“Lion, tiger, bears, oh my!”

That is from an old child’s story called The Wizard of Oz. You remember that don’t you? 🙂 Dorothy and her companions said those words when they were scared by noises in the forest.  That phrase came to mind as I thought about my reading this morning from Everyday Gospel Devotional by Paul David Tripp. Yesterday I wrote about the first 3 chapters of Daniel. You can read about it here.  Rather than take up time and space, I’d just like to encourage you to read that post. 

Today’s reading is chapters 4-6. Again, there are some interesting insights to gain, aside from the story in chapter 6 of Daniel in the lion’s den (one of the most familiar of all biblical stories). Here is a brief recap with lessons from these three chapters:

1. Pride’s downfall. Chapter 4. Nebuchadnezzar is the most powerful man on the planet. His kingdom stretches to points unknown. But he has a problem: PRIDE. One evening he has a dream which troubles him. He calls in all his magicians, astrologers and other goofs to interpret the dream. They are unable to. It is now Daniel’s turn. Daniel not only hears the dream he is troubled by its meaning. But he proceeds to tell Neb the meaning of his dream. Neb is headed for a rude awakening. His pride will lead to him spending 7 years in the wilderness living like an animal, eating grass, with hair as long as a bird’s feathers and nails like the claws of an animal.  After 7 years he is restored to his place as king and he tells the people there is no God like God. 

2. Pride’s destruction. Chapter 5. Belshazzar, Neb’s son, is now king and one night he has a feast and brings out the sacred items (gold cups) from the temple, which had been confiscated years before by his father. Suddenly a hand appeared and wrote on the wall. Calling on Daniel, the interpretation is clear. “Belshazzar, you are done.” Cyrus conquers Babylon that evening. 

3. Pride’s demise. Chapter 6. Daniel remains steadfast in his commitment to God in spite of the scheming hatred of his co-workers. Darius is tricked into signing into law that anyone caught worshiping another deity is to be thrown into the lion’s den. Daniel never wavers. Darius has no choice. After a sleepless night, Darius rushes to the den and calls out to Daniel, “Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you?” The answer, of course, is yes. Pride finds its demise in a faithful servant. 

Three powerful lessons we need to learn about pride. “Pride goes before the fall” is what the Bible says. As we see here and in life, pride is ugly and devastating. Humility changes everything.