The great themes of the book of Daniel are driven home one last time in the final chapters: the sovereignty of God over all kings and thrones and empires, and the centrality of the Church in all God’s purposes.
For all his heroics, Daniel’s greatest service may have been what he did in the last years of his life, as an old man in his eighties.
This famous prophecy is often applied to the second coming of Christ. Could it instead be a vivid and beautiful description of the work of Christ in his first coming?
Here is one of the great prayers of the Bible, with much to teach us, not only about prayer, but about the gracious God who longs to hear our prayers.
What happens when a ram gets in a fight with a shaggy goat? What happens is some very encouraging truth for God’s people today.
In this vision Daniel sees four monsters representing proud, “invincible” human empires, that are all crushed by God as easily as we would step on a bug. We often speak of the sovereign throne of God, calm and serene above all the chaos in our world. This chapter is an encouraging picture of that very thing.
This is the most famous episode in Daniel’s long career. We should call it Daniel in the angel’s den. Threatened with a gruesome death, Daniel, now an old man near 90, defied the Persian king and kept on praying. What was he praying for? Why did he face Jerusalem when he prayed? How does this story point us to the Greater Daniel?
In chapter 4 we saw the mighty grace of God humble a proud king. But it doesn’t always go that way. What does it look like when God’s patience runs out for those who “knew better?” What lessons might this offer for ourselves, our church and our nation?
We have always heard insanity described as doing the same thing over and over, expecting to get a different result. This great chapter gives a much better definition of insanity: thinking I am in control of my life. Or to use another word, pride. How did God cure the great Babylonian king of this? How is it related to grace and the gospel?
In this famous story, three young believers defy the king of Babylon, who has threatened to burn them up in a furnace (and makes good on his threat). Why would they do that? And how does God show up? What does this teach us about our own suffering?