Daniel 12 'Live in light of eternity'

A great Scottish preacher called Thomas Chalmers once wrote, 'I beseech you to think how certainly death will (and how speedily it may) come upon you.  Even the youngest among us should be aware that death can come quickly.  The agony of the parting breath will come.  The time when you are stretched a lifeless corpse before the eyes of weeping relatives will come.  The coffin that will enclose you will come.  The hour when the company assemble to carry you to the burial ground will come.  The minute you are put into the grave will come.  The throwing in of the loose earth into the narrow house where you are laid, and the spreading of the green sod over it - all, all will come on ever living creature who now reads these words.  In a few short years both I who write, and you who read my words, will both be in our graves, and another generation will populate the earth.'

Chalmers wrote these words in the 1800s and he and has generation have long since died.  Their opportunity to embrace the eternal life that Jesus so freely offers has passed yet ours remains.  But our days are numbered, soon we too will die and another generation will populate the earth.  

In the last chapter of the book of Daniel a heavenly messenger tells Daniel, 'Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt' (2).

Now is the time to ensure that we are raised to eternal life rather than to everlasting contempt and shame.  But it might surprise you to realise this is not about being a good person or about being able to name the day and hour you prayed a prayer of commitment.

1.  Being right with God is not about being a good person

When Gerry Adams was asked, on Gay Byrne's program 'The Meaning of Life', what he would say to God on Judgement Day he replied, 'I'll say, "I did my best. Here I am. Take me in."'  

Like Gerry Adams many people think that they are essentially good enough for God.  They hope that he will notice their achievements and ignore their failings.  And yet Jesus said 'who is good but God alone?'  The apostle Paul, writing to first-century Christians in Rome declared that 'there is no one righteous, not one.  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.'  If none of us are by nature good or righteous then how do we make sure we are not  raised to eternal shame and contempt?  These verses show us.

It is not about being good, it is about being made good.  Those whose names are in the book of life will be purified, made spotless and refined (10).  A similar idea is found in the book of Revelation where we read that those 'who have come out of the great tribulation ... have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb' (Rev. 7:14).  Those who are raised to eternal life are people who have benefited from what Jesus achieved on the cross.  Because he shed his blood they have been purified and made clean.  

You see Jesus lived a morally perfect life and then died on a cross.  He was righteous and then died for the unrighteous.  He perfectly obeyed God's law and then took the punishment for our disobedience.  He never sinned but experienced God's anger for our rebellion.  Our Holy God sees the selfishness in our hearts and thinks of it more seriously than we would like yet he invites us to trade in our unrighteousness in exchange for the perfect righteousness of Christ.  He offers to forgive our sin and treat us as if we had always lived like Jesus.     

 

Notice, in verse three, that those who have experienced this gift of righteousness want to tell others about God's wonderful kindness.  They lead many to righteousness (3).  'But I am not very good at evangelism', you say.  Remember to be involved in mission is to be a link in a chain.  You might not be the midwife who gets to witness the birth of a new Christian but you may have played a role by living in such a way that commends the truth, by giving to the mission of the church and most importantly by praying for people.

2.  Being right with God us not about being able to name the hour you prayed a prayer of commitment

Being right with God is not about being a good but being made good; and, being right with God is not about being able to name the hour you prayed a prayer of commitment.

A man who was living a life that showed no evidence of the influence of God declared to a Methodist minister, 'but I am still saved'.  This man believed that because he had prayed a prayer of commitment at a meeting, many years previously, he was eternally secure.  The book of Daniel would say otherwise.  Not everyone who claims to be one of God's people really is, and those who are God's people prove it by persevering under pressure.

The temple in Jerusalem had special significance before the coming of Jesus.  Daniel has been told that many years after his lifetime a political tyrant would go to that temple and stop the burnt offerings.  Then after a period of time (referred to as 1,290 days in verse eleven) this tyrant would desecrate the temple (which he did by setting up a statue of Zeus and sacrificing ritually unclean animals on the alter).  A shorter period of time would then pass (leading to the 1,335 days of verse eleven) until the tyrant died and the burnt offerings resumed.  Around this time the tyrant would kill many of God's people.  Indeed these events give a picture of all the troubled times God's people face.

Now look back to verse one.  'Now at that time Michael (an archangel), the great prince who protects your people, will arise.  There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered' (1).  They might die for their faith but they will be kept faithful.  We believe in one who is able to keep us from falling (Jude 24); we believe that not even persecution or danger or sword can separate us from his love (Romans 8:35); and, we believe that he who began a good work in us will see it through to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

Christians let God down but he picks us up.  Christians stumble but God ensures that we do not finally fall.  Christians may need more than one run at the hurdle but God ensures we ultimately clear the bar.  You see the evidence that we are one of Jesus' people is seen in his persevering grace.  Knowing that you are a Christian is not about being able to name the day you prayed a prayer of commitment; knowing that you are a Christian comes from witnessing the power of God at work in your life. 

3.  Being right with God involves experiencing change

This brings us to our last point.  Being right with God involves experiencing change.  'Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever' (3). 

Christians are people who have been changed from being unrighteous to being righteous.  Christians are people whose lives show the transforming presence of God.  Christians are people who seek to live to please God and make him look good.  Christians will be raised to eternal life and will display God's glory for ever.

But not all are raised to eternal life.   'Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt' (2).  Who are the people raised to shame and everlasting contempt?

Those who are raised to everlasting shame and contempt are described as those who do not understand (10).  In the Bible our failure to understand God's truth is seen as being the result of the hardness of our hearts.  If all this seems nonsense to you it may be because you just don't want it to be true.  If you have seen the true beauty of Christ dying for you on the cross it may be that God, in his wonderful kindness, is opening your eyes to see his truth.

Those who are raised to everlasting shame and contempt are described as being wicked, and they will continue to be wicked (10).  Don't think that means they are especially bad people.  The central sin (the sin from which all evil results), according to the Bible, is our failure to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  All of have held God at a distance, all of us have questioned his right to tell us how to live and all of us have done things that he says are wrong.

Everyone needs God's forgiveness.  Maybe you have heard about how Jesus can transform your life but you would rather stay as you are.  You could do nothing worse.  You will perish because you refuse to love the truth and so be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:10).  'God is willing to save you.  Are you willing to be saved?' (Thomas Chalmers).

Conclusion

'Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt' (2).

Thomas Chalmers wrote, 'there is a pathway of deliverance from the state of condemnation to the state of justification.'  In other words there is a path that leads guilty people to peace with God.  This path is not about being a good person; it about receiving the gift of Jesus' righteousness.  Have you given up trying to prove your worth to God and cast yourself upon his mercy and grace?  It is not about being able to name the day and hour you prayed a prayer of commitment; it is about experiencing God's transforming presence in your life.  So that we can say, with the hymn-writer John Newton, “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”.

This book ends with a word of comfort from the heavenly messenger to Daniel.  Daniel was now in his late eighties yet he is told to serve God to the end.  He is told that he can approach his death with confidence knowing that his heavenly inheritance is sure.  We too can approach our impending death with confidence if we are trusting and following Jesus.  For a great exchange has taken place.  On the cross God treated Jesus as if he had been guilty of our wickedness, and now God treats us as if we had lived Christ's life of perfect obedience.  'Go your way till the end.  You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance' (13).

Daniel 11 'God knows his history'

When Rico Tice was twenty-three he served as a student-worker at a church in Bristol.  One Sunday, after the morning service, a psychiatrist, who was a part of that church, spoke to him: 'Listen to me, Rico.  I want you to come and see me in your late thirties.  You'll be fine until then. But in fifteen years come see me.'

Fifteen years later Rico did need to talk to this man.  He had been engaged but it did not work out.  The broken relationship had exposed some personal issues to Rico.  Given that the psychiatrist had seen patterns of behaviour and character in him that would inevitably lead a sense of crisis in his late thirties Rico decided that he would go to this man for help.

It is impressive that this psychiatrist understood Rico so well as to make such an accurate prediction.  But God's knowledge of the future is far greater.  In the book of Daniel there are a whopping one hundred and thirty five predictions that were fulfilled in the subsequent four hundred years.  After we take a quick look at the prophesy in this chapter we will see what God's predictions reveal about his character.

A vision of future events

We saw at the beginning of chapter ten that in the third year of Cyrus, the Persian king, God sent a messenger to Daniel.  This messenger now gives Daniel a vision of future events.  At the time that the vision is given the Jews had returned to Palestine, the promised land, from exile.  But they are not free.  They are the subjects of the Persians.  Indeed things are going to continue to be difficult for them.

In verse two we see that after Cyrus there are four more kings of Persia and that the fourth king would invade Greece.  The invasion is a disaster and results in defeat at the Battle of Salamis (480 BC).

Then a period of one hundred and thirty years passes before the next major king.  He is Alexander the Great, of Greece.  Verse four shows how Alexander dies shortly after establishing his massive empire.  His power is divided between four of his generals.

One of those generals is called Ptolemy and he rules from Egypt.  His dynasty is referred to in these verses as 'the King of the South'.  One of the other generals is Seleucid, and he rules from Syria.  His dynasty is referred to as 'the King of the North'.

What follows, until verse twenty one, is a prediction of the conflict that rages between these two dynasties.  Twice we see an attempt at treaty through marriage, both ending in disaster.

In verse six we see that the daughter of the king of the south (Egypt) marries the king of the north.  That king, Antiochus the second, is already married.  He plans to divorce his wife and have a child who would rule over both kingdoms.  But his wife has both himself and his new wife poisoned.  Fulfilling the words referring to the king and his new wife, 'she will not retain her power, and he and his power will not last' (6).

In verse seventeen the king of the north, Syria, gives a daughter in marriage to the king of the south (Egypt).  But this treaty does not work because the woman, Cleopatra, sides with her husband against her father.

In between these two warning dynasties, centred on Egypt and Syria, lies Palestine, the promised land of the Old Testament.  We see that God's people become a victim of the warring parties.

In verse fourteen there is reference to 'the violent among your own people'.  This refers to a rebellion of some Jews who attempted, unsuccessfully, to overthrow their Egyptian rulers.

In verse twenty-one we read of a contemptible person.  This is Antiochus Epiphanes, of the Seleucid dynasty (the king of the north, Syria).  We have met this man before.  He is referred to as 'the little horn' in chapter eight.  He is a terrible oppressor of God's people.

In verse twenty-eight, after plundering Egypt, Antiochus returns to Syria through Palestine.  As he does so he deals ruthlessly with the Jews, killing eighty thousand men, women and children.  This prompts a full scale revolt referred to as the Maccabean revolt.

In verses twenty-nine and thirty we see that Antiochus invades Egypt again.  This time he suffers a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Romans.  He retreats into Palestine and takes his anger out on the Jews.  We read, 'he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant' (30).  He sends his chief tax-collector to Jerusalem, who begins killing the people and plundering the city.  He rewards those Jews who betrayed their people and supported him.

Later Antiochus's Syrian forces return to Jerusalem to suppress Jewish religious practices.  They stop the burnt offerings in the temple, set up an alter to the god Zeus, and sacrifice animals that the Jews considered unclean (like pigs) on the temple's alter.  This is referred to as 'the abomination that causes desolation' (31).

In both Matthew (24:15) and Mark (13:14) Jesus uses this term 'the abomination that causes desolation'.  Jesus uses this phrase to refer to the destruction of the temple by the Roman's in AD 70 and as a reference to events that will take place just before his return.  Indeed, the closing verses (36-46) seem to go beyond a description of Antiochus and have been thought to refer to the final greater oppressor of God's people, the antichrist, who will appear in the final days.

So what lessons do we learn from the prophesies of this chapter?

1.  We learn that God is God.

The book of Daniel contains one hundred and thirty five predictions that were fulfilled in the four hundred years that followed and as the prophecies of this chapter came to be God's people were being taught that their God is real and living.  In Isaiah the foolishness of idolatry is mocked, 'tell us, you idols, what is going to happen ... tell us what the future holds, so that we may know you are gods' (41:22-23).  In John's gospel Jesus predicts Judas's betrayal and then says, 'I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am' (John 13:19).

Fulfilled prophecy reveals the truth about God.  Liberal commentators have to say that the Bible is a deceitful book that inserted these prophesies into the story after they had happened because they cannot accept that God would reveal events before their time.  But one student in Oxford came to faith when an American Christian showed him how Bible prophesies were fulfilled.  It is interesting that the Quran contains no examples of prophesies that are later fulfilled.

2.  We learn that God is committed to his people

One commentator said that he saw little in this chapter that could be used for preaching.  But we need these words, for they are a warning that life for God's people is going to be tough in this world.  If we only read the opening half of Daniel we would think that God's people are always delivered from the furnace unharmed and the lions' den without a paw laid on them.  But here we read of faithful people who suffer for their faith.  In 2009 there were one hundred and sixty seven thousand Christians martyred.  Some of the children in this church may grow up to serve God in lands where they are imprisoned or tortured for Christ.  Even our own Cculture shows a growing intolerance towards people who are faithful to Jesus.

In verse thirty five we see that this suffering has a refining effect.  It strengthens God's people and reveals those whose faith is merely superficial.  In verse thirty we read about those who forsake the covenant but in verse thirty-two we see those who know their God and hold firm.  Not all who are called by God's name are actually a part of his family.  Those who truly love Jesus may stumble but they will not finally fall.  Jude tells us of him who is able to keep you from falling (24).  In Matthew, Jesus speaks of a time when, 'false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect' (24:24).  Notice the words, 'if possible' - you see Jesus is saying that it is not possible for his people to be ultimately devieved.  He will keep us going until the end.  Make your election and calling sure as you learn obedience in the small things and the good times so that you will be found to be a genuine follower of Jesus when it becomes difficult to be called by his name.

3.  We learn that God rules.

Finally, we learn that God rules.  Nine times we read the word 'but'.  For example, the daughter of the king of the south makes an alliance with the king of the north, 'but she will not retain her power, and he and his power will not last' (6); speaking of Antiochus the third (the father of Antiochus Epiphanes) we read, 'he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own country but will stumble and fall, to be seen no more (19); of Antiochus Epiphanes we read, 'he will plot the overthrow of fortresses—but only for a time' (24); 'At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before' (29).

The word 'but' in this context and the word 'appointed' remind us that God is the one in ultimate control.  That is the major theme of the book of Daniel, God is in control of history.  All power is ultimately subject to his power.  No rule is exempt from his rule.  He works history towards his ends.  All things happen for his glory and the good of his people.

But can we say that history works for the good of his people when some of his people are tortured and killed at the hands of cruel tyrants?  This is where we need to take a sneak preview at the next chapter.  For there we receive one of the clearest accounts of the Old Testament's teaching on external life.  The life of faith must be lived in the light of eternity.  'Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.  Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever' (12:2-3).

Conclusion

History is moving towards an end.  An end when all will see that Jesus wins.  An end where the people he has drawn to himself, and preserved in this world, will celebrate his goodness and glory forever.  There is much that will be confusing as we await his return.  He warned us that in this world we will face many troubles.  But he is faithful to his people and he makes his people faithful to him.  The reality of his power in our lives will be seen as we overcome.  See the reality of your faith as you depend on him to overcome in the face of the temptations that you face every day.  When you stumble and fall remember his forgiveness and depend afresh on his transforming grace.  In all this you are showing that you will not be ultimately defeated.  Be confident that your God is the God of all history.

Rico Tice went for help to a godly physiatrist who demonstrated that he knew something about him.  As we face the trials of this life we go to a God who knit us together in our mother's womb, who knows the hairs of our head, who knows our thoughts before we think them, who drew us into relationship with himself (if we are living with Jesus as our king), who invites his people to cast all our anxieties upon him because he cares for us, and who knows every detail of what lies ahead!

Daniel 10 'Join the battle'

'Onward Christian soldiers.'  'Fight the good fight with all thy might.'  'I may never march in the infantry, ride with the cavalry, shoot the artillery ... but I'm in the Lord's army.'  'O church arise and put your armour on.'  One of the great metaphors for the Christian life is that of a soldier.  This morning, as we look together at Daniel 10, we will hear the call to be a part of of a great battle.

1.  Enlisted in his service

It is the third year of the rule of Cyrus, king of Persia.  That means it is 537 BC.  Remember God's covenant people had been taken into exile by the Babylonians.  However when the Persians replaced the Babylonians as the world's superpower they permitted the exiles to return to Jerusalem.  50,000 Jews had returned, but not Daniel.  Daniel is now at least 86 and is serving God in his role as a top official for the Persians.  

But things are not going well in Jerusalem.  The people are been opposed in their rebuilding of the city and the temple.  This fact grieves Daniel and causes him to fast and pray.  At that moment in His unfolding plan God's purposes centred on that city.  Daniel might not have been present in person yet his prayers contribute to God's purposes.  Now God's plans centre on the church of Jesus Christ, the international community of people who are gathered into his family, and our prayers play a vital part in forming this church.

Daniel is given insight into the spiritual realities that affect earthly events.  In this chapter he gets to see behind the scenes at the interplay between heaven and earth.  God has given us the privilege of being his partners as we witness and pray.  We pray 'your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'  God hears and God answers.  As has often been said, 'more things are wrought through prayer than this world ever realises.'  There really is such a thing as prayer-warriors.  We are to be amongst their numbers.  We have been enlisted for service.  Are we in the battle?

2.  Encircled by his glory

God's people who were trying to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple at that time faced earthly opposition but there were also spiritual powers warring against them.  As the apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians, 'our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms' (Ephesians 6:12).  But the prayer warrior does not stand alone!

Hebrew 12 reminds us of the great cloud of witnesses, the faithful who have gone on before us, who cheer us on along the way.  In 2 Kings 6, as Elisha is surrounded by an army of horses and chariots, his eyes are opened to see an angelic army that is on his side, full of horses and chariots of fire.  In this chapter Daniel gets to see something of such heavenly realities operating behind the scenes.

A man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold around his waist, and the appearance of lightening comes to him.  This scene is very like the encounter the disciple John has with the risen Jesus on the island of Patmos in the book of Revelation.  Is this Jesus that stands before Daniel?  I am not sure!  After all could Jesus be delayed by the king of Persia and need the help of the archangel Michael?  I think it may be best to see this heavenly man as a messenger who reflects his master's glory!

But who is the king of Persia that delays the heavenly man in reaching Daniel?  He is an evil angel connected to the Persian empire of that day (see also Deuteronomy 32:8-9).  Indeed the presence of evil powers standing behind earthly regimes helps explain some of the demonic-like activity that is seen in events like the Nazi holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda.  In prayer we rage against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

But how do we conduct this spiritual warfare?  I know a pastor who thinks you can map the spiritual influences in an area.  He believes that the demonic influence around his village begins and ends at a particular fence.  But these verses tell of demonic influences over regimes rather than geographical areas.  My pastor friend is also into strategic gestures like blowing a horn over the village and praying in high places.  But I think that such things can be a distraction.

If you want to counteract the demonic influences that rage against us then pray.  If you want to counteract the demonic influences around us then live a life of light in the darkness.  If you want to cause demons to flee then speak the truth of the gospel.  A young couple went as missionaries to Kenya.  Witch-doctors were very influential in the village where they were sent.  But they didn't try to figure out what strategic gestures were needed.  Instead they got on the with task of praying for the people around them, living lives that commended Jesus, and preaching the good news of freedom in Christ.  That place saw transformation.

3.  Enabled by his touch

Some students in a Christian college in America were having a hard time trying to figure out how to understand the book of Revelation.  They decided to take a break from their studies and have a game of basketball.  There in the corner of the hall was the elderly caretaker reading.

'What's that you're reading Joe?', one of the students asked.

'The book of Revelation,' he replied.

'Oh, you can't understand that,' the patronising student responded.

'Yes, I can,' said the caretaker, 'it's quite simple: Jesus wins!'

When Daniel was praying for Jerusalem he was praying 'your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'  The rebuilding of Jerusalem was a part of the unfolding plan of God.  The sacrifices of the temple were looking forward to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  Now the kingdom focuses on the risen saviour and the people he is gathering to himself.  Our prayers play a part in building this kingdom.  And though we face opposition in both the physical and the spiritual would we know that he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world, that God is in ultimate control of history, that the devil has been defeated at the cross, and it is only a matter of time until Jesus returns and puts a stop to all evil.  indeed, our prayers even contribute to the coming of that day, as we pray 'come, Lord Jesus.'

Daniel knew that God's people would face many difficulties and opposition.  As we await Christ's return we are told that we will face trials.  But be encouraged.  Look at the messenger's words of comfort.  God will enable us for the battle!  Three times the heavenly messenger tells Daniel that he is highly esteemed (or greatly loved); if you are living in relationship with Christ then be assured that nothing that happens in this battle can separate you for the from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord - persecution, or famine, or danger or sword will not separate us from the love of Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35).  Twice Daniel is told not to fear; do not worry, God will never leave us nor forsake us.  You might die as a martyr but you will be welcomed into eternal glory.  Twice the messenger tells him to be strong; the Holy Spirit is our comforter and enabler.  Three times the messages touches Daniel; the living Lord dwells with us and will be with us.  

In fact sometimes when Christians and churches begin to take prayer more seriously they find things actually get uncomfortable for them.  That is because they are more of a threat to the powers of darkness and become a focus of their attention.  But remember the love, words and touch from Jesus.  He will be with us always, to the very end of the age.  He has given us all we need for a life of faithful service.  He is the one with the final power and authority.

Conclusion

In 1986 the Billy Graham Association organised a conference in Amsterdam for itinerant evangelists from all around the world.  As the delegates were gathering an African man was praying, kneeling on the concrete floor of the Europa Hall.  People were passing buy watching him.  He was there for about half an hour when the arrangements organiser, Norman Sanders, passed by him.  Fifteen minutes later Norman noticed that he was still there.  After a further twenty-five minutes Norman noticed the man was till on his knees praying.  

Norman decided that he would not disturb the an from his prayer but he did go in the check out the prayer room that was just a few yards away.  There in the room were four of the western deflates, all of hem asleep.  

Is that a picture of the difference between the church in the apathetic, distracted, materialistic west verses the vibrant church that can be seen in other parts of the world?  Is the fact that the church struggles in Western Europe the result of our lack of prayer?  When we became Christians we were enlisted in an army, we are soldiers.  But are we avoiding the battle?  Will we be prayer warriors?  Will we pray fervently for transformed lives?  Will we pray for the five people we committed ourselves to pray for daily?  Will we pray for our families, schoolmates, work colleagues, neighbours and friends?  Will we pray that our church would become more and more a community of light and love?  Will we pray for the witness of our fellow churches?  wiWill we pray for the great, lost city of Limerick and its surrounding areas?  Will we be warriors in prayer who are in the battle against the powers of darkness?   

Daniel 9 'Daniel, your God is too small'

In the early 1790s William Carey challenged his fellow Baptist pastors about their responsibility for world missions.  He received an unfavourable response.  One of the senior men present curtly told him, 'sit down young man', and added, 'if God wants to save the heathen, he will do it without your help or mine!"

Surely both men knew that Jesus had promised that the gospel would reach the ends of the earth.  Yet one man saw that as a promise that prompted action; whereas the other let that promise produce complacency.

In the book of Daniel we have seen that God is sovereign.  Nothing will frustrate his plans.  He knows the begining from the end, and all history is in his hand.  He will do as he wants for his glory.   If this is true then what is there for us to do?  Are we simply to sit on the sidelines and be spectators?

Similarly, we know that Christ will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  We know that he who began a good work in us will see it through to completion.  If God is going to get his way in this world, and in our lives, then do our prayers matter?

While prayer may be a mystery it certainly does change things.  It has been said that more things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of.  Somehow our prayers are intertwinned with God's soverign purposes.  When God promises that he is going to do something it is not an invitation to simply watch him at work; it is a call to action.  As we now see, the promise of God prompted Daniel to pray.

1.  The promise of God prompts Daniel to pray (1-19)

The first part of this chapter contains one of the great prayers on the Bible.  In chapter six we saw Daniel praying, now we get to hear him.

Remember that Daniel had been taken from the promised land by the Babylonians while he was still in his teens.  He had given a lifetime of service to that regime when it was overthrown by the Persians.  Our chapter is set in the first year of Darius.  That is 539 BC.  Daniel is now in his eighties.  It is eleven years since the vision recorded in the preceding chapter.

Daniel is reading from the Scriptures, as no doubt was his daily habit.  There he comes across a passage in Jeremiah (25:11) that prophesied that after his people had been exiled from their land it would lie desolate for seventy years.  In other words it was time for them to return to Jerusalem and its surrounds.  So what does Daniel do?  Does he sit back and simply wait for God to act?  No! He prays.  God's promises prompt him to action.  He knows that his prayers have a role to play in God's eternal purposes.  At the end of the Bible people who know that a day and time has been set for the Lord's return nevertheless pray 'come Lord Jesus.'  God's sovereign purposes are somehow intertwined with the prayers of his people in such a way that our praying really matters.

There are two things that I want us to notice about Daniel's prayer.  Firstly, it is rooted in the character of God.  Secondly, it is full of confession.

A professor in a Bible college asked his students, 'how can we reconcile the loving God of the Old Testament with the angry God of the New?'
They attempted to correct him.  'Don't you mean, "how can we reconcile the loving God of the New Testament with the angry God of the Old?"'
No, he meant what he said.  You see he was trying to underline the point that the God of the Old Testament is in fact the same God as is portrayed in the New.  Contrary to what some think, the Old Testament has plenty of things to say about the love if God and the New Testament has some if the severest things to say about the wrath and judgement of a holy God.

Living in Old Testament times Daniel knows that God is 'great and awesome' (4).  He knows that Yahweh is the promise-keeping God.  He is the God who made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; he is the God who delivered his people from slavery in Egypt; he is the God who spoke to them at Mount Sinai; he is the God who warned them that if they rebelled he would remove them from the promised land; he is the God who graciously persisted with his rebellious people and waited patiently before delivering them into exile; he is the God who had prophesied that his people would repent and that he would deliver them from exile after seventy years.

It is to this God that Daniel confesses.  He confesses for his people and stands as a representative before God on their behalf.  We benefit from the prayers of a representative greater than Daniel.  'Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them' (Hebrews 7:25).  Our perseverance is guaranteed by the prayers of the Son if God.

The story is told of two rabbis who went to the temple to pray.  The first rabbi beat his breast and cried out 'I am nothing, I am nothing.'
The second rabbi followed his example and also beat crying I am nothing, I am nothing.'
A peasant was watching them and decided to join in, 'I am nothing, I am nothing.'
This prompted outrage in the first rabbi who looked at his fellow rabbi and exclaimed 'who does that peasant think he is claiming to be a nothing like us.'

Daniel, who has been portrayed favourably right throughout this book, identifies with this sins of his people.  On one hand he sees the corporate nature of guilt (a concept that is alien to our individualistic culture), and on the other hand he knows that he too is personally guilty.  He was confessing his sin and the sin of his people (20).  Unlike the two rabbis in our story there is a sense in which when we acknowledge that we are sinners we know that no-one stands lower than us.'

Max Lucado says, 'confession is not telling God what we have done, he already knows. Confession is acknowledging to God that what we have done is wrong.'  Daniel's prayer acknowledges God's assessment of their actions.

Your God is to small (20-27)

Sixty years ago J. B. Philips wrote a book entitled, 'Your god is too small.'  In the second half of this chapter the angel Gabriel tells Daniel that he is thinking of God in terms that are too small.

You see Daniel is pleading with God to forgive the particular sins that lead to the exile and the sins they had committed in exile, but God is going to do something far greater.  He is going put an end to all sin, to atone for all of his people's unrighteousness, and to bring everlasting righteousness (24).  Daniel is pleading with God to restore Jerusalem, but God is going to do something greater.  He is going to bring the anointed one from Jerusalem (25).  It is as if Gabriel is saying, 'you are concerned about the seventy years of the exile, but let me tell you of the seventy times seventy years leading to the Messiah.'

Likewise we tend to have too small a view of God.  We may come to faith wanting God to forgive certain things we have done in the past, but God not only forgives those particular sins he deals with all of our sin and the wickedness at our very heart.  We think in terms of simply being forgiven, but God not only forgives us he adopts us into his family as dearly beloved children.  We concern ourselves with finding God's help for life in this world, but God not only helps us now, he is going to cherish us for all eternity.  Our view of God is too small!

The last four verses are among the most debated words in the whole of the Bible, so we should hold our opinions with a degree of humility.  Are the numbers symbolic (as sevens often are in Scripture) or literal (like the seventy years of exile)?  There are many various interpretations.

A friend of mine suggests the following understanding:
The years begin with the decree by Persian King Artaxerxes giving the resources to rebuild Jerusalem in 458 BC (see Ezra 7).
The first week of sevens (forty-nine years) is the time of rebuilding Jerusalem.
The sixty-two sevens (434 years) that follow lead up to the beginning of Jesus' ministry in 26 AD (Jesus was actually born in 4 BC).
The last seven is split in two.  The first three and a half years lead to the end of the sanctuary, as the cross makes the system of sacrifices redundant.  The second three and a half years is the time when the gospel is offered to the Jews, who reject it, and then it is given to the Gentiles.

Again we are being reminded that our God controls history.  He has an exhaustive knowledge of the future.  He is working his purposes out.  In a way that goes beyond our understanding our prayers and his sovereign purposes work hand in hand.

Conclusion

Does God get his way or do our prayers change reality?  Although this question is an either/or question the answer is actually both/and.  God always gets his way and our prayers change things.  To paraphrase someone else's words, the sovereign God who controls all things has not called us to watch history, but to shape history, through our prayers, for the glory of his great name.

I began by mentioning William Carey.  Like Daniel he saw the promises of God as a spur to action.  Carey knew that God would bring the gospel to all the nations and he wanted to be a part of God's purposes in his generation.  Thankfully he overcame the discouragement given by his fellow Baptist pastors and became a lifetime missionary in India.  He is known as the father of modern missions and is famous for the mantra, 'expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.'

One of the greatest ways we can share in the eternal purposes of God is as we pray.   His kingdom will come, it will come as we prayers like 'your kingdom come, you will be done, on early as it is in heaven.'  As we pray, 'expect great things from God', and through our prayers, our lives and our words 'attempt great things from God.'

Daniel 8 'Chaos never rules'

I have a friend who started going to a Bible Study where they loved to speculate about the end times.  They had their conspiracy theories and he began to think that the rest of us were naive because he had everything figured out and we didn't.  But what he lacked was historical perspective.  Throughout the generations many Bible teachers have confidently identified the final Antichrist and claimed that the Lord's return was imminent.  The leaders they identified as the final Antichrist came and went, and those Bible teachers went to their grave still waiting for Jesus to come back.

I believe that the value of these verses is not found in fanciful speculations.  These verses were given to us by God to help us trust God as we live in a world filled with seeming chaos and opposition.  These visions primarily describe events that took place before Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the first century.  They might also foreshadow events that will take place before Jesus returns in the clouds.  But they have a relevance for every time.  

Every generation of God's people suffer at the hands of tyrannical leaders and unsympathetic opponents but these verses tell us that even when it looks like evil is triumphing heaven rules; and that God is committed to keeping his people faithful to the end.

1.  God will never be taken by surprise

God will never be taken by surprise.  This is seen in the fact that he gives Daniel an accurate picture of what will happen in the centuries from his time leading up to the time of Jesus' birth.  

It is the third year of the reign of the Babylonian king, Belshazzar.  A number of decades previously many of God's people had been taken from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon.  They are in a foreign land, subject to a foreign power, amongst people who worship foreign gods.  They might have wondered where God was in all this.  The dreams and visions that Daniel has leave them in no doubt that God is on his throne and in control of history. 

Daniel was living in Babylon but the vision is set in Susa, the winter residence of the Persian kings.  The significance of these is seen in the fact that the Babylonians would soon be replaced by the Persians as the superpower of their day.  

The angel Gabriel explains to him that the two-horned ram he sees in his vision represents the kings of Mede and Persia (20).  Around the time Daniel is having this vision the Persian king Cyrus was conquering the Medes and uniting their two kingdoms.  But that kingdom was one of unequal power.  The Persians would be the dominant partner, which is why the ram has one horn bigger than the other.  

The Medo-Persians would replace the Babylonians as the world's superpower just a few years after Daniel has this vision.   But later the Medo-Persians would be replaced by the Greeks.  This is shown in Daniel's vision by a male goat replacing the mighty ram.  This goat comes from the west (the Greek empire that was west of both Babylon and Persia).  Gabriel explains, 'The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king' (21).  

This first Greek king is Alexander the Great, who overthrew the Medo-Persian empire with amazing efficiency from 334-331 B.C.  The speed of this conquest is pictured in the fact that the goat travels across the whole world without touching the ground.

Notice that the goat is enraged (7).  Alexander the Great was the son of the king of Macedonia, a land north of Greece.  He was only twenty when his father was murdered and he took over as king.  Alexander was a gifted ruler who managed to unite the Greeks.  The Greeks were motivated by anger; they were angered by the way that the Medo-Persians had been attacking them and meddling in their affairs for the previous two centuries.

But Alexander's reign was short-lived.  He died in Babylon at the age of thirty-two.  His death was surrounded by rumours of poison.  He was soon to be replaced by four generals.  'The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven' (8).  One of these generals began the Seleucid Empire.  From that empire would come a tyrant called Antiochus Epiphanes.  He is pictured, in verse nine, as the little horn.  

The accuracy of these prophecies has led those who deny the miraculous nature of the Bible to suggest that this story must have been made up after the events happened.  The same thing could be said about a prophecy of Jesus.  It is reasonable to believe that Matthew, Mark and Luke were written around thirty years after the death of Jesus.  Yet in each of these gospels Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70.  Liberal scholars either have to give a later date for the gospels or suggest that the prophecy was added to them after the events occurred.

The truth is that God has an exhaustive knowledge of the future.  Nothing in history will take him by surprise.  He knows the end from the beginning.  He knows what his people will face as we await the return of Christ and he has the power to keep his people faithful to the end.

2.  God is always on his throne

Forms verses nine to fourteen the attention is focused on Antiochus Epiphanes.  He moves throughout the world, including towards the 'beautiful land'.  This is a reference to the area around Palestine.  At the time of Antiochus God's people had returned from exile and were centred around Jerusalem.  

The little horn 'grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them' (10).  This is a reference to the fact that Antiochus killed thousands of God's people within just a few years.  The reference to the 'Prince of the host' (11) and the 'Prince of princes' (25) probably refer to God.  Antiochus set himself up as a divine figure.  Coins from his reign have his head with an inscription of deity on them.

There is something demonic about Antiochus's rise to power.  The end of verse twenty-two ascribes his rise to something other than his power.  Antiochus fiercely opposed God's people.  He banned circumcision, he stole the treasures from the temple in Jerusalem, he put an end to the sacrifices, he desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar, he built a pagan alter over the alter for burnt offerings, he burned copies of the scriptures, he banned the law and slaughtered those who sought to remain faithful to God. 

So imagine you are a faithful follower of at the time of Antiochus.  You know that God has worked in the past.  Your history tells you of how God delivered your people from slavery in Egypt and gave them the promised land.  You know that when your forefathers rebelled that were taken into exile in Babylon.  You know that God had foretold how the Medo-Persian king, Cyrus, would conquer the Babylonians and send your people home from exile.  But now where is God?  Antiochus is killing thousands of your people.  People from your own family have been slaughtered.  Is God still on the throne?  Absolutely!

One of the lessons that we learn when we study history from the Bible's perspective is that evil people act with evil intent, doing what they want to do, and will face judgement for their actions.  Yet no one ever frustrates God's plans.  They unwittingly contribute to his purposes.  God is never absent from his throne.  This is most clearly seem when Jewish leaders plot to have a man called Jesus killed, when a crowd cry 'crucify him', when Roman soldiers nail him to a cross, and in all this God fulfils his plan for Christ to take the punishment of our sins.

Look at verse twelve.  'Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it (the little horn) ...'  God had allowed Antiochus to come to Jerusalem to discipline them for their repeated disobedience.  The primary thing we can learn from this is that God remained in control.  Chaos never rules.  There is a parallel between God's people of the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament.  When they strayed he disciplined them.  He was calling them to return to him.  Likewise he is committed to the welfare and health of the church.  In our own individual lives we take comfort from the knowledge that God disciples those he loves (Hebrews 12:5-6).

But don't assume that every trouble you face in life is God disciplining you for your sin.  After all it was those who were faithful to God who were persecuted most severely by Antiochus.  Surely some of these people had also been faithful before Antiochus turned up.  Jesus warned us that in this world we will have many troubles.  God is till on his throne.  God will keep his people to the end.  You may be considered a fool by your colleagues because you are a Christian; you may be mocked by those in your school because you love Jesus; you may be thought of as a self-righteous prude by your family because you follow Jesus' way of purity and love, all over the world many Christians are put to death by tyrannical regimes but God is always in control, no one thwarts his plans, he has the power to keep us faithful, and he will honour us eternally for ever sacrifice made for his glory.

Finally, God does not let tyrants rule for ever.  As predicted in this chapter Antiochus did not die by human hands.   The circumstances of his death are mysterious.  He died in 164 B.C. from a painful disease while returning from Persia.  Every evil empire comes to an end.  Sometimes the ruler faces a judgement in this life.  They always have to face the day of judgement to come.  There was a very definite time frame with regards to Antiochus's does creation of the temple -  two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings (either three and a half or a little over six years, depending on how you read it).  If we take it to be six years then it is the time from the assignation of the High Priest Onias in 170 B.C. until the Jewish freedom fighter Judas Maccabeus liberated Jerusalem and re-dedicated the temple in 164 B.C. 

Conclusion

I said at the beginning of this sermon that God did not give us this passage of Scripture so that we might speculate about events that will immediately preced the return of Jesus.

In Antiochus people have seen a foreshadow of the final anti-Christ who will oppose God and persecute his people.  In truth Antiochus is not just a foreshadowing of that final tyrant, he is a foreshadowing of all demonic regimes.  The term antichrist can be applied to all opposition to God and his people.  If you are resisting the rule of Christ in your life you too are on the side of the anti-christ.  You will share his judgement.  You need to repent and be embraced as one of Christ's people.

Remember that God has given us these verses of Scripture to teach all God's people that we can expect to face opposition and endure terrible times; that we are not to be surprised when evil looks like it is triumphing and remember that Heaven rules; and that God is committed to keeping his people faithful to the end.

The current and future reign of the Son of man (Daniel 7)

(I leaned heavily on a sermon from Saint John, Newlands, Hull in preparing this sermon).

So far in Daniel you might get the impression that God always delivers his faithful people from their present suffering.  Three men go into the fiery furnace and aren't even singed.  Daniel faces the lions and doesn't have a paw laid on him.  The message of this book might seem to be 'don't worry, nothing will hurt you.'  This chapter tells us otherwise.

History is filled with martyrs who laid down their lives for the faith.  One preacher suggests that the outrage we twenty-first century Western Christians feel when we hear of religious persecution elsewhere in our world, may partly be due, to our lack of historical perspective.  No one should have promised you that being a Christian is easy.  Jesus warned that in this world we will have troubles.

This chapter tells us of unseen realities behind the kingdoms of the earth and yet assures us that the violence and chaos is subject to the greater power of God.  The message of Daniel is not, 'don't worry, nothing will hurt you' but 'don't worry, God remains in control, and we have a future hope.'  As Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar in chapter four, 'heaven rules.'

1.  God's people will be opposed by beast-like kingdoms (1-8, 15-17)

The book of Daniel is set about six hundred years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem during a period known as the exile.  The exile had been a disaster for God's people.  Great swathes of them had been taken from their homeland by the Babylonians.  They are living in a foreign land under foreign rulers who worshiped foreign gods.  That might have called into question whether God really is in control and whether heaven does rule.  But then Daniel is given a glimpse of reality from God's perspective.

Daniel is asleep one night during first year of the reign of Belshazzar.  Belshazzar was the ruler we met in chapter five, the one who saw the writing on the wall.  Daniel had a dream and visions, and he wrote down the substance of what he saw.  “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea.  Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea" (2-3).

The four winds come from the four points on the compass.  The sea was thought to be the place of chaos and hostility towards God (which is why in the New Heaven and New Earth, in the book of Revelation, their is no sea).  The vision is fearful.  These beasts seem scary.  But what is this all this about?  We can see if we jump down to verse seventeen: 'The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth'.

Back in chapter two Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about four kingdoms represented by the different parts of a great statue.  Here, it seems, we have these same kingdoms.  So, the lion-like creature represents the Babylonians; this creature had its wings plucked off, picturing how king Nebuchadnezzar was humbled (in chapter four).  As we saw at the end of chapter five, the Babylonians were replaced by the Medo-Persians; this kingdom was ruled by two unequal countries, therefore the bear is raised up on one side.  The leopard, represents the Greeks; in particular Alexander the Great who was known for his speedy conquest of the known world at the age of thirty-two.  The fourth creature, which has been labelled 'Robo-beast' by one commentator, had 'large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left.  It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns' (7).  This seems to be the Roman Empire.

What about the 'little horn', in verse eight, who makes war against God's people and defeats them?  This refers to a Greek emperor called Antiochus Epiphanes who killed many of God's people in the second-century before Christ.

So Daniel is being shown that in the centuries leading up to the coming of Christ there would be kingdoms who would act in beast like ways.  Not everyone will be unharmed by the fiery furnace and see the mouths of the lions held shut.  These pictures could be applied to many other kingdoms; to the beast-like kingdoms of Hitler, or Stalin, Pol Pot or North Korea.  And such beast-like behaviour is not limited to totalitarian regimes.  It shouldn't shock us when the media give Christians unfavourable coverage, when laws are drafted that contradict what we believe to be holy and true, when family members dislike us for what we believe, and when those who are brave enough to stand for their faith in school and work are teased and bullied for what they believe.  There is a sense in which every Christian lives in a wicked and depraved generation.

2.  God will judge beast-like kingdoms (9-12, 19-26)

The picture changes dramatically in verse nine.  There had been aggression and fury, now there is calmness.  As we see that God will judge beast-like kingdoms.

“As I looked,
“thrones were set in place,
    and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
    the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
    and its wheels were all ablaze.
A river of fire was flowing,
    coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
    ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
    and the books were opened (9-10).

This is God, 'the Ancient of Days', who takes his seat.  The fact that he is called the Ancient of Days suggests that his reign, unlike that of the beasts, is not limited in time.  God in his brilliant piercing purity for he exercises his rule with integrity and justice.  The symbol of fire is regularly used as a sign of God's immediate presence in judgement and in mercy.  God sits as judge.  The little horn receives his judgement.   'Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking.  I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire' (11).  God does not tolerate these beast-like kingdoms for ever.  One day justice will be done and all opposition to God will be removed from the world.  Each of those four kingdoms was judged and brought to an end, God's judgement may break into history and an empire falls but ultimately we wait to the end of time when all will be judged.

This final day of justice is good news.  A tyrant dies peacefully in his palace at a great age.  It looks like he got away with his crimes against humanity.  But he will face a day of divine judgement.  We must be warned.  The Bible teaches that apart from Christ you are hostile to God, you resist his rule, and this day of judgement will be awful for you.  It also teaches that if we place our trust in the sin-bearing work on the cross and have him living within us then we have nothing to fear.  There is now no condemnation, nor will there ever be, for those who are in Christ Jesus; thanks be to God!

3.  God will establish his perfect king (9-14, 18-28)

God will judge these kingdoms, but he will also establish his perfect king.  'In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.  He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed' (13-14).

What a contrast to rulers who are beast-like.  In the creation account humankind is to rule with God's authority.  But we rebelled against God.  The kingdoms of the world descend into beast-like behaviour.  Now we see the Son of Man acting as God's perfect ruler.

But when is this rule established?  When is this perfect king crowned?  In the gospels the title Son of man seems to be Jesus' favourite title for describing himself.  Daniel looked forward to the time when the Son of man would approach God and be given his rule.  We look back at Jesus, birth, death and ascension to heaven to be crowned as God's perfect king.

In the book of Revelation, John on the island of Patmos has a vision in which he sees 'someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.  The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire (1:13-14).  Notice that even what was said of the Ancient of Days was ascribed to Jesus.   Jesus is now enthroned, he is with the Father, ruling from heaven.  Yet all people do not yet acknowledge that rule.  There is a 'now' and 'not yet' in the fulfilment of these verses.  Mark's Gospel tells us a future time when all people 'will see the Son of Man coming in clouds  ... with great power and glory.'

4.  God's people will share the perfect king's rule (26-28)

Finally, take note, God's people will share the perfect king's rule.  'But the court will sit, and (the little horn's) power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.  Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High.  His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him' (26-27).  We will do what we were designed to do - to live perfectly under God's authority and to excuse rise his rule.

Life may be challenging in the present but a great future awaits us.  We live in the time between Jesus' ascension and his return.  The Son of man has been crowned but he has not yet returned in the clouds.  Understanding the 'now' and 'not yet' of Christ's kingdom is crucial if we are going to answer the call to be godly with contentment.  This world is not as good as it is going to get for us.  We still wait for the fulfilment of our future hope.  Jesus is king but his kingdom is not fully consummated.  We have been accepted into fellowship with him but we have not yet arrived home in the New Heaven and New Earth.  So stop demanding that this world be trouble free.  In the life we will face temptations, trials and discipline.  In this life we are subject to the reign of death.  In this life their will be opposition.  But chaos does not reign because Christ is on his throne.  And he will return, defeat all his foes, judge all in rebellion against him, bring an end to the suffering of his people, and allow us share his glory.