And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.
I think it was Richard Dawkins who said the God of the Old Testament is a monster. Many others have followed suit with similar accusations. I assume this would be one of those verses they would cite as evidence. That the presidents and princes were killed in this manner is brutal enough. That their children and wives were killed with them is extreme and harsh.
To these accusations I would say:
First, the presidents and princes started it.
They fully intended for Daniel to be slain in this manner. Being a eunuch, he would have had no wife and children. Still, they designed a plot that would see Daniel brutally executed by the lions.
Second, it was the king, not God, who commanded that the wives and children be executed alongside them.
The Bible merely records what happens in this instance. It does not imply that God led the king to do this. Neither does it say that God approved. I know that something similar happened to Achan's family but let's stick, in this case, to this case. God did not do this. King Darius did.
Finally, there is a stern and practical warning in this passage.
People who make evil choices very often bring the consequences of those choices down upon their families. The truth of the matter is that the brutality and cruelty demonstrated in our text comes from these men.
Evil men may not appreciate that their choices hurt their wives and kids, but they do - every time.
#GodVsHumanJustice #DanielInTheLionsDen #ConsequencesOfEvilChoices #BiblicalJusticeDebate #FamilyConsequences
Brutal Consequences: A Stern Warning Against Evil Choices
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