The final chapter of Daniel predicts “a troubled time” for God’s people. The prophecy seems to foretell the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. But maybe the emotion stirred by Daniel’s vision is more important to the reader than the information revealed in it.
In the aftermath of a terrible crime (like the one perpetrated in Thousand Oaks, California), do you ever wonder how people can be so inhuman and evil? Daniel’s vision on the bank of the Tigris River gives us an eye-opening answer.
Legalism is making up black-and-white rules to address matters of opinion. Daniel’s prayer for mercy points to a great antidote for this spiritual problem.
The political environment in the U.S. is becoming hateful and violent. It’s very disturbing. What’s going to happen to us? In 551 BC, the prophet Daniel had a vision that still communicates a reassuring message all these years later.
Daniel prayed three times a day, even though his life was seriously threatened by corrupt colleagues. In circumstances like that, why should anyone pray and even give thanks to God? Isn’t it plain that prayer doesn’t really do any good?
The Persians had defeated King Belshazzar’s army and were encamped at the very gates of Babylon. An axe was suspended over his head. So what did Belshazzar do? He threw a party.
Are all sins created equal? Do some sins cause more harm than others or spring from worse motives? Is there perhaps a chief sin, a wicked thing at the root of every wrong ever done? The humiliation of King Nebuchadnezzar may point to some answers.
King Nebuchadnezzar demanded that all his officials worship his idol, a tall golden image set up on the plain of Dura. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused – and that meant death. Their trust in God challenges us to make faithful choices when the state punishes righteous behavior.
Young Daniel was removed from his homeland in Judah and enrolled in a Babylonian training program aimed at re-educating him for service as an adviser to King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel and his three best friends resisted full assimilation into Babylonian culture – but they did so without being obnoxious.