Daniel pt 6

We've reached Daniel in the lion's den.

The story starts with King Darius desiring to set up 3 rulers over all the nobles and magistrates and governors of the kingdom. Daniel was chosen as one of these 3. Daniel then shows himself to be leaps and bounds over the other two, and Darius starts considering allowing Daniel to be over everything and everyone, second only to himself.

The other governors with Daniel were jealous. They looked for reason to expose Daniel and reveal that he isn't qualified or that he has a spot of wickedness or deceit. They couldn't find any flaw in Daniel. He was blameless in all things.

This is how the story starts.

Up to this point we've been talking about wrestling with principalities and powers and fighting against the system that nations hold to which is rooted and grounded in the Satanic system. Now we've seen excellent characters in these men before, but here we get it right in our faces.

Daniel was perfect.

And Jesus hadn't even died yet.

In his humanity...
Daniel has no fault.

What excuse do you have?

What excuse do I have?

We not only have the Holy Spirit within us and the New Covenant and the complete Bible, we have more opportunity than he had. This is a nation that has a church building around every corner. We have Bible Colleges and seminaries in every major city (and some in small towns). With all of the teaching, all of the opportunity, all of the community, and without the persecution that other nations experience when they simply reveal themselves as a believer, we have absolutely no excuses.

And yet we use these things as excuses.

Oh, we are just too common with these things.
And who's fault is that?
We have become complacent because we don't get persecuted...
If you don't receive persecution it is because you are out of the faith.

Lets be completely honest.

The whole point of the stories in the Book of Daniel (even this one) have been that if you walk in the way of God and fully trust in Him, you will be in fierce opposition to the gods of this world. They will desire to rule over you, but they have no ability to. Thus they resort to violence and other forms of forceful methods to try to cause  you to surrender to them. When that doesn't work, they try kill you. When that doesn't work, they imprison you.

The fact that many people will not listen to other believers because they have been to prison is a testimony against us. We think that if someone goes to prison, they were in the wrong. What did Paul do wrong? What did Jesus do wrong to deserve death? What is Daniel doing wrong here?

Daniel is being a righteous man, and his reward for that is torment, torture, and false accusation.

People foam at the mouth and gnash their teeth. They get so puffed up and angry when you simply live according to the way of God. It doesn't take "doing" anything. If you simply are in Christ and residing there not offending the Spirit of God, then you will offend every other spirit.

And this is the call we're all given. "Go and sin no more."

Now, once again notice the antichrist theme. "Make a decree that no one can petition any man or god except you, oh king!" What a mockery! It always baffles me when I read in Revelation 13 how the people will ask, "Who is there like the beast? And who can make war with him?" These are direct implications that the God of heaven cannot. And they are also manipulating the very statements about God that are found within the Scriptures.

This is the antichrist motives of the nations.

If you think this is some primitive form of exultation that has been abandoned since modern man, you are sadly mistaken. What do you think Hitler was? Germany was the supreme example of modern men. They were the very people to degrade and dehumanize hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of masses.

Daniel was set up. Did he break the law? Yes. Was it willing? Yes. But the people who went to the king knew the character of Daniel and fully expected him to continue to pray to his God.

There are countless cases that have been made against godly people simply because they bump the grain and push against the system. They are a threat to the kingdom of darkness, and they need to be exterminated at any price. Two great examples would be Fritz Springmeier and Kent Hovind.

You guys know how the story ends.

Daniel doesn't die.

The king then blesses the God of heaven.

The other men are thrown into the pit.

The lions devour the other men.

But what is really the focal point is the glory of God.

What if Daniel did die? What is it to us? Stephen died. And then Paul was converted. Whether God saves the man or not isn't the point. The point is that God gains the glory. This is what causes someone to live in a way that Daniel lived. When your whole life and outlook and mindset are all bent on "to God be glory forever," then certain aspects of life will fade away.

If it is all about God's glory, what do riches matter? What does success matter? What do it matter if you are liked? What does it matter if people think you are the holiest person around? What does it matter if you see revival everywhere you go? What does it matter as to whether you have credential or not? Does it really matter of how much money you make at your job, or what job you have? Does it really matter where you live? Does it really matter the size of house or quality of car?

Some of these things do matter, but in a completely different light. It is all about God's glory. If that isn't the case, then lets pack up our things and go home now.

Lets not loose focus, because we're about to start touching some of the eschatological implications of Daniel. If our perception and hearts are wrong, then we're going to be conceited and twisted in the way we view these visions.