What a horrifying sight it must have been! Can you imagine? These wicked men
who had falsely accused Daniel, to satisfy their ungodly envy and hatred of
a good man, a godly man, ended up suffering their own fate. I have heard
some theologians say that since Darius was a heathen king, he also had the
men's wives and children fed to the hungry lions too. But remember, it was
God Himself who allowed Joshua to take Achan and his wife and children to
all be stoned to death and then burned, when Achan stole because he was a
covetous man (Joshua 7:1, 24-26). Oh, how sin thrills and then it kills! Sin
fascinates and then it assassinates!
The men who falsely accused Daniel were about to suffer their own fate! What saith the Scripture? ...
Daniel 6:22-24, “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.”
What a horrifying scene! The Bible says that before their bodies even reached the bottom of the pit, the lions had mastery over them, even devouring their bones into pieces. Obviously there was more than one lion, because the Bible speaks of “lions” (plural). But we must also consider (if we are to take the Bible literally as we always should) that in order for the bodies of the victims to be grabbed by the lion's teeth and claws before even reaching the bottom, it is logical to conclude that there must have been at least one lion for every person that was cast into the lion's den. ...
Daniel 6:4, “Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.”
Although we do not know for certain, it seems to me that quite a few men were involved in this conspiracy to destroy Daniel. So we can only guesstimate. My guess (and this is only speculation) is that 5 or 6 men were involved. Usually crimes are committed by a smaller handful rather than a large number of accomplices. The more parties involved, the greater the risk of exposure. If we include their wives, that gives us 10 to 12 people in the lion's den. If we add their children (I'd say three per family), I'd say that gives us about 30 to 36 lives! I have always seen pictures of just a couple lions with Daniel in the den. At most maybe a few (4 or 5). Even if there were just 3 men (which I think is a low number), with their wives and children, that must have equaled at least 12-18 victims in the den. The number was likely, in my humble opinion, MUCH higher. So my best guess as an amateur theologian would be that 5 to 6 men were involved in the conspiracy, which cost the lives of 20-30 people! I wouldn't argue the point with anyone.
Also, keep this in mind. Once a lion grabbed his prey, he likely dragged that person off into a side or corner somewhere for privacy, to prevent other lions from taking his food (pardon the expression). So if there were TWO DOZEN lions in the pit, which seems fairly reasonable to me, then that would have covered 24 victims! I think that is a good guess, in my humble opinion. What a horrible tragedy. The Devil is a beautiful liar. Satan only comes to kill, steal and destroy. Psalms 37:12, “The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.” Righteous people (Christians) have always been hated by the wicked.
A wicked person is filled with evil in their heart, and hates that which is good, honest and upright. There are many evil people in the world today. The evil men who planned and orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, including the Bush Crime Family, are evil beyond description. But dear friend, do you know that you are considered a wicked person by God too, if you have rejected His only begotten Son as your personal Savior? John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Psalms 7:11, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” God will cast the wicked into Hell for all eternity, those who die in their sins without Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
The GOOD NEWS is that the price for your sins has been paid in full by Christ. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because you owed a debt of sin you could not pay (and so did I). Jesus shed His precious blood on the cross to pay for our sins. Hence, forgiveness of sins and eternal life are a free gift. A gift costs you NOTHING! All you need to do is BELIEVE. You must believe that 'GOOD NEWS' (GOSPEL) dear reader, to escape God's wrath (Romans 5:9). Simply by faith receive Christ's payment on the cross for your sins, believing that He raised up from the dead three days later for your justification (to justify your faith in Him; a dead Savior cannot save anybody). Here is THE GOSPEL! Please don't delay. I would ten thousand times rather be devoured by hungry lions for a moment, than to suffer the torments of hellfire for ever and ever without hope, where “they have no rest day nor night” (Revelation 14:11). Revelation 20:15, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
