Daniel 10-12

Introduction

John Piper says: There are no detours between God’s plan and God’s accomplishment. No suffering is without meaning.

But only if you believe how the story ends

That is the message of this closing epic of Daniel

It is the words of Jesus in John 16:33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Do we really have hope at a graveside or are we clinging to a cultural wish dream?

Days will come when you need to hold on to how the story ends

You will need to know in seasons of life where it looks like the exile won’t end that God is writing a bigger story

Like the words he sent to daniel in Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

In all of the images we are going to see that is the point

Your sadness will come untrue because our God has won

Chapter 10 introduces this 3 chapter long vision and it starts with a vision of Christ rarely seen in Scripture.

See Jesus and be Wise (Chapter 10)

Daniel 10:1–9 CSB

In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. The message was true and was about a great conflict. He understood the message and had understanding of the vision. In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks. I didn’t eat any rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I didn’t put any oil on my body until the three weeks were over. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up, and there was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. Only I, Daniel, saw the vision. The men who were with me did not see it, but a great terror fell on them, and they ran and hid. I was left alone, looking at this great vision. No strength was left in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless. I heard the words he said, and when I heard them I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.

These first 2 introductory verses tell us a lot of what is going on.

Cyrus’ third year was a year so much hung in the balance for the Jews who returned home.

Ezra 3:8-13 describes this time from the returning exiles perspective

It was a time of incredible hope.

Daniel knew the moment of truth was coming

He is over 90 and lived to see the return. That is why specifically his Babylonian name is mentioned.

The author wants the reader to know this man has seen the faithfulness of God through empires rising and falling.

From 15-90 life has been brutal but God is faithful

Because Daniel is faithful. God sends him one last vision.

One more time it is a Sci Fi horror movie to this 90 year old man of God.

It is a Vision of the Hard Service required of God’s people in a war we don't see raging behind the scenes

Daniel 10 says - the word was true, and it was a great conflict.

Why was he grieving in the passage we just read?

The news from back home is not good. They have met incredible hardship. The elders even weep when they see the rebuilding is nothing like the old in its glory and splendor.

It is also the time around Passover so Daniel takes the regular fast of one week and makes it a crushing 3 Week beating of his body in mourning.

Verse 3 says… He didn't even put sunscreen on, is what it basically says. Its the Middle East..you need sunscreen in the middle east. He denies everything in Mourning.

He's on a work assignment and he sees a man unlike any other.

The man is so terrifying the men with him run for cover and poor daniel, 90 plus years old and at the tale end of a brutal 3 week fast cant do anything but literally pass out.

But who is the man…

5 jI lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, ka man clothed in linen, lwith a belt of fine mgold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like nberyl, his face olike the appearance of lightning, phis eyes like flaming torches, his arms and qlegs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and qthe sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

This is called a Christophany when it is Jesus in the Old Testament.

John uses this exact description to describe Jesus in Revelation

It’s identical to Daniel..and John saw the risen Christ.

The terror of the vision required Jesus to deliver it.

Why?

Daniel has seen a great war in Chapter 7 and 8 where God’s people are being trampled under foot by the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes

Daniel 9 says it is not ending at 70 literal years like but that it will intensify and take a longer time because God is doing something Big to put an end to sin

In between it will mean suffering for God’s people.

Because it meant suffering for the savior to save you

He was in perfect glroy and descended to die in our place

But for the Joy set before Him he endured the cross though he despised its shame

That is the model of the Christian life

It is the message of Daniel

Jesus is coming..endure to the end

The reason for the detailed vision Daniel gives us is so that when those seasons come we know God is writing an epic of love that ends with every tear from our eyes being wiped away

we need this vision of Jesus

He was the Lamb for 33 years. He has been the Lion for eternity.

Let that sink in- for 33 years he was the lamb…but he has been the lion for eternity

the bigger the Jesus we have the more we can endure to the end and inherit the kingdom.

What this vision of Jesus does is give us assurance that he has won and will get us home.

It doesn't provide an answer but it provides perspective changing assurance.

This has to shape our expectation of the Christian life- God will not always give you an answer in the moment. What he gives is a new perspective that gives us the resolve to endure come what may

When the war hits home we need to see the warrior we have in Christ.

God is working to defeat sin and death for all of God’s people but it will not happen immediately.

From the moment Daniel started praying heaven knew and heard and responded.

The sovereign God, who moves nations and kings, showed his incredible care for one struggling man.

What love we have in our God.

In the grand redemptive epic God has written into history he has written in to love this 90 year old faithful man.

For the same time daniel has been praying a war we cannot see has been raging.

David Helm says “the unseen world here is on the threshold of change. God’s angels will be accomplishing his own kingdom desires to move Persia aside and allow Greece to take center stage”

The reality is this. Behind the scenes of the world stage right now are factors governing reality beyond what humans see.

Satan is the one behind the suffering in this world. He is trying to inflict horrible suffering on God;s people..or numbing them through pleasures

Satan is unleashing his wrath on God’s people because of the victory of Christ.

That doesnt mean when you lose an email Satan did it. It means that behind the scenes of persecution he is the force behind it. He is behind the suffering you and I experience as God's people.

He is not absent He hears and he knows and he is accomplishing big plans.

And at the same time cares so much about each of us to step into our pain and confusion , so he can care for His child Daniel

Again as Piper says: There are no detours between God’s plan and God’s accomplishment. No suffering is without meaning.

will you be wise to see the reality. Or will your faith crumble in the face of momentary suffering

We will be disoriented but this vision of our Savior can reorient us.

Because the days are coming when it will take this wisdom of reality to overcome.

See History and Be Wise Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Begins the detailed Vision of the Suffering the kingdom against God will bring.

David Helm says this of Chapter 11…”the vision of chapter 11 was given to Daniel that he might know something of the future and how followers of God OUGHT TO LIVE NOW in light of that future.

It is a vision again that is fullfilled in world history in movies like 300 and in the horror of antiocus Epiphanes the Greek

What is the point of a chapters worth of it all

It is hard when we dont see him acting but if we know the whole story and how it ends we can hold fast the seasons of trial.

knowing the end changes how you live

Psalm 90:12 CSB

Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

This message is driven home in this last vision - look at the repetition of this needed wisdom in this vision

11:33 those who are wise…

11:35 some of the wise

12:3 those who are wise

12:10 those who are wise will understand

It is the worldview you have

How you interpret reality...the narrative you see yourself in...because we all see ourselves in one

The majority of 11 is political history for us but was the future to Daniel ...verse 3 is back to alexander the great at the end of the persians and the new power Greece ushered in

Verse 5 sets the rest of the scene and .alexanders other generals we have read about

the kings are all positioned in their direction to “the beautiful land”....the promised land of God’s people verse 16

The 150 miles of Damascus to Jerusalem was the 50 yard line.

And so is your heart

The battle that rages among the nations is the same battle that rages in our heart

It is the central question of Daniel- “Who are you going to give your life for. What King will you serve”

God’s people are caught in the middle.

So be wise. Don’t fall for it. Don’t give in.

For our brothers in Congo right now being murdered for their faith hold fast our God wins in the end

For us here lured to lukewarm faith by comfort don’t give in what this world offers pales in comparison to what is coming

Jim Elliot famously wrote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose"

What makes the difference when this comes ? Those who know God is moving all of history to wipe every tear from your end want to get to that end

God is calling his people to this here

He tells every detail of the story in chapter 11 to show Daniel and Us that he wrote it. He wrote your story and will see it through.

The last thing we see in the book is how the story ends so we can be wise when we suffer sin and death and the devil in this life.

See the End and Be Wise. (Chapter 12)

As 11:36 began to look to the distant future chapter 12 takes us to the end of time.

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 gAnd those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above;1 and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

For us in these last days we can live in the hope and wisdom of our sure future.

Look at who is executing the judgment in the end it is Michael….why?

Because Christ already won the war. There is no war left.

When Jesus was the faithful son of man who overcame satan at the temptation in the wilderness

He did what no one did before.

He did the conquering now it is left to the generals to execute the mop up work

Not only is the battle won but all who are Gods cannot be lost no matter the fire of tribulation.

When we know the end is promised we can be wise in the face of the furnace or the lions den.

Because the most important thing to come is in verses 2-3

2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 gAnd those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above;1 and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

This word for many is used in Deuteronomy 7:1-2, and Isaiah 2:2-3 to mean a specific group of people within a larger group.

The end coming means everyone will be raised …the question is will you be raised to eternal life…or the eternal loss of everything

verse 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

This the the clearest Old Testament promise of the physical bodily resurrection. How can we hold onto this ?

Because our savior was the first born from the dead when he rose again triumphant over death.

Paul captures the centrality of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith…. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone. --

The foolish will boast in this life but the wise boast only in the cross and live for it

We will rise like him and be with him if we are wise when the wicked fall away. When we are tempted to love this life too much to give it for him

The wise know the king of kings despite how the nations rage

The wise trade temporary treasure in this life for the pleasures forevermore at the fathers right hand.

The inheritance we cannot lose that is secure waiting on us.

It waited on Daniel and he is with it and with the Son of Man he saw in his vision …. worshiping at His feet

The last Daniel hears is the promised inheritance that awaits the life of wisdom he led from his teenage days when he committed not to defile himself into his 90’s when thrown to lions.

True rest is coming. And true inheritance is ours.

But as our forerunner Jesus we enter through suffering in this life for the joy set before us

Blessed is the one who overcomes to the very end.

Do we believe what we say? Do we believe what we sing and read?

I close out the message of the book of Daniel with this for all of us to hold too in a life of sadness and funerals and regret

The message of Daniel is not a whimper of a weak distant God. It is the thunderous roar of 1000 rivers that OUR GOD RUNS THIS AND OUR GOD REIGNS

Our broken world is tenacious

Our sin is tenacious

But never forget this

It is not nearly as tenacious as the Lion on the throne

The message of Daniel is not a whimper of a weak distant God. It is the thunderous roar of 1000 rivers that OUR GOD RUNS THIS AND OUR GOD REIGNS

Jesus is coming so hold fast