Redeemer Church, Mason Ohio Pastor Marc Champagne

Daniel 9:21-27 contains some of the most complex verses in the Bible, if you measure by sheer variance of interpretations. We will do our best to cover the options while focusing on the clear takeaways, of which there are plenty, so we can truly live out our faith with integrity and perseverance “In Times Like These.”

We know Daniel had a rich life of intercession, but until this week’s text (9:1-19) we haven’t known much about the specific content of those prayers. Now we are treated to a lengthy, inspiring glimpse of his genuine heart for talking to God on behalf of his people. The prayer is rich and raw with confession, reflective of and rooted in God’s steadfast character, and culminates with an appeal for action resulting in God’s glory and His people’s good. What a fascinating opportunity to learn (and hopefully apply) what it looks like join Daniel in “Turning to God in Prayer.”

In Daniel 8, we find yet another vision – this one three years into King Belshazzar’s reign, so just a couple of years after Daniel. Once again, the mysterious figures receive an interpretation, this time from an angel named Gabriel. The ram and the goat correspond to Medo-Perian and Greece, respectively, and with almost universal agreement the horn that arises is identified as Antiochus Epiphanes. He was a tyrant with respect to God’s people. The entire vision upsets Daniel, whose response demonstrates a “Devotion to Serving God and His People (Come What May!)”

Daniel 7 represents a shift in genre and perspective, but not a shift in message. The remainder of the book explores the prophet's visions and dreams where we see a sovereign God who reigns over all from start to finish. This bedrock reality must be kept in mind as we enter apocalyptic waters, which can be choppy hermeneutically and therefore lead to differing conclusions about the whos and the whens and the hows. Throughout the remainder, however, is the anchoring truth of a faithful and enduring kingdom led by the Son of Man. This week we begin with “A Vision of the End (and What it Means for Us Now!)".

Daniel is truly “Faithful to the End.” In the sixth chapter, we find him at 90+ years of age demonstrating the same faith that has guided him throughout the entirety of his life, a faith cultivated by a consistent and steady walking with God. The story is best known for the miraculous delivery from the lion’s den, which is definitely noteworthy, but its clearer focus is on Daniel’s steadfast service to God, and of God’s enduring faithfulness to his servant. May we be drawn into the story in such a way that we, also, trust and persevere in all circumstances.

The book of Daniel is filled with wake-up calls, perhaps none quite as striking at chapter 5, where a new king who treats as profane that which is sacred meets with a quick end. Party boy King Belshazzar, whose ancestor was Nebuchadnezzar, knows how to show everyone a good time, but does so at the expense of his soul and his kingdom’s security. In a most fascinating scene, mysterious writing on a wall levels the charge against his arrogance, and Daniel delivers the interpretation that haunts the King but also presses us to consider where we stand with the living God. In other words, “Don’t Wait for the Writing on the Wall!”