Today, we turn to the Book of Daniel. If you are part of New Life Christian Ministries, you will recall we worked our way through the entire Book of Daniel in the summer of this year (2018) during weekend worship. You can watch the videos of those messages by going to www.newlifexn.org. Daniel isn’t a typical book of prophecy in that Daniel and three of his friends, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael (aka Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo) were young Israelites who were carried off to Babylon, when King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, and carried many Israelites into exile. For Daniel and his friends, the exile was different. They were drafted into training as advisors for the king. Daniel turned out to be the wisest of all he advisors, because he continued to follow the LORD. As we read through Daniel’s twelve chapters, we’ll read of miraculous events and amazing visions. The visions depict times which were in the immediate future as well as the end of time, so many of the events have already happened, but some are yet to occur at the end of time. Let’s turn to this book that will be familiar to many.
In Daniel 1, we read of Daniel and his three friends being carried off to Babylon, and being put in the training program to become advisors to the king. Immediately, Daniel balked at eating the rich foods provided by the king. He wanted to eat a diet of vegetables and fruits. He convinced the man charged with their welfare to let them try this simple diet for a period of time and then to examine them against the rest of those in training, who were eating the king’s rich foods. The young men were healthier than the rest, so they were given permission to continue their simple regimen. As the training was completed, Daniel and the other three Israelites proved to be wiser in all matters than any of the others among the kings advisors and magicians. The chapter ends by telling us Daniel served throughout the entire reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.
In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream. He called his advisors, enchanters, and magicians to tell him what the dream was and then to give its interpretation. The pagan advisors told the king no king on earth had ever asked such a thing, and he would have to tell them what the dream was and then they could interpret it. The king was incensed and told them he would kill them all if they didn’t tell him the dream and its interpretation. When king’s men came to get Daniel and the other three, he asked what was going on, and why the urgency? The captain of the king’s guard told him the situation. Daniel asked for time to pray, and told the other three to pray. The LORD gave Daniel both the dream and the interpretation. The dream was of a man with various types of metal and other materials, starting with gold in his head, bronze in his chest and so on. Daniel told the king of the dream, and then told him it represented four kingdoms each successively weaker that started with King Nebuchadnezzar himself. When the King realized that the LORD had given Daniel the dream and the interpretation, he acknowledged Daniel’s God, as the God of heaven, and promoted Daniel to the highest post in the kingdom. He also promoted Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael next to Daniel.
Daniel 3 shifts the attention from Daniel to his three friends. The chapter begins with King Nebuchadnezzar making a golden statue of himself and commanding that everyone bow down and worship it. Hannah, Azariah, and Mishael would not. Therefore, the king had them bound and thrown into a fiery furnace. Before they were thrown in the king gave them a chance to bow down to his statue. The young men told the king their God could deliver them, but even if He didn’t they wouldn’t bow down to the statue. With that the king flew into a rage and had them thrown into the furnace. It was so hot the men who threw them in were killed, yet the men were unharmed. In addition to that, the king saw four men in the furnace, and not three. Many think it was Jesus or an angel. In any case, after that the king had the men called out of the furnace. He once again gave glory to the God of heaven, and promoted the three to a higher position.
As we return to Mark 4, Jesus tells several parables to the disciples, including the Parable of the Sower. He also tells them why He tells the parables. As we’re returning to the book for the fifth time, these accounts are becoming quite familiar to us by this time. Let’s remember Mark emphasizes Jesus amazing works, much more than His teaching, so these parables were of great importance to Mark. As we read them, we see Jesus uses parables to explain what the Kingdom of God is like. As we seek to understand God’s Kingdom, and grow to live more and more as citizens of the Kingdom, it’s important for us to read these parables, consider Jesus’ explanations, and then live out the implications or applications. After all information-application=information, but information+application= transformation. The chapter ends with action once again: Jesus calms a storm. Much of the action to this point has been Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons. Here He shows His followers He has power over nature as well. We must always remember God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are supernatural beings. That means they can do acts of power that go beyond any natural ability or strength. Let’s remember that the next time we’re at the end of our natural abilities, and call on the supernatural power of God to move in, through, and beyond us!