The Mighty God that Rules over Weak Leaders
[16] Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” [17] And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. [18] Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
Daniel 6:16–18 ESV
King Darius was tricked into declaring a law that Daniel was certain to violate. Daniel’s enemies caught him and reported it and now, whether he likes it or not, the king is stuck and must throw Daniel into the den of lions. Darius had come to trust and love Daniel, so to issue this sentence was really upsetting to him.
When they put Daniel in the tomb lion’s den, he wasn’t immediately eaten. If you think about it, who would want to be the men that threw him in there, if the way to close it was to roll a big rock over the opening? Once the stone was in place, it was sealed by the king so that “nothing might be changed.” The king’s seal was on the stone, so only the king could open it. Any time something is sealed in the Bible, it means that only the person that sealed it or someone with more power than them can break that seal.
Sure, the king is the king and he should have just changed the law. He had full power to be capricious like that. He had been capricious before. The king could have seen through the wicked men’s scheme and set Daniel free, or even accuse them and make things right.
Pilate was in the same situation with Jesus. He had the authority to set Him free. Pilate could have accused the Sanhedrin of being unjust or slowed down the process to better understand the situation. Finally, Pilate could have made a way for Jesus to get out of such trouble by releasing Him at some point.
There are still righteous people being accused by evil men and sentenced by Milquetoast authorities. In both of these cases, as in the case of modern day examples that they have inspired, the men left their fight to the Lord. God sent angels to keep the lions’ mouths closed. God sent life back into Jesus to raise Him from the dead. Martin Luther King Jr. was released from jail and Nelson Mandela was elected the first president of South Africa. It would be a fun story to see Jesus go back and punch Pilate and the Sanhedrin right in the nose, but that’s not His style. God has been a deliverer from the beginning, and His glory is shown more in deliverance than in vengeance.