Wisdom's Corner
Don't Go Near the Lion's Den

Back during the time of the Old Testament there were many lions living in Palestine. There are numerous drawings and carvings on items that archaeologists have found showing these lions. Sometimes the lions are being hunted. Many rulers back then enjoyed hunting the lions. Sometimes the lions are shown killing and eating other animals.

The lions that lived in Palestine were the Persian lion. These are different than African lions. They have a shorter mane(the hair around their necks) and are not quite as big most of the time.

Most people think of a cave in a rock when you mention a lion's den. But many times the Persian lion lived in den within a thick brush or tree line. If you were on the outside of the brush or trees, you could not tell that a lion lived in it.

The lion could stay in this den and wait for an animal to come close. Then the lion could jump out of the den in surprise and kill the animal. The lion was able to get many meals this way. Of course, sometimes it was necessary to go looking for a meal. But if enough animals wandered by the den, the lion could eat and be full without ever having to go very far from the den.

God says that some evil people are like that. They stay in their den and wait for the unsuspecting person to come close. When the person gets too close, the evil person jumps on the chance to kill them.

Speaking about these evil people(lion's) God through David said, "He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net." The word 'den' here means a thicket. And the idea about the 'net' is that the lion trapped the poor person in his trap.

You must be very careful sometimes. A situation may look very innocent. You may think that something looks good. Or you may look and say that you do not see any danger in going near. But the evil person(the lion) is just waiting for you to come too close. And when you do, the evil person will do much harm to you.

The best way to not get too close to the lion's den is to study God's Word, the Bible. God will tell you how to look for the lion and his den. And listen to your parents and other adults. They may have gotten almost too close and managed to get away before the lion could get them. Or they might have known someone who got too close and let the lion get them. So from experience they can tell you what not to do and where not to go.

The Bible tells many true stories about individuals that got too close to the lion's den. From reading those you can learn how to avoid the lion's den. You will learn to see the little things that give the lion away.

Mark McWhorter

Copyright 1998

Published by The Old Paths Bible School
(http://www.oldpaths.org)