Esther 6 - A big surprise

Haman was about to receive something of a shock, and once again we see God working through the smallest details. The king could not sleep, so he had two books of chronicles of the kingdom brought in to read. Perhaps he thought this would help him to sleep! Now remember that back at the beginning of the book when Mordecai had reported a plot to assassinate the king it had been recorded in the chronicles. So Xerxes came upon the incident and he asked if Mordecai had ever been honoured for this action. Nothing had been done.

Now note this. Mordecai had done good, but for a time it seemed as if he he had received no reward. Yet a reward would come, and it would come at such a time as to save the whole Jewish people. We should always seek to do the right thing. Many times it can seem pointless, or we can feel so fed up and adopt a grumpy attitude, giving up on doing good. As Paul says in Galatians, we should never tire of doing good. God is always watching and knows exactly what He is doing.

The king speaks to Haman and asks him for his advice on how to honour someone, Haman thinks it he himself who will be honoured. So he thinks up a grand reward, then discovers to his horror that it is Mordecai who will receive the honour.

God is in control of all things.

Esther 5 - Haman the proud

Esther duly sought to see the king and the king acted favourably towards her. Now notice that she had no way of knowing how the king would react. When God leads us to do something there will be all sorts of things that "could go wrong", but God will have taken care of various things, and there is no way we can know that He has until we take the steps of faith.

Esther approaches the issue in a roundabout way. The direct approach is not always the best. So she plans to hold a banquet for Haman and the king. In fact she goes about it in a very indirect way. At the first banquet she invites them to come to a second banquet. Note that she does this only after they have drunk some wine, and she is seeking to intrigue them into coming.

Haman thought everything was going well. He was still incensed at Mordecai. Haman was full of himself and was boasting to his family of the favour he had been shown. His family encouraged him in this, and to take steps to deal with Mordecai. The enemy will often be full of pride and boast of his plans to do us harm. We should not fear and should not listen, it is God who determines the outcome.

Esther 4 - For such a time as this

We are not told why Mordecai thought Esther should enter the "beauty contest" in chapter 2, maybe it was just because she was beautiful and it seemed like a good idea at the time. However, the things that happen to us can sometimes be of far greater significance than we ever imagine and work out in ways we never dreamt of. In preparing for the future we like to plan and we like to know exactly what is going to happen. We like to be in control. Now it is good to look ahead and it is wise to plan, Proverbs and Jesus tell us so, but we can never know everything, never anticipate everything, never plan for every eventuality. We are not in total control. The answer is to trust God. Faith in the Lord is our security for the future.

Mordecai was deeply troubled, to say the least, about the edict, as were all the Jews. Esther heard about Mordecai's distress, but evidently did not know about the edict to kill all the Jews. Mordecai sent Esther a copy of the edict and instructed her to go to see the king to plead for mercy.

This was a very dangerous thing to so, one could not just go and see the king when one pleased, even if you were the queen. 

Mordecai has no time for this excuse. Remember that in Chapter 2 we are told that no one knew Esther was a Jew, so maybe she thought she would be safe. We might think Mordecai is being a little harsh on Esther's motives, but when we encounter deadly serious situations all sorts of things go through our minds. Mordecai believed that salvation would come to the Jews one way or another, and tells Esther that she would not escape. Also Esther would still suffer. 

When things are really difficult we need to realise that there is no easy way out. If we seek an easy way out we may find that we just run in to more trouble.

More positively, Mordecai says that maybe God had placed her in such a position for such a time as this. God controls all sorts of aspects of our lives. Now see how this works, for people get all het up about pre-destination. God had planned things, yet Esther's decision to enter the beauty contest mattered, all the preparation mattered. And now the decision that she was about to make mattered. God's decree and sovereignty does not mean that our lives do not matter, rather it gives real purpose and significance to our lives.

So Esther agrees to do as Mordecai said and asks all the people to fast and pray. This is about the nearest we get to religious content in Esther!

Esther 3 - Destruction of the Jews?

It is now four years since Esther became queen. As has been noted before, remember there were no chapter and verses in the original text, so chapter 3 flows immediately after the end of chapter 2, there is no division. So Haman's rise is contrasted with what happened to Mordecai. Mordecai had saved the king's life, but we received no immediate reward. Haman is not recorded as having done anything much. 

Haman was probably an Amalekite. They were enemies of Israel, which is the reason why Mordecai refused to bow down to him. Haman was enraged at this and decided to take out his anger on all the Jewish people, not just Mordecai. This presents us with a common dilemma. Mordecai's refusal to bow can be fully justified in isolation, but was it worth risking the lives of all Jews in the area? In our society we would probably say no, yet Mordecai is not criticised at all in the Bible, and God did rescue His people. So the lesson could be said to be that even in these situations we should choose to do the right thing, even if doing so seems to endanger many "innocent" people.

Haman then went to the king and incited him against the Jews. He turned what was a personal slight against Haman himself into a more general refusal to obey the king, which it was not. So Haman was given permission to do as he wished against the Jews. See the arbitrariness of all this and the way that kings act. We think our governments are so much more sophisticated and expect them to act is logical and reasonable ways. Often they will not, but this will not stop God's plans.

So an edict was sent out setting a date for the destruction of all the Jews. There is a long history of laws being issued against the Jews.

Esther 2 - A beauty contest

Having dispatched Vashti a new queen was needed, so a beauty contest was to be held. In fact it seems like this was a forerunner of the X-Factor. The potential winners would be looked after and given various beauty treatments, then the winner would be chosen.

Esther was one of the Jews who had been taken into exile and she had lost both her parents. So she was looked after by her cousin Mordecai.

Hegai, the chief Eunuch gave special treatment to Esther. The preparation time was twelve months, with various beauty treatments being applied. 

Esther won the contest and was the king's favourite. Esther was to be queen for about six years. It is not clear what happened after that, she may have died or fallen from favour, but during that period she was to fulfil a vital function.

Then we get another incident that was to prove vital. Mordecai became aware of a plot to kill the king. Since Esther was now queen he was able to inform the king through Esther, and this was noted in the official records.

So we see the unusual ways in which God works. 

Esther 1 - A right royal row

Why did God put this book in the Bible when He doesn't get so much as a mention? The fact that God isn't mentioned, and that neither is prayer nor worship has led some to dismiss the book as being of little value. Such an approach is garbage. This book is a reminder that God does not always act in a "religious" way in our lives. He guides us in many ways. He speaks to us through His word. We know we should love, we should worship, we should pray, we should witness, we should give, we should forgive, and so on. And if we do these things we will find that we are in the will of God. Occasionally God will speak to us directly, be it through the inner witness of the Spirit, a word of prophecy, a vision or whatever. But at other times things will just seem pretty random, there will be no clear indication that God is in the midst of it all, and yet He is there achieving His purposes, sometimes through you and me. Esther is such an occasion.

The king was holding a prolonged celebration, largely of his own wealth and greatness. Then he had a row with his queen. This angered the king and Vashti banished from his presence. Moreover an edict was sent around the kingdom that a man should ruler over his own household.

So this is how things began to unfold. God works in mysterious ways!

Esther - Introduction

Two  OT books to go! Esther is unique in that it is the only book in the Bible that does not explicitly mention God!

The book gives unique insights into the Persian empire, and is sent the period 483 to 473 BC. As mentioned in comments on Nehemiah, Ezra and Zechariah, most Jews had not actually returned home to Israel, despite the words in Isaiah and Jeremiah.

As well as God not being mentioned, the book of Esther is not quoted in the New Testament either. Nor have any copies been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Moreover, there is no reference to practices of the Law, though I guess it would have been difficult for them to follow Jewish practices in Persia.

In the book we see God protecting His people. So this is despite their disobedience, and is not done through "spiritual giants". Quiet trust and quiet decisions to do God's will are often far more powerful and effective than elaborate shows.

Then there is the question of why the book was written. It was probably written in Israel based on reports of what had happened, or by someone who was actually an eye-witness. The purpose may have been to encourage the people in Israel that God was still working among their fellow Jews in far off lands.

Daniel 11:36-12:13 - Remain true to God

The final anti-Christ will exalt himself and exhibit great pride, exalting himself over all other gods, and blaspheming God Himself in an unheard of way. Later we shall see that Revelation has the same theme.

He will seem to be successful for a time, but only until the appointed time of wrath. Yet even in his pride he will worship "a god of fortresses". All rebellions against God end up in worshipping something else.

He will seem to be very successful, and will reward many people, those who submit to him.

In the midst of this Michael will arise and defend the people of God. But this will happen in a time of great distress. We need to appreciate the nature of the battle. Victory is assured, but it is not a simple victory without suffering.

In 12:2 we get prophecy of the resurrection. This applies to all, some will rise to eternal life, others to eternal shame.

Daniel did not fully understand the vision. The overriding message is to remain true to God at all times and in all circumstances. This is the truly wise course of action to take. It is God's will that will prevail.

Daniel 11:10-35 - Intrigue and purification

The leader of the kingdom of the North referred to here is Antiochus Epiphanes. He conquered much of the land and nearly wiped out Egypt. The battle referred to in v11,12 was at Raphai in 217 BC. According to Polybius Antiochus lost around 10 000 men.

The rebellion in v14 is the Macabean rebellion. Some of them sided with the invader against the Egyptians.

Eventually the king of the North would prove too powerful and would set himself up in"the beautiful land", which is Judah. The North would then make alliance with the South. However, the intrigues of men will not succeed. There would be other conquests after this, but eventual failure.

There will be further battles and conquests. As Jesus said, there will be wars and rumours of wars. We see all sorts of intrigues, plotting and scheming, and boasting. We should not be taken in, the Lord is still in control.

Eventually a king from the north would invade the temple and impose worship of a false god, the abomination that causes desolation (v31).

Many will be seduced by this, but the true people of God will resist. 

See what it says in v33. Those who know their God will instruct many, but there will also be much persecution and suffering. This would act as a purifying for the people of God,

Daniel 11:1-9 - Lord of history

This chapter gives the most detailed of prophecies. It has historical fulfilment largely in the second century BC, but also prefigures the time of the end. There are many who say this must have been written in the second century BC, but such people don't believe in the possibility of predictive prophecy and if this was the second century book then much of it is little more than a charade. I will assume it was written by Daniel at the time it claims to be written.

Verse 2 refers to several kings who were to come in the Persian kingdom. Three then four is common Jewish idiom and does not necessarily indicate a precise number. Eventually the kingdom would attack Greece.

The mighty king who would do as he pleases is Alexander the Great. However, his empire was soon broken up and not inherited by his sons.

The king of the south is Egypt. There will be intrigue and arranged marriages,

We may wonder what is the point of all this? Why do we need to know? God's word is set in historical context, it contains real events. Things happen in our own lifetime, national and international events over which we seem to have little control. We wonder what, if anything, God is doing. These chapters show us that God is the Lord of history. He is the Lord of what is happening in our own nations.

However, later verses will show most clearly that this does not mean there is nice "God intervened and everything was OK" scenario. The road ahead is much rockier than that.

Daniel 10:13-20 - Territorial spirits?

The angel had been resisted by the Prince of Persia. Now who or what is the Prince of Persia and what does this tell us? The prince of Persia is a demonic spirit exercising some influence over Persia. Now there is a lot of stuff around about "territorial spirits", how does all this fit in? Well it does tell us that we cannot just dismiss the concept of territorial spirits out of hand. We see here a glimpse into the spiritual battle that is going on. However, we need to take account of the whole of Scripture and what Scripture consistently teaches us. 

The Bible does not to tell us to engage in warfare against territorial spirits. We do engage in spiritual warfare, and there is a battle going on in the heavenly realms, but we do so by following clear Biblical commands. In the Old Testament the people are told to "act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God" (Mic 6:8), this is the repeated and consistent message of the Old Testament. In the New Testament we are told to continue to do this, and we are also to proclaim the gospel, live the gospel, and make disciples of all nations.

So is this territorial spirit stuff just a distraction or an irrelevancy? No. We are given occasional glimpses into the heavenly realms, into the greater battle that we are a part of. Ephesians is the New Testament book that speaks most of this. We need to know that we are part of a greater battle, and that the forces of heaven are on our side, but we are not to get distracted from the clear commands that the Lord has given to us.

Daniel 10:12 - How to gain understanding

Verse 12 is crucial and has much wider application than just the book of Daniel. "Since you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before God". There are many who want knowledge or understanding, but few who humble themselves before God. As it says in Proverbs the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When we seek knowledge without humbling ourselves we inevitably become fools, pride will take over at some point, we make knowledge an idol. Evolution is a case in point. Now let me make my position clear. I believe God actively created all things, I think it took billions of years, and I am perfectly happy to accept that we can find a process, or processes that will describe an awful lot of it, perhaps even all of it (in physical terms). I am quite happy to accept that evolution played a role, possibly more than micro-evolution. However, it seems from all the evidence that there is no way evolution can possibly explain all the development of life in all its variety. 

Now consider how some evolutionists react when evolution theory is challenged. They have made an idol out of evolution, and so their thinking becomes futile. Now I am not applying this to all evolutionary scientists, it more to the Dawkins types. Many are just seeking to good science. But if we do not humble ourselves before God we make an idol out of things and end up as fools.

So if we want to gain understanding humbling ourselves is essential.

Daniel 10:1-11 - Preparing to receive the vision

These final chapters represent the longest and most detailed vision given to Daniel. Time wise the vision represents three things. Historically it speaks about the Persian and the Greek empires. Then it describes the general rule of evil in the world, and finally it describes the anti-Christ, the culmination of evil in the world. Part of the difficulty in interpreting Daniel lies in deciding where the boundaries between these three applications lie, and where they overlap. These visions were given to Daniel almost seventy years after he had arrived in Babylon. At this point the first exiles had returned to Jerusalem. Given that Daniel must have been close to ninety it is understandable that he had stayed behind, the journey would have been too much for him.

In v1 NIV stays the word was about a great war, it can also be translated as "it was a great conflict" (ESV) indicating that understanding the word was difficult.

Daniel was exercising spiritual discipline. It those who are disciplined in following Christ who receive true revelation and understanding.

Daniel was by the river and saw a vision of an angelic man. His companions did not see the vision, they were only aware of something awesome and fled with terror.

Daniel too was deeply affected by the situation, but the angel spoke to him, saying again that he is highly esteemed.

Daniel 9:20-27 - Promise and trouble

Daniel was speaking, praying and confessing both his own sin and that of the nation. Only when we acknowledge our own sin do we have the right to confess that of the nation and pray effectively for the nation. Daniel was also praying for "His holy hill", presumably Mount Zion. While he was doing this the angel Gabriel came. The angel had been sent to give Daniel insight. As soon as Daniel had started to pray God had started to answer. He also tells Daniel that he is highly esteemed. Now the concept of being "highly esteemed" doesn't sit well with us because we are afraid of pride, and rightly so. For there have been many who have fallen through pride and it is a pernicious sin. But we need to recognise that God may actually think highly of us. Note that Daniel had confessed his sins. It is only people who humble themselves before God who can possibly be highly esteemed by Him.

We then get lots of talk of sevens and seventy sevens. There are numerous interpretations of all this, debate largely centering around how literal we are to take these time periods.

Verse 24 involves an awful lot! Sin is to be finished with, wickedness atoned for, everlasting righteousness brought in, seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Some of this, especially the atoning of sin, was accomplished on the cross. There is repentance of sin now, the work of transformation has begun, but will only be completed on the return of Christ. Sealing could mean sealing in the sense of closing it, but could also mean authenticating it. This verse probably applies to the whole of history.

Then we read that the rebuilding will be in a time of trouble, lasting sixty nine sevens. The NIV (9:26) says the anointed one shall be put to death. The text doesn't actually say this, rather the ESV says the anointed one shall be cut off. The meaning is unclear.

The final verses seem to talk of the anti-Christ. Whatever the details, it is clear that the end is associated with tough times.

Daniel 9:1-20 - Daniel's Prayer

We are now in the first year of Darius the Mede and we get Daniel's prayer here. Note first that it was motivated by an understanding of the Scriptures, in particular Jeremiah. The word given to Jeremiah indicated that the exile would last for seventy years. See that Jeremiah was regarded as the word of God. See also that God has said something will happen, what is Daniel's reaction? It is not fatalistic, rather the word of God, the decree of God, motivates him to action. In this case it is to repent and pray on behalf of the nation. Similarly any "understanding" of pre-destination that leads to fatalism or passivity is deeply flawed and unBiblical "understanding", in fact it is a deep mis-understanding.

Daniel starts by acknowledging the greatness of God and the sinfulness of the nation. The particular sins were to turn away from God's commands and Laws, and to ignore the prophets who spoke in God's name. The books of Kings and Chronicles, and the prophets themselves clearly outline these failings.

Daniel then declares God's righteousness and reminds God that the people are now covered in shame. Daniel also knows that this is a result of sin. 

So the judgements that were written in the Law came upon the nation. Daniel knows that God's judgement was totally just, and that even then the people failed to repent.

Daniel then calls on God to show mercy, and to do this for His own sake. God's name was (and is) inextricably linked with Israel. 

So there are two strands to Daniel's appeal. The mercy of God and the glory of His name.

Daniel 8:15-27 - Vision explained

An angel is then sent to Daniel to interpret the dream. Note that the angel looked like a man. It is only in Daniel in the Old Testament that angels have names. 

Gabriel tells him that the vision concerns the "time of the end". Now this does not necessarily mean it concerns only the very end of times. It could refer to the question asked in verse 13. I would take it have both this latter meaning, ie concerning the events in history that were about to be outlined, and prefiguring the sorts of things that will happen at the very end.

We are then told explicitly that the ram represents Medo-Persia and the goat represents Greece. Then the four horns represent the development of the Greek kingdom with less power.

Finally there will be an increase in evil and one will come who is a master of intrigue but also incredibly evil. He will have demonic power behind him. His kingdom will be built on lies and pride. He will be defeated, but not by human power. This is the picture of things given in the New Testament of an increase in evil.

Verse 26 tells Daniel that the vision concerns far off events.

Daniel was appalled at the vision. 

Daniel 8:1-14 - Kingdoms attacking God's people

This vision was received in the third year of Belshazzar's reign. When we read of people receiving dreams, visions and prophecies in the Bible we need to realise that they did not come continuously. They did happen but were relatively rare events. Susa was the capital of Elam, and was a fortified city. The Ulai Canal was a major waterway. 

The ram represents the Medo-Persian empire. As we saw earlier, the empire was not two equal partners, and the longer horn represents Persia being the dominant partner. The ram charged here and there and no one could withstand it. This represents the dominant role of the empire and its conquering power.

However, no human kingdom lasts forever, no matter how powerful it seems. So the ram was utterly defeated by a goat. The goat represents Alexander the Great and it was the Greek empire that crushed the Medo-Persian one.

When Alexander the Great died he was replaced by four rulers. When a dominant figure dies there is usually a power vacuum of some sort, resentments that had been contained are released and things are never quite the same.

Out of one of the four came a powerful ruler. He started off as insignificant but grew mighty. Historically this may be Antiochus IV Epiphanes (or so my study Bible tells me). The key thing is that he waged war against God's people. Understanding the details of all these visions is difficult, but a key theme, and one repeated in Revelation, is that powerful kingdoms will rise that for a time will wage war against God's people. 

There may also be references to AD66-70 as well.

The use of the term 2300 mornings and evenings represents the number of sacrifices that would be missed, so is 1150 days, or about three and a half years.

Daniel 7:23-28 - The fall of the fourth beast

This fourth beast is kingdom that is different from the others, much more pervasive in its power. Now the partial fulfilment of this was the Roman Empire, an empire that covered more territory and lasted for longer than previous kingdoms. If we take the view that this is looking forward to a greater fulfilment then it is the kingdom of the beast or anti-Christ. This kingdom itself will spawn ten others and a final anti-Christ. There will then be war on God's people, this includes the church. There are those who believe that believers will be raptured before the great tribulation, I believe such a view is deluded. 

The clear teaching of Scripture is to warn about a time of great persecution. 

Salvation will come through judgement. The court of God will sit and pronounce eternal judgement on the anti-Christ. His power will be taken away forever. Then the kingdoms will be given to God's people. But note that in v27 it immediately switches to turning "His kingdom". The "Most Holy People" will be living lives of complete obedience to the Father, just as Jesus did. 

Not surprisingly Daniel was greatly troubled by all this.

Daniel 7:19-22 - The importance of judgement

The fourth beast was different from all the others, being even more ferocious and merciless. The imagery of the ten horns is used in Revelation as well (Rev 17:12).

The other horn waged war against the holy people and was defeating them. So we see that we will receive the kingdom, but also that the enemy will wage war against us first and it will seem that we are being defeated. Salvation came when the Ancient of Days pronounced judgement in favour of the holy people. Then they possessed the kingdom.

All of us need to pay close attention to this, and to examine our theology in the light of it. There are many who don't like the idea of judgement, of God judging. Well, the fact is that if God doesn't judge we are all dead! We are actually saved by judgement. We are saved because on the cross the Son took upon Himself the judgement that should have been ours, and because He will pronounce judgement in our favour at the end.

Then there are those with a triumphalist view. If you hold this view you are going to be in for a rude awakening because the consistent testimony of Scripture is that it doesn't happen that way.

Victory is assured, a great prize is assured, but the road there is not easy.

Daniel 7:15-18 - We will receive a kingdom!

Daniel was deeply troubled by the dreams and did not fully understand them. Remember that God had given Daniel the gift of interpreting dreams, as he had done so for Nebuchadnezzar. Now he had received a dream and could not understand it. So he approached "one of those standing there" (v16). Zechariah too asked an angel to explain the visions he saw.

The four beasts represent four kings. These kings will rise for a time and have a degree of power for a time. They will seem to be dominant. As seen earlier, these four beasts can be identified with various kingdoms of the time, but I think they are also generally representative of human kingdoms, and finally the openly demonic kingdom. When we look around us, whatever period of history we are in, we see various kingdoms rising and falling, all claiming to be powerful in their own way.

In v14 we read that the Messiah's kingdom is everlasting. Now here we read that this everlasting kingdom will be given to God's Holy people, and we will possess it for ever and ever. Just contemplate that for a moment, what an amazing promise it is.

We will receive the kingdom. Now this has always been God's plan. In Genesis 1 we read that God told man to have dominion over the earth (Gen 1:28). In Luke 12:32 Jesus says "do not be afraid little flock, for the Father has been pleased to give the kingdom to you". Now who is it given to? The "most holy people", a people dedicated to the Lord.

We need to realise the enormity of God's plans for us!

Daniel 7:8-14 - the Son of Man

The little horn that speaks boastfully is like the antichrist (Rev 13;5,6). So we see human kingdoms taking power for a time then being deposed, and behind it all is demonic power. Then demonic power will act openly, proclaiming its own greatness. 
Then, v9 onwards, we see something else that is happening, we see what is happening in the heavenly realms. The Ancient of Days, ie the Lord, takes His place. Fire flows from His throne, and there are many who serve Him. 
The boastful one was slain and thrown into the fire. Note the vision of hell. 
Next (v13) we get the Son of Man, a term favoured by Jesus when speaking of Himself. He came with the clouds of heaven. This is a reference to the second coming. Satan seeks to have power over all the world, but it is only Christ who actually has power. And only Christ will be worshipped by all peoples (Phil 2:10).
Christ's is the only kingdom that will last forever.

Daniel 7:1-7 - Four Beasts

Now we get to the easy bit of Daniel :-), the visions. If you look through this you will see that there are similarities to the sort of stuff we encounter in Revelation.

Note that the first vision was received in the "first year of Belshazzar", ie before the writing on the wall incident. Daniel received these at night and wrote down what he had seen. 

The great sea (v2) represents the nations, the world. The four beasts that came out of the sea are four dynasties that came out of the world. 

The first one represents Babylon, then in verse 4 we get the humbling of Babylon. Now remember that this is what happened to Nebuchadnezzar (chapter 4). The narrative and vision parts of Daniel fit together. 

The second beast is the Medo-Persian empire. The part being raised up (v5) signifies the dominant role played by Persia. The three ribs might represent Lydia, Babylon and Egypt, its three main conquests. 

The third beast was like a leopard. This represents Alexandra the Great and his speedy conquests. After his death the kingdom split into four parts. 

The final beast is the Roman Empire. This one was different. The scale of its empire was greater, also it is used to signify the world in Revelation.

Daniel 6 - Sleeping with lions

Darius assumed power over Babylon and he appointed 120 satraps to administer the city, he put these under the control of Daniel. We see two things here. By his integrity and competency Daniel earned favour and the confidence of leaders. At the same time he also earned the jealousy of others. We need to face up to this reality. By following Christ we will earn both the favour and the opposition of men. 

The satraps who were jealous of Daniel tried to find ways to bring him down. The looked for moral failings in him but could find none. We may be accused of all sorts of things, we need to do our best to ensure the accusations are false accusations. So the only way they could find was to use his religion.

We are prone to the same today now that our secular society is anti-God. The area of teaching on homosexuality is the one which is most commonly used, though not the only one.

So they spoke to the king and got him to issue a decree that no one was allowed to worship any god other than the king himself. Note that rulers accepted worship from people. The king did not realise that this was a way of attacking Daniel and his pride led him to issue the decree. People in authority will from time to time do foolish things. This does not mean that God's plans will be disrupted, nor that He cannot protect us.

Daniel reacted by continuing to worship the Lord in the way he always had. We need to follow this example as well. The conspirators then used this to get the king to apply the penalty to Daniel. They made sure that the king could not get out of doing this.

The king was not pleased about this but felt he could do nothing about. So Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, but he also hoped that Daniel's God would save him.

In the morning the king went hoping Daniel was alive. Naturally this was a ridiculous thing to hope, but God had indeed saved Daniel. He had sent an angel to bind the mouths of the lions. This had happened because Daniel had trusted the Lord. We need to trust the Lord, and He will at times send miraculous intervention.

Daniel's accusers suffered a terrible fate, and the king issued a declaration praising the Lord. We need to see how the Lord works in all sorts of situations and overcomes all the scheming of men.

Daniel 6 - Living with trouble

Daniel's life was not one smooth journey but more of a roller coaster. We have this myth sometimes that if only we had enough faith or trusted God enough then life would be straightforward. This is not true, if you look at the heroes in the Bible, Old and New Testament, none of them had a smooth ride. David's life was one immersed in conflict, sometimes because of his own sins, and mostly because of the sins of others. Daniel was just a man. so no doubt had his collection of sins, but in Daniel he is portrayed in a universally positive light. Even so, his life involved its fair share of challenges to say the least. Here we see the most famous one, Daniel in the lion's den. 

In life we often think (at least if you are anything like me, which is a perhaps an unjustified assumption) God please protect us from this trouble or that trouble. we hope that this doesn't happen, or that doesn't happen. In a particular crisis this might be OK, but as a general approach to life it is not good. If we get free from one source of trouble we can be pretty sure that before long something else will crop up. The right approach is to know and trust our Lord. To know that He is the creator and sustainer of all things, the Lord of all. If God is for us, who is against us? (Rom 8:31). God's love for us trumps any opposition that might come our way.

We will look at Daniel 6 tomorrow.

Daniel 5 - The Writing on the Wall

Belshazzar is referred to as a king, though he may just have been a prince regent. Similarly, the Hebrew saying Nebuchadnezzar was his father could simply mean he was his ancestor. Whatever the case, he was feasting with the goblets taken from the temple in Jerusalem. So the point is that holy objects were being used for profane purposes. 

The king and his guests drank from the goblets and worshipped idols of gold, silver and bronze. We have a great tendency to worship something, and it is usually the wrong thing.

God cannot be mocked, and those who today profane and mock His name will get their comeuppance one day. A hand appeared and wrote on the wall. The king was struck with fear.

Like Nebuchadnezzar he summoned his various wise men to interpret the writing, and he offered a great reward for anyone who succeeded. None of them managed to interpret its meaning.

Then the queen reminded Belshazzar about Daniel. It seems that in the change of ruler Daniel had been somewhat sidelined. However, if God wants to promote someone He will do so.

The king flattered Daniel and offered him the same reward. Daniel declined the rewards but said he would interpret the writing. Daniel was living as a servant of the Lord, he was not using the gift for his own profit. We do well to remember this, The gifts that God gives us are to enable us to serve Him.

Daniel starts be reminding Belshazzar of what happened to Nebuchadnezzar (chapter 4). Belshazzar had failed to learn from this and had not humbled himself and honoured the Lord.

So God would take the kingdom from him and divide it between the Medes and Persians. The king still gave Daniel the garment of purple and the gold chain. That night the king was slain and Darius the Mede took over. 

See how quickly the kingdom crumbled.

Daniel 4 - We need to honour the Lord

This declaration is made by Nebuchadnezzar after the fiery furnace incident. It demonstrates some recognition of who the Lord is, eg v2,3; but also demonstrates adherence to his "old gods", eg v8. v9 also demonstrates the confusion within him.

Again he had had a dream, but this time seems to have at least told his magicians what it was before asking them to interpret it. Even given this advantage they had failed to make sense of it. Once again it was Daniel who could interpret it.

The dream involved a tree, depicting Babylon's great power. Then a voice came from a holy one (an angel) ordering that the tree be cut down. All kingdom's are subject to the will of God. The ruler then was turned into an animal.

Daniel was reluctant to give the meaning of the dream, for he knew that it was about Nebuchadnezzar. The king encouraged Daniel to give the interpretation nonetheless.

The dream depicted the great power that Nebuchadnezzar had, and his subsequent downfall. He would go and live among the wild animals.

Daniel's advice to the king is to repent. When God speaks He always looks for a response.

The dream was then fulfilled twelve months later. The king was proud of what he had achieved, then a voice from heaven came pronouncing judgement upon him.

So Nebuchadnezzar was driven away from the people to live like an animal.

His sanity was only restored once he looked up to heaven (v32). There is a lesson for us all here. In the midst of difficulties we find release only when we look up to the Lord. Immediately the king's sanity and power were restored. It is amazing how quickly things can change once we take our focus off ourselves and put it back on to God.

Daniel 3:16-30 - Out of the fire

We now see how to respond in this situation. First notice what they do not do. There is no bombastic declaration that God will deliver them and send Nebuchadnezzar to burn in hell. Instead there is a quiet declaration of faith in the Lord, and commitment to Him. This is what we need. Otherwise we are relying on our own enthusiasm and this will ultimately fail us.

Nebuchadnezzar reacted in fury. We need to note that even when we seek to act reasonable other people will not always be reasonable.

So the furnace was "turned up to eleven", and the soldiers were killed by the heat. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were protected and fourth figure appeared with them. There is little indication of who this fourth figure was, but it might have been a pre-incarnation appearance of Christ, or it could have been an angel of the Lord. The latter is perhaps the more likely.

When the three came out of the first they were totally unharmed (Isaiah 43:2).

So the king declared that the name of the Lord was not to be blasphemed, and the three were promoted. 

God can bring about an amazing transformation. Quietness and trust can often be our greatest weapon (Isaiah 30:15).

Daniel 3:7-15 - Incitement against the Jews

So everyone bowed down and worshipped the idol when the horns and other instruments were sounded.

The promotion of Daniel and his friends to high positions in the kingdom had produced jealousy among the Babylonian astrologers, and they used the king's decree as an opportunity to fight against the Jews. This is a pattern that sadly has been repeated many times in history. Jews have raised to prominent positions in many sectors of society in many countries, and there are some who feel resentment at this. These people then use any excuse to seek to stir up resentment against the Jews. Today we see people using the Gaza situation to stir up hatred of the Jews. Moreover, the people doing this are often so-called liberals.

Their final charge "they neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up" was of course completely true. People may make many false charges against Christians, but at some point they will have to make the correct "charge", we worship the Lord and no-one else.

The king flew into a rage. He obviously had no understanding. Note that it is just the three friends who are implicated in this, it is not clear why Daniel was not called as well, as no doubt he too would have refused to bow down to the idol. Maybe it is that Daniel had been promoted to a higher level than the astrologers, and so it was only the three friends who the astrologers were familiar with.

The king gave the three one last chance, the final phrase in v15 demonstrates that he did not know who their God was.

Why the New Testament says little about the virgin birth

See a post on the virgin birth here.

Daniel 3:1-6 - Worshipping the image

Having seen how Daniel's God was powerful Nebuchadnezzar proceeded to ignore anything he might have learnt. So he erected a vast image. The dimensions would have included the pedestal that the image was erected on, and it would not be solid gold. Nevertheless, it would be an impressive sight.

All his officials were summoned to the dedication of the image. It is a human trait to erect some sort of monument to ones won "greatness". This is done by leaders and on a much smaller scale by all sorts of people.

When the music was sounded everyone was to bow down to the golden idol. This applied to everyone, and anyone who disobeyed would be thrown into the fiery furnace. Now consider the stupidity of this. This was just an idol, just a chunk of wood, stone and gold, and whatever else it was made of. Why should everyone bow down to this inanimate thing? But when man forgets God his thinking becomes worthless (Rom 1:21).

Next notice how all peoples were ordered to bow down to the idol. We have here a picture of the the things that are spoken of in Revelation, insisting that everyone received the mark of the beast and worship the image of the beast (Rev 13:11-18).

Today in the West we increasingly see that people do not just have to tolerate homosexuality, but declare that it is good.

Daniel 2:24-49 - Dreams interpreted, God glorified

Having received the revelation from God, Daniel asks to go to see the king. He also urged Arioch not to execute the wise men of Babylon. Now we might have expected Daniel not to care about the Babylonians. Babylon was the enemy of Judah and the wise men were worshippers of false gods. Who cares if they die? But Daniel did care and was compassionate towards them. At the time of writing (August 23, 2014) we are hearing about all the atrocities carried out by Isis (or IS), and there are many areas in the Arab world and Nigeria where Christians are suffering horribly. We are right to be incensed about this and to urge our governments to take action. However, we should also remember that the terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere are actually killing more Muslims than Christians. We should show concern for the Muslims who are suffering as well. 

So Daniel gets to see the king. He also makes it clear that it is the Lord who has given him the interpretation, it is not any talent of his own.

Now see also that God is revealing Himself to this pagan king, this king who is destroying Jerusalem. We may despair at our increasingly secular leaders, but we must also pray for them. They may act as if there is no God, but there is a God, and this God can make Himself known to anyone. So we should pray.

Daniel then describes the dream and gives the interpretation. Babylon is immensely powerful, but it is the Lord who has given him this power.

The dream spoke of the decline of the Babylonian kingdom, and the kingdoms that will come after it. This is actually a theme of the whole of the book of Daniel. The other kingdoms are the Medo-Persian, initially under Cyrus, the Greek kingdom, under Alexander the Great, and finally the Roman empire. As time went on these kingdoms declined in power. Even today we can see our leaders actually having less and less power.

Verse 44 is then a prophecy of Christ's kingdom, the kingdom that will never end. His is the kingdom that destroys all others, and does so not by human power, but by divine power (2 Cor 10:3-5). We are part of the everlasting kingdom!

So Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that the Lord was God and promoted Daniel. Now this did not seem a likely outcome at all. Things happen in our life and all seems lost, disaster seeming to be the only possible outcome. We need to know our Lord, for it is He who decides all things.