But By No Human Hand

Introduction

I’m a guy who likes to fix things myself if I can...

Many of those things can be fixed with time, talent and tools...

Some things in life we just can’t fix.

Last week we saw the first of numerous visions Daniel was given about the future...

There was nothing that Daniel could do about the vision, nor would there be anything that God’s people could do about the vision…they would come to pass in God’s timing.

However, as we saw last week, and will continue to consider this week, God’s people are to draw our hope from the reality that we are the children of the One True God, who still in control, regardless of the circumstances going on around us.

Body

Verses 1-2 & 15-19 - Daniel’s Second Vision and the Heavenly Interpreter.

During the reign of the Babylonian king, Belshazzar (likely the son of the final king of Babylon, Nabonidus)

Daniel saw himself in Susa, one of the lead cities of the Persian Empire.

Look at verses 15-19...

The angel Gabriel is sent to explain the vision to Daniel.

“the time of the end”

“deep sleep”

Was this a vision of the future, or a recounting of history?

Verses 3-4 & 20 - A Ram

The Medo-Persian Empire is illustrated by a ram with two horns; one horn greater than the other, that being the Persians.

Conquered more land than the Babylonians.

Verses 5-8 & 21-22 - The Goat

From the west, without touching the ground…with a single, large horn...

Goat is Greece and the horn represents Alexander the Great.

At the height of his power, after conquering the known world by the age of thirty-three, Alexander suddenly died.

The Greek Empire broke into four kingdoms: Macedonia under Antipater, Thrace and Asia Minor under Lysimachus, Syria under Seleucus, and Egypt and Palestine under Ptolemy.

None of these would become as powerful as Greece or Alexander.

Verses 9-14 & 23-26 - A Wicked Little Horn

The “great” little horn…bold face…who understands riddles...

“His power shall be great—but not by his own power...”

He will greatly mistreat God’s people.

Interestingly enough, chapter 8 is where the language changes back to Hebrew, indicating that the audience is Jewish. This is important for understanding the point.

This wicked little horn represents Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 B.C until 164 B.C., 150 years after the death of Alexander the Great...

1 Maccabees tells of his wickedness:

He took on the name “Epiphanes” because he believed that if you saw him you had seen god!

Wanted to force Hellenistic life and culture on all of his subjects, which eventually put him in conflict with the Jews, who up to this point Greece had a hands off policy with.

In 169 B.C. Antiochus went into Israel to take Jerusalem by force.

He entered the sanctuary and stole many of the vessels and items for worship out of it.

He also killed any people and made bold claims of his own greatness.

Two years later he deceived Israel again, pretending to be peaceful, but made a surprise attack, killing many people, plundering the city, and burning much of it up.

Then he commanded everyone to abandon their faith, and all become “one people” in faith.

He would forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices, as well as make people ignore the Sabbath and festivals.

Then he commanded that they set up idols in the temple, refused to let them circumcise their sons, and even had the sacrifice pigs on the altar.

Then at the climax of this was what is called the desolating sacrilege, which took place at the inner court of the temple in December 167 B.C. Beside the other idols set up here, one great altar was erected on top of the altar of burnt offering. (This was either of Zeus or, more likely, of Antiochus himself.)

Along with this, copies of the law were destroyed, circumcised children were murdered, along with their parents.

This would lead to the revolt by the Maccabees.

Antiochus would die in 164 B.C., of sickness and depression.

The sanctuary would be cleansed and restored under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus in December 164 B.C.

2,300 evenings and mornings...

Verse 27 - Daniel’s Response

Why was Daniel sick?

“Then I rose and went about the king’s business...”

So What?

This is one of many incredible passages in Scripture that teach the sovereignty of God.

We talk about God being sovereign within the church, but sometimes we have trouble understanding what divine sovereignty means and what the implications of His sovereignty are for our lives.

Divine sovereignty refers to God’s all-encompassing rule over everything in creation, both visible and invisible.

Many modern philosophers (professional and non-professional), reject God’s sovereignty for numerous reasons:

Some are practical atheists...

Some are modern-day Deists...

Some are open theists...

Some blame the existence of human suffering as proof positive that God is either not sovereign or He is not good...

Some reject the Bible as being inerrant...

Many are swayed by “plausible arguments” because they don’t have a firm foundation...

Ultimately, it’s up to each of us to determine what we believe about God’s sovereignty. I can tell you, without reservation, that the Bible nearly overflows with evidence of God’s sovereignty. The clear testimony of Scripture is that God is completely sovereign over everything in creation, both visible and invisible. (I’ve provided a list of other passages about God’s sovereignty on the learning guide, which you’d benefit greatly by studying.)

This morning’s passage tells us much about God’s sovereignty:

First, earthly powers rise and fall to fulfill whatever purposes God has for them.

Second, even when those earthly powers mistreat God’s people, as they often do, God can and will use this for His glory and for our benefit.

Third, in His good time, God will bring divine justice upon those who reject Him and mistreat His people.

“…but by no human hand...”

Fourth, as His people, our two best responses to trials and tribulations brought on by sinful people are to:

Trust Him to bring about something good for His people, even when we don’t understand.

Faithfully serve Him in both our private and public lives.