The older I get, the more I observe or realize things I didn't pay enough attention to in the past. I guess some would call that wisdom. When it comes to scripture, that is especially true. I read from the Old Testament this morning, all of chapter 6 in the book of Daniel. It is the story that many people have heard, or at least heard about; the story of Daniel and the lions' den. To sum up the story, Daniel is chosen from the exiled Jewish people, to be one of the 'satraps' to oversee the kingdom for the Median Persian Empire. There are other satraps or overseers who become jealous of Daniel, so they use their familiarity with his religion and his practices to their advantage, in order to remove Daniel (this doesn't sound like anything we Americans have heard of in recent news, now does it?). They trick the King to order a decree for all to worship no one but the king himself for thirty days, knowing Daniel and his devotion to His Lord would not allow him to follow the decree. The king issues the decree, and according to Mede and Persian law, a decree from the king cannot be changed. The men report Daniel's actions of praying to his God, and the king has no choice but to throw Daniel into the lions' den (the prescribed punishment for breaking the decree).
The rest of the story is about God's justice, and how He protected Daniel from the lions in the den, because Daniel had done nothing wrong. The king is granted God's wisdom by observing this miracle and realizing its significance through Daniel's own words. He then dispenses God's justice by throwing the very politicians behind the corruption into the same lions' den, along with their wives and children! The scripture reads that before the corrupt men reached the floor of the lions' den, the lions overpowered them all, and crushed their bones. Boy, talk about reaping what you sow.
One may ask, why did this part of the scripture capture my attention today? What's so special about it? People who have read my blog over the past several years may have observed, I keep up with politics and world events. Through my Christian worldview, I've pointed out what I have interpreted as great injustice throughout not just America, but the world. This scripture, as well as reading the rest of Daniel's wisdom, helped me have some self-realization. I've been guilty of the very thing that has gotten this world to the point of so many injustices and corruption throughout governments around the world. I've been guilty of assuming one man or group of just individuals could solve our problems. I've been caught up with everything from the 'Trump Train' to conspiracy theories about globalism - as if people with good intentions or a history of wise decisions on policy will save us from the inevitable.
And yet, dare I say, the corrupt politicians and injustice is still out there. People can try to run from it, and deny it all they want - but evil and sin are still in this world. And the old adage, 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' rings true every day. But through the example of God's wise prophet who survived the exile of the Jews, one sees the actions we should all take. Those of us who want justice; those people who fell into the Q Anon crowd, or those people who sing aloud to Aaron Lewis's Am I the Only One , or those people who attend every Trump rally? They're doing it all wrong. Daniel gave us the best example of how to fight injustice. If the body of Christ's believers would follow Daniel's example, the power of those prayers could move mountains. Daniel prayed fervently. Daniel was even thrown into the lions' den for those very prayers - and still came out on top. God protected him by shutting the mouths of the lions. When he was found to be innocent, he regained his (wait for it)....FREEDOM. And I already plainly stated what happened to the corrupt politicians who tried to throw him under the proverbial bus.
If you're like me, you want to see all the people behind corruption; the so-called untouchable elites, 'perp-walked' in front of the world in handcuffs. You want people to stop being so self-righteous and want to talk about all of their 'tolerance,' and learn once again to agree to disagree. You want justice and righteousness to prevail.
No one man or group of men will ever make all of that happen. No one man or group of men should ever become our idols in the hopes that they make that happen.
If you're like me, and you want to learn from those who came before, who show the right way to handle a lot of the bad stuff in this world - perhaps we should be like Daniel, and pray everyday that the evil elites in this world are handed over to the Lion; the Lion of Judah. And who is the Lion of Judah? That answer is in the Bible. I leave it to any of you to read it to learn more.