus) than it is to the language spoken during the time of the Babylonian Exile.
According to many scholars, although its stories are set in the 6th Century B.C.’s Babylonian Exile, the Book of Daniel was likely written in the 2nd Century B.C. as words of warning and a call to stand fast in the faith during a particularly dark and dangerous time in Jewish history. As recounted in 2 Maccabees, Antiochus IV Epiphanies, the Greek ruler of greater Judea and a Roman puppet, had desecrated the Temple, corrupted the priesthood, and torn apart the Jewish community and its traditions in an effort to radically “Hellenize” (secularize) the Jews. His rule would be overthrown by the Maccabeans and Daniel's stories would play a part.
Daniel’s later chapters are written in “classical” Hebrew and have a decidedly apocalyptic tone befitting the dire circumstances facing the Jews during the Seleucid and Roman conquests. (The Book of Revelation draws heavily on some of the visions found in the second-half "Hebrew" section of Daniel.)
Interestingly, Judaism does not consider Daniel a “prophet” as Christians do, and instead places him among “the Ketuvim,” which are stories about people such as Esther and Ruth. There is an ancient form of literature known as "court tales" which parts of Daniel imitate. This style of telling a story is found in Sumerian, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Persian literature, which learned and exiled Jews would have come into contact with. (Read more about that.)
For our purposes, it doesn’t matter whether we think Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are actual history, or something more like inspiring parables for those experiencing extreme persecution. What makes something “true” in the Bible is its truth, and on that score, the stories of Daniel and his friends are truth X 10.
View this excellent short video on "The Way of the Exile" from the Bible Project on YouTube at https://youtu.be/XzWpa0gcPyo?si=eMUuZ-JW9j92WsKQ. It describes some of the basic issues in Daniel as they relate to "being an exile today" in any land where God's ways are not always followed. It has a short summary of Daniel 3 and 6 as well. (For age 11 and up.)
Read more about this fascinating book at these suggested links:
- The Daniel Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Daniel. This article is easy-to-read for lay people and is editorially governed by Wiki's editors; nevertheless, it should be considered an entry-level overview and not definitive. See also the “Babylonian Exile” entry at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity with the same caveats.
- Britannica's online article about the "literature" of Daniel has quite a bit of historical context. https://www.britannica.com/top...al-literature/Daniel
- Daniel 1-6 as "court tale" literature, https://www.bibleodyssey.org/p...rticles/court-tales/ This article explains some of the "stylistic" elements that shape the first six chapters of Daniel.
- Basic Issues with Daniel’s Date at https://www.thegospelcoalition...el-the-basic-issues/
- A five-minute video overview of Daniel 1-6 for children. https://youtu.be/GY0pARvYcyw?si=Idhl8sHqIGkQp6iv
This Bible Background was written by the Rev. Neil MacQueen, with contributions from the members of the Rotation.org Writing Team. Copyright Rotation.org, Inc.
