Favorite Takeaways:
• Read Daniel 8: 15-19. Notice how God leans into Daniel and provides a messenger to in-terpret the vision before he even asks for it. How awesome that we have a God that de-lights in revealing himself to his people.
• “The sight & the sounds of the ram’s horns breaking typifies the brittle, ultimately fragile nature of political might." Joyce Baldwin. What seems so indestructible and powerful and mighty and lasting in this world, can be (and often is) so fragile and fleeting.
• “Antiochus is a satanically empowered puppet, AND an instrument in the hands of an all-powerful and providential God.” David Platt
• What was God doing? Why would He allow this? God is doing two things: 1) Casting right-ful judgment on all that opposes him, removing a horrific, antichrist-type ruler that is trying to interrupt His perfect plan and 2) disciplining his people for their own sin. The second part is harder for us to swallow. We don't like to think that our suffering ever has anything to do with our sin, but we can be assured, that this is what would become of us were it not for the restraints God places on our lives. (Simon Ferguson)
• This message needed to be "sealed up" for future generations of God's people, not only to warn them about what was coming, but to help persevere through their suffering, when all hope seemed lost. They had this vision to turn to and remind them, Antiochus' reign will end. God is still in charge.
• When the future looks dim or marked with suffering, what do we do? How do we live? We persevere in faith. We live in obedience. We continue to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel, as ambassadors of the gospel, as He has called us. We don’t get permission to stop trusting Him just because we don’t understand. (1 Peter 5: 8-10)
• Neither the worst failures/sins of God’s people nor the best efforts of His enemies will stop him from bringing all things to their proper end at the time that has determined.
• We serve not a ram or a goat, but a LAMB . . . whose death and resurrection put an end to the need for sacrifices altogether, whose blood had the power to atone for all sins when re-ceived by faith. (David Helm)
• Question for reflection: Do you tend to lose your confidence when you don’t understand why things are happening? How does this passage help you have con-fidence even when you don’t understand? How do you persevere through hard times as we await heaven?
Daniel 8
Daniel 12
March 4, 2021 • Jaime Carnaggio
• Resurrection day will also be a separation day! (Read Matthew 25!) This should create a sense of urgency, to be burdened for unbelievers, to go and make disciples. There is much at stake! • Yet, we can be comforted knowing that for the "wise" (those who fear in the Lord, for believers), our name is written in the book, our heavenly citizenship is secure! • Jesus' resurrection guarantees OUR resurrection! (Romans 6: 5) We will rise in glory to everlasting life because we are united IN CHRIST's death and resurrection. • We aren't to know the "When" or "How long" until the end time comes. God has revealed that to us. In fact, Matthew 24: 36 tells us, "But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." • What we do know for sure is that the end is coming! Evil has an expiration date! We don't know that date, but God does. • So what are we to do as we await that day? "Go your way, Daniel!" Keep doing what God has set before you. We should be much less concerned about WHEN the end will come, and much more concerned with how we live our lives in preparation for the end! God will reveal what we need to know when we need to know it. He will make sure the wise will understand, and be purified, cleansed, and refined. • These end-time prophecies should move us to action, to pursue holiness, to keep living right NOW for God's glory. "Future destiny impacts present discipleship!" (David Platt) • Because something glorious awaits us . . . Our future inheritance in God's everlasting kingdom! We go on living faithfully in this corrupt world, laboring on by the power of the Holy Spirit, waiting in hope and assurance of the inheritance that's stored up for us!
Daniel 11
February 25, 2021 • Jaime Carnaggio
• Why is there so much information given about the conflicts between these empires? Because their power struggle directly affected Israel, who was caught in the crossfire. To them, this wasn't just a history lesson, it was prophecy! And so they knew what was coming and could prepare themselves for this prolonged season of suffering. • This vision gives us a glimpse into the intertestamental period (the "silent four-hundred years"). And things unfolded just as God said they would. The prophecies of this vision were fulfilled with such accuracy, which not only would've reaffirmed the faith for "them then" but also for "us today." We can trust that God is control of history, and that it unfold according to His will. • We, too, are caught in the crossfire of this world! We are in the middle of many secular and cultural battles. The church is being increasingly threatened by secular worldviews. It's becoming harder and harder for Christians to not surrender to the culture around us. And the world uses the same tools that Antiochus used to gain control... flattery, deception, seduction, bribery, intimidation, intrigue. • But in his grace and love for us, God instructs us how to combat the tools the world will use. He tells us to "stand firm" and "take action." We will fall sometimes, but even then, God will use our failures to refine and purify us, to strengthen our faith. • Some day, "at the end of time," a final Antichrist will arrive on the scene and wreak havoc on God's people... "yet he will come to an end, with no one to help him" (vs 45). When God's judgment falls on him, no one can save him. "The Lord will consume him with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thessalonians 2: 8). So as devastating and wicked as he will be, Christ will simply blow him away. • Reflection: What does this vision teach us about man? About God? About Jesus Christ?
Daniel 10
February 11, 2021 • Kelly Strome
• The vision of the messenger was so overwhelming, it nearly made Daniel faint. Daniel was emptied of all of his strength, but God transferred his strength to him through the messenger. God equips us for what he calls us to. He was getting Daniel spiritually and physically ready for the truth he was about to reveal through this fourth and final vision. • Once again, we see evidence that God hears our prayers. The messenger said to Daniel, “For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words” (vs. 12). • Dee Duke once said, “Almost everyone believes that prayer is important. But there is a difference between believing that prayer is important and believing it is essential. "Essential" means there are things that will not happen without prayer.” Daniel clearly believed that prayer is essential, that things will not happen without it. • The messenger was trying to get to Daniel to reveal the truth of the vision, but he was delayed for 21 days in a spiritual battle. “If once the curtain were pulled back, and the spiritual world behind it came to view, it would expose to our spiritual vision a struggle so intense, so convulsive, sweeping everything within its range, that the fiercest battle fought on earth would seem, by comparison, a mere game.” Abraham Kuyper • God equips us for this battle, giving us all the armor we need. Read Ephesians 6: 10-20, and also Romans 8: 38-39! • In seasons of trials, what disciplines are you practicing that enable you to walk in obedience to God? What disciplines are you neglecting now that God might be calling you to revitalize? • What do you spend time praying for that is outside of your own personal needs or beyond the boundaries of your lifetime? • How does this chapter cause you to fear less as you consider the hard parts of your life and uncertain aspects of your future?