Scripture:
Daniel 12:1-13
Sat, 4 February 2023

Unto the Den, Until the End

Observation:

What significant observations can you make about “the end times”?

Deeper Reflection
The visions in Daniel 7-12 are complex. But they are not unrelated. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 parallels to Daniel’s vision in Daniel 7: Both are about four kingdoms in history with God’s everlasting kingdom as the climax (2:31-45; 7:1-14). “The visions of Daniel 2, 7, 8 and 10-12 are to be understood as complementary presentation of the same realities.”5 Daniel 9 consists of Daniel’s prayer of confession at the end of the “seventy years” of Babylonian exile (9:1-3) and God’s response with the vision of “seventy sevens/weeks” (9:23-27). And “the four-kingdom sequence in Daniel 2, 7, 8 and 10-12 will establish the framework within which the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 must be understood”6.One key focus in Daniel 7-12 is an anti-God king – referred to as “another horn, a little one” (Dan 7:8), “a rather small horn” (Dan 8:9), “the prince who is to come” (Dan 9:26) and “a despicable person” (Dan 11:21). This anti-God king is very arrogant. With “a mouth uttering great boasts” “he will speak against the Most High” (Dan 7:8, 25; 11:36) and “fling truth to the ground” (Dan 8:12). He will wage war against the people of God to wear them down and overpower them (Dan 7:21, 25).These visions pertain “to the time of the end” (Dan 8:17, 19; 10:14; 12:4, 13). When God’s people are persecuted by the anti-God king, they are to be faithful unto the den (like Daniel) – falling “by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder” (Dan 11:33). And be faithful until the end – to “keep waiting and attain to the 1,335 days” (Dan 12:12).
5 ames M. Hamilton Jr., With the Clouds of Heaven: The Book of Daniel in Biblical Theology, New Studies in Biblical Theology (IVP, 2014), 104 6 James M. Hamilton Jr., 87
Application:

How do I live in the end times?

Prayer:
Write a prayer to God as your response from your meditation on and application of the Scriptures.
Prayer Pointers:
  • Give thanks and praise
  • Pray for Church Board: To be strengthened to be faithful to God until the end
  • Pray for significant people
  • Pray for those in need
  • Pray for self
 

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Daily Devo
Daily Devotional Journal
Scripture:
Daniel 7:13-18, 25-27; 11:29-36
Sat, 2 December 2023

The Triumph

Observation:

What characterises the triumph of God’s people in tribulations under tyrants?

Deeper Reflection
God’s people living under tyrants and suffering tribulations under them can triumph – whether we are delivered from or destroyed in tribulation. The triumph rests on a threefold confidence.We know the conclusion of evil. It is repeated in manifold ways in Daniel that evil that comes through inhuman kings – no matter how great and how long – will definitely come to an end: “he will be broken” (Dan 8:25), “he will be found no more” (Dan 11:19), “yet he will come to his end” (Dan 11:45) and “all these events will be completed” (Dan 12:7).We know God’s calling for us: To be a suffering people – to be captured, plundered, burned or killed (Dan 11:33). But in our suffering, we can be strong as “people who know their God” (Dan 11:32), knowing that God is purging and purifying us to become a sanctified (Dan 11:35; 12:10) and shining people who “shine brightly” with heavenly brightness in the hostile world (Dan 12:3). And we will be a steadfast people who “keep waiting and attain to the 1,335 days” (Dan 12:12) – until we become a sovereign people who “receive and possess the kingdom forever” from “the Ancient of Days” (vv.13-14, 18, 27).We know who is in control. The tribulations under the tyrants in Daniel 7 to 12 are all subject to and subsumed under “that which is decreed will be done” (Dan 11:36; 9:26, 27) “at the appointed time” (Dan 11:27, 29, 35).We conclude Daniel with this theological-discipleship summary statement: We can triumph in tribulations under tyrants when we trust with tenacity in the One who is on the throne.
Application:

How can I triumph in tribulations?

Prayer:
Write a prayer to God as your response from your meditation on and application of the Scriptures.
Prayer Pointers:
  • Give thanks and praise
  • Pray for Church Board: To grow in the faith and perseverance of overcomers in Christ
  • Pray for significant people
  • Pray for those in need
  • Pray for self

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