When we study the life of the prophets, we see that all of them were subjected to suffering of some kind. With the prophets as leaders, not only were they obedient and repentant, they all suffered and were persecuted. God knew their heart and what they could tolerate.
We could go through the list of O.T. prophets, both major and minor, and we would see that all of them suffered some kind of discomfort or persecution. The Israelites were so intent upon their disobedience of God’s law that they did not want to hear any word that called them to repent and turn back to God. They normally reacted to the prophet’s message by punishing them or putting them in prison. The Israelites were very stubborn and hard hearted. This was the main reason that God allowed them to be conquered and enslaved. There were many of the very young Israelites that were deported to Babylon served as slaves.
Daniel was one of these young men. God chose him to be a wise but strong minded leader of the Israelite captives. He never gave in to the demands of the Babylonian rulers. His faithfulness to God resulted in his being thrown into the lion’s den, but God used that punishment for His Glory in that Daniel was unharmed. God used Daniel’s faith as a witness to the Babylonian leaders. His story was one of many that the O.T. prophets experienced. Suffering was a normal part of the prophet’s life.