Daniel (1): How to Resist Temptation

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.” —Daniel 1:8a

Many times you’ve heard the line from a song written by Philip P. Bliss, “Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone.” Most of the time when we hear this, we think of Daniel in the lions’ den. But “dare to be a Daniel” also applies to the first chapter of the book of Daniel, which is too often “a forgotten chapter.” I would like to consider this chapter with you.

As the book of Daniel opens, we meet Daniel in the college of Babylon. He was probably only fifteen years old. He and three of his Israelitish friends were forced to go to a college in a city where they had no desire to be. They were carried away captive by Nebuchadnezzar to the large city of Babylon, far from home and the temple where they had worshipped God.

Babylon was a worldly city, full of temptations. It was the capital of the vast kingdom over which Nebuchadnezzar was reigning. It was a city with walls as high as towers and so thick that four chariots could safely ride abreast on top of them. Inside, all was luxury. It was the richest city in the world. Hanging gardens, supported by pillars, were sprinkled throughout Babylon.

Babylon was filled with pride, lust, and sin. Daniel and his friends were brought to the two most magnificent buildings in the very heart of Babylon—the king’s palace and the temple of “Bel,” the supreme god of Babylon.

No doubt the Babylonian college was particularly full of temptations. Daniel was immediately confronted with a new way of life. According to the king’s commandments, courtiers were appointed to train these young men, as well as other young men from a variety of conquered countries, so that after three years all the captives were to be true Babylonians—both outwardly in behavior and inwardly in the heart.

Everything had to change to meet the goal and demands of the proud Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel and his friends had to learn the language of Babylon. Only Babylonian clothing could be worn. Their names had to be changed. Instead of being named after the God of Israel they were named after the gods of Babylon. Daniel, which means “God is my judge,” was changed to Belshazzar, “keeper of the hid treasures of Bel.” Hananiah, meaning “the grace of God,” was changed to Shadrach, “inspiration of the sun,” which they also worshipped as a god. Mishael, “the Lord is a strong God,” became Meshach, which means “devoted to the goddess Shach,” the goddess of their feasts. Azariah, meaning “the Lord is a help,” was given the name Abednego, i.e. “servant of Nebo,” the god of fire.

Their food and drink were changed. No longer were they to eat their simple Jewish diet, but now rich foods and wine, both of which had been previously consecrated to idols through the performing of sacrificial rites, were placed before them.

They were instructed in Babylonian education which was filled with heathenism. Babylonian literature, sciences, music, superstition, astrology, soothsaying, sorcery, and religion were the “classes” they had to take.

After three years of thorough indoctrination, Daniel and his friends were to appear before the king as true Babylonians, having forgotten their former life, morals, education, and especially, the God of Israel. Today we would call this “brainwashing,” especially when you consider that in order to achieve that goal, Daniel and his three friends were offered almost anything a natural heart could want. They could live like princes. Nebuchadnezzar would spoil them into forgetfulness of their past and into allegiance to himself.

Dear friends, is the situation really any different today in our world? Babylon rightly became a symbol of the “world.” Perhaps the world today does not tempt you in precisely the same way, but are not its current temptations, albeit somewhat different in content, just as powerful as in Daniel’s day?

Consider worldly language. Is not our “Babylonian” world full of it? Profanity abounds. Secular humanism is even more commonly revealed in the speech of millions. Of the billions of words spoken every day, how many do you think honor God? Of the words that proceed from your mouth, how many are there in a day that glorify and exalt God?

Are matters better with clothing? Let us be honest—much immodest “Babylonian” clothing is worn nearly everywhere in society today. Our clothing conveys a message. What message are you conveying?

With food and drink some of us fare no better. Many eat like a heathen, refusing to acknowledge God as the giver of all that we receive. Are you among them—or else, do you quickly say a prayer without concentrating upon the great God whom you are acknowledging?

“Babylon” is alive and prosperous today—also in its education. All around us today it is taught either that God does not exist at all, or an attempt is made to portray Him as a God who loves everyone. Devil-worship and spirit-worship abound around the world. In fact, the devil has his visible classroom in many homes through television. He uses TV as an effective tool to teach principles contrary to the Ten Commandments hundreds of times every day. He uses radio, newspapers, magazines, books, movies, music, videos, and the internet—all to educate our minds in worldly, unbiblical ways.

“Babylon” is still here. The temptations are great and many, especially for young people. The pride of life, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye increase ten times faster than inflation, and we are all guilty of them. We are in grave danger of being overcome by the flood of worldliness that sweeps over us and lives within us. Dear friend, has worldliness ever become sin for you? Do you realize how deeply you are prone to drink in its philosophy and its sins? Do you feel its dangers? Are you afraid of the vulnerability of your own worldly hearts?

“Yes,” perhaps you will say, “but did not Daniel have to go along with it? It was not his choice to be in Babylon, was it? After all, was he not in the land of the enemy, and is it not true, ‘when in Rome we must do as the Romans’? If he objected, the king would not hesitate to take his life—surely then he had better compromise somewhat, hadn’t he? Otherwise, he would lose his honorable position and perhaps even his life. And besides, aren’t such things as clothing, food, names, and language rather small things to protest about?”

This was precisely Daniel’s temptation. It is still our temptation today. Many align themselves with the world while professing to be Christians. They attend church faithfully, pray and read the Bible regularly. For the rest of the time, however, they think and act as the world thinks and acts, not wanting to be viewed as being “different.”

Young people, you understand this kind of peer pressure, don’t you? When in school or at work, do you easily go along with “the crowd” or do you pray for strength to resist sin? Mixing Christianity and worldliness, Babylon and Jerusalem, keeping a form of religion but doing away with a separated and godly lifestyle—this is your temptation every day.

Part of this temptation of a mixed lifestyle is that it appears to make daily living so much easier. Little self-denial is needed. It is a lifestyle that can always be positive, can always say “yes”—“yes” to the church, “yes” to the world. How few realize that they are then saying “no” to God! God will not have a mixed, half-hearted people.

Dear young friends, what is your life? Is your talk “Babylonian”? Are you worshipping worldly idols—the idols of entertainment, of riches, of ease, and yes, of sinful self? Are you leading a life of compromise?

Compromise is one of Satan’s favorite words when sin is involved. He likes to take us one step at a time down the slippery slope of iniquity. Gradually he aims to lead us into what has been rightly called “practical atheism”—that is, living as if there were no God.

The first step down this slippery slope begins with abandoning secret prayer. Then the Bible is increasingly neglected. Searching of the Scriptures stops. We reason, “There are more things to do; I am so busy. Besides, we can’t always be so strict; I would not care to have others see me so. It is wrong to be ‘righteous overmuch.’ I won’t let happen what Jesus said must happen: ‘The world must hate you.’ After all, don’t I have to be kind to everyone?”

Such are Satan’s reasonings and devices. More and more conscience is overstepped. Babylon. Compromise. Worldliness. It is a never-ending cycle. Eventually, the slippery slope leads to a whole variety of sins, perhaps even drugs. And all the while, Satan is whispering, “Try it. How do you know what it is like unless you eat with the Babylonians and share their food? You will soon be used to it. It is not so bad. Experiment! You’re old enough.”

What a seemingly easy life Daniel could have had if he had only been willing to compromise! He could still have kept his own religion privately, couldn’t he? All he had to do was go along with these customs but not take them so seriously. By grace, however, Daniel could not compromise. The fear of the Lord was planted in his young heart. He could not be at home in the world. He had to say “no.”

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.” Here lies the secret: “Daniel purposed in his heart.” Not because of parents, church, or any person, but because it was the conviction and desire of his heart. It was not legalism. It was not fear of God’s punishment. It was out of love for the Lord who was so worthy to be feared that “Daniel purposed in his heart” to say “no” to the world.

Daniel desired to walk before the Lord, to live to His honor and glory. He knew from experience: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Young people, can you say from the heart that you agree with Daniel? Do you dare to be a Daniel, dare to flee the world, dare to stand alone? Is the divine pressure of God’s Word more weighty for you than the peer pressure of your friends?

There is still another reason “Daniel purposed in his heart” not to defile himself—jealousy. He was jealous for the Lord’s Name; therefore, he would not eat what was offered in the name of other gods. But he was also jealously guarding his own heart. He knew the power of temptation, of the world, and of Satan. He knew his own heart. He knew how quickly his conscience could be dulled, how soon secret prayer could suffer, how quickly communion with God could be broken. Therefore, Daniel “purposed in his heart.”

By grace, Daniel was more afraid of the snares of the devil and the pollutions of sin than of losing his own life. He would rather die than sin. That is not legalism. That is not being “righteous overmuch.” Rather, that is love, God-given love, returning to the God who gave it.

Daniel received the courage to say “no” to sin from his heart as a gracious fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ who purposed in His heart from eternity to say “no” to sin for His entire life on earth. He gave His heart and life to the death of the cross in behalf of His Daniels who were by nature enemies of God but were made to fear and love His Name. May the Lord make us jealous of such Daniels. We often purpose in our minds or consciences, but how different that is from purposing through faith in our hearts!

This is real life, real living, real purpose. “Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself.” Let us pray for grace to reject the world’s selfish lifestyles and to seek “first the kingdom of God and his righteousness!”

Prepared for Battle (Daniel 10:1-21)

Let us consider Daniel chapter 10 and look at the final vision of Daniel. Now this lengthy final vision,  which has a preface (chapter 10), is then presented in chapter 11, and has a postscript (chapter 12), will be the final thing we consider in this great book.

Today, in chapter 10, we’re told about some very interesting spiritual warfare which surrounded the giving of Daniel final vision. Daniel had been mourning for the trials God had shown him were to come upon his people, and he had sought assurance from God that they would not be destroyed by the intense persecution that the last vision described. In fact, he may have been troubled by even more immediate concerns. You see, Daniel is nearing his own death. It is the third year of the reign of Cyrus in Babylon, about 535 BC, which means today’s vision takes place 1-2 years after the first group of Jewish exiles had returned to Jerusalem under man named Zerubbabel and Joshua, the high priest. 

One to two years previous, these exiles had arrived in Jerusalem., had cleared the temple area and had even already resumed the daily sacrifices. It’s likely by this point they have even laid the foundation of the temple. But then the work stopped. In fact, we know from history that the work stopped for fifteen years until God sent a man named Haggai, one of the minor prophets, to instruct the Jewish exiles to resume the work, which they did. So now you understand Daniel’s immediate concern - he’s likely just heard about the stoppage of the work and is alarmed by it and he is mourning.

Now, chapter 10 recounts how on the twenty-fourth day of the first month of the year, after Daniel had been mourning and praying for three weeks and as he stood on the bank of the Tigris River, he suddenly saw an angel. Angels are not usually described in much detail in Scripture. But this angel is described as “dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude” (Dan. 10:5–6). This figure was so overpowering that Daniel’s strength fled away and he fell to the ground as if he were in a deep sleep. Even when the angel came to him, touched him, and raised him up, he still stood trembling.

Then the text tells us the angel spoke. “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come” (vv. 12–14).

Now this is very remarkable! When Daniel prayed, God sent this powerful heavenly being to bring Daniel the vision of the future that we will hear about in chapter 11. But it says “the prince of the Persian kingdom,” whom we must understand to be an evil but correspondingly powerful spirit (not a mere mortal ruler), this evil spirit resisted God’s angel so that for three weeks he was not able to come to Daniel. 

It must have been a great struggle, because it required the special intervention of Michael, the archangel, to resolve it. Now, when Michael was sent, the battle between these good and evil spirits tipped in the direction of the spirit messenger, and he arrived at last to give to Daniel God’s message. And what I want us to see is that this is a remarkable glimpse into the battles that are being waged in heaven. And although the occurrence here in Daniel is different from anything we find elsewhere in the Word of God, it nevertheless fits what we are taught about spiritual warfare. And so I want us to think about spiritual warfare this morning. That’s why I have titled today’s message, “Prepared for Battle. ” Now, I want to look at several texts which will help us consider the topic of spiritual warfare and being prepared for battle.

1) The first two chapters of Job are one bit of teaching. These chapters do not speak of outright warfare or struggle, but they show a scene in heaven in which the devil and his angels appear before the throne of God and in which God questions Satan about his righteous servant Job. “Have you considered my servant Job?” God asks. “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). Satan replies that Job fears God only because God has blessed and protected him, and challenges God to take away his possessions, predicting that Job will then curse God to his face. God gives permission. But Job does not curse God. Even after Satan is given permission to take away Job’s health, Job does not sin. Instead, he asks, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (2:10). He does not charge God with wrongdoing. You see part of being prepared for battle is our willingness to submit to God’s will, whatever our circumstances.

2) In the next to the last book of the minor prophets, the book of Zechariah, we have another insight into the spiritual warfare that surrounds us and the work God does for his people. Zechariah the prophet sees the high priest Joshua. He is standing before God’s altar, and Satan is there to accuse him. Joshua is clothed in filthy clothes, symbolic of his and the nation’s sin, and Satan is no doubt pointing to the filthy garments, asking what right a man so morally deficient has to minister before God in his temple. But God rebukes Satan. And the angel who is accompanying Joshua says to those standing by, “Take off his filthy clothes” (Zech. 3:4). In place of these he is given rich garments and a clean turban, symbolic of the righteousness of God imputed to him (v. 5). You see being prepared for battle means fighting with the righteousness given to us by God. We do not fight in our own strength.

3) In Revelation 12 there is another scene that has bearing on this warfare. An actual battle is described, involving the same archangel Michael. This text says, 

"There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,

and the authority of his Christ.

For the accuser of our brothers,

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down.

They overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony.”

(Revelation 12:7–11)

This passage is the closest parallel in Scripture to the heavenly messenger’s struggle to reach Daniel, recorded in Daniel 10 - and it reminds us that this battle is a REAL battle. But in terms of our being prepared for battle, Revelation reminds us that the WAR has already been won by God. Therefore, above all else, stand with God.

4) Finally, the key passage of all these biblical references to spiritual warfare is the concluding portion of Ephesians in which the apostle Paul encourages us to arm ourselves with God’s armor and stand against Satan’s power. You see, being prepared for battle means we are to play our part in these battles too by wielding the armor of God. Paul writes…

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. (Ephesians 6:10–18)

So, given all these important revelations about the spiritual world - what do we really know about it? In terms of being prepared for battle, we know that God is with us, that we are a part of spiritual warfare, and that there are two important groups combatants who are waging this war around us all the time. 

1) The first are the godly, unfallen angels, which are mentioned in the Old Testament over one hundred times and in the New Testament more than one hundred sixty times. We are told that they are God’s messengers. They are created beings and therefore are not eternal. They exist in vast numbers. They are called “the heavenly host” (Luke 2:13). We are told in the Psalms that they reflect God’s glory to us (Ps. 138:1).

2) The second group are the host of fallen angels who fell with Satan at the time of his original rebellion against God and who are bent on opposing God’s rule and doing his people harm.

Why should we know about this good and evil host? John Calvin wrote of God’s purpose in telling us of this host:

We have been forewarned that an enemy relentlessly threatens us, an enemy who is the very embodiment of rash boldness, of military prowess, of crafty wiles, of untiring zeal and haste, of every conceivable weapon and of skill in the science of warfare. We must, then, bend our every effort to this goal: let us not be overwhelmed by carelessness or faintheartedness, but with courage rekindled let us stand our ground in combat.

But against whom do we stand? Who is in charge of the evil host? The scriptures tell us that at the head of these fallen angels is the devil, whom the Bible describes as a powerful foe. There are many jokes about the devil, some possibly inspired by the devil himself to make us think lightly of him and thus lower our guard. But the devil is no lightweight. He is evil, real, and personal. It is true that he is a counterpart of the greatest of the unfallen angels, Michael and Gabriel. But he is not a spiritual counterpart of God. God is God. Every other being has been created by God and is therefore limited for the simple reason that he or she has been created. And it’s important to remember the distinctions between God and Satan.

1) God is omnipotent; he is all-powerful. The devil is not. God can do anything he wishes to do. This is God’s universe, not the devil’s. Not even hell is the devil’s. God has created hell as the place where he will one day confine Satan and his followers.

2) God is omnipresent; God is everywhere at once. This cannot be said of Satan. Satan can be in only one place at one time. Consequently, he must either tempt one person in one place at one time, or he must extend his influence through one of the other spiritual beings that fell with him.

3) God is omniscient; he knows everything. This is untrue of Satan. Satan does not know everything. True, he knows a great deal, and he is undoubtedly a shrewd guesser. But he has no more certainty about what is going to happen in the future than we have.

Nonetheless, Satan is our enemy and we must be prepared for battle against him. So, let me close with some thoughts as to how you can be prepared for the battle against Satan:

1) The first is to put on the whole armor of God. Read the great chapter in Ephesians 6:11-17 and apply its truth to your life. The apostle Paul carefully identifies the source of the strength in our armor. He says, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

2) Second, realize that Satan often leads people from lesser sins to greater. It’s very frustrating for me today to see people thinking of lesser sins as nothing more serious than a cold. But small sins leach away our fear of God and hatred of sin. So, what can you do? My advice is to not give any place to the devil. Don’t permit even small sins. If you let the serpent’s head into your house, his whole body will quickly follow. If you are a person who tends to minimize sin, look at what every sin deserves and see it as the hateful thing that God despises. There is a spark of hell in every temptation and the least sin is contrary to the law of God, the nature of God, the being of God, and the glory of God. There is more evil in the smallest sin than in the greatest affliction we will face. Fight small sin in your life.

3) You need to reject the promises of sin. Remember in your temptation to sin that Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; but God pays as he promises, for all his payments are made in pure gold.” If you are losing hope under the constant pressure of demonic temptation, remember often the promise of Paul in Romans 16:20, that “…the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” Therefore, stand firm and Satan will flee.

4) Finally: Satan will often make a strategic retreat for a time to draw us out of our position of strength. In other words, He permits us a momentary victory to “swell our hearts with pride.” He lulls us into “a spirit of security” The remedy against this is Christian watchfulness.” Christians in this world should not live like rich men in a king’s court but like soldiers in the camps of war. 

The reminder today from Daniel is that Satan is a great and powerful foe, as I have said. Yet we are not to quail before him, but are steadfastly to resist him in the strength and armor of God. In the final assessment it will be seen that the Word of God and the kingdom of God have prevailed. In the end, it is good to be reminded that in this warfare, God is still sovereign, and for this reason his “truth” and “his kingdom” will prevail. That is what the angel came to tell Daniel. Daniel saw only the earthly scene (as we do), and his mind was troubled. But God showed that he was in control of history—he showed Daniel how it would all turn out—and Daniel was strengthened by that knowledge. So must we be as we stand for the Lord Jesus Christ, fight on, and look for his coming.

When the World Does Its Worst (Daniel 1:1-21)

Imagine what it must be like to be exiled from home … to be alone and scared? Let me remind you that for Christians this is not AN entirely imaginative exercise. Even though the hostility of this world is not as extreme as for Christians in other parts of the world, we are all exiles here on earth as the adopted sons and daughters of God in Jesus Christ. Which is why the book of Daniel is so relevant a study for us right now.

The central question of the book of Daniel is this: “How can a Christian sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” We are in a strange land. We are confronted with a culture that is baffling to understand. We are called to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land. As Christians we are in exile. But we have the opportunity by God’s grace to respond to the strangeness of our land. The book of Daniel is responding to the question asked in Psalm 137. As the Psalmist laments being by the River of Babylon and being ordered to sing for his captors, he wrestles with how to sing in that setting. This book of Daniel gives the answer. Daniel is a book written to God’s Old Testament people, Israel, when they were experiencing the brokenness and pain of life in exile, far away from home. Listen to how Daniel’s story of exile begins:

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god. (Dan. 1:1-2)

How do we deal with exile as Christians in a world that is not our home. Well, here is a story of exile. Daniel helps us with how to cope with exile and this great book of the OT tells us how to cope with it. Let’s talk about that coping this morning, shall we. [If you’d like to follow along…]

1. YOU MUST GRASP THAT GOD IS SOVEREIGN EVEN IN EXILE.

Judah’s exile from the land in Daniel’s time was not merely an accident of fate or the tragic result of the imperialism of Babylon in the sixth century BC. The exile came upon Judah because the Lord handed King Jehoiakim over to the power of Nebuchadnezzar. Note that point: God gave his people into the hand of their enemies. God sovereignly ordained this. That’s what sovereignty means: God is in control of it.

The Lord had warned Israel of the consequences of their sins in the OT book of Leviticus. At the beginning of Israel’s history as a nation with God, he made a covenant with them that included blessings for obedience and curses if they disobeyed (Lev. 26). If Israel rebelled against God and persisted in their disobedience, God told the people they would be scattered into exile (Lev. 26:33,39). So, what’s happening in Daniel is this promised exile because of Israel’s persistent disobedience and rebellion against God over many generations. The Lord finally handed them over into the power of their enemies.

Now, the fate of Daniel in being dragged off into exile was not merely a fulfillment of the general covenantal curse of Leviticus 26. It was also the specific fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah against the the faithlessness of King Hezekiah of Judah. You see, the Lord was upset with Judah’s King, Hezekiah, because he had accepted gifts from the King of Babylon. You see, the King of Babylon was soliciting Hezekiah’s help and support in his ongoing struggle against the Kingdom of Assyria. And Hezekiah responded positively to the overtures of alliance against Assyria because Assyria was Israel’s enemy too and he feared them, even though the Lord had miraculously delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrians already! And here’s the problem, Hezekiah was being faithless about his Assyrian problem because Hezekiah was now looking to political means for solving this problem through alliances with Babylon. Here’s the point: Politics had replaced trust in the Lord.

This is not merely an ancient temptation. We modern people are so often tempted to place our hopes in political alliances rather than wholeheartedly trusting in the Lord. And the cost may be the loss of our distinctive spiritual voice as the church becomes just one more political action committee. What is it you most trust in? Are you like King Hezekiah? Maybe you invest your career hopes in adopting the world’s methods of getting ahead, only to discover much later the cost of these methods to our homes and families?

The word to us is: Don’t be faithless like Hezekiah - trust in the sovereignty of the Lord God! In the judgment on Hezekiah, the king has lost everything because of his faithlessness, because of his determination not to trust the Lord. All the treasury he coveted was carried off. His sons were enslaved and became eunuch’s in the courts of Babylon. And it is the judgment on Hezekiah that is being rendered in the very opening verses of the Book of Daniel, just as Isaiah had said.

And yet, you and I must see that God is sovereign even in the exile! You see, the future of Israel was not controlled by Babylon or its gods, but by the Lord (Dan. 2:19). The one who had sent them into exile had also promised to be with them in exile, and ultimately to restore them from exile after a time of judgment. The point is that God will not abandon what is his own!

This is an important point. During its hardest moments, life often seems out of control. Your life may seem to lie in the hands of hostile people or impersonal forces. Yet the reality is that your every experience in this world, from the apparently coincidental, to the determined acts of wicked men, lies under the control of your sovereign God. Jesus tells us, ‘Even the sparrow does not fall to the ground without his permission’ (Matt. 10:29). Even the most wicked act of all time, the crucifixion of Jesus, was also the outworking of God’s predetermined purpose (Acts 4:28). So, no sinful act ever catches God by surprise or thwarts his sovereign will. Each circumstance in our life is the Lord’s means of furthering his sanctifying goals. And He will walk through trials and preserve us through them by his grace.

2. YOU MUST BE AWARE OF THE STRATEGIES OF WORLDLINESS AND RESIST REPROGRAMING

In the sovereign will of God, Daniel and his three friends found themselves exiled in Babylon (Dan. 1:3–7): 

Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. (Dan. 1:1–5) Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

These four men were still only young teenagers at the time, and in Babylon they were exposed to an intense program of reeducation. 

• First, their very names were changed. In place of their good Hebrew, Daniel (“God is my judge”), Hananiah (“the Lord is gracious”), Mishael (“Who is what God is?”), and Azariah (“The Lord is a helper”), they were assigned pagan, Babylonian names: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (1:7). These Babylonian names invoked the help of the Babylonian gods, Marduk, Bel, and Nebo, rather than Israel’s Lord. 
• Then they were instructed in the language and literature of the Babylonians. They wanted Babylon’s myths and legends to take the place of the Scriptures as the source of their wisdom and worldview (1:4). 
• Third, they were to be royally supplied from the king’s table, with a daily allowance of food and wine, so that they would become accustomed to a life of dependence on their new master (1:5). 
• And at the end of this three-year process of re-education, with their previous identity fully obliterated, they would enter the service of Nebuchadnezzar (1:5).

Now, this provides us with a picture of the world’s strategy of spiritual reprograming. Isn’t this how Satan still operates on you today? He may violently persecute believers in some parts of the world, but Satan often works more effectively by seducing us into forgetting God and thinking that our blessings come from somewhere else. You see, he wants you to forget truth - that God is your judge and the One who gives you grace. Satan wants to control the educational process, so that your children grow up immersed in his worldview and his philosophy of life. He wants you to depend on pleasures of this world so he can effectively draw us away from the Lord. His fundamental goal is always to obliterate our memory of the Lord, to reeducate our minds to his way of thinking.

So we need to look honestly at this Babylonian strategy and the resistance of these four young men. As far was possible these men sought to work within the system in which they had been placed. Yet at the same time they honored God and inwardly resisted the assimilation process of the Babylonian empire. In essence, Daniel and his friends maintained dual identities. They didn’t forget God and Who they truly belonged to.

So let’s talk about YOUR dual identity - how can you do it? Surely one way is by taking every opportunity that you can to celebrate your heavenly citizenship with other believers. You should gather week by week in our homes and in our church. In our church services, your goal is not simply to be equipped for more effective lives here on earth, but even more to be reminded of the heavenly realities that truly define who you truly are. This is done as the signs of the kingdom are displayed in our worship services, through the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the sacraments. 

• As the Word is preached, a heavenly wisdom is proclaimed that runs counter to the wisdom of the world around us. 
• In baptism, the sign of heavenly citizenship is placed upon us and upon our children, reminding us where our true citizenship lies. 
• In the Lord’s Supper, we eat our native food, reminding one another of the cost at which our citizenship was bought and of the ultimate feast that awaits us at home. All of these help preserve our true identity.
• And of course we face the challenge of a thoroughly pagan educational system. Different families will resolve to meet that challenge in different ways. Some Christians will homeschool their children, or send them to a school with a godly, Christian ethos. Others will walk with their children through a public school setting, helping them to stand firm as believers in the midst of the world. Every Christian family needs to recognize the need to train their children. Wherever they are educated, your children need to know and understand the contemporary “language and literature of the Babylonians” and to be armed with biblical discernment into its follies and flaws.

We have quite a task before us. So, let’s see how Daniel resisted assimilation in the Babylonian system. Listen to vv . 8-16:

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. (Dan. 1:8–16)

First of all, we are told in verse 8 that Daniel resolves to be holy, “…Daniel resolved…” it says.  Daniel purposes that he will not be contaminated by the court of Babylon. Now, Daniel does not do this in an obnoxious and a braggadocio way,  but in a very interesting way:  Daniel and his friends resolve not to eat the food from the king’s table nor to drink his wine.

Now, the issue here was not simply that the Babylonian food was not kosher—that is, prepared according to the Jewish dietary laws. Nor was the issue that the meat and wine had first been offered to Babylonian idols, for that would have been the case with the vegetables as well.

The key to understanding why the four young men abstained from the royal food and wine is noticing that instead they chose to eat only those things that grow naturally—grains and vegetables—and to drink only naturally occurring water (1:12). This suggests that the goal of this simple lifestyle was to be constantly reminded of their dependence upon their creator God for their food, not King Nebuchadnezzar. Dependence on Nebuchadnezzar’s rich food would have been defiling because it would have repeated in their own lives the sin of King Hezekiah that brought this judgment upon God’s people in the first place (see 2 Kings 20:17).

So also we need to build into our daily routines constant reminders of our dependence upon God for all of the good things in our lives. 

• Even such a simple act as giving thanks for our food may be a profound reminder of who has provided it for us. 
• Keeping a daily record of the Lord’s gifts to us, from the trivial to the profound, can be another way of keeping our eyes fixed on our Creator. 
• The practice of fasting—deliberately choosing to abstain from some of the legitimate pleasures and satisfactions in this world—can also be a powerful means to remind ourselves this world is not our home and its gifts are not our real treasure.

“…Daniel resolved…” the text says. How about you…what have you resolved to do to resist the world’s reprograming?

3. WE MUST REMEMBER THAT GOD IS FAITHFUL AND GOD HONORS FAITHFULNESS TO HIM

Finally, if you’ll look in verses 17 through 21, we see God honoring Daniel and his friends in their faithfulness.  

As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

Isn’t God faithful in His mercy? Do you see how He elevates the young men to positions of influence. He puts them in a place in the culture where they will have strategic impact and influence on the Babylonians. And that reminds us that God honors faithfulness. Daniel and his friends excel their peers. God is faithful and sovereign over His servant’s situation.

We are perhaps so familiar with the stories of Daniel and his three friends. As a result, we miss the comfort and encouragement that we can gain from their lives. If the Lord could keep these young men faithful to him in their situation, then he is surely able to keep us faithful to him in our trials and difficulties. No matter how overwhelming our situation may seem, God is able to keep us through it.

There is one final note that we must not miss in all of this. The reality for most of us is that when we look at our lives, we find we are not like Daniel and his three friends. We are far more like the nameless multitude who were deported along with Daniel, who adopted foreign names, ate the king’s food, and altogether became like the Babylonians. In many respects, we are assimilated to the world system in which we live, and our futures are mortgaged to it. So if the message of this book is simply “Be like Daniel and all will be well,” then we might as well stop reading now. The more we get to know Daniel, the more we come to realize that we are not Daniels.

The good news of the gospel, however, is not simply that God is faithful to those who are faithful to him. It is that a Savior has come to deliver faithless and compromised saints like us. Our salvation rests not on our ability to remain undefiled by the world, but rather on the pure and undefiled offering that Jesus has provided in our place. 

Jesus Christ came voluntarily into this world, with all of its pains and trials. He endured far greater temptations and sufferings than Daniel did, or than we ever will (Heb. 4:15). Yet he remained entirely faithful and pure until the very end, without spot or blemish, and grants the perfection of his obedience to all those who trust in him by faith (1 Peter 1:19). What is more, Jesus has already returned from his time of exile and now sits at the Father’s right hand in heaven. He has prepared our places there, and his presence there already is the guarantee that one day we will be with him there as his people. The cross is the means by which God’s faithfulness redeems the unfaithful; the resurrection and ascension are the surety of our inheritance in heaven.

Remind yourself often of this gospel. Fix your eyes on Jesus Christ crucified, raised, and exalted. He has not only pioneered the route home; he is the route home. Trust in him and ask him to work in you a true faithfulness. Ask him to put you in places where you can be a blessing to your community. Be a breath of heavenly wisdom in your home, your school, your workplace. Be constantly dependent upon his sanctifying work, looking to him to keep you faithful.

Look not to your best efforts to “Be a Daniel.” Look to God to keep you faithful. 

Finally, long for the day when his heavenly kingdom will invade this earth and bring the fullness of your inheritance. 

It is only in Jesus Christ that we can stand faithful in our exile. 

It is only in Jesus Christ that we can stand faithfully. 

It is only in Jesus Christ that we can be holy.

The Triumph of the Son of Man (Daniel 7:1-28)

The end of the world is a remarkably popular subject these days. Hollywood movies, always a useful cultural barometer, are a clear witness to this fact. This end-times interest may stem from the existential angst that comes from the threat of a terrorist attack, or a growing awareness of humanity’s ability to make this planet uninhabitable, or from some quite different root cause. Wherever it comes from, however, it is undeniable that there is more interest in the end of the world these days than there has been for a while.

This phenomenon makes this a good time to study the apocalyptic portions of the Bible, for they too are interested in the end of the world. If people want to know how the world will end—whether with a bang or with a whimper—what better place to turn than to the Word of the sovereign God, who controls all history? Well, Daniel 7–12, which contains just such apocalyptic literature, should therefore be intensely relevant for all of us. 

Daniel chapter 7 signals a major transition in the book of Daniel. The first half of the book tells stories about Daniel and his three friends; we learn of their faith and courage before pagan kings from Nebuchadnezzar to Belshazzar to Darius. 

But in this second half of the book, beginning with chapter 7, reports Daniel’s visions of the future. Accordingly, as we move from the relatively straightforward narratives of chapters 1–6 to the often fantastical images of Daniel’s prophetic vision you will feel as if a real change has overcome the text.

So we begin with a brief word about apocalyptic literature in the Bible: those books like Revelation, Ezekiel, portions of Mark, Matthew, Isaiah, Joel, and Zechariah, and of course Daniel 7-12 - the last half of the book of Daniel.

What is apocalyptic? Well, apocalyptic literature gives us in many ways the “final chapter” of salvation. That is to say, apocalyptic literature contains those parts of the Bible where God pulls back the curtain to give his people a glimpse of his plans for human history - a kind of heavenly revelation of what the end of the present age will be like when the final, eschatological age of peace is ushered in by the son of Man, Jesus Christ. It shows us ahead of time the end of the kingdoms of this world and their replacement by the kingdom of our God and of his Christ. This apocalyptic revelation is often very fantastical for us because it is unfolded in complex and mysterious imagery, and  yet we should never forget that its purpose is to comfort and exhort the faithful.

In Daniel’s day, these apocalyptic visions were meant to comfort them. Yes, Jerusalem at that time was destroyed and its temple lay in ruins. Yes, God’s people were in exile, and wicked rulers seemed to be triumphant, but as the visions of Daniel reveal, God remains supreme. 

In our own day, these apocalyptic visions are meant to comfort us. Yes, Western civilization seems morally bankrupt, and due to neglect, the Christian faith seems be degenerating towards ruin. Yes, God’s people are in exile and suffer withering persecution in so many parts of the world. The wicked, greedy, and immoral rulers of our age seem to be triumphant, but as the vision of Daniel reveal, God remains supreme. And just as in Daniel’s day, God is greater than all these circumstances, and His people should be true to Him in whatever situation they find themselves. Are you being true to him this morning, Christian?

Well, our text begins with a vision of monsters:

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. (Daniel 7:1-8)

Now notice that we have moved backwards in time from the reign of the Medes and Persians where we left Daniel last week, to the time when the Babylonians still ruled the world. The events of this vision occur chronologically between the events of chapters 4 and 5 - between the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation and Belshazzar’s handwriting on the wall. 

In his vision Daniel saw the four winds of heaven stirring up a great sea. As is so often the case in scripture, the sea was the symbol of chaos and rebellion against God and in this case, the sea is composed of people, sinful people, out which nations will rise. 

Now to understand this vision, you need to realize that Daniel is having a parallel vision to the one that Nebuchadnezzar had in Daniel chapter 2. In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar saw a progression of kingdoms represented by a large statue of a man - an image of exceeding brightness, the head of which was fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and clay. In Nebuchadnezzar’s vision he was being shown the progression of the kingdoms of Babylon, the Medo-Persian empire, Greece, and then the Roman empire. And remember, this statue was destroyed by a rock that was not cut out with human hands, the rock that in the future would be Jesus Christ himself.

Well, here in Daniel 7, Daniel is seeing the same progression of kingdoms. Except, rather than seeing them with human’s eyes - instead of seeing them glittering and comprised of precious metals, Daniel is being shown these kingdoms from the view of God in heaven. And rather than being made of gold, bronze, silver, and iron- they appear quite differently here! These kingdoms are grotesque when viewed with heavenly eyes. These enormous, composite, misshapen animals represent all the restlessness and dangerous turmoil of a nation or empire of sinful men.

Now, who are these kingdoms? Most conservative commentators agree that these kingdoms are 1) Babylon, 2) the empires comprised of the Medes and the Persians, 3) then Greece (particularly under Alexander the Great), 4) and then most fierce of all - the Roman empire. But here’s the important thing: Daniel is given an interpretation in vv. 15-17.

“As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth." (Daniel 7:15-17)

When the angelic interpreter explains to Daniel what the dream means the angel doesn’t clarify the identity of the kingdoms. This suggests that a proper understanding of the vision does not really rest on resolving this question. 

Some conservative scholars argue that it is actually better to take the number of the beasts - 4 -  as representing a symbol of completeness rather than a particular number of world empires. They argue that  the message of Daniel 7 is that life in this present age will always be this way until the end of this age as we live as God’s people under the sinful governments of man. 

And you know, I’m sympathetic to this view. Actually, it is striking that the superpowers of our own age still customarily represent themselves by predatory animals, such as the Russian bear and the Chinese dragon. The beasts of the present world order may change their shape as the centuries pass, but their violence and lust for power continues. Nebuchadnezzar turns into a Darius, who becomes an Alexander the Great, then Antiochus Epiphanes, followed by a Nero and a Domitian. Their fires of persecution continued to be stoked centuries later by the Inquisition. In the last century, we have seen further manifestations of the beast in the persons of Hitler, Stalin, and Kim Il Jung. The frightening beasts of this age were present at the gas chambers of Belsen, and on the killing fields of Cambodia and Rwanda, and they are still tormenting the saints in Sudan and China, in Iraq and Syria, and in other parts of our modern world.

This continual presence of the beasts in our world ought not to surprise us because every human manifestation of evil is simply a reflection of the work of the Great Dragon, Satan himself. In fact, in Revelation 13, we see a beast rising from the sea representing the persecuting power of the antichrist, a beast that combines aspects of each of Daniel’s creatures into one, a lion-bear-leopard with ten horns. Whatever our location in space and time, frightening monsters will array themselves against the Lord and his anointed.

But here is the important thing - these evil empires will be judged! That’s the point of the next part of the text in Daniel 7, beginning in verse 9.

“As I looked,

thrones were placed,

    and the Ancient of Days took his seat;

his clothing was white as snow,

    and the hair of his head like pure wool;

his throne was fiery flames;

    its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued

    and came out from before him;

a thousand thousands served him,

    and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;

the court sat in judgment,

    and the books were opened.

“I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time." (Daniel 7:9-11)

At the center of Daniel’s vision, thrones were set up for judgment. The Ancient of Days, God himself, sat upon the central throne. It didn’t take long for the judge to get to work, either: the court was immediately convened and the books that recorded the deeds of humanity were opened. Though the beast with the boastful horn continued to mouth defiance at the heavenly court, the agents of the Most High slew it immediately and threw its body into the fire.

Why does God give us this vision from Daniel? Here’s why: Daniel is painting the REAL world—the world that is to come—and he’s doing it because he’s countering the insistent propaganda that bombards our senses in this present age that this world is all there is and we need to spend our best time, best energy, best resources chasing it with all our might. Actually, what glitters so often in our evil age is not gold but horror. And yet we are reminded that the horrors of this age are equally empty of power to do us real harm.

The monsters that we so dread are as toothless as the lions in Daniel’s den, for God is our judge. It is his tribunal before which we must ultimately stand, and it is what is written about us in his book that will determine whether we reign with his saints forever, or spend eternity in the fire with the beast. It is that black and white. Jesus himself said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).

And why should Jesus have anything to say on this matter? Well, it is because of his own coronation to the throne of heaven, you see.

“I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven

    there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

    and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion

    and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

    should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

    which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

    that shall not be destroyed." (Daniel 7:13-14)

This vision of the Son of Man is far easier for us to understand than it was for poor Daniel, for we have the benefit of the hindsight of the prophecy’s fulfillment. “The son of man” was the perfect title for Jesus to bear. In his earthly ministry, it was the “human” aspect of the son of man that was prominent. This Son of Man has dinner with a prostitute, stops off for lunch with a tax-collector, blessed children while surrounded by Roman legions, healed the sick, and ultimately, hung pierced and bleeding upon a cross. Dying and being buried in a tomb was surely the most ungodlike of acts. And yet his majesty, even though veiled while on earth, was still present. He taught as one with unparalleled authority. He forgave people their sins, and he spoke of possessing a kingdom. Both divine and human aspects are present because Jesus is son of man and Son of Man, very man and Very God.

For the first disciples, the lesson that Jesus was the son of man focused upon the humanity of Jesus. They had to learn that salvation does not come through the advent of a triumphal heavenly figure bearing a sword, blasting his opponents with fire from heaven. Rather, it comes through the advent of a baby in a manger, who grew up to bear a crown of thorns and carry a cross. The Son of Man had come not to be served (as one might have expected from Daniel) but rather to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

For the disciples in Daniel’s day though, suffering intense persecution for their faith, so needed to be reminded of the central lesson of Daniel 7. The return of our Lord will not be the same as his first advent. Christ is not eternally suffering upon the cross, but when the time is ripe, he will return (as the Son of Man!) in glory on the clouds, bearing a sharp sickle to bring final judgment on his enemies (Rev. 14:14–20).

Let’s come to a close now. If you’ll look at the verses 15 through 28. 

“As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’

“Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.

“Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast,

there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth,

    which shall be different from all the kingdoms,

and it shall devour the whole earth,

    and trample it down, and break it to pieces.

As for the ten horns,

out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise,

    and another shall arise after them;

he shall be different from the former ones,

    and shall put down three kings.

He shall speak words against the Most High,

    and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,

    and shall think to change the times and the law;

and they shall be given into his hand

    for a time, times, and half a time.

But the court shall sit in judgment,

    and his dominion shall be taken away,

    to be consumed and destroyed to the end.

And the kingdom and the dominion

    and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven

    shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;

his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom,

    and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’

“Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.” (Daniel 7:15-28)

Daniel concludes this vision troubled in his heart. We are a bit baffled by this last part of the text because we are exhilarated by the encouragements that Daniel has already given in this particular vision. The King is on the throne. The Lord will bring judgment against the world. But all Daniel can see is that it is very clear from this vision that the Lord's people in His kingdom are going to be persecuted by a beast that will pursue them even unto the end of their lives and that before the kingdom is set up in rule, there will be much suffering endured by the people of God.

You see, God is showing Daniel the nature of the kingdom that He is going to establish. Far beyond simply returning the people of Israel into their own homeland, God has plans for a kingdom that will extend around this world and will bring in men and women and boys and girls from every tribe and tongue and nation to worship the living God. But it is going to involve incredible suffering. And it's a measure of Daniel's heart that his heart is broken over people that he would never know. He knows the kind of suffering they are going to experience, and he's moved by it and his heart is troubled and so he needs every bit of the encouragement that God gives him. And we need it, too.

One of the practical implications of this vision, is that first of all, the people of God must never be naive about the strength and the reality and the durability of evil. It is with us in this fallen world. It is a force of wickedness and harm and we must never underestimate what it can do.

Secondly, we must remember that the kingdom of God is a kingdom of suffering in the here and now. We must not only be prepared for it ourselves, but we must be in solidarity with all our brethren who suffer in persecution and in oppression. We must care for them and pray for them and be one with them in the midst of their own travails, and with one another in the midst of our own struggles. These visions, my friend, are key to Israel understanding that when the Messiah came He would not immediately set up a kingdom of political power but He would set up a kingdom which would entail the greatest being the least and the godliest being killed. That is the kind of kingdom that we experience in the here and now. It will come in its power and triumph in the then and there.

Third, this vision also reminds us that our gaze must penetrate beyond history into the throne room of God. All of us bring circumstances in our lives to this room this morning that could overwhelm us. If we sat down and we dwelt upon them it could overwhelm us. We all need to be reminded of what is beyond and under and behind. In the throne room, all is calm. The Lord Jesus sits at the right hand and sometimes that's all you have. But that's all you need. Our hope in this life does not center on the focal points of world power. It centers upon the one who is on the throne, reigning for us in all His descending power and who will one day take us to reign with Him.

Have you noticed how many times the phrase is repeated? “The saints, the people of the saints of the Most High”… in this passage. You see, you’re united with the One who's on the throne. You've received Him by grace. If you have trusted in Him, if you've placed Your faith in Him, you’re united with Him. And if He reigns so shall you also. 

Today, we live in a world of terrifying beasts, but we shall not live in their world forever. There will come a day when all wrongs will be set right, when all tyrants will be dethroned, when all that is broken will be fixed. There will come a day when all hunger will come to an end, when all sickness will be cured, when every sorrowing heart will be comforted. There will come a day when even death, the last weapon of the beast, will have its power broken once and for all. On that day, the Great Beast, Satan himself, will be bound and brought before the throne; he will answer for his crimes and be cast into the lake of fire forever (Rev. 20:10).

If it is true that God is our judge, are we ready to meet with him? Are we ready to have the book of life opened and its contents put on public display, with all of our lust, jealousy, anger, pride, and self-centeredness made visible for all to see? On that day of judgment, our only hope will be that Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, has taken the judgment we deserve for all of those sins and many more. He was bruised for our transgressions and mauled for our iniquities, so that in the coming day we could be exalted with him and reign with him forever. He has faced the Great Beast in all of his fearsomeness in our place. Unlike the experience of God’s saints, the time of his trial on the cross was not cut short in God’s mercy. On the contrary, Jesus felt the full measure of the fiery agonies of hell, distilled into six hours of exquisite agony. The debt for every sin that I ever committed or ever will commit was laid on his shoulders, and he bore it all.

The result of his sacrifice, though, is that whatever now faces me in this life—whether death or life, angels or monsters, dictators or demons—nothing in all creation can separate me from the love of God in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:38–39). If God is my judge and the Son of Man is my savior, then let the world do its worst. When you feel the hot breath of the enemy on your neck, look onward and upward to the Son of Man and the Ancient of Days, who truly rule this world. They have not forsaken you nor left you. You are theirs, forever.