smiles and says: "He will set us exiles free."
But when Daniel shares his visions from the God of Abraham with the Persian king, prayer is banned. In his kingdom, it will be a crime punishable by death. Daniel must pray in secret for weeks. One day, though, he is caught and thrown into the dungeon.
Daniel can endure the solitude of prison. Perhaps the king will change his mind. All things are possible with God. But he suddenly realizes he's not in a prison cell. He's in a lion's den.
Daniel stands completely still as one of the beasts stirs. The animal's body stretches at least eight feet long, and its massive paws are as big as Daniel's head. The lion sniffs the air. It rises and walks slowly toward 117
Daniel, the thick pads of those magnificent paws not making a single sound on the stone floor. Then it roars. A tear forms in the corner of Daniel's eye as the lion saunters toward him. Daniel falls to the ground and curls his body into a very small ball--the smallest he can possibly make. The damp floor of the cell feels calming against his cheek as he awaits the death that is soon to come. The other lions are awake now. Daniel doesn't know how many.
Could be three. Could be six, for all he knows. They roar and grunt as they assemble. Daniel squeezes his eyes closed, knowing that there is absolutely no way to fight these beasts.
But then he remembers a way. "Lord, hear me. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy," he prays to God. A sense of calm fills Daniel. He realizes God is providing this peace.
So he continues: "Thank you, Lord. Thank you for my life and its many joys.
Thank you for your love. And thank you, even now, for what is about to happen. For I know that it is your will, and that some greater good will come from my death."
He pulls himself into an even tighter ball. The lions now stand over him. The tears flow now, pooling on the floor. Daniel thinks of the people he loves and whom he will never see again. He thinks of the
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majesty of a sunrise, and the magnificence of the stars shining in the nighttime sky. All these wonders of life are about to be taken away.
"Your words are heard," says a voice.
Slowly, cautiously, Daniel raises his head. A tear slides from his cheek.
An angel stands before him. "You are innocent in the eyes of the Lord," the angel says.
That instant, all Daniel's fear vanishes. He uncurls himself from his tiny ball and rises to his feet. Daniel stands before the lions, completely unafraid.
Whatever will happen, will happen. The lions are God's creations, no
different from man. And God has dominion over all of his creations.
Daniel is ready for anything.
Daniel and his God are haunting the Persian king's dreams. He wakes in a panic, seeing the truth for the first time, and he quickly gets out of bed.
Throwing on a robe, he races through the palace toward the dungeon.
"Your God is real," he chants as he runs, "your God will save you. Your God is real, your God will save you." A long hallway finally leads to the stairwell down into
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the dungeon. "Open it!" the new king screams into the night. "Open it!"
The thick wooden door is flung open. The king steps inside. His guards draw swords and move to go with him, but he waves them away. One of them hands him a torch, which he accepts. The flames reveal a sleeping lion.
They also reveal a sleeping Daniel, his head resting quite comfortably on the lion's chest.
The Persian gazes upon the sight in utter disbelief. Daniel is completely unharmed. The king swings his torch from lion to lion to lion--all are asleep.
Daniel stands. The king drops his torch and embraces him. Then the two men fall to their knees in prayer.
The years of exile are now at an end. The Persian decrees that the Jews may return to Jerusalem, taking the treasures looted from their temple, so that it might be rebuilt.
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PART SIX
HOPE
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Five hundred years pass. The Israelites have reestablished themselves in the Promised Land, free to practice their religion, but they are still oppressed.
Herod, a king controlled by the Romans, rules over them.
In the small village of Nazareth, Mary, a young woman pure of heart, is walking home just like any other day. But today an angel