There are many accusations made against the validity of Christianity. We have briefly touched on nine such accusations directed against a biblical faith and practice. Throughout these articles, we have attempted to show you that there is another, more believable explanation denying the accusations. Our prayer with these articles has always been two-fold: to disarm excuses that keep people from accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and to solidify the faith of those who have trusted in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The great fallback position for the skeptic who denies the Bible is that “It’s just so unbelievable.” Some mock that a person would actual believe the parting of the Red Sea and a man not eaten by lions. They roll their eyes when told about Jonah and the big fish. “How could all those animals fit on the ark?” they ask with a sneer.
Certainly, at first glance, many of the accounts recorded in the Bible just seem so unbelievable. I get it. I can understand. These things – healing of lepers, the blind gaining sight, the sun standing still, walls falling down with a shout – just don’t happen to us today. We have not witnessed anything like them in our lifetime. It is not our experience and it does not fit with our science. So, let’s look at one example of an unbelievable account recorded for us in the Bible.
In January of 2019, at a zoo in India, a 20-year-old man ignored posted warnings and climbed over the twelve-foot high safety wall into a lion enclosure. A busload of people watched as the lions mauled this man to death.(1) Two months later, a man from the Czech Republic was found dead inside the cage where he kept his “pet” lions.(2) How awful! How could these things happen! Well, I would suggest not scaling a fence to fall into a lion enclosure or keeping a lion in your backyard. Lions will do what lions do, and it won’t end well if they feel threatened or are hungry, which makes the account of Daniel and the lion’s den sound too good to be true.
Most of you, whether you attend church or not, are aware of the story of Daniel being thrown into the den of lions. I would encourage you to refresh your memory (and challenge your assumptions) by actually reading the account of this incident in Daniel chapter 6 before continue to read this article.
The background of the story is that King Darius of Persia admired the Israelite captive Daniel. Daniel was respectful of the king’s authority and was a benefit to the king. Others were jealous of Daniel’s position as president over all the princes (Dan. 6:3), so those under Daniel’s authority sought a way to get rid of Daniel, not because he was a bad leader, but because they coveted his position. Daniel’s jealous peers tried to dig up dirt on Daniel to no avail. But, they knew that Daniel obeyed His God above all others; they equally knew that most kings like laws that appeal to their ego (what leader doesn’t like to be told how great they are?). This was their way to get rid of Daniel. The group of presidents and princes gathered before the king and suggested that everyone was in agreement that a royal statute should be declared that for one month anyone making requests of any god other than the king would be sentenced to death by hungry lions. The king thought this sounded like a grand idea, so he signed it into law.
When Daniel heard of the new, temporary law, he continued to do what he had always done according to God’s Law – he bowed in prayer. The other leaders were watching Daniel, of course, and when they saw Daniel disobeying the edict by bowing down to pray, they ran to King Darius to tattle. The king’s heart broke when he realized what he had done. He had essentially sentenced his most trusted advisor to death. He tried all day to find a loophole in the law that would deliver Daniel from death (6:14).
The leaders who had deceived the king were immovable; the law had to stand. Finally, the king gave word that Daniel was to be brought and thrown into the den of hungry lions. Notice what the king says to Daniel at the end of verse 16, “Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” Indeed, God was going to use Daniel to show the Mede-Persian king the power of the one true God.
God’s covenant with Israel was verified by signs and wonders (e.g., Gen. 12:3; Jdg. 6:17; Isa. 8:18; Jer. 32:20; Acts 2:22). God did these miracles so that Israel knew that He was their God and no other (e.g., Ex. 6:7; 16:12; 1 Ki. 20:13, 28; Ezek. 11:12; 13:9; 20:20; Joel 2:27, 3:17). The Church has no promises today and should not expect to experience miracles in this way (1 Cor. 13:10; 2 Cor. 5:7). God is not verifying His faithfulness in the same way. Today, he uses His written Word and the Holy Spirit, but in Daniel’s day, God WAS proving Himself through miraculous physical signs.
The specific accusation surrounding the account of Daniel here is that no man could survive a night in a den of hungry lions. Ultimately, I agree. Read what happens to Daniel’s accusers in verse 24; they were dead before they even hit the floor. So, ultimately, I agree that lions will do what lions do, and it won’t end well if you get in their way when they feel threatened or hungry, UNLESS the Creator God is involved and acts sovereignly in the powerful way only He can.
As King Darius nervously approached the opening to the den of lions the next morning, what does he ask? He calls out, “Was your God able to save you?” The answer was a resounding yes. The Lord had provided a miracle (Read 6:20-22).
I understand why people struggle with some of these miracles when they are reading them from a purely humanistic, naturalistic viewpoint, because understanding these things starts with understanding the God who accomplished them.
“For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Lk. 1:7). I remind you that the context in which is this verse is found in the conception of a virgin. Mary asks, “How shall this be, seeing as how I know not a man?” In other words, it isn’t scientifically possible because I am a virgin. The angel responds that nothing is impossible with the Creator, Sovereign God. This is how the miraculous can happen, how a sea can part, a lion can be tame, a fish can obey, and the sun can stand still in the sky. God makes the impossible (to us) possible. When you finally come to understand God through the Savior Jesus Christ, only then does the Bible truly make sense. When you understand that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ completely changes your life and destination. This is the most amazing miracle the world will ever know! The only way a person will ever believe in miracles is to submit to the truth of God.
Ephesians 1:19-23:
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.”
The greatest evidence I can give to you is the Bible, the very word of the eternal Creator. Read it with an open mind and see what great things God has done for you. The same God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead can forgive your sin-debt and make you His child if you will just believe that He paid for your sins, was buried, and rose again so that you can have eternal life with the one, true, REAL God of all creation. Won’t you trust Him today?
(1) Withnall, Adam. “Man Mauled to Death by Lions in Front of Busloads of Zoo Visitors.” Independent, 21 January 2019, https://www.independent.co.uk/ news/world/asia/man-lion-kill-mauled-india-zoo-safari-enclosure-mohali-a8738511.html
(2) “Czech Man Mauled to Death by Lion He Kept in Back Yard.” BBC News, 5 March 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47454610.