Daniel 6

Daniel and the Lion’s Den

Of all the Bible stories, the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den would definitely be in the top 10 of well known Bible stories. Anybody who has gone to church or Sunday school for any significant amount of time has heard this story. You could probably even tell me this story from memory without even reading the chapter. What can we learn from this chapter? Pray and ask the Lord to reveal something new to you as you read this great chapter of the Bible.

God’s Faithfulness in the Darkness

Because of his passion to praise and thank the one true God, Daniel was sentenced to death by being thrown in a lions Den. This was a common practice during the time and it was a horrible way to die. Imagine being thrown in a dark pit that is home to very hungry lions with no possibility of escape. All you can see is a tiny bit of light reelecting off the eyes and teeth and of the hungry lions. This is exactly where Daniel found himself. One minute everything was great, the next minute he was cast into the darkness awaiting a painful death. But the story does not end there.

The next morning the king had the pit opened and he called down to his friend Daniel, who replied “O king, live forever!” Kind of a shocking reply when you consider that it was because of this kings foolishness that Daniel was thrown in the den. But God saved Daniel from certain death. In the Darkness an angel came and shut the mouths of the lion’s. The Lord was faithful to Daniel.

Maybe you find yourself in a dark place today.  A person hurt you. A situation came up that you had no control over. Someone or something has turned your life upside down. You feel like Daniel may have felt; alone and scared. How did Daniel get through this trial without freaking out completely and ending up on anti-depressants? He trusted God! Verse 23 tells us that no harm was done to him, because he trusted in God.

So what are you doing in your Lion’s den? Are you freaking out? Are you worried about what is going to happen? What if Daniel had done what you are doing now, would he have made it through the night? Do what Daniel did and trust in God.  Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Daniel 2

True Faith

The book of Daniel is exciting and fun to read. We see some great insight on being bold for the Lord. We see God’s complete control over the lives of these men and we also see some prophetic events that will take place. Daniel has it all as a narrative. Nebuchadnezzar was the king over Babylon at this time and Daniel and his budies were taken from Jerusalem and brought to Babylon. In this particular chapter, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. .

The Dream

King Nebuchadnezzar had this dream that bothered him so much so that he could not sleep. He then gathered all his magicians and enchanters to tell him the dream and the meaning of the dream but they could not. The king became angry and wanted to kill all the wise men because they were useless. When word reached Daniel he told them to tell the king that he could interpret the dream.

Daniel prayed to God and God revealed the dream to Daniel and he told the king about the dream and the meaning of it. As a result of Daniel telling the king about the dream and the meaning of the dream Daniel was promoted to a high position.

For Us:

As this chapter is fun to read we see the act of faith completely demonstrated in it. Did you notice in verse 14, Daniel before even knowing what the dream was about and before the Lord revealed it to him told the captian of the kings guard to appoint a time to meet with the king. Daniel had faith that God would show himself in a mighty way. He acted before even knowing what to do.

I am amazed at this type of faith. We usually will act on faith after we have some type of security, some promise of a future but Daniel leaped before knowing about his landing.

We also see God’s faithfulness in this chapter. God brought them to Babylon for a reason. Daniel and his friends were used for God’s glory. Having faith in God’s faithfulness is so important. If you were in Daniel’s shoes and the threat of being killed over this, what would you do? Would you respond like Daniel,  out of faith knowing that God will reveal it in his timing? I pray you are challenged to act out in faith. To know that God is faithful in his promises (See 2nd Timothy 2:13).

Ezekiel 40

As we move into Ezekiel 40 we begin to read of a vision Ezekiel had of the future temple in the Millennial kingdom. This vision is explained from Ezekiel 40-48. “The Millennial what”, you may say. Well let me explain the timeline. The next event to take place for us as Christians will be the rapture of the church. This is where Christ appears to grab us up to be in heaven with Him for a 7 year period, sort of like a honeymoon period where believers will be with the Lord in Heaven. At that same time on Earth, God will be pouring out His wrath on a Christ rejecting sinful world. After that 7 year period, Christ will return, with us, to reign in Jerusalem for 1000 yrs. This period is known as the Millennium or Millennial Kingdom. During this time “Christ will throw the Antichrist in the lake of fire, and God will begin to serve their eternal sentences. Satan will be confined in the bottomless pit, and there will be none of his minions to torment and tempt the millennial earth-dwellers. It will be a time much like the times of Eden, with the earth restored to its pristine beauty. (Read Rev. 20-10.) After the 1,000 years, the devil will be released from the pit for a short space of time. He will lead millions of those who have been born during the millennium in an assault on Christ at Jerusalem. God will send down fire and consume them all. Satan will be cast into the lake of fire. The lost dead will be resurrected (their eternal bodies joined to their souls), and all will stand before the great white throne of Christ to be judged. All will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity. (Read Rev. 20:10-15.) God “Jesus Christ” will remake the heavens and the earth in preparation for everlasting, ever-growing ecstasy in God’s presence. (Read Rev. 20:16-22: 16.)”

This all may sound so crazy and hard to follow, but know this – in the end we end up with Christ in a new Heaven and new Earth. Being in God’s presence forever. As Adam went to Israel this past week he saw how the Jews worship at the western wall. He told me they did this because it was the closest they could get to the holy of holies, God’s “presence”. How sad I thought, because in the future we are promised to be in God’s presence because of the atonement made by Christ on the cross for our sins.

The True Shepherd

Ezekiel 34

Ezekiel showed that the responsibility for the people of Israel going astray was on the greedy and cruel kings and priests. In this chapter Ezekiel sees a vision of the future Shepherd, the true shepherd.

A shepherd was one who took care of the flock. We see Israel in the very beginning of a nation was shepherds and throughout even today they still have shepherds that play an important role. As the shepherd is responsible for the well being of the flock, they would feed them and protect them. David was a shepherd before he was king and he protected his flock. The shepherd cared for his flock so much that they would not want anything to happen to even just one. But in this chapter the kings and the priests served as shepherds over the people of Israel and in verses 4-5 we see that they did not care for the people, they allowed them to stray, they have been lost and were not sought after, and because of the lack of the shepherd they became food for all the wild beasts.

The True Shepherd

In verse 15 we see that Ezekiel was able to see the True shepherd the one who truly cares for his people, Jesus Christ. In verse 22-23 we see that Jesus as shepherd will rescue the flock and they will be feed. As Ezekiel prophesied this hundreds of years before Christ we see what Jesus has done. The kings and priests were to lead the people closer to God but instead pushed them further away. Jesus being the true Shepherd is the WAY, TRUTH, and the LIFE, no man can come to the Father except through him (John 14:6). In Mark 6:34 Jesus comes along the shore and sees a big crowd waiting for them. It says that he had compassion on them because they were sheep without a shepherd. He is the shepherd, the one who shows us, leads us, protects us, and guides us. How exciting this must have been for Ezekiel to see, we have even greater news, Jesus did come and is alive today! He is the shepherd that protects his flock. You do not have to wait for future events, this is now. Are you part of Jesus’ flock? I would not want it any other way.

Ezekiel 33

Ezekiel now has become popular because people see how prophesies have come to pass. Ezekiel 33:30-33 says, ” As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. When this comes—and come it will!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

The key part of this is at the end of verse 32 where it says that the people listen but they will not do it. Basically the people listening to Ezekiel believe what he was saying now, however they still remained unrepentant. I wonder how many Jr Highers out there are just like the remaining people of Judah who hear the word of the Lord, but they remain unrepentant. Some of you may be just coming every Sunday over and over just listening to the word be taught, you may even believe some of it but you remain unrepentant.

It’s not enough to just believe some of the stories we hear or maybe even believe that Jesus is God. The bible says even the demons believe in Jesus. See what we need to do is repent from our sin. Jesus’ first sermon He starts out in Matthew 4:17 by saying “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus calls us to repentance, He calls us to turn away from our sin and trust in what Christ has done on the cross. We can’t be a slave to sin and a slave to Christ. Who are you serving as Lord today? is it your sin who is Lord over you or is it Christ who is Lord over you?

Repent of your sin and trust in Christ. That is what our faith is all about. If you are not doing that today, you are just as bad as the people in Ezekiel’s time.

Ezekiel 30

In this chapter we see another part of the judgment on Egypt. Yesterday we read ch. 29 which was the opening to the vision that Ezekiel saw concerning Egypt. In this chapter we will see that Egypt will be taken over by the Babylonians. In verse 11, the Babylonians are called the most ruthless of nations. In verse 23 we will see that they Egyptians will be scattered among the nations. And, the chapter ends with what verse 26 says, “Then they will know that I am the Lord.” This chapter continues on with the second vision against Egypt where Nebuchadnezzar’s army will come against Egypt and go away with wealth.

A couple of things we can see in these chapters about judgment with Egypt is that God is true to His word. These were prophesied before they happened but eventually they did happen.  Sixteen years after the fall of Jerusalem, Babylon did invade Egypt. Another is God’s ultimate goal is for all to come to know him (2nd Peter 3:9).

If God is true to His word, if God is faithful to fulfill his promises, what does that mean to us? He will be faithful and is true to what the Word says. Not only on fulfilling the judgment as we see with Egypt and the other nations but also to believers. He is faithful and showed grace to us. He is faithful to forgive us. He is faithful to love us. The other thing to remember is if God’s ultimate goal is for all to come to know him, then that means he is patient with us. I am so glad that God is patient with me. I have a tendency to cause others to not be so patient with me, but God is patient with me. He is patient with all and desires for all to come to repentance.

As you read this chapter, how is God faithful? What are some verses that come to your mind that shows God’s faithfulness? Also God is patient, how is God patient towards you? What about a friend that does not believe in Christ? How can you praise God for Him being patient with you?