Standing Firm 

The story of Daniel in the lion's den is I guess among the best known stories in the bible. It captures the imagination. It is full of action and it is surprisingly challenging when we stop to think about it long enough, despite its familiarity to many of us.

The story is set in the times of the Medes and the Persians (6th century BC). King Darius ruled a huge empire across what we now know as the Middle East and into Turkey. He naturally needed to establish good governance and appoints Daniel into an elevated position over all his ‘satraps’ who looked after all the empire’s provinces. It appears Daniel had a lot of power entrusted to him and was found to be very capable. In fact he distinguished himself so much with his God-given exceptional qualities that King Darius planned to ‘set him over the whole kingdom’.

Darius’ plans alarmed those under Daniel. Jealousy and envy are powerful forces that can drive people to do drastic things. However, the administrators and satraps could not find fault with Daniel, meaning they tried to!

Inevitably, those wanting to check Daniel’s influence (and so increase their own!) picked on his faith in God, which they knew set him apart from everyone else in government. They hatched a plot that seems strange to us but was deliberately designed to trap Daniel, as they knew already that his loyalty to the king was only exceeded by this loyalty to God. It seems odd to us that King Darius fell for it but perhaps he felt flattered, such was the danger of having too high a sense of his own self-importance! He was blind to the scheme that he was unwittingly drawn into, and so complied with their request knowing that once the decree was made, it could not be changed.

Daniel’s reaction is the centre piece of the story. He did have a choice. He could have pretended to bow down to the king, after all it was only for thirty days! He could still worship God secretly. The key phrase for me is at the end of verse 10. Daniel did not change his routine or prayer habit one iota. He did ‘just as he had done before’. He didn’t make a show of it, but of course his enemies already knew his habit of prayer and easily found him ‘breaking’ their decree, and then reported him to the king.

The king obviously now knew he had been duped into setting the decree in place by those who were envious of Daniel but he was now powerless and trapped. Inevitably, the king bowed to the pressure. Daniel is despatched to the lion’s den with the king expressing the wish (however weakly) that the God whom he served would rescue Daniel. I can’t imagine what Daniel felt like, but there was no last minute change of mind about making his stand for his faith. He might have been spared even at the eleventh hour had he agreed to even nominally bow down before the king.

Daniel’s testimony the next morning was that he was joined by angels who shut the mouths of the lions. He therefore claimed his innocence before the king and the king set him free, and then wreaks his terrible revenge on those who had tricked him and plotted against Daniel.

I read recently about a lady called Laleh, an Iranian Christian, currently resident in Evin prison in Iran for her faith. Today, around the world, there are countless believers who face, in effect the same choice as Daniel: to compromise or to stand firm in the face of opposition and persecution, including a family in Bangladesh I read about this week, ostracised by their neighbours and community. Their nine year old daughter is isolated at school – no-one is friends with her… We should always hold them in our prayers and learn from their example.

We are not yet under open persecution in the UK, but my question is: why not? Jesus predicted it would be the norm for his followers, not the exception. The danger for us is that we are not distinct enough – we don’t stand out enough as Christians – we don’t speak of, or show, Jesus enough to those around us. We can too easily ‘blend in’ as just another lifestyle or religion rather than those who serve the One True Living God. The Gospel is free, true and transforming but it is also offensive to those who insist on remaining in darkness.

I do not wish to be under persecution, and I pray regularly for my brothers and sisters who are – and there are millions of them! But perhaps I should fear more the danger of compromise and ‘not rocking the boat’ when that ‘boat’ is heading for the rocks and certain disaster!

‘Dare to be a Daniel’ is a time-worn ‘slogan’ but it rings as true today as ever. As believers, at some level, we face the same choice Daniel had, every day – live for Jesus, tell of Jesus, show Jesus… or keep quiet, compromise and blend in.

This Sunday, November 3rd, is an International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church… let us continue to pray for all those under persecution.