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Security in the End Times

The object of our faith amid global disturbance must be a clear vision of the Father through the Son, who holds all things together through the Word of His power. The troubling imagery of Daniel 7, in which the empires of this world are portrayed as beasts bent on rule, conquest, and bloodshed for the sake of power, surrounds one of the most explicit pictures of God in all of scripture.  Daniel 7:9–10 (ESV) “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. 10 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. Right after the verse detailing a little horn making great boasts as he wipes out competing factions of nations, Daniel sees where true authority lies. It is not found in the boast...
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The Four Beasts that Lead to the Final Beast

Daniel 7:1 (ESV) 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 summarized the matter. The first verse of the second half of Daniel shows us this book is not chronological from chapter 1 to the end. These visions Daniel receives here are before the events of chapter 5 in the kingdom of Babylon. The vision Daniel receives is a different perspective on the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream from Daniel 2. Where Nebuchadnezzar saw succeeding empires as part of a massive statue, Daniel is given a vision of beasts rising from the sea.  Daniel 7:3–7 (ESV) And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 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. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear....
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Excellence Is The Entrance

Daniel 6:1–3 (ESV)  It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; 2 and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. 3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Daniel is at the top of his game no matter who is in charge. Here we have a clue as to why. The text repeats a line from Belshazzar's time: "an excellent spirit was in him".  Notice the effect of that excellent spirit: Daniel 6:3 (ESV) this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. It doesn't say "Daniel distinguished himself. It says he became distinguished. We live in a "distinguish yourself" culture. We are inundated with messages suggesting tha...
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Extra Plates

No empire is too big to fall. The Babylonians found that out harder than most. Daniel 5:1 (ESV) King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. Think the setting in this brief description. Wherein Nebuchadnezzar was into self-adulation, his son Belshazzar was more into the creature comforts of world domination. His goal is simple: good times with fine wine. And the tipping point for the empire's collapse was when he decided to desecrate the sacred objects of Israel's temple for the glorification of his empire in front of his special friends.  Daniel 5:2 (ESV)  Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. It wasn't enough to desecrate these sacred objects with the unholy wine of Babylon that Daniel refused, the gave...
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God is In Control

Daniel chapter 4 is a salvation testimony from an unlikely vessel.  Daniel 4:1–3 (ESV) King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you! 2 It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. 3 How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. The conversion of Nebuchadnezzar is not something you'd expect to happen at all in scripture. He may top the list of people you'd never expect to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But he does. He's brought low and sent into the wild by the hand of God. In the end, he found out who he wasn't (God) and who he was accountable to (also God).  It started with pride.  Daniel 4:4 (ESV) I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace. He has a dream again, this time he tells the magicians and enchanters ...
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Conviction Brings Great Reward

How do you stand for God when everyone else is falling for lies? That is the most important question we can ask of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3. The only three people in the world who stood for God at a time of global confusion. The world ebbs and flows into this sort of state, where at times people are utterly fooled into following nonsense. I consider the COVID-19 lockdown period one such time. I'm sorry if that offends, but it's truer now than ever. We were lied to, and few stood up for the truth because the consequences for doing so were somewhat severe.  It doesn't get more severe than burning to death.  Daniel 3:8–12 (ESV) Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. 9 They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! 10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, shall fall down and worship the golden i...
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Worship of Self

Resisting pride has to be the most challenging spiritual discipline. I should say humility is the most elusive virtue. On the heels of learning his kingdom would one day end and be surpassed by 3 successive kingdoms after his, Nebuchadnezzar decides to take matters into his own hands. Daniel 3:1–2 (ESV) King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. What do we see here? We see an image made fully of gold, whereas the image of his dream only had a head of gold (representing Babylon). We see his desire for world unity under his reign through a global invitation to the image's dedication.  Daniel 3:3–5 (ESV) ...
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