Tuesday, August 9, 2022

           Daniel is the fourth and final major prophet of the Old Testament.  He prophesied as a captive in Babylon during the Babylonian Exile suffered and endured by Judah.  Some of his prophecy is biographical in nature; some was intended for his immediate audience of exiles in Babylon; and some is future in outlook and remains unfulfilled to date.  One of his main themes is the sovereignty or reign of God over the affairs of people in all ages and times.  God’s kingdom and reign are eternal in nature—never ending and never passing away.  In Daniel 2:20-21, he praised the Lord with these words, “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His.  He changes times and seasons; He deposes kings and raises up others.  He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.”  We learn to celebrate the wisdom and majesty of God and to humble ourselves before such wisdom and power.
            Daniel was known as a dream interpreter and for doing a bit of time in a lion’s den for refusing to worship as the king demanded.  He was a man who chose not to eat at the Babylonian royal table and defile himself with the king’s food—preferring instead the healthy food of his people and culture.  One lesson Daniel teaches us is his unwavering walk with the Lord and not succumbing to the temptations and mores of the times and conditions that surrounded him.  Be wary of what you indulge in—and not just food, but the things you invite into your mind, heart or life.  He was not easily deceived into Babylonian ways and misled from the ways of God and the hand of God.  Often today, we can be overwhelmed by whoever has the loudest voice, makes the grandest promises or seems to be the strongest or most powerful.  But Daniel just faithfully walked with the Lord and leaned upon the Lord at all times while turning down much of the noise that surrounded him. 
            One of the key verses in Daniel is 1:8 which says, “But Daniel resolved...”  He was not going to mix His faith in the Kingdom of God with the ways of the Empire.  We have to be cautious today and discerning.  We have to be careful not to confuse the kingdom of God with the empires of this world.  You may remember when Jesus was tempted by Satan that one of the temptations involved Satan delivering the kingdoms of the world to Jesus, if Jesus would only bow to Satan’s ways.  But our Lord refused—preferring the ways of the Father to the ways of the enemy.  Loud, boastful and outrageous ways and empires do not deserve to be mixed or conflated with the ways of the Lord.  Hold fast to all that is right, true and good.  The New Testament prioritizes the fruit of the Spirit to the weapons and ways of the world.  If you cultivate the fruit of the Spirit, you will find the need to live or act combatively might start to diminish and disappear. 
            In Daniel 9, we read a great prayer of confession that the prophet offered on behalf of himself and his people who had sinned against God.  He shows us how to confess our sins and acknowledge our waywardness before the Lord.  “Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants, the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors and to all the people of the land.”  Daniel acknowledged the character and righteousness of God, the sins of Judah and the reason he and Judah were in the exile predicament they were in.  That is a powerful way to pray.  As you pray, follow Daniel’s lead.  Praise and declare the majesty and glory of God.  Humbly and honestly confess your sins and failures.  Declare your emptiness and powerlessness apart from God and His grace and help.  Be a Daniel today—a figure of character, faith and devotion who walked with the Lord.  Have a great Tuesday.  Remember you can share our worship with others at youtube.com/FirstBaptistKannapolis.