The story of the prophet Daniel has always inspired me from my earliest memories of reading the Scriptures as a kid. There were many aspects of his life story and ministry that were incredible examples of God’s awesome power at work to ensure that His divine agenda was carried out and could not be thwarted - and that His chosen person would be protected, vindicated and successful.
The most famous of Daniel’s experiences was, no doubt, his overnight stay in a den of lions kept by the king of the day as a punishment, or means of execution, for wrongdoers. Daniel, an exile from Judah in Babylon, had the favour of God on him, he walked in the Lord’s anointing and was incredibly successful in all that he did so that through him God would be glorified. Daniel was appointed a satrap – a provincial governor in ancient Persia. Overall, 120 satraps were appointed by Darius, king of Babylon – and Daniel is the only Jew amongst the whole bunch. He is an exile, a foreigner. And he was incredibly successful in his new leadership role. In fact, so outstanding was he that Darius was planning to appoint him head satrap over the whole empire.
Daniel 6:3 (NIV) “Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”
This did not go down well with the other 119 satraps and their coteries. They were so incensed at the prospect, so jealous of Daniel, a foreigner, that they schemed to catch him in some error or other. But Daniel was blameless. They couldn’t pin anything on him. Eventually, the other satraps hatched a plan. They tricked the king into making an irrevocable decree designed to entrap Daniel in an act of sedition and have him killed. The punishment was for an offender to be thrown into the lion’s den, who were kept hungry and ready to devour whomever was thrown to them. The satraps tricked the king into criminalising the worship of any other “god” but the king himself. Darius went along with the decree not realising that he was being set up, as well.
Daniel is then reported to the king for praying three times a day as he looked toward Jerusalem from his open window – he did not hide his faith, nor was he ashamed of it. The charges are brought. The king is trapped. He cannot undo the irrevocable decree and look like a fool in front of the 119 satraps. It says in Daniel 6:14 that the king was greatly distressed and tried every which way he could to save Daniel. The satraps pressure Darius and, seeing no way out, the decree still stood in the end. He has Daniel thrown to the lions.
Daniel 6:16 (NIV) So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"
The den was sealed up and there Daniel stayed in a most dangerous situation. The king had a sleepless night. First thing in the morning, rushed to the lion’s den to find Daniel alive and well.
Daniel 6:20-22 (NIV)
When the king came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?" 21 Daniel answered, "May the king live forever! 22 My God sent His angel, and He shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in His sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty."
The king was ecstatic and ordered Daniel to be lifted out of the den. But this is what struck me as I was doing my daily SOAP on Monday.
Daniel 6:23b (NIV) “… when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”
No wound was found on Daniel. That is a remarkable detail. God allowed Daniel to be tested and, in human thinking, this seems so unjust. But God knew what He was doing. No doubt Daniel was concerned, yet he did not complain and he did not pray that the lions would go away or drop dead. He trusted God in the hard place, the dangerous place, the cruel and unfair place. God did not save Daniel from the lion’s den, He saved Daniel in the lion’s den. This is incredibly insightful for me. Daniel allowed God to teach him something in the lion’s den that he could never have learned had he never been unfairly thrown in there.
God was watching over Daniel who walked carefully with God, who abided with God. And Daniel was honoured and vindicated by God in due time to influence a pagan king. Darius made Daniel’s God – Yahweh – the one and only permitted god in all of Babylon.
But here’s the great insight I gained in all of this. When Daniel was lifted out of that lion’s den “no wound was found on him”. There was not a scratch. This is a crucial spiritual insight. God shows up for us in the worst places, in times of unfairness, betrayal, heartbreak, testing and sorrow … but as we trust Him in the midst of it all of that, we come through it all without a wound. The word for wound here is ḥă·ḇāl and means without hurt or injury in both a physical and psychological sense. The testing Daniel endured without complaint, and in complete faith in God meant that, despite the trauma and pain of the experience Daniel was not in any way impaired. The test was not a fun time, to be sure, but it did not scar him for life. In fact, when the king calls to him in the morning, Daniel’s response clearly reveals he had lost none of his composure, and there is not a hint of complaint. That is quite something, wouldn’t you say?
Our trials and challenges, unfair or not, bring glory to God as we trust Him in the midst of them. How we face suffering and testing is so important. We are changed as we trust God without complaining. Our faith poise is increased, our joy is increased – and unbelievers see all that as vindication from God, and even praise God as Darius did. It is just so self-evident.
No wound was found on Daniel. No hurt, no injury. No complaint was found in him, either. And this allowed God to be glorified, and Daniel to be vindicated – by God. Which is the best vindication there is.
Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Think on these things as you undergo trials and sufferings of all kinds. God allows some of these, and because that is true, He is in the lion’s den with you.
Ps Milton