The Greek Period
Labels:
Daniel
The Book of the
Prophet Daniel
“But you, Daniel, shut up
the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.”
Daniel
12:4
Chapter 8:1-27 The Greek Period
1. In the third year of the reign of
King Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to
me at the first.
2. And I saw in the vision; and when I
saw, I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in
the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal.
3. I raised my eyes and saw, and
behold, a ram standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both
horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up
last.
4. I saw the ram charging westward and
northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one
who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.
5. As I was considering, behold, a male
goat came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching
the ground. And the goat had a conspicuous horn between his eyes.
6. He came to the ram with the two
horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, and he ran at him in
his powerful wrath.
7. I saw him come close to the ram, and
he was enraged against him and struck the ram and broke his two horns. And the
ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and
trampled on him. And there was no one who could rescue the ram from his
power.
8. Then the goat became exceedingly
great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it
there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.
9. Out of one of them came a little
horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and
toward the glorious land.
10. It grew great, even to the host of
heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground
and trampled on them.
11. It became great, even as great as
the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him,
and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown.
12. And a host will be given over to it
together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will
throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper.
13. Then I heard a holy one speaking,
and another holy one said to the one who spoke, "For how long is the
vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes
desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled
underfoot?"
14. And he said to me, "For 2,300
evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful
state."
Four Beasts
Labels:
Daniel
The Book of the
Prophet Daniel
“But you, Daniel, shut up
the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.”
Daniel
12:4
Chapter 7:1-28 Four Beasts
1.
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions
of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum
of the matter.
2.
Daniel declared, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds
of heaven were stirring up the great sea.
3.
And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another.
4.
The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings
were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two
feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it.
5.
And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one
side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told,
'Arise, devour much flesh.'
6.
After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a
bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to
it.
7.
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying
and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and
broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from
all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
8. I
considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a
little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots.
And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking
great things.
Daniel takes us back
fourteen years to a dream that he had at the beginning of Belshazzar´s reign.
Up to this point, he has related the historical testimony of himself and his
three companions in Babylon. They were the instruments of the all-powerful God
of Judah, and before the eyes of world rulers, they demonstrated His greatness
and gave Him glory.
He was seen in
supernatural support of their faithfulness, in not contaminating themselves
with the delicacies and wine of Babylon, and in the supernatural revelation and
interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He was clearly manifested in the miraculous
deliverance from the fiery furnace, revealed Himself in the interpretation of
Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream and in the interpretation of the astounding
handwriting on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace. Finally, His power was seen in
locking the jaws of fierce lions.
Daniel in the Lions’ Den
Labels:
Daniel
“… some stopped the
mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire!” Hebrews 11:33, 34
Chapter 6:1-28 Daniel
in the Lions’ Den
1. It pleased Darius
to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom;
2. and over them three high officials, of whom
Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king
might suffer no loss.
3. Then this Daniel became distinguished above
all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in
him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
4. Then the high officials and the satraps sought
to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but
they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful,
and no error or fault was found in him.
5. Then these men said, "We shall
not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in
connection with the law of his God."
6. Then these high officials and satraps came by
agreement to the king and said to him, "O King Darius, live forever!
7. All the high officials of the kingdom, the
prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the
king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever
makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall
be cast into the den of lions.
8. Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign
the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes
and the Persians, which cannot be revoked."
9. Therefore King Darius signed the document and
injunction.
Comments from Martin Luther
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Important messages
Some of Luther's comments on the book of Galatians:
1. "Don't you know that God is no respector of persons?" cries Paul. The dignity or authority of men means nothing to God. The fact is that God often rejects just such who stand in the odor of sanctity and in the aura of importance. In doing so God seems unjust and harsh. But men need deterring examples. For it is a vice with us to esteem personality more highly than the Word of God. God wants us to exalt His Word and not men.
2. If Paul would not give in to the false apostles, much less ought we to give in to our opponents. I know a Christian should be humble, but against the Pope I am going to be proud and say to him: "You, Pope, I will not have you for my boss, for I am sure that my doctrine is divine." Such pride against the Pope is imperative, for if we are not stout and proud we shall never succeed in defending the article of the righteousness of faith.
3. When it comes to establishing false worship and idolatry, no cost is spared. True religion is ever in need of money, while false religions are backed by wealth.
4. For defending the truth in our day, we are called proud and obstinate hypocrites. We are not ashamed of these titles. The cause we are called to defend, is not Peter's cause, or the cause of our parents, or that of the government, or that of the world, but the cause of God. In defense of that cause we must be firm and unyielding.
The Last Straw
Labels:
Daniel
The Book of the
Prophet Daniel
“… some stopped the
mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire!” Hebrews 11:33, 34
Chapter 5:1-31 The Last Straw
1. King Belshazzar made a great feast
for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.
2. Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine,
commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father
had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his
lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
3. Then they brought in the golden
vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem,
and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from
them.
4. They drank wine and praised the gods
of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5. Immediately the fingers of a human
hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace,
opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote.
6. Then the king's color changed, and
his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked
together.
7. The king called loudly to bring in
the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the
wise men of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its
interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around
his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."
8. Then all the king's wise men came
in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the
interpretation.
9. Then King Belshazzar was greatly
alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.
10. The queen, because of the words of
the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared,
"O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color
change.
11. There is a man in your kingdom in
whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and
understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and
King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the
king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and
astrologers,
12. because an excellent spirit,
knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve
problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let
Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation."
Of all the accounts
of history that are available, none are as authentic as those of God’s
historians. That is as it should be, because for that purpose God has raised
them up in the most strategic places. There are quite a number of secular
individuals, who have written of Babylonian history and its kings. However,
they wrote from a distance, in time and place, whereas Daniel’s had, we might
say, “a ring-side seat”, writing from the palace of the emperors in the city of
Babylon. No one saw these occurrences with more clarity and detail than he had.
Yet the world, in its rebellion, tend to give secular writers more credence and
criticize Daniel.
When it comes to the
life of Jesus Christ, no historical records of ancient history are more
accurately confirmed than the four Gospels, written by eye witnesses or those
very closely associated with them. We conclude that the Bible is the greatest historical
authority available. Constantly, as time unfolds, more evidence is discovered,
proving its authenticity. We, who are believers, know it to be inerrant and
only to be criticized by men out of rebellious unbelief. That, in itself, goes
to prove the biblical assessment that “the
whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 Jn.5:19).
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