daniel 12

at the time Michael the great prince the protector of your people shall arise. there shall be a time of anguish such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence but at that time your people shall be delivered everyone who is found written in the book. many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt . those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever but you daniel keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end. many shall be running back and forth and evil shall increase. then I daniel looked and two others appeared one standing on this bank of the stream and one on the other. one of them said to the man clothed in linen who was upstream ” how long shall it be until the end of these wonders?” the man clothed in linen who was upstream raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and I heard him swear by the one who lives forever that it would be for a time two times and half a time and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be accomplished. I heard but could not understand so I said ” my Lord what shall be the outcome of all these things?” he said ” go your way daniel for the words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the end. many shall be purified cleansed and refined but the wicked shall continue to act wickedly. none of the wicked shall understand but those who are wise shall understand. from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that desolates is set up there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. happy are those who preserve and attain the thousand three hundred and thirty five days but you go your way and rest you shall rise for your reward at the end of the days.”

selah

although the jewish people have endured the holocaust and many times of turbulence the time of horror that the divine being speaks to daniel about will be far worse than anything humans have previously imagined.

the book referenced as being the book which determines the salvation of particular humans is the lamb’s book of life.

all who believe in Jesus and have asked HIm for forgiveness for every single one of their sinful thoughts and actions have their name written in that book.

when this passage talks of people sleeping in the earth it actually means they are dead and they will be raised to life.

everlasting life means heaven, everlasting contempt means hell.

it is not that God is ever contemptuous towards us but we are contemptuous towards Him when we reject HIs authority.

we are the ones who send ourselves to heaven or hell by our thoughts and actions.

He never throws us in hell or pushes us into it.

while we are breathing He will always give us chances to get right with HIm but it is a fool who puts off until tomorrow what must be done today cos who of us knows how many days God has portioned us?

better to get right with God before it’s too late and you miss your bus of opportunity.

it is beautiful how God compares us to sunshine and stars when we are living righteous lives.

God wants us to disciple others or teach them about Jesus.

the stars do not last forever but they are extremely old when they die.

when we teach others about Jesus the truth we have helped to instil in their hearts will never die so long as they themselves do not fail in their duty to pass on that truth to others.

it is interesting that the divine being commands daniel to keep the words of the book secret yet here in the book of daniel as far as we know we have all his secrets displayed right before our eyes.

did daniel disobey?

were the non biographical elements of daniel meant to be hidden away from the sight of modern mankind until the proper time for their unveiling?

surely not or else our  faith would not be stirred by the sheer enormity of the amount of prophecies fulfilled throughout history by this book.

it is facetious to assume that the divine being is only talking to daniel about physical exercise or running.

He is obviously speaking of a time of  chaos yet to come.

people run back and forth when they are frantic dashing about in a state of panic.

the two beings on either side of the embankment are obviously angels and the man in linen is the Godman or a preincarnate appearing of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

I wonder who the holy people who lose their power are.

in a way Christians have always been both powerful and powerless.

we are only powerful because we obtain our power from God.

there is nothing that we can do simply through our own strength.

if it is a reference to the jews they have never been in a position of power in terms of ruling a vast empire.

we are experiencing a shift in society where those who are in positions of power in the legal world and the world of politics tend to be driven by a love for self more than a love for God.

perhaps this shift in power is speaking to us that we will soon see the return of Christ.

it is sad but true that until the end of time there will always be people who reject God.

I don’t want to be one of them.

I want to be one of the wise ones who are fully obedient to God who choose the hard path knowing the reward waiting at the end is worth all the pain and sacrifice.

its worth losing friends for the sake of the gospel.

its worth it having people think you are a weirdo cos you wont stop talking about Jesus.

it is the testing of our faith that produces patience.

when we suffer  for the sake of righteousness we are storing up for ourselves  crowns of glory and treasures in heaven.

we know that the prophecy speaking of the regular burnt offering being taken away has been fulfilled.

currently there are plans in place to restore the red heifer sacrifice and rebuild the temple close by to the current location of Solomon’s temple where the dome of the rock now stands crudely shoved on top of a God glorifying masterpiece.

sacrifices to pagan gods or demons have taken place in the temple at Jerusalem before but it is believed that this event will occur again.

when daniel speaks of time periods in terms of future events it is not meant for us to think of them as literal twenty four hour days as we should in the account of the worlds creation.

Gods concept of time is not the same as ours.

a day is like a thousand years to HIm.

perhaps we will see daniel be resurrected from the dead along with the rest of the dead in Christ who rise at the advent of HIs second  coming.

whatever happens in all things we must trust God because that is the best way to avoid causing harm to our spirits.

selah ❤

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daniel 11

I am currently using new revised standard version.

I was using the new living translation but I encountered problems with it when I found pauls arguments against the baptism of the dead removed from the text when I was driven to the word to find truth after listening to a Mormon politician on http://www.crosspolitics.com

I still love new living translation for its beautiful poetic descriptions but it is no longer something I want in my daily scripture intake.

I wouldn’t be opposed to having a copy in my home but its not something I would personally consider using ever again.

selah 🙂

as for me in the first year of darius the mede I stood up to support and strengthen him.

now I will announce the truth to you . three more kings shall arise in Persia . the fourth shall be far richer than all of them and when he has become strong through his riches he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. then a warrior king shall arise who shall rule with great dominion and take action as he pleases. and while still rising in power his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven but not to his posterity not according to the dominion with which he ruled for his  kingdom shall be uprooted and go to others besides these. then the king of the south shall grow strong but one of his officers shall grow stronger than he and shall rule a realm greater than his own realm. after some years they shall make an alliance and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to ratify the agreement but she shall not retain her power and his offspring shall not endure. she shall be given up she and her attendants and her child and the one who supported her. in those times a branch from her roots shall rise up in his place . He shall come against the army and enter the fortress of the king of the north and he shall take action against them and prevail. even their gods with their idols and with their precious vessels of silver and gold he shall carry off to Egypt as spoils of war. For some years he shall refrain from attacking the king of the north then the latter shall invade the realm of the king of the south but will return to his own land. His sons shall wage war and assemble a multitude of great forces which shall advance like a flood and pass through and again shall carry the war as far as his fortress. Moved with rage the king of the south shall go out and do battle against the king of the north who shall muster a great multitude which shall however be defeated by his enemy. When the multitude has been carried off his heart shall be exalted and he shall overthrow tens of thousands but he shall not prevail for the king of the north shall again raise a multitude larger than the former and after some years he shall advance with a great army and abundant supplies. In those times many shall rise up against the king of the south. The lawless among your own people shall lift themselves up in order to fulfil the vision but they shall fail then the king of the north shall come and throw up siegeworks and take a well fortified city and the forces of the south shall not stand not even his picked troops for there shall be no strength to resist but he who comes against him shall take the actions he pleases and no one shall withstand him. He shall take a position in the beautiful land and all of it shall be in his power. He shall set his mind to come with the strength of his whole kingdom and he shall bring terms of peace and perform them. In order to destroy the kingdom he shall give him a woman in marriage but it shall not succeed or be to his advantage . Afterward he shall turn to the coastlands and shall capture many but a commander shall put an end to his insolence indeed he shall turn his insolence back upon him then he shall turn back toward the fortresses of his own land but he shall stumble and fall and shall not be found then shall arise in his place one who shall send an official for the glory of the kingdom but within a few days he shall be broken though not in anger or in battle . In his place shall arise a contemptible person on whom royal majesty had not been conferred he shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom through intrigue. Armies shall be utterly swept away and broken before him and the prince of the covenant as well and after an alliance is made with him he shall act deceitfully and become strong with a small party. Without warning he shall come into the richest parts of the province and do what none of his predecessors had ever done lavishing plunder spoil and wealth on them. He shall devise plans against strongholds but only for a time. He shall stir up his power and determination against the king of the south with a great army and the king of the south shall wage war with a much greater and stronger army but he shall not succeed for plots shall be devised against him by those who eat of the royal rations. they shall break him. His army shall be swept away and many shall fall slain. the two kings their minds bent on evil shall sit at one table and exchange lies but it shall not succeed for there remains an end at the time appointed. He shall return to his land with great wealth but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. He shall work his will and return to his own land. At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south but this time it shall not be as it was before. For ships of kittim shall come against him and he shall lose heart and withdraw. He shall be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay heed to those who forsake the holy covenant. Forces sent by him shall occupy and profane the temple and fortress. they shall abolish the regular burnt offering and set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce with intrigue those who violate the covenant but the people who are loyal to their God shall stand firm and take action. the wise among the people shall give understanding to many for some days however they shall fall by sword and flame and suffer captivity and plunder. When they fall victim they shall receive a little help and many shall join them insincerely. some of the wise shall fall so that they may be refined purified and cleansed until the time of the end for there is still an interval until the time appointed. The king shall act as he pleases. He shall exalt himself and consider himself greater than any god and shall speak horrendous things against the God of gods. He shall prosper until the period of wrath is completed for what is determined shall be done. He shall pay no respect to the gods of his ancestors or to the one beloved by women. He shall pay no respect to any other god for he shall consider himself greater than all. He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these a god whom his ancestors did not know he shall honor with gold and silver with precious stones and costly gifts. He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall make more wealthy and shall appoint them as rulers over many and shall distribute the land for a price. At the time of the end the king of the south shall attack him but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind with chariots and horsemen and with many ships. He shall advance against countries and pass through like a flood. He shall come into the beautiful land and tens of thousands shall fall victim but edom and moab and the main part of the ammonites shall escape from his power. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of  silver and all the riches of Egypt and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall follow in his train but reports from the east and the north shall alarm him and he shall go out with great fury to bring ruin and complete destruction to many. He shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain yet he shall come to his end with no one to help him.

selah 🙂

daniel was a good friend to darius. although he may not have added physical strength he would have given strength to darius’s spirit by providing him encouragement and spiritual guidance as well as practical advice on how to run his kingdom.

it wasn’t very nice for that king to go to war against Greece. what did Greece ever do to them?

it is never smart for us to take action as we please. we should always consult God before taking action especially when our actions affect the lives of other people who God has given us the responsibility of ruling over. it is best if we consult others before making decisions so we do not end up making foolish decisions due to thinking we can do no wrong and falsely perceiving ourselves as gods who never the less fail to rescue ourselves from the many crises we face between birth and death proving we need help from a divine rescuer beyond ourselves.

even though he sounds like a nasty king I feel sorry for him cos he loses all his power and privilege.

if I was the king of the south I would be jealous of his officer gaining more power than him.

I can see why he made an alliance with his former officer. by doing this he would be able to obtain some of his power. I wonder if the daughter of the king of the south came willingly into a relationship with the king of the north . its sad that she lost her power her kids her attendants and her life. of course she could have simply lost her power. she definitely didn’t lose all of her children cos one of her descendants rises up to be a great leader who takes over the realm of the king of the south.

the branch that came from her must have felt happy when he won his battle.

he may have thought he carried off gods but really they were just statues of demons with no power in their possession except that which humans give over to them.

it wasn’t very nice of him to invade the land of the king of the south.

the king of the south must have been very scared when the army of the north was coming to take him out.

the king of the north must have felt humiliated when the king of the south defeated him in battle.

this victory made the king of the south cocky but he should have been more humble cos his  comeuppance was hiding just around the corner. we must be careful not to permit our minds to be infected with arrogance.

we should take heed of the lesson taught us by the behaviour of the lawless ones that attempts to elevate ourselves without living holy lives inevitably lead to failure.

the one who took possession of the beautiful land must have been very happy. all of us want to take possession of the beautiful land of heaven but only those who are faithful to Jesus will get there.

I feel sorry for the woman given in marriage who is used as a pawn to heal the rift between two kingdoms. I hope that she would have a say in the matter and not be forced to marry against her will.

I feel sorry for those people on the coastlands who got taken prisoner.

I feel sorry for the king who stumbles and falls and disappears completely.

I feel sorry for the official who got broken. im glad he didn’t die in battle or an angry dispute but any way to die if you don’t know Christ is terrible and any way to die if you do know Christ is an instant bridge to peace joy and glory . 🙂

this contemptible person doesn’t sound like someone I would like to get to know even though the darkest horses can still possess redeeming qualities.

it is never good to obtain success through trickery. the best path to success is by living honestly. of course we know that unless we know Christ and live out HIs love success will never truly become possible for us.

I feel sorry for the armies and the prince of the covenant getting broken.

it is funny that it doesn’t take this deceitful man much effort to defeat a multitude.

it must have been scary living in those strongholds and having the king send men to you in order to wipe you out.

we must be careful that our minds do not become bent towards evil . we must always think about Jesus so our thoughts remain pure and so they do not spring a trap of sin for us and trip us up in our spiritual steps.

I assume the holy covenant is either Israel or those who believe in Jesus.

kittim is modern day Cyprus.

perhaps the holy covenant is simply the promise of those who have pledged their loyalty to Jesus .

we must be careful that we don’t allow ourselves to be seduced by the devil.

remember that it isn’t a sin to be tempted just to give in to temptation.

a roman ruler set up the abomination of desolation in the temple of Jerusalem but it is rumoured that another ruler will come and also attempt to sacrifice non kosher meat in the holy of holies and by doing so shall cause the wrath of God to fall upon themselves.

we must take a firm stand against the devil.

remember all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

God is the one who gives us wisdom. without His planting of HIs truth in us we would all be idiots who are continually hurting ourselves and others.

it is only HIs intervention in our life and the presence of HIs goodness in the world that keeps it from falling apart at the seams.

we must be careful to always be sincere in our actions and not just pretend to go along with something godly just to please people. we must be true converts who worship the Lord in spirit and truth.

sometimes God allows us to fall so we can be changed and made holy by HIm.

the world will soon be coming to an end so we have to live every day like its gonna be our last ever ready for Christ’s return making sure our hearts are pure and that we do not miss any opportunities to tell the world about HIs powerful sacrifice which is the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever known.

we must never think we are greater than God. no greatness is obtainable unless God allows us to have it. the gods mentioned in this passage are not real gods but demons masquerading as a supreme being with no power to either give or take life. they only act on the authority God has given them. they take orders from HIm alone. they can never break ranks with HIs will.

I believe we are in the time of grace now but the time of wrath will soon approach us cos God cannot remain patient with us forever. there will come a time when humanity will be forced to suffer the consequences of its evil actions. God always preserves a remnant of HIs faithful ones however and we will always be given opportunity to know HIs power to deliver us while we remain breathing.

we are always acting like idiots if we consider ourselves gods  cos none of us possesses the ability to rescue ourselves from  calamity.

it is not a god who helps the king but a demon who he binds himself too that gives him power in exchange for total destruction and eternal torture of his soul in hell.

it is interesting that edom and moab and part of ammons descendants escape the scourge of the king. the kingdom of edom is now divided between Israel and Jordan. edomites were also called idumeans. they were descendants of Jacobs brother esau.

moab means from the father which relates to the act of moab and ben ammi ( father of the ammonite dynasty) and how they came about through jobs incestuous actions with his daughters.

moab is part of modern Jordan. so is the land of ammon.

the ammonites were absorbed into Arabic society.

they were made slaves to the Israelites for their disobedience to God in worshipping idols.

Egypt has suffered a lot of upheaval in the life of its existence as a nation. its interesting that daniel speaks of its destruction long before it happened.

this could not have been revealed to daniel by natural means but only by the power of God.

I do not know of any leaders who have united the Libyans and Ethiopians under one ruler . both countries have had muslim rulers in the past . the holy mountain that the king pitches his tent near is of course mount zion.

there is lots of speculation about the characters mentioned in this chapter. some of the roles have been filled multiple times in the past and some of these roles will be duplicated or are yet to take place in the future.

we need not fear the future as long as we fear God or remain in reverent obedience to HIm and HIs son Jesus is living in our hearts ❤

selah 🙂

 

daniel 10

in the third year of the reign of king cyrus of Persia daniel( also known as Belteshazzar ) had another vision.

he understood that the vision concerned events certain to happen in the future times of war and great hardship.

when this vision came to me I daniel had been in mourning for three whole weeks.

all that time I had eaten no rich food.

no meat or wine crossed my lips and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.

on april 23 as I was standing on the banks of the great tigris river I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen clothing with a belt of pure gold around his waist.

His body looked like a precious gem.

his face flashed like lightning and his eyes flamed like torches .

his arms and feet shone like polished bronze and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people.

only I daniel saw this vision.

the men with me saw nothing but they were suddenly terrified and ran away to hide so I was left there all alone to see this amazing vision .

my strength left me my face grew deathly pale and I felt very weak.

then I heard the men speak and when I heard the sound of his voice I fainted and lay there with my face to the ground.

just then a hand touched me and lifted me still trembling to my hands and knees and the man said to me ” daniel you are very precious to God so listen carefully to what I have to say to you. stand up for I have been sent to you.”

when he said this to me I stood up still trembling .

then he said ” don’t be afraid daniel . since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer but for 21 days the spirit prince of the kingdom of  Persia blocked my way. then Michael one of the archangels came to help me and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia . now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”

while he was speaking to me I looked down at the ground unable to say a word.

then the one who looked like a man touched my lips and I opened my mouth and began to speak.

I said to the one standing in front of me ” I am filled with anguish because of the vision I have seen my lord and I am very weak. how can someone like me your servant talk to you my lord? my strength is gone and I can hardly breathe”.

then the one who looked like a man touched me again and I felt my strength returning.

” don’t be afraid” he said ” for you are very precious to God. peace. be encouraged. be strong”.

as he spoke these words to me I suddenly felt stronger and said to him ” please speak to me my Lord for you have strengthened me.”

he replied ” do you know why I have come ? soon I must return to fight against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia and after that the spirit prince of the kingdom of Greece will come. meanwhile I will tell you what is written in the book of truth ( no one helps me against these spirit princes except Michael your spirit prince. I have been standing beside Michael to support and strengthen him since the first year of the reign of darius the mede.)

selah 🙂

in the last passage we see a clear indication that daniel is speaking to Gabriel.

in this chapter we have no such indication although it would be expected for Gabriel to fight alongside Michael .

Michael is the archangel or chief angel .

he was given that position after the fall of lucifer.

it was my understanding that Gabriel was a messenger angel and Michael a fighting angel but perhaps Gabriel functions in both roles.

daniel might also be conversing with God seeing as he refers to the one he is speaking to as my lord.

it is obvious that daniel considers himself to be of a more lowly position than the one he is speaking to.

we know from scripture that God made us a little lower than the angels but there will come a time where He will bring them under our judgment.

some of the prophecies mentioned in daniel have already happened others are yet to occur in the future.

I wonder what daniel was mourning.

maybe it was the fact that his people were in exile because they had disobeyed God.

maybe he just missed his family.

I hope daniel didn’t hang around too many people when he was forbidding himself to use deodorant cos he would have been pretty stinky.

the fact that the guy daniel saw looked like a precious gem tells you that he was no ordinary person.

the angels are never described as having faces flashing like lightning or having eyes flaming like torches.

this is closer to the description of Jesus in revelations when He comes back to claim HIs children and to restore the earth to its original design after destroying this current world with holy fire.

the fact that the man daniel saw had a voice that roared like many people gives an indication of the fact that it was no ordinary voice.

yes we know Gods voice can be a soft small voice and it can also be a mighty roar.

it is interesting that the men with daniel ran away even though they  could not see the one daniel spoke to.

we do not know whether they heard him.

maybe they thought daniel was crazy cos it might have looked to them as if he was talking to himself.

of course we know differently don’t we gentle reader 🙂

I presume it was daniels fear that depleted his strength and made him feel weak.

like the way im sure most of us would react he didn’t know how to handle it when he was standing face to face with a spiritual being.

one indication we may have that the being daniel conversed with might have been God was the fact that the being did not correct him and tell him not to worship him when daniel was prostrate before him with his face laid flat on the ground.

I did not read the text carefully enough before to notice that there is more than one archangel.

it is interesting that words came flowing like a river out of daniels lips after the being touched him.

daniel felt unworthy of being chosen to communicate with a being higher than himself.

he was stressed because the things he was shown disturbed his spirit and caused him to be scared about the future.

just like the being said to daniel dear reader you are also precious in Gods sight.

it is a great mystery where exactly the being planned to fight against the spirit princes of Greece and Persia.

perhaps this is a battle that took place in heaven or somewhere on earth.

the spirit princes of Greece and Persia are demon spirits that claim authority and to some degree maintain a spiritual stranglehold over certain areas of the world.

they are sent by satan to bother the souls of every major city on earth.

what prevents them from being completely effective in their strategies is the fact that God has more angels on HIs team than the devil has on his so even if the devil wins a battle we know in the end he will not succeed in winning the ultimate war for our souls and control over the heavens and earth.

the book of truth is not the lambs book of life where all our names are written if we repent of our sins and believe in Jesus.

this book is a chronicle of all Gods wisdom that is so large all the trees ever grown in all the history of the earth would never supply enough paper to write it all down on.

it is interesting that Michael was the personal spirit prince of daniel.

or at any rate michaels job was to look after the welfare of Gods chosen people when they were on exile in iran.

it is interesting that this spirit being did not join Michael in his quest to preserve the purity of the souls of Gods chosen people in exile until the reign of king darius.

it is not clear whether Michael was already taking charge of the spiritual warfare of the Israelites in this location before this moment.

selah 🙂

daniel 9

it was the first year of the reign of darius the mede the son of ahasuerus who became king of the babylonians.

during the first year of his reign i daniel learned from reading the word of the Lord as revealed to jeremiah the prophet that jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.

so i turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and fasting .

i also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.

i prayed to the Lord my God and confessed O Lord you are a great and awesome God.

you always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands but we have sinned and done wrong.

we have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.

we have refused to listen to your servants the prophets who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.

Lord you are in the right but as you see our faces are covered with shame.

this is true of all of us including the people of judah and jerusalem and all israel scattered near and far wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you .

O Lord we and our kings princes and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you but the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving even though we have rebelled against HIm .

we have not obeyed the Lord our God for we have not followed the instructions He gave us through HIs servants the prophets.

all israel has disobeyed your instructions and turned away refusing to listen to your voice so now the solemn curses and judgments written in the law of moses the servant of God have been poured down on us because of our sin.

you have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned.

never has there been such a disaster as happened in jerusalem .

every curse written against us in the law of moses has come true yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing HIs truth .

therefore the Lord has brought upon us the disaster He prepared.

the Lord our God was right to do all these things for we did not obey HIm.

O Lord our God you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from egypt in a great display of power but we have sinned and are full of wickedness .

in view of all your faithful mercies Lord please turn your furious anger away from your city jerusalem your holy mountain .

all the neighboring nations mock jerusalem and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.

O our God hear your servants prayer.

listen as i plead.

for your own sake Lord smile again on your desolate sanctuary.

O my God lean down and listen to me .

open your eyes and see our despair.

see how your  city the city that bears your name lies in ruins.

we make this plea not because we deserve help but because of your mercy.

O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord listen and act.

for your own sake do not delay, O my God for your city and your people bear your name.

i went on praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people pleading with the Lord my God for jerusalem His holy mountain.

as i was praying gabriel whom i had seen in the early vision came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice.

he explained to me ” daniel i have  come here to give you insight and understanding.

the moment you began praying a command was given and now i am here to tell you what it was for you are very precious to God.

listen carefully so that you can understand the meaning of your vision.

a period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion to put an end to their sin to atone for their guilt to bring in everlasting righteousness to confirm the prophetic vision and to anoint the most holy place.

now listen and understand.

seven sets of seven plus sixty two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild jerusalem until a new ruler the anointed one comes.

jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses despite the perilous times.

after this period of sixty two sets of seven the anointed one will be killed appearing to have accomplished nothing and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the temple .

the end will come with a flood and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.

the ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven but after half this time he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings and as a climax to all his terrible deeds he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.

selah 🙂

you can imagine the shock of daniel when he heard the news that his beloved country was going to be emptied out of people and practically turned into a wasteland.

there are times in our lives when it is necessary to deprive ourselves of the comfort and strength given us by food and drink in order to draw closer to God.

often we have rebellious attitudes and think we can run our own lives without Gods help but thats when we get into trouble because we always need HIs help or else we are headed for certain disaster.

its interesting how daniel talks about himself in the third person referring to the prophecies that have taken place in the past, those that have come about because he and his male and female contemporaries allowed themselves to be used as vessels for God.

there is no accusation in daniels tone he is simply stating the bare faced facts that Gods people faced disciplinary actions cos they refused to listen to the warnings of the prophets who told them that unless they stopped worshipping demons they would lose their kingdoms and be carried off into exile.

it is because of their unwillingness to listen to good instruction or more precisely rehoboams stubborn reproachful attitude that caused them to be weakened by division in the first place.

we can learn a lesson from this to be careful not to let the enemy come in between us and our beloved fellow members of the family of God.

daniel is very conscious of the fact that there are consequences to our sinful actions .

our sins build a wall between us and God separating us from HIm.

they are like a current that pulls us away from HIs comforting arms.

daniel is using hyperbolic language when he talks about all israel sinning but it is possible that he too sinned in his heart. he may have eyed off one of the servant girls in the palace. at any rate even if he had the most pure and puritan soul he was doing something called identificational repentance. sometimes God calls us to stand in the gap for others and apologize on behalf of those who share our gender our musical preferences our culture our age group or our religious background and apologize for the way we have treated those who are different from us.

Gods mercy is not obtainable for us unless we beg HIm for forgiveness.

this seems simple enough logic yet for some people it seems to escape their brains capacity to comprehend it.

when daniel says God prepared disaster it doesnt mean it was part of HIs plan to cause disaster rather it was a plan He put in place a course of events that were intended to be set in motion if HIs people were disobedient to HIm purely for the purpose of using those trials and tribulations to draw them closer to HIs heart.

we do not see bad things happening in our lives as something we can easily accept.

we must learn to teach ourselves not to complain when we are obviously suffering the consequences of our sins. we must learn to humble our hearts and get right with God and take our punishment like a man or a fully grown woman. we must see the rightness of Gods punishment. we dont have to enjoy it but we have no right to protest as if we dont deserve it. we do deserve it. what we dont deserve is freedom from the consequences of sin beyond the grave.

we do not always see ourselves as full of wickedness but it is true that we are in a state of disrepair unless we are willing to be repaired by the miracle working power of Jesus to cleanse our souls and make us whole again.

Gods anger is not like our anger. His anger is always righteous anger. His anger is always justifiable. we must be aware of the target of HIs anger. it is not us per se but the devil who we have allowed to lure us into traps of evil and control us and destroy our futures if we are not careful to avoid his snares in future.

because Jesus has shed HIs blood for us on the cross we are under a new covenant and we no longer have to feel guilty and burdened down by the sins of our ancestors. there is no such thing as generational curses. every curse was broken when Jesus hung on that cross. all we need concern ourselves about is the sins we commit in the present moment and those sins we have committed in the past which are currently unaccounted for.

the people of israel were mocked by the world cos they were called by God to stand out from the world and be a people who worshipped one God who made all living things. in the same way God calls all of us who have been adopted into HIs family to be bold in sharing our faith and to be careful in our choices so they reflect HIs heart and nature instead of that of a condemned criminal who sees no need for repentance.

it is only with Christ that we are able to outwit the blight of our circumstances.

we are the desolate sanctuaries that Christ has smiled upon bestowing favour upon us with the shedding of HIs blood to forgive our sins and heal all our diseases.

our despair never goes unnoticed by God.

jerusalem means complete awe of God . the israelis call it Yireh Shalem. this means to be so deeply in touch with God that you are constantly amazed by Him. ( taken from chabad.org) 

what daniel means when he says that the people of God carry his name is precisely this- israel means God prevails so when they are speaking of their people the israelis can remind themselves that God is always able to prevail over terrible circumstances in their lives.

it must have been amazing for daniel to see the angel. he must have been filled with so much joy and delight. i would have jumped for joy if i was in his sandals. i would be dumbstruck by fear yet also perhaps be bubbling up to overflowing with an unexplainable love for God and a peaceful feeling and a feeling of gratitude that comes from knowing His presence is with me and He is always able to comfort me and i would feel like rejoicing cos i would know He had come through for me in my most desperate hour.

isnt it incredible to think that the second the words crying for help left daniels lips the angels were already listening to him and God was already sending them to him in order to offer assistance. wow what a God we serve. i love it when He responds to us instantaneously. of course sometimes He will test our patience but quite often He is known to deliver results instantly.

just as daniel was considered precious to God in the same way dear reader He delights in you . you are precious in His sight and if you dont know HIm already He wants to ignite a fire of passion in your heart for HIm.

we know the jews still have to repent of their sins en masse and turn back to the messiah as do plenty of us who identify as gentile or non jew/ goyim. therefore we can surmise from this text that considering the conditions of massive jewish revival which must take place before the coming of the anointed one this is not  just talking of the first coming of Christ as happened when He came into a virgins womb but the second coming when He returns to claim HIs children and take us home to heaven.

the romans destroyed jerusalem and its temple in ad 70 , 70 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. an evil roman king cooked pork and set up an idol inside the the temple. this was considered to be a huge insult to the jews as it should be to all of us who hold to the teachings of the christian faith.

we know that the red heifer is no longer sacrificed in the temple whose ruins lie near the dome of the rock currently legally occupied by muslims against Gods will.

there is a view that this passage of the bible contains double speak. it doesnt just talk of a ruler in the past but of a future ruler who will come to make peace with jerusalem before declaring war on the jews and then meeting with his  comeuppance thanks to the hands of God.

we know that all vile minded individuals who defile or blaspheme or mock the name of God and HIs chosen people will come to an untimely demise.

this should be a lesson to us to always treat God and HIs people with love and respect.

we know there have been many wars which have taken place since this chapter in daniels book of prophecy was written.

many people have tried to destroy the children of israel but they will never succeed in wiping them out entirely for God has promised to always preserve a remnant for them just as a lady in a temple lights candles for her departed relatives. there will always be a candle burning for israel. God will never snuff HIs people out until the time comes when He makes the heavens and the earth brand new again.

pray for the peace of jerusalem.

pray for the peace of your own souls.

seek Gods face with fear and trembling.

if you are hoping for a miracle dont go seeking one from false gods or occultic sources.

only the good Lord above the one true Elohim can help you out.

stay in love with HIm and blaze bright like a mighty forest fire for HIs kingdom ❤

shalom

 

daniel 8

during the third year of king belshazzars reign i daniel saw another vision following the one that had already appeared to me.

in this vision i was at the fortress of susa in the province of elam standing beside the ulai river.

as i looked up i saw a ram with two long horns standing beside the river.

one of the horns was longer than the other even though it had grown later than the other one.

the ram butted everything out of its way to the west to the north and to the south and noone could stand against him or help his victims.

he did as he pleased and became very great.

while i was watching suddenly a male goat appeared from the west crossing the land so swiftly that he didnt even touch the ground.

this goat which had one very large horn between its eyes headed toward the two horned ram that i had seen standing beside the river rushing at him in a rage.

the goat charged furiously at the ram and struck him breaking off both his horns.

now the ram was helpless and the goat knocked him down and trampled him.

noone could rescue the ram from the goat’s power.

the goat became very powerful but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off.

in the large horn’s place grew four prominent horns pointing in the four directions of the earth.

then from one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great .

it extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of israel.

its power reached to the heavens where it attacked the heavenly army throwing some of the heavenly beings and some of the stars to the ground and trampling them.

it even challenged the commander of heavens army by canceling the daily sacrifices offered to Him and by destroying HIs temple.

the army of heaven was restrained from responding to this rebellion so the daily sacrifice was halted and truth was overthrown.

the horn succeeded in everything it did .

then i heard two holy ones talking to each other.

one of them asked ” how long will the events of this vision last?

how long will the rebellion that causes desecration stop the daily sacrifices?

how long will the temple and heavens army be trampled on?”

the other replied ” it will take 2300 evenings and mornings then the temple will be made right again.”

as i daniel was trying to understand the meaning of this vision someone who looked like a man stood in front of me and i heard a human voice calling out from the ulai river ” gabriel tell this man the meaning of his vision”.

as gabriel approached the place where i was standing i became so terrified that i fell with my face to the ground.

” son of man” he said ” you must understand that the events you have seen in your vision relate to the time of the end”.

while he was speaking i fainted and lay there with my face to the ground but gabriel roused me with a touch and helped me to my feet.

then he said ” i am here to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath.

what you have seen pertains to the very end of time.

the two horned ram represents the king of media and persia .

the shaggy male goat represents the king of greece and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the greek empire.

the four prominent horns that replaced the one large horn show that the greek empire will break into four kingdoms  but none as great as the first .

at the end of their rule when their sin is at its height a fierce king a master of intrigue will rise to power.

he will become very strong but not by his own power.

he will  cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does.

he will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people.

he will be a master of deception and will become arrogant he will destroy many without warning.

he will even take on the prince of princes in battle but he will be broken though not by human power.

this vision about the 2 300 evenings and mornings is true but none of these things will happen for a long time so keep this vision a secret.”

then i daniel was overcome and lay sick for several days.

afterward i got up and performed my duties for the king but i was greatly troubled by the vision and could not understand it.

selah 🙂

you feel sorry for the way the goat is  treating the ram until you realize one is probably as likely to cause harm as the other cos they both represent empires.

it doesnt make sense that an earthly ruler would have the ability to partially decimate the armies of heaven .

perhaps the horn that engaged in this activity represents a spiritual being working in conjunction with a physical one.

we know this is always the case because everything that goes on in the physical realm affects what happens in the spiritual realm.

both realities overlap and intersect.

they are separate from one another yet never completely disconnected.

stars are representative of seraphim not the twinkling reflections of dead celestial bodies we see lighting up the sky at night.

we know that part of the prophecy mentioned in this chapter remains unfulfilled because the red heifers are yet to be sacrificed in the temple at jerusalem.

the place where the sacrifices are to be made is actually located a little bit away from the dome of the rock.

you  can understand daniel’s terrified reaction to seeing an angel.

most of us would be too petrified to speak.

the four kingdoms that the horns which grew out of the one large horn represent are macedonia, asia minor ( or modern day turkey) ( including thrace which is located east of macedonia and greece and extends towards what we understand in modern times as embodying the asian landscape) , syria and egypt.

the generals who split the authority of alexander the great and went their own way who went on to rule these areas in their own separate empires are antigonus, lysimachus , seleucus and ptolemy ( an ancestor of cleopatra).

antigonus was in charge of macedonia, lysimachus was in  charge of turkey seleucus was in charge of syria and ptolemy took the reins of egypt.

the fierce king who is a master of intrigue seems to me to be talking about the antichrist.

what makes me think this prophecy hasnt occurred yet is gabriel’s mention of this ruler as taking on the son of God Jesus Christ or the prince of peace in battle.

we know that everyone who fights against God inevitably loses as was the case with jacob when he was begging for a blessing and ended up getting a damaged body for his troubles.

the irony was God had already made a promise to him he just needed to stand firm on the word that was already given him.

his dad blessed him just before he died but he was blessed directly by God when he returned to bethel .

it is telling that this blessing occurred after a time of mourning when jacob’s mum rebecca buried her old nurse deborah.

it is easy to feel sorry for daniel seeing as he was afflicted with illness.

he faced a lot of difficulties in his life but God enabled him to overcome them all.

daniel 7

earlier during the 1st year of king Belshazzar’s reign in Babylon daniel had a dream and saw visions as he lay on his bed.

he wrote down the dream and this is what he saw .

in the vision that night I daniel saw a great storm churning the surface of a great sea with strong winds blowing from every direction then four beasts came up from the water each different from the others.

the first beast was like a lion with eagle’s wings.

as I watched its wings were pulled off and it was left standing with its 2 hind feet on the ground like a human being and it was given a human mind.

then I saw a second beast and it looked like a bear .

it was rearing up on one side and it had 3 ribs in its mouth between its teeth and I heard a voice saying to it ” get up devour the flesh of many people”.

then the 3rd of these strange beasts appeared and it looked like a leopard .

it had 4 birds wings on its back and it had 4 heads.

great authority was given to this beast.

then in my vision at night I saw a 4th beast terrifying dreadful and very strong.

it devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet.

it was different from any of the other beasts and it had 10 horns.

as I was looking at the horns suddenly another small horn appeared among them .

3 of the 1st horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it.

this little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly.

I watched as thrones were put in place and the ancient one sat down to judge.

His clothing was as white as snow His hair like purest wool.

He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire and a river of fire was pouring out flowing from His presence.

millions of angels ministered to HIm many millions stood to attend Him.

then the court began its session and the books were opened.

I continued to watch because I heard the little horn’s boastful speech .

I kept watching until the 4th beast was killed and its body was destroyed by fire .

the other 3 beasts had authority taken from them but they were allowed to live a while longer.

as my vision continued that night I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven .

He approached the ancient one and was led into His presence.

He was given authority honor and sovereignty over all the nations of the world so that people of every race and nation and language would obey Him.

His rule is eternal it will never end.

His kingdom will never be destroyed.

I daniel was troubled by all I had seen and my visions terrified me so I approached one of those standing beside the throne and asked him what it meant.

He explained it to me like this : these 4 huge beasts represent 4 kingdoms that will rise from the earth but in the end the holy people of the most high will be given the kingdom and they will rule forever and ever.

then I wanted to know the true meaning of the 4th beast the one so different from the others and so terrifying .

it had devoured and crushed its victims with iron teeth and bronze claws trampling their remains beneath its feet.

I also asked about the 10 horns on the 4th beast’s head and the little horn that came up afterwards and destroyed three of the other horns.

this horn had seemed greater than the others and it had human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly.

as I watched the horn was waging war against God’s holy people and was defeating them until the ancient one the most high came and judged in favour of His holy people .

then the time arrived for the holy people to take over the kingdom.

then he said to me this 4th beast is the 4th world power that will rule the earth.

it will be different from all the others.

it will devour the whole world trampling and crushing everything in its path.

its 10 horns are 10 kings who will rule that empire .

then another king will arise different from the other 10 who will subdue three of them

He will defy the most high and oppress the holy people of the most high.

He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws and they will be placed under his control for a tie times and half a time.

but then the court will pass judgment and all his power will be taken away and completely destroyed .

then the sovereignty power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of God , His kingdom will last forever and all rulers will serve and obey HIm .

that was the end of the vision.

I daniel was terrified of my thoughts and my face was pale with fear but I kept these things to myself.

selah 😉

hightimetoawake.com interprets the lion with eagles wings as the u s teaming up with the uk.

this website is run and contains the thoughts of craig c white

Gill’s Notes on the Bible
And, behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear,…. Another monarchy, and which succeeded the former, and rose up upon the ruins of it, the Medo-Persian monarchy; and so the Syriac version prefixes to this verse, by way of explanation,
“the kingdom of the Medes’
like to a bear, less generous and strong than the lion; more rough and uncivil, but equally cruel and voracious; which describes the Medes and Persians as a fierce and cruel people, and less polished, and more uncivilized, than the Chaldeans; and answers to the silver breasts and arms in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; see Isaiah 13:17,
and it raised up itself on one side; either of the lion, the first beast it destroyed; or rather on one side of itself, on the side of Persia; from whence Cyrus came, who was the principal instrument of raising this empire to the pitch it was brought unto. Some render it, “and it raised up one government”; one empire out of many nations and kingdoms it subdued:
and it had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it; that is, three ribs covered with flesh, which, it was devouring; the bear being very voracious, and a great flesh eater: these, according to some, signify three kings that followed Darius the Mede; Cyrus, Ahasuerus, and Darius; so Jarchi and Jacchiades; and, according to Jerom, three kingdoms, the Babylonian, Median, and Persian: but neither of these kings nor kingdoms can be said to be in its mouth, and between its teeth, as ground and devoured by it, unless the Babylonian; wherefore it is better interpreted by others, as Theodoret, the three parts of the world it conquered, westward, northward, and southward, Daniel 8:4, though it is best of all, with Sir Isaac Newton and Bishop Chandler, to understand by them Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt; which countries were ground and oppressed by the Medes and Persians, as the ribs of any creature are ground in the mouth of a bear:
and they said thus unto it, arise, devour much flesh; which Jerom refers to Haman’s orders to destroy the Jews in the times of Ahasuerus; but it is much better applied by others to Cyaxares or Darius sending for Cyrus to take upon him the command of his army; and to the Hyrcanians, Gobryas, and others, inviting him to avenge them on the Babylonians, promising to join and assist him, as Xenophon relates: or rather this is to be interpreted of the divine will, and of the conduct of Providence by means of angels stirring up the spirit of Cyrus, and of the Medes and Persians, to attack and subdue many nations, and particularly the Babylonians, and fill themselves with their wealth and substance; hence they are styled the Lord’s sanctified, whom he ordered and called to such service; see Isaiah 13:3.- sourced from studylight.org

according to amazingdiscoveries.org the leopard with bird wings is alexander the great or Greece.

according to focusonjerusalem.com the fourth beast is rome or Italy.

I love the descriptions in this passage of the power and majesty of God.

we see God being acknowledged as judge of the universe and HIs authority being affirmed by the angels submitting themselves to HIs supreme authority.

when daniel saw God the son being led to God the father was he being shown a vision of what was then the future and now is the past of that moment when Jesus ascended into heaven and appeared before the throne of HIs father self.

we were designed to worship God in spirit and truth but not all of us are living according to our original purpose.

perhaps the rulers of this world might be more careful to trust and obey Christ if they took a second to acknowledge where the responsibility to govern they had been given through election or military might ultimately derived its source from.

it is encouraging to think that if we belong to Jesus this world will one day belong to us.

as Jesus said in the sermon on the mount the meek or self controlled shall inherit the earth.

in my experience it is impossible to control yourself unless you have the love of Jesus burning in your heart.

God has promised to make us great if we remain loyal and obedient to HIm.

if we want to experience this greatness we have to be prepared to endure suffering so that His name may be glorified through our lives so that they will be used to advance His kingdom by leading to a vast outbreak of soul harvest.

 

daniel 6

darius the mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province.

the king also chose daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests.

daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers.

because of Daniel’s great ability the king made plans to place him over the entire empire then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way daniel was handling government affairs but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn.

he was faithful always responsible and completely trustworthy so they concluded ” our only chance of finding grounds for accusing daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion”.

so the administrators and high officers went to the king and said ” long live king darius.

we are all in agreement we administrators officials high officers advisers and governors that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced.

give orders that for the next 30 days any person who prays to anyone divine or human except to you your majesty will be thrown into the den of lions and now your majesty issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed an official law of the medes and Persians that cannot be revoked” so king darius signed the law.

but when daniel learned that the law had been signed he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room with its windows open towards Jerusalem.

he prayed 3 times a day just as he had always done giving thanks to his God then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help so they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law.

” did you not sign a law that for the next 30 days any person who prays to anyone divine or human except to you your majesty will be thrown into the den of lions? ”

”yes ” the king replied” that decision stands it is an official law of the medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”

then they told the king ” that man daniel one of the captives from Judah is ignoring you and your law.

he still prays to his God 3 times a day.”

hearing this the king was deeply troubled and he tried to think of a way to save daniel.

he spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get daniel out of this predicament.

in the evening the men went together to the king and said ” your majesty you know that according to the law of the medes and the Persians no law that the king signs can be changed.”

so at last the king gave orders for daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions.

the king said to him ” may your God whom you serve so faithfully rescue you”.

a stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den.

the king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles so that no one could rescue daniel then the king returned to his place and spent the night fasting .

he refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night.

very early the next morning the king got up and hurried out to the lion’s den.

when he got there he called out in anguish ” daniel servant of the living God was your God whom you serve so faithfully able to deliver you from the lions?”

daniel answered ” long live the king .

my God sent His angels to shut the lions mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in His sight and I have not wronged you your majesty.”

the king was overjoyed and ordered that daniel be lifted from the den .

not a scratch was found on him for he had trusted in his God.

then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused daniel.

he had them thrown into the lion’s den along with their wives and children.

the lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.

then king darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world ‘ peace and prosperity to you.

I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of daniel for He is the living God and He will endure forever .

His kingdom will never be destroyed and His rule will never end.

He rescues and saves His people .

He performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth .

He has rescued daniel from the power of the lions” so daniel prospered during the reign of darius and the reign of cyrus the Persian.

selah

we don’t know what protecting the king’s interests looked like but I can only assume that in taking care of the welfare of  the king daniel and co were making sure that the king’s subjects didn’t treat him with disrespect and that they obeyed the laws of the land including paying their taxes.

its possible that if daniel was asked to make sure the king’s subjects worshipped idols that he would have neglected his duties but I think darius respected his faith so he wouldn’t have put him in that position where he would have been forced to contradict his beliefs.

we can learn from the example of Daniel’s life to be faithful responsible and trustworthy.

our loyalty and devotion is demonstrated both in how we prove ourselves to be diligent guardians of each others secrets and how we are willing to defend our friends when their reputations are under threat of being destroyed.

this doesn’t mean you have to get into battle scenarios every time someone insults your friend but you definitely shouldn’t be someone who contradicts them in front of others and you should always be there to show support for them when they need someone to agree with them and back them up in affirming their good character.

Jesus said if we are faithful in the small things then He will reward us with the big things.

if we prove to others that we can handle light weight responsibilities it is possible that they might trust us with a duty that is considered to be more heavy.

there are some people in the world who believe in other religions including the religions of atheism and evolution who are quite happy for us to believe what we believe and don’t mind at all if we share our beliefs with them, then there are others who are happy for us to believe what we believe so long as we don’t try to convince them to change their beliefs and then again there is a third militant group who are determined to wipe out anyone who claims to represent any religion ( despite the fact that atheism and evolutionism are both religions) . this is their stance in principle but more specifically their general stated aim is to completely abolish Christianity cos the lie is no threat to anyone only the truth.

we know that king darius was friends with daniel.

he loved and admired him so much that he was determined to make him second in authority only to him.

we do not know how much pressure was being exerted on darius to make a snap decision regarding the legalisation of idol worship and the exclusive nature of it only including his own person.

he would have grown up worshipping demons posing as gods so he may not have been comfortable with the idea of having other people worship him.

we do not know how many hours it took darius to make the decision to sign into law the edict that he would be worshipped as a deity.

I am sure if he had thought it through he would have made the mental connection that his friend daniel could not possibly bow down and worship him as he would be committing an act of blasphemy and disregarding the beliefs he had been raised to cherish.

we know that he had the choice to say no to his advisors.

he was more powerful than them and they could only operate with his authority.

when we are faced with similar choices when we are placed in positions of power we should always be careful to exercise our duties with regard to the profession of faith we have made in Christ even if we have to make difficult unpopular decisions.

we should care less about offending people and trampling on their rights than we do about preserving the faith of our subjects or those in authority over us and making sure that they are governed with godliness as our steps are directed by our master and commander Jesus.

I love the fearlessness of daniel.

now he could have prayed in secret and still maintained an appearance of obedience to the king.

he could have joined in with the idol worshippers who put their souls in bondage to demons and saved his bacon but not only did he choose to pray he chose to do it in a part of his house that was visible to those walking past his window.

this is how we should be.

we should make no secret of our love for Jesus. we should be bold and courageous in expressing it.

I am sure you know daniel prayed facing Jerusalem cos that is where the temple of God could be found.

we should love Jesus so much that we can’t possibly live with ourselves if we do anything to disrespect our relationship with HIm.

just as a bride is eager to please her groom we should strive to cultivate holiness within ourselves.

it is interesting that the jealous administrators and officials chose to remind darius of the law he had made.

of course he knew the laws he had made he wasn’t stupid.

he didn’t need them to jog his memory.

they were intentionally bringing the law he had made to his mind for the purpose of bringing down daniel and setting in motion his destruction.

the medes and Persians had a major flaw in the way they set up their laws so they couldn’t be changed.

they could have just done what America did with the prohibition laws and just ignored it and chose not to enforce it.

darius was the king he wasn’t bound by the law he was above the law.

he was the only one in the land who was above the law.

only those who make the law have the permission to break it.

or is the law maker bound by the law not to break it?

we know that God gave us the ten commandments which are the foundation of the laws of the western world.

God is not bound by the laws of physics and He wouldn’t disobey HIs own law.

He tells us not to be jealous but He is called a jealous God.

its ok for HIm to be jealous cos He knows that in loving any other being apart from HIm we are risking our souls burning in hell.

HIs jealousy is more like zealousness or passionate zeal for us to be connected to HIs heart.

darius could have rescued daniel any time yet he chose to kowtow to the advice of his subjects rather than to listen to his conscience and display fidelity towards his good friend daniel.

he could have sent daniel down into the den with a sword so at least he would have had something to defend himself against the fierce lions.

the officials were really harassing darius.

they wouldn’t respect his wishes and give him as much time as he needed to think about it.

he was the king he should have just told them to get off his back and go play the zither.

darius recognised Daniel’s faithfulness to God.

I believe this demonstration of affection for Jehovah touched his pagan heart.

He recognized the divine authority of God but at this point had not decided to cross over the lake of doubt into decisionville.

at this point He did not know that God could rescue daniel but he knew that if Daniel’s God was a God there was at least a very large possibility that He was capable of delivering him from certain death.

heres the crux though- even if God had not delivered daniel He would still be and is still God.

we must not let our faith or willingness to follow God be dictated to by circumstances.

even at the final moment of sealing the rock over the den darius was faced with the choice of liberating daniel or leaving him to suffer.

although insomnia and lack of hunger or desire for food is not evidence of a guilty conscience it certainly was in darius’s case.

it seems kind of thick headed that darius pulled an ed sheeran and started thinking out loud the next morning asking darius if God had liberated him from the lions.

obviously a dead man would not be able to respond.

perhaps on some subconscious level while asking daniel if he was alive darius knew that God had delivered him or perhaps he was driven crazy by tiredness and grief .

we all tend to act a little psycho before our first coffee of the day. 🙂

it wasn’t strictly true what daniel said that he was totally sinless which is what being innocent in Gods sight means cos all of us are capable of sinning we are all wrestling with a little or big something that is bothering us and attempting to keep us from having a relationship with Jesus but it is true that God looked at Daniel’s life and He saw that daniel was wrestling with HIs faith that He was daily attempting to put to death the desires of the flesh and nurturing the desires of the HOly Spirit.

the angels who shut the lions mouths wouldn’t have been afraid cos they knew the power of God was flowing through them and He was protecting them from harm just as they were keeping daniels toes from getting chomped by hungry feline teeth.

it is also not true that daniel didn’t wrong his majesty the king cos he clearly defied orders but in a sense that daniel did not disobey God he had not done anything to cause his earthly master to stumble spiritually.

perhaps by affirming his innocence daniel was desiring to prick the conscience of his king.

perhaps there was no intent behind it and he was just categorically stating the facts that praying to his ( the one true) God never should have been an issue that came between friends.

perhaps just as incredible as the fact daniel didn’t die is the miracle that happened when God prevented the lions from even laying a single claw on him.

this means the angels would have had to instantly create a bubble like forcefield around daniel so the lions couldn’t touch him.

I think it was unnecessary and cruel of darius to condemn the wives and children of the jealous officials to death as well as their evil minded husbands.

it wasn’t their fault they married idiots or had duds for dads.

this example from history shows us how our actions affect our spouses or partners and children or those we are placed in guardianship over by the law of the land or by circumstances beyond our control .

some think they can have prosperity without peace but in truth unless we have peace and Jehovah Shalom living in our hearts there will always be a war raging on within us that shall never cease .

despite darius’s best intentions you cannot force someone to believe in the one true God.

they have to come willingly or they won’t truly come at all.

they may give mental ascent to believing in Jesus while secretly continuing in their rebellious ways.

popularizing faith and commanding that it becomes the state or empirical religion has the effect of people associating religion with just following the crowd and just going to church or the temple cos they are afraid they will be killed if they don’t which is a very real fact for those who live in the muslim world and in some hindu and Buddhist areas.

true faith is found in the personal commitments we make to follow Christ not in just towing the line and doing what is popular.

it is true what darius said that Elohim is living and will never die.

it is impossible to kill HIm despite what the foolish Nietzsche said tellingly using the character of a man who had lost his mind.

God is always king of the universe regardless of how much permission He gives satan to temporarily run riot.

believe you me the devils chickens are coming home to roost.

although darius was undeniably talking about the jews when he talked about God saving HIs people we are the people of God if we repent of our sins and accept Jesus in our hearts so that promise also applies to us.

its true that since the beginning of the world until its completion God never has and never will cease working miracles.

Daniel’s enemies thought the lions would get the better of him but they could never get the better of the God in him who roars like a lion over our troublesome circumstances .

God placed daniel in a position of authority during the reigns of nebuchadnezzar, darius, cyrus and Belshazzar.

we can learn from the example of his life to always be obedient to God even when we are afraid it might cost us our life or cause us to lose our social standing or position of power.

daniel knew that it was not his skills that had gained his position of authority but only the favour of God.

such a situation is also perpetually our own.