Daniel 4:4-9 - I had a dream

4:4-7

Nebuchadnezzar then relates the tale of his dream and subsequent events to the people. There are many things that we would be reluctant to tell others for shame, but when we know that we have received forgiveness from God it changes our attitude. This does not mean we should start telling everything to everyone, but it brings a change and a peace within us. The king was terrified by his dream. As he did earlier, he calls all the wise men, the usual crew of magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. This time he does tell them what the dream was, which was good of him! Earlier the crew had said they could interpret the dream if the king would tell them what it was. Well this time he did tell them the dream and they were still unable to interpret it.

4:8,9

Following the failure of the usua crew, Daniel comes into the presence of the king. Nebuchadnezzar still seems rather confused about “gods”. He knows there is something special about Daniel and his God, but talks about “the spirit of the holy gods” being in him. Daniel had been successful before, so the king had confidence in him.

Revelation 10:5-11 - Take the scroll that lies open

10:5-7

The mighty angel then makes a declaration, swearing by the Lord and all of creation, “there will be no more delay”. We might like to look at the minutiae of Revelation, seeking to interpret every bit of it. I don’t think this is always a good idea. Sometimes it is better to look at it as if we are watching a drama unfold. Earlier John had been told not to write the words down, now we hear that “the mystery of God will be accomplished”. The question, and a very pressing one for those under severe persecution, is how are God’s plans going to be fulfilled. Now we will see. “Just as He announced it to His servants the prophets”. All that the prophets had foretold will be fulfilled.

10:8-11

John was now to take the scroll that was in the hand of the mighty angel. There is an allusion to Ezek 3:3 when he is told that while it will taste sweet in his mouth, it will turn his stomach sour. Why so? It is sweet because it is the word of God, and will tell of the fulfilment of His purposes, including His purposes for His people, and this is glorious. However, there is also much judgement, and there is much suffering for the people of God to go through before the complete fulfilment. John takes the scroll and eats it, he is then to “prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings”. I don’t think this means we should be trying to identify who all the kings etc are! Rather it is a general pattern that applies to the whole world at many times. However, there will be a culmination of all this at the second coming.

Daniel 4:1-3 - How great are His signs

4:1

We now what is in many ways a strange chapter (some might think that Daniel has many strange chapters). We have Nebuchadnezzar having another dream, going mad and hearing from God. We are told to pray for our leaders. Now, if we are honest, there are many leaders we find it very hard to pray for, we would rather God sent a thunderbolt or two in their direction! Even so we should pray for them. Nebuchadnezzar was a thoroughly pagan king and a bit of a nutter, yet God spoke to him. So God an speak even with the politicians we hate the most. The chapter starts with the king proclaiming a blessing of prosperity on all the nations and peoples.

4:2,3

Now Nebuchadnezzar had violently destroyed many nations and peoples, Judah included. So why is he suddenly Mr Nice Guy? The “Most High God” had shown him “miraculous signs and wonders”. He then declares that God’s signs and wonders are great and mighty, and that God’s kingdom is an eternal kingdom,  enduring forever. We could do with some of our leaders today making a similar declaration!

Revelation 10:1-4 - Do not write it down

10:1,2

John now sees “another mighty angel”. The description of the angel is stressing the greatness of this angel. There are some who seek to identify the angel as Jesus, but there really is no justification for doing this. This angle was holding a “little scroll” in his hand, and had one foot planted on the land and the other on the sea. This is emphasising the enormity of this angel. The key point of all this is that God is in control. Terrible events are going to happen, things occur that we don’t like (to put it mildly), and that we don’t understand. Despite all this, Jesus is Lord, and He is the One who is in control.

10:3,4

The angel gave a loud shout “like the roar of a lion”. Then the “voices of  the seven thunders spoke”. Seven is the number of perfection. So we have momentous events emanating from heaven. They do not emanate from hell, they do not emanate from man, but from God. Now this absolutely does not mean that man nor the devil are not involved, nor that they do not have responsibility. It is quite clear that they do. We need to have a wider perspective. John was about to write down what was said, but a voice from heaven ordered him not to. Perhaps this is related to Deut 29:29. The events come from God, we cannot understand them, and we do not need to understand everything, but we do need to trust God in everything.

Daniel 3:26-30 - They trusted in Him and defied the king's command

3:26,27

The king then approached the opening of the furnace, no doubt with a high degree of caution having seen what happened to the soldiers, and called on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to come out. So they came out of the fire. The various officials gathered round then and so that the fire had not harmed them at all (Is 43:2). There wasn’t even any superficial damage, no scorching of their robes, nor singing of their hair. 

3:28-30

Nebuchadnezzar reacted in his customary manner declaring the greatness of the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He saw that they had trusted their God, and God had rescued them. So he then declares that anyone who blasphemes their God will be killed. He had seen the greatness of the Lord. The three of them were also given promotion.

Revelation 9:20,21 - Still they did not repent

9:20

The purpose of this vast devastation was to cause the people to repent. However, they did not repent. Just as Israel refused to repent, time after time, despite all sorts of warnings, and seeing the consequences of her sin, so the same is true of all the people of the earth. So they did not give up “worshipping demons and idols”. We also get the rebuke of idols “which cannot see or hear or walk”. This is reminiscent of words in the Psalms and prophets, such as Psalm 115:4-8. To worship these things was a contemptibly stupid thing to do. Man loves to worship the created rather than te creator.

9:21

Idol worship, indeed demon worship, does not come alone. It brings consequences with it, and some of them are listed here. Murder, sorceries, sexual immorality, theft. When a people turn from God, or live as if there is no God, it has serious consequences for society. We often say things like “it’s your choice”, “you are free to believe what you want”. Well yes, but choices and beliefs have consequences, both for you and for everyone else. The gospel is a command, not a suggestion.

Daniel 3:20-25 - I see four men walking around in the fire!

3:20-23

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were tied up by some of the strongest soldiers and thrown into the blazing furnace. The description makes it clear that there was no way of them escaping or being released by natural means. In fact the furnace was so hot that the flames killed the soldiers. So the three friends fell into the furnace.

3:24,25

So it seemed that this was the end of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, but that was not the case! Nebuchadnezzar saw a fourth figure in there with them. He sought assurance that they had only put three men into the furnace. It wasn’t just that there were four men, they were also unbound.The fourth person looked “like a son of the gods”. There are debates over who this fourth person was. It could have been Christ, or an angel, or the angel of the Lord. The Scripture doesn’t tell us, so it is not fruitful to speculate. In Is 43:3 God promises to be with us when we pass through the water and the fire. He does not promise that we will ot pass through the fire, but that He will be with us.