Today, I am reading and commenting on Daniel 11-12.

At some point I may spend some time learning about the history of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties which ruled over the Middle East between Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire, but in the meantime I will look at what I gain from this passage without that.  We learn of a king who will do as he pleases.  We can be warned by the description of this king and his actions.  Some will allow themselves to be corrupted away from serving God by the flattery of the powerful.  Even some who were otherwise wise will be corrupted.  However, those who wisely remain faithful in the face of persecution will provide an example that will inspire many.  They will shine brightly in the darkness and lead others to righteousness.  Some will be impressed by the glory and grandeur of powerful people who oppose God, but those who faithfully serve God will change the world.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Daniel 9-10.

When Babylon fell, the passage tells us that Daniel understood Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the devastation of Jerusalem lasting for seventy years was almost up.  This inspired Daniel to pray for the restoration of Jerusalem.  The first part of Daniel’s prayer acknowledged that the people of Israel deserved God’s judgement against them.  He continued by acknowledging that even now the people of Israel did not deserve to be restored.  Finally, Daniel asked God to restore the people of Israel to Jerusalem for His name’s sake and because of His mercy.  We can learn a lot about petitioning God from Daniel’s prayer, especially about things which we understand Scripture to say that God has promised to do.  First, we need to acknowledge our sinfulness.  Then we must acknowledge that we do not deserve God’s mercy.  Only then should we petition God to act on our behalf.  I took the title of today’s blog from Daniel’s prayer.  Our prayers should easily fit into that format: a plea for God to listen as we confess our sins, a plea that he forgive those sins, and finally a plea that He hear our requests and act on them.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Daniel 7-8.

Today’s passage contains two visions about the future which Daniel experienced before the fall of Babylon.  Both visions are similar.  They both present the world powers as animal like beings.  They both end with a small horn which grows out of one of the other horns and which exhibits great arrogance.  The small horn in both visions sets itself up against God and His holy people.  Finally, both visions end with the small horn being overthrown by the power of God.  These visions may be alternative views about the final days of this earth, but I wonder if we might not take another lesson from them.  In both visions, governments rise to power, only to be overthrown by other human agencies.  Then in both visions, “someone” raises themselves up as a challenge to God and persecutes those who seek to continue to serve Him.  But, not only does this “someone” persecute those who serve God, but terrorizes the whole earth.  Finally, this “someone” is overthrown, but not by any human agency.  They are overthrown by the power of God.  I think we see in this that at times in history, individuals, or governments, will exercise great power over the earth such that many will suffer, but especially those who serve God.  People will desire to overthrow these oppressors, and may even attempt to do so.  However, these oppressors will deal with all such revolts brutally and remain in power.  Then, out of nowhere that the human perspective can understand, a Power will arise and bring them down.  In the interpretation of the first vision we are told that “one like a human being” (the translation says “son of man” rather than human, but the translation notes say that the best translation of the Hebrew would be human being and that they used “son of man” because of its use in the New Testament in reference to this passage) would rise up and be given power over the earth by the Ancient of Days.  The kingdom of the being “like a human being” would be everlasting.  So, when it seems like powers have arisen which cannot be opposed, but which stand in opposition to God, Christ has been given power to bring them down, and He will do so.  These visions tell us that no matter how bad things seem, God is in control and will come to the aid of His people.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Daniel 5-6.

The passage starts with the account about the writing on the wall which preceded the fall of Babylon.  This story is where we get the saying “I can see the writing on the wall.”  Of course, that saying has the problem in that by the time the writing was on the wall in this story it was too late for those to whom it was addressed.  When Daniel interpreted the writing for King Belshazzar, he reminded him that he, King Belshazzar, had known how King Nebuchadnezzar had been forced to acknowledge that he was not all powerful and that God is sovereign.  Yet King Belshazzar had nevertheless chosen to use vessels which had been dedicated to the worship of God to worship other gods.  Belshazzar honored numerous other gods, but did not honor the God who held his life in His hands.  Not only did Belshazzar not honor God, he held God up to ridicule.  Don’t wait until you see the writing on the wall to acknowledge God and His greatness, because then it will be too late.

Later in the passage we have the account of Daniel in the lions’ den.  I want to focus on how he ended up the lions’ den.  Some of his political enemies, after trying and failing to find any dirt on Daniel, convinced the king to issue an edict making it illegal to worship anyone but him, the king, for thirty days.  Daniel knew of this edict but nevertheless continued to pray three times a day.  I want to look at what Daniel did a little more closely.  He went home to his upstairs room to pray.  By doing so he did two things.  He isolated himself so that he would not be distracted from his worship of God while he prayed, but he also made it so that his prayer would not intrude on those who had chosen, for one reason or another, not to worship God.  However, in that upstairs room he opened the windows towards Jerusalem and prayed in front of them.  By doing this no one could claim that he was hiding what he was doing (that is not why he did it, but I am confident that he was aware of this aspect of it).  Daniel made no effort to hide that he was worshiping God, even when doing so could land him in trouble.  On the other hand, he did not force his beliefs on others.  I believe that there are times when we are called to be more confrontational than Daniel was here, but there are also times when we should just quietly worship God, allowing others to ignore us if they choose, but not hiding what we believe.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Daniel 3-4.

Usually when I write on this passage I focus on the faith and bravery of our three young heroes when they are about to be thrown into the fiery furnace.  However today I was struck by Nebuchadnezzar’s decree and the way in which their noncompliance was reported to him.  It reminded me of parts of our culture today which require adherence to values which are contrary to those taught in the Bible.  While no one in the United States faces a fiery furnace for failing to bow down to these idols and beliefs, they may face expulsion from certain professions and other penalties for daring to remain faithful to God.  Our three heroes stood up when everyone else bowed down.  They knew the penalties they faced for publicly defying the king, but did so anyway, putting their faith in God.  They stood up and God rescued them from the fiery furnace.  Do we have faith that if we stand up today that God will rescue us from our “fiery furnace”?  More importantly, do we have the faith to say, “Even if He does not, we will not serve your gods?”

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.