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 -