Daniel 6:24-25 (NIV 23-24)

Daniel 6:24-25 (NIV 23-24)

Are you finishing the test off? Or is the test finishing you off?

Observe the following verses: 

"The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God"

"At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones"


When you compare the New International Version with the original Aramaic you can see a very good translation. But we want to go into certain details with two words, which will give us a wider picture. 

Observe how " when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God"

Hallelujah!

This is one of the most terrible trials that a believer have endured in the Word of God, the one that Daniel experienced in the lion's den, a whole night with wild carnivores. Not only because of the trial itself but for the injustice it conveyed - he was beeing punished because of his relationship with God. And the Lord, His same God who he worshipped in spite of the royal decree, allowed the punishment. This is a very important teaching to us, because it is vital in knowing God: He will not hinder many trials who come upon us. He will be with us in the fire. 

The word of God says that Daniel had no "wound". This word is the rendering of Aramaic "khabál", that we can also find in Daniel 3:25 (alluding physical or psychic damage) and in Ezra 4:22 (alluding to economical or political damage) We can go through trials in our lives which have to do, not only with our physical health, but with our security, our economy, our family, our psychic health, our country... To enumerate all possible ways in which a trial may affect us would make a very long list. 

But we read that Daniel ended that trial without any "khabál". He wasn't hurt by the lions physically, and neither his spirit fail because of the trial. In the previous passage we read how he answered the king proclaming the salvation that God worked on him, and his innocence. The prophet was not only safe in a physical way; he was IN VICTORY. 

How would you leave the trial in victory?

There is a reason the word gives us in Daniel's example: "because he had trusted in his God". To "trust" is the rendering of Aramaic "amán" which means "to believe" or "have faith in". This verb is the same in Hebrew - is the one we read in Genesis 15:6 - and corresponds to the Greek "pistiúo", to "believe" in John 3:16. Most of the time, this verb means "to believe", and there are other verbs in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek that mean "to trust". 

Why did the translators choose "to trust" in the New International Version?

"To believe" means "to take for certain - by faith - something which is not known for sure, or verified". "To trust" means "to have confidence, to have surety". This last verb is found in Psalms 91:2 - Hebrew "batákh" - in Daniel 3:28 - Aramaic "rekháts" - or in Romans 14:14 - Greek "píto". 

Daniel didn't just "believed in God". The Scripture says that even the demons believe that there is a God. There is a difference between an intelectual faith which take a proclamation as certain, that "amen" with which we answer to the truth - and that is also "faith", of course - and the "trust" or "surety" that make us to put our live in God's hands, to rely in that One to whom we said "amen". That is what Nebuchadnezzar saw in the friends of Daniel that he had cast in a burning furnace, when he said that God delivered his servants who "trusted" in Him. And it is the same measure of faith we can see in Daniel, who trusted God with his own life. 

Do you believe that there is a God, or do you trust Him?

It was Jesus Himself who intervened in Babylonia to save Daniel and his friends, because of their trust in God. But we are living in times when this kind of faith is not a daily phenomenon. This condition is prophesied in the Scripture, and it has even an age for its fullfillment, which is ours. Observe 2nd Timothy 3:1-5:

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days"

"People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power"

"Have nothing to do with such people"

"Such people" came before Nebuchadnezzar to accuse Daniel's friends, who refused to worship the golden statue. They came also before Darius the Mede in order to manipulate him and make him sign a decree that was a trap for Daniel. It is not casual that when Daniel ended in victory and was brought out of the lion's den, the king gave order to bring Daniel's enemies and cast them in the den, with their families. The Word of God says, "Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake" (Ecc 10:8) The same damage they planned for Daniel went back on them, their wives and their children. 

There is a spiritual warfare against God's children, where the unclean spirits (see the NOTE at the end) try to separate us from the Lord, from the Holy Spirit guidance and from the faith in Jesus. As the evil Babylonians went before Nebuchadnezzar and Darius the Mede to accuse the Jews and make them fall, there is an evil demon who accuses us before our God and Father. But the end of this evil being and his followers is hell, as we can see in the Bible. As Daniel's enemies ended in the lion's den, our spiritual enemies will end in hell on eternity. 

It doesn't matter which is that trial you are going through. IT WILL END. The God who saves us will always get the victory, because He is Almighty, and the demons which accuse us will be defeated, because God sent His Son to save us, not to condemn us. The purpose of the trial is not your destruction, is to test you (that's why it is also called "test") It doesn't matter which your trial is; believe in God! He is powerful to help every one who is tempted. 

If you have not yet received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, don't wait any longer! Our Father's will is that no one shall get lost, but that everyone shall repent. In the same way that the king was overjoyed because of the prophet's salvation, there is joy in the Kingdom of God when a sinner repents. Receive Jesus Christ, and be free from Satan's traps! 

May the Lord bless you. In the love of Christ, your brother 

Israel Leonard

PS. Jesus is coming soon!


NOTE: 

Sin has no power against Jesus' blood, because those who incite to sin were defeated on the cross. 

In Col 2:13-15 we read, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross"

Those "powers and authorities" are ranks of fallen angels - also called "demons" or "unclean spirits". You can read "demons" in Lk 10:17 and "spirits" in Lk 10:20 (the disciples and the Lord use different words for the same creatures) In Matthew 12:24-27 Satan is called "prince of demons", and these are called "his angels" in Matthew 25:41 and Revelation 12:7, 9. All angels are spirits, both the ones serving God or the other ones - demons - the fallen ones, serving Satan. 

These "spirits which follow Satan" are the angels who rebelled with him against God, and they are condemned to hell together with their ringleader. 2 Peter 2:4 shows that they are condemned to hell, and Matthew 25:41, that hell was especially prepared for them. The devil himself is going to hell at the end also:

"And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever"

Revelation 20:10

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