Daniel: the courage of a clear conscience

I love the story of Daniel in the lions' den. It's so dramatic and Daniel is such an amazing hero, unflinching in his devotion to God and in the face of mortal danger. I was thinking about how Daniel was able to face such a trial with confidence. Obviously God's Spirit gave him strength, but I also think Daniel's courage had a lot to do with the fact he had a clear conscience before God.

When you read Daniel 6, his godly character and moral purity is emphasised: 'he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.' (v4) His enemies had to trap him by his faith as he was otherwise blameless before the king, and in line for a promotion (v3). His diligence and honourable conduct were unparalleled in the pagan land of Babylon.

Once the king makes the law banning prayer 'to any god or man for thirty days' except himself (v7), Daniel does not hesitate to continue praying to the LORD of heaven and earth. 'When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open towards Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.' (v10) In fact, this law made Daniel even more desperate to pray than ever! He knew he couldn't go on without the sustenance of his God. He knew that his privileged position was a gift from his Creator, not something he had simply earned by his own merit. If he had thought it was, he would have simply ditched prayer for a month and carried on at the top of the tree. But Daniel's view of God makes this impossible. He refuses to compromise.

It's interesting that his windows were open 'towards Jerusalem'. He's in exile, in Babylon, yet his heart is turned towards the place of the temple, the heritage of his fathers, the faith of his people. He is consciously following the scriptures where King Solomon, at the dedication of the temple, prayed that if the people were exiled for disobedience, they should turn their hearts back to Jerusalem and pray for God's mercy once again: 'yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly’, if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you towards their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive' (1 Kings 8:47-50). Daniel was consciously engaged in this work of intercession, knowing and understanding that the exile was all part of the plan of God in disciplining his people. Daniel's regular prayer was fuelled by the hope that Yahweh would hear; He would forgive; He would bring His people home. In chapter 9 we see perhaps a clearer glimpse of this intercessory heart of Daniel, but for now it helps for us to see that to him, prayer was an absolute necessity. It wasn't something he could just drop out of his schedule. Both on a personal level, and on a corporate, national level, prayer was of the utmost importance and priority to this godly man.

Daniel knows, then, that in choosing prayer he is choosing something better than the king's approval, even than his own life. He understands that in choosing prayer, the way of obedience, he can then stand before God in a clear conscience. He can say, 'I've been faithful to You, LORD, above all others.' Daniel doesn't know if God will rescue him from the lions (much like his three friends with the fiery furnace). But he does know that if he dies, he will be able to meet His God unashamedly. That gives him a powerful courage and an ability to stand firm amongst some frightening enemies and terrifying circumstances.

It's so interesting to see the impotence of the king - ironic impotence, as the reason he is unable to help Daniel is because of the power invested in his own laws ('Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed' v15) - compared with the sovereign power of God. The king 'set his mind to deliver Daniel' and 'laboured' to do so (v14), but was ultimately powerless and ineffective. Daniel tells the king the next day 'My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths' (v22), a very clear answer to the king's question: 'has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?' (v21). There can be no doubting it: Daniel's faith is vindicated publicly.

Daniel declares God has saved him 'because I was found blameless before him' (v22). Perhaps this was something the angel told him; we don't know. But it encourages us that if we diligently follow God in faithfulness wherever He places us, then we can have courage to face any obstacles, with a clear conscience before our King.

Daniel: shining like stars

'Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky' (Philippians 2:14-15).

'Christ is the light of the world, and good Christians are lights in the world. When God raises up a good man in any place, he sets up a light in that place.' (Matthew Henry)

I've been reading the book of Daniel, and this New Testament verse from Philippians really sums it up for me. With the nation of Israel in pieces and the cream of the crop in exile in Babylon, Daniel and his friends shine like stars in the darkness of a pagan land. Their situation speaks strongly to me of our position as Christians, 'elect exiles' (1 Pet 1:1) in this corrupt world, waiting for the return of Jesus Christ and the beauty of the new creation in its stunning absence of sin. I think I often read the Bible and think, how am I supposed to do this? How am I supposed to live in this world, full of temptations and pulls, and manage to obey God? Surely it can't be possible? Now I'm not an advocate of Christian perfectionism, but sometimes I worry we go too far the other way. We are so caught up with emphasising our sinfulness that we forget that God has given us commands, and the power by His Spirit to obey them. Otherwise, if it was not possible to obey, how could we be held accountable and responsible for our sin?

Looking at the heroes of the Bible, like Abraham, Noah, Moses, Job, David, they were not sinless. They could not redeem us like Jesus. However, they did have a valid righteousness that came from their obedience through faith in God's promises. They did live exemplary lives amongst a warped and crooked generation. And it has to be possible for us to imitate them -and ultimately Christ Himself- and live righteously so that we can fulfil our function of illuminating to the world how far from their Creator they have fallen, and draw them back to Him. (1 Pet 2:9)

So let's look at Daniel and see what we can learn from his behaviour in Babylon:
He was unshaken, despite living in an extremely turbulent time. He was exiled from Israel to be educated for three years in the literature and language of the Chaldeans (Dan 1:5) - essentially a re-education to make these exiles conform to the Babylonian ways. But Daniel resolves not to defile himself with the king's food (Dan 1:8), which seems to be a way of taking a stand that he won't be ensnared by the new culture he is living in. The distinctive diet which he and his friends adopt serves to emphasise their distinct faith and identity as God's people in a foreign land. From the beginning of the book, then, Daniel is distinctive. He deliberately does not seek to 'blend in' seamlessly with his pagan surroundings. He was therefore not a people-pleaser. He wasn't willing to sacrifice his closeness to God and obedience just to win favour with others.

In the close fellowship he shared with Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, Daniel avoided spiritual isolation. He knew his own need for like-minded believers around him to encourage him and share truth in the midst of a crazy time, full of tests, betrayals and amazing miracles too. In his lifestyle, both words and actions, Daniel showed outstanding wisdom (Dan 1:17). Unlike Solomon, he was faithful to the end. He was gifted by God in exceptional ways, and placed in a context he almost certainly found uncomfortable, difficult and at times life-threatening, in order to be used by God in extraordinary ways. He was happy to be a prophet in a pagan place, one who spoke the words God wanted him to speak, in the situations he was placed into. His boldness was balanced with a wonderful calmness and humility; Daniel does not come across as gung-ho (in Dan 2:14 he hears of the king's command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon, which includes himself, and speaks to the captain of the king's guard with prudence and discretion). In each situation he faced, he determined to seek God and had faith that God would answer (Dan 2:16-18). He was a regular and seasoned pray-er, refusing to quit his habit to fall in line with the king's orders, regardless of the cost (Dan 6:10).

Ultimately, Daniel had a firm understanding of the sovereignty of God. He knew that Yahweh's power was not restricted to the borders and boundaries of Israel. He knew that he was where he was for a reason in a divine purpose, even if he didn't always complete understand that purpose. He was thankful, offering praise to God and refusing to take God's favour for granted (Dan 2:21-23). He spoke truth without compromise to kings who held a huge amount of worldly power, knowing that their power was given to them by an almighty God who would hold them accountable. Despite his unique abilities and the prominence he held under Nebuchadnezzar, by Belshazzar's reign, Daniel seems to have been overlooked or forgotten (see Dan 5:11-12). He obviously wasn't one to put himself forward and cling on to power for the sake of it. He knew if God wanted him to be in the spotlight again, He would make it happen - and when He did, Daniel didn't shrink from speaking some hard words to the proud and arrogant king who had not learnt from the mistakes of his father (Dan 6:17-23). He refuses earthly rewards because he sees their true value in the light of eternity.

What encouragement for us! It is possible to live an exemplary life in a world that is fundamentally hostile to God. As Simon Guillebaud observes, we are to insulate ourselves, not isolate ourselves, from the world. What situations has God placed you in, to be a witness to the world around you? Pray that He would help you to stay faithful!