Sermon Snippets

We've come to our next-to-last sermon in the book of Daniel. For the fifth time in his book, Daniel receives insight into God's plan for the future. 

Reading Daniel straight through can make it all seem redundant. Much of what's included in chapters 10-11 has already been described in the other visions. What's new in this vision is the detail God goes into in predicting what will happen in world affairs. The events were all to take place in the future for Daniel and his original audience, yet much of it has already taken place from where we sit in 2013.

So we are left with semi-redundant prophecy that mostly focuses on stuff that happened in the past. That is a recipe for a fine lecture on ancient Near Eastern world history, but not a perfect recipe for a sermon....

Unless...we can emphasize the uncanny ability of God to specifically fulfill his prophetic promises. And while some of the details about the events that are still to take place are a little hazy, we can still  emphasize what the passage makes clear - God is sovereign and he will deliver his faithful people.

If Daniel had to hear it five times throughout his life, how many times will it take for us to embrace that perspective?

Switching gears, the issue of supernatural warfare comes up within these two-plus chapters. While it is a minor point within my sermon, it is worth going into detail after the jump -


 At the beginning of the chapter, Daniel mentions that he was mourning and fasting for three weeks after God revealed a war-filled future that was to come (10:2). Interestingly enough, the angel that subsequently visits him discloses something about the timing of his visit:

"Then he continued, 'Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia."

The consensus of scholarship agrees that this 'prince of the Persian kingdom' is not a human ruler but a spiritual being that resisted this angel of God from delivering his encouraging message. The angelic messenger has pulled back the curtain for Daniel and us on the spiritual conflict that was waging in the supernatural realm.

In his commentary, Sydney Greidanus' comments:

"This verse amplifies the idea of spiritual warfare in the heavenly places. The thought seems to be that all human kingdoms are under the influence of demonic beings that are bent on hurting God's people. God's angels, however fight these demons in order to protect God's people."

Paul's declaration in Ephesians 6:12 is especially relevant here when he says that we fight "not against flesh and blood...[but] against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." The reason for all of the chaos and turmoil in the world is not because God lacks the power to control the world, but because there are supernatural forces bent on rebelling against His Will. This passage is clear, however, that God remains in control and limits what His opponents can do and for how long they can do it.

In our naturalistic, modern cultural mindset, we can easily forget that the supernatural realm exists and exerts influence on the world around us.  May we have eyes to see reality - both in the physical and supernatural realms.