Daniel
King Belshazzar made a great feast for 1,000 people. He commanded that
some special cups be brought in for them to drink from. These cups had
been stolen from the temple of God in Jerusalem by the king's father.
It was not right for them to be drinking from them and praising idols
while they drank. God was very displeased with him.
Suddenly the fingers of a man's hand began to write on the wall. The
king became very frightened and his legs began to shake. He called for
his wise men to tell him the meaning of the words, but they could not.
The queen told him that there was a man in the kingdom who had the
Spirit of the Holy God. This man would be able to tell him the meaning
of the words. That man's name was Daniel.
Daniel did tell him what the words meant. He said, "God is not pleased
with you because you have not been humble. You have drunk out of the
vessels of the temple, and you have praised idols. You have been
weighed in the balances and found wanting. Your kingdom will be divided
and you will be killed."
Daniel's words came true that very night.
Darius was the the next king, and he liked Daniel very much. There were
some bad men in the kingdom who did not like Daniel. They looked for a
way to destroy him. They tricked the king into making a law. The law
said that no one could pray to anyone but Darius for 30 days. Anyone
who prayed to God would be thrown into the lions' den. But Daniel still
prayed to God. The bad men told the king. So, the king had to put
Daniel in the lions' den.
God protected Daniel. The next morning the king found Daniel alive. God
had closed the mouths of the lions! Then the happy king and all his
people believed in God.