In many children's bibles we might see a picture like this on the page containing the story of Daniel being thrown into the Lion's den. Who would be scared with happy lions like these? They look like they are singing a song!

The story is usually concluded with some message about how Daniel had faith in God even when times were tough, and God rescued him from the (happy) lions. 

But, this story has very little to do with the lions. There's a much bigger "beast" that the Jewish writers were addressing and just like the "beast" in the Revelation, how Daniel (and we) lives is the crucial lesson.

~Matt