Sermon Tone Analysis

Chapters 10, 11, and 12 of Daniel are one, long, extended vision.

Ideally, we’d take these three chapters together, read through them in their entirety, and see how they fit together as one big piece.

But this, by my estimation, would take hours.

And while I believe there’s nothing more important than opening God’s Holy Word and hearing from Him, I do respect the fact that you would like to eat lunch at a decent hour, that you have other stuff to do today, that you have places to go, people to see, naps to take.

I get it.

So, for our purposes here, we’re going to look at Daniel 10 this week, Daniel 11, next week, and Daniel 12 the week after that, Lord willing.

I will try to tie them all together as we go along.

Just remember: Daniel 10-12 is all one vision, all one revelation.

>The first verse of Daniel 10 sets the stage for the entire vision:

This verse is the heading for all of chapters 10-12.

Keep that in mind.

This will bear some significance as we move forward.

The translation of this verse varies depending on which version of the Bible you’re reading from.

NASB: And the message was true and one of great conflict.

ESV: And the word was true, and it was a great conflict.

KJV: and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long.

NRSV: The word was true, and it concerned a great conflict.

Some think that this refers to the conflict/trouble Daniel had upon hearing this vision, that it was too much for him to handle, too much for him to understand.

It’s certainly true that Daniel had a difficult time with this vision (you can see this throughout chapter 10).

But I think this means something else.

This revelation given to Daniel was true, it was a long way off (in the distant future), and it concerned a great war.

Conflict or war comes from a word which means “army” and “warfare”, but in a more general sense, it refers to “hard service.”

I’ve come to prefer the more general reading of the verse: Its message was true and it involved great suffering.

The vision Daniel saw and understood was true—he could believe it, bank on it, count on it.

And the vision he saw involved great tribulation, great suffering.

I believe what Daniel realized here, or was reminded of thanks to this vision, is precisely what we need to realize, what we need to be reminded of; namely that:

Faithfulness may be more difficult than we imagine (v. 1)

A revelation was given…it’s message was true and it concerned a great war (it involved great suffering).

Remember, this verse is the introduction of the entire vision (chapters 10-12) and it serves as the heading for all of it.

Chapter 11 is almost entirely focused on warfare.

So does this vision have something to do with wars?

Yeah.

Is severe suffering involved?

Yes, sir.

You bet your sweet bippy!

It’s a little startling to stop and think about this vision being introduced by this verse: that the thesis of the paper being written is “there will be great suffering.”

That means the whole thing—Daniel 10, Daniel 11, and Daniel 12 and the time-frame of those chapters—will involve great suffering.

Now, for us who live in this country and for other Christians who live under similar governments, we can tend to forget.

We can tend to forget that the fact that, though our government is largely ungodly in its behavior, our government doesn’t perpetrate overt persecution—we can tend to forget the fact that we are in a rather unique situation.

You see, our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in North Korea or Sudan or Myanmar or Pakistan or Iraq—our brothers and sisters across the globe are “hated and hunted, savaged and ravaged” for Christ’s sake.

If it’s hard for us to think about suffering for Christ, we need to understand our situation is abnormal.

We live a relatively cushy life, all things are considered.

We don’t, yet, have to fear religious persecution in this country.

We still, for the moment at least, have the right to gather here without wondering if the authorities are going to break in and haul us off.

I can preach the gospel without threat of imprisonment, for now.

We can carry a Bible to work or to school without consequence, as of this moment.

It is not so in large parts of the world today.

Can you imagine what life is like for our fellow Christians in those parts of the world where persecution is the norm?

Can you imagine what gumption and courage and faith it would take to remain faithful amid the hatred, the death threats, the torture?

You see, what Daniel saw was exactly this—the message was true and it involved great suffering.

In light of the great suffering realized today by many Christians; in light of the great suffering that we will face some day for the sake of Christ, let us understand that faithfulness may be more difficult than we can imagine.

As we struggle to remain faithful, let us recall that both faith in Christ and suffering for Christ are equally gifts of grace, as it is written:

What’s more, affliction/suffering is the identification mark of God’s people.

It’s simply what is characteristic of them; it’s what sets them apart.

Paul wrote proudly to the Galatians of his identifying suffering, saying (Galatians 6:17), “For I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body.”

The opening verse of Daniel’s final vision underlines and highlights and circles this truth: the future history of the people who belong to God in Christ Jesus will involve great suffering.

Suffering is simply par for the course.

This is the normal, normative, to-be-expected situation for us who belong to Christ.

We who proudly say, “I am a Christian,” should expect and faithfully endure suffering and persecution for the sake of Christ.

The future for people who belong to God in Christ Jesus will involve great suffering.

We are told this not to break us down, but to brace us up; not to sadden us, but to prepare us to be faithful for the long-haul.

>Let’s continue on:

Why is Daniel mourning?

And mourning for three weeks?

Daniel’s fasting from food, abstaining from drink.

And I love this: no lotions at all for three whole weeks.

I’ve gone three whole decades with no lotions at all.

“What’s the big deal, Daniel?”

All of this, somehow, is part of Daniel’s mourning: no food, no wine, no lotions.

Why is Daniel mourning?

Verse 12 makes it clear to us that this was, for Daniel, an extended time of focused prayer.

Daniel is praying, and to his praying he had added (the most neglected spiritual discipline of our time): fasting.

Daniel is fasting and praying.

He’s pleading with the Lord, intensely petitioning the Lord for something...

What is Daniel praying for?

Why is Daniel praying?

Daniel’s prayer teaches us that:

Prayer is more crucial than we imagine (vv.

2-3, 12-14)

We’re not told specifically the content of Daniel’s prayer here.

We don’t know for certain what he’s praying for, but we can take an educated guess:

I think Daniel might be praying for understanding about what the future holds for the people of God.

At the end of the vision in Daniel 8, Daniel writes:

Daniel didn’t quite understand the vision of the ram and the goat.

And, like us, he might have still been trying to put together the revelation we looked at last week (9:24-27).

Daniel has (v.

12) set his mind to gain understanding, so says the heavenly messenger who came to explain to Daniel what will happen to [his] people in the future (v.

14).

2. Daniel might be praying, fasting, pleading with the Lord because of the reports from Judah.

No doubt, news was filtering back from the exiles who had returned to Judah.

News from those who had returned to Jerusalem from exile got to Daniel who had stayed in Babylon (certainly the Lord had placed Daniel in Babylon for a reason; so Daniel believed and so Daniel stayed).

The exiles had returned from Babylon to Judah in 537 B.C. It’s now the third year of Cyrus.

And two years after their return, things aren’t going well.

The enemies of God’s people didn’t want them to build a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel.

So they did all they could to prevent it from happening.

Hearing of his people’s distress drives Daniel to fast and to pray.

So Daniel, the pray-er, prays.

What good was Daniel’s prayer?

Of what use was Daniel’s prayer and fasting and pleading with the Lord?

Verse 12 has the answer:

Your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.

Wow.