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Daniel 10:1-11:1

After his previous vision, Daniel is seen mourning and fasting and praying. Then he receives a final vision. It occurred during the month when Israel was to celebrate the Passover. But Daniel was greatly distressed and troubled; not celebrating.

When we read of encounters with God in the Bible, they are terrifying events. Daniel and his men experienced such an encounter. The men who were with Daniel fled trembling and hid themselves. Daniel’s strength left him and his body went into a deep sleep until he was strengthened by the hand of God’s messenger who revealed the truth of God’s word to him and of God’s love towards Daniel.

“O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.”

Leviticus 25:1-18, Daniel 9:15-27

This is a complex passage from the book of Daniel and many have tried to use it in an attempt to predict the sequence of events related to the end of this world as we know it, and to predict the timing of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Can this passage of scripture honestly be used to tell us the future of Western civilisation, or do we need to look at this text more closely through the eyes of Daniel the Israelite?

One of the reasons Israel was exiled from the promised land was because of the exploitation of the land by the children of Israel. They failed to follow the commands of YHWH and to give the land the rest as stipulated by him.

It is explained to Daniel that the exile is not completed, simply with a return to Jerusalem and rebuilding everything from scratch. Many things still need to occur to bring about everlasting righteousness.

Listen to the following talk by Ray Patchett as he gives us a clear and helpful explanation.

Jeremiah 29:1-14, Daniel 9:1-19

We can learn much on how to pray by reading in the scriptures, the prayers of the Lord’s faithful servants .

Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the exiles living in Babylon, exhorting them to build and plant and marry and multiply and seek after the welfare of their enemies, the captors of Israel and destroyers of Jerusalem and to pray on behalf of Babylon where they were to dwell for seventy years.

Daniel, meditating on the writings of Jeremiah towards the end of the exile, realised that the prophesied seventy year exile in Babylon was nearing its completion and he prayed to the Lord, humbling himself and confessing the sins of Israel, and asking that the Lord God would remember His covenant promises and keep His commitment to restore Israel’s fortunes and return the exiles to Jerusalem for the sake and honour of his own name.

How should we pray in accordance with the will of the Lord in the times in which we live?

We must consider the name of God’s Son first and foremost; that honour and glory would be given to the Lord Jesus Christ and that his name would be restored and greatly esteemed in our culture and that His Kingdom would come, and that the earth would be filled with His glory.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Daniel 8:1-27

In this latest vision of Daniel, it was revealed to him that kingdoms would continue to rise and be overthrown, and the trouble for Israel after the Babylonian exile would be far from over.

The focus in this chapter narrows to two empires; the ‘Ram’ or Medo-Persian Empire and the ‘Goat’ or Greek Empire. Alexander The Great of Greece, conquered the world by the age of 26, but he then died in his early thirties. His empire was divided up amongst four of his generals (four horns) before his death. From one of these four horns grew another little horn, Antiochus Epiphanies, who boasted of himself and defied God; even setting himself in the place of God. He turned his attention towards the land of Israel and its surrounds. He violated the holy temple at Jerusalem and caused worship to cease, putting to death anyone who continued to practice Judaism.

Here we see a pattern of lawlessness which will be repeated time and time again until the end of human government. A boastful ruler, ‘the man of lawlessness’ is destined to appear on the world stage, who will also defy God with his boasting and hatred of God. He will set himself in the place of God. He will be a great deceiver who will cause fearful destruction against mighty men and he will prevail over God’s people, destroying many. However, he will be judged and destroyed, but by no human hand.

It is better to be prepared. It is better to know what’s coming…

Recommended reading for historical context.
Available on Librivox Audio Books
Apocrypha/Deuterocanon: 1 Maccabees

Daniel 7:1-28, Revelation 13:1-18

Daniel has visions of four great human kingdoms in the form of mutant beasts which alarm him greatly. The fourth beast is described as terrifying, dreadful, exceedingly strong, fierce and devouring.

On the head of the fourth beast there grew a horn which boasted loudly of itself and yet another beast which gives its support to the little horn as it wages war upon the saints. An example of the worst of governments opposing The Most High God.

The Ancient Of Days sits in judgement and he demonstrates his rule and authority over all earthly kingdoms and rulers.

The Son of Man (the name Jesus Christ most identified himself with) will have dominion over all and will destroy the beast.  His kingdom will never end and his saints shall receive and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.
The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

Daniel 6:1-28

Daniel was a man of integrity. His enemies couldn’t find anything they could use against him to bring him down from his high position in government.

Daniel’s enemies plotted against him. They appealed to King Darius’ ego to entrap Daniel. A new law was enacted which couldn’t be revoked and it meant that Daniel would be prohibited from praying to YHWH

Daniel remained firm in his faith  and continued to pray to the living God in defiance of the foolish law signed by King Darius which lead to his being thrown to the lions.

But God is sovereign, “He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, [and it was] he who has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions.”

King Darius then sentenced Daniel’s enemies and their families to be cast into the Den of lions.

Among the Persians, all the kindred were involved in the guilt of one culprit. The Mosaic law expressly forbade this (De 24:16; 2Ki 14:6).

The following talk was prepared by Jason Chan, but due to illness was delivered by Andrew Jackson on his behalf.

Acts 12:20-25 Daniel 5:1-31

Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin

There was no greater king than Nebuchadnezzar during the time of his reign, but his earthly kingdom eventually came to an end. His son Belshazzar showed poor judgement as king when he brought the items Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, using them to drink from in defiance of God.

A sign was given to Belshazzar, not in a dream but through a hand, writing  on the plaster. This caused the ‘great’ Belshazzar to soil himself.

Belshazzar condescendingly called for Daniel the exile as a last resort to unlock the mystery of the writing, but only after the Queen mother reminded Belshazzar of Daniels abilities and service to king Nebuchadnezzar.

Belshazzar was without excuse for his actions. He knew how God had dealt with Nebuchadnezzar and should have known better than to show contempt towards the true and living God who is able to humble the proud.

Daniel the servant of YHWH outlived the kingdom of Babylon and its kings. We as servants of the true God are heirs of his eternal kingdom and will also outlive the kingdoms of this world thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who humbled himself for our sakes, so that we might live and reign forever with him.

Daniel 4:1-37

Pride. We all suffer from it.

Nebuchadnezzar learned a valuable lesson. He was king of Babylon between 605BC to 562BC and attributed his great prosperity to his own mighty power.

Nebuchadnezzar had been forewarned in an alarming dream that his kingdom would be removed from his power for a period of time and that he would be made to eat grass like an ox until he had been humbled. This came to pass.

Nebuchadnezzar then repents and his reason is returned to him. He acknowledges and praises the Most High. He has learned that the King of heaven rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will,;for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

What an amazing testimony!

James 4:5b-6
Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Romans 12:3
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Revelation 12:1-17; Daniel 3:1-30

We live in changing times with conflicting standards and the Christian world view is barely tolerated. Christians are being told that we must be tolerant to all world views and idiologies, otherwise we are called out as being the ones who are intolerant bigots.

How did Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego handle themselves when they were put in a position of having to choose to either go along with the culture and bow down to idolatrous human belief systems or remain faithful to Almighty God’s commandments?

How will we respond, as followers of Jesus Christ, to the intolerance and persecution from our culture and from those who would seek to shut us down and destroy us?

Where do our convictions lie? Are we prepared to stand firm and trust in God, no matter the consequences, even our own death or the death of those we love?

Do we dare to not conform to Babylon?

Live or die, God will save us!

Matthew 10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Luke 12:4
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.

We are called to die with Christ that we may live with him, and to suffer with him that we may reign with him. —William Tyndale

Daniel 2:1-49

We all have vivid dreams when we sleep, but quite often we have forgotten the details after waking. What are the chances that someone else would be able to tell us what we dreamed, and then give us the interpretation of the dream.

That’s exactly what King Nebuchadnezzar expected from his magicians and he put them to the test. When they made excuses and failed, they were exposed as charlatans.

No one knows the  future except our omniscient God and he alone has an unblemished record for revealing the future.

Daniel knew that only with the help of the Lord he would be able to reveal and explain Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Daniel and his friends prayed to the LORD and God blessed Daniel and gave him the knowledge and wisdom he needed.