The Thin Place of the Lion’s Den
The Thin Place of the Lion’s Den.
“ The thin place is where the veil between this world and the next is so sheer that it is easy to step through.” (Barbara Brown Taylor, Home By Another Way).
This term from an ancient Celtic tradition has stood the test of time. The idea of a thin place between heaven and earth has captured our imaginations, and yet is not just a metaphor. Thin places are literal as well.
The traditional thin place as the Irish understood it has been described in many ways: where the veil between heaven and earth is so thin as to be porous, permeable, practically transparent; where the space between the divine and the human has narrowed; where eternity and time intersect; where the boundary between heaven and earth has collapsed; where the wall between heaven and earth have made them indistinguishable; where the doors between heaven and earth have cracked open enough to walk through, if only temporarily; the place where eternity and time seem to join together.
Those descriptions of thin places have recently been expanded to include… wherever God has chosen to reveal Himself and make Himself known with unusual intimacy; wherever the sacred interaction with God’s presence is more pronounced and accessible; wherever the Holy Spirit is released in a particularly powerful way; a physical space where one can more directly and intensely experience God’s presence. A thin place is when the Spirit of God opens the skylight of the earth’s roof and provides easy access to and from heaven. A thin place allows traffic between heaven and earth.
The Backstory. Daniel is a central figure in Hebrew history. Around 600 BC, Nebuchadnezzar and his huge Babylonian army laid siege to Jerusalem. They surrounded the capital city of Judah and had a stranglehold on everything in Jerusalem… no food, no transportation, no military help. God’s punishment to His Chosen People for their unfaithfulness was to have the Babylonians defeat the people of Jerusalem. The enemy then quickly deported those young men who would serve the king’s court in Babylon. “Only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men, all versed in every branch of learning, gifted with knowledge and good judgment, suited to serve in the royal palace.” (Daniel 1:4). Among these exiled young men were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Nothing would make these young men compromise their faith in God. Despite their resistance to Babylon’s temptations, their excellence in their work (“ten times more competent” (1:20), these four men rose to prominent places of leadership in Babylon. Because Daniel was so competent in so much, he kept climbing Babylon’s ladder of success. Daniel gave all the credit to God in his powerful tribute to the Lord: ‘Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events, he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded.” (Daniel 2:20-23).
Eventually the king promoted Daniel to the king’s court to be a ruler over the whole province of Babylon, much like a Prime Minister today. Daniel was a trusted statesman in enemy territory, and continued as a leader in civic affairs for over 70 years. The secret to Daniel’s success was his profound prayer life. He was a prophet who predicted military and political events, and was given visions of the inner workings of the heavenly court. His ancient prophetic insights are still being studied for their contemporary relevance to this day. Daniel was described well in 5:11-12: “There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. This man was found to have insight, understanding and wisdom like that of the gods. This man, Daniel, has exceptional ability and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems.”
Daniel somehow figured out how to wisely walk that tightrope of working effectively in a pagan culture, while at the same time remaining faithful to God. When he was almost 90 years old, king Darius issued a foolish edict that all prayers should be directed towards him. Daniel, however, continued to pray three times a day to Yahweh as he has his whole life in Babylon. He courageously prayed in the open for all to see, his windows wide open, unafraid of the consequences. Daniel was simply following the three required daily prayer times of his historic Judaism: the morning prayer (“shacharit”), the afternoon prayer (“minchah”), and the evening prayer (“maariv”). As expected, his prayer life with Yahweh was soon discovered, and Daniel was literally thrown headlong into the deep pit full of lions.
On the Lion’s Den as a Thin Place. The “lion’s den” in those days was not even remotely like our well-kept, spacious homes for lions in the average zoo. It was actually a huge pit, more like a cavern below ground, large enough to contain an entire pride of lions. Once the stone was rolled over the entrance at the top of the pit, the lion’s den would have been completely dark. If you’ve ever been deep in the middle of a vast cave, you can’t even see the hand in front of your face. This is what it would have been like for Daniel once he was thrown into the den below. He could only judge what was happening by touch, as the lions’ tails swiped at him and the huge lions nudged against him in the dark. With no air flow whatsoever, the smell would have been overpowering… feces, urine, rotting carcasses of past meals, and all those wild animal smells that can be overpowering.
“Early in the morning, king Darius got up and hurried to the lion pit. On approaching the pit where Daniel was, the king cried out in a pained voice to Daniel, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you are always serving, been able to save you from the lions?’ Then Daniel answered the king, ‘My God sent His angel to shut the lions’ mouths, so they haven’t hurt me!’… So Daniel was taken up from the pit, and he was found to be completely unharmed, because he had trusted God.” (Daniel 6:20-24).
Yes, into this hellhole came an angel from heaven, and the lion’s den turned into a thin place. The Lord Yahweh sent an angel to shut the lion’s jaws, and Daniel escaped unscathed. After his divine rescue, Daniel once again prospered as a highly respected official in the king’s court.
Daniel was asked by his pagan employers his whole life to compromise his convictions and his faith, but he remained steadfast in a unique kind of holy stubbornness. Loyalty, thy name is Daniel. He was a true prayer warrior. Daniel was somehow able to combine the mystical with the practical, able to be both spiritual and political in a pagan culture. After a lifetime of standing up to the powers-that-be, it’s a miracle he lived to the ripe old age of 90 years old or so. I suspect that Daniel was one of those rare believers who was in a thin place no matter where he went. Let’s all dare to be a Daniel, a voice of divine reason and holy wisdom that somehow maintained credibility and influence in an alien society.